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The Shadow Rising (1997-2000 initial reads; 2010 re-read) Larry Send a noteboard - 25/04/2010 06:41:08 AM
In my last commentary, I commented about how one of the major reasons why I decided to do these re-reading projects was to learn more about myself as a reader and critic and to explore how my takes on various novels had changed over an intervening period of several years. For the first three WoT novels, my overall attitude had shifted only slightly. I still liked the first book, The Eye of the World, better than the second and third volumes, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn. What I liked and why, however, had changed, sometimes drastically.

In particular, I found even the first three volumes to contain several annoying features. Among them, average, pedestrian prose, laziness in using quirks and invented stereotypes to describe characters and imagined cultures, and the beginnings of what author/critic Adam Roberts has referred to as "decor-porn." Despite these annoying narrative features, I was able to enjoy those three volumes as long as I focused on viewing the books as a sort of quest narrative. If I had devoted more time to looking at the numerous "prophecies" and their ilk and tried to predict as-yet-untold events rather than concentrating on the story at hand, I suspect I would have grown bored quicker than I have.

The fourth volume, The Shadow Rising, marks a pivotal change in the WoT series. This is the place where, for better or for worse (and I'm more inclined to say for the worse), Jordan decides to expand the narrative beyond what had first appeared to be a bog-standard epic fantasy quest to defeat the heinous forces of EVIL. It is here where elements of court intrigue and political manipulation are grafted onto the original quest narrative tree. The resulting mixture is a nearly 1000 page (MMPB) Frankenstein's monster that contains more splitting narratives and fewer resolutions than was found in the first three volumes.

When I first read this book back in November 1997, it took me a while to get into the story, largely because there are nearly 300 pages of setup and awkward character interactions before the young folk gathered in the Stone of Tear split into three groups to go on their not-quite-so-merry ways. I have remarked before on the unfortunate tendency of Jordan to overdescribe his characters and settings. I found this to be the case this time through, almost to the point of me being tempted to skip whole sections and even chapters. That old adage of sometimes less being more fits this series and particularly this novel nicely.

Perhaps it is due to my advancing age, but at 35, I found myself not relating to these characters as much as I perhaps had done (to a degree, that is) when I was barely 23. A sniff here, a puzzled frown there, all sorts of confusions about what the other gender might mean by their comments and gestures. While doubtless this was intentional in part, perhaps to try for a sort of comedy of manners routine, the repetitiveness in the types of responses to these situations quickly made those exchanges tedious to read. Although the frequency decreased after the characters split up to go on their own subplot ways, it still left me asking myself if I were reading some sort of bad reworking of Sweet Valley High in an epic fantasy setting. Maybe there is indeed something to the belief that people will interpret events differently as they age.

Besides the love trysts and sniffs, the dialogue was at best serviceable and at worst, utterly atrocious. Jordan rarely is considered to be an even average prose stylist, but in this book, with its attempts to cover four subplots (the three branching off from the Stone of Tear and the other from the Aes Sedai stronghold of Tar Valon), most everything felt forced. The scenes in the rural Two Rivers district, where the three main male characters were raised, felt at times as if I were reading a sort of fantasy Braveheart, with the appearance of an unlikely leader, Perrin, to rally the villagers to protect their homes. Although I can understand why many readers would enjoy such scenes (the excitement, the fighting, the feel-good ending), it just didn't work well for me at the end. It just felt clichéd in its approach toward both Hero (Perrin) and villagers and the author's decision to have large chapter chunks devoted to the four separate subplots often left too much of a space between developments in these subplots. The Perrin subplot in particular suffered from this herky-jerkiness in the switching from locale to locale.

The main subplot, that of Rand's journey into the Aiel wastelands, was better done. For those readers who prefer to immerse themselves in an author's imagined setting and "history," the chapters devoted to Rand's discovery of who his ancestors were and why the Aiel were where they were doubtless were major draws. Although at times I thought the made-up history lessons were a bit much, they do serve to set up so much of what happens afterward when Rand is proclaimed the Car'a'carn, or Chief of Chiefs (but not the God of Thunder and Rock'n'Roll, although considering a pivotal scene late in the novel, even that august title could have been applied to him). This was perhaps the best subplot in the novel and maybe even in the series to date, although it too was weakened somewhat by the need to switch to the other subplots.

The third subplot involving one of Rand's squeezes, the princess/Daughter-Heir Elayne and the former Two Rivers Wisdom Nynaeve (I want to pronounce her name as "naive," but it's NY-nehve, or something like that) felt more like a Scooby Doo mystery investigation or perhaps a Nancy Drew comparison might be more apt. They are off to the west coast to catch some waves and to track down the 11 missing members of the EVIL Black Ajah, the quasi-secret part of the Aes Sedai who worship the Dark Side. This subplot was weaker than the first two, not just because of the fissured narrative, but also because it felt much less complete than the other two. Yes, they accomplish part of their task, but the lack of a true resolution left this subplot feeling more as though it had ended in the middle rather than pausing at an appropriate point.

The final subplot, the barely discussed White Tower one involving the second of Rand's ladies, Min, and the Aes Sedai, perhaps should have been left out of this novel altogether, as less than a handful of chapters were devoted to narrating Min's arrival and the subsequent division of the White Tower. I suspect this could have been shifted over to the fifth book and a more complete narrative could have been established there. As it stands, these chapters were quite annoying, as they basically served to break up the flow of reading one of the other subplots.

When I finally finished this mammoth book, I found myself musing that the overall effect was much less than I had recalled it being. In the decade-long interim between my reads of this book, I have shifted away from being someone who reads just for content and more toward a reader who values style and presentation just as much. For readers who want to read an epic fantasy mostly to lose one's self in the created history and perhaps in the speculations that can be generated from "prophecy" foreshadowings, The Shadow Rising may be like manna from heaven. For those who like a limited number of subplots and PoV characters, this book may be slightly frustrating. For those, such as myself, who want well-presented prose and dynamic, well-drawn characters, this book probably will be a disappointment. But I soldier on, fearing the Circus scene that I vaguely recall being in the next volume, The Fires of Heaven.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
Original post, with possible comments here as well
This message last edited by Larry on 25/04/2010 at 06:59:47 AM
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Re-reading WoT Ten Years Later - 16/04/2010 06:07:40 AM 2872 Views
The Eye of the World (1997-2000, 2010 reads) - 16/04/2010 06:08:54 AM 1334 Views
Ah, jumping on Roberts' bandwagon... - 16/04/2010 09:17:08 AM 1080 Views
- 16/04/2010 03:32:41 PM 1005 Views
Re: The Eye of the World (1997-2000, 2010 reads) - 16/04/2010 06:29:53 PM 1060 Views
I think you misrepresent me - 16/04/2010 11:15:34 PM 963 Views
Re: I think you misrepresent me - 17/04/2010 02:56:53 PM 983 Views
Re: I think you misrepresent me - 17/04/2010 09:45:25 PM 929 Views
Re: I think you misrepresent me - 17/04/2010 10:59:20 PM 1088 Views
MA in History? Is there a more useless degree? - 16/04/2010 09:56:36 PM 925 Views
PhD or MA in Classics - 16/04/2010 10:15:51 PM 874 Views
Yes, whatever degree you have/are studying for - 16/04/2010 11:12:55 PM 927 Views
MBA. Sorry - 17/04/2010 04:38:03 AM 934 Views
There's lots of jokes about MBAs, unfortunately - 17/04/2010 09:46:28 PM 936 Views
Interestingly, I disliked EotW because of its 'youth appeal' - 17/04/2010 12:33:55 AM 1039 Views
Funny how takes can change, huh? - 17/04/2010 12:55:05 AM 1048 Views
Funny, I started my own first-ever reread not long ago. - 17/04/2010 02:16:35 AM 1013 Views
Must be something in the water, no? - 17/04/2010 02:28:23 AM 1030 Views
Gah! - 18/04/2010 12:30:17 PM 912 Views
I thought you meant it! - 18/04/2010 05:29:55 PM 1028 Views
Pfft! - 18/04/2010 08:11:36 PM 923 Views
I'm glad I didn't start with EotW - 19/04/2010 04:16:03 PM 887 Views
Seems Tor is now tweeting about this commentary - 19/04/2010 06:31:39 PM 1100 Views
Re: Re-reading WoT Ten Years Later - 16/04/2010 06:26:51 PM 1023 Views
It'll be interesting to see if I hit a "wall" - 16/04/2010 11:13:55 PM 930 Views
Aww... - 16/04/2010 07:58:27 PM 1028 Views
That's next month or June - 16/04/2010 11:12:02 PM 889 Views
Be sure to send me a noteboard then . - 17/04/2010 03:45:46 AM 911 Views
Oh, I'd post it at this site as well, perhaps - 17/04/2010 03:51:19 AM 864 Views
Yeah, but I only lurk in the OF when I'm interested in getting new books... - 17/04/2010 04:00:14 AM 876 Views
Ah - 17/04/2010 09:47:37 PM 886 Views
Malazan 9 is out? - 17/04/2010 09:58:23 PM 753 Views
Been out for several months - 17/04/2010 10:24:15 PM 856 Views
Can anybody please explain to me - 17/04/2010 08:45:18 PM 1076 Views
It's hard to explain - 17/04/2010 09:42:16 PM 1114 Views
was thinking the same thing *NM* - 18/04/2010 03:59:36 PM 602 Views
Re: Can anybody please explain to me - 19/04/2010 04:17:39 PM 763 Views
The more posts from this larry guy I read, the more I think......... - 18/04/2010 08:56:34 AM 1050 Views
Interesting metatextual analysis there - 18/04/2010 09:47:43 AM 1076 Views
Nice, but in the future... - 18/04/2010 04:04:07 PM 952 Views
I know... - 18/04/2010 08:11:18 PM 909 Views
If you don't like WoT....Don't read it - 19/04/2010 12:36:06 AM 872 Views
Aren't you being a bit presumptuous there? - 19/04/2010 12:53:00 AM 1288 Views
... - 19/04/2010 12:59:33 AM 1049 Views
Re: ... - 21/04/2010 03:41:08 AM 1019 Views
Re: The more posts from this larry guy I read, the more I think......... - 18/04/2010 10:26:12 AM 1064 Views
I am disappoint - 19/04/2010 01:17:20 AM 1054 Views
- 19/04/2010 01:24:29 AM 915 Views
Who the hell are you? What the hell are you doing here? - 19/04/2010 06:48:56 PM 1048 Views
Oh crap, a troll! - 02/05/2010 08:53:36 PM 884 Views
The Great Hunt (1997-2000, 2010 reads) - 19/04/2010 09:22:40 AM 1042 Views
I guess I'm just weird. - 19/04/2010 06:44:59 PM 1123 Views
If anything, I suspect my reaction is the minority one - 19/04/2010 09:20:25 PM 1065 Views
It's interesting you thought this about The Great Hunt. - 19/04/2010 07:06:57 PM 861 Views
Yeah, I almost gave up this series after The Eye of the World too. *NM* - 19/04/2010 08:38:25 PM 540 Views
My actual introduction to the series was A Crown of Swords - 19/04/2010 09:26:19 PM 998 Views
By the way... - 19/04/2010 09:44:59 PM 794 Views
Ah, that. - 19/04/2010 09:53:02 PM 880 Views
My experience has been different: - 19/04/2010 09:04:27 PM 982 Views
That may indeed be the case - 19/04/2010 09:27:36 PM 1168 Views
The Dragon Reborn (1997-2000 reads; 2010 re-read) - 22/04/2010 08:49:23 AM 1134 Views
The Shadow Rising (1997-2000 initial reads; 2010 re-read) - 25/04/2010 06:41:08 AM 983 Views
The Fires of Heaven (1997-2000 initial reads; 2010 re-read) - 28/04/2010 08:47:14 AM 947 Views
Lord of Chaos (1997-2000 initial reads; 2010 re-read) - 30/04/2010 01:33:37 PM 1157 Views
A Crown of Swords (1997-2000 initial reads; 2010 re-read) - 02/05/2010 03:30:39 PM 1009 Views
The Path of Daggers (1998-2000 reads; 2010 re-read) - 04/05/2010 03:20:12 PM 839 Views
Winter's Heart (2000 initial read; 2010 re-read) - 07/05/2010 01:35:13 PM 825 Views
Re: Winter's Heart (2000 initial read; 2010 re-read) - 08/05/2010 09:43:31 AM 943 Views
But I must - 08/05/2010 09:59:42 AM 767 Views
Re: But I must - 08/05/2010 02:57:03 PM 862 Views
I just think of bath porn - 08/05/2010 03:12:29 PM 1037 Views
Crossroads of Twilight (2006 initial read; 2010 re-read) - 10/05/2010 02:00:06 PM 934 Views
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New Spring (1997 read (novella); 2010 read (novel)) - 14/05/2010 07:39:40 AM 1017 Views

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