Robert Jordan

Perrin Aybara must return to Emond's Field to face the occupying Whitecloaks, while Rand enters the Aiel Waste and the forbidden city of Rhuidean

Book Four of 'The Wheel of Time'

The Shadow Rising

Luke Harkness

Another epic that was too long but a fulfilling read

I'm not sure why fantasy (and some other) authors insist on writing 1,000 page books so often... I would argue it takes away from the experience. However, when you're into the fourth book in the series, you're already enthralled by the world and the lore and so you just keep reading as you almost see it as an encyclopaedic telling of the tale. As with all the Jordan's other books, the characters are very oddly written and this series is seriously missing any sort of personality in any of them other than anger and annoyance (why does everybody just react negatively and sharply?!). I've given this book four stars because the writing is incredible, the world Jordan is building (and has already built) is an absolute epic and it was a good ending which has got me excited for the follow up books.

Soon to be a major Amazon Prime TV series The fourth novel in the Wheel of Time series - one of the most influential and popular fantasy epics ever published. The Stone of Tear, invulnerable fortress of legend, has fallen. The Children of the Dragon have risen to the call of prophecy and march to the aid of the Light. Callandor, the Sword That Is Not a Sword, is held by Rand al'Thor, the man proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn. But still the shadows lengthen and still the Forsaken grow in strength. If he is to fight them, Rand must master the male half of the True Source, a power corrupted by the Dark One, a power that drives men to madness, a power that may save or damn the world. 'Epic in every sense' Sunday Times 'With the Wheel of Time, Jordan has come to dominate the world that Tolkien began to reveal' New York Times '[The] huge ambitious Wheel of Time series helped redefine the genre' George R. R. Martin 'A fantasy phenomenon' SFX The Wheel of Time The Eye of the World The Great Hunt The Dragon Reborn The Shadow Rising The Fires of Heaven Lord of Chaos A Crown of Swords The Path of Daggers Winter's Heart Crossroads of Twilight Knife of Dreams The Gathering Storm Towers of Midnight A Memory of Light New Spring (prequel) The Wheel of Time Companion

Book 4 of the Wheel of Time

The first half of this book nothing happens, it picks up a lot of speed after this but there is not as big a finale as in the first three. We see some big power up/character development for Mat, which is great as he seemed to fall behind his friends. Rand and Nynaeve get some good match ups. Feel like the next one will have some really big moments in it. I'm going to read all 14 of these aren't I...

Liam Richardson

Michael Springer

So, this is where I stopped reading. I attempted the book twice and never made it past page 300. Reading this series is, for me, sort of like watching paint dry. Only more annoying. 

But, last night, I had a dream that I finished this book, and the END WAS AMAZING. The end of this book (in my dream) was so good I fell in love with the series. 

Is it an omen? Or do I just have really, really lame dreams?

(They aren't always this boring. The night before, I dreamt I was trapped in a pitch-black attic. There was no way out, and an assassin with a katana was also in the attic. And so was a bull. The bull kept running back and forth through the room, and I kept hoping it didn't spear me with its horns. Finally, the assassin killed the bull, and I killed the assassin, and I WAS VICTORIOUS, and escaped from the attic. In my dreams, Robert Jordan books don't suck, and I am totally badass.)

Rachel Kanyid

Just as freaking amazing as I remembered it!
It took me a while to finish cause I took a break for a few months, but once I started back into it I flew right through! Just getting to the good stuff!

Jeff

High water mark of the series, maybe topped only once or twice before the finale trilogy with Brandon Sanderson. So many great moments throughout:

 
  

   Callandor and the limits of The Power 
  

   Perrin and Faile and the scourging of the Two Rivers 
  

   First encounter with the Eelfinn and the Aelfinn 
  

   Tel’aran’rhiod and its inhabitants 
  

   Discovering more of The Forsaken 
  

   The history and truth of the Aiel

andrea

the best the wheel of time book so far, with the most interesting plotlines and most significant character growth. it does an increible job at expanding the characters which, at first, i found boring or unlikeable in the first and second books and they move the plot fowards at the same time they grow more mature. 

also the shadow rising has established rand as my favorite character. it's true and i should say it. 
still, the most imprevisse arc was perrin's: from stepping outside of rand's shadow to becoming a true hero (even if he would say he isn't), dealing with grief over the loss of his family and learning how to open his heart to faile. i spend so much this reading this series that i grow attached to the characters without even realising it and i found myself fussing over how cute perrin and faile are together towards the end of the book, even if romantic relationships are not exactly... the most well-written thing in wot.

i criticise many things while i read this series. yes, there are a lot of things that i don't like, but at the end of the day the things i love about it win. really great and solid book, each one is better than the last.

The Stone of Tear, invulnerable fortress of legend, has fallen. The Children of the Dragon have risen to the call of prophecy and march to the aid of the Light. Callandor, the Sword That Is Not a Sword, is held by Rand al'Thor, the man proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn. But still the shadows lengthen and still the Forsaken grow in strength. If he is to fight them, Rand must master the male half of the True Source, a power corrupted by the Dark One, a power that drives men to madness, a power that may save or damn the world.

Nicole Sonja

This one, despite the time it took to read it, was brilliant and the story just got better! The world is bigger and the characters are better. I'm starting the next one immediatly.

Alejandro

This was a good ride. I'm not sure I will prise it as high as all the other fans, but to be honest I'm not loving the series as much as all the other fans. Yes it's huge and epic, but I think there is also tons of text that doesn't really captivate me. 
The best part of this book is how all the different characters had amazing plot lines. I still find weird that we spent so much time with ones and not others but that's cool. I realise that the development of the cultures is epic and people loves that but I'm somebody that prefers a little more action. Really spending an entire book (view spoiler)[just following the characters trough the desert (hide spoiler)] is not something that I'm passionate about. I guess that's why I really liked this one, (view spoiler)[because we spent quite a lot of time in the two rivers facing a real threat (hide spoiler)]. But also more things happened that I'm curious to see how they unfold. 
And that's probably what keeps me going. The specifics of the text are often boring but the general plot line is one of the best ones I've read.

James Eaton

I really enjoyed this one. I feel like the WoT series is really rolling right now and I’m planning on reading at least one a month. 

I’d love to finish the series in 2022 (which will still be a challenge). Jordan’s world-building and character development takes time, but it’s so rewarding to see characters grow and develop over these books.

Rick Dobrowolski

Robert Jordan stands unashamed in the company of the best at character development. He teases out developments in his characters in subtle, progressive, and interesting ways. I’m finding my favorite characters changing as the development happens. This is hard to do in writing, yet Jordan has found a way to do it. 

I’m a little nervous as I progress in the series, because I am anticipating the drop in the series that so many complain about. I wish that I hadn’t read reviews before reading the series, but I enjoy getting at least a sense of what I’m reading before I embark into one of the longest yet best fantasy series of all time. 

The Shadow Rising was enjoyable. I found myself surprised, delighted, annoyed, and excited. All wonderful feelings to have throughout a book. The adventure continued in ways that I was not expecting, and I enjoyed the directions that it went. There were a couple annoying male-female interactions between characters that seemed borderline childish and immature, and it’s hard to tell whether Jordan built that into the cultures or whether he believes that those interactions were typical for late-teen, early-adulthood characters. 

The development of the Aiel culture was my favorite part of this book and the series so far. I was fascinated by the generalities and intricacies of their culture. Robert Jordan deserves an award just for that aspect of his fantasy. I’m hoping that explanation of their culture is continued throughout the series.

Brianna

By far the best book in the series for me so far. This one marks the start of Wheel of Time becoming insanely vast with an insane amount of characters. It fucked my mind and broke my heart and reminded me that high fantasy is where I should dwell no matter the length of a series because it is so much more than any other genre. Reading a zillion “normal” length novels comes nowhere near the amount of satisfaction and depth a work of this scope gives to me, and I look forward to exploring behind doors Wheel of Time is opening for my mind.

Thanks for making me fall in love with three farm boys and a whole cast of fierce women so I could go on this epic journey with them, Robert Jordan. Ta’veren alter the life strings of people — readers none-withstanding.

Aidan Francis

This was probably the most emotional book for me so far, I almost came to tears at some points and have goosebumps during some of the fights. Truly amazing writing. I love this series so much!

Yulande Lindsay

Some excellent writing. Complex plots, excellent characterization (although some of the characters just drove me crazy!) Looking forward to the next in the series:

Perrin Aybara must return to Emond's Field to face the occupying Whitecloaks, while Rand enters the Aiel Waste and the forbidden city of Rhuidean.

Imane

4.5/5

The first 200 pages were excruciating but everything after that was GREAT. The pacing was a lot better in this one too. The part (view spoiler)[in the Two Rivers (hide spoiler)] almost had me in tears. It might be my fave in the series so far, but The Great Hunt is a very close second.

Mireia 

bueno bueno, me ha gustado más de lo que esperaba si soy sincera. 

Después de haberme dado un descansillo al acabar el 3r libro me puse con este un tanto reticente ya que el tercero es un libro "fino" y me costó horrores acabarlo, se me hizo tedioso y aburrido en general, así que en este entré pies puntilla a ver que me encontraba. Y what a grata sorpresa me encontré. 

Siento que en este libro es cuando empiezan a pasar cosas; por un lado tenemos a Nynaeve y Elaine buscando a las Ae Sedai del ajha negro, por otro tenemos a Rand, Mat, La Eugenia y Moraine/Land con los Aiel (mi parte favorita del libro son esta gente), y por otro lado tenemos a Perrin y Faile en Dos ríos.
Debo decir que aunque la parte de Perrin en Dos ríos me ha encantado, y su desarrollo de personaje no hace más que mejorar conforme pasan las páginas, mi trama favorita ha sido la de los Aiel. Me ha encantado descubrir su cultura y tierra, y en especial ver como todos, estando en distintos lugares del mundo y de maneras distintas, siguen los mismos preceptos y tienen las mismas "leyendas". Rand me ha gustado especialmente en este libro aunque me habría gustado ver más el desarrollo que se produce en el tercer libro y que no me tomara tan por sorpresa el Rand de este 4t libro. Aún así Rand es uno de los puntos fuertes de esta 4ta entrega sin duda alguna.

Ahora bien, no seria yo si no viniera a quejarme también xD

Mat me sigue pareciendo un personaje que necesito que se desarrolle de una vez, lo veo igual de infantil que en el primer libro y no me gusta nada como evita y le echa la culpa de todo lo que pasa a Rand (aunque esto ya es gusto personal), aunque si he de ser sincera, tiene pinta de que por fin se viene evolución de este personaje.
Eugenia me sigue cayendo como el culo, es que no puedo con ella, y tristemente Nynaeve se está empezando a unir a este club. 

La trama de la búsqueda de las Ae Sedai malas se me ha hecho increíblemente larga, tediosa y encima con una resolución que meh, es como que casi no pasa nada y luego bum y ya....

Para finalizar debo decir que este libro no tiene un final tan apoteosico como los anteriores, pero me ha gustado más que esos. Me explico. 
La formula que se seguía hasta ahora era de libro tranquilo y final bomba, en este hay más escenas Top y otra en el final que si bien no es bomba es bastante tocha. Y sinceramente, lo prefiero así. 

Me daré otra vez unas semanitas de descanso, ya que estos tochacos no se leen solos, y en cuando me vea capaz me pondré con el siguiente libro.

THE WHEEL OF TIME

1) The Eye of the World ★★★★
2) The Great Hunt ★★★★★
3) The Dragon Reborn ★★★★★
4) The Shadow Rising ★★★★★
5) The Fires of Heaven ★★★★★
6) Lord of Chaos ★★★★★
7) A Crown of Swords ★★★★

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The cast of characters is growing fast and I have to say I was a little bit confused while reading, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment.

My favourite characters are still Nynaeve and Elayne, especially Nynaeve, and I can't wait to see more of them when I pick up The Fires of Heaven!

sarah 🤠

every time a white cloak appears a day is shaved off my lifespan

Pat G.

** spoiler alert **
           4.5 stars. This story really comes into its own in this 4th book. 

Excited to know more about the Aiel. Learned a lot about their history in this book, but a lot of their customs are still confusing. Refreshing to see such a different type of society with their own way of life and beliefs like I’ve never seen before. 

Rand is a little less annoying to me now, he’s becoming a great hero and I’m in for the ride now. As his knowledge of the situation grows he becomes more likeable. And his decisions (though secret until the climax) are exciting. 

Mat continues to be one of my favs. I like the knucklehead. I have a soft spot for tricksters. 

Loving Perrin. Glad that Faile isn’t as obnoxious now. She made me annoyed at Perrin’s story line cause she was such an annoying brat. Now that they are married it seems like she’s let up a bit. I even kind of like her now that I understand more of her story. 

Nynaeve!! Seems like her last sequence here humbled her a lot. She needed that. She was much too stubborn for my liking, I actually disliked most of her parts due to her close-mindedness and wannabe motherliness (understandable given she was Wisdom of Emond’s Field before the adventure). I like her new respect for things and other characters. 

Enjoying the newly introduced characters here!! Egeanin (Seanchan realizing the errors in her beliefs), Aviendha (maiden turned wise one), Rhuarc (aiel chief with a lot of respect for Rand), etc etc.

Vitor Augusto Dal Molin 

Alexia Cambaling

I honestly didn't know how I'd rate this book. It started out really strong, but I found that the parts with Nynaeve and Elayne dragged, along with Egwene in T'A'R. I guess I couldn't care about Nynaeve and Elayne hunting Black Ajah and Egwene really started to annoy me with how bratty she is.

Despite that, I liked this book. There's a lot of things that really drives the plot and how the characters developed. Seeing Rand's POV again was really great in terms of seeing how he's changing and how his abilities are starting to weigh on him, as well as the prophecies. We really get to see him get more powerful, but at the same time we see the taint starting to affect him. We also learn who Rand's parents were and I liked the scenes where he acknowledged it.

We also get to see the Two Rivers and Emond's Field again. I actually looked forward to the scenes there a lot since it hasn't been "seen" since the first book and I wanted to see what happened to it. I liked those best because we start to see these peaceful farmer folk accept that their lives have changed and they have to adapt. Also, that scene with Aram was pretty sad, even if it was so short, it did have a lot of impact.

Mat seems to be coming into his own as well. There's definitely something going on with him, something that would make him someone other than a gambler. Mat is certainly a hero in this story and I expect his arc to develop a lot more.

I don't want to spoil more but as usual, I enjoyed how detailed the book was, and how everything develops. There's a lot more world building and lore in this book and both are welcome, especially since how it was delivered was handled well.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how things develop further from here.

Daryl Houston

I read this one aloud to the family. It's still pretty engaging, though it took us a while to get through it thanks to travel and guests. It's hard to imagine the series remaining interesting for another 10 books, but we've got number five lined up next.

The Shadow Rising Book Four of 'The Wheel of Time'

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