Rating:  -
After the last three books, where everyone embarks on a long journey for their own reasons and end up in the same place, this one is mildly surprising for breaking that mold, and having everyone embark on a long journey for their own reasons and ending up across the world from each other.
Rand travels to the desert to recruit what he views as his promised people, the tribal Aiel. Mat goes with him, and obtains some neat little items and a scar. The Aiel Wise Ones, a group of matriarchs, are introduced here. Unfortunately, rather than making them an interesting counterpoint to the manipulative Aes Sedai, Jordan prefers to just make them a grittier version of the same. Egwene also tags along, and is apprenticed, after a fashion, to the Wise Ones to learn about dreamwalking.
Perrin travels to the Two Rivers to ward off various threats to his hometown. On the way, he is involved in an inane subplot involving Faile's commandeering of the expedition as revenge for him (completely understandable) trying to protect her. Frankly, Perrin deserves better than to be caught up in that kind of adolescent crap. I kept expecting Loial to wash his hands of the whole affair and leave for the stedding. Once they arrive in Emond's Field and surroundings, the stupidity tapers off and Perrin leads the defense against both Trolloc hordes and insidious Whitecloak plots.
Elayne and Nynaeve embark for Tanchico, to combat a Black Ajah plot to attack Rand. On the way, they are assisted by the Sea Folk of porcelainware fame. This first glimpse of the Sea Folk is interesting, and hints that their women may not be as arrogant or domineering as they are seemingly everywhere else (this notion will be nicely disposed of later, but it's nice while it lasts). In Tanchico, our heroes meet a new Forsaken and guerilla strike the Black Ajah.
Overall, this book maintains the inertia of the series while developing along different lines than the previous three. Tarmon Gai'don is still in sight (though no one seems very concerned about it), and the characters still seem focused on that fact. There is a sense that the story is starting to get away from the author though. Several new elements are introduced without being clearly tied into the main story. Still, fans of the series won't be disappointed.
Rating:  -
The fourth book of WoT series, its better than previous three.
But still its not as good as others are claiming it to be. First of all, I want to know what the hell was Rand's Masterplan?? In the entire book, Rand and others act as though he has come out with an ultimate plan to defeat the enemies. But when the climax happens the plan is never mentioned by anybody. And I think its the tradition of WoT series that everytime the villians are explained as very strong, cunning and powerful, but when they confronts with Rand, they are so easily won over as though they were waiting for him only to screw them up. The females...... more female characters are introduced and they doesnt show any kind of difference from previous female characters, all are rude and ignorant. Even the Aeil woman are annoying.
I'm saying again, dont bother to go for this series.
Rating: -
Join Rand, Mat, and Egwene on their journey to the waste and follow them in learning who they were and what their role is in life. Join Nynaeve and Elayne in Tanchico and follow them in their pursuit of the black ajah. Go to Edmond's field with Perrin and save the Two Rivers from the wild beasts known as trollocs. See a turn of power in the White Tower and read Jordan's best book yet.
I liked this book a lot. It had a lot of action and more surprises than you can count. I disliked how much drama Jordan put in the book, though.
This is a magical, adventurous, and long book. I would recommend this book to people who love magic, battles, and people who will read big, long books.
Rating:  -
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This of course is the 4th book in the Wheel of Time Series, which at the time of this writing, has 11 books (+1 prequel and an encyclopedia). As with the other books of the series, I will rate and review this book on its own merits instead of allowing any shortcomings in other books to mar this one.
After the major events of the previous book (The Dragon Reborn), Rand, "the" main character (among many "main" characters) must now decide what to do next while other major political and powerful entities react themselves to those same events. At this point, Intrigue begins to play a more major role in the story, but not at the expense of some very well portrayed battles. Once Rand makes his decision, he then endeavors to pursue it until it comes to a resolution one way or another. Because of this, I feel it's fair to say that this book had a clear cut beginning and clear cut ending, qualifying it as a stand alone book despite the fact that quite a few things wouldn't make sense to someone who hasn't read the first three books. The story isn't all about Rand though. There are other side stories as the other main characters pursue other objectives. The best of these is Perrin's. Nynaeve and Elayne also pursue an important quest. This book also provides a greater understanding of the Aiel and the Aiel history. The book ends with a couple of great battles, one of which was the funnest to read about at this point in the series.
What I liked:
*Great Battles! Even the smaller ones have great importance in the over all scheme of things. They're not just thrown in for filler.
*Better understanding of the Aiel.
*Political Intrigue. I find that as fascinating as good action and battles!
*Rand doing what he feels is best and not necessarily what is popular. Not enough people like that in the real world! That's not to say that Rand is always right, mind you.
*Perrin's "coming of age".
*Even Faile, a character I don't particularly like, gained some respect in my eyes in this battle.
*More laughing out loud moments due to Mat.
*Moghedien's entrance
What I didn't like:
*Though she gained some respect in my eyes, Faile is still quite irritating at times.
*Nynaeve and Elayne's quest, though important to the story and at times exciting, is a bit tedious at times. Their constant snippishness gets tiresome as well.
*The history of the Aiel was a bit long winded. The main points probably could have gotten across with more brevity without losing much if anything. I've reread the whole series multiple times but I always find myself having to skip over this part of this book.
In Summary:
Despite those minuses, it's still a great book. I can't bring myself to punish a book just because I don't like some of the characters (in real life I don't like all the people I've met after all, but I still work and interact with them). I don't mind the pace of a story slowing down, if the information that is provided is relevant and leads to an exciting conclusion and that's what this book provided. For that, I give this book 4.5 stars. Since amazon doesn't accomodate fractions of stars I had to either round down to 4 or up to 5. Since some people who have read the whole series are allowing there opinions of later books to affect the rating they give this single book, I feel no guilt in choosing to round up to 5 stars to offset one of those silly people (If they hate the series so much, why do they keep reading it?).
Rating: -
If you love the Wheel of Time series books, these audio CD's are a compliment to the books. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading do a terrific job reading this complex story.
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