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Oh boy, finished with another volume. Honestly, I don't think I have much to say on this one. Which is actually very sad because this has been my favorite so far. (Funny, when you don't like something as much, you've got a lot more to say about it, but when you love something, when you go to talk about it, everything flees from your mind.) I thought that this was the best constructed so of the books so far. I noticed with the last five they all basically had a hundred pages of fluff catching up with the characters and beating us over the head with details we already know, followed by trolloc attacks, and finally, plot line for the book. Fires of Heaven broke away from that, and I loved it. The Darkhounds kinda fit the role of the Trollocs, but it introduces Balefire officially, and blood and bloody ashes is that stuff cool! I has already been convinced that Moiraine was going to die, and the further I got into the book, the more I realized this was the book it was going to happen. Not cool, but it how she died really took me by surprise. I didn't really expect Lanfear to be gone this early in the series (and having already read a bit of the Lord of Choas, I expect she's the female chosen in a new body.) Her death was fitting though, and only reaffirmed my love for her as a character. Especially her developing relationship with Rand through the books. I was happy to correctly guess that she knew exactly who Nateal was, and her grudging acceptance of it just tickled me. Also, I feel justified in my distrust of Verin, since Moiraine feels the same way. Nynaeve was very satisfying to read this time through. The arch with Elayne felt a lot less artificial than it had in the past, and it's wonderful to see her confronting her own shortcomings, and even more so to see a protagonist fail, as those situations seem to have been few and far between so far. The interactions between all of the characters also felt more honest. My favorite part of their portion definitely was Thom's daggers flying at her. Imagining the scene just made me smile. With Moiraine gone, Aviendha definitely is my favorite female character. The Aiel continue to delight me, and their humor is especially good. My favorite scene between her and Rand had to be their reactions to the Maidens knowing what happened thousands of miles away. Their whole relationship feels very real. Oh Matrim, you are hysterical. "I'm just gonna leave over this way, don't mind me. Oh look, and ambush. Well, burn me, I'm leaving. Right after I stop this ambush. Ok, right after this next skirmish. Alright, well, I guess I'll kill Couladin first, but I'm leaving right after that." I'm very interested to see what comes about for Elayne and Birgette, and especially when the tower finds out about it, which I see as very likely to happen. Birgette was one of my favorite parts of The Shadow Rising and I'm glad she'll continue to be a large role in the books. I did expect Aludra to do more than have a cameo role though. I can't think of anything else to add right now. I really enjoyed this installment, and just like when reading The Dragon Reborn, I enjoyed it too much to spend as much time theorizing. P.S. I miss you Perrin