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A review by beaconatnight
Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan
3.0
Winter's Heart is is not exactly the most popular book in the Wheel of Time series. A random sample of rankings I've found online lets me believe that it might be many people's least favorite. To be honest, I struggled very hard with The Path of Daggers and in the end didn't feel as if enough stick with me to write a review. After that the ninth entry was the first I wasn't excited for going in.
And it's off to a very slow start. An eighty pages Prologue about some Aes Sedai I cannot quite place (there have been so many, haven't there?), not exactly something to get you all hyped again. After that we follow Perrin for numerous chapters in a row.
Remember when Perrin was the proud leader in the battles of the Two Rivers? Yeah, he was awesome back then. It was a very long time ago. Since then he has done nothing of note. Now Faile was kidnapped (by... someone) and he's determined to get her back. Only that he spends a couple of chapters complaining and not doing much. I think that was it, the subplot doesn't find any closure here.
Then there are numerous Elayne chapters. She rules, but she hasn't yet officially gained the Lion Throne. In fact, her succession is disputed. I think that's what these chapters are primarily about? There is also some "progress" in the love... triangle? Quadrangle? I think Elayne, Min and Aviendha are now all bond to Rand and feel his pain. Literally, apparently this guy is suffering horrendously from the two wounds afflicted by Padan Fain. But this doesn't really offer much depth to their relationship(s).
In fact, Elayne is now pregnant, and it happens rather unceremoniously. Other than that she doesn't really seem ahead of the game. She certainly acts in character when she is poisoned and afterwards rewards the man who came to her rescue. He could have attacked her with a poisoned knife out in the open and that girl wouldn't have seen the trick. I've said it before, but she's really annoyingly stupid. Things only marginally improve when in later chapters she is assisted by other characters.
All throughout there are chapters recounted from the points of view of other characters. You know, the kind of people that make you go, who was that again? Maybe Tuon deserves her own chapter or two, because of where her ark is going with Mat (I'll get to that). But Shalon? I think she has a couple of chapters. She travels around with some Aes Sedai, like to an Ogier stedding? I have to admit that I didn't pay enough attention to know why this matters to the overall story. Perhaps her subplot wasn't completed, yet.
I think it's fair to say that Mat is the star of the show. I'm not sure if he has the most chapters (it's probably Elayne), but I feel like the latter half of the book mainly focuses on him. Or maybe it was because he followed a more easily discernible quest. Which certainly isn't to say that it was an interesting quest.
Mat is essentially where he was before, in Ebou Dar in Altara. Actually, I could swear he left at some point. Wasn't there the exact same scene of him leaving his rapist lover, and in the end saying that he will honestly miss her? That happened, right?
Anyway he's still (or back or back to being) Queen Tylin's sex slave and his big goal is to escape this situation. Only that the situation isn't presented as being as dire as would be warranted. Imagine the situation was gender swapped, Jordan would have told a very different story, right? Anyway, you wouldn't believe how many chapters it would take him to get things going. Granted, the city is now under Seanchan occupation, but events are moving forward only very slowly. And eventually his big plan is to recycle the circus scheme. Boring and a drag!
There is some silver lining, though. Oh, there is something else I just remembered. What's with this old Noal fellow who assists Mat in his fight against the Gholam and later shows up again when Mat is in need of help? There is very little of him in between. I don't know if this relationship is going anywhere. So far the most lackluster of sidekicks.
Now, I was talking of silver linings. There have been many prophecies all throughout the series, not the least the countless of visions that Min has about people's fates. Frankly, I'm not keeping track. But there was one in particular, I think back from when Mat died (I think he did) in Rhuidean. Something about the woman he is to marry. Since the Daughter of the Nine Moons is explicitly referenced, it turns out to the Tuon, high Blood of the Seanchan empire. So far we know only very little about her, other than the fact that she wanted to buy Mat. I hope this is going somewhere.
Finally, there is Rand. He's there throughout, but it's only in the last few chapters when he regains his status as main player. His quest is actually pretty cool. No really! As was foretold, some of the Asha'man went crazy and attacked him in The Path of Daggers. Now the Dragon Reborn strikes back.
Their tracks lead him to Far Madding where he's able to confront two of them. He also faces Padan Fain once more, who again sneaks of when given the chance. Rand then sets out to heal the male source of the One Power from the taint that makes men go crazy. I think the storyline has all the potential for an epic climax, though in the end it was a bit underwhelming. This being said, I applaud the effort of not bringing us yet another massive battle and instead thinking of something different. At least the mental images of glowing statues and stuff were cool.
Yeah, that was Winter's Heart. The fact that it's all set in the dead of winter doesn't really matter much. Egwene's armies make no progress whatsoever (she sure is taking her time). The Forsaken make real fools of themselves (as Mike emphasized in his review).
Overall, I didn't have much positive to say about the book. Strangely, I did enjoy the reading experience for the most part. People say they found it hard to make it to the end. I didn't, at no point did I feel like giving up. I guess give me magic, swords, and pulp-y humor and I'll have a fine day. In this spirit, bring on the next one!
Rating: 3/5
And it's off to a very slow start. An eighty pages Prologue about some Aes Sedai I cannot quite place (there have been so many, haven't there?), not exactly something to get you all hyped again. After that we follow Perrin for numerous chapters in a row.
Remember when Perrin was the proud leader in the battles of the Two Rivers? Yeah, he was awesome back then. It was a very long time ago. Since then he has done nothing of note. Now Faile was kidnapped (by... someone) and he's determined to get her back. Only that he spends a couple of chapters complaining and not doing much. I think that was it, the subplot doesn't find any closure here.
Then there are numerous Elayne chapters. She rules, but she hasn't yet officially gained the Lion Throne. In fact, her succession is disputed. I think that's what these chapters are primarily about? There is also some "progress" in the love... triangle? Quadrangle? I think Elayne, Min and Aviendha are now all bond to Rand and feel his pain. Literally, apparently this guy is suffering horrendously from the two wounds afflicted by Padan Fain. But this doesn't really offer much depth to their relationship(s).
In fact, Elayne is now pregnant, and it happens rather unceremoniously. Other than that she doesn't really seem ahead of the game. She certainly acts in character when she is poisoned and afterwards rewards the man who came to her rescue. He could have attacked her with a poisoned knife out in the open and that girl wouldn't have seen the trick. I've said it before, but she's really annoyingly stupid. Things only marginally improve when in later chapters she is assisted by other characters.
All throughout there are chapters recounted from the points of view of other characters. You know, the kind of people that make you go, who was that again? Maybe Tuon deserves her own chapter or two, because of where her ark is going with Mat (I'll get to that). But Shalon? I think she has a couple of chapters. She travels around with some Aes Sedai, like to an Ogier stedding? I have to admit that I didn't pay enough attention to know why this matters to the overall story. Perhaps her subplot wasn't completed, yet.
I think it's fair to say that Mat is the star of the show. I'm not sure if he has the most chapters (it's probably Elayne), but I feel like the latter half of the book mainly focuses on him. Or maybe it was because he followed a more easily discernible quest. Which certainly isn't to say that it was an interesting quest.
Mat is essentially where he was before, in Ebou Dar in Altara. Actually, I could swear he left at some point. Wasn't there the exact same scene of him leaving his rapist lover, and in the end saying that he will honestly miss her? That happened, right?
Anyway he's still (or back or back to being) Queen Tylin's sex slave and his big goal is to escape this situation. Only that the situation isn't presented as being as dire as would be warranted. Imagine the situation was gender swapped, Jordan would have told a very different story, right? Anyway, you wouldn't believe how many chapters it would take him to get things going. Granted, the city is now under Seanchan occupation, but events are moving forward only very slowly. And eventually his big plan is to recycle the circus scheme. Boring and a drag!
There is some silver lining, though. Oh, there is something else I just remembered. What's with this old Noal fellow who assists Mat in his fight against the Gholam and later shows up again when Mat is in need of help? There is very little of him in between. I don't know if this relationship is going anywhere. So far the most lackluster of sidekicks.
Now, I was talking of silver linings. There have been many prophecies all throughout the series, not the least the countless of visions that Min has about people's fates. Frankly, I'm not keeping track. But there was one in particular, I think back from when Mat died (I think he did) in Rhuidean. Something about the woman he is to marry. Since the Daughter of the Nine Moons is explicitly referenced, it turns out to the Tuon, high Blood of the Seanchan empire. So far we know only very little about her, other than the fact that she wanted to buy Mat. I hope this is going somewhere.
Finally, there is Rand. He's there throughout, but it's only in the last few chapters when he regains his status as main player. His quest is actually pretty cool. No really! As was foretold, some of the Asha'man went crazy and attacked him in The Path of Daggers. Now the Dragon Reborn strikes back.
Their tracks lead him to Far Madding where he's able to confront two of them. He also faces Padan Fain once more, who again sneaks of when given the chance. Rand then sets out to heal the male source of the One Power from the taint that makes men go crazy. I think the storyline has all the potential for an epic climax, though in the end it was a bit underwhelming. This being said, I applaud the effort of not bringing us yet another massive battle and instead thinking of something different. At least the mental images of glowing statues and stuff were cool.
Yeah, that was Winter's Heart. The fact that it's all set in the dead of winter doesn't really matter much. Egwene's armies make no progress whatsoever (she sure is taking her time). The Forsaken make real fools of themselves (as Mike emphasized in his review).
Overall, I didn't have much positive to say about the book. Strangely, I did enjoy the reading experience for the most part. People say they found it hard to make it to the end. I didn't, at no point did I feel like giving up. I guess give me magic, swords, and pulp-y humor and I'll have a fine day. In this spirit, bring on the next one!
Rating: 3/5