The Fires of Heaven

by Robert Jordan

Reviewed by Coral

With the revelation that Rand is indeed ‘He Who Comes With the Dawn’, the Aiel have split. Though most support Rand there are a few tribes who are still uncertain. Then there are the Shaido, who follow Couladin and believe that he is the true figure of their prophecy. Instead of leading his forces against Rand, Couladin instead marches the Shaido on Cairhien. Now, in order to defeat this enemy, Rand must learn hard lessons: that he cannot protect everyone and that he will be ordering people to their deaths.

Worse, four Forsaken - Rahvin, Lanfear, Sammael and Graendal – have come together to plot against Rand. They believe that by goading him to fight Sammael, then the four of them can combine their powers to defeat him.

Mat has fought against the strings tying him to a destiny he does not want. Trying to leave has not worked yet but Mat is determined to keep trying. But as he marches with the Aiel towards battle, can Mat truly break free? Or is he even closer to claiming his fate?

As Nynaeve and Elayne make their way back to Tar Valon, they are horrified to learn that the Amyrlin Seat is now Elaida. Determined to stay out of Elaida’s reach while trying to find any Aes Sedai who opposes the new direction of the Tower, Nynaeve and Elayne have no choice but to travel through the heart of the Whitecloak territory.

Also determined to find Aes Sedai who oppose Elaida is the ex- Amyrlin Siuan Sanche and her travelling companions. As they travel, Min’s visions of glory for False Dragon Logain continue to grow. But with the man getting weaker and weaker, will one of Min’s visions finally prove false?

I was sad that Perrin wasn’t in this book at all. There are some story lines that I think could do with a lot of trimming while some don’t seem to get enough time. Instead of all the time wasted with Nynaeve and Elayne’s story, why couldn’t we check in with Perrin? Or have more than a few chapters with Elayne’s mother? I think either would have been more interesting than Elayne tight-rope walking. Or the small sojourn Rand and Aviendha accidentally make to Seanchan territory. There wasn’t really an immediate point and they left without rescuing any damane, so was the only point to remind us about them? It could have waited.

Everything after Nynaeve and Elayne’s first meeting with a certain Whitecloak could have been taken out. Did we really need to spend so much time with the travelling circus? I was trying to find a reason for it but the only one I could see was to bring Nynaeve into the path of the Prophet of the Dragon and that’s not much of one. Moiraine and Perrin had already discussed who the Prophet was in a previous book so it wasn’t a surprise. Everything that else that happened while they were in the dream world could have been done while they were en route to find sympathetic Aes Sedai.

It’s strange what I have and haven’t remembered about the books. I have been thinking that the main group of women who love Rand were Egwene, Min and Elayne, but I had forgotten that it wasn’t Egwene but Aviendha in this ridiculous love square or however you would describe it. I hate how their characters are reduced to just loving Rand. For Min, it’s like there is nothing else to her character, all she wants is to get to Rand and to get him to love her. She has no other goals. Aviendha fights against her attraction because of her loyalty to Elayne, but that’s about it. Elayne has some personality outside of Rand, but he still dominates her actions and thoughts most of the time. It would be nice if they could be characters outside of him. I didn't like how Moiraine was treated in this book. Though thinking about it, she's been relagated to the background a few times in the last few books. I also didn't like how one of her visions in Rhuidean was about her seducing Rand.

Except the Nynaeve and Elayne story, I enjoyed the fact that the story didn’t feel like it was treading water by following characters while they are journeying. Given how the book ended, I am interested in seeing how it moves forward, because my memory is not reliable.

Grade: B