Lord of Chaos (Wheel of Time, #6)

This is, without a doubt, the best book in the series.

Yes, this book is long. But at this point, you're clearly committed to reading a 14 book series- the length isn't relevant. You either like Jordan's style by now, or you don't. This is, to me, the point of no return- either you're committing to the rest by reading this, or you're not.

The story in this is incredibly good. It's got a slower, more measured pace than the other books. In the other books, the action was driven by the characters going places and doing things there. In this book, the action is driven by political scheming and interactions between characters. It's a big shift, but Jordan really pulls it off- it was a necessary shift to happen- book 5 wrapped up most of the major plotlines from the first 5 books, and now was the time to step back, reflect, and set up the plotlines for the next several books. And that's what you're expecting going in- book 5s ending is so explosive that you need room to breathe. And he gives you that. And keeps giving you that, until you realize that he actually wasn't giving you ANY room to breathe, and that you actually just thought he was because you weren't paying attention. He has lulled you, just like the characters, into a false sense of security- and it pays off enormously.

This book adds more to the world than book 5 did. It really expands on the differences between the courts in Cairhien and Caemlyn, and distinguishes them pretty well.

This is easily my favorite book of the entire series; I actively look forward to reading it every single time I read the books.

Posted Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Actual Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

For my more in depth review, please check out the original posted on my book blog, Reviews of a Self Proclaimed Bibliophile.

As I am reading further in this series, I am realizing that while the pace does feel slow that there is actually a lot more going on in these books than what appears on the surface. One of my favorite parts of reading an epic saga such as The Wheel of Time is observing how the characters grow into themselves over the course of the story, I admit that I am a very character focused reader. When Rand al’Thor started out from Emond’s Field he was nothing more than a “wool-headed sheepherder” to quote both Min and Nynaeve, yet after six novels he has grown to be a man in charge of three nations (Tear, Camelyn, and Cairhien) as The Dragon Reborn, is seen as the Car’a’carn or Chief of Chiefs among the Aiel, and is constantly looking to achieve his goal of a united land before Tarmon Gai’don. To give an example of a specific quote:

I will use anybody I must. You said it yourself; I am who I am. And I’m using myself up, Perrin, because I have to. Just like I’ll use anybody I have to. We don’t have a choice anymore. Not me, not you, not anybody!~Rand al’Thor

This quote really brings to light just how much pressure Rand is under in his attempts to unite the land before Tarmon Gai’don. The scary part about this quote though is just how brutally honest it is, Rand truly is using everyone around him. Earlier in the series, Rand was fighting against the fact that he was going to have to use people, fighting against the truth that people were ultimately going to be sacrificed towards his cause. In recent novels, Rand’s mindset has changed and he has come to understand what the costs of his campaign are going to be though it still tears him apart inside. It is disturbing to witness how he is using those he consider to be his friends.

I want to shift the focus a little bit to the importance of prophecy in this series.

He had lived too many prophecies to believe any of them meant exactly what they said. Or even that they ensured anything. In his opinion, prophecy set the conditions that had to be met for a thing to happen; only, meeting them did not mean the thing would happen, just that it could.~Rand al’Thor

This quote may end up being one of the most important quotes of the entire series because it brings to light one of the most difficult parts to accept in regards to prophecy, that nothing is guaranteed. The problem with prophecy is that a great deal of it is vague and relies upon interpretation. One individual can interpret the exact same set of words differently than another. Does this mean that one is right and the other wrong? No, it just shows that both of them are able to find different meaning in the same words. It is true that Rand has been greatly touched by prophecy and is meeting it, however, Mazrim Taim raised an excellent point regarding prophecy as well:

Victors write history. Had I taken the Stone of Tear, history would have shown I was born on Dragonmount, of a woman never touched by a man, and the heavens opened up in radiance to herald my coming. The sort of thing they say about you, now.

Taim brings up one of the simplest truths of even modern history, victors are the ones who write history. The Prophecies of the Dragon were foretold before, during, and even after the War of Power. It is very likely that due to the amount of time between the War of Power and Rand’s time that these prophecies are quite vague which leaves them open to a wide array of interpretation. Therefore, it is possible that an individual reading the prophecies could come up with ways to show they had met prophecy and therefore were The Dragon Reborn – so long as they were able to prove they had met the interpretation they presented who would argue with them? As I have said, it is interesting to me just how important prophecy is to this series and I am curious as to whether or not Rand will meet the entirety of it and if he does, how will it come to pass.

TL;DR REVIEW: Lord of Chaos was incredibly well done in its capacity as a continuation of the whole story, were it a single standalone novel I likely wouldn’t have been able to stand the pacing of it though the itself story was well done. I happened to find my mind wandering while I was reading at times, specifically during chapters which deal largely with politics. I understand the importance of the politics in play and Rand’s need for strict planning, but I just get tired of watching nobles attempt to garner favor, manipulate, and/or back stab each other. Basically, I don’t care much for The Wheel of Time‘s daes dae’mar (The Game of Houses) – yet I am somehow compelled by the same concept based on my almost obsession with the Game of Thrones tv show without having read the novels. I can’t point out specifically what it is about Jordan’s daes dae’mar that I don’t find compelling, but something about it just irks me. Either way, I am looking forward to continuing the series with my reading of A Crown of Swords!