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A review by bookish_dad
The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
5.0
The Shadow Rising is the fourth novel in the Wheel of Time series, following the events of the climatic third book which has seemingly killed the Dark One's strongest Forsaken as well as resulted in the crowning of Rand the Dragon Reborn.
The book expands on the character of Aviendha. Jordan is not subtle in his foreshadowing of a marriage between Rand, her, Elayne, and Min. Aviendha's relationship with Rand is complicated by her extremely strong females for Elayne which, while not intended by Jordan, could easily be subjected to a queer reading. The interactions between them get a bit on the monotonous and repetitive side.
The book provides us with a lot more insight into Aiel culture as well as the events surrounding the Breaking of the World. While I, initially, was a little nonplussed by the insertion of post-apocalyptic imagery into the otherwise feel-good series, I came to like how it highlighted how so much of the past had been forgotten. Discovering the Aiel had been a very-very different sort of people worked well to illustrate that. Rand's arrival brings the possibility of them learning from their forgotten past as well as the change promised by a tradition-bound culture which discovers most of their ideals are based on lies.
The book expands on the character of Aviendha. Jordan is not subtle in his foreshadowing of a marriage between Rand, her, Elayne, and Min. Aviendha's relationship with Rand is complicated by her extremely strong females for Elayne which, while not intended by Jordan, could easily be subjected to a queer reading. The interactions between them get a bit on the monotonous and repetitive side.
The book provides us with a lot more insight into Aiel culture as well as the events surrounding the Breaking of the World. While I, initially, was a little nonplussed by the insertion of post-apocalyptic imagery into the otherwise feel-good series, I came to like how it highlighted how so much of the past had been forgotten. Discovering the Aiel had been a very-very different sort of people worked well to illustrate that. Rand's arrival brings the possibility of them learning from their forgotten past as well as the change promised by a tradition-bound culture which discovers most of their ideals are based on lies.