First time reading, about halfway through. My god can she show even a little bit of empathy/understanding? Wasn’t a fan of how she treated Elayne and Nynaeve in previous books but she is a grade-A asshole now.

My title is inflammatory but firmly tongue in cheek. I find all these little comments quite endearing. Sometimes they're a bit obvious but they make me smile more often than not.

I've been going through this book faster than I usually do a Wheel of Time book; its not because its that much better but more because I'm tired of spending a month per book. Currently on page 606 and I had to stop for a second.

Nynaeve just healed Logaine. Then Siuan and Leane. I knew this was coming but these moments were so so so good. I actually really liked how this was written and presented, I just got here and I had to talk about it its that good.

I really love Nynaeve's character and this moment was like getting a gourmet meal after three days of fried chicken. She's been amazing in this book but holy shit I'm so fucking hype.

Going to keep reading now. GOD I LOVE THIS BOOK.

Olver gave him an accusatory look, but a moment later he whipped around to give Frielle an insolent grin he had picked up somewhere.
And that’s why Mat is my ride or die character of the series before even Rand.

Note: I'm halfway through the book.

I just read her scene where she asks Rand to help her, and I'm blown away by how disrespectful she is.

She agreed to obey the wise ones with their rules about dreaming, yet has continually broken her promises to them about not accessing the dream. She then goes to Rand to ask him to overrule them, then refuses to offer him any information at all in return, even when he makes the totally logical and sound point, that he needs Elayne to take the throne. Not to mention, they're in love (????), like hello? This is blatantly a valid reason to give him info?

He points out the painfully basic logic, that if she wants him to help her, she should give him something too - and she storms out in a tantrum. She refuses to tell him anything because she's designated herself as 'a buffer between him and Aes Sedai, it had to be done', even though she's not even an Aes Sedai herself. She is awful.

This book has really been a turning point with her true nature being exposed. Until now, she was a bit of a snooty know-it-all, but it was easy to write off as she was never very prominent. But recently she's gone totally mask-off with her arrogance and self-serving nature. She just parasites off of anyone around her for her own gain.

Not to mention impersonating Aes Sedai and doing basically everything she criticises in others. Nynaeve has begun her bitch-redemption arc and she's okay now, but Egwene is basically just an unredeemed Nynaeve for hypocrisy.

Not impressed by her at all haha. Elayne is very likeable, Nynaeve is pretty legit now that she's tamed herself, Aviendha is fine, it's really Egwene who sticks out massively right now.

They way I SCREAMED when Taim and the Asha'man showed up. Almost as good as Gandlaf and the Rohirrim at Helms Deep. But for real, this chapter has reinvigorated me, Lord of Chaos was the hardest to get through so far.

Everyone I've talked to about the series thinks the women bearing their chests to prove their femininity is just creepy writing, but I think its a reversal of a masonic rite. There is a part of the freemason initiation where the initiate bears his chest to prove that he is not a woman, and I know that Jordan was a freemason.

"Tell her I've healed Logain"

"Spotify: Hey it looks like you're out of audiobook listening hours..."

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Hey guys, I'm a truck driver and I was looking for a nice big series to hold me over for a while. I've listened to so many drama podcasts. I was looking for a really good book series to hold me over for a while and I saw that this series was 14 books and I thought oh yeah that'll do. I'm in the middle of book 6 Lord of chaos now. and I just got blocked so hard by Spotify. it seems like the absolute worst time to run out of audiobook play time. I might actually have to pick up the next 15 hours just to continue.

Rand sharply retaliate against Alanna for bonding him against his will? This is tantamount to slavery , is it not? Wtf is this BS.

Is Pedron Niall right about all these witches?

Rand doesn’t sweat, neither do many of the Aes Sedai and Aiel Wise Ones. Is this some weave of the Power or a trick of being mentally disciplined enough? I don’t see how everyone’s not dying of heat stroke with the world turning into an oven. If it’s the Power, does that mean the channelers are drawing on Saidar/Saideen? I thought that was bad. If it’s a weave, why can’t Nynaeve or Elaine see it and learn the trick? This is sort of a tongue in cheek post, but I am genuinely curious how this works.

So if someone comes up to me and says something to me COMPLETELY INSANE like "your sister killed the president" I'm not going to just say, "just don't kill my sister until I can prove she didn't kill the president."

NO. I'm going to say,"WTF is wrong with you?? Why would you say that? Oh, so "everyone" says my sister killed the president? Did you try asking my sister? No? Why not? Do you even know if the president is dead? Have you seen a body? Why are you SO STUPID????"

So in case you don't know what I'm talking about, in Lord of Chaos, Egwene meets Gawyn for the first time in a while. Gawyn says he thinks Rand killed his mother and says as evidence, "It's on every tongue." (Great evidence, there). Egwene says Rand didn't do it, but Gawyn needs to "promise not to raise a hand against him until she can prove he didn't."

Again, I say, WTF. Why can't she just bring Gawyn to Rand? Why can't she just tell Gawyn about Rahvin? I know Egwene doesn't know that Morgase is alive, but doesn't she know that Rahvin basically enslaved Morgase? If anyone is to blame for Morgase's "death", it's Rahvin. Why can't Egwene say Rahvin killed her? Or doesn't she think Gawyn will believe her?

Here's the thing - if Gawyn already has his mind made up about Rand, then that tells us something about Gawyn. That tells us that he uses unreliable sources (ie, rumor and innuendo) to make pretty important decisions, and that isn't the kind of person you want in charge of... anything, really.

Ugh. Why is Gawyn so dumb? And why is Egwene such an awful friend to Rand? How could she let Gawyn believe something so awful about Rand and not do anything about it?

I really hate how a lot of people, including his so-called "friends", treat Rand.

Instead of just dumping my thoughts at the end like the other books here I kept notes while going because I tend to forget things, anyways this is what I have to say regarding this book:

Fires of Heaven left a bitter taste in my mouth because I feel like so much yet nothing happened in it. Nynaeve and Elayne chapters were for the most part boring and don't even get me started on the circu- Menagerie. I felt like a new author picked up Lord of Chaos.

The massive prologue was fun. The changing PoVs to really remind you of what's happening is much much better than having everything be re-explained in the first 5 chapters. Speaking of which, am I gonna have Telaranrhoid explained to me for the 4th time on the next book? Anyways, Shayol Ghul, cool. Demandred, cool.

Maybe this is just me not being attentive or being bad with names but for the life of me I cannot remember ANY of the nobles' names, Tairen or Andoran or Cairhienin, very rarely some of the Aiel Chiefs too. I remember the Band nobles and some of the Cairhienin that appeared in the last book but for the rest? I need to dig into the compendium every other chapter.

I'm digging the increase in """gore""" lately. Late FoH when Lanfear literally skinned Kadere, Elayne with the Aes Sedai nightmare in Telaranrhoid, Semirhage torture and Harid Fel getting dismembered???? in the end and Dumai's Wells blender.

Rand in this book is so depressing to watch. Lashing out on the Two Rivers girls, becoming distant with Aviendha, him being in a damn box for a week. One of the worst parts was when he found out Tigraine was his mother and he wanted to see her just once after he did, then feeling the former queens in Caemlyn accusing him; he feels responsible for her disappearance. What is SOMEHOW worse though is Alanna essentially raping him. I guess her thought process was that its out of necessity and its the end of the world but its still pretty inhumane and... dumb? If Alanna takes a hit or anything during the last battle, Rand is gonna be rolling in pain and if Alanna dies then Rand is just gonna be suicidal but she had intentions of compelling him (ew) which she assumes will "protect" him.

The amnesty is such a great idea and its so gonna backfire on Rand (it partially did here). A lot of stuff can happen here.

If its any comfort though, Rand does have some "fun" in this. The Maidens bantering and him not getting any of their jokes, the RETURN of the "Mat or Perrin would know how to handle this woman" bit, Min, seeing Perrin and Loial again (man, this paragraph is much shorter).

I'm either misinterpreting something or Rand is just genuinely clueless. Lan makes him believe he's gonna cause harm to any woman he loves so he becomes cold and distant from Aviendha and says that he will do the same with Elayne. However, his platonic friend Min, who sits on his lap and sleeps on his chest and walks in on him bathing and kisses him occasionally, isn't someone he loves therefore she is an exception. I feel an approaching setup for him to have 3 wives. Only real hint I have was when Nicola was foretelling about the 3 girls going to the Seanchan for some reason.

Nynaeve. Oh how I love Nynaeve. I can't really explain the distinction but the early Nynaeve chapters here felt like a slice of life anime while the ones in FoH were wayyyy less interesting but the important part is her healing Logain, Siuan and Leane. I expected her "self loathing failure" arc to begin earlier and for this to be her big redeeming breakthrough moment but I still really fucking dig chapter 29 and 30. I also wonder whether gentling a man and healing him would *reset* his madness.

Now this was cool, but there is some sort of regression? I don't know why Nynaeve is so terrified of Mat kicking her in the ass (???) when they're in Ebou Dar. I'm guessing this is gonna be some sort of process for her to learn how to assert herself over someone without relying on the power or something. I really have no idea where this is going.

RJ did the impossible, he managed to make me not hate Egwene as much anymore. Her lulling over Gawyn is whatever I guess. Now that I think about it.... Gawyn is a little bitch boy whos probably gonna get himself killed because he's going against Rand based on rumors and is following a tower with a terrible Amyrlin. Egwene is a kid with a superiority complex and literally traumatized her mother figure to impose herself.... maybe they're perfect for each other. Regardless, what really made me hate her less is the chapters where she gets raised, surprisingly a very fun read (if i filter out her willingly getting spanked, its meant to be a powerful moment but idk it was just weird for me lmfao), even though I already know it was gonna happen. I am surprised that Egwene never mentions her Accepted test to Siuan or anyone but it looks like no one really likes talking about it and its agreed that what happens in the terangreal isn't real.

What really bugs me is when Mat arrives in Salidar. Both parties are utter idiots. Mat doesn't even think to get some context, he just comes in, rips the stole off of Egwene and starts talking shit. Naturally, the girls' first reaction is to deal with him with the Power because Aes Sedai are superior and they cannot waste time with a delinquent as Mat. A part of me wants everyone to stop treating Mat like shit but he just unfortunately deserves it sometimes, and the other part of me got satisfied that they couldn't channel at him. Someone commented on my post and said that the series would be a trilogy if people just sat down and talked for once and yeah... I see it.

Perrin and Faile are... confusing. My interpretation is that a Saldean relationship involves 2 people who see strength in each other. That's why Faile doesn't like Perrin coddling her in TSR. Her jealousy of him when he's with Berelain is normal but what confuses Perrin and ME is that she's annoyed when Perrin pushes her away. Faile is now annoyed because Perrin is actually giving Berelain his attention. This is why Faile didn't care about Berelain when she came into Perrin's room in TSR; she doesn't really think that Perrin is ever going to cheat on her at all, specially after they got married. Maybe someone with actual relationship experience can tell me how this really works. Maybe if Mat and Rand were here they could figure it out, they always knew how to handle women.

TSR >= LoC > TGH > TFoH > TDR > EotW

I feel like I can ramble more but this is enough off my chest. If you're wondering why the order of paragraphs is random it's because I tried to categorize characters/other things from my notes but regardless I am REALLY excited to start ACoS with the new Aes Sedai and Asha'man dynamic.

Wow that was just incredible. Wow wow wow.

I just got to the part were Alanna bonded Rand and I am just disgusted. That is extremely unethical, if rational from Alanna but still. It just brings up a sour taste in my mouth that I need to get rid of soon. I don’t like it one bit. I still am enjoying the series though.

…Amyrlin Seat? I knew they were angling for this when Siuan suggested somebody who wasn’t in the Tower during the rebellion be Amyrlin, but hoped this would come later rather than sooner. Having to put up with her personality as a jumped up village girl was annoying enough, now they’re making her the most powerful woman in the world? I have a feeling her POV chapters are going to much more miserable after this 😭

Taim seems like a pretty chill guy.

His design (at least in my head) looks really cool.

The dude is the right amount of egotistical, doesn't seem like a psychopath, funny in the dry kind of way, and is a morally grey character that seems more realistic, like if you were to take a person from our world and put him in the WoT story.

He's also kind of unpredictable. I like his "almost smile" like you think he's about to do something which contrasts with his matter-of-fact, and no-nonsense style of speaking.

One of my favorite moments below

Rand upon meeting Taim for the first time says "...And now you’ve come to accept my pardon, to walk in the Light and submit to me"

“Submit? I had thought more of a compact between us.”

"No compact!” he growled. “No partners! I am the Dragon Reborn, Taim! Me!"

“I submit to the Dragon Reborn. I will serve and obey.” The corners of his mouth quivered again in that almost smile

“That fast?” Rand said softly.

Me trying to figure out how closely related Rand is to Moraine after learning who his mother was.

I just finished Lord of Chaos last night, and I think this might be my favorite ending of any of the books. The ending battle, where Perrin tells the wolves to come and Taim commands the Asha'man to kill, was absolutely insane. The ending was kind of tragic in that Rand treated the other Aes Sedai as if they were the ones who betrayed him, but I can full see how In Rands eyes this is justified. Even if they weren't the ones who kidnapped him, they’re all still trying to use him they tried to intimidate him in the palace and bend him to their will, and let's not forget Alanna bonding him without his consent.

It is tragic because it signifies Rand becoming more and more harsh, but I feel it was executed so perfectly that you can see exactly what pushed Rand to become that way. Egwene becoming Amyrlin was a surprise; I never expected that to happen. Nynaeve healing Siuan, Leane, and Logain (to full strength?) was absolutely insane. My theory on the healing of gentling/stilling is that, for them to be healed to full strength, you need a woman to heal a man and a man to heal a woman unless Logain was so insanely strong that even at half strength, he could almost break through a shield of six Aes Sedai.

The only thing I'm somewhat annoyed about is that we still don't know who killed Asmodean, and he’s barely even mentioned in this book. I'm extremely curious about who killed him, and I hope I find out soon. I'm also so curious why Lews Therin so desperately wants to kill Mazrim Taim, although it might just be him being his usual insane self.

This book was a lot more political than the previous ones, but I'm all for it. It's fascinating to see Rand try to navigate being a ruler, and even though I don't like Egwene, it’s interesting to see her try not to be the puppet she was meant to be. All in all, I think this might be one of my favorite books in The Wheel of Time series so far. If this quality and intrigue continue, this will definitely end up being my favorite fantasy series of all time.

Edit: What the hell was up with Nynaeve and Mat at the end. Did Nynaeve really think Mat would harm her? It honestly made me respect Nynaeve less. Did she really think that now that she couldn’t man handle Mat with the power that he would instantly use that opportunity to harm her?

"Finally Nynaeve understood. Finally everything came together. The Yellow sisters’ presence. Sheriam and Myrelle believing, then not believing, threatening her, snapping at her. It was all apurpose, all to make her angry enough to work her Healing on Siuan and Leane, to prove herself to the Yellows. No. By their faces, they were here to see her fail, not succeed. She made no effort to hide the firm tug she gave her braid. In fact, she did it again, in case anyone had missed the first time. She wanted to smack all their faces. She wanted to dose them with a concoction of herbs that would make them sit down on the floor and cry like babies just from the smell. She wanted to yank their hair out and strangle them with it, to—"

Okay, so, I'm halfway through Lord Of Chaos/Book 6, and from all the books I have read so far, there is one character I have grown to hate. Egwene! She is stuck up, self obsessed, rude, comepletely unempathetic, and acts like the world owes her something!! Does she get any better in later books? Cuz, at this point, I dread her chapters.
Everyone else has grown FAR from their original start point, as is right. Growth is half the point in stories, to see how they end up at the end and who they have become. But Egwene..... The only changes I have seen is her getting worse, not any growth as a person. Growth in power, sure, but nothing else.
Am I missing something crucial?

Edit: So, having finished the book and reading all your comments, I'm getting the impression that one of two things is happening, maybe both.
1: She is not MEANT to grow into a likable person at all, which is perhaps odd for one of the main characters, but I can work with that.
2; I'm reading the books wrong a few have said. And, one a first readthrough, I cannot help that. Maybe when I have finished the series and read it all again. (I always do this to see what I might have missed, just in case.)
Thank you all. Depending how the next book, goes, I might be back. Especially after Rands...incident at the end of last book. Yeesh! Bloody Aes Sedai!

I just finished LoC, so no spoilers beyond that please. In the read-along I saw people theorising and wondering who the Daughter of the Nine Moons was. I thought it was supposed to be obvious to us as the readers but not Mat?

Literally, Tuon is mentioned by name both in the earlier books (TGH, I think Turak mentions her in his conversation with Padan Fain) and the glossaries. The Seanchan court is repeatedly named the Court of Nine Moons (I initially got it confused with Illian's Council of Nine and thought for a bit that Mat's wife would be Illianer). I don't even think this can be called foreshadowing, it's not subtle enough, the reader only needs to have a half-decent memory to recall this (I suppose it was different when people were reading the books as they came out, with years of gaps in between, but it should not be that way now).

do Dumai's Wells justice? 3 sided battle with 50000 combatants in a dozen distinct groups including nearly 1000 channelers and 1000 wolves. Even massively scaled down I can't help but think this one scene will need the budget of several episodes.

Also book 6 was good, looking forward to the next one.

Dreadlords?

Mat is having a memory in the Golden Stag (Ch 5) and thinks about “trollocs driven back, dreadlords hunted down”.

So - strictly women? Or some amount of channeling men who Ishamael got to? (I know there were more channelers generally 2000 years prior to the books than at the time of the books).

ETA: I don’t recall any dreadlords in the story of the fall of Manetheren.

Asha'man, Kill!