Book Review – Knife of Dreams

Author: Robert Jordan
Publisher: Tor
Publishing Date: October 2005
Binding: Hardcover
Cover Artist: Darrell K.  Sweet

The eleventh book in Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, a series much criticized for unnecessarily dragging the story out. Especially after the last book Crossroads of Twilight, where all progress in the plot seems to grind to a halt. Jordan had already made it clear he intended to finish the series in two more books. Knife of Dreams is definitely take big steps in wrapping up some of the major story lines. On the other hand there’s so many of them that even after this book many people doubted it could be done in just one more. Still, for all those who were disappointed by the slow pace in Crossroads of Twilight, this book is quite something else. I even felt Jordan was rushing some parts of the story.

So, what is everybody up to? Most of the major characters in the series show up in this book. The focus is mostly on Mat and Perrin’s stories but just about the entire cast makes an appearance. I’ll do a quick recap, as usual I will assume you have read up to Crossroads of Twilight, if not there will be spoilers beyond this point.

In an attempt to turn the chains that close Tar Valon’s two harbours into unbreakable cuendillar, effectively sealing the city from the outside world, Egwene has been captured by the Aes Sedai faction lead by Elaida. A prisoner in the Tower, she’s kept dosed with forkroot and has been demoted to novice in order to break the spirit of the rebellion. Egwene’s talent in the world of dreams still enable her to stay in though with her faction though. Determined to reunite the tower, Egwene forbids any rescue attempts. She will try and destabilize Elaida’s rule from within Tar Valon while her army maintains the siege. A plan with painful consequences to those involved, not in the least Egwene herself.

Perrin is still hunting for the Aiel that captured his wife. He has found the Shaido camp and it is quite clear that he is heavily outnumbered. In order to have any chance of success he needs help. The only help available is a Seanchan army located in the area. Perrin is prepared to make a pact with the devil to get Faile out, but even with Seanchan aid, their plan is risky at best. Faile in the mean time, is still determined to escape and prevent Perrin from getting killed in a rescue attempt. While Perrin closes in on the Shaido, her own plans for escape fall into place.

Still travelling with Luca’s circus, Mat is trying to get Tuon and a number of women capable of channelling to safety. He is also still courting Tuon, so far with little success. After a visit to one of the towns the circus passes through, ends in a street fight with a number of dead, Mat decides it is time to leave Luca. After turning away from the main road, Mat’s party soon runs into the Band of the Red Hand. Tuon soon learns there is a lot more to Mat than being Tylin’s Toy. He quickly devises a strategy to deal with the Seanchan forces looking for them.

In Caemlyn, Elayne’s struggle to gain the Lion throne is nearing it’s conclusion. Attacks on the city walls are frequent but so far Elayne has managed to keep control of the city. She still lacks the support of a number of great houses to be crowned queen though. On top of that issue things are far from quite in the city itself. It has been clear for some time now that spies and darkfriends are active in the city as well as the palace. When an opportunity to eliminate some of them arises Elayne can’t resist. A decision that turns out to have far-reaching consequences.

Rand’s company is still staying at a manor house outside Tear, waiting for his deal with the Seanchan to fall into place. Although his presence there is not widely known both Loial’s mother (there will be no more running from his future wife for him) and a large band of Trollocs manage to track him there. In the ensuing battle Lews Therin manages to get hold of the source and afterwards he has trouble concealing that fact. After the battle Nynaeve and Lan decide to split up for the time being. She takes him to the Borderlands and, against his wishes, rallies Malkieri support for his cause. In the mean time Rand’s company prepares to meet the Daughter of the Nine moons and finalize the negotiations. Although they suspect a trap, Rand is unaware of the fact the Daughter of the Nine Moons has gone missing and the Seanchan officials have no idea where she might be.

Without giving away too much of the book, major progress is being made in all important story lines. Mat’s search for the Daughter of the Nine Moons for instance, has been going on since The Shadow Rising. Perrin has been hunting for Faile since The Path of Daggers, the Rebellion against Elaida has been going on since The Fires of Heaven, which is also the book in which Andor looses it’s queen. Not all of these are concluded of course but it is quite clear everybody is getting ready for the Final Battle. With Rand, Perrin, Mat and Elayne all involved in major battles, there’s a lot more action than in previous books.

This push to get things resolved goes at the expense of some detail of course. Where in previous books Jordan took the time to let rumours of the wider world filter though in various story lines, the characters are too busy with their immediate problems to think on this. If you enjoy the plotting and manoeuvring of the previous books, this one may be a bit of a disappointment. It is much more straightforward than the previous book. Personally I thought the emphasis on military action was refreshing after Crossroads of Twilight. I do feel Jordan rushed Rand’s and Mat’s story lines a bit. On the other hand Knife of Dreams is one of the bigger books in the series. I don’t think Jordan was looking to write something as massive as Lord of Chaos or The Shadow Rising again. For a book well over 700 pages it reads quickly.

One detail that caught my attention when I first read this book in 2005 was the fact that Loial gets a (brief) point of view. He’s not one of the main characters perhaps, but certainly an important secondary character. And yet, not once since scaring Rand half to death in the middle of The Eye of the World, has he gotten a point of view. It doesn’t reveal a whole lot about him we didn’t know already but still. I always wondered why Jordan never gave us a Loial point of view before when the number of characters with a point of view in the series must approach triple digits, including a number of characters that can’t even be called secondary.

Despite Loial’s efforts Mat and Egwene are the stars of this book however. Egwene’s composure and determination to undermining Elaida’s rule is some of the best writing Jordan has done in my opinion. It’s only one chapter in the book but it was a highlight for me. Leadership has not turned Egwene into a very likeable character, it is probably a good thing she is freed from the bickering of the rebel Aes Sedai camp for a while. Mat’s story line probably makes the most progress of all major characters. It involves his way with women, the gunpowder riddle, the Aelfinn and Eelfinn mystery and of course quite a bit of fighting. In short many of the things that have made him one of the most popular characters in Jordan’s books. Some of this is seen from the point of view of a number of other characters, adding some interesting insights to his story line.

All in all Knife of Dreams delivers what Crossroads of Twilight lacks. Action, progress in the story, a decent pace. He also hints that the resolving of another few riddles is near. Most prominently the question of whether Moraine is dead or not and if Mazrim Taim is a darkfriend. I wouldn’t call this book the best in the series but Jordan got himself back on track. It may actually be possible to reach a satisfying conclusion in book A Memory of Light. It was a very sad day when I found out Jordan was not going to finish this story himself but this reread has made me look forward to the conclusion none the less. I guess there is nothing for it but to wait and see how well Sanderson handles the material Jordan left behind.

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