Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time): 11/12 (The Wheel of Time, 11)

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Robert Jordan's last entry in his epic Wheel of Time series was one of the best books in the whole series. It had none of the pacing issues that have troubled the previous three to four instalments. The result was we got a WoT book with all the normal good stuff plus a ton of major plot advancements. Right from the prologue this was a fun and engaging read!

After 3 books that went basically nowhere with miniscule plot development FINALLY and I mean FINALLY the story took off and things HAPPENEDThis was after another "evil" character, in this same book, was separately doomed to a life of slavery and physical torture with no hope of escape. This was also presented to the reader as a just comeuppance. The Wheel of Time [is] rapidly becoming the definitive American fantasy saga. It is a fantasy tale seldom equaled and still less often surpassed in English.” — Chicago Sun-Times The dead are walking, men die impossible deaths, and it seems as though reality itself has become unstable: All are signs of the imminence of Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, when Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, must confront the Dark One as humanity's only hope. But Rand dares not fight until he possesses all the surviving seals on the Dark One's prison and has dealt with the Seanchan, who threaten to overrun all nations this side of the Aryth Ocean and increasingly seem too entrenched to be fought off. But his attempt to make a truce with the Seanchan is shadowed by treachery that may cost him everything. Whatever the price, though, he must have that truce. And he faces other dangers. Nynaeve: Well, sh*t, I continue to love Nynaeve ti al’Meara Mandragoran. She has one POV in this book, and it’s not even a full chapter, but god, is it brilliant. This is character respected, like she annoyed me here and there but never quite hated her. I did dislike her attitude toward Mat in LoC, but it’s evident from PoD onwards that she does care for him. Even if she was being obnoxious about it. I liked her arc in FoH, which I can tell is polarising for some folks, but it explored her trauma quite well. But yeah, from CoS onwards, I started loving her much more, especially during Winter's Heart, and without any hesitation, joined Rand on his mission, which seems like a suicide mission. And her affection and care for the people close to her are very much felt. But yeah, in this chapter in particular, she was quite sweet. I even liked the romantic aspects with her and Lan, it was quite cute. I do think the set-up for Lan and her relationship is terrible, but being married was the best thing that happened to Nynaeve. I loved her with her conversations here, her affection for helping Rand in his POVs, etc. Despite all her powers, at her core, she is still the Wisdom who wants to take care of her people (and loved ones).

Jordan’s writing is so amazing! The characterization, the attention to detail!” —Clint McElroy, co-creator of the #1 podcast The Adventure Zone It is nearly dawn in Ebou Dar after a sleepless night. Suroth wonders if Tuon is alive or dead; she has been missing for seventeen days. She thinks she is dead because the escape of the Atha'an Miere damane and the death of Tylin occurred on the same night Tuon disappeared. Two of her own sul'dam, Renna and Seta, disappeared at the same time, and Egeanin Tamarath stole a pair of damane and also disappeared. Someone is trying to disrupt the Return. If Tuon is, indeed, dead, Suroth will have to apologize to the Empress. She decides that she will kill herself before reaching Seandar if it comes to that. Tuon's der'sul'dam left nine days ago with all her sul'dam and damane. Captain Musenge left at the same time with many of his men. They have been gone too long for a simple training exercise, so Suroth thinks they are searching for Tuon. She worries that someone may suspect she is Atha'an Shadar, a Darkfriend. Egwene actually doing something useful. Sure she had to get captured and put in the white tower to do it but finally her story arc is way more interesting.Nynaeve: She only made a tiny appearance but it was a memorable one. I think I'm finally warming to her relationship with Lan and I definitely enjoyed how things progressed for the pair in this one. Knife of Dreams is truly an oddity. I think it’s a book split into two parts, with some featuring the best moments in the series and others featuring good moments but dragged on to the point where certain moments lost their impact. It’s also tougher to evaluate after the disaster that was Book 10 (and large sections of Books 8-9). The shortcomings of the series are still on full display, yet by the same token, so are the brilliant high points. If there’s one thing, I can concretely say I’m glad this was the conclusion for the many plot threads that remained pending in the series. It’s definitely a part of my top 4 (Books 4–6) of the series. In this review, I will describe the mostly good, some missed potential, and the bad. He offers her wine, but she tells him she has several more towns to visit before returning to Tear that day. Aldragoran marvels as she leaves, and turns to the rest of the common room, who had all been listening in, and demands of the other two Malkieri there: Don’t make me have to keep reminding you about manners, boy.” Cadsuane went on. “Alanna told me the terms you offered before she left – Darlin as Steward, your laws kept, everything else on the table – and it seems they’ve been met. You can do as you wish, of course, but another piece of advice. When the terms you offer are accepted, hold to them.” Galad confronts Eamon Valda, the leader of the Whitecloaks, for allegedly killing his stepmother Queen Morgase of Andor. Galad kills Valda in a duel and in the process becomes the leader of the Whitecloaks. He then decides to pledge his newfound following to the defeat of the Dark One at Tarmon Gai'don regardless of who the Whitecloaks must fight alongside.

Weiramon: Okay, so my memory of ToM is not as clear as it could be, but I do remember (I think) that we found out in it that Weiramon was, actually, a Darkfriend. Which is a tad egg-on-face for me, since I’ve been espousing since the man was introduced that he was not a Darkfriend, and that sometimes an incompetent pompous moron is just an incompetent pompous moron, when in fact he was actually a cigar. Um, or something. Mat reunites with Talmanes and an even larger and better equipped Band of the Red Hand. Together they launch a campaign of guerilla warfare against the Seanchan army sent by Suroth to murder Tuon. They are found by Furyk Karede, who takes over protection of Tuon and gives Mat intelligence to destroy the Seanchan force. Before returning and assuming power in Ebou Dar, Tuon completes the marriage ceremony with Mat, making him the Prince of Ravens.

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At the end of this, Robert Jordan's last book published during his lifetime, three million words into an iconic series, beloved by tens of millions of readers around the world, after delivering us a dozen tomes in fifteen years, I just have to say: