Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan, Book Five of the Wheel of Time series.
Introduction
Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan is the fifth book of The Wheel of Time series. Four groups appear in the novel. Rand brings the Aiel clans out of the waste, looking for the false chief of chiefs, and Matt struggles to step out of Rand’s shadow. Nynaeve and Elayne try to avoid attracting the Black Ajah and the Forsaken. Min and Siuan search for the rebel Aes Sedai. Gareth Bryne tracks Min and Siuan down. When the Forsaken drive Rand to desperation, will he be able to control the Fires of Heaven at his disposal or destroy the world?
Summary
Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan follows four groups of characters, featuring Rand, Nynaeve, Min, and Gareth Bryne.
The first chapter of the book serves as a prologue, covering three different points of view of the antagonists of this novel.
Rand must track down the false chief of chiefs to establishing himself as the ruler of the Aiel. He brings the Aiel loyal to him out of the waste through the Jangai Pass leading to warfare in Cairhein. Moraine and Egwene face a dilemma involving the Forsaken. Matt tries to leave, but his Ta’veren power leads him to establish his destiny beyond Rand. Rand battles the Forsaken at Cairhein and is hard-pressed to bring down the Fires of Heaven on them when he travels to the realm of dreams, Tel’aran’rhiod.
Nynaeve and Elayne escape Tanchico and plan to report back to the Aes Sedai in Tar Valon, but are thwarted in their attempts. They travel through Amadicia on their way to Ghealdan. They join a circus, meet a prophet, and learn more about Tel’aran’rhiod. Their journey leads to the rebel Aes Sedai and a confrontation with a Forsaken.
Siuan Sanche and Min leave Tar Valon and search for the rebel Aes Sedai. On the way to Andor, they meet Gareth Bryan.
Gareth Bryan becomes enamored with Siuan and searches for her.
Rand’s group reaches their climax at Cairhien and the rest search for the rebel Aes Sedai.
Recommendation
Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan is a great novel, but something is missing compared to the previous novel, Shadow Rising. The best storyline from Shadow Rising was Perrin’s triumph in the Two Rivers. Perrin does not appear in this novel, and he is missed. The Rand and Matt storylines progressed well and their endings were satisfying. It seems like the rest of the storylines were slow going and setting up a big climax in the next novel. I wish something more had happened in this novel. The ending for Nynaeve was good, but a continuation of her interrupted ending for Shadow Rising. The stuff in between at the circus and Samara was interesting but could have been skipped.
The two best parts of the novel were Rand’s battle in Tel’aran’rhiod with a Forsaken and the crazy ending that readers are still debating about even after the end of the series. You will know what I’m talking about after reading one page of the last chapter, Chapter 56, Glowing Embers.
The first season of the Amazon Prime Video will adapt the first novel of the series in 2021. I will be interested to see how the showrunners adapt this novel in a few years.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140975.The_Fires_of_Heaven
This is the link to my review of Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, Book Four of the Wheel of Time.
This is the link to my review of Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan, Book three of the Wheel of Time.
This is the link to my review of Great Hunt by Robert Jordan, Book two of the Wheel of Time.
This is the link to my review of Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, Book one of the Wheel of Time.