Plot or Premise

At the start of the book, Rand is in hiding for the winter with Moiraine, Loial and Perrin. But his powers as a ta’veren (fate changer) start to affect those around him in both good and bad ways. Meanwhile, the three new novices return to the White Tower to face a (fake) punishment for their absence and for Mat to be healed.

What I Liked

The novices start to play Nancy Drew for the Amrylin Seat, trying to figure out if the 13 Black Ajah who left the White Tower were the ONLY Black Ajah, or if others remain. The mystery is challenging to investigate as they can’t let anyone even know they are investigating. At the same time, Egwene starts to learn how to DreamWalk. However, eventually their investigations take them to Tear.

Mat is at loose ends for most of the book, trying to figure out what his role is, how HIS status as ta’veren is affecting the environment around him — like that almost every game of chance begins to tilt in his favour. However, the best scene is a fight against Gawyn and Galadedrid who have been boasting about their abilities a little too much for his taste, so he knocks them down a peg, literally. It shows a “better” side of Mat than you normally see, and even one that he isn’t sure he recognizes, even with its dark edges. His hookup with Thom leads to an adventure that takes him to Tear,

However, the main focus is on Perrin as he makes his way in search of Rand, who has run away on his own to face his destiny without affecting the rest of the gang. Along the way, he is joined by Faile who is in search of the Horn, not realizing it has already been found (and blown, by Mat).

Ultimately, everyone has to storm a castle with Rand inside, for a final battle complete with Aiel joining in. It takes a long time to get there, but it’s a great transition.

What I Didn’t Like

The editing didn’t seem as bad with this book, but the repetition is still annoying. If a certain novice grabs her braids another 500 times in a book, I might just give up. Or the constant clichés about whether you can trust an Aes Sedai. Seriously, the author thought people were picking up these books mid-series and would be able to follow them? It’s almost impossible to follow them if you read them in ORDER, you would have little chance joining mid-series, so the constant explanations of things that are already explained over and over and over is, umm, disruptive.

And yes, the constant complaints and in-fighting for Egwene and Nynaeve is as tedious as ever.

However, the thing that bothered me the most is how little of the story is about or with Rand. You know, the Dragon Reborn? The one that THIS volume of the series is NAMED AFTER? Yet 80% of the book is about everybody else.

The Bottom Line

It should be called “Friends of the Dragon Reborn”

Here is my cheat sheet of characters in the novel.