The Dragon Reborn [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert Jordan (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates Book (1991)
• ASIN: B000THDVSW
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (335 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,188,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina. He taught himself to read when he was four with the incidental aid of a twelve-years-older brother and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five. He is a graduate of The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army; among his decorations are the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. A history buff, he has also written dance and theater criticism and enjoyed the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing, and sailing, and the indoor sports of poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.

Robert Jordan began writing in 1977 and went on to write The Wheel of Time(R), one of the most important and best selling series in the history of fantasy publishing with over 14 million copies sold in North America, and countless more sold abroad.

Robert Jordan died on September 16, 2007, after a courageous battle with the rare blood disease amyloidosis.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

179 of 213 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could be so good..., April 23, 2003

By 

Ash1138 "www.myspace.com/ash1138" (Centennial, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time, Book 3) (Hardcover)

Seems there are two camps readers of the Wheel of Time series; those that think this is the greatest fantasy epic ever written and those that think the series is pure garbage (even though they still read 4-5 of the books). I seem to be one of the rare individuals who like the books yet still see the flaws in them. For this, the gushing fan-boys tend to rate my reviews not helpful.

Seriously, there are great elements to Jordans books but to think any of them are five star books is just fooling yourself. If you are one of those individuals who's about to click the "no - this wasn't helpful to me" button because the Wheel of Time books are some of the best books you've ever read, I urge you to read more books by better authors.

Here is what's good about the Wheel of Time: It's a huge epic fantasy of almost unparalleled scope. It's an immense sweeping saga of good versus evil that plays like soap operah in many aspects. It makes good use of fantasy cliche's such as ignorant farmers grow up to be heroes of the world and prophecies of a chosen one defeating evil. I like Wheel of Time because it is something I can get into. Robert Jordan gives you a world and characters you grow fond of without having it end after a few nights reading. Finally, Jordan's skill at writing alone keeps you turning pages. Nothing may happen, but at least it's enjoyable to read.

The bad: Way too many subplots and way too much development of irrelevent details. Many times, Jordans books seem to lose focus, and this one is no different. He tends to go off into lengthy tangents only to come to the heart of the story at the very end. The other thing (and I fault the editor for allowing this) is Jordan's use of "convenient" storytelling. I talked about this on my review of book two. It's annoying when the characters just seem to be able to do whatever they need to do whenver the script calls for it. When a character manifests some new power or ability, it should not be right when he/she needs it. That is a cheap way to tell stories, and any no-name writer would be reemed by their editor for trying to do so.

Fortunately, in The Dragon Reborn, the climactic ending doesn't make use of convenient storytelling (though other parts of the book do) and Jordan mostly succeeds in writing a book that is only a small part of the series yet works on it's own. Much of the book focuses on the three girls Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne and their learning to become Aes Sedai. This is all well and good, but aren't these supposed to be supporting characters? Jordan has still failed to really show a strong main character. Logic would tell you it was Rand, but he get's less screentime than anyone. Jordan's books would all be so much better if they were more focused. He spends too much time juggling way too many characters and all the events that happen with them. Of course, lovers of long fantasy epics don't seem to mind this, and since I am one, I enjoy the books.

In all, if you liked the first two books, you will like this one as well. It's better than book one yet not quite as good as book two.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The series gets back on track with the most interesting book of the first 3, November 14, 2005

By 

Craig MACKINNON (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is legendary in its length (11 books, so far, and still not over), so why care about what happens in lowly Book 3? Because ee have some neat plot points, the overall story arc starts to crystallise, and mainly, it is the most enjoyable read of the first three books. I was reminded of Star Wars Ep. 1 - the book has a resolution of it's main plotline, but it is obvious that there is lots more of the saga to go, especially since we know that, at the end of the book, certain baddies are still on the loose.

After bringing most of the main characters together for the climax of Book 2, Jordan cleaves the group again for separate journeys to the city of Tear. Prophesy says that only the Dragon Reborn can wield the magic sword stored in the vault of that city's fortress. Some have complained that it takes a series of unbearable coincidences to get everyone to the final battle, which would be a valid complaint except that Jordan's world is designed in such a way that unbelievable coincidences can (and often do) occur, because of the overriding "will" of the Wheel of Time. This is a standard literary device, well-known to the ancient Greeks (the Fates) and Arabs (Kismet). It could potentially become a crutch, but in this book Jordan convincingly brings the threads of a number of seemingly diverse storylines together. The reason everyone ends up in Tear? - they all know (or are chasing people who know) that the Dragon Reborn will show up in Tear to claim the magic sword. It's only a matter of timing (they all arrive at the final battle simultaneously) that needs invocation of the Wheel's influence.

Curiously, this book focusses on 3 characters, two of whom are my least favourite in the series (Nynaeve, the petulant bully, and Mat, the selfish prankster). Fortunately, Jordan mostly steers clear of the constant and irritating internal editorialising by these characters that so plagued Book 2. Jordan also finally reveals Mat's "special power" (of the three "Ta'vern," we already know that Perrin can speak to wolves and Rand can channel the One Power). I will not reveal it in this review, but it is an ingenious and well-designed power that (so far) is correctly limited in its scope.

Book 1 was very good, but was clearly a travelogue to get us oriented with Jordan's world. Book 2 was a 400-page story trapped in a 600 page book, becoming unbearably repititious in places. Book 3 finally lives up to the promise of the series - we are now well underway with the adventure of the reborn Dragon.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best of the first three, March 20, 2003

By 

Neal C. Reynolds (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I welcomed the change of emphasis in this third book. I was glad to follow Perrin and Matt and learn more of them. Each of the three major characters is fascinating and this third book does reward the reader for following through the first two books. The manipulations of the Aes Sedai do become more complex, and the conflicts between the ajahs are well developed.

I might groan a bit at the thought of seven more novels published with the promise, or is it a threat, of at least two more to come. However, so far, so good.