The Fires of Heaven (Wheel of Time (Tor Paperback)) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

That said, I won't comment much on the book itself (I've also written amazon reviews for the previous novels). The same usual stuff happens. Elayne and Nynaeve bicker like adolescents. Egwene and Rand bicker like adolescents. Mat chases women. Trollocs attack at will. There's a big final confrontation (gosh, I hope I'm not spoiling things) at the end. Jordan's juvenile obsession with female nudity and sexuality continues. In short, it's the same old, same old.

Rather, I feel like spewing out some thoughts on why this series has received so much attention. Why are there so many readers who can't make it through the first ten pages of The Lord of the Rings (yep, it's true, read through the Amazon comments to see how many readers place Jordan above Toliken) but who CAN make it through EIGHT books and nearly 7,000 pages of this series?

Fantasy is an ancient genre. There are elements of fantasy in the Bible, in Greek Mythology. In fact, it is impossible to date just how far back fantasy goes. Our more typical conception of fantasy (dragons, battles, elves, fairies, etc.) show up in Beowulf, the epic poem, The Faerie Queen, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Most recently, of course, in the 20th century, J.R.R. Tolkien (who, by the way, translated Gawain), Ursula LeGuin, and John Gardner (in his novel Grendel) have carried on the tradition. Sadly, though, this sense of tradition is what is missing from the Wheel of Time series. I really don't believe that Jordan is well aware of the broader tradition that he's writing in.

So what tradition IS Jordan writing in? I may be going out on a precarious limb here, but Jordan's novels seem to stem from the more modern, attention-deficit disordered, quasi-Advanced Dungeons and Dragons/Role Play-gaming tradition. The Wheel of Time is a like a PC RPG put in words. There's a loosely structured main theme (Rand must defeat the Dark One) and inbetween there's a bunch of side missions and marching to and fro (the equivalent of roaming around gathering experience points). Along the way certain characters, with this accumulation of experience, recieve added skills (the ability to channel or channel with newly learned powers (healing, calling wind, etc.), the ability to dreamwalk, the ability to plan battles (Mat), the ability to communicate with animals (Perrin)). Likewise, characters pick up useful items along the way (Mat's medallion and spear, Elayne's Terangreal, Rand's Terangreal). And like in RPG's, after accumulating enough experience, they're finally strong enough to defeat a decent enemy (Asmodean, Rahvin, Moghedian etc.). And what happens after this enemy is defeated? Well, the characters go back to wandering back and forth throughout the countryside, gaining more experience points so they can do battle with the next strong enemy. Eventually, of course, these characters will be strong enough to encounter that final enemy, The Dark One, and then, well, Game Over!

My problem is this: slowly going up levels and gaining experience points may be a lot of fun on a computer screen but it makes for BORING reading. Thus, I'll wrap up my long, long review with the following: there's something wrong when today's readers shun traditional, talented writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula LeGuin (who, in addition to being a sci-fi/fantasy writer, is also a published poet and writer of literary fiction) and turn to the thin, convoluted plots of writers like Jordan. Readers who claim that Jordan is the greatest fantasy writer of all time simply don't appreciate strong, capable writing and manageable plots; instead, many of today's readers (when they can tear themselves away from Baldur's Gate or Everquest) cast the quality of the story and the quality of the writing aside in lieu of countless numbers of battles, myriad subplots and mindless wanderings back and forth across that silly Wheel of Time Map. When will the Wheel of Time series eventually end? I honestly don't know, but it seems Rand, Mat, Perrin, Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve still have thousands more pages of experience points to acquire!

Prior to this book, we knew little about Elayne. Sure, she's a spoiled brat. She's also delightfully spunky and adventurous, and she too is learning how to deal with smart, energetic people like Thom Merrilin in a way that will help her become a ruler. Nynaeve has a ton of conflicts gnawing at her - her relationship with Lan, her feelings about Aes Sedai and Moiraine, being challenged by Egwene, etc. The stable, quiet world in which she lived for 25 years has been replaced by a maelstrom of currents, and she's having a hard time coping. But, she's tough as nails and fierce as a tigress, and she's a heavyweight with the One Power. The scenes with her and Moghedien in the Royal Palace are absolutely riveting.

Mat continues his march to becoming my own favorite character. He would take the easy way out in every situation, but The Wheel won't let him. He is a reluctant hero at best. We see his powers growing in stages, and at each stage he surprises with his capability. Rand sees it too, and tests it and exploits it as he can. The scenes in the battle with the Shaido are gripping.

As far as the general relations between men and women - hey, that's pretty much on target. That's why that other book about Mars and Venus was an all-time best seller. Let me introduce you to my half-dozen sisters-in-law sometime. They make Aes Sedai look like Brownies.

Anyway, by the time this book is ended, all sorts of momentous and exciting things have happened. It's a delightful, exciting building block in this epic series. Finally, keep in mind two things. First, only about two years have passed since Rand and gang, who except for Nynaeve were all teenagers, were routed out of the Two Rivers at the start of the series. The character changes they show seem reasonable to me. Second, those who suppose that Jordan is dragging this out to extort more money out of us: think a minute. Think about placing yourself behind a typewriter 8 to 12 hours a day, day in and day out, for YEARS on end. Think about devoting your life to pleasing all sorts of unappreciative people - for however long it takes to finish the stories. I'll be happy to pay $25 or whatever pittance he asks each year or two for as long as it takes to resolve this great story.