The follow up to my power house physics boys Hawking and Einstein, is none other than Tolkien v2.0 Robert Jordan. The Dragon Reborn is the 3rd book in The Wheel of Time series and it follows a group of young friends from Edmond's field as they continue to discover they are the most important people in the world. The Wheel of Time series is probably the second most famous series of all time, standing dwarfed only by The Lord of the Rings. Of which whom everyone and their mom has probably read. You can buy this book from Amazon here http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Reborn-Wheel-Time-Book/dp/0812513711.
So obviously I have read the first two books in the series and the third book picks right up where the last two left off. Now for those of you who have not read fantasy novels before I am gonna give you a quick breakdown of a few general rules of thumb that almost every fantasy novel I have read follow. First is that yes there are fantastic creatures and magic is everywhere in a sense. The second is that almost always some grand catastrophe thousands of years previous to the timeline of the books has caused magic to become a rarity and something that everyone is terrified of, or just simply doesn't believe in. The main characters are almost always some random Joes and Marys from some small towns in the middle of nowhere who are dumbfounded to find out that "OMG I m teh heroz?!?". There is usually some grand vague prophecy about how this young man or woman is destined to save the world. The heroes usually do not want to be the hero, they are usually chucked into the fray by some old cunning wise person who always knows more than they will ever let on in the book. Oh yes, and always you aren't just fighting to save your country or friends. You are fighting to save the world from the ultimate evil. Boom, now that we have passed Fantasy Novels 101 I will get into why I loved and hated this novel all at the same.
By this third installment we have around 10-12 MAIN characters, these aren't just randoms who pop up, they are full blown characters with intriguing story lines of their own. Now Jordan has created this world to be so massive that at times it is kind of hard to keep up. There is literally so much crap going on that you may in fact get a little dizzy with all the bouncing around between groups and characters. The real issue I have is that the main characters whine constantly. They are these young farm boys who cry about there situation and just want to go back to the farm to tend to their sheep. Sheep.... really?? You are the first wizard born in a thousand years, who has the most bad ass powers on the planet and all you can do is sit and cry about it? Although technically all three of the main main male characters are slowly going insane. There is no reason to whine constantly, yeah the Dark One is trying to take over the world but come on buck up kick some ass, take some names, and show him who is boss in this world. Which of course they do reluctantly.
Now onto the good. These books are literally so well put together, you feel like you are reading a history book. That is the reason Robert Jordan is often referred to as the second coming of Tolkien. He has built a world so vast with so much history and depth that it is just awesome to behold. Although I eluded to the fact that so many main characters is a flaw, its also really quite impressive. I can barely write a blog where I am discussing one thing where as Jordan has intricately woven the story lines of dozens of characters together into a really amazing story. Now to finish this would not be the first fantasy series I suggest you read if you are a rookie, but they are pretty good reads and the depth is truly amazing. Now when is this series gonna be made into a movie? Oh wait no thank you, I do not want to watch 13 movies.... or do I??
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