The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time #4)

Hey guys!
I’m ever so slowly making my way through the Wheel of Time series (sooo many books and soooo many pages!). I’ve finally finished novel #4, so only another 10 to go!

The Shadow Rising on Goodreads

The Plot:

The seals of Shayol Ghul are weak now, and the Dark One reaches out. The Shadow is rising to cover humankind.

In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn…..

The Rating:

Another day another Wheel of Time review. And another comparison my brain made that nobody asked for. But we’ll get to that in a second. Beforehand, let’s talk about the book in general.

We’ve reached a point where several characters branched off into their own pretty significant storylines. This has been the case before, but I feel like now the separate bits of the story have become bigger than ever. For example, what Nyneave and Elayne are up to could easily be a book series of its own, it certainly provides enough material. This also means that you’ll have to keep a lot of different stuff straight in your head. I mean, I did expect that considering how freaking long the series is but not getting confused and remembering all the characters does involve some admin in my brain. In fact, there is so much going on that sometimes I completely forget about certain characters or storylines until the book circles back to them. Oopsie.

Overall, I really enjoy Robert Jordan’s world-building. What he created is so intriguing and I appreciate that to some degree in this book we learn a bit more about the past. I kinda wish we’d already heard more about the age of legends, but I understand that we aren’t supposed to know more than the protagonists. I can’t help being curious though! As usual, this novel comes with some pretty hefty plot twists and for every question it answers and leaves another five open. I guess there is a reason why there are so many books. What I have to say, though, is that at this point some bits of the story start feeling a little more far-fetched if not to say flimsier than in the past. However, this is just a tiny complaint, because in comparison to other stuff I’ve read it’s still essentially flawless in that regard.

I think the only actual complaint I have is about two specific characters: Nyneave and Elayne. While their storyline is great, their behavior and especially their attitudes are beginning to annoy me. Those two women need to get a grip ffs. I really hope that Jordan tunes their bs down a bit in the next books – so far, some serious eye-rolling was involved when I was reading those chapters!

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned another comparison my brain made while reading this – or rather after reading this. So, I watched the new Dune movie the other day and immediately noticed some similarities in the world-building. There are some striking resemblances in the Aeil and the desert folk, the fremen, on Dune! Both peoples are badass fighters. In both cases, their true abilities and lifestyle are hidden from the world. And in both instances water places a central role, there are some outlandish customs, and a different way to dress that takes some getting used to. Moreover, both in Wheel of Time and Dune it is when the prophesized one teams up with those peoples, that shit’s about to go down.
But it’s not just that. Literally, the part about a prophecy heralding a savior to come is very similar. Granted, these are hardly the only two book series to feature this trope, though. However, in both stories, the savior is dealing with some power that is more attributed to women. While in Dune it is because his mother taught Paul some Bene Gesserit tricks, in Wheel of Time it is because most men wielding the power are dead, going mad, or gentled. The One Power is definitely an Aies Sedai thing and people are scared of men with the power. 

Anyway, this is the kind of tangents my brain goes on when I’m trying to enjoy a book or a movie. Despite some tiny little complaints throughout The Shadow Rising I’m still very much on board with the Wheel of Time series – I hope that doesn’t change, I still have 10 books to go. So far, two thumbs up from me!

Did you read this book? Let me know in the comments what you think!

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