Author: Robert Jordan
Publisher: Tor
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: 1991
I’m 69 CDs into this series and I’m still hooked. I need to know what happens.
Once again, Jordan lovers, haters, and everyone in between have many of the same arguments. The pace is too slow. The women are too shallow. The story copies past fantasy masters (namely Tolkien).
Well, I must be in left field because I saw none of that.
Sure the story is long. It’s epic. It’s supposed to be long. Sure the story gets slow. But so does life. And a book that’s pure action isn’t well balanced with good dialogue, deep characters, and a plot that wants to be followed. So if it’s too long for you, stick to something shorter. Like my review. Or your vocabulary.
The women in ‘The Dragon Reborn’ are about as shallow as the deep end of a diving pool. I will concede that the last book, ‘The Great Hunt’, was weak when it came to women taking part, but that was the story. And now that’s how it was told. And ‘The Dragon Reborn’ made up for it. Nearly half of the story was about women. So when a Nynaeve, an Egwene, an Elayne, a Moiraine, or even a Mother Guenna show up at your front door, don’t come crying to me when they put you in the deep end of the pool. With a lump on the head. And a heavy stone tied to your feet.
For those nay-sayers out there that think Jordan has copied Tolkien, I challenge you to prove that. Did he copy his story? No. Because if he did, I wouldn’t be reading the tripe. Was Jordan inspired by Tolkien? I’m sure he was. Most modern fantasy writers are. At least those that could stand to finish one of his books. And why is Tolkien the only measuring stick we have to compare fantasy to? I vaguely remember reading part of an ancient story called Beowulf that seemed to hint at some fantasy. And let’s not forget mythology. So take your Xerox machine and your Stanley tape measure elsewhere. We don’t serve their kind here.
So after muddling through this long and shallow review that hardly compares to a professional one, I’ll leave you with this little story.
Today I went to the local book store to kill some time while my wife got a pedicure. And as I pushed my year-old daughter around, we headed to the fantasy section. My favorite place. After a futile attempt to find Wolf and Iron, I picked up a copy of’The Shadow Rising’. Sticker price, $7.99. I then headed to the medical reference section in another vain attempt to find the Kinsey Reports. From there, I picked up some new Star Wars titles before taking a pass through the audio section.
Now, the last three times I had been to this store (and over the last three months looking at other stores), I had been unable to find any other Jordan works on CD and very few on cassette. So I had relegated myself to eventually reading the rest of the series, but at a much later date than desired. I figured I could go through some newly acquired Star Wars audio books instead. Jordan had been pushed to the back burner.
After today? The Shadow Rising is in my hands. Sticker price $89.99. Thirty-four unabridged CDs. The story must go on no matter the cost.
