Review - The Fires Of Heaven by Robert Jordan (The Wheel Of Time #5)
Preamble
Book 5 of The Wheel Of Time, read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer is in the pipe. I’m listening to these via audiobook as I get my steps in, and averaging about a book a month, depending on the length. They seem to be getting longer as they go on.
A note about my reviews: I consider myself an appreciator, not a critic. I know first-hand what goes into the creation of art – the blood, the sweat, the tears, the risk. I also know that art appreciation is subjective and lernt good what mama tell’t me – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I’m not a school marm grading a spelling test – I’m a reader who enjoys reading. If a book is entertaining, well-written, and I get absorbed into it, five out of five. It’s either five stars or nothing these days – if I don’t like it, no review. Regardless, I wouldn’t even put a star rating system on my reviews but for the reality of storefronts like Amazon.
Take from that what you will.
Review – 5/5
It’s difficult to say new things about this series as time goes on. It’s got a great setting, Jordan does an excellent job of building the feel of an expansive world (notice I didn’t use the word worldbuilding yet used both ‘building’ and ‘world’ in that sentence – I don’t know why, but just notice it). But I have got to say, and I’ve said it in previous reviews, that I’m not sure about the characters.
Full disclaimer: I loved the book, love the series. It's worthy of the 5/5. Nonetheless, the characterization is without a doubt the weakest part. It seems like every single one is as petty and single-minded as they come, and you do need to suspend your disbelief far more for this aspect than all of the fireballs and magic and stuff – at least, that is where I’ve found it. I’ve noticed that others who have read the books have opined about Nynaeve’s childishness, and it does come out in the story a fair bit in earlier books, but really it starts to grate after a while. Aviendha, too, is a bit much. But so are Rand and Perrin and Mat and Egwene and the Aes Sedai and the Wise Ones. Honestly, I cannot see much difference in some of their pettiness and the selfishness that is associated with characters balls deep in the ‘the dark side.’ I’m not sure I would want to spend any time with any of the characters, for how unlikeable they are. For a series that is almost certainly influenced by Taoism, given the yin-yang symbolism, which in some ways is about detachment and going with the flow, the characters are largely as attached as two-year-olds. The word petty comes from the French ‘petit,’ or small, and it’s kind of a weird to see that lack of depth juxtaposed against the enormous scope of the novels.
This book did feel a little more uneven than the previous ones. There’s less of a building to the massive crescendo that happens at the end of Jordan’s novels and simply a ‘suddenly it’s on’ kind of feel to it. I did like that Rand finally shagged someone, because I do enjoy a bit of romance. But there was a lot of ‘dead air’ here – and I know I’m not the only one who has wondered at the pacing with the middle books in the series.
Still, I'm walking the book away so it's not so bad.
Regardless, the effect of the book is greater than the sum of its parts. For all the foregoing complaining, I loved it. Rand’s growing mastery, the relationships between the characters (never mind their personalities), deepening political intrigue, the various different causes and effects that come up – it’s all great stuff. Chances are, if you’re in this deep into the series, you’re going to the end, I would say.
That’s my plan, and this one has not changed it.
Check it out on the ‘zon here.