Tangled up now (Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan)

Name: calypte

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Product:	Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan
Date:	17/09/01 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: well written, good story, good addition to the series

Disadvantages: would have to read the rest of the series

Once again, I’ll start by saying that if you have plans on reading the Wheel of Time series, you might not want to read this, as it probably gives away some of the outcomes from the first couple of books in the series, The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt.

This is the third book in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, which will eventually encompass 12 novels (or so I’m told), nine of which are currently available. There’s no point in reading this book unless you’ve read its two predecessors, as you’ll be completely lost as to what’s going on – this is very much a series, with one book following on from the last, and not something you could pick up very easily midway through.

That being the case, I didn’t want to spend too much time explaining the series again – go back at look at someone’s opinion on The Eye of the World (or even The Great Hunt) or the series in general if that’s what you’re looking for. Hmm… don’t mean to sound so brusque there, but I’m sure nobody wants to hear me repeat myself. Still, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to remind you what’s happened up to this point, although an apology for how long that makes this op…

*THE STORY SO FAR*
As the Wheel of Time weaves the threads of lives into the Pattern, three ta’veren are found in one sleepy village. A ta’veren is an individual around whom the Wheel “weaves all surrounding life threads” (as is says in the glossary). In other words, these are significant people with an influence on the lives around them, not to mention a ‘destiny’.

The three – all male, Rand, Mat and Perrin – are persuaded to leave their village by Moiraine, an Aes Sedai, who has spent about 16 years searching for an individual who matches a prophecy. (Sorry if this sounds like a plug for another op, but you can find a bit of the story
of the start of Moiraine’s search in a story called New Spring in a collection of fantasy stories, called Legends.) Where was I? Oh yes: Aes Sedai are people who can channel the True Source – use magic, in other words. In fact, they’re all women, as the history of this world has seen a taint placed on the male side of the True Source, so any man who channels is eventually driven mad. Such men are considered dangerous, and so are ‘gentled’ – stopped from being able to use this power – usually by a sect of the Aes Sedai known as the Red Ajah. We soon discover that Rand can channel – and in fact, may be the Dragon Reborn: a reincarnation of a powerful man, who was indeed driven mad whilst trying to fight the Dark One.

In the first of the series, The Eye of the World, we follow the three boys as they start their quest. Also along for the ride are Moiraine’s Warder – a warrior protector – and from the same village as the boys, Egwene and Nynaeve, who discover they can channel and thus are hoping to become Aes Sedai. Along the way, Mat inadvertently puts his life at risk by picking up a dangerously evil dagger, and Perrin finds he has a bond with wolves. Events culminate when the group find the legendary Horn of Valere and the banner of the Dragon, and Rand wins a fight against the evil Ba’alzamon.

Book two, The Great Hunt, picks up the action when the Horn and Mat’s dagger are stolen. Without the dagger Mat will die, and the Horn of Valere is reputed to bring legendary heroes back from the dead for the last battle against the Dark One. And so starts a new quest for our group, who are split up only to be brought back together for the climax. Mat sounds the Horn of Valere, and in doing so links himself to it so that, while he lives, only he can call back the heroes from legend. Rand once more fights Ba’alzamon, who obviously wasn’t as vanquished as we thought. Of cou
rse, Rand wins (again), and is proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn.

Phew… all that and I haven’t even started written about the right book yet!!

*THE DRAGON REBORN*
The third instalment of the series, The Dragon Reborn, starts a little more slowly than its predecessor, The Great Hunt. The climax of that left me feeling we were poised on the brink of greater events, but Jordan instead introduces a pause. The group is once more split, and winter has passed since our last visit. Moiraine has had Rand, Perrin and the Shienaran warriors wait out the cold in the mountains, as various factions in the rest of the world fight amongst themselves – mostly over the news of a new Dragon.

For a large part of this novel, it feels as though the pace has been slowed down quite a bit. This is, I feel, probably for the best, as a certain level of excitement and drama can become tedious – not to mention incredibly unbelievable (note to self: um, as if the rest of it is fact!) – after a while. Still, I didn’t find myself becoming bored with this book: there was always something waiting to be discovered, and this keeps you reading. The excitement levels do increase, but to be honest, it wasn’t a sudden drama that I noticed outright – more, having finished the book, I know there was a build up of tension, just not exactly when it started.

So far in the series, Rand has very much been the focal point, to the extent that it almost feels surprising when other characters are given significant attention. In this book, however, it is Rand who is pushed to the margins. He remains a hub for the actions of the other characters, but Rand himself only features in a few scenes, despite his importance to the story.

Instead, then, we follow the other characters, and thus learn more of this world Robert Jordan has created. For example, through Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne (who joined them in the previous instalmen
t), we begin to get a better understanding of the Aes Sedai and their training system. The three return to the White Tower of Tar Valon after escaping the Seanchan (sigh… this is not a spell checker friendly opinion!). Their homecoming is not as pleasant as they had imagined: not only are they punished for going missing for so many months, but the threat of the evil Black Ajah is everywhere. This adds real tension to the plot, as even the reader begins to suspect any or all of the Sisters of being in league with the Dark One.

Mat has also wound up at Tar Valon, deadly ill from the taint of the Shadar Logoth dagger. Mat’s bluff exterior never really works for me: he pretends that his good deeds have ulterior motives, but he’s never been anything other than nice. It’s only a minor point, though. As the story unfolds, Mat begins to discover that his luck is anything but ordinary, and Moiraine – and perhaps the reader – is forced to acknowledge that he and Perrin really are ta’veren, despite being overshadowed by Rand.

Perrin is also making self-discoveries. Despite being the focus of a good part of the book, he has a lesser role in influencing events. As he is travelling with the largest part of the group still together, he seems more to be pulled along. Here we see more of his reaction to his newfound affinity with wolves, and it is also through Perrin that we are shown the fruition of some of Min’s prophecies. Min, if you remember, could see images around people. Although she didn’t understand most of what she could see, the images always had some significance in that person’s life.

With his characters placed, Jordan weaves the story very well. I’ve noticed a pattern to the three novels I’ve read so far of the Wheel of Time series: Jordan splits the group of ‘heroes’, then brings them together again for the climatic fight between Rand and Ba’alzamon. D
espite this pattern, however, it doesn’t make events in each book too foreseeable: yes, we can suspect the group will be reunited, but knowing the Rand will triumph seemed fairly obvious from the outset – this is not a genre given to surprise killings of the hero!

I found this book more enjoyable than either of its predecessors. Partly, at least, that will be down to becoming more familiar with the characters and the world in general, but it also flows together very well. Jordan no longer has to introduce or explain certain elements: they are picked up from earlier instalments, before disappearing again – at least for now. I’ll say again that this is very much a part of a series, and not something to read out of context, but it’s a really good block in the story. Once again, I reached the end of this novel and felt that something even more dramatic was yet to come; I had planned on having a break and reading a different book before continuing with the series, but once again, I’m left wanting more…

“It’s not a story…The Wheel weaves us into the Pattern. You chose to tangle your thread with ours; it’s too late to untangle it now.”

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