LORD OF CHAOS (The Wheel of Time #6) by Robert Jordan ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Original review written October 21, 2020)

I started this months ago (technically May I think), but could’ve sworn I was on this leg of the journey for years. Maybe it’s the weird time-warp that 2020 has created. Maybe it’s just a tough book to beat. But here we are.

I started the year with a goal to finish about one Wheel of Time book a month, with a short breather book between to keep it fresh. That way I’d be done after just over a year. Quarantine in spring made that seem achievable. The world slowly devolving into madness in the summer blew it off the rails.

I didn’t feel like reading much then. I was glued to CNN alerts about covid, or protests, or climate disasters, and if any efforts were put toward books, it seemed like that effort should be for educating myself on racial issues, and rightfully so. The insight I gained from just three has helped me understand (and spread) a new level of our country’s history and current situation.

All the while, Lord of Chaos hovered around page 350 of 987.

The transition here between not reading the book and finally reading it is that, yes, I wasn’t in the right headspace for it — but also, it wasn’t doing much for me. If any of the series so far has felt like an “in between book”, this is it. The best parts feel like flashes in the rough, here and gone while the characters are busy talking about other characters that they may not even see in this book. Never-ending inner monologues, and always waiting to go to a different town or village. While the dull sections are on a higher tier than other series due to the world and infinite depth Robert Jordan apparently wields so easily, by the time the fun happens at page 950...it’s lackluster.

I’m still invested fully in this. But the inevitable middle slump is a disappointment. It’s hard to fault the books when they are so rich with a universe well-planned. I just think a trimming would strengthen rather than hinder the story. The characters have sooo much manuscript space to talk about their thoughts, yet after six books I don’t think their growth rate equals the page count. Most have plateaued and can’t seem to help but repeat themselves about their grievances and goals. Maybe this is the summarizing tactic to make sure readers remember previous books. But it’s getting old.

I’m probably being overly cynical, more annoyed the escape from the real world isn’t at the same level book four was. These annoyances are nowhere near enough to divert me from the series. If anything, I need to press on to find the quality again. Too bad it’s probably on the other side of a few thousand pages 😵

————————————————————————

Update 4/29/21:

Looking back currently in book 10, I didn’t know how low things would get. Book 10 is probably it, though I have 300 pages left. And considering how much the finale of #6 is brought up the rest of the way, I think I misjudged this entry a bit. Most likely because I stretched reading over months, during a chaotic and stressful time. It just didn’t get the focus it deserved. So I’m upgrading it from a 3 to a 4 star. Maybe on a proper reread it will be a 5 in the series, as so many other people would say. But I’ll save that second journey for a few decades.

————————————————————————

Update 12/31/21:

The finale of this one is a major turning point in the series, possibly a fair halfway point to mark where pieces are still being laid and where their journey towards the Last Battle truly begins. I wish I had appreciated it as much as I should’ve at the time.