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A review by isabellarobinson7
The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
5.0
Third read: 23/06/21 - 25/06/21
Rating: (obviously still) 5 stars
Man, I'm second guessing my series placement after reading this again. I forgot how much amazing stuff happens in The Fires of Heaven! I had this problem with The Lord of the Rings way back, where I kept switching what my favourite book was, but then it was easy in the end because I just ended up saying all three of them as one were my favourite. With Wheel of Time, I can't do that obviously so I am now sitting in a conundrum.
Second read: 30/08/20 - 04/09/20
Rating: (still) 5 stars
I always forget how big The Fires of Heaven actually is. I guess it's because it's sandwiched between the two doorstops of The Shadow Rising and Lord of Chaos.
Wow, this book was even better this time! It wasn't like I hated it, but I guess it was over shadowed by my love of The Shadow Rising that by comparison The Fires of Heaven was just ok. Now after I read The Shadow Rising twice before starting The Fires of Heaven (because I can't contain myself) I think I was able to judge it better. I knew this was a great book for Nyneave, but she was even better than I remembered. Her whole thing with Moggy (well, Moghedien but in my head she's Moggy) is written so well and grows her character so much. I also really loved Asmodean more this time.
Aaaaaand I don't have much else to say. I usually would read New Spring now, as I feel like between books five and six is the perfect time to read the prequel. The series moves around the world so much, that if you read New Spring after A Memory of Light you would almost feel disconnected, or like you don't really care because you have moved past it. But you can't read New Spring first, because it is not the same introduction to the series that The Eye of the World is. Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that I would start New Spring right now if I could, but I don't have a physical copy with me as it's coming in the mail (and taking a bit to get here because I live in New Zealand and, you know, global pandemic and all) but will be going on to Lord of Chaos instead, deeply anticipating Dumai's Wells - a battle sequence that is right up there with Helm's Deep.
First read: 04/04/20 - 07/04/20
Rating: 5 stars
Even if I can't count on anything else at the moment, I can trust that I will always have some Wheel of Time to read. And that makes everything at least a little better.
So Elayne was less annoying in The Fires of Heaven than in the previous book, but that was just mainly because she was away from Rand. When they are separate, Elayne is still a little annoying, but she’s alright. But when she’s with Rand, man, that’s when she really irritates me. So she was pining over him and being annoyed that he wasn’t there and whatever in this book, but it wasn’t as obvious as in the previous one.
The ending had me in shock. I was doing a jigsaw puzzle while listening to the audiobook, and for the last couple of hours of the audiobook, I just sat there staring into space, going over repeatedly in my mind what had just gone down. I had to rewind a couple of times because I was losing what was currently occurring, as I was still trying to digest what had happened (a particular scene mostly).
Mat was awesome. So much more awesome than he had ever been in previous books. So much more awesome. After being Rand's tag along for most of The Shadow Rising, I was hoping that Mat would be given kind of a purpose. Like a genuine excuse for him to stay with Rand, so he didn’t feel like he was a loose thread or that his presence wasn't all that necessary. Most of the time he was just gambling and kissing girls and whatnot, but then Mat got this guy’s thoughts in his head (because he was so stupid before and got hanged) and now he’s basically a brilliant military strategist. It gave Mat a reason to be there in the camp and it really made him feel like he was doing something worthwhile. The knowledge he gained makes him really valuable to Rand, because Rand, though he is growing into a leader, (because he basically has to or everyone will die) can't do everything on his own. Mat would be such an asset to him, because he can just give Rand genius ideas that only the best of the best could ever offer and that’s awesome.
I kind of got slightly irritated by Egwene, a feeling usually reserved for Elayne, when she was being very bossy, especially towards Nynaeve. I know Nynaeve can be very domineering and overbearing at times,ok a lot of the time, and I can understand that Egwene (and other characters that are frequently around her) would feel like pushing back. Because yeah, Nynaeve can be just plain obnoxious (yes I am using a thesaurus, because “bossy” and ”mean” can only be used so many times) and treat you like you're a child. And I’m not saying that Egwene should just let Nynaeve walk all over her, but when they met in Tel’aran’rhiod, at points Egwene was just completely trashing Nynaeve. And just out of the blue. Nynaeve didn't do anything too severe to warrant such a reaction. When Egwene first started treating Nynaeve badly, I honestly thought it was an imposter. I thought it was one of the Forsaken or maybe Lanfear (well, probably not Lanfear) because I just couldn't believe that Egwene would do something like that. I know Egwene is growing up, and spending large periods of time with Aes Sedai and Aiel Wise Ones would inevitably have an impression on her too, but it was just so out of character for her. I was absolutely convinced that it wasn't really Egwene, and when it turned out that it was, I was just annoyed.
But also Perrin was completely not there. I don’t think his name was barely even mentioned. He was just completely absent. I was aware of this going in, but I wasn't prepared for how little of him was there was. He just didn’t exist. At least in The Dragon Reborn where Rand was running away (where he was basically absent like Perrin is in The Fires of Heaven) he was referenced, he was talked about, and he did even have a few POV paragraphs every now and then. But in case of The Fires of Heaven, Perrin was just wiped off the face of the earth temporarily. And though I do like Perrin, I like Mat and Rand better, so I wasn’t too irritated by his absence. But for people whose favourite character is Perrin, I can imagine it would be jarring to go into this book where he basically doesn't exist.
I really liked the way that Tel’aran’rhiod was utilised, and how it was not taken for granted. Like it wasn’t used just as a plot device. When it was used, it was in a very intentional way; it wasn’t just a way for people to find out what was going on someplace else.
Now I am on to the next book - not Lord or Chaos book six, but the prequel New Spring, because I am obeying the instructions from my main source of Wheel of Time knowledge, Daniel Greene.
Rating: (obviously still) 5 stars
Man, I'm second guessing my series placement after reading this again. I forgot how much amazing stuff happens in The Fires of Heaven! I had this problem with The Lord of the Rings way back, where I kept switching what my favourite book was, but then it was easy in the end because I just ended up saying all three of them as one were my favourite. With Wheel of Time, I can't do that obviously so I am now sitting in a conundrum.
Second read: 30/08/20 - 04/09/20
Rating: (still) 5 stars
I always forget how big The Fires of Heaven actually is. I guess it's because it's sandwiched between the two doorstops of The Shadow Rising and Lord of Chaos.
Wow, this book was even better this time! It wasn't like I hated it, but I guess it was over shadowed by my love of The Shadow Rising that by comparison The Fires of Heaven was just ok. Now after I read The Shadow Rising twice before starting The Fires of Heaven (because I can't contain myself) I think I was able to judge it better. I knew this was a great book for Nyneave, but she was even better than I remembered. Her whole thing with Moggy (well, Moghedien but in my head she's Moggy) is written so well and grows her character so much. I also really loved Asmodean more this time.
Aaaaaand I don't have much else to say. I usually would read New Spring now, as I feel like between books five and six is the perfect time to read the prequel. The series moves around the world so much, that if you read New Spring after A Memory of Light you would almost feel disconnected, or like you don't really care because you have moved past it. But you can't read New Spring first, because it is not the same introduction to the series that The Eye of the World is. Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that I would start New Spring right now if I could, but I don't have a physical copy with me as it's coming in the mail (and taking a bit to get here because I live in New Zealand and, you know, global pandemic and all) but will be going on to Lord of Chaos instead, deeply anticipating Dumai's Wells - a battle sequence that is right up there with Helm's Deep.
First read: 04/04/20 - 07/04/20
Rating: 5 stars
Even if I can't count on anything else at the moment, I can trust that I will always have some Wheel of Time to read. And that makes everything at least a little better.
So Elayne was less annoying in The Fires of Heaven than in the previous book, but that was just mainly because she was away from Rand. When they are separate, Elayne is still a little annoying, but she’s alright. But when she’s with Rand, man, that’s when she really irritates me. So she was pining over him and being annoyed that he wasn’t there and whatever in this book, but it wasn’t as obvious as in the previous one.
The ending had me in shock. I was doing a jigsaw puzzle while listening to the audiobook, and for the last couple of hours of the audiobook, I just sat there staring into space, going over repeatedly in my mind what had just gone down. I had to rewind a couple of times because I was losing what was currently occurring, as I was still trying to digest what had happened (a particular scene mostly).
Mat was awesome. So much more awesome than he had ever been in previous books. So much more awesome. After being Rand's tag along for most of The Shadow Rising, I was hoping that Mat would be given kind of a purpose. Like a genuine excuse for him to stay with Rand, so he didn’t feel like he was a loose thread or that his presence wasn't all that necessary. Most of the time he was just gambling and kissing girls and whatnot, but then Mat got this guy’s thoughts in his head (because he was so stupid before and got hanged) and now he’s basically a brilliant military strategist. It gave Mat a reason to be there in the camp and it really made him feel like he was doing something worthwhile. The knowledge he gained makes him really valuable to Rand, because Rand, though he is growing into a leader, (because he basically has to or everyone will die) can't do everything on his own. Mat would be such an asset to him, because he can just give Rand genius ideas that only the best of the best could ever offer and that’s awesome.
I kind of got slightly irritated by Egwene, a feeling usually reserved for Elayne, when she was being very bossy, especially towards Nynaeve. I know Nynaeve can be very domineering and overbearing at times,
But also Perrin was completely not there. I don’t think his name was barely even mentioned. He was just completely absent. I was aware of this going in, but I wasn't prepared for how little of him was there was. He just didn’t exist. At least in The Dragon Reborn where Rand was running away (where he was basically absent like Perrin is in The Fires of Heaven) he was referenced, he was talked about, and he did even have a few POV paragraphs every now and then. But in case of The Fires of Heaven, Perrin was just wiped off the face of the earth temporarily. And though I do like Perrin, I like Mat and Rand better, so I wasn’t too irritated by his absence. But for people whose favourite character is Perrin, I can imagine it would be jarring to go into this book where he basically doesn't exist.
I really liked the way that Tel’aran’rhiod was utilised, and how it was not taken for granted. Like it wasn’t used just as a plot device. When it was used, it was in a very intentional way; it wasn’t just a way for people to find out what was going on someplace else.
Now I am on to the next book - not Lord or Chaos book six, but the prequel New Spring, because I am obeying the instructions from my main source of Wheel of Time knowledge, Daniel Greene.