Choko's Reviews > The Shadow Rising

*** 5 ***

"...“Do not try to stop us,” Sulwin cautioned. Adan made his fist loosen again. “You are not Aiel,” he said. “You betray everything. Whatever you are, you are no longer Aiel!” “We keep the Way of the Leaf as well as you, Adan.” “Go!” Adan shouted. “Go! You are not Aiel! You are lost! Lost! I do not want to look at you! Go!”..."

This is my second time reading this book, and it is interesting the things you notice every time are slightly different than the other... To me, apart from the epic battle that is brewing between The Light and The Darkness, and above the interpersonal relationships between the characters we have grown to love or hate by this fourth volume of the Saga, this time the most impact on me had the way people refuse to change through the ages, despite plenty of disasters following the set of actions they have clung to for seemingly ever. We, humans, even tend to change our legends and bases of our religions and creeds, to such a degree, that they have nothing to do with their beginnings, but we twist them to fit what we think we want them to be and say about who we are... The original Aiel, the predecessors of the current guards and people Rand is hanging out with because of their skill as warriors, those Aiel used to abhor violence, any weapons that have no other use but war, and murder was a reason to be shunned by the clans, those remnants of the original Aiel are ridiculed now, and are not even called Aiel... How does a base for a whole People change so much, that they are known for their warrior prowess now, and look with condemnation to any whom they perceive as weak?

"...“Keep the Covenant, Jonai. If the Da’shain lose everything else, see they keep the Way of the Leaf. Promise me.” “Of course, Aes Sedai,” he said, shocked. The Covenant was the Aiel, and the Aiel were the Covenant; to abandon the Way would be to abandon what they were. Coumin was an aberration. He had been strange since he was a boy, it was said, hardly Aiel at all, though no one knew why.”..."

I have been fascinated lately about "historical content" and "historical perspective"... We tend to change our historical view depending on the time the work has been written and the time we, the readers, actually read it. This seems very much a theme in this series, since we have hundreds of generations' stories converging into our main timeline. What was the real meaning of a prophecy, what was the context when it was written, what were the attitudes of the people who wrote and rewrote it for posterity, and what does it all mean in the hear and now... Another of my favorite authors, Janny Wurts, deals with this same theme in a very different way, but just as impactfully... What lays in the heart of an Order, like the Aes Sedai here, is not necessarily what the Order stands for anymore... Just because you have a badge that should stand for the good guys, doesn't make your actions always good... Why do we always choose the easier, most radical way of dealing with things, thus causing collateral damage, instead of doing the hard work and sticking with the hard won ideals? Maybe the answer is that we are all human, but I resent that on principal, because once it touches you personally, then you want the hard work to be done and for you or yours not to be the ones lost in the crossfire... As the old saying goes, death, or anything as harsh and permanent is the easy way out, the hard way is figuring out how to live peacefully without losing yourself... I know, I am getting off on a tangent, so I will stop here.

"...“Fools,” Mat muttered, half to himself. “Hiding inside the wagons, as if that would make any difference to a Trolloc. They could all have roasted alive, easy as not.” “They are still alive,” Rand said, and Mat realized he had seen them, too. “That is always important, Mat, who stays alive. It’s like dice. You can’t win if you can’t play, and you can’t play if you are dead."..."

Great Book! Yes, it has its issues, but in my opinion, they are not enough to mar the book's impact! Recommend it to EVERYONE!