The Dragon Reborn: Book Three of The Wheel of Time

The Wheel of Time Series is one of the most well-known fantasy series ever and I have finally gotten around to reading it. I must admit to some trepidation at this point though. Three books into the series, it has not been amazing so far. Don't get me wrong, it has been good and at times very good but it has not reached the heights of the best fantasy series that I've read. This book in particular, was a bit underwhelming and had some significant flaws.The book starts of slow and I mean VERY slow. Basically the whole first half of the book seems like an extended setup for what happens later. The second half of the book picks up and has far better pacing but this was not a particularly engaging novel. There are some very interesting plot developments and the world building continues to be outstanding in this series but, as a standalone book, The Dragon Reborn has issues.For one, we don't really follow Rand's story that much in this book. That, in and of itself, would not be an issue if not for the fact that Rand is still the most important part of the conclusion of the book. So after not really having spent any time with Rand on this important part of his journey, we are all of a sudden (once again) thrust into this confrontation between him and The Dark One at the end. A confrontation that I am beginning to grow tired of, to be honest. There doesn't seem to be any real consequence to these encounters and the author has literally ended 3 straight books with them.Then we have the three Aes Sadai trainees; Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne. For some reason, the author doesn't seem to be able to actually depict any real training in the use of the One Power. There is a lot of talk about it and the three of them all are in Tar Valon to learn but instead they basically have to watch their backs and cannot trust any of the Aes Sadai at all. They are either fleeing for their lives or being punished and made to wash dishes. There is no training or real explanation of the use of their power. Not for them or for Rand. As such the use of magic becomes like a deus ex machina. It's like an easy button. So far I find the magic system to be very poorly fleshed out.Honestly Mat kind of saves the book. I never really liked his character before but this book offers a lot of character growth for him and he is also a much-needed dose of unpredictability.Honestly, I'm at a bit of a crossroads with this series. I have mostly enjoyed reading it but it hasn't really blown me away. Normally, I would just continue on now that I have read three books already but this is a 14 book series! For me to invest in reading that many books, I need to really love it. I have already purchased books 4 and 5 so I will read those no matter what. If, after I've read them, I feel no more engaged than I am now, that will be the end of the road for me.

In some countries, the word "bloody" is a very bad swear word. Either way I find the repetition of swear words tasteless and distracting to a story. The swearing is so bad, and used by so many characters, its long lost its potency to emphasis altogether and ends up just plain being disgusting. Yes, people swear, but I feel if an author, as talented and this one, wants to appeal to a large group of readers, he shouldn't turn readers off with so much obsessive, unnecessary language. It's one of those times I wish I could highlight words in black to cover them. Then I could read the book without those words in it. The book would be shorter. Lol.I also feel, after the third book, that the women, especially the main characters, are becoming to big for their britches. They are more and more rude and UN feeling towards others ad they come into their powers. These Aes Sedai women are sadly, to hard and mean, with a chip on their shoulders. Example: Mat risks his life to save them and they look at him in surprise and say, "What are you doing here?" and treat him like he did something offensively wrong. No sign of appreciation, or joy at see a good friend who could help, they demand why he is there and huff away with hard, mean stares. They explain nothing to him but are angry he does not understand , until he demands some info. They tend to promote more fear than respect and people cower. The women and men in this book are all to hard and alike. I can't relate and would not like to be like them. I can see how being governed by the Aes Sedai might be a world with less joy and humor.

Love this series. Sick of every highly rated novel I pick up ending up being a young adult book. Jordan was a master story teller. His style pulls you right into his rich world, and you're pulled along and every which way as the story branches in different directions, then converges again, never losing track, always keeping you engaged. Truly masterfully woven. One thing I love is an author who creates new names that fit his world, as Jordan has done. The naming of the characters fit the regions they hail from in his world. If characters have names I've heard over and over in my own world, it seems to be a blaring indication that the author hasn't much imagination, which usually reflects in an average, shallow story. Jordan is none of that. This book carries the story forward as well as the first and second, and I'm eager to begin devouring the fourth. The story is as strong in each volume as in the first. Highly recommend to serious readers.

Even as an avid reader it is not too often I pick up 800 page books, around 300 is more the norm for me. That being said, I was engrossed in these books and found them hard to put down. I don't know if I've ever read a book that packed as much detail in. Over the 3 books totaling over 2000 pages only about one year passes in Jordan's well developed world. That kind of pacing is rare but I don't remember a moment when the action felt slow or too drawn out. As far as the world goes, there are a few details that felt a bit contrived, overly borrowed (from Tolkien), or poorly renamed fantasy conventions. However this is nearly impossible to avoid crossing the landscape of the fantasy genre, and Jordan does a far better job injecting originality into his world than most.

I've used the word "journey" rather than filler because there is good world building and a lot of character building in this book. But this does not feel like a book where Jordan intended to tell a complete tale. It feels more like he wanted to introduce us to more cultures, lands, towns, peoples and then in the last 200/150 pages he wanted to wrap it up so started making it really interesting. I'm not keen on the whole "ooh I've killed Ba'alzamon" "ooooh no you haven't" thing that's happened three times now. These happen with little reason either.However, I like Jordan's writing style and its very immersive.

This series of books are for new WOT readers. The plastic on the cover peels after use. This is a 5 star review based on contents alone. If you are a fan either buy a hardcover, or find original covers.So another Wheel of Time book! I knew this would be hard to summarise but I have gathered my favourite points and tried to be as detailed as possible. I will let you know when the spoiler-free part is done. If you think the world was big already, this book adds another tonne of stuff. It is genuinely amazing how all of it joins together into one big picture and I cannot even begin to think how Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordon satisfyingly finished such an expansive universe. Although this book is called The Dragon Reborn, I will say it isn’t heavily focused on Rand. This book however heavily develops the side characters. Matrim Cauthon, Nyaneve, Egwene, Perrin and Morraine in particular are characters that develop a lot throughout the book. I know Mat is one of the favourite characters, many who have read only the first two books don’t understand why. However, there are plenty of moments with Mat in this book where I smiled or even laughed out loud. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is questioning to continue the series.Now I am going into spoilers!Tel’aran’rhiod- Amazing addition to Egwene’s character and also interesting the concept of dreamers. Egwene’s dream test similar to Nyaneve’s in the great hunt was awesome. In fact, I think this is a foreshadowing of many things to come, particularly the third dream. The ter’angreal Egwene was given to visit that world was an amazing addition. The dream world was an interesting addition especially with the unusual ways that it works. Egwene somehow found a way to bring real-life consequences to the Black Ajah in this book, which was a good use of the new power she wields. It also leaves us with the mystery of how it links with the wolf dreams. I look forward to seeing further use of this in later instalments.Callandor- Rand didn’t use it for a lot in the book, but it was clearly really powerful. Literally has the power to level cities. So I most definitely look forward to its future use.Black Ajah- Liandrin and the other members of the Black Ajah were a threat, particularly to these three newly accepted Aes Sedai. I think some people may have found the Egwene parts slow, I simply didn’t. I found all of this REALLY interesting. However, the Black Ajah wasn’t really in a lot of the book. So I look forward to seeing more of them in later books.Matrim Cauthon- From the moment he is cured, his character flourishes. I love how he questions how far his tether of luck will take him. How he irritates everyone around him and gets away scot-free. He is a cheeky, extremely likeable character. It is such a relief that we finally get to experience him in all his glory now. His relationship with Thom Merrilin was particularly fun in this book. Thom was the serious mature character, as Mat made trouble everywhere he went.Balefire- A really interesting power to add. It isn’t clear why it is forbidden, however, it is ridiculously powerful. I liked how Nyaneve used it without even realizing what she did. It also says a lot about Morraines character that she learned to use it despite it being a forbidden power. It is used three times in the book altogether and it was described so well.Perrin and Faile/Zarine/Falcon- This to me personally was the slowest part of the book. These two are paired somehow and it is really interesting to see. However, not a lot actually happens with them in the book. It is more the arc of Perrin coming to accept her as a partner.Greymen/Darkhounds or Shadowbrothers- AN AMAZING ADDITION TO THE SHADOWSPAWN. Darkhounds were more cannon fodder to the book, despite being a force to be reckoned with. They are definitely less so than Trollocs, but they are still that nonetheless. The Greymen are terrifying and can appear in the most random of places. They are such an interesting addition to the world that it feels wrong to include them in that cannon fodder category.Forsaken: Be’lal, Ishamael, Lanfear, Sammael- The forsaken begin to take roles of Lords and rulers in this book. Sammael as a ruler of Illian, Be’lal as a lord of tear. Also, Lanfear is an ongoing threat throughout the book. Her meeting with Mat was interesting. It is interesting how she entices the selfish desires of the men. However, there wasn’t a lot of Lanfear in the book.Ishamael! I really hope that wasn’t actually Ishamael! One of the most powerful forsaken, killed with complete ease by Rand at the end of the book. An incarnation of Shai’tan himself. I don’t want to believe they have killed him off in book three, I just somehow think it's true. I was disappointed with that.Padan Fain- WHERE WAS HE? I missed this guy so much! It didn’t make the story any less bad… I just wanted more Padan Fain!Conclusion- This is a really strong book in the series. I think it is the best out of the original three in terms of it’s sheer engagement factor. However, all of these books are 5 star rated to me so far. I am genuinely so excited to see what happens next! The world is getting bigger every second in all of this and I want it!

I love the WoT series for its breath of story, for showing us that "heroes" as well as "villains" have flaws, for the grandeur and majesty of the story, for the 'grown up' writing and the sheer scale of the plot. Book Three gives us just as much action and adventure, a lot of it female centric, yet also adds more back story for the characters as we realise how ordinary that aren't.

Brilliant story line but totally ruined by extremely excessive padding , I am at this moment wading through book seven, there are whole chapters of totally unnecessary boring dross, the story so far could easily have been told in one book and there are several more to come.I will not be buying any more of this series

This is the 3rd in the Wheel of time series. I chose this after loving reading the first two books.The story is gripping and more complexities continue to unfold. I love the way the characters develop and I have become very attached to many of them. These books have everything I love in fantasy stories and are not predictable.I think these books would appeal to teenagers and upwards, those who love fantasy. It won't be long before I start book 4.