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Anna [Bran. San. Stan]'s Reviews > The Shadow Rising
The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time, #4)
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The best book so far! I am committed! I bought the hardcovers :).
Spoilers below!!!
My favorite: Rand. Seeing him make his own decisions and finding his way was gratifying.
Most annoying person award: Nynaeve. Girl, don’t be that rude to everyone.
Increasingly more likeable: Leaving what I call his “Fool of a Took”-ways behind him and gaining memories of being a general as well as his use of the Old Tongue.
Not enough page-time : Lan. Stoic competence is my crack.
Character I want to see die the most: Dain Bornhald. No. Couladin. No. Bornhald. Fanaticism is worse than lust for power.
Highlight: Rand using his powers. Now that was cool. Can’t wait to see what else he’s capable of. There doesn’t seem much else left!
Awkward romance moment: Rand and Elayne kissing. The second-hand embarrassment was real.
Women in love: Elayne, Faile and Aviendha continue to stumble and blunder awkwardly. Jordan really took that sentiment I found best expressed by Lorelai Gilmore to the next level:
”I’m afraid once the heart is involved, it all comes out in moron.”
Weird fetish revealed (?): Women always having to face some task naked; nakedness as a means of humiliation for women. Butt pinching - the threat and execution of it. What’s up with that?
(I think the worst example is Mat threatening Berelain, the ruler of Mayene, with a butt pinch because she doesn't react to him greeting her in a hallway. So cringy.)
Biggest tease: Waiting for 140 pages to find out what Rand’s plans are after he announced he’d reveal them “tomorrow”. At least it was worth it.
Biggest surprise: Not being bored once in 1004 pages.
I am completely sold on this series. It has already gained another fan. On to book 5!
Spoilers below!!!
My favorite: Rand. Seeing him make his own decisions and finding his way was gratifying.
Most annoying person award: Nynaeve. Girl, don’t be that rude to everyone.
Increasingly more likeable: Leaving what I call his “Fool of a Took”-ways behind him and gaining memories of being a general as well as his use of the Old Tongue.
”Aah, go on and be a bloody Aiel chief. You have the face for it.” (Mat)
Not enough page-time : Lan. Stoic competence is my crack.
Character I want to see die the most: Dain Bornhald. No. Couladin. No. Bornhald. Fanaticism is worse than lust for power.
Highlight: Rand using his powers. Now that was cool. Can’t wait to see what else he’s capable of. There doesn’t seem much else left!
Awkward romance moment: Rand and Elayne kissing. The second-hand embarrassment was real.
Women in love: Elayne, Faile and Aviendha continue to stumble and blunder awkwardly. Jordan really took that sentiment I found best expressed by Lorelai Gilmore to the next level:
”I’m afraid once the heart is involved, it all comes out in moron.”
Weird fetish revealed (?): Women always having to face some task naked; nakedness as a means of humiliation for women. Butt pinching - the threat and execution of it. What’s up with that?
(I think the worst example is Mat threatening Berelain, the ruler of Mayene, with a butt pinch because she doesn't react to him greeting her in a hallway. So cringy.)
Biggest tease: Waiting for 140 pages to find out what Rand’s plans are after he announced he’d reveal them “tomorrow”. At least it was worth it.
Biggest surprise: Not being bored once in 1004 pages.
I am completely sold on this series. It has already gained another fan. On to book 5!
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Reading Progress
January 18, 2023
–
Started Reading
January 18, 2023
– Shelved
January 18, 2023
– Shelved as:
fantasy
January 21, 2023
–
20.11%
"They are using magic to pinch each other’s butts? Seriously? And Rand is LIMPING afterwards? I must have done it wrong my whole life. 😂"
page
141
January 27, 2023
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-22 of 22 (22 new)
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![Anna [Bran. San. Stan]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1593184464p1/98245866.jpg)
Trent wrote: "Probaby my favorite series. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did and still do on re-reads!"That's awesome, Trent! It definitely already has favorite-series potential! And trust me, I'm planning on re-reading this! I can tell, there's tons you'll only pick up on later. I love that kind of thing!
wow that was fast i love it!!! gonna come back to your review after i’m done so i can read the spoilers hahaha
Glad you’re still loving it. Book 5 was when I slowly started to lose interest. Hopefully you’ll make it through that hump in the middle with ease ♥️
Amazing!!! It just gets better :) well… maybe with a 2-book slow down in there somewhere, but it’s worth it! Also Faile has always bothered me :p I’m not even sure why
Oh man! So glad you loved this! Mat’s “gift” from the Eelfinn is one of my favorite elements of the entire series all the way through, because through him we get glimpses of ancient kingdoms, generals, and battles that are the source of story and song in present day Randland. It’s one of the things that, to me, really helps enrich the series, and you can’t help but want to know more about Ancient Manetheren. So freaking cool!Also, how about Perrin and Faile, and the Two Rivers folk at the end? I’ve read their climax so many times, I can’t even tell you. It’s so good!
Onward, to The Fires of Heaven!
♡︎Bee♡︎ wrote: "wow that was fast i love it!!! gonna come back to your review after i’m done so i can read the spoilers hahaha"Yes, please do! Looking forward to hear what you think!
MadAlys wrote: "Glad you’re still loving it. Book 5 was when I slowly started to lose interest. Hopefully you’ll make it through that hump in the middle with ease ♥️"Thanks, Alys! 💕 I've heard that some think books 4-6 are excellent so I'm hoping I'll be one of them...🤞
Aaron wrote: "Oh man! So glad you loved this! Mat’s “gift” from the Eelfinn is one of my favorite elements of the entire series all the way through, because through him we get glimpses of ancient kingdoms, gener..."Thanks, Aaron! General Mat is one of my favorite developments! I was really hoping for that to happen what with all the previous allusions to him speaking the Old Tongue. And this book delivered! And I absolutely agree, narratively it opens up so many great possibilities...
I loved that Perrin POV conclusion so much! I could have done with a little more context when Rand returns to the meeting place after his battle, especially people's reactions to his powers. Him channeling is not part of the Aiel prophecy, right? So I'd like to know they feel about that...
And yes, onward! 😊
Stephanie’s wrote: "Amazing!!! It just gets better :) well… maybe with a 2-book slow down in there somewhere, but it’s worth it! Also Faile has always bothered me :p I’m not even sure why"That's good to hear, Stephanie! I have small issues with her as well. I think her motivation to seek the Horn is not that relatable to me and seems a bit naive. But I'm not even sure that that's it 🤷♀️.
@Anna - As I recall, RJ does directly address He Who Comes With The Dawn being able to channel, and the Aiel’s feelings on it, when their prophecies said nothing about it. It should come fairly soon, as I recall. And Faile is definitely a…controversial character among WoT fandom. Many of the women are, because RJ was not suuuuuuuper great with writing women, in my opinion. I mean, he had no problem putting them in positions of power or anything like that, but they seemed to always be subject to “irrational” behavior or sudden bouts of simping over a dude hardcore. Just some really cringy tropes.
Aaron wrote: "@Anna - As I recall, RJ does directly address He Who Comes With The Dawn being able to channel, and the Aiel’s feelings on it, when their prophecies said nothing about it. It should come fairly soo..."Good, I got that right at least. :) I just wanted to see a reaction to the rain and his sudden (dis)appearance, you know?
I'm really glad you address the portrayal of women and you put it perfectly, Aaron! I have read on several occasions that this irrational and cringy behavior put people off the series entirely. While I do feel the complaints have some merit, I'm really glad they're not a not a big deal for to me. Does Nynaeve's / Elayne's / Aviendha's respective moronic behavior bother me at times? Sure. Does he use every opportunity to have women naked for some inane reason? Sure. But to me, there's more than enough to make up for it and to see past it. Hey, at least he created a ton of strong female characters for his world. To be fair, male characters also behave idiotically from time to time (Looking at you, Mat.)
![Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1700331868p1/85343546.jpg)
Anna, I'm so glad this is your favourite by far! I especially love your 'characters I want to see die' and 'weird fetishes revealed' sections 😂 I feel like you should make those into library shelves. Hopefully the next will warrant a hardcopy purchase. Amazing review Anna!
Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews] wrote: "Anna, I'm so glad this is your favourite by far! I especially love your 'characters I want to see die' and 'weird fetishes revealed' sections 😂 I feel like you should make those into library shelve..."Thank you so much, Vaishali! I'm honestly so bad with keeping up with shelves but they would be fun categories. 😂 Maybe I should update them in my reviews as a compromise... The next hardcovers are probably/hopefully already coming, so I'd better like them! (My birthday is in March 😊.) Hope you are enjoying your current read!
you know they made a tv show series of wheel of time on amazon prime, you should watch it also since you like the book so far!
↬ Ⓛ wrote: "you know they made a tv show series of wheel of time on amazon prime, you should watch it also since you like the book so far!"Thanks for the tip! I actually watched it before and started reading despite the TV show lol. I mean its was fine entertainment, but it didn't whet my appetite for the books. Now that I've read a couple of the books, I rewatched a few episodes and let's just say I will not be watching it again.
Anna, love the review!!!! Sadly the weird fetish stuff only gets worse 🤣
Kyle wrote: "Anna, love the review!!!! Sadly the weird fetish stuff only gets worse 🤣"Thanks, Kyle! Yeah, it really does! 😂 Book 5 is not holding back.
Anna wrote: "Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews] wrote: "Anna, I'm so glad this is your favourite by far! I especially love your 'characters I want to see die' and 'weird fetishes revealed' sections 😂 I feel like yo..."Oh that's great, especially since I believe in self-gifting gifts 😂
Wishing you the best birthday for when it comes!
Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews] wrote: "Anna wrote: "Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews] wrote: "Anna, I'm so glad this is your favourite by far! I especially love your 'characters I want to see die' and 'weird fetishes revealed' sections 😂 I..."Thank you, Vaishali! 😊
When you get to book 7, just keep going, it's a total slog but it's all worth it when Brandon kicks in!
Ira wrote: "When you get to book 7, just keep going, it's a total slog but it's all worth it when Brandon kicks in!"Thank you for the warning, Ira! I'm actually already in book 13 - and, surprisingly, I also liked the slower books. Now, it seems like I am on the home stretch, though, and it's amazing.
Thank you, Richard! Yeah, they are so cool! My birthday is coming up and everyone is instructed to buy me more WoT books. 😂