Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
*Spoilers for books 1-5*
Lord of Chaos is another solid installment in the Wheel of Time saga. Definitely solid, at roughly 1000 pages! I'm happy to report that the women are not at each others' throats throughout the entire book. Now that Elayne and Nynaeve are back as Accepted in Salidar - no longer in charge of themselves - they actually begin to train and learn again. Nynaeve works on her block (reluctantly) and continues her healing studies (we find she has another goal besides revenge in becoming Aes Sedai!), and Elayne works with ter'angreal and teaches novices. That's not to say that Nynaeve isn't still... Nynaeve, but at least her personality is not the sole focus in this book.
Unfortunately, Egwene is absent for at least the first half, since she can't enter the World of Dreams after being injured in the battle with Lanfear. Once she returns, I continue to like her story best. She's still one of my favorite characters overall. In this book, she finds her honor with the Aiel and sets down another challenging path. Out of all the women in this book, Egwene is one of the ones who is actually strong, not just bossy.
Mat is present in this book, sent on a mission with his Band of the Red Hand - although his storyline definitely stalls before finally taking a completely new turn. Perrin does finally make his way back in the last third, although he is mainly struggling to understand his wife and avoid being considered a Lord by the Two Rivers folk, before showing himself to be ta'veren as much as Mat and Rand. I'm glad he's back, though - Perrin is another one of my favorites.
Rand Travels between Caemlyn and Cairhien, trying to manage all the women in his life from Wise Ones to Aes Sedai, to Aviendha and Min. It's a lot of political maneuvering, there are a lot of threads (women!) to keep track of, and Sammael seems to be a target that no one is in a rush to move towards. Meanwhile, the Dark One is setting new plans in motion that his own Chosen don't even know about, introducing new threats (Shaidar Haran, Osan'gar, Aran'gar) shaking up the game and causing chaos.
It is true, the series is starting to slow at this point - but it's not bogged down - yet. The level of detail is increasing, and partly that means that the story jumps to minor characters periodically (Whitecloaks, Black Ajah, Morgase, Elaida, the Shaido, various Forsaken, etc.). Although these snapshots add insight to what's happening all across the tapestry, I do find myself feeling it interrupts the flow of the main story, which I'm engrossed in until I'm snatched out of it to view a small thread on the other side. It's almost like having 50 pages of prologue tossed in every 300 pages.
The action is still strong enough that it's a small complaint, and ultimately doesn't detract from my enjoyment of this book. There are plenty of surprises and turns to keep it moving, for me anyway. It's involved, there are many strands to keep track of, lots of hints to stay guessing about, and it's wonderfully broad yet absorbing. And the ending is definitely climactic. This is one of the last really good ones in the series for a while, so savor it!
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