Books

This latest novel in Robert Jordan’s long-lived and long-winded epic fantasy series represents an improvement over his low point, now established as books 7-10. Important and long-awaited prophecies are finally being paid off; the plot is moving forward steadily. While there are many decisions that I would have made differently, and many, many wasted opportunities, there is at least progress in a forward direction. This is not a book that is worth returning to the series if you have already abandoned it.

Legends is a collection of short stories by noted authors: Stephen King (The Dark Tower), Terry Pratchett (Discworld), Terry Goodkind (The Sword of Truth), Orson Scott Card (The Tales of Alvin Maker), Robert Silverberg (Majipoor), Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea), Tad Williams (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn), George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire), Anne McCaffrey (Pern), Raymond E. Feist (The Riftwar Saga), and Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time).

The Family Trade is probably best described as a unusual take on the usual sort of crossover story. The heroine, a trade journalist who has just uncovered the details of a massive money laundering scheme, finds herself at loose ends when her magazine’s ownership turns out to be involved. As if avoiding the mafia and finding a new job wasn’t enough to worry about, her adoptive parents finally reveal the details of her birth family, along with her mother’s personal effects and newspaper articles suggesting she was murdered, with a sword, in the middle of a 20th century city.

The second novel in the Tales of the Continuing Time series, The Long Run is a masterpiece of the science fiction genre that is difficult to summarize in a few paragraphs. Moran has done some brilliant technological and political speculation set in the late 21st Century. His characters are very real and alive, and the writing is rich and fast-paced. TLR has the most cohesive plot of the three books in the series so far, and if you’re a new reader, I actually recommend starting with it rather than Emerald Eyes.

A Storm of Swords continues the groundbreaking series that began with A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. It’s a massive tome that weighs in at almost 1,000 pages and continues Martin’s tradition of shaking up the characters and the world with momentous and surprising events. Rob, King in the North, continues his fight against the Lannisters – winning great victories on the battlefield, but conscious of his two sisters held as hostages.

Jordan’s Wheel of Time series continues with The Fires of Heaven, the 5th volume of what may be the longest-running fantasy series ever… at least in terms of page count. Rand’s destiny has taken him to the Aiel Waste, a vast desert populated by nomadic warriors, where he will contend with the Shaido Aiel following Couladin for the title of Car’a’carn (chief of chiefs)… and with the Forsaken, who lurk as always in the shadows, awaiting the opportunity to strike.

The Shadow Rising is the fourth book in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. The Stone of Tear has fallen, and the Sword That Cannot Be Touched has been drawn in accordance with prophecy, confirming Rand as the Dragon Reborn. But there is much yet to do before he must face the Dark One at Tarmon Gai’don. Goaded by Moiraine, who seeks to guide his path towards Sammael in Illian, Rand remains determined to choose his own path, and to move in a direction that no one expects.

The Dragon Reborn picks up several weeks after The Great Hunt left off… although relatively little has happened in that timespan. Rand struggles with the implications of events at Falme, where he raised the banner of the Dragon and battled Ba’alzamon in full view of thousands of soldiers and citizens alike. Rand, Moiraine, Perrin, and their small party of dragonsworn Shienarans are trapped near Falme, unable to move to rally the other small bands that have declared for the dragon for fear the established rulers will crush any evident focal point for the chaos.

The Great Hunt continues the story that began with The Eye of the World. Rand, Mat, and Perrin are three young men recently plucked from their quiet farming community and thrust into the center of events as the Pattern weaves itself around them… possibly in accordance with the ancient Prophecies of the Dragon, prophecies which describe a man who once broke the world and who will be reborn to do it again.