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Hopefully Rand develops a system of coping with his inner madman, or else the series will suffer. Main characters can question themselves and their abilities, that isn’t the issue, it’s the three books of “am I going mad” that smacks of poor characterizations. It’s this set up that undercuts Rand’s development, having a main character that questions himself and his abilities for so long weakens the plot. Riding along in Rand’s head is a reminder that men of the world go mad, the villain who broke the world is acting as Rand’s id.
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As one of the world’s Power wielding men, Rand should attempt a continuing development of scope and control-which Jordan seems to undercut at every opportunity. The former farmer and now living legend, Rand’s complacent self-deprecation seems a crutch for Jordan to cling to keep Rand from developing. Rand, in my opinion, is the weakest link in this volume of the series. With Perrin’s marriage to Faile, Perrin has something to hold on to as he is dragged into conflict because of his ties to Rand. Lan is conflicted by love as Perrin is strengthened by it. Lan strives for death through his constant battles, even though his love for Nynaeve ties him to this world. Perrin is forced to protect his homeland, and has fostered an almost loathing of his elevated position. These two characters represent the hardness of Jordan’s developing conflict. Perrin returns as the wayward hero-lord of Two Rivers as does Lan after his exile, though briefly. The characters in Lord of Chaos develop from their roles in the earlier books, even returning from the limbo they were banished to in the Fires of Heaven. Its hard to feel hope for the characters when they’re prophesied to die, but the ending of the book sets up a nice picture of the world to come. Its this feeling of impending doom that flavors the novel’s action and characters. Throughout the novel, we return to the futile feeling that the end is coming and nothing can be done about it. Lord of Chaos begins by taking us to the Shayol Ghul, where the Dark One waits held in his weakening prison. Though a little of the trite characterizations that Jordan is prone to creeps up again, they don’t belittle the characters terribly this time. Unlike the earliest works in the series, this novel represents a respect for the characters that we’ve come to enjoy in the series. Lord of Chaos marks the sixth volume of the Wheel of Time series. Those who have not have read the book already may find their enjoyment of the novel spoiled by reading this review.