“The sweetness of victory and the bitterness of defeat are alike a knife of dreams.”
– Robert Jordan, Knife of Dreams
Warning! From here on will be SPOILERS for the Wheel of Time up to and including book 11.
“A beautiful battle was one you did not have to fight”
-Robert Jordan, Knife of Dreams
Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan is book 11 in the well-known Wheel of Time series. Among the Wheel of Time fanbase, it is widely agreed upon that Knife of Dreams (commonly abbreviated KoD) was a return to form for Jordan, a book which sped up the pacing (especially after the several “slower” entries preceding it) and did a great job of not only tying up several more . . . extraneous plotlines, but also doing it in a VERY satisfying way.
Cough. Siege of Caemlyn. Cough. Valan Luca’s Grand Travelling Show of Magnificent Displays and Marvellous Wonders or whatever the heck the name was. Cough.
Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Knife of Dreams was a superb read, one which really helped rekindle my love of the series and certain characters. Nynaeve, I’m looking at you girl.
Quick honourable mention containing two words: Galad’s duel.
Need I say more? Usually Jordan does a perfectly solid job of expanding the world of the Wheel of Time through his rather . . . long prologues. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great for their purpose, but I think we can all agree they can sometimes be a bit . . . dry.
This was anything but. Galad saunters up to Eamon Valda, a flaming Blademaster, and disembowels him in a gripping fight, becoming the next Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloacks. BAM. Talk about starting a book off strong.
“When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known. When the fox marries the raven, and the trumpets of battle are blown.”
-Robert Jordan, Knife of Dreams
Anyway, Knife of Dreams was Mat’s book to shine, I feel. He DEFINITELY wasn’t the only character to stand out (I’ll get onto the other’s shortly, don’t worry), but he was the one I feel got the most development during the whole course of the book. I really enjoyed Mat’s gradual (and very strange) courtship with Tuon, gradually leading to their ‘marriage’ at the end of the book, and the group finally rejoining the Band and Talmanes (what a guy).
It was also really enjoyable to view Tuon’s PoV, and her gradual realisation that her “Toy” is much more than he seems. The exact quote went something like this: “A lion stuffed into a horse-stall might look like a peculiar joke, but a lion on the high plains was something very different. Toy was loose on the high plains, now. She felt a chill. What sort of man had she entangled herself with? After all this time, she realised, she had hardly a clue.”
We also FINALLY get to see what’s in the letter Thom can’t stop reading. And . . . Moiraine’s alive! Hopefully we get to see her again soon. One further note; as the series has progressed, I’ve begun to feel like Mat and Perrin’s roles have sort of swapped? For all of his protesting the opposite, Mat constantly proves himself to be a goodhearted person and one of the best friends the series has to offer, whereas Perrin constantly works to avoid his responsibilities (I’m not Perrin hating, by the way. I think the guy’s great). Knife of Dreams had many such examples.
“Logic is always applicable to the real world,” Miyasi said dismissively, “but only a novice would think the real world can be applied to logic. Ideals must be first principles. Not the mundane world.”
-Robert Jordan, Knife of Dreams
Honey in the Tea. My, was that a sweet chapter; maybe my favourite in the whole book. Talk about quality over quantity. In this chapter, we have Egwene, now demoted to novice, beginning her battle to undermine Elaida’s rule and bring peace to the Tower. She takes daily (and more) beatings, not to mention humiliation, bullying and isolation. Her stubborn refusal to give in is truly motivating to watch. Not just to not give in, but to persuade others to join her in her struggle.
By the end of the chapter, we can already see that she’s started convincing several Aes Sedai, and has even acquired herself her own private army of novices. Talk about determination. Hands down my favourite Egwene chapter so far.
Rand was another who had very compelling chapters (as always), in Knife of Dreams. His personal chats with Lews Therin contain some of my favourite dialogues in the series, although some can be rather . . . repetitive *Insert: Ilyena . . . my love*
The Battle at Algarin’s Manor was superbly done, with LTT taking control of saidin, and seeing the destructive power that the might of the Dragon Reborn compounded with ancient knowledge can wreak. I also loved Rand’s confrontation with Semirhage, disguised as ‘Tuon’, during his supposed meeting with the Seanchan. It doesn’t directly state such, but is implied that Rand seized the True Source in a desperate attempt to protect himself and Min in a very tense moment.
They end up capturing Semirhage (a personal contender for favourite villain in the series) with the sul’dam, although the exchange leaves Rand with a hand less. Rand tells himself he MUST become harder, and we can clearly see him getting worse, his threatening madness more obvious to those around him.
Cheery thoughts, eh? On another, slightly warmer side note from Knife of Dreams, we enjoyed two other heartwarming moments related to Rand’s storyline: Loial’s Wedding and Nynaeve rousing the Borderlanders. We all love Loial (I hope) and it was rewarding to see him finally marry Erith.
I have to say, Loial is one lucky guy. I mean come on, just look at her ears. Sorry, too far?
Nyneave just keeps rising on my list of favourites, and her way of supporting Lan, by dropping him off at the far corner of Saldea and then rallying the scattered Malkeiri to join him in his fight, was incredibly touching.
“The Golden Crane flies for Tarmon Gai’don!”
-Robert Jordan, Knife of Dreams
Meanwhile Elayne is busy in Caemlyn, whining and politicking. I’ve got to say, however, that I didn’t mind her chapters as much in Knife of Dreams; as it felt like things were moving again. The siege is in full force now, and attacks on the walls regular. Elayne brazenly decides to hunt the Black Ajah hiding within Caemlyn, leading to the deaths of innocent Sisters and Warders, then ends up kidnapped.
Saying that, the sequence where she was kidnapped, followed by Birgitte persuading the Windfinders to help rescue her, and that fight outside the walls of Caemlyn, was a truly epic moment. Elayne then outmanoeuvres the opposition and captures Arymilla and her followers, finally being truly crowned Queen of Andor.
“Some people thought scars a sign of toughness. It seemed to Perrin that fewer scars meant that you knew what you were doing.”
-Robert Jordan, Knife of Dreams
Finally we have Perrin, and the battle of Malden. This was a truly well done fight. The scene of Perrin walking down the hill in the mist, with nothing but a hammer and a mad Tinker by his side, was hardcore.
An unpopular opinion, but I’m a big fan of Aram. His betrayal and death hurt a lot, although Perrin bashing in Rolan’s head was probably worse. It was just one of those Shakespearean moments, where there was no good way it could have ended, making it all the more tragic.
One more thing I found quite sad was little Lina’s ending. Galina is a horrible person, but Therava I hate waaay more. At least most of the rest of the Wise Ones were captured, thank the Light!
Overall, Knife of Dreams was an amazing read, and definitely ranks up there with my top Wheel of Time books (so far). The pacing sped up nicely, plotlines tied off satisfyingly, and I think it was lovely that the last book Jordan wrote was so well done, especially after some of the previous books. Knife of Dreams really helped revitalize my love of the series.
The Gathering Storm, here I come!
Still not sure?
Here’s a Fantasy Nobility’s opinion on the book…
“Chills my man. Chills.”