Reactions to The Fires of Heaven

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

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

 

 

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

Glad you enjoyed this one. FoH is one of my favorites as well. I'm interested to see how you like Lord of Chaos; it is my favorite volume.

Also, I'm surprised you didn't say anything about Asmodean. Who killed him was considered one of the greatest mysteries of the entire series by fans.

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

You mean that never gets revealed?  AHHHHHHHHH! 

[Argent he/him]

Nobody ever trusts poor Verin

 

 

You mean that never gets revealed?  AHHHHHHHHH! 

 

It does. Kind of. Jordan believed he left hints enough in the books after The Fires of Heaven. There was apparently one obvious one, but most readers (myself included) couldn't figure it out. To quite R.J. " I don't know why people have a hard time figuring [who killed Asmodean] out. To me it seems intuitively obvious even to the most casual observer." Brandon eventually included it in one of the glossaries, I think in Towers of Midnight or in A Memory of Light. 

 

Once you've finished the eighth book (Path of Daggers), you can read Sherlock Holmes Examines the Death of Asmodean. It's essentially a piece of fanfic written by a fan back in the year 2000, I believe, and holds much truth. The conclusion Sherlock reaches there is the correct one (i.e. the essay will reveal Asmodean's killer), so read at your own peril. Just be mindful of spoilers from books 6, 7, and 8.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Argent

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

Yeah, it was revealed in the Towers of Midnight glossary and I believe given an offhand mention in A Memory of Light. The whole thing was funny, too, because the question was never addressed again by any of the characters for the entire series after it happened, but fans agonized about it to death. There is even a page devoted to the question in one of the Wheel of Time wikis. Don't look it up, though, as it reveals the answer. Unless you like to spoil things. But of course it isn't really that big of a spoiler because the whole issue is not at all important to the rest of the series.

[Argent he/him]

But of course it isn't really that big of a spoiler because the whole issue is not at all important to the rest of the series.

 

Heretic. One cannot enjoy The Wheel of Time properly without suffering in one's ignorance of Asmodean's killer.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

Heretic. One cannot enjoy The Wheel of Time properly without suffering in one's ignorance of Asmodean's killer.

 

But what do you mean; his killer should be intuitively obvious to the casual observer, shouldn't it? 

 

Storm you, Robert Jordan. Brandon and Peter learned their trolling ways from a true master.

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

I didn't care about who killed Asmodean at all. When I found out it was a big deal to people, that's when I even considered caring. Just so many people have a reason too; literally both sides of the fight should want him dead. Kind of just accepted it. 

Anyway, Fires of Heaven was a good one. You should also take a minute with each of these posts to go back and laugh at the predictions you made previously, then create new ones. Not that they were all wrong or bad, it's just so hard to predict something 10 books in the future, hahaha. Anyway, glad you are still enjoying them. Keep pushing!

[Argent he/him]

Not that they were all wrong or bad, it's just so hard to predict something 10 books in the future, hahaha.

 

PLOT TWIST! Asmodean was an alien cyborg all along!

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

With what I've read of LoC, my current theory is that Taim is one of the forsaken.

[Argent he/him]

With what I've read of LoC, my current theory is that Taim is one of the forsaken.

 

Every reader I've spoken with develops this theory around book 5/6

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

There was too much of a reaction from Lews Therin in Rand's mind when he met him for it to be otherwise. 

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

With what I've read of LoC, my current theory is that Taim is one of the forsaken.

 

Might I ask which Forsaken you think he is? Just interested.

 

 

Every reader I've spoken with develops this theory around book 5/6

 

Same here.

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

Well, I'm not quite sure how the reincarnation thing works, but my assumption is that Taim was killed, and the male forsaken that was given a new body was given Taim's body. 

[Argent he/him]

Well, I'm not quite sure how the reincarnation thing works, but my assumption is that Taim was killed, and the male forsaken that was given a new body was given Taim's body. 

 

This is theoretically possible. 

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

So that leaves Aginor, Ishmael, or Balthamel.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

So that leaves Aginor, Ishmael, or Balthamel.

 

Interesting. 

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

Every reader I've spoken with develops this theory around book 5/6

 

So true. Every. Last. One. 

Also, there is a sign that basically tells you 100% for certain when someone is Forsaken (minus certain obvious occurrences), but I'll leave that for you to figure out. 

[Topomouse he/him]

I read book 1 to 11 one after the other so I didn't spend much time theorizing (also, I didn't have anyone to share them with), but I wasn't particularly obsessed with Asmodean's killer and Taim's role. I guess I'm the exception to the rule.

 

 

P.S. I miss you Perrin

 

I know how you feel. When I was reading I was waiting anxiously to know what Perrin was doing in the two rivers only to discover that he doesn't appear in the book at all.

[Voidus]

FoH was always my favourite of the series, it was when I really got into WoT instead of just casually reading it between releases. 

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

FoH was always my favourite of the series, it was when I really got into WoT instead of just casually reading it between releases.

Plus it has one of the best titles in the series. And it made somewhat sense to the story, unlike a lot of the later titles.

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

Heh, this book is when my love of Mat hit full swing. Basically for the reason you explained. He tried his best to dip, and just keeps getting drawn into battle after battle, and next thing he knows, everybody's calling him some amazing general. XD Poor guy just wants to dip out, find a nice tavern, play some dice, drink some wine, and bounce a pretty lass on his knee.

I believe this is the point in the series where I just kept reading as much as possible -- solely for the reason of getting to the next Mat chapter. I mean, I enjoyed everyone else and their stories and chapters still..... but just.... MATRIM BLOODY CAUTHON! (P.S., his arc just gets better and better)

[king of nowhere]

well, perrin comes back next book. i think you already saw him if you started it.

then there is one book where mat do not appear at all (many people were disappointed, especially because the last we saw of mat was a big cliffhanger, and then nothig for one book). After that, all the three main characters appear in every book at least a few chapters.

 

As for asmodean, I was initially very curious, but I then forgot about it a few books later. it's just not important to the story, since everyone had a good reason to do it.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

then there is one book where mat do not appear at all (many people were disappointed, especially because the last we saw of mat was a big cliffhanger, and then nothig for one book). After that, all the three main characters appear in every book at least a few chapters.

Although, if you consider Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne main characters as well (which I do), there is one more book missing a main character.

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

I must admit, I do go, "Aww, man!" When Asmodean was killed. I actually liked that guy! And was looking forward to awesome things from him and Rand working together. :/  But alas, The Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills.