The Lord of Chaos Review (WOT 6) 

This fucked me up good

My favorite line in any book

Sounds like a man who is sick and fucking tired of bullshit.

@Makai Victor Definitely, I have been watching on Flixzone} for months myself :D

▄︻̷̿┻̿═━一╭∩╮（︶︿︶）╭∩╮

Lol, now I want to write a character that fits that description

There all fools tho lol Perrin marries the first girl who looks at him even though she's a little crazy, i.e Faile is fully capable of stabbing Perrin in an argument and then engaging in rage sex (she never does but she definitely will at some point in there marriage i bet lmao) Rand instantly falls for 3 girls and they him and is lucky enough that there ok with sharing, but in real life he would be fucked and have to choose one or lose them all I think Mat at least manages to have some fun with bar maids, castle maids and even a few Aiel maidens. But he also becomes fuck buddies with a dark friend Aiel that he has to kill, gets raped at knife point by a queen and oh ya falls in love and accidentally marries a crazy slave owning tyrant who wouldn't blink at the thought of killing him and everyone he loves. Lol they are all fools for love

Lol, a little crazy?

it stopped being funny after the first 300 times

@@stevo19991 Yeah, seriously

Yeah I noticed that immediately lol It's a small detail but it's so great

I sea what you did, there.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who cried when she was healed. I screamed while reading when she healed logain

I'm really sad that her power was so drastically weakened though :/ Wish Nynaeve had taught the healing to a guy so she could have been fully restored.

I didn't hate the book but it was a tough read for me. I found myself viewing it as more of a chore and forcing myself to power through it. I just wanted to know what was going to happen with the story and per page it didn't feel like enough was happening to keep me motivated to keep reading.

The problem is more that those amazing moments are infrequently strewn throughout chapters of nothing. LOC probably is the biggest culprit of this so far in my read through.

Hey, she said she wants more Perrin chapters!

@@RichFreeman HAHAHAHAHA XD

Cries in Crossroads of Twilight. the ending was pretty lit though

@@valdezinatorpro1377 STOP! I'm surrently in the crying part still! :P

Crossroads of Twilight is literary torture and if you survive you can read just about anything.

We know the same applies to the Nym who are also artificial beings, so it's not just that they were made by the True Power. Also, had it been the conflict between True Power creation and One Power gateways then that would have left the obvious solution of using True Power gateways to move the Trollocs around (and while yes access to it is restricted at the time of the books, that hasn't always been the case as the "chosen" are effectively named so for having been granted access to the True Power during the War of Power).

Also it’s not explained until knife of dreams so you haven’t missed any blatant details don’t worry

And it fills a great plot hole of why 200k shadowspawn were never gatewayed into wherever rand perrin or matt were.

Super late reply. At a 2005 Book Tour after Knife of Dreams.... TK: Why can't Shadowspawn pass through gateways? RJ: It's because they're artificial constructs. They can't tolerate the passage. Source: Tim Kingston, Theoryland.

@@DK-wl4ne it is hinted to but never explicitly said by both Jordan and Sanderson.

i think i would need to reread it to change my opinion, but just because i had SO much fun reading loc i can't help but regard it as my favorite wot book. i get chills just thinking about the scene where nynaeve heals logain. oof

The Healing of Logain, the Raising of Egwene, Rand and Lews Therin in the Box, "Asha'man Kill!" Those are just some of the reasons this is my #1 book in the series, just barely edging out *The* *Shadow* *Rising* which is a very very close second place.

I literally just finished a re-read of this book the day this video was posted. I would agree, for the most part, that the book's popularity is based on Dumai's Wells. However, on the re-read I picked up a lot of details on White Tower law, some of the interpersonal politics among Aes Sedai, and we start to see Rand's tactics of avoiding potential threats (though it does backfire near the end) as well as using similar tactics in surprise attacks. Also, you can get a better look at some of Rand's own brilliance as a tactician with his plans on distracting Sammael while also piloting his way through both Andoran and Cairhienin politics and making way for Elayne to eventually take those thrones.

The first half of this book is reeaally slow. Important things happen, but it's pretty dry. It picks up when Logain gets healed but is still just ok until Rand gets abducted. It picks up a little due to suspense and then explodes with awesomeness at the end. The explosive ending is literally the last 26 of 919 pages. But it's one my favorite scenes of any book ever!

I love the book's first half. If you removed that great ending it would still make my top 5 list.

Didn't Moiraine write about that in her letter to him before she died. Something about the blood of Manetheren that doesn't let him kill a woman

@@meganega123 "Men of the Two Rivers, it seems, retain much of storied Manetheren in them, traits shared with men of the Borderlands. It is said that a Borderlander will take a dagger’s wound to avoid harm to a woman and count it fair trade. I dared not risk that you would place my life above your own, certain that somehow you could sidestep fate. Not a risk, I fear, but a foolish certainty, as today has surely proved."

The beating was also proportional to her pride. Only the person with Toh can know when their Toh has been met, and so as long as she kept on asking/expecting to be beaten they'd keep on beating her. Had she protested after the first hit they'd have stopped there, but they'd have viewed her as having very little honor and pride in herself.

@@johanjarvinen Spot on, Sir.

Yeah, it is all based on the messed up Aiel mentality. Ji'eh'toh is frakking insane as far as this wetlander is concerned (and I'm truly a wetlander, I live in a state surrounded on three sides by water).

Really everyone is this world, but especially Aiel and Aes Sedai have a weird obsession with corporal punishment and extremely severe, private discipline. I've always thought it had something to do with their culture that has held over since the breaking.

Besides, Alanna is not a dark friend,or evil, only misguided. She thinks that someone should put reins on The Dragon Reborn. So, why not her. She knows that doing it without permission is wrong, and how is she to know that she just put reins on a bull not a pony??

Balefire. No problem.

Yup, Warders who loose their Aes Sedai go insta mad with bloodlust due to their suffering, that is why Moiraine "pre-passed on" Lan's bond in case she died, to prevent him going mad and flying off to kill shadowspawn until he died... had he killed Alana then and there he would had most likely gated to the blight and died

Basically if A "Warder's" Aes Sedai dies he goes insane and tries to avenge her death up to the point where he will then die.

@@jwooten933 Bull? Try Dinosaur. Initially I thought It also a Tav'eren thing and that the same thing might happen with mat and/or perrin. Missed chance...Also Alanna was a dipshit. but she got better later on.

I kinda like him tho. He seems like a badass.

@@mr.teekanee9750 oh yeah for sure but he's a creepy badass xD

If you haven't read the entire series yet, keep reading. Taim is quite....something.

Just finished Lord of Chaos, if Taim and Logain don't end up duelling for the top position of the Black Tower I'll be a bit dissapoint.

David Wilson you have quite the ride ahead of you...

Yeah, any time she's away from Gawyn and Galad her feelings seem to drift more towards Gawyn. It's just the Galad overpowers everything when he's present. It's easy to miss, but you are right that she does think of Gawyn a few time when they are apart and has done so since they met in book 2.

I'm glad you caught it! I don't think Gawyn's feelings are insta at all - I just felt hers didn't have much build up

@@merphynapier42 Lanfear tells Rand in book 4 or 5 that Egwene's been dreaming about Galad and Gawyn and I think she says more so Gawyn. So it is set up that a two/three way attraction is happening.

Loved that scene

That scene had me cheering for Mat. Finally someone stands up to the bully women in this series, although it ended pretty hilariously.

Mat gets treated like crap this book, but it is pretty funny, and good setup for when he flips the tables back.

I was cheering for him to actually kick Nynaeve

it actually scared me lol

Scared me too! I usually listen to Merphy while I work on something else, and she scared the crap out of me. I had to hurriedly run it back to find out what the heck happened. ;D

I may or may not have rewatched that 4 or 5 times

I have been watching a lot of videos from Slapped Ham and Nukes Top Five covering ghosts and scary things caught on camera. For a moment, I thought this was one of those events.

I think there's also an issue with everything we missed during the girl's time in the tower. I got the impression that they all spent a lot more time together than we actually saw, and I can totally buy Gawyn and Egwene developing a good relationship without Egwene even realising, because she's so focused on learning. And Galad. Especially because Egwene is kind of timid with Galad, and more open with Gawyn. I could be misremembering though.

@@davidwilson6577 if I remember correctly there is a 6 month time skip in book 2, during that time skip Gawyn and Egwene are training/hanging out at the white tower. In that time they become casual acquaintances through Elayne and Gawyn develpes feelings for Egwene but never makes his move, Egwene seeing his true feelings for her in his dream (alongside all night long dream sex) overwhelms her and she falls in love with how much he loves her.

@@chrissleeping65 I think it's more than casual acquaintance, they act pretty friendly. I mean Elayne would spend a decent amount of time with her brothers, and Egwene would be there a lot too, so it's hard to see how they wouldn't be friendly. Egwyne's romantic interest is focused on Galad but IIRC she definitely has a very fond impression of Gawyn. It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure they joke and get on pretty much like members of the main crew do. Does Egwyne compare Galad favourably to Rand, Matt and Perrin's farm boy, easy-going-ness? I think I remember her thinking that Gawyn was also more refined than they were, but she still acts that way with him. The whole forced bliss dream sex thing is pretty awkward and creepy in a non-accusatory way, but she does actually like him a fair bit even at that point, it's not like the dream was such a sudden tidal wave of romantic emotion that she went from 0 to 10 right then and there. It has been a long time though.

@@davidwilson6577 I've only just finished the series for the first time myself so I probably missed the nuances of their friendship, when I do a re read of books 2 and 3 I'll keep a look out for their interactions. As far as Egwene's feelings towards Gawyn are concerned I do remember her infatuation feeling rushed and forced during the events of book 6. The dream sex is 100% creepy on multiple levels, one it's weird to me that Gawyn would fuse a dream about revenge for his mother where he kills Rand with a sex dream where he rescues Egwene. On the other hand its also extremely creepy that Egwene is invading people's privacy by spying on there dreams, ( I remember her being upset and frustrated with Rand for having the audacity of warding off his dreams) when I came to the part where Egwene was trapped by Gawyn's sex fantasy I thought it might be construed as a form of rape, however RJ comments at multiple times through multiple books that Egwene was both horrified and aroused/intrigued at the events of Gawyn's dream. She will often comment to herself in a pov chapter on how she would like to visit Gawyn's dreams again but holds herself back because it would be improper. I do remember a conversation Egwene has with her friends at the white tower regarding Galad and Gawyn, she says something along the lines of that they are both handsome but Galad is beyond beautiful. I think Elayne tells Egwene that Gawyn has a crush on her but Egwene doesn't believe it or even think about it really because in her mind Gawyn doesn't even speak to her and has trouble making eye contact with her. I believe at this point in the series Egwene was still harboring some romantic feelings for Rand.

@@chrissleeping65 right. Yeah like I said it's been a while, and I've only read them the once myself. The only other thing I'd want to bring up is that while Egwene's dream voyeurism is 99% of the time intrusive and exploitative, in the case of Gawyn she was actually pulled into it against her will. Neither of them are really in control at all. And about the content of Gawyn's dream, dreams can be pretty schismatic, I wouldn't read any more into the proximity of those two ideas than that they're the two things he's most concerned with. It's just characterisation. That kind of goes no-where that interesting, to be honest. One of my biggest issues with the series is that we get all this focus on character drama that makes sense but just gets resolved, like the catharsis of not having to read it anymore is enough to justify it being there in the first place. Or maybe that's just what I remember and there is more to it, I probably shouldn't keep making criticisms when I can't say for sure if I'm remembering it right.

We come.

Chills

I am loving the 7th 650 pages in. Ebou dar Story line is hilarious and great but I presume that the next book is worse.

@@mr.teekanee9750 7 is good, just not as good as 6. I love what happens with Nyneave. 8 is ok, but is pretty slow. 9 has great moments but is pretty slow. 10 is VERY slow.

@@BooksRebound It's on my TBR for next year. But Wheel of Time is my #1 book series so far.

@@mr.teekanee9750 one of the frustrations is that they are on a downward trend, getting worse and worse. I didn't mind it too much until 10.

@@RichFreeman Book 11 picks up. Books 12, 13, and 14 are my favorite books in the seies.

lol some of them. Most I run across will admit it has flaws right before they go on to explain in great detail why they aren’t really flaws.

Mat Cauthon spoilers bro

Understanding this was key for me appreciating their dynamic. Perrin acts on things Faile isn't actually doing just feeling instead of just paying attention to what she says.

The third or fourth read-through it occurred to me: he doesn't know what Faile is jealous of. He knows she's jealous, but he never asks what it's for. She could be worked up about her rival's dress, and then he specifically tells her that he noticed said rival in said dress. If I was Faile that would drive me fucking insane.

Later on in the books, Perrin learns the key to what Faile is all about and after that I think she really shines. Her cultural background is so very different than Perrin's and is really the source of their difficulties. Faile is actually one of my favorite characters. You just need to understand her.

Faile still sucks, tho

I also fell for that Faile is bad trap until someone pointed out that exact point "It's all only Perrins PoV. And Perrin smells her feeling doesn't mean she actually shows these feelings". Now the more I think about it the worse Perrin looks in this situation. Which totally innocent person says only "it's not what it looks like" when he get's "caught" by somebody. Just tell her what happened. Then when Faile is upset and doesn't talk to him in the evening and instead of talking about it, he hides the next few days on hunts. And maybe just tell Belerain that you are not interested in her. I don't think he actually ever tells her that direct into the face. He may thinks the right things but he for sure doesn't do the right things.

Without spoiling it. Does he get one over on those girls? They've made his life hell. They traumatised him book 3, and constantly make a mockery of him, and are now acting like he's unreasonable for having that item that won't let the one power touch him.

@@nathanjarrett728 Yes yes he does don't worry even Elayne can eventually be made to see sense

It's mostly because of the unreliable third person combined with stuff happening off screen.

not really imho. Faeil and perin have the best romance (at least for the first five books) that developed naturally and her whole personality is calling him dumb and threatening him. It just seems like Jordan prioritized magic and politics over romance, so most of the couples spend little time together to naturally develop feelings.

not really imho. Faeil and perin have the best romance (at least for the first five books) that developed naturally and her whole personality is calling him dumb and threatening him. It just seems like Jordan prioritized magic and politics over romance, so most of the couples spend little time together to naturally develop feelings.

not really imho. Faeil and perin have the best romance (at least for the first five books) that developed naturally and her whole personality is calling him dumb and threatening him. It just seems like Jordan prioritized magic and politics over romance, so most of the couples spend little time together to naturally develop feelings.

not really imho. Faeil and perin have the best romance (at least for the first five books) that developed naturally and her whole personality is calling him dumb and threatening him. It just seems like Jordan prioritized magic and politics over romance, so most of the couples spend little time together to naturally develop feelings.

Tricks? Read it or don't. I'll agree that pacing is an issue for Jordan and if it's too much of a turn-off, put them down. If you can deal with it, enjoy the books and accept the flaws.

jarock1974 That seems quite an extreme reaction to my comment, but cool. I’m finishing up ACoS now.

@@mikesbookreviews You're right. It probably is a bit of an overreaction. I did not care for your implication that you really should not be reading the books. I'll watch your reviews for a better idea on just what you think of the books before I comment any more.

jarock1974 No worries at all. I actually do like the series quite a bit. I just feel as if a good edit with a scalpel could make them better. Also, I believe he was the best third act writer in the genre.

Yea when i read that i was like, “good luck with that Elayne”

Pooya Shirazi You really think we live in a patriarchy? Don’t look at politicians or leaders. Look at laws and rules Just suggesting. It may be eye opening.

@Anne Day I'm confused about the whole, patriarchy we live in thing, but the matriarchy they live in is so right and so scary as well. In regards to the good example I think I know what you're talking about and that was just... vile and horrible. The world is amazing but I kinda hate it for how much men and women are at each other's throats as well. Why can't they just love each other?

@Anne Day I know.

Johan Järvinen they can travel through waygates. That's how they go to the Two Rivers in the first place. They just can't go through gateways.

@@ferransilves907 A mistake obviously, edited it to fix it.

It is explicitly stated in KoD when that big thing happened at the manor in Tear.

Somebody meme that. Please.😀

Agreed. I feel WOT is even better on rereads!

Completely agree, the only relationship ran had that was earned and had buildup was with Aviendha

All Shadowspawn are constructs, (i.e. they were given life using the One Power as opposed to being naturally occurring.) The Nym (Green Men) and even the Tree of Life are also constructs. Jordan decided early on that no construct could survive going through a gateway (probably to avoid the Shadow from being able to instantly transport their armies wherever and whenever they wanted back when Rand was the only good guy how could make a gateway.) No better explanation is ever given to my knowledge.

Yeah, Moraine is definitely the standout. Even the so-called "good" Aes Sedai are questionable in some ways. Almost every single one of them boils down their existence to how well they can control others. Egwene had a genuine sociopath moment in book five where she was excited over manipulating Nynaeve into being afraid of her. She even starts thinking about how she can apply the same attitude toward others to get what she wants. Elayne's first thought of how to get Rand under control is to bond him and force him to do what she wants. Nynaeve is unnecessarily mean to anyone who makes her slightly uncomfortable for any reason at all. Hell, the way all of them treat Mat is a good indication of how none of them can be trusted to hold power over anyone. It's so weird how Mat has never been anything but helpful to them and they still act like he's worse than a Forsaken. lol

Yeah, I listened to book 10 at higher speed...

After 4, i listened to all of them at a slightly higher speed--some as fast as 2-2.5, and some of them were STILL 40 hours to complete. I swear he could cut like a whole 1000 page book out of the middle slog, and an argument can be made for another, smaller one out of the rest because of the redundant descriptions and overly described scenes. And yet they were a treat to read all the same. How the crud did he do that?

Balefire exists

Balefire tho

I started reading about the time WH was released. I’ve read the series multiple times. Early books more than late books because I did re reads in prep for later book releases. I’m re reading for the first time in about 12 years. I’m enjoying Merphy’s fresh take as a first time reader. It’s refreshing. 😄

The rebels are forced to swear as well. The reasoning for this is because they broke Rand's rule as to how many Aes Sedai could approach him. Although 'forced' is an interesting term. Most of the Aes Sedai later consider it Ta'veren twisting as opposed to being physically forced. While they are threatened, nothing is actually physically done to them. Even post torture, I suspect Rand could not have stomached watching them harmed in order to get them to swear. ***SPOILER*** I could see it after he reaches his Darth Rand point when forced to choke Min. ***SPOILER*** I'm worried about Merphy finishing the series if she's already feeling slog as of LoC. It's still one of the faster and more popular books with most readers. CoS, PoD, WH, and especially CoT are far slower. Having re-read this series many, many times, one of Jordan's strengths is how much detail he puts into all of his work. The problem with all of those details are that they don't necessarily advance the main plot. On re-read, he gives you tons of hints and details on how things work and just how interconnected things are that you will never pick up on the 1st read. On first read, they feel like a waste of time because it is impossible to pick up how they impact the story. I absolutely love this series, but I will admit, it isn't for everyone.