The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan

 Title: The Dragon Reborn
Author: Robert Jordan
Genre: High Fantasy

I purchased this ebook and chose to do an honest and unbiased review.  Tom Doherty Associates neither requested nor are associated with this review.

Goodreads Description:            

The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny.

Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how—for no man has done it in three thousand years—Rand al'Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?

Winter has stopped the war—almost—yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?

Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem—how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?

Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be healed—if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell the Amyrlin their news—that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumor, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits...

Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon reborn....

Here's What I Thought:
I think these books just keep getting better! Seriously! I love this book more than the last two and I am so excited to start The Shadow Rising, but first I have a couple other books to read, sadly... (Not really, I'm excited to read those books too. There's just no Mat.)

My big complaint of The Great Hunt was there was so much Rand. Well, this book made up for that.  There was no more than a few appearances of our young Dragon, but they were definitely interesting to say the least. I don't think he has gone mad with the Power yet, but I think he may be teetering on the edge.

For this book, my big complaint is Perrin.  I loved Perrin in the first book. Even in the second book, I really liked him. He is just... I don't know... Solid, maybe? Plus the wolf thing is super cool, which is why he was so bad in this book.  Almost every single minute of his POVs was focused on first shutting out the wolves and then, when they weren't there, how lonely it was.  Pick a side man! You can't have it both ways.  Embrace and accept or shut it out and accept. Then, by the end of the book, when he wasn't fixated on shutting out the wolves, he was fixated on a certain "falcon" (who I wanted to throat punch, honestly.) Overall, he just fell out of rank as one of my favorite characters, which I was really disappointed about.

But...

I have a new favorite character.  In this book, I got my first POV from Mat.  My heart! Ugh, I do love that boy! I had to wait for his POV for about a third of the book, but it was worth the wait.  He is no longer tainted by that blasted dagger and he gets to show how amazing he is.  And what makes him even more amazing is that he doesn't see it at all. He sees himself as a selfish prankster because that how everyone else sees him.  But he's not! He is probably the most loyal friend our band of young would-be heroes have. His luck is also shaping up to be a very intriguing part of the magic system Jordan has been building. He has absolutely insane luck and it's definitely not natural. I hope there will be more light shed on it in the next book. Plus, he is really good with a stick. He puts Galad and Gwayne with their fancy swords in their place with nothing but a quarterstaff--one of the best scenes in the book, imo. I could go on and on about how great he is, but I won't.

Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne are still great, but they were very catty in this book.  I guess it's to be expected.  Egwene is no longer a child and Nynaeve doesn't accept that.  They did have some total kickass, girl power moments though, which was awesome.  Despite their cattiness, the thing that actually made me scream the loudest at them was how they treated Mat.  They don't deserve him as a friend. They just don't. 

I was also excited to see a few more interactions with Lan, Moiraine's Warder.  He doesn't speak often, but when he does, he has quick wit.  He is about the only one that not only talks back to Moiraine, but I'm okay with him talking back to Moiraine. Some of his comments to her had me dying of laughter and she would just be like, "Really?" Yes, Moirane. Really.  Lan might be bonded to her, but he ain't about to take any sh$!.

In this book, I finally got some solid encounters with the Aiel. They definitely deserve all the hype. They are not only fierce warriors, they have a super interesting culture.  I remember when I was younger, I hated lengthy descriptions. I was impatient and would internally scream, "I get it! Their clothes were... The setting is... They spoke like... Move on with it already!" As I have gotten older, however, I have really come to appreciate solid world building. At this point, I don't think many could beat Jordan at world building with his attention to detail and vast and diverse cultures. I'm excited to have more encounters with the Aiel, as well as other cultures that have yet to make an appearance. 

I hereby give this book four stars.  I absolutely loved it and I am now confident that this series will go down as one of my all time favorite series.  What held me back from giving it five stars was Perrin's non-stop internal monologue of "I can't give in to the wolves" to "It's so lonely without the wolves."  It really did become repetitive and detracted from not only his story, but his likeability.  He just seemed mopey and depressing. Now I'm off to start a Mat fan club! Not really, but that boy really does deserve one! Stay tuned for my next review for Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo.

Quote:
"I am no bloody hero."

            -Mat Cauthon              

About The Author:

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.

Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.

He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian and received communion more than once a week. He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.

Responding to queries on the similarity of some of the concepts in his Wheel of Time books with Freemasonry concepts, Jordan admitted that he was a Freemason. However, "like his father and grandfather," he preferred not to advertise, possibly because of the negative propaganda against Freemasonry. In his own words, "no man in this country should feel in danger because of his beliefs."

On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, and that with treatment, his median life expectancy was four years, though he said he intended to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intended to have a long and fully creative life.

He began chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in early April 2006. Jordan was enrolled in a study using the drug Revlimid just approved for multiple myeloma but not yet tested on primary amyloidosis.

Jordan died at approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2007, and a funeral service was held for him on Wednesday, September 19, 2007. Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in Goose Creek, outside Charleston.