The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, Book 4) (Wheel of Time, 4) Mass Market Paperback – October 15, 1993

As always, if I get the spellings of names and places wrong, just let me know. Don't flame, don't hate, just let me know. Thank you.As I wrote an extremely lengthy review for book two, but failed to write one for the equally mediocre book three, I will try to keep this one brief. Sorry if I’ve failed in that endeavor, but these are long books, and require long reviews. Up to this point The Wheel of Time has been a long disjointed disappointment, occasionally flashing me with brief glimpses of greatness such as the Seanchan plot line in book two, but as a whole has been one long wordy mess after another. I can only read so many chapters of long pointless descriptions strung together with horribly sexist female characters and the bland male counterparts who put up with them. Book three took a step in the right direction when it carted all the female characters off into their own plot line so I could skim over their parts. As far as I'm concerned the quality of these books is judged entirely on one thing: Mat/Perrin> Nynave/Egwene/Elayne. The more Mat and Perrin, and the less of those three wenches, the better the book. Simple.TSR starts as all Wheel books do, with an improbable and unbelievable attack by darkfriends. In this case, it’s a small army of Trollocs and Fades sneaking into the most powerful fortress in the world by hiding in barrels (yeah, barrels, You read that right) and nearly capturing the "most powerful fort in the world" for the second time in a week. Note to Jordan, if he wants me to think this Stone of Tear is so damn strong, don't make it so easy to take. Just saying. Upon the completion of the obligatory opening fight scene, Rand, Mat, and Egwene are off to the Aiel Waste to meet with the Wise Ones and hopefully raise an army while Perrin returns to Emonds Field to confront the Whitecloacks who've taken up residence there. Nynaeve /Elayne meanwhile travel to Tanchico to find the Black Ajah while Min- what little we see of her- returns to Tar Valon to help the Amyrlin Seat hunt down traitors in her midst.As I said, this book starts out like all of Jordan’s previous ones, but as page after endless page goes by (yeah, these books are way too long) the story started getting better. The further from Tear the characters traveled the better the story got. One of my all-time favorite moments in all the series takes place when Rand travels to a ruined city in the Waste and discovers the shocking truth behind the Aiel. Not since Nynaeve went through the Ter'Angreal in Tar Valon to become accepted has such an awe inspiring moment occurred (a true feat considering how long these books are). It’s truly amazing some of the backstory that went into this series. That chapter alone would earn this book at least a three even if the rest was nothing but Nynaeve tugging her braid. Not even Egwene manages to ruin it. She does make her usual annoying comments here and there, but Mat and Rand have grown accustomed to ignoring her. Good for them.Though Rand has always been the main character/Jesus figure in the series I've never really liked him. He's always come off to me as a leaf blowing about aimlessly with no real idea where he wants to go or how he would get there. People, circumstances, and simple madness tug him about and he goes along with it. TSR is the first book where he becomes a leader in his own right and starts take the story into his own hands. He even stops listening to the female characters, which in all honesty he should have done somewhere near the beginning of book two. Character growth isn't Jordan's strong suit, but at last he's decided to try.Perrins story, meanwhile, is easily my favorite. Even though it starts out pretty rough with his girlfriend Faile (the only female character I actually like) trying her best to make me unlike her, but once they get back to Emonds Field all her transgressions were quickly forgiven and I was treated to the best story arch of the entire series thus far. Trollocs and Whitecloacks infest The Two Rivers and it is up to Perrin and his merry band of plucky farm folk to fight them off. It’s a crime that we had to wait four books for an honest to God battle but we’ve finally gotten it, and it is glorious. OK, maybe the First Battle if Emonds Field wasn’t so great, but the skirmishes that proceeded it, and the siege that followed, were all grade A stuff. Not only that, but we finally see a worthwhile romantic relationship develop between the ONLY likeable-dare I say loveable- female character, Fail, and her hairy blacksmith Perrin. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have a female character I actually like. Before Fail came along I cringed every time a female in this series open her mouth. Now I only cringe when a female who isn’t Fail opens her mouth. PROGRESS.On a side note, TSR is the first book in the series to acknowledge that sex exists, and that it’s something young people might want to do. With each other. This isn’t A Song of Ice and Fire; there are few nude scenes and no sex scenes, but it really helps mature the series to at least admit sex is a thing. I half suspected people reproduced via cuddling.And then we get to the Tanchico subplot. There is a cancer in this series, a cancer eating away at its very soul. A disease that if not cut out will forever ruin any enjoyment this series might give me. I’m speaking of course about. Nynaeve, Nynaeve, Nynaeve, why is this woman still a main character? Why is she still hanging around, infecting good story lines with her crap? I swear if I have to listen to her whine and complain about how mull headed men are, or tug on her braid, or act out in that arrogant way she does, I’m going to start skipping over every chapter she appears in. I’m serious, I’m that sick of this woman. I’d take Joffery from Song of Ice and Fire over Nynaeve. That's how much I hate her. Wheelers, for the love of God, please tell me Jordan kills this woman off . I might have liked the Tanchico plot if not for her,even Elayne didn’t bother me TOO much. But my God people, did Jordan hate women or was he really just that out of touch?SPOILERBut for all the Nynaeve hate I’ve expressed, even I have to admit this book ended with a bang. From Perrins heroic last stand in the Second Battle of Emonds Field, to Rand outsmarting Lanfear, and even Nynaeve’s extremely epic magic battle with one of the Forsaken, its, dare I say, even better than the ending to book two. Hell, even Min, who only appears for a few brief chapters (well, at least what could be considered brief for a Wheel of Time book) has some really amazing moments that had me on the edge of my seat. The ending is what really gets this book a five star rating for me.In conclusion, I’m happy to see Wheel of Time finally, in my mind, drag itself out of mediocrity and become something truly great. The series as a whole may be less than stellar, but this book is amazing. Let’s hope the follow up, The Fires of Heaven, can live up to this one.

Loved it, can’t wait for the next book, listened to both audio and read it. I can’t wait for more

The Stone of Tear has fallen. Ishamael has been defeated by Rand. Be'lal has been balefired out of existence by Moraine. The Dragon has been reborn. So ended the previous book. Rand rules Tear but all across the world nations are at war and people are on the move. Now Rand must somehow learn to channel while all around him the Forsaken plot his downfall and others merely plot his death so the way things were can return.In The Shadow Rising, the protagonists of the series all find themselves in Tear for a brief interlude before they once again disperse. This seems to be one of the ways Jordan liked to write. Every so often the protagonists would come together before going off in small groups to different parts of the world. It made the narrative coherent for small bits of the book, but the dispersal mechanism allowed Jordan to explore his world building more. Not that I am complaining. The descriptions are informative, if overly verbose. Seriously, his editor should have done a better job. Still, the section on Tear is pretty good stuff. Trollocs. Battles. Kissing in corners. Not too many descriptions of dress materials. Lanfear makes an appearance and there is a lot of diplomatic maneuvering.Now Rand, Mat, Egwene, Moraine, and the Aiel head to Rhuidean via the portal stones. Rhuidean where Rand means to bind the Aiel to himself by proving that he is He Who Comes With the Dawn. Rhuidean where Mat must go or he will surely die. Rhuidean where Egwene will go to find answers from the Wise Ones about how she can become a dreamwalker. And Rhuidean where Moiraine will do what she must to ensure that Rand stays alive to face the Dark One. The parts of the book that take place in the Aiel Waste are some of my favorite of the entire series. In particular, Rand going through the ter'angreal that shows him his ancestors' past all the way to the boring of the hole during the Age of the Legends and the beginning of the Collapse. Those two chapters are probably my favorite of the entire series and the reason I give this book five stars. It is also here in the Aiel Waste that we learn about the customs and history of the Aiel. And what an interesting people, especially given the past. Here it is where we see Aviendha again (you met her in The Dragon Reborn). She is one of the new protagonists added to the series. Just be happy that there is really only one main protagonist added to the series here.I've purposely left out what happens to Mat and Egwene in the Waste because honestly, their plot lines are really not that important or that interesting. As per usual since The Great Hunt, Lanfear stalks Rand's dreams, wants him as her own, and plots to get him to be hers. New antagonists are introduced and the climax of the book occurs in Rhuidean against a Forsaken. And a chora tree gets hurt. Sadness.There are two other sections to the book. One finds us following Elayne, Nynaeve and Thom as they journey to Tanchico hunting for the Black Ajah. Forsaken in this plot line too - Moghedian. What does that mean to you? Nothing yet.The other plot line follows Perrin, Loial, and Faile in the Two Rivers where they journey to protect Perrin's home from Trollocs, Whitecloaks, and worse. It is here that Perrin transforms into one of the stronger leaders of the series. It is also here that Faile becomes even more annoying. How is that even possible when she was so annoying in The Dragon Reborn? You've been warned. Again.Oh and I suppose there is one tiny other section of note concerning Min, The White Tower and the Aes Sedai there. I suppose its important. ;)I've been keeping track of the sniffs in the book because Jordan has his women sniff way too much. Jordan does a lot of things way too much. For this book,Faile - IIIIINynaeve - IIIII IIEgwene - IIJorin - IMoiraine - IMarin al'Vere - IAdine - IBair - IMelaine - IILiandrin - IJeaine - IElayne - IILeane - IIRendra - ILanfear - IAnd for the four books so far,Nynaeve - IIIII IIIII IIIII IMoiraine - IIIII IIElayne - IIIII IIEgwene - IIIII IFaile - IIIIILeane - IIIIMin - IIElaida - IILiandrin - IILaras, Mistress of the Kitchens - IICook at Inn - IIMelaine - IIFemales in Crowd - IWoman in Fal Dara - ISuian Sanche (the Amyrlin) - ISelene - ISuroth - IBornhold - IWomen of Emonds Field - IVerin - ITavern Wenches at the Woman of Tanchico Inn - IAludra - IAilhuin - IJorin - IMarin al'Vere - IAdine - IBair - IJeaine - IRendra - ILooks like Nynaeve is clearly winning. I don't know if any of the others will overtake her.

I'm not sure why fantasy (and some other) authors insist on writing 1,000 page books so often... I would argue it takes away from the experience. However, when you're into the fourth book in the series, you're already enthralled by the world and the lore and so you just keep reading as you almost see it as an encyclopaedic telling of the tale. As with all the Jordan's other books, the characters are very oddly written and this series is seriously missing any sort of personality in any of them other than anger and annoyance (why does everybody just react negatively and sharply?!). I've given this book four stars because the writing is incredible, the world Jordan is building (and has already built) is an absolute epic and it was a good ending which has got me excited for the follow up books.

I was wrong in my review of The Dragon Reborn, book 3 in Robert Jordan‘s The Wheel of Time fantasy series– The Shadow Rising is now my favourite entry in the series! And wholly because of Perrin’s arc.In The Shadow Rising, Rand’s life becomes EVEN more complicated, we learn a few new things but there are even more questions to be answered.Perrin’s storyline is by far the best in this one.I said in my review of The Dragon Reborn that I wanted to see more of him – well I got it!His storyline in The Shadow Rising is exactly what I wanted to see. I’m interested in where his character is going to go now though as there are so many books and I feel so satisfied with his arc already!I wouldn’t say “no” to more though!Rand’s storyline felt a little slow in this one but I’m sure it’ll pick up eventually, likewise with Mat. Having said that, a lot happens when they meet the Aiel.The Aiel are an incredible addiction to a world already brimming with life and fascinating places and cultures to explore. I loved meeting them in The Shadow Rising and hope to learn more about their way of life and see their culture develop with the new things that are happening around them, in future books.My only criticism of this series would be that whenever Robert Jordan wants his characters to move on to somewhere else, he attacks them with Trollocs. Those scenes are exciting, but they are used so much as a plot device that I just don’t care anymore.In the first book, The Eye of the World, that was fine, as it was an introduction to the enemy ranks, but now, with everything that’s happening, there must have been a more satisfying way to get the characters to start moving again.Overall, I did enjoy The Shadow Rising and I am loving The Wheel of Time series so far.

I've tried to finish this series multiple times but I think this is the book that will stop me from going any further with the series. First off I actually don't mind most of the aspects of Robert Jordans writing that others find irritating such as his habit of repetition. But I can't recommend it. It's a great story, with some great characters but it's just so long. Whole plot threads that last hundreds of pages could be resolved in dozens. Sometimes less is more, its just a shame that Robert Jordan did not realise that

Don't get me wrong I like the story and really want to know how it all ends, but.Why does there have to be the "battle of the sexes" continually, it is quite annoying how none of the female characters will answer a simple question from a man or do anything to help, all the men get is a constant barrage of criticism and spite and where for gawds sake is the sex? All the fit, young, beautiful people going about and none of them are at it, mind you with the females attitudes in this series I suppose I'm not surprised.Suppose I'll have to buy the next book to find out what happens next.

Book four begins to shed more in depth light on the individual characters in the WoT, showcasing Perrin more than most. I did enjoy this book the 3-4th time I read through it. Mat continues to be amusing, falling through calamity after calamity.One thing I love about the WoT is that you discover something new with each read through. The series is worth every hour spent reading.