The Fires of Heaven

Really great book. I had so much fun reading this one.

Some of the characters are still annoying, but I can see that they are eventually going to shape up in interesting ways. It's easy to forget that they are telling the story through a very young POV. Adulthood comes with experience and these kids are having incredible experiences at very young ages. I have to keep that in mind.

The tragedies that permeate FoH will push them along that well-trodden path in the journeys of fantasy fiction. ( )

We pick up where The Shadow Rising left off: Rand, Egwene, Moraine, Mat, etc are in the Wastes with the Aiel trying to stop the rebels from invading the wetlands, Nyneave and Elayne are trying to find the Aes Sedai that are not under Elaida's control, and Perrin is still in Two Rivers (though we don't get much of him in this book). Various other characters weave their way through the book, all adding to the Pattern.
Each one of these books gets better and better (also longer and longer). I don't mind the detail though it can be a bit overwhelming at times. Each culture is interesting in its own way and all add to the world of WOT.
There's a lot of growth for some characters, especially Rand. I admit that the nitpicking and fighting among the women, while realistic, can be a bit much at times. I wouldn't mind if some of their complaints were toned down to balance better with the men. Nyneave and Elayne especially got on my nerves, and I'm not on board with Elayne's plans for Rand.
Jordan always seems to lead to a huge finish in each book and the same happens here, with some twists I didn't see coming. I'm looking forward to the next book, Lord of Chaos. ( )

Töluvert betri en síðasta bók í seríunni. Heimsendasaga Jordans heldur áfram sínu róli með stöðugum aukafléttum og viðbótum við fantasíuheiminn. ( )

Much better at the end than at the beginning. ( )

Took me a bit longer to get through this one. Admittedly, it is a long book but relatively average in page count for the series.

I enjoyed learning more about the wasteland Aiel culture and the depictions of the social faux-pas they cause the series hero Rand al'Thor on occasion, especially in respect to duty, honor, sex/relationships, and equality between genders. There are also a number of worthy quotes, many attributed to Elayne's old nurse Lini, on human nature in this entry in the series that almost makes reading this book worth an additional star (see Comments below).

The plodding westward of his forces against rebel Aiel was, perhaps, a bit overlong, as was the time of the series' heroines Elayne and Nynaeve travels toward Rand. Also, the wielding of the godlike Power in battles is so beyond the balance against normal men and women or evil minions, the battles are "unwieldy" and lessens the story tension, in my humble opinion.

Disappointingly, the Aes Sedai Moiraine who was such a prominent character in the earlier books is a minor character, one almost external to the story recounted in this novel. Strong female characters remain center stage, which is wonderful, but Jordan's depiction of, and pithy quotes, about how the sexes think of each other as nearly separate, and poorly regarded, species, is irksome.

Overall, I enjoyed the many separate character storylines, old and new. Rand's childhood friend Mat Cauthin, a fellow ta'veren (i.e. one who cannot escape Destiny and whose existence weaves the lives of those surrounding him into Destiny's Pattern) remains very entertaining. His plans to escape Destiny, and his resultant failures and frustration evoke both pathos and humor. The character of Birgette, one of the Heroes of Legend who was inadvertently brought from the world of dreams into "real time" is also a highlight, particularly in her unabashed sense of self-identity as a woman and a warrior in contrast to the relative prudity and insecurity and arrogance of the Elayne, Nynaeve, and Egwene, the lead female characters of the story.

The Seanchan (i.e. overseas invaders) storyline so prominent in "The Great Hunt" is again not continued in this book save for the introduction of Cerandin, a Seanchan noble hiding amid a circus as an elephant trainer following the defeat of the Seanchan invaders. While she is also a minor character, she is particularly well-conceived and, again, a good foil in her interactions with Elayne and Nynaeve.

As in each of the early books, this novel ends with a climactic battle against one of the major villains who have traded their souls to the Dark One (Black Ajah in the prelude novel New Spring, and one of the Forsaken in the remaining books).

A final pet peeve: In mimicry of Tolkien, Jordan inserts casual references to people, places, and events in earlier Ages with a slew of enticing place names and proper names. Unlike Tolkien, where casual mention of Gil-Galad the Elven King and of Gondolin and Numenor, for example, is founded on a background history Tolkien had created in detail, there is little to nothing behind Jordan's name drops -- at least in his own glossaries or in reference works such as The Wheel of Time Companion [Tor, Mat 2017]. ( )