The Wheel of Time Reread: Book 5 - The Fires of Heaven
*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THIS AND OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES*
Find the full list of posts in my full re-read of the series HERE
We're done with book five, and we’re really getting into the initial upward curve of the series. However, while The Fires of Heaven keeps up the pace and doesn't have any significant issues, unlike The Shadow Rising I don’t think there are any significant stand out series highlight moments here. Until the end, that is.
Using prologues to expand the world
Let's talk about how Jordan is a master of making his world feel bigger than just his main characters.
The Fires of Heaven has the first instance of one of Jordan's world-building techniques that I absolutely adore: the prologues. His method of giving us short scenes dotting around the world and focusing on characters we wouldn't otherwise get a POV for makes the world feel so much bigger than just the action we get to see. This is something a lot of fantasy series fail at. But Jordan makes me feel that our protagonists are going to have to face the implications of decisions and events they have absolutely no knowledge of. And that the world is filled with people living their own lives that have nothing to do with Rand or the others.
We get a similar thing with the scenes in Tel'aran'rhiod. As Nynaeve and Elayne see glimpses of information in the dream world, often the reader ends up seeing more than the characters. We have the knowledge to fill the gaps, giving us a way to build on happenings in the world without it being spelt out to us.
Watching our characters grow
Another good thing is we start to see now is some of the characters growing past their initial, more annoying stages.
In earlier posts for this re-read I've written about Nynaeve in particular and how the fact that she starts off so irritating is mitigated by the fact I knew the growth coming in her character arc. Now that growth is beginning to show, and so my sympathy for her can grow. It's in this book that her pride leads her to make a huge mistake. This is what kicks off her development to a more rounded, bearable character.
Matt also starts to get better in The Fires Of Heaven. Although it's not so satisfying as Nynaeve. Rather than a significant lesson or moment of realisation, he simply stops sulking about everything and just gets on with things.
Unfortunately, there will be no growth for Elayne. She is simply an irritating character. Spoilt, whiney, and entitled. It was bearable in previous read-throughs, but knowing she has no growth and will be this annoying for the remainder of the series just makes her grate all the more. I think this was on purpose on Jordan's part, but I just don't think it works.
Giving Rand something to do
And while we're talking about character development, let's talk about Rand's new development; the introduction of Lews Therin. This is interesting, as we are at a point where he could have become a rather dull character. Having completed his initial character arc, he has accepted his fate and gone on the offensive. He could have slipped into the trope of "troubled hero", but the intrusions of Lews Therin give him a new element to explore. Is this a past life coming through, or just an element of Rand's own madness?
This raises interesting questions about one of the series' core concepts. Reincarnation is established as a real thing in this world. That souls are born and reborn throughout time is a key plot device. But Rand is different to what we've seen before. Matt is our main example of this, but he shows us that (normally) it's a simple case that each soul has no memories of their past lives with him. With Rand/Lews Therin, we have two distinct and separate personalities. It can be put down to the fact Rand is the Dragon Reborn, not just any reincarnated soul, but I'll be paying more attention to how this aspect is handled as I go forward with this re-read.
When Jordan uses gender dynamics right (that is, as part of the story)
And so we come to the one real significant event in this entry; Moiraine's death. And, for a significant remainder of the series, first-time readers will believe this is permanent. At least I did. I'll be interested in seeing if I spot any hints to the contrary on this read-through.
This is a significant point, as she is the first main character to die. And while it's a big climactic set-piece rather than a GRR Martin style indication that anyone can die at any time, it's still a big moment. Especially after a couple more books when you can assume she isn't coming back in some form. She's gone.
But the other reason I like this is how it highlights something in both Rand and fantasy tropes in general: trouble with women. Fantasy, in general, has always had an issue with women. And Robert Jordan, being a male writer of that general, is no exception. But while Jordan's gender dynamics are not perfect, I feel that with Rand's arc, he is actively trying to make a point.
Rand refuses to see women as equal, but in a way he believes in honourable. Even surrounded as he is at this point by a literal all-female warrior society, he cannot bring himself to think of woman in the same way as men. He would argue the point, but essentially he believe's women are weaker than men and must be protected. By this point, there have been multiple points where killing a woman would have massively benefitted him, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't even kill Lanfear, one of the twelve most evil people ever and someone who is undeniably evil, simply because she's a woman.
And now, this had led to one of his main supporters dying. And, more importantly, he takes the wrong lesson from it. Rather than him realising if he'd let go of this cultural construct, he could have saved her, he instead starts to obsess on all the women he failed to save. In continuing to think of women as inferior to men in this way, as much as he doesn't see it that way, all he does is weaken himself.
This is all part of his arc, which will lead to him learning the difference between "Hard" and "Strong".
I'll be having a little break before beginning Lord of Chaos. Just to let myself get through a couple of the other books on my reading list. But I'll be back on the re-read soon.