Reviews

Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

Only show reviews with written explanations

rubiscodisco's review against another edition

3.0

Somehow less insufferable than the previous one even though the shonen anime style patronizing sexism is still there. Unfortunately, this one doesn't have a whole lot of action or sense of motion to the story at all.

bigbookslilreads's review against another edition

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3.0

A 1000-page book where, like a lot of Jordan's Wheel of Time series so far, barely anything happens.
The reason I give this 3 stars instead of 2 is because at least the telenovela or soap opera kind of moments were limited to a small portion of this book, and did not feature that prominently. Or maybe I'm now zoning out in those moments. Maybe it also helped that the women were not very present in this book, if I dare to say! Indeed, I wish they had been in it even less - especially Faile, who it seems like Jordan only showed in this book out of obligation and made her look even worse than before if that was even possible!

One of Jordan's faults in this series is that he often tells rather than shows. It was very difficult to keep myself interested when that was the case, especially when the scene was not that interesting to begin with. A lot of this book is just people meeting, talking, or thinking about inconsequential things, and there is really not much that feels like is moving these characters forward. The ending was a bit of a saving grace to this one, and even so, I don't think it makes up for the other 90% of the book (and the series so far, let's be honest).

At this stage, I find myself thinking that the first book had a lot of potential in terms of world-building that has pretty much not been used. Yeah, there are some developments in terms of factions, but the actual magic and world-building just seem quite static, and it could've been integrated (at least!) in a better way.

Spoiler

For example the fact this is supposed to be post-apocalyptic in a way, and after this great civilisation... it hasn't really made a difference at all

I find myself just thinking that the Aes Sedai are pathetic and not taking them seriously at all, when the opposite should be the case. I see Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne and just think that they are quite subpar representatives of what these supposedly powerful, cold, poised and calculating women should be. Sure, they are initiates, but... come on. The same thing goes for all the male characters, who are supposedly great leaders and just keep getting pushed around by these women. You can tell me that's the point, but frankly, it doesn't seem like a good way to build characters and make them at all interesting, just bratty.

My main takeaway so far, nearly at the halfway point, is that I no longer trust the reviews of anyone who has this as a favourite series of theirs. I'm starting to think the TV show maybe was right in deciding to change everything.

---
I realised that I should somehow justify why I give this 3 stars and not less. It is actually better than the recent instalments in the series in that it is not so teenage-drama heavy. The little nuggets of character development, namely from Rand, Egwene, Min, Mat and Perrin actually were nice to read. The ending was also interesting in terms of repercussions going forward. I think though the last 3 books could've probably been condensed into just one, leading to a far better story.

jessena's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

4.0

isabellarobinson7's review against another edition

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5.0

Third read: 11/05/23 - 08/06/23

Rating: (obviously still) 5 stars

Oh, this book is great. Just incredible. I won't bother writing heaps about it because I already have (twice) but now I am wondering whether Lord of Chaos should be higher on my overall series ranking. Though, I think that after rereading any and all WoT books, so I wouldn't read too much into that if I were you.

Second read: 03/09/20 - 09/09/20

Rating: (still) 5 stars

WOW. I remember the ending of Lord of Chaos being good, but I forgot just how good! I knew Dumai's Wells was an awesome battle, but I underestimated its level of awesomeness. This may be because when I first read Lord of Chaos, in April of this year, we were in full-fledged lockdown (NZ came out earlier than the rest of the world seems to have) and so I likely didn't take everything in. Also, it may just simply because you pick up more details on a reread, but I digress. I just love all the political implications of Dumai's Wells, with how it effects the entire world's view of channeling, and what can really be accomplished with the One Power when utilised to its full potential. Ahhhhhh it's just so good. (The rest of the book is also great, and I defend its greatness in my original review.)

First read: 12/04/20 - 19/04/20

Rating: 5 stars

Rules I set up for myself going into The Wheel of Time ~~but ended up almost entirely throwing out the window~~:
1. Take your time through each book, because you will become burnt out in the middle of the series if you go to fast.
2. Take breaks between each book.
3. Read other books as well; don't let this one series completely take over your entire reading life.
4. Read either the audiobook or the physical/ebook at a time (i.e. consume the series through one medium, while reading a different book through the other).
5. Don't give every book five stars because it was amazing in your eyes but had obvious flaws that you ignored.
6. Don't blabber non-stop to your family about it, because they have enough of your obsessions to keep track of.
7. Don't add any of the books into your favourites list until you finish the series (you know what happened the last time you did that).
8. Robert Jordan is not your favourite author until you have finished the series.
9. Do not purchase any of the books in the series until you have 100% completed it (because again, remember what happened last time).

Rules one through four lasted until about half way through book three (The Dragon Reborn). Ever since then I have been steam rolling through these books, one after the other, using audiobooks, ebooks, and physical books alike and essentially neglecting any other novels. Rule five has slowly been broken more and more by each book I finish, and come on, rule six is the least reasonable out of them all (because nothing can stop me from talking uninterested people's ears off about books). I failed rule seven when I added The Shadow Rising (book four) to my all time favourites list, and I broke rule eight around the same time. The only rule I have managed to still uphold is rule nine, but that is primarily a result of the covid-19 lockdown preventing me from purchasing any more books, so it doesn't really count. Because as soon as I am allowed out, you can bet I'll be buying all the books. [Edit 04/05/20: nearly a month later, I caved and bought books 12 through 14 today, and I am only in the middle of book 9. Well, I knew it was a matter of when and not if.]

(Ok actual review starting now)

So, Lord of Chaos was definitely slower than the previous books, but I am not mad about it. Honestly, Robert Jordan could write about people walking aimlessly around in his world and I would be impressed. I will admit Lord of Chaos took a little bit to get going, but the first sections were far from pointless. So much happened in the slower sections of Lord of Chaos! (major events hidden in spoiler tags)

Spoiler

Egwene became freaking Amyrlin! Nynaeve healed stilling/gentling!

Rand did some cool Dragon Reborn-y stuff! Elayne only pined over Rand a little bit!

Spoiler

Perrin finally met back up with Rand (after what, three books?)! And Mat met up with Egwene and Nynaeve for the first time since being truly healed of his dagger thingy!

Lots of stuff! Excitement! Wow! I will defend the first portion of Lord of Chaos until I die!!!!!!

Lord of Chaos saw some of the biggest changes in Rand's character since... well, ever. He really became a leader, which he absolutely needed to become, but he often sacrificed his own self identity for the sake of his duty. And that's not even taking into account his health mentally. As Rand gains political power, with more and more people coming under his command, he also increases in physical power through his channelling abilities. Simultaneously, his sanity degrades - Lews Therin is having an identity crisis in Rand's head as he tries to battle with the taint on saidin. The guy's got a lot going on.

But this dynamic that is being formed around Rand is just so strange. I thought I would be used to it by now; I thought it would make sense. I was fully prepared to go along with it once I adjusted, but I can't. It's just too strange. And I get he's a ta'veran, and an extremely strong one too, and that he inevitably would be drastically changing the lives of those around him, but I don't care it's weird and I really hope it becomes normal soon.

I like the direction at Elayne went in during Lord of Chaos. She resisted the pull, if you will, of Rand. When Elayne learned that Min was going to Rand and instead of her, she did get jealous and I was worried it was going to be an entire book of Elayne cursing Min because Min gets to go with Rand and not Elayne but it wasn't. Elayne did grow up (who knew, right?). At one point, Nynaeve asked Elayne whether they should go to see Rand, and Elayne said no, because she knew she was most useful with the rebel Aes Sedai, and she really showed a growing maturity when she said this.

I really liked Mat in this book as well. You get to see more of him in action,

Spoiler

even though I was slightly disappointed that he didn't turn up at the end in the final battle.

The whole thing with the Band of the Red Hand band was great, because it has provided him with what I hoped would eventually be given to his character - a purpose. Especially in regards to Rand.

Spoiler

The scene where Mat finds out Egwene is the new Amyrlin Seat was just priceless.

When I was reading that chapter, my brother was (re)watching Batman vs. Superman in the same room (for ironic purposes; he was talking about stuff completely throughout that he may as well have not been watching the movie) and I had to leave the room because Superman was dying and I was snorting in amusement in the background. I loved that part of the book so much.

While my opinion regarding the first half of Lord of Chaos still stands, (it's amazing and you can't convince me otherwise) I would have to be utterly stupid to not recognise the brilliance of the end sequence. Not only is Rand held prisoner in a box, he's also going crazy talking to Lews Therin in his head, and being tortured regularly. And Min is also stuck with him, and is also being tortured to hurt Rand. Then the male channellers, the Asha'man, who have become killing machines under Marzrim Taim's control, turn up to free Min and Rand and it quickly turns pretty brutal. I felt for Min at that point, when she was just completely shocked by the fact that she was technically saved, but seeing all the carnage that was going on around her. Watching these people slaughtering others in cold blood and coming to realise that these guys are actually on her side. That would be very strange thing to get used to.

Lord of Chaos was amazing and wonderful. Every single chapter felt thought through, with all the recapping Jordan gave to the reader (a real help, I imagine, for people going through the series at a slower pace) and the development of characters. If Lord of Chaos is meant to give me a taste of what the slog feels like, then it may not be so bad after all.