In the seventh volume of Jordan's preeminent high-fantasy saga, The Wheel of Time, intrigue and counterintrigue continue to roil. Unlike the fantasy series of Andre Norton (Witch World), Terry Brooks (Shannara), and Marion Zimmer Bradley (Darkover), unlike even Anne McCaffrey's beloved sf series, Dragonriders of Pern, all of which are multivolume but multigenerational in characters, Jordan's has readers follow the fortunes of the same five people who left their village as teenagers to play out their roles on the grand, world-saving stage. Throughout the saga, the characters (minor as well as major), the world, and the source of powers have remained remarkably rich and consistent--no mean feat, given that the books range in length from a paltry 576 to this book's bountiful 720 pages. As in the previous volumes, the focus switches among the various main characters as they carry out their parts of the quest to defeat the Dark One. Elayne, Aviendha, and Mat approach the bowl ter'angreal that is needed to stanch the endless heat wave; Egwene starts putting together a band of women able to channel; and Rand, the reluctant Dragon Reborn, comes further into his powers and faces a deadly foe. Amid all the Sturm und Drang, however, is a finely tuned comic strain that both leavens the story and adds to its development. This latest installment of a major fantasy epic definitely will not disappoint its fans. Sally Estes
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