Rand al'Thor has been proclaimed the Dragon Reborn, but not everyone knows or believes. In Tear, where channeling and anything to do with the One Power is outlawed, lies the Heart of the Stone, an impregnable fortress housing the mysterious sword Callandor - the taking of Callandor and the fall of the Stone are two of the many signs of the return of the Dragon. It is to Tear that Rand travels alone, abandoning the friends he fears to harm, along the way battling the forces of the Dark, both in his dreams and in real life. Moiraine, Lan, and Perrin follow Rand to Tear, hoping to meet him there. On the other side of the world, Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne are in the White Tower training as Accepted, but soon they find themselves journeying to Tear, as well, on the trail of the Black Ajah and most certainly headed for a trap.

Jordan's third book in his Wheel of Time series finds the cast of characters again traveling the world over as they move ever forward in their destinies of fighting the Shadow. Rand is still conflicted, as are Perrin and Matt, but all three seem to be slowly succombing to their fates. New characters are introduced, such as the Aiel, who will play much bigger roles in the coming books. Although still the central character, Rand appear much less in this book than in previous ones. ( )

Book three of the wheel of time is fairly concise and pacy. See book 1 for longer review. ( )

As I go through my 2009 reread before the publication of the Gathering Storm, I have been noting how this series really could have been the Trilogy we were led to believe that it was going to be. Let me reiterate that concept. Those of us who were there when the books were initially released back in 1990 to begin with, had hoped that such a series with so much depth would have been finished in 3 books.

Here in book 3 you can still see how that is possible, but you can also see how the ever growing popularity led away from that. There is a giant world that Jordan created and as we continue on we begin to believe that the man wanted to ensure that every country, every culture got some time on the page. As he was getting a great deal of money for the success of his writing he let this go to his head.

He committed the sin of Vanity. How else do you account for his constant saying RAFO when many readers tear apart sentences and individual words looking for clues. Clues that it seems obvious after his death that he had no idea where he was going in many parts of the story.

With a critical eye to my many previous impressions of this book, I see its faults. Where was our protagonist. Throughout most of the book the story builds up the secondary characters and leaves out the main hero from the previous two books.

The final battle, another final battle, once again has the hero thinking he kills the ultimate evil once more. Well, with a few more pages of writing that could have been the case. Instead we have writing that adds new prophecy that was not in The Eye of The World and thus gives Jordan the reasons he seeks to continue the story. But again that was a mercenary decision.

So having got the qualms out of the way. The discussion of how this series could have ended at 3 books and between 2000 and 2500 pages, a very respectable page count. How the writer with trying to include so much detail ends up contradicting the details, what is wonderful about this book and series.

Well we do see the world from the eyes of the secondary characters who now become protagonists also. The series becomes so large that each of the characters become major protagonists with their own full stories within the entirety of the encompassing series.

We find a world so rich and vibrant that it is like traveling throughout Europe and finding many cultures that are different and giving you the feeling that you have visited each one. Not like a homogenized America where it is just shades of color of the same thing.

You get such a large perspective that you find that within the whole of the series, this book works to further the series. As a stand alone book, not many of these will hold up. But if you had one series to read and reread, this is still by far the best fantasy series to do so.

Briefly the story takes us from where our Hero, Rand has come to terms with being the ultimate Good guy destined to fight the ultimate Bad guy to dealing with the rest of the road that will take him to the final battle. He runs away from his friends and companions to go face the next part of the prophecy on his own. His friends Mat, Perrin, Nyneave, Egwene and all the others, have adventures of their own but all roads lead to Tear.

Are those stories that turn our secondary characters into major characters worth their own book. Well for the many who dropped the series because it would not ever end, perhaps not. But for everyone else who has the patience and puts the effort in, their is no disappointment with the material we are actually given. This is a series that is worth reading. And thus this book is a great part of the Wheel of Time Canon. ( )

As I go through my 2009 reread before the publication of the Gathering Storm, I have been noting how this series really could have been the Trilogy we were led to believe that it was going to be. Let me reiterate that concept. Those of us who were there when the books were initially released back in 1990 to begin with, had hoped that such a series with so much depth would have been finished in 3 books.

Here in book 3 you can still see how that is possible, but you can also see how the ever growing popularity led away from that. There is a giant world that Jordan created and as we continue on we begin to believe that the man wanted to ensure that every country, every culture got some time on the page. As he was getting a great deal of money for the success of his writing he let this go to his head.

He committed the sin of Vanity. How else do you account for his constant saying RAFO when many readers tear apart sentences and individual words looking for clues. Clues that it seems obvious after his death that he had no idea where he was going in many parts of the story.

With a critical eye to my many previous impressions of this book, I see its faults. Where was our protagonist. Throughout most of the book the story builds up the secondary characters and leaves out the main hero from the previous two books.

The final battle, another final battle, once again has the hero thinking he kills the ultimate evil once more. Well, with a few more pages of writing that could have been the case. Instead we have writing that adds new prophecy that was not in The Eye of The World and thus gives Jordan the reasons he seeks to continue the story. But again that was a mercenary decision.

So having got the qualms out of the way. The discussion of how this series could have ended at 3 books and between 2000 and 2500 pages, a very respectable page count. How the writer with trying to include so much detail ends up contradicting the details, what is wonderful about this book and series.

Well we do see the world from the eyes of the secondary characters who now become protagonists also. The series becomes so large that each of the characters become major protagonists with their own full stories within the entirety of the encompassing series.

We find a world so rich and vibrant that it is like traveling throughout Europe and finding many cultures that are different and giving you the feeling that you have visited each one. Not like a homogenized America where it is just shades of color of the same thing.

You get such a large perspective that you find that within the whole of the series, this book works to further the series. As a stand alone book, not many of these will hold up. But if you had one series to read and reread, this is still by far the best fantasy series to do so.

Briefly the story takes us from where our Hero, Rand has come to terms with being the ultimate Good guy destined to fight the ultimate Bad guy to dealing with the rest of the road that will take him to the final battle. He runs away from his friends and companions to go face the next part of the prophecy on his own. His friends Mat, Perrin, Nyneave, Egwene and all the others, have adventures of their own but all roads lead to Tear.

Are those stories that turn our secondary characters into major characters worth their own book. Well for the many who dropped the series because it would not ever end, perhaps not. But for everyone else who has the patience and puts the effort in, their is no disappointment with the material we are actually given. This is a series that is worth reading. And thus this book is a great part of the Wheel of Time Canon. ( )

This is my favorite in the series so far. I know there are a lot of people out there who aren't fans of this series, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised. This one kept the pace moving very nicely, and I have so far enjoyed Jordan's writing. I think each book has been better then the ones before it, but I have heard some of the later books lose their way. I will definately continue on in the series, so I suppose I will find out soon enough. The only thing that has bothered me thus far in the books would be the interactions between some of the characters, mostly between males and females. ( )

For a book entitled the Dragon Reborn, there is very little of Rand to be seen in the book. Still it's a nice change of pace. ( )

The Wheel of Time spins hastily onwards... The Dragon Reborn is the third installment in Robert Jordan's fantasy series. In this novel, the main characters split off into three groups very early on and we follow them until the requisite character convergence occurs for the final epic battle. I was a bit disappointed that the focus shifts away from Rand al'Thor for a great majority of the story, but the book still delivers. Next stop: The Shadow Rising. ( )

Epic. Thats the only words I have to describe it. A work so in depth and vast, Jordan must have been looking in on it from the sky, like a kid staring at ants. Jordan was a master of fantasy, and the world is all the more dull without him. ( )

Looks like the series is not going to be a trilogy. ( )

The Dragon Reborn is an intimidatng fantasy book to emerge yourself in unless you've read the previous Wheel of Time books. Although the first fifty pages are a disguised recap, I'd seriously suggest starting with book one. The second book meandered along the story and in retrospect it was really a great set up for book three. Here we follow the divergent storylines of the company, which is fragmented and either running towards danger, running away from it, or just plain creating it. There's more urgent feel to the story here, especially in the last third of the book, where the entwined lives of the chracters create a web which draws the reader in. It's well written fantasy, further enlarging a world in which an epic battle between good and evil rages and creates a feeling of dread not apparent in the earlier books. It closes off a central storyline, to ensure the series is not just teasing the reader, and creates some more hooks which will leave you anticipating the following books. ( )

One of the best... I believe... in this series of what looks to be 12 books. ( )

It may be a small thing, but for a book series that is known for having really, really terrible cover art, this book's cover art is the worst of the bunch. ( )

My Bookspotcentral review ( )

This is the 3rd book in the original Wheel of Time series. The action starts to pick up here, as Rand and his companions start striking at the Aiel, the Forsaken, and various other enemies. There's still many factions, many personalities, and many characters to develop. This is epic fantasy on a truly epic scale, and very well done. ( )

As good as the first two. ( )

The Dragon Reborn is book 3 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. ( )

I actually enjoyed this book more than the Great Hunt. It just seemed like there was a lot more action, whereas the previous book seemed to set the stage for events in this book. It was good to see a lot more of Perrin and Mat, even though I can't bring myself to really like Mat as a character, self-centred as he is. It was interesting that a book with the title "The Dragon Reborn" had so little focus on the Dragon himself (Rand), but the events at the end made the book live up to its name. I literally could not stop reading through the last 100 pages because of all the action. Another great work--I'm just sad that the 4th book is still in the mail so I can't start it right away! ( )

This is the 3rd book in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. This book starts off a few months after the ending of the 2nd book, The Great Hunt. To give a brief timeframe, for those who care, the Eye of the World began and ended during the spring (I would guess April/May). The Great Hunt started a few weeks to a month after that in mid-summer, June/July, and ending in late autumn. So, roughly a year has passed since the Eye of the World and in that year a lot has happened to the characters of the Wheel of Time world.

Rand has become more and more suspicious of the Aes Sedai, Moiraine, and he still is unconvinced of who he is and what his place will be in he world. In the beginning of the book, he ends up disappearing in the middle of the night to escape Moiraine and you don't get many pages devote to Rand. The rest of the party, Perrin, Loial, Moiraine, and Lan realize that Rand is headed to Tear and follow his trail. Although the title of the book is The Dragon Reborn, Rand only makes brief appearances throughout the book. Most of the book is told from the perspectives of Egwene, Nynaeve, Mat, and Perrin.

Egwene and Nynaeve get involved in a special matter for the Amyrlin Seat, investigating the Aes Sedai Darkfriends (the Black Ajah), and their discoveries lead them to believe the city of Tear is central in the Black Ajah's plans and set off for Tear.

We learn a bit more about Mat, as in the last 2 books he was under the power of the dagger from Shadar Logoth so he wasn't playing as active a role, but since being Healed by Aes Sedai he becomes free of the dagger's taint and he becomes a bigger part of the story in this book, getting more page time. Eventually, he also makes his way to the city of Tear. (hmmm....everyone going to Tear, could this be important?LOL).

Compared to the prior 2 books in the series, this book is a bit more slow going, there aren't as many scenes of action except for the very last few chapters when everyone meets in the city of Tear, in the Stone of Tear, where the sword that cannot be touched is waiting for the Dragon Reborn to claim it.

I still found this book a good read despite the slower paced portions of the book. In my opinion the next book, The Shadow Rising, is a lot better and picks up the pace considerably (The Shadow Rising is one of my favorite books in the series). ( )

I enjoyed this book and couldn't wait to finish it to start on the next book in the series. I was surprised that the book didn't really deal that much with Rand, but rather the actions of the others from Emond's Field. I am looking forward to seeing how the people in Jordan's fantasy world will view Rand now that he will be more well known as the Dragon Reborn. ( )

Not as enjoyable as The Great Hunt for my third time through. I enjoyed seeing so much of Perrin and his perdicament with Faile. The girls from the White Tower were less of a draw this time, although it's nice to see them on the hunt for the Black Ajah, and to try to figure out who is and who isn't. Also, the final event in the Stone made a lot more sense to me this time (again because of slowing down I think). ( )

Book three in the Wheel of Time series. The characters succeed in separate adventures, ultimately meeting together again at the end. ( )

While still interesting and worth reading, this episode in the series just didn't seem as entertaining as the first, second, and fourth (no word on the later issues yet). Still, it does introduce some new characters and character developments and is a necessary stepping stone, so make of it what you will. ( )

As had frequently been noted, the early books of the Wheel of Time series were much more satisfying reads than the later books. The Dragon Reborn was a breakthrough book in the series: Mat (especially), Perrin, and the "Wondergirls" receive the lion's share of the POVs and all become more complex, more intriguing, and more sympathetic characters. The Forsaken take on a more active role, and we begin to understand their at times cooperative, and at other times competitive actions. And the book moves quickly, building to another highly satisfying climax, which answers some questions while at the same time raising others. After the uneven and at times just plain bad recent books in this series, Jordan doesn't seem to get much respect from serious fantasy readers these days. But there is no way to dismiss the remarkable achievement of the early Wheel of TIme books, and I think The Dragon Reborn should be considered one of the best. ( )

See The Eye of the World.