The Wheel of Time: Knife of Dreams

I broke in our new apartment with this book. Every reading space was utilized: the couch, the loveseat, the dining table, the bathtub, the bed. I read leaning against the kitchen counter waiting for the tea to boil, I read at my computer desk, I read to avoid my inevitable next step in life: looking for a new job. There are few things worse than looking for a new job, and few things I like more than sitting around reading, cooking, going for long walks and generally being a housewife without kids. So, that is what I have done for the past month.

Going from New York City to Peru and finally to Minnesota left me exhausted, and so I chose a book that would keep me entertained and easily distracted, something I could sink into without effort. That said, I finally picked up the latest (and eleventh) volume of the Wheel of Time Series. I discovered this series in high school where I was an avid, though particular, reader of fantasy. I have since kept up with each new volume as they have appeared, and each time I have had to re-read the preceding the volume in order to reinsert myself into the world.

What a world it is! I wouldn’t say Robert Jordan is the greatest craftsman when it comes to the nitty-gritty of actual writing, but he is a magnificent storytelling, a master inventor. He has created an alternative world of such size and complexity that I think few writers (aside from Tolkien) could compare in that regard. The Wheel of Time Series, eleven volumes (so far) ranging from 600-1000 pages each, incorporates a cast literally of thousands. These thousands, however, are not just masses of soldiers like in a William Wyler epic, no when I say a ‘cast of thousands’, I mean characters who have names, purposes, personalities. I have no idea how Jordan keeps track of all of this. I imagine he has reams of paper with each character cataloged alphabetically, or perhaps by their first appearance in the story. So far, the world consists of, as I can remember, five major cultures: the main European-like one, the Aiel (a Bedouin, Native American-like culture), the Seanchan (think Vikings and ants, literally), the Sea Folk (a nautical society), and the Ogier (here is the only non-human culture, most similar to Tolkien’s Ents). This is not the end however. The main Euro-culture is split off into numerous kingdoms, each with their own complex society and cultural norms. There are in turn many separate societies based on magic (the Aes Sedai and the Asha’man are the most significant) and there are rogue cultures like the Children of Light (zealots not unlike early American pilgrims) and the Tinkers (similar to the British Isle’s travelers). These brief descriptions do not do Jordan or his creations justice and are merely meant to give one a sense of the largeness of this epic. The cultures are complex, vital, and when they act (or react)—as individuals or in a group—they do so in incredibly realistic ways and within their singulars culture’s parameters. I have no doubt Jordan must be a passionate student of history.

If one studies history, one knows that most of history is not about cultural stagnation, but rather about change. One of my favorite aspects of this series is how adeptly Jordan portrays a world undergoing great, tumultuous change. In the beginning of the series, Jordan sets up numerous rules (big and small) for his world, its cultures, and their relationship(s) to magic. Then he proceeds with beautiful adeptness to stretch these rules, to break them altogether, and finally shatter the world he has created. And how do his characters react to their once stable world becoming new, bright, terrible? As all humans act when confronted with what they thought not only would never occur, but could never occur: disbelief, terror, denial, finally grudging almost desperate acceptance (that is until the next great change is wrought). The Wheel of Time is the fall of the Roman Empire, the Mongol horde, World War II; it is civilizations under incredible distress and pressure.

In Jordan’s mileu there are characters who not only rise above this change, they cause it. Egweme, Mat, Elayne, and Perrin: each inflicts change where they must, but it is Rand Al’Thor, the protagonist of the series if there is one, who unleashes the greatest changes. Rand is the Dragon Reborn, which means he is the classic Chosen-One of fantasy literature and mythology. He must do battle with the Shadow, and in doing so break the world and himself. He is as much Christ and Buddha, as he is Achilles, Seigfred, Cuchulain, Arthur/Merlin, Aragorn, and Luke Skywalker. Throughout the epic, we watch Al’Thor go from a young village boy, naïve and likeable, to a tormented cold-as-steel demi-god. This process, slow (which is one of its great pleasures: the time Jordan takes to wrought it) yet inevitable, is fascinating to watch. Whenever I begin a chapter is centered on Rand, I get giddy. As interesting and engrossing as nearly all the characters are, Rand stands out. Perhaps, it is because his story is set upon at least five thousand years of ‘Chosen-One’, ‘Self-Sacrifice’, ‘Resurrection’ tales. It is a tale that never gets old.

Just this year Robert Jordan has been diagnosed with a rare and often fatal blood disease. It is incredible to think that the man who has spent the last fifteen years writing and creating his magnum opus may not be able to finish. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Mayo Clinic, and he is nothing if not a fighter. In fact his response to his diagnoses is truly inspiring (see http://www.tor.com/jordan/). He is optimistic he has decades of life before him. I join many others and take this moment to say: “Mr. Jordan, keep fighting!”


Purchased at a thrift store in Brooklyn for an amazing price

The Wheel of Time: Knife of Dreams

By: Robert Jordan

Tor Fantasy, 2005

Hardcover, 784

ISBN: 0312873077