Rebel Book Review: The Dragon Reborn (Wheel Of Time Book 3)

Pages 675

Originally published on 15th September 1991

The Land is One with the Dragon - and the Dragon is One with the Land. The Shadow lies across the Pattern of the Age, and the Dark One has turned all of his power against the prison that binds him. If it fails he will escape and nothing will stand in the storm that blows then...save the man that was born to battle the darkness: Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn. But to wage his war Rand must find Callandor, ancient Sword of the Dragon...and the Forsaken will shatter the world to thwart him. - Synopsis

The Dragon Reborn is book three of fifteen (if you include the prequel) in an Epic-Fantasy series known as the 'The Wheel of Time', a series that many believe to be the greatest series in the fantasy genre that has ever been written. I haven't finished the series yet, so my review will focus entirely on this book, and I will do my best to avoid any spoilers or vague hints. However, if you have not read the first two books (and still wish to) then I would recommend caution with this review, as there may be spoilers.

There were many things that made the third book in the series interesting, but most prominently for me it was the fact that this was the first time in which Jordan truly hands the reins of the story over to the other characters that we've grown to love. Unlike The Great Hunt, the story wasn't as contained, and if you look beyond the world and character building that happens in it, you'll probably notice that not a lot happens in terms of story. However, that's where the strength of this book lies - in the development and placement of the characters. Each one moving into their own stories, positioning themselves where they will no doubt need to be for the rest of the series, preparing them for the troubles and situations they'll face, their actions subtly adding to and changing the overarching plot; after all, Ta'veren weave the will of the pattern all around them.

Rand, though the primary catalyst for the entire plot, is removed from a majority of the action in The Dragon Reborn, which is a surprising improvement on the story; especially considering the books namesake. We hardly get a chapter with Rand as the point of view character after the beginning of the book, and instead focus is turned towards Mat, Perrin, Egwene and Nynaeve. I've always liked Rand as a character, but it's in Jordan's ability to juggle multiple points of views as other characters begin to branch out on their own, shifting the focus of the series, that really helps give the reader a glimpse into the sheer magnitude of the world and story that Jordan is trying to tell. You steadily begin to get the feeing that it may be some time before all these characters see each other again and that their own, personal quests are only just beginning; the story is no longer just about Rand, no, it is the end of an age, and this is the first time we truly come to understand this.

By book three I'm still noticing that the prose Jordan often uses may still be a problem for some readers. His articulate use of words often varies between exquisite to average, and his use of detail can still feel bloated and unnecessary at times, perhaps even going as far as getting in the way of simply telling us the story that he wishes to tell. I always felt that these issues were especially strong with chapters focusing on Rand and Perrin, perhaps even more so with the female characters, but with Mat this doesn't seem to be the case, most noticeably in this book.

We see Mat return to his cheeky and cheerful self in this third instalment, much as he was for part of the first book, and with Mat's point of view chapters comes a much looser style of writing from Jordan. The writing feels just as we would expect it to feel if it were to come from within Mat's head, if still a little excessively long at points, and that's one of the joys of the book in my opinion; the way that the books style often changes, if only slightly, with each different character.

By now it's become clearly apparently that there is one area that Jordan always seems to excels in, and that is the endings of his books. Each book has ended with a bang and this one was no different. All of the characters begin to unknowingly converge on each other, as if the weaving of a tapestry nears completion. We quickly begin to see the bigger picture and how well Jordan controls all of this, so when the pieces actually move in context it is satisfying in a way that is hard to describe. The only slight I can see with the ending to this story was the now seemingly mandatory battle between good and evil, though yet again with good reason in regards to the ongoing plot.

When reading up about this book, I stumbled upon a bit of information that claims that the Wheel of Time was originally intended to be a trilogy, with the ending of this book culminating at the end of book one (The Eye of the World). It shows us that Jordan originally bit off more than he believed he'd have to chew and that it clearly took him far longer to get his points across than he had intended, perhaps because of the bloated detail he is often guilty of using, but I personally think the series is all the better for this extra development and detail.

In conclusion, I think that The Dragon Reborn is an great addition to the series and one that finally sees the scope of this adventure become truly epic - thanks to the sublime and much needed development of the other characters, mostly largely and surprisingly taking Rand out of the equation during this book, which made me far more sympathetic to the apparent initial stages of his decent into madness. Of the three books thus far, I feel that The Dragon Reborn was the most inconsistent; it had some interesting highs with the new and interesting focus on the other characters, and some lulling lows in world and story development. Overall (perhaps in part to the adrenaline rush the books ending gave me) the book was more than interesting enough for me to instantly start the next book in the series and, ultimately, isn't that what's truly important in a book series?

3 ½ Rebel symbols out of 5!

Though the weakest in the series so far (in my opinion), the sheer amount of varying storylines and character development of this book, not to mention the ending, make this a worth-while read and a good addition to the series.