Lord Of Chaos (Wheel of Time, #6)

by Robert Jordan

[cornerfolds]

After taking kind of a long break from The Wheel of Time series, I decided to get back to it with installment number six on audiobook (because I just cannot stay focused on these books on paper). My overabundance of free time lately made this one a much quicker "read" than books one through five, but I was honestly a little sad when it ended!

Lord of Chaos begins Perrin and Faile trying to manage Emond's Field, Nynaeve and Elayne hiding out with the rebel Aes Sedai, Egwene studying under the Wise Ones, Mat doing his own thing with his army, and Rand wondering if he's gone mad already. (Can we just talk about all the names in these books? It is SO hard to write a review after listening to them and not seeing names on pages!) As always with The Wheel of Time, book six starts right where book five left off. And, as always, the action takes a little while to pick up. These books are by no means fast paced. There were actually moments throughout the book when I'd stop and take note of what had actually happened and not much ever had. I think this is something that would really grate on my nerves if I were reading them instead of listening, but as it is I actually enjoy hearing all of the minute details. In any case, things did happen and they were amazing!

This is actually the first book in The Wheel of Time series that had me cheering out loud for the characters! I have been rather impartial to the individual characters up until now, but Lord of Chaos changed me. I am absolutely in love with both Rand and Egwene! I LOVED watching them throughout this sixth book as they both rose to the occasion and embraced the power they were faced with. I really liked the relationship between Egwene and Gawyn. Although it did seem a little rushed, it worked for me. And Egwene herself is just a lovely character - she seems so much more wise and mature than the other women her age. Could this be from her time with the Wise Ones? o_O The romance between Rand and Min was also a lot of fun! As was wondering whether Rand really was going mad! He has become so strong throughout this series. I can't wait to see where book number seven takes him! Between Egwene becoming the Amyrlin Seat and the final battle between Rand and the Aes Sedai, I had to literally restrain myself from jumping up and down in excitement!

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Nynaeve and Elayne continued to annoy me with their constant bickering and behaving like teenagers. I realize this book was written during a slightly different time, but the non-stop references to the differences between men and women had me rolling my eyes on a pretty regular basis. I try not to hold that against Robert Jordan... And it really doesn't detract from the story overall, at least in my opinion. I wished Lan had a more prominent role (read: any role) in this book. One negative about a series this long is that sometimes characters completely drop out of an entire book! Hopefully he's back for the next installment!

This book was truly the best of the six I've read so far! I couldn't give it five stars because it really did drag. I mean, it's almost 42 hours of audio, so... it was bound to happen. Either way, I really did enjoy it and I can't wait to read the next one!


Notes on the Audiobook
Once again, Kate Reading, Michael Kramer completely blew me away! I love them so much! Anyone who happens to be listening and hear them think they're the funniest thing ever, but their voice acting skills are superb!