Review : The Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

Title : Lord of Chaos Author : Robert Jordan Reading Dates : 24 Jan 2012 - 29 Jan 2012 Total Pages :987
The Wheel of Time The Eye of the World The Great Hunt The Dragon Reborn The Shadow Rising The Fires of Heaven Lord of Chaos A Crown of Swords The Path of Daggers Winter's Heart Crossroads of Twilight Knife of Dreams The Gathering Storm Towers of Midnight
From Amazon : In this sequel to the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Fires of Heaven, we plunge again into Robert Jordan's extraordinarily rich, totally unforgettable world: On the slopes of Shayol Ghul, the Myrddraal swords are forged, and the sky is not the sky of this world; In Salidar the White Tower in exile prepares an embassy to Caemlyn, where Rand Al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, holds the throne--and where an unexpected visitor may change the world.... In Emond's Field, Perrin Goldeneyes, Lord of the Two Rivers, feels the pull of ta'veren to ta'veren and prepares to march.... Morgase of Caemlyn finds a most unexpected, and quite unwelcome, ally....And south lies Illian, where Sammael holds sway....

Book Review of Lord of Chaos.

As the title suggests, Lord of Chaos ups the tension in The Wheel of Time. The Dark Lord has begun to move even if we aren’t able to figure out his plans yet. And Rand finds himself balancing numerous factions which are either openly or secretly hostile to him. Really, even though this is not my first time reading Lord of Chaos, I couldn’t put the book down for wondering when all those balls Rand was juggling would collapse. Especially, as there are very few friends left which he can wholly trust.

Egwene too faces similar difficulties as Rand and she should have my sympathies, but once again I merely found her methods exasperating. While I enjoyed reading how she handled the other Aes Sedai, turn and turn about being fair and all, I found her decisions regarding Mat arbitrary and exasperating. It is no wonder the men in the world of the Wheel of Time do not want to deal with the women. She doesn’t even bother to ask his or Rand’s reasons, simply deciding that whatever foolish plan they have in mind couldn’t rival her needs.

It is really funny since I would expect myself to side with the women against the men. Yet, often I think that all the female characters need be taught a lesson. Without their interference, certain issues would probably have been resolved sooner or perhaps not even been raised. It is not that there aren’t times when I believe them to be right. It is just that their views makes them insufferable and hard to live with most of the time.

Still, Lord of Chaos has one of my favorite endings in the Wheel of Time series.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? Definitely.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Yes.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Yes.
• Who would I recommend this too? All fantasy readers.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Buy it. The series is a keeper.

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Challenges : 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge; Tea & Books Reading Challenge