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The traditional mammoth length first chapter sets the stage nicely.

Yet another army thrown into the mix in Arad Doman, and Caemlyn under siege.

Exciting times!

This book gives a fairly detailed and interesting account of the early history of Europe and it’s interactions with Asia, and occasionally China and Africa.

Then somewhere around the Renaissance it starts to speed up, becoming less detailed and more of a conventional retelling of the age of empires and WW1.

Rand clears the taint from saidin using the statues with Nynaeve.

Various forsaken, including reincarnated Lanfear, try to stop him but fail. Arangar, posing as Dashiva, killed.

One of Cadsuane’s party, Elza, is a darkfriend.

Mat flees Ebou Dar with Egeanin, kidnapping Tuon at the same time.

Mistress Anan used to be Aes Sedai, or linked to the Tower in some way it seems. Joline’s reaction to the a’dam was odd.

It is all coming to a head, it seems.

Was Verin about to poison Cadsuane?!

Taim is ordering asha’man to hunt Rand? The bastard.

Luc is the wolf killer and a super natural dream world assassin? Not super surprising.

How many will we THREE kill, Lews?

Interesting, unless I’m completely missing something.

Mat has just stormed into the room with Tylin, Suroth and Tuon, meeting the two Seanchan for the first time.

I realise now that the prophecy about the Daughter of the Nine Moons might be more about a forced marriage than a love story.

We shall see…

Very Rome and Persia/Arabia focused so far, surprisingly little of China and central Asia.

Daughter of the Nine Moons, eh? I wonder if that will be relevant later..? 🤣

Oh hey, a Mat chapter! What are the chances?!

Nice to have some of the disparate members of Team Rand meet backup again and re-sync. And other things 🤣

Nynaeve has clearly “stolen” Alivia to help use the giant sar’angreal. Maybe not clearly, but that’s the suspicion.

People from Nynaeve’s visions in the arches turning up in real life? I’m sure it’ll be fine.

Faile is an annoying character, but her band of idiots really are something else.

The tradition of gigantic first chapters continues!

We’ve got Checkov’s steam boat at the academy, among other things.

Things wrap up quickly, but it’s quite satisfying. A version of Liff is saved and another type of consciousness is added to the Human-portiid-octopus-corvid culture.

I cannot decide whether it is sadder for the colony to have lived and died and then been re-simulated or for it to have never existed at all.

I was mostly correct, it is an Inner Light situation but with a twist.

Incredibly sad.

I suspect Miranda / the Nod lifeform can absorb the colonists somehow and allow them to live again in some sense, although they are big on consent now and the simulated Imiri cannot really give it.

I still have no idea what is happening, despite Kern just disintegrating into… a murder of crows?

There was clearly something already on Imir and there is some kind of Inner Light or time loop going on. But as to the specifics? No idea.

This is an odd story; the flashback give context and hints, but the main story is going in circles without adding much (beyond Miranda being related to what is happening, somehow). It’s not bad, I assume it’s intentional and I’m enjoying but it’s definitely… odd.

Okay, got a flashback now where Liff is described as the first child born in Imir and Miranda is there.

Hmm, suspect this might be some kind of Star Trek Inner Light situation where the Nodan Miranda is reliving the life and death of the colony?

Maybe.

The critique of authoritarianism and fascism from the point of view of a child is very well done. Uncle Molder can get in the bin.

The birds are fun. Combing them with the spiders, octopuses, humans and Nodans should be a blast.

Standard ark-ship setup.

Now we have some more advanced people spying on the resulting community. Judging by names and inner monologues we have spiders and possibly Nodans at least.

Promising!

Ugh, the Seanchean are the worst.

A lot of randos in the Aes Sedai camp, really playing with the idea that Moghedion or Halima are still about.

Apparently huge first chapters are just a thing in WoT now.

Okay, so people surviving under ground for 5,000 might be possible but in submarines with the hard rain boiling the seas off? Seems unlikely.