by Alexander Lourenco

Created on: July 28, 2008

When it comes to Robert Jordan, I have to admit that I like the books immensely. When I read the first Wheel of Time book so long ago, there was something about the story that other fantasy books just didn't have. The Dragon Reborn, the third work in the series, does not disappoint- it offers up the same wonderful drama, action, and intrigue that the first two books did, giving the reader a wonderful escape into a world of magic and swordplay that some argue is unparalleled in modern fantasy.

What draws the reader into the Wheel of Time series, and the Dragon Reborn in particular, are its characters. Jordan's strong points have always been the way he makes you feel about the characters; they are fully fleshed- out people that have dreams and doubts concerning the world that surrounds them. Whether it's Rand coming to terms with what he has to do as the Dragon Reborn or Moiraine's brief slips into humanity, Jordan's characters feel so real that you cannot help but connect with them, even if they are in a world so different than your own. Emotions like love, greed, and hate cross the barrier between fantasy and reality and make you want to turn the page.

The plot, on the other hand, begins to get weaker in the Dragon Reborn. Jordan is a good storyteller but he spins so many subplots that he begins to lose control of them; the split between the girls studying at Tar Valon and Rand's quest for Callandor seems almost far too weighted towards their studying to become Aes Sedai. Sometimes it feels as if Jordan isn't sure where he's going with the plots, though some of them are resolved very well. I wish that he would have slimmed down some of the subplots in favor of stronger scenes concerning the principal characters that we have come to know and love, especially Rand and his quest for Callandor and its confirmation of his status as the newly-christened Dragon Reborn.

All in all, the Dragon Reborn is a delightful fantasy book and certainly one of the strongest in the Wheel of Time series. It highlights Jordan's character-creating ability at its peak, and it comes after two books that have given us enough information to truly appreciate and empathize with the three-dimensional characters placed before us. Though he can sometimes seem to lose control of certain plot points, he almost always brings them back and resolves them in a creative and thought-provoking way; The Dragon Reborn is a Wheel of Time entry that is not to be missed, and I recommend picking it up if you enjoyed the first two books in the series.

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