Dragon Reborn (Paperback)

Now we get into more character development and even more character development. Most of the book I'd toss out, saving the scenes with Rand, though that would probably reduce the book by 300 pages, but a smaller book is better if it is more enjoyable.

At least this book still has some interesting parts, enough for me to recommend it.

**A book I would also recommend is The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. This, the first installment of The Morcyth Saga is a great beginning for a new author. Battles, magic, gods, secret passages and intrigue, all the elements of a classic epic fantasy! Any fantasy reader will enjoy it.

That said, Robert Jordan is a frustrating writer who's capable of the most glaringly juvenile characterization and mannerisms in his writing. It can become very, very difficult to read someone who is utterly incapable of writing female characters. Half of The Dragon Reborn follows Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne, and their adventure at the White Tower (I'll avoid spoilers) as they progress to become Aes Sedai. This subplot really hurt the book, for me at least, keeping it from being anywhere near as good as the first two books.

The White Tower mystery was excruciating. The primary conflict comes from the girls being faced by an Aes Sedai who looks at them crossly and scolds them. The girls curtsy and scrape, then leave, only to be faced with another cold Aes Sedai who looks down on them. Repeat again and again, ad nauseum. The feeling of being flustered before someone with position or respectability is a common scene in the WoT books. It happens on almost every page. In the Great Hunt, at least, Jordan uses it well by having Rand stand up for himself, earning the reader's respect. But in this third book, it annoyed the hell out of me.

With Min gone, not a single woman in the White Tower was interesting. Is it just me? And the female characters the reader is stuck with have an annoying habit of "sniffing," as in "'Men are all fools,' she sniffed." I counted it used 23 times. 23 times!

In addition to the sniffing, the Amyrlin Seat can't speak without using a fishing metaphor (she's a fisherman's daughter). Someone tell Jordan that a mannerism is a poor substitute for genuine character. And in this book, Jordan introduces Nynaeve's habit of tugging on her braid when she's angry or nervous, which is always. Again and again, Nynaeve tugs on her braid and sniffs.

I missed Rand. He was hardly in the book. The path of Perrin and Moirane was enjoyable; I wish they'd been given more pages, and the White Tower less. But I was growing tired of the familiar scene of going to an inn and meeting the innkeeper, which has been done many many times in the first three books of the series. And then having to escape in the middle of the night. Since we're on the topic of repeating things, the ending of this book is the same ending we've seen in the first two books. Time for something new!

So Robert Jordan repeats things a little too much. If you read this book, keep a running tally of the braid-tugs, sniffs, and fishing metaphors. And being flustered around someone glaring. The dream sequences in the first two WoT books were really boring to me, so I was dismayed to find out that now it's going to be a major point in the stories from now on. Ugh. Enough with the dreaming!

Still, the WoT is a lot of fun despite Jordan's poor judgement. I've read on Amazon that Faile becomes another really annoying female character later on, but I can say she's a lot of fun in this volume. Let's hope the next book has more Rand and less White Tower. If you don't mind corny fantasy, you won't mind this third book in the WoT series.