Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time #11) Book Review

It's finally pumping some action.

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Series: The Wheel of Time #11
Date Published: August 24, 2010 (first published October 3rd 2005)
Publisher: Tor Books
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
ASIN: B000SEH2NG
Format: ebook
Pages: 886

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Unbeknownst to Rand, Perrin has made his own truce with the Seanchan. It is a deal made with the Dark One, in his eyes, but he will do whatever is needed to rescue his wife, Faile, and destroy the Shaido who captured her. Among the Shaido, Faile works to free herself while hiding a secret that might give her her freedom or cause her destruction. And at a town called Malden, the Two Rivers longbow will be matched against Shaido spears.

Fleeing Ebou Dar through Seanchan-controlled Altara with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons, Mat attempts to court the woman to whom he is half-married, knowing that she will complete that ceremony eventually. But Tuon coolly leads him on a merry chase as he learns that even a gift can have deep significance among the Seanchan Blood and what he thinks he knows of women is not enough to save him.

In Caemlyn, Elayne fights to gain the Lion Throne while trying to avert what seems a certain civil war should she win the crown...

In the White Tower, Egwene struggles to undermine the sisters loyal to Elaida from within...

Review

Finally, done with the slow-going pace of Crossroads of Twilight, we're now getting some action here in Knife of Dreams. While things are still picking up especially in Egwene's part, we finally get to see some gore action on Rand's part. Things happened so fast on that one, it's as if Rand and company killed thousands of Trollocs and Myrddraal at a snap of a finger. Well, it's actually Lews Therin who takes the reins in embracing saidin and shows how things are done. And the way the author wrote how the "Blossom of Fire", "Deathgates", and "Arrows of Fire" shows his background in Physics.

Those attacks are cool yet really scary. Anyway, we get to see more of Daddy Logain and by more, just a tiny bit in the book's length, but at least he finally graced us with his presence.

There's more spanking happening among the Aes Sedai on Tar Valon which a lot of you might not like. The way spanking is administered is like hazing on fraternities as a form of discipline. It is so old school but I just put the whole thing off my mind and focus on what Egwene was trying to achieve in her "captivity". What really grinds my gears was when Rand thought Lan has had enough of Nynaeve and left her. The gall! Lan knows how Nynaeve behaves, accepts her temperament, and he sees her strength. Nynaeve and Lan have differences and they compromise to make their marriage work and they're happy. Needless to say, Lan tolerates Nynaeve's quirks and difficult personality. Still, to Lan, duty comes first and his duty is to march to Tarmon Gai'don.

However Lan decided to march through Tarmon Gai'don, Nynaeve doing everything she could for the safety of her husband makes me want to weep. How she planted seeds for the Malkieri to gather that would make them eventually follow their uncrowned king someday (we don't know which book yet) is just amazing of her.

Though not his strong suit, Perrin finally managed to make schemes of his own. And with the Seanchan! Whatever his party have taken from Masema's camp has finally been put to good use.

I'm mostly excited for Mat's development with Tuon and how both of them are going to play a role in dealing with Rand as the chosen one. I mean, everyone is after Rand and implying that they should handle Rand to win Tarmon Gai'don. The Seanchan is more about control and putting a leash on Rand seems to be at the forefront of their agenda. But first, they want to capture the whole kingdom of the world of The Wheel of Time, as if they deserve to take it.

Anyway, Mat's perspective is always the funniest in the series and I always look forward to his chapters. I love how he gets everybody to be surprised with his actions. It's his POV that ended the book, discounting epilogue.

The book ended with so much action and unexpected losses from all sides that you'd have to think for the characters with, "Is this just where their roles are leading up to?" Yeah, Robert Jordan is finally pulling a Game of Thrones on us.

And now the reality hits me, this is the last book that Robert Jordan wrote all on his own. The next three books are completed by Brandon Sanderson. It's really saddening. And this,people, is why die-hard fans are urging George R. R. Martin to finish his A Song of Ice and Fire ASAP or he might pull a Robert Jordan on us with his family's propensity for heart failure.