FINISHED KNIFE OF DREAMS!!!! ALL CAUGHT UP GUYS!!
Great! Now head on over to
the Wheel of Time FAQ and read some more.
Oh, and make a note about November 3rd, the release date of The Gathering Storm. Just a little over four months away.
-Surprisingly, I thought Egwene's story was the most compelling in this book. Usually it would be Mat or Rand where the action is. But her imprisonment in the White Tower was written so well. Her endless beatings at the hands of Silviana while still maintaining her dignity and claim to the Amyrlin Seat have shown how far her character has come. The subtle ways she sows dissent among the Aes Sedai. Jordan did a good job of showing how effective her methods were. How some Aes Sedai would get mad outright at the things she said, implying they agreed even if they wouldn't say it out loud. Egwene is slowly planting seeds here and there about how unstable an Amyrlin Elaida is.
Great scene. It amazes me on review just how short it is when my memory keeps insisting on it being such a huge part of the book. Just goes to show how well written it was and how much of an impression it left. It's a tossup which of Egwene and Mat is my favorite character in this book, and this sequence is why. I'm sure you'll be glad to know that the short blurb about TGS on the JordanCon program (also available a few other places, I think) gives Egwene quite a prominent focus.
The only thing I don't get is that Beonin (who betrayed Egwene in the first place) told Elaida about Egwene's ability to communicate with the rebels via her dreams. Why hasn't Elaida done anything about this??
Because she can't. Really, what can you do to stop an ability that requires nothing more than sleeping to use without completely giving up on trying to force her into the Novice role? There might be a ter'angreal somewhere in the Tower's stockpile that would do the trick, but no Aes Sedai has any clue which one or how it might work.
-Mat and Tuon's relationship finally progressed....she completed the marriage ceremony!! Well, that was at the end but it's still a big deal lol. Mat and his Red Band army where battling Seanchan sent to kill Tuon throughout the book and eventually got help from the leader of the Deathwatch Guards. (Why would the Seanchan army have orders to kill Tuon but not the Deathwatch Guards??)
The Seanchan army would never accept an order to kill Tuon if they knew who their target really was. They are given a description and offered a reward, but are lied to about the identity of their target. That would never work with the Deathwatch Guard, though, because they all know Tuon by sight.
Anyways, Tuon agrees to go with the DW guards for her safety and splits ways with Mat after completing the marriage ceremony. I don't really understand Tuon that much. She is more appealing in this book, and I've enjoyed the couple of chapters that were from her viewpoint, but I still just don't GET her. She has no problem watching Mat's army slaughter Seanchan with arrows. Aren't these her people??
The bulk of the force that's really after her is all recruits from conquered mainland areas, not actual Seanchan soldiers. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if high ranking Seanchan nobles consider rank and file soldiers to be little more than expendable assets.
- Thom finally let Mat read his letter from Moiraine and HOLY CRAP!!! She's alive!! I guess she's prisoner (?) to the Finn's and only Thom, Mat, and one other person (I think it might be Noal) can save her but only if they themselves go. Otherwise she will die. This had my heart racing. I'd LOVE to have Moiraine back in the story. I've wanted to see her reaction to certain events for a long time since she "died." I want to see her meet Cadsuane. I want to see her reaction the the cleansing of saidin. What she thinks of Egwene as Amyrlin seat. Potential Thom/Moiraine romance?? So many things!!! I'd love to see other Aes Sedai's reactions to her being alive, as she is now legendary among Aes Sedai for killing TWO Forsaken herself. This is one plot thread I will eagerly be awaiting.
Yes, wonderful news, long anticipated by many theorists (see
section 2.2.6 of the WOTFAQ). Unfortunately, we will probably have to wait another year to see this one resolved.
- Elayne gained the throne FINALLY!!!!! Once again Elayne's story kind of bogged down the book until the end. When she went to battle the Black Ajah and was captured was when Elayne became interesting again. Birgitte's rescue and subsequent battle was very well written. Now they has a terengal that can make balefire and some of the Black Ajah are captured. Since they used a gateway to take so many soldiers outside the city, they march right back in afterwards behind Arymilla's soldiers and box them in and defeat them. Thus...finally....mother of God finally.....she attains the crown. All of the other nobles stand with her and give her their support. Here's to hoping that her storyline moves past the politics in the future books.
Brandon has mentioned that one character was already exactly where he or she needed to be for Tarmon Gai'don, and I think I've seen some reference to it being Elayne. If that's correct, she will mostly disappear for the next two books.
-I thought what Nyneave did to Lan was tricky, but her love for him made me understand it. Though, the more I thought of it, the more I didn't like it. He wants to go to Sheinar but Nyneave uses a gateway and leaves him at World's End in Saldea!!! Why?!? What if he is killed or gets lost?? She'd feel pretty bad!!
Lan Mandragoran. The Uncrowned King of Malkier. In the borderlands. Do you seriously think there is even the slightest chance he could possibly get lost or killed before he gets where he's going? I don't. He is not going to be in any serious danger until he gets to Tarwin's Gap and heads into the blight, and it's going to take him a long time to get there. Time, by the way, which will allow people to join him, make him safer, and give his mission a chance of actually accomplishing something. Remember way back in the Eye of the World when Agelmar says that if Lan ever raised the banner of the Golden Crane an entire army, tens of thousands strong, would spontaneously form around it from all the borderlanders coming to help him? Nynaeve is forcing him to do that and forcing him to take enough time that the army will be able to gather.
First off, the battle scene where all the Trollocas and Myrdrall descend on Rand in his palace was AWESOME. Lews Therin took saidin from him and began using battle weaves that we haven't seen before!! Like, gateways that go horizontal and slice through line of shadowspawn. I never thought of that!!
Actually, those are regular vertical gateways. They just move and keep opening and closing. It's a way to take advantage of the newly revealed fact that shadowspawn cannot survive going through a gateway.
When he goes to meet TDotNM he is ambushed. Turns out that it was actually Sermirhage in disguise. Her illusion flickered for one second revealing her to be fake, unfortunately Rand was unable to seize saidin in time and LOST HIS HAND for it!!!! Holy crap that sucks!! Unfortunately, I knew he lost him hand. The cover of Gathering Storm kinda spoiled it for me. At least I didn't know how. I totally didn't expect it to be Semirhage. She hasn't been very active throughout the books and all of a sudden she makes an attempt on Rand's life. (Why?? I thought Moridin told the Forsaken to only kill Mat and Perrin)
She was actually trying to capture him. Notice that she had several copies of both female and male a'dam ready to use, enough to put one on the neck of every channeler he brought regardless of what gender mix he chose. And, well, the Forsaken have never exactly been a very united lot or taken well to being ordered around.
Now, what you can look forward to in TGS:
Brandon revealed at JordanCon that there are four major simultaneous but separated plot arcs to go through before everyone gets back together for Tarmon Gai'don. Two of these, plus minor beginning stuff from the other two, will be in TGS. The other two, plus maybe a little extra stuff at the end of the first two, will be in whatever Shifting Winds gets renamed to. The final book, which will probably be titled A Memory of Light, will feature all the plot arcs rejoining and converging into the giant battle the entire series has been leading up to.
Judging by the short blurb on the JordanCon program, the two arcs in TGS will be Egwene in the Tower, and Rand trying to unite the nations and ally with the Seanchan. I'm pretty sure the rescue Moiraine expedition is major enough to be one of the other two primary plot arcs, so I doubt we're going to see that until next year, unfortunately.
Oh well, I'm sure there's plenty of awesomeness for all four plot arcs, and I'll be very happy about seeing Egwene take over the White Tower.
