Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Oh, goodness, this is going to have spoilers galore.
After a long hiatus (with the intention of making it so that I would finish Towers of Midnight just in time to read A Memory of Light; but with that date something like a week away and with me being about half way through New Spring with two more full-lengths to read after that, it looks like I may have over shot...oops) I am back at my wheel of time re-read.*
And so, without further ado, and enumerated for your convenience, my thoughts on The Knife of Dreams.
1) I TOLD YOU MOIRAINE WASN'T DEAD! (On the other hand, I'm kind of impressed at Robert Jordan for stringing that particular plot thread along, basically without barely so much as a hint for six 800 page books.) By my recollection, the only plot thread that's now been hanging on longer is who killed Asmodean....)
2) Boy, for what might be the biggest plot revelation in the whole book, the loss of Rand's hand
is...underwhelming. I mean, we knew his meeting with the Daughter of the Nine Moons was fake, cause, uh, she's with Mat, thanks...., but the "oh hey it's Semihrage, and oh hey she burnt off his hand" was just.....kinda pedestrian.**
3) I never felt the same fatigue at the Faile, Perrin subplot. Its conclusion was mostly satisfying, except that I thought Aram's death sucked. Even though I liked him, I didn't really mind that he got brainwashed by Masema. He was always was intended to be a tragic figure, but killed randomly by Aiel? bull$#i^.***
4. It kind of seemed to me like Robert Jordan was going out of his way to avoid Heroic Charges. (I mean, this has been a theme of his for some time....) I guess that the one actual charge (Guybon against the darkfriends) was pretty heroic, but I thought the rest of that battle (i.e. to retake Caemlyn) was kind of a mess. We're just going to Travel to right behind them and start fighting. Have fun!
5. I rather liked the ending of the epilogue, it was delightfully creepy. on the other hand, I'm kind of disappointed that Mazrim Taim is actually a Darkfriend. Partially that's because I liked him, but more so, cause I wanted him to *just* be a bastard....
6. I was also disappointed with the title. I mean, it's called "Knife of Dreams" I was expecting some crazy Tel-aran-rhiod shenanigans, and there was basically nothing. Just a random quote from yet another historical figure in one of the heroes' heads.
7. Likewise, holy God is the cover art bad. Is that supposed to be Gual on the cover? He looks dumpy! There are _so_ _many_ iconic scenes in this book: The loss of Rand's hand, the taking of Caemlyn, the charge against the darkfriends, Mat does...anything, the meeting of Pevara with Marzim Taim. The dead walking among the living, that guy sinking into the ground. Galad Fights Pedron Niall. Egwene getting spanked.
And yet Mr. Sweet chose....Perrin sitting around a table. What. the. Fuck.
As you're probably gathering from these bullets, I actually liked this book quite a lot. An awful lot more happens in this book than in the last one, it advances the story well, and reemphasizes some of the themes of the burden of leadership, the necessity of war, etc. Still, there were some moments when I wanted to fling the book across the room. Like in the first chapter. Did we really need the excruciating detail of Siuan's walk (and ride, and moon for Gareth Bryne) through the Aes Sedai camp? I could barely remember who half of the people she encountered were, nor why I should care****
* Well, since Path of Daggers it's just been my Wheel of time read.
** I mean, it's not that surprising a revelation to anyone whose, oh, SEEN THE COVER OF THE GATHERING STORM, (and people on the internet claim this was well foreshadowed.) All I really have to say to that is, "I never thought I'd miss a hand so much." (Pic related)
*** On the other hand, I did like the kind of awful conclusion to the Faile-Rolan storyline. It's gruesome, inevitable, and heartbreakingly sad.
**** Turns out for most of them, I probably shouldn't.
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