Dear Robert,
I’m 15 hours from the end of Lord of Chaos, and here’s what’s happening:
Egwene and Gawin have started a relationship out of thin air. She tries to figure out what the tower Aes Sedai are doing in Cairhien, while advising Rand on what to do about them. Rand keeps getting missives from the Atha’an Miere (the sea folk) and ignoring them. Egwene tries to visit them, but they kick her off of their boat.
Egwene then accompanies the Wise Ones to tel’aran’rhiod, where they meet the rebel Aes Sedai. They summon her to Salidar. Rand is in tel’aran’rhiod and eavesdropping on the women, and he finds out where Elayne is staying. Egwene admits to lying to the wise ones about being a full Aes Sedai.
Nynaeve has healed Loghain, Siuan and Lianna. Siuan is upset because she has not been healed to her full power. Nynaeve is overwhelmed because the yellow ajah are demanding both that she demonstrate her abilities, and work on breaking down her block. The rest of the Aes Sedai debate their loyalties, split between wanting to re-gentle Loghain and support Rand.
One interesting thing about this part is that Siuan talks to Nynaeve and Elayne about the weighing and measuring that happens between the Aes Sedai. It sounds less like a sorority and more like a gang or a cult, where arbitrary factors make a woman worth more or less to the others. The more the Aes Sedai have “screen time” in this book, the more sinister they seem. I don’t know if this is foreshadowing or a red herring.
Another weird thing about this book is that the characters are completely hellbent on being static, no matter what happens to them. Nynaeve is punished to scrub pots after speaking back to one of the Aes Sedai. After she discovers a cure for stilling, something literally everyone said could not be done, she is still required to fulfill her punishment, and the Aes Sedai still treat her like garbage. She wants to leave Salidar, and I don’t blame her!
Relationships in this book still remain without substance, especially the one between Egwene and Gawin. If I tried to start a relationship with every man I imagined I’d kissed in a dream, it would be a weird, delusional time! I think if Robert Jordan would write more realistic characters, it would make the world-building and narrative setup seem a little less plodding. Even though I listened to 7 more hours of this book, it seems like not a lot has happened between the actual characters. However, there are plenty of descriptions of clothing and rooms! You know, the REAL things readers want to know about!
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