Second read: 18/10/20 - 19/10/20

Rating: (still) 5 stars

So it is still 5 stars this time around, but I maybe liked it less than I did last time. I cringed so incredibly hard during all the Rand-Min-Elayne-Aviendha stuff, and I think it affected me more so than it did the first time I read it. (That being said, I did rant about Elayne pretty hard in my original review for this book which is hidden in the spoiler tags.) The ending was still amazing, and everything surrounding it is done masterfully, so I still think it deserves 5 stars. Plus, it's Wheel of Time, and my bias knows no bounds.


First read: 03/05/20 - 09/05/20

Rating: 5 stars

I need to stop expecting things with the slog, because every time I am proven wrong. I thought Winter's Heart was going to be so tough to get through and I was going to see what slog really feels like. But here I am. And yet another five stars.

Because of its infamous reputation, I didn't think that in the middle of the slog such an amazing event like

Spoiler

cleansing saidin would happen. Once the prospect of it came up, I thought the remaining slog books would be set up for it to eventually take place after book 10; saidin would be cleansed in the Knife of Dreams book 11. But it happened in Winter's Heart. I was rather surprised, then, when it actually began to transpire in this book, and was kind of like "oh, we're doing this now, awesome" and boy, was it an amazing scene. The battles that were going on around Rand and Nynaeve were written really well, where the point of view changed constantly to people in the thick of the action (from both sides of the conflict, too), while flicking back to Rand or Nynaeve once in awhile. Chef's-kiss perfection.

For the first time (in basically ever I think),

Spoiler

all bajillion and one three of Rand's love interests came together and decided that they were going to share him and bond him as a mutual Warder. They did tell him first, and they did say what they were going to do in regards to the bond, so it wasn't like it was without consent, but it felt very random. I feel like the reader can see that Rand really does love Min. You can see that with all the time he's spend with her, with the support that she is to him. I see that he loves Min. I can kind of believe that he has fallen in love with Aviendha. She was basically his entry into the Aiel culture and she looked after him for a long time, so I can see how he could have feelings for Aviendha, maybe not quite as strong as love, but certainly more than just a general liking of her. But Elayne...? There is nothing there between Elayne and Rand. Their relationship stems from a point in The Shadow Rising when Egwene came in to tell Rand she had realised that she didn't fancy him anymore, and Rand says that he has actually been coming to feel the same way. Then Elayne comes in trying to "comfort" him because he is "pain", whereas in a matter of fact he's just relieved that he doesn't have to keep pretending that he loves Egwene anymore. And then Elayne shoves herself on him, but I talked about that scene in my review for The Shadow Rising, so I won't do it again. That is the extent of their relationship. They've been apart ever since then and apparently it counts as love.

But then Elayne gets worse. So much worse. She goes to Rand and says "ok, you have slept with Aviendha and Min, now it's my turn. This is how it's going to work: everything you give to them, you also have to give to me because I deserve it. I love you too and that's how it's going to work from now on and if you don't like it then you'll have to deal with it." In fact, her very words are "There is something they have had from you that I haven't." I made confused spluttering noises reading this, trying to comprehend her "logic". Elayne is like that annoying sibling who measures out how much is in each glass or how many squares of the chocolate bar everyone is getting to make sure it's all even. So she full on kicks Aviendha and Min out (they kind of go willingly-ish) and sleeps with Rand because she hasn't got to yet and it's her right as a woman to do it. One thing in books and movies and in all forms of media that absolutely kills me is second hand embarrassment. I get second hand embarrassment so incredibly easily it's not funny. A character calling someone else by the wrong name in a book triggers it and I cringe so hard that I can't read. So you can imagine what it was like when Elayne was sleeping with Rand and the bond that Aviendha, Min and Brigitte all had with her was causing them to all go crazy. That was... hard to read. I had a little glimmer of hope, because in order to get rid of that feeling, the three of them just drank themselves silly, which means that because Elayne would feel some of what they're feeling, she's going to be so drunk in bed with Rand. That picture was hilarious and kept me going, because drunk Elayne is the best Elayne (if you can even call part of her personality good). But that hope didn't last long, because stupid Elayne didn't take her contraceptive tea and now is pregnant with Rand's twins. What?! Didn't she think that now was not the best time to get pregnant, and she can maybe start a family after they stop freaking armageddon?! How does one even begin to comprehend her stupidity?!

And what did Perrin do? Nothing. He was there but he was trying to find out where Faile was so his storyline was almost disconnected from the rest. Nynaeve's and Rand's and Mat's and Egwene's... their stories all have to do with each other and concern the Last Battle in different ways (

Spoiler

the first two being cleansing saidin,

Mat being amongst the Seanchan under Rand's orders, and Egwene being Amyrlin trying to unite the White Tower again) but Perrin was just on a tangent side quest trying to find Faile for personal reasons (which are justified, mind you, loosing your wife is no small thing). I'm sure it's going to tie an eventually, but it feels very separate at the moment. Maybe there could be a book that's like book 7a that is "Perrin's Slog Adventures: Trying to Free Faile from Naked Slavery" or whatever (it was off the top of my head).

Meanwhile, Mat

Spoiler

finds a wife. He doesn't get married or anything. They don't fall of love. He just sees her, points and goes "Wife". Well, it's not really like that, because he got the prophecy from the people that hung him back in The Shadow Rising which said he would marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons. Then he finds out that Tuon (Seanchan bald lady) is the Daughter of the Nine Moons and then knows that since the Aelfinn/Eelfinn whatever are never wrong, she is, by default, his wife. Interesting start to a relationship. I wonder where it will go and look forward to it (because I have to find out if Tuon is good enough for Mat. I know she's going to be the Seanchan Empress and is super important yadda yadda yadda, but Mat is awesome and I would personally rather him stay single and it's going to take a pretty impressive love interest to convince me otherwise. I just want him to get away from Tylin who is essentially raping him every night.)

Winter's Heart wasn't a very plot heavy book. It was very much driven by the characters. You had certain people doing certain things, you the plot didn't really start moving until Rand met up with Nynaeve and said that they needed to

Spoiler

cleanse saidin.

Up until that point, the book was just dictated by where characters were at in their lives, which is 100% fine. I will take that any day.

Now I have only two Robert Jordan books left, one of which is meant to be the worst in the entire series, before I get onto the Brandon Sanderson ones. This isn't horrible, obviously, because Sanderson is one of my favourite authors but it is kind of sad that Jordan didn't get to finish his own series. I'm really looking forward to Knife of Dreams Jordan's last book and I hope it is worth the wait and loves up to my expectations. I am cautiously delving into Crossroads of Twilight, aware that it is the final dip in quality before a supposedly great rise, and also knowing that it doesn't have many Rand chapters, and he is absent again like he was in book 3 The Dragon Reborn. I feel as though I am too deep into The Wheel of Time now to stop though (not that I was ever thinking about it) and so if book 10 is really horrible, it won't put me off the series for good, or anything.