Customer Reviews

The Fires of Heaven: Book Five of 'The Wheel of Time'

5 star:		(92)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

The Fires of Heaven is Jordan at his most focused so far. For the first time in the series we see actual character development and some shifts in the static dialog between characters. The plot moves effortlessly and seamlessly, and there are suspenseful episodes throughout. There are enough new people and peoples in this book to make Jordan's often depressing obsession with minute irrelevant detail to be interesting, and the story has a sense of movement throughout.

Jordan hasn't so much changed the way he writes in this book, but a convergence of plot factors creates a situation that allows his most annoying proclivities to have an actual purpose in the flow of the plot.

The ending of this book is the best of any so far. One can only hope that the series will continue in this vain getting better as it goes.

If you have survived the negativities of Jordan's prose to this point, (no doubt carried on by his excellent imagination and the dramatic scope of the series) do your self a favor and read this book, it is better than the four previous, and finally gets this story to fulfill some of its promise.

This was a great book in the series! It had lots of excitement and a lot of stuff happened. This has been a great series so far!

I loved/enjoyed every moment of it.

Story so vividly told as the other previous books. Twists in plots so clever! Character development was extremely pleasant for me, enough to feel loss when some particular minor (or main for this volume) character(s) were killed off the Wheel.

A treasure.

After surviving the disappointment of "The Dragon Reborn", the Wheel of Time series has definitely regained its lost momentum and the series continues to get better with each book.

This book has been my favorite of the series so far. Jordan builds on the momentum he captured in book four ("The Shadow Rising"), and the storyline and character development continue in TFOH.

As for the main characters, each is facing new and exciting challenges in this book. Rand is still dealing with the realization that he is The Dragon Reborn. He has rallied the Aiel clan chiefs in a massive battle against the rebel Aiel chief Couladin, who claims that he is the true Dragon Reborn. Couladin and his followers, the Shaido, meet the fury of Rand and the rest of the Aiel in a decisive and climactic battle.

Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve continue their pursuit of the Black Ajah. Word has reached them that Siuan Sanche has been overthrown and stilled by Eladia. The three have also learned that a group of Aes Sedai has decided to try to overthrow Eladia and reclaim the White Tower.

Mat, Lan, and Moiraine continue to travel with Rand. Mat distinguishes himself in the battle with the Shaido by beheading Couladin. Moiraine has decided to become more yielding to Rand, but this turns into disaster at the end of the book.

This book is the best of the series so far in my opinion. The storyline and character development is very good, and the plot keeps the reader interested throughout the book. The last 200 pages of the book are some of Jordan's best work. The ending of the book is a true cliffhanger and will leave the reader wondering what will happen next. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Hopefully, it will be as good as this one.

Rand Al'Thor is the Dragon Reborn, He Who Comes with Dawn and possibly the Coramoor of the Sea Folk. He is destined to fight the Dark One in the Last Battle and then Break the World again. In this book The Fires of Heaven, you are with Rand a lot of the time and you see some of his characteristic development. You also read about Aes Sedai who wield the One Power, Darkfriends who serve the Dark One and Forsaken who in the Age of Legends were thirteen of the most powerful Aes Sedai who serve the Dark One and also have some Darkfriends under their command.
This book is a good fantasy novel about a young man with enormous responsibility on his shoulders and he must decide what to do with this power and responsibility that he possesses. He leads battles that get men killed, fights with his friends, orders people around and tries not to get captured in the nets of meddlesome Aes Sedai. This book is not just about Rand it also is about Mat Cauthon who is trying hard to forget what he is and has become, Egwene who is learning to become a Dreamer, Nynaeve and Elayne who are trying to find the hidden Blue Aes Sedai and many other characters who deal with their own problems.
This book is very detailed and descriptive and a very good adventure and fantasy story. I thought it was a very good book even if was a little drawn out in some parts. I think it strayed a little too much from the center of story and included none of Perrin which I was very disappointed about, but overall it was a well written and fun adventure/fantasy story. The characters were very realistic and believable and retain a lot of the characteristics people today, for instance Jordan writes about women never letting a man do what he wants and always convincing him to do what she wants, and how men can never stop women when they set their mind on something. I think it was very funny to read about all the social struggles the characters in the book go through, it was very realistic and entertaining. The theme of this book was courage, Moiraine Sedai showed innumerable amounts of courage when she faced Lanfear knowing that she was going to die, but she did it because she had to, to save the world, if she hadn't the Last Battle wouldn't have happened because Rand would have died. Nynaeve also showed courage when she went into Tel'aran'rhoid even after Moghedien almost killed her in it, if she hadn't conjured up the courage to do this then Rand Al'Thor probably would have been killed by Rahvin. Rand Al'Thor also showed courage by bearing his burdens and did what he had to do eventually and went and faced Rahvin.
I thoroughly enjoyed the entirety of this book even though at times it could be very slow, overall the book was very good if not quite as good as it's predecessors. I would recommend this series and book to anybody who likes a good fantasy novel and has a bit of time to read.

I bought the first book "The Eye of the World " with a bookstore gift voucher, knowing nothing about the series except that it had a prominent place in the fantasy section and looked like a popular series. Turned out to be a good decision, as "The Eye of the World" and the next two Wheel of Time books I purchased with the rest of the voucher were all top-notch fantasy, set in a world equal the best of them. However things started to go wrong around book four (using my own money now), after Rand got to Rhuidean the whole dynamic was off, I could tell something wasn't right. I got through the book anyways, despite the magic having gone and reading the Wheel of Time becoming more of a chore than a pleasure.
By book five when a good deal of the book concerned the adventures of non-essential characters running away from another even more non-essential character, "The Fires of Heaven" went for longer and longer periods without being read. By the time I checked on here and found out that old Perrin Aybara wasn't even in it, and rest of the series had less and less to do with the core characters, I had completely lost momentum. "The Fires of Heaven" has been taking up bookshelf space ever since. I think the first 3 books belong in any fantasy readers collection, and it's probably best to read the first 4 and stop there.

Last time I read this book, it was a while ago, but at the moment, I am nearly half way re-reading, I've nearly finish 4, and about to reenter five.

With what i remember, it was fantastic as it all is. More introductio to the Aiel culture, so on...the thing is i can not remember many details, but don't worry, will read it and update!!!

6 years after first hefting this might tome I have finished it. This series ruined my enjoyment oif fantasy for half a decade but it has since been rekindle in the wake of the LOTR revival. Most fantasy novels are fun and magical, but this series is like listening to the life story of a loquacious boor. It plods along for a LOOONG Time and eventually wears out its welcome.
Despite all the drawbacks I enjoyed reattacking this book and finally finishing it. I'm looking forward to starting the next one soon.
I was a Wheel of Time burnout for several years but I'm glad to be back into the material. If you have lost faith, take a break and come back to the series at a later date. Its still going to be several years until this thing is done. In the meantime I recommend the Death Gate Cycle by Hickman and Weis, for people wanting something different.

I gave it two stars because, other than the big battle about 3/4 of the way through, it was too slow! Perrin wasn't even in the book at all, and he is my favorite charater. This book is definitly not up to par with its predecesors.

I thought this book was pretty good. The pacing is pretty good and everything is described in detail. Sometimes it gets annoying since there are a lot of pages keeping you away from the action, but it does lend that extra bit of richness to Jordan's world. There are some surprising developments and a couple plot twists you won't see coming unless you read between every line...and even then you will probably miss it. All in all, the book is an enjoyable read for the most part.

The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that @*#&$ Nynaeve. I wish Jordan would use Balefire on her and remove her sorry thread from the entire series PERMANANTLY. She has got to be one of the biggest @*#&$^% of all time in the genre. Egwene and Elayne I can stand, and Moraine has always been the best female character in the series, and perhaps one of the best ever created in the genre.