A Review: The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

I entered my re-read of The Shadow Rising, book 4 of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan with a warm feeling. It was the book I was most looking forward to re-reading because it’s the installment I always report as my favorite, but would it continue to hold that place in my mind?

Summary

While Elanye and Nynaeve pursue the Black Ajah, Rand, Mat, and Egwene journey into the Aiel Waste to fulfill their destiny, uncover secrets, and learn new talents. While they’re away, the world order is shaken as the White Tower suffers losses, and far away, back home in the Two Rivers, Perrin fights to protect those he loves from a trolloc hoard.

Review

Mat’s story was my favorite in The Dragon Reborn, but Perrin’s story was my favorite in The Shadow Rising. We see Perrin come into a strong role of leadership while also navigating his relationship with Faile. Perrin is ever-reluctant to accept a true role of leadership and fights it every step of the way, but the wheel weaves as the wheel wills, and I loved how Perrin proved to be a much better leader than he imagined himself.

Rand also has a stronger storyline in this novel. Determined to do the unexpected, Rand has now accepted his role in the pattern and now proactively pursues his own objectives, uninterested in being shoved and tugged by anyone who seeks to use him to their advantage. While not as strong as Perrin’s story, I still found Rand’s path good fun to follow.

Again, Jordan’s worldbuilding is top shelf. In the previous novel, we fleshed out the Aiel, but here, we found that their history and customs run deeper than even The Dragon Reborn revealed. The Black Ajah and the Forsaken continue to be varied and interesting, mingling the will of the dark one with their own selfish ambitions.

While there is so much good to talk about with this novel, it’s one of the longest in the series, and I don’t think it would have suffered from a bit of trimming to streamline the story just a bit. While I loved spending such a long time in the world, there were bits where the pacing slowed more than needed.

Is The Shadow Rising Worth Reading?

I’ll need to re-read the following volumes to determine where this novel falls in my list of favorites, but its highs far outweigh its lows for my personal tastes, and if you’re in love with the story so far, you’ll enjoy it too.

And if you love The Wheel of Time, I know you’ll enjoy The Continua Chronicles.

It’s perfect for fans of Robert Jordan.

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