★★☆☆☆ 2 / 5
Same pattern as the other books: characters form groups, the groups start off in different directions, learn more about the world, and bicker a lot along the way. Finally there is a final confrontation, always super well written and 10x more interesting than the 800 pages that came before it.
The female characterizations have aged really badly, and it shows more in this book than the previous three. Too many sexist comments (« …men! », « …women! »), and the « slap-slap-kiss » dynamic of all the couples is very cringy, especially with Perrin.
I love the world and lore of The Wheel of Time, but I think I’m done with this series now. It’s just not worth paging through pages and pages of mediocre very 80´s fantasy pulp just to get to a few really interesting chapters.
Fact Sheet
- Author(s): Robert Jordan
- Publisher: Tor Books
- ISBN: 9780765334671