Lord of Chaos
Robert Jordan
1035 pages
published in 1994

Lord of Chaos is the sixth book in Robert Jordan's ever expanding Wheel of Time series. For me it's the book in which the series' flaws start to overwhelm its virtues. It starts with the cover, which is more suited to some fifth rate romance novel. Darrel K. Sweet never was a very good illustrator, though he inexplicably keeps getting assignments, but here he excelled himself in putting people that look nothing like the characters, in scenes that occur nowhere in the book, with anatomy that suggest they're not quite human, or suffering from some severe physical disability.

The novel itself is not very good either; in my opinion its the worst entry in the series, the one where the series really went off the rails for a while. It's also the longest in the series, which many fans think is not a coincidence. The rot actually set in with the previous novel, Fires of Heaven, but it's fully visible here. The plot sprawled out of control in all directions, but without moving forward, more new viewpoint characters were introduced and worse of all, Lord of Chaos also saw the return of several supposedly defeated villains. The latter especially raised the spectre of a never ending series. Fortunately, Jordan managed to rein himself in with the next books, but it was a close shave.

What most disappointed me in Lord of Chaos was the way in which Rand was treated. In previous volumes he was shown as a careful, considerate, competent leader but here he suddenly comes across as an egomanical madman, ranting and raving like some minor villain. He has to, for plot considerations, but it's a sign of weakness that Jordan had to twist's Rand's character so much to make his plot work at all.

The other disappointment, also one of the more common complaints about the series as a whole is how little the heroes talk with each other. This ties in with Jordan's often annoying habit of characterisation by gender, with all the boys (Rand, Mat and Perrin) perennially confused about the mysteries of women, while all the girls (with Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve as main offenders) are forever deciding what's best for Rand and co, without ever consulting them.

And since Rand had conquered Andor (or at least its capital, Caemlyn) in the previous volume, the country ruled by Elayne's mother, now thought to be dead, while Egwene had been made the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel faction of Aes Sedai, communication between our heroes is more needed than ever. Instead Rand and the boys and Egwene and her girls work at times almost at cross purposes on the things they find the most important, without drawing up any sort of common strategy and without even consulting or informing each other of their plans...

As per usual several plot threads are followed, with Rand being involved in political manoeuvres in Caemlyn and Cairhien, being courted by both sides of the Aes Sedai split. He sends Mat to Egwene to help her and bring her and Nynaeve plus Elayne to him, but instead Egwene manages to snare Mat in her own plans, as escort for an important mission Elayne and Nynaeve are working on... Meanwhile Perrin, after an absense of one book, re-enters the picture and joins Rand at Camlyn. He's less than impressed when he finds out Rand has called an amnesty on men who can channel and has created his own Black Tower.

The climax comes when Rand is kidnapped by the White Tower's embassy to him, to be brought back to the Tower and kept safe for the Last Battle. When Perrin comes to the rescue it ends in a battle at Dumai Wells, in which the Shado Aeil join in as well, attacking both Aes Sedai and Rand's forces. Things do not end well...

As said, this was a disappointment, a quick read but not always a pleasant one. Lord of Chaos is only recommended for diehard Wheel of Time fans, but fortunately only diehard fans will be reading the sixth book of this series anyway.

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