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The Path of Daggers (The Wheel of Time, 8)

The Path of Daggers (The Wheel of Time, 8)

List Price: $49.95
Your Price: $31.47
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Path of Daggers is disappointing
Review: I collected and read the first five Wheel of Time books thinking that that was the entire series before I started reading them. When I got to the end of 5 and realized there was a 6, I immediately went to the store and found not only #6 but the #7! When I got to the end of #7 and realized that there was going to be another one I was beginning to get annoyed. But I went out and bought Path of Daggers as soon as it was out. I read all 8 books in succession. An earlier reviewer said that people needed to go back and read the first 7 to appreciate #8. Boy was he wrong! There was so little progress in the plot line that I was quite upset with Mr. Jordan. Instead of the 800-900 pages in the first books #8 only had 600 some. I think each book could have been shorter and accomplished more but Path of Daggers was the worst! By the time 9 comes out, I'll have forgotten everything and there's no way I'm going back and rereading the first 8 and then have to wait for #10-12 to arrive! Mr. Jordan lost me! If you want to read this same story check out David Eddings two series: The Belgariad and The Malloreon. They're each 5 books long (avg. 350 pgs.) and they're already completed! And you'll find the similarities between Rand and Garian and their situations so striking that you'll wonder if Jordan isn't somewhat of a plagerist as well as overly long-winded! In an attempt to make the story appear different he added a bunch of stuff that was unnecessary. After Path Of Daggers I was ready to lock him in a trunk during a heat wave and only bring him out in the mornings to flog him!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing and Wonderful
Review: When i noticed the reviews underneath this book did not all have 5 stars, i was shocked. These series of books by Robert Jordan, are literally the best books i've ever had the pleasure of reading. Robert Jordan is my favorite author. Every story is compelling and exciting. Rand Al'Thor may be the greatest character ever created. Robert Jordan is a true genius. I urge you all to read the book again. Maybe you will understand it and realize why it is a perfect continuation of this on-going saga. I've rated this book 5 stars, if i could give it more, i would. To any who are interested in this book...do make sure to read the previous 7, they are all well worth it. I could not put one of them down.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Path of Daggers
Review: I Have just read the 8th book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and I have liked it a little more then the last two. However, I don't think it should have taken us 8 books to have gotten this far. Mr. Jordan has been way to wordy. I can read everyother page and not loose any of the story line. I didn't feel this way in the begining of the series. Also, I do not feel that Mr. Jordan and Tolkien should be mentioned in the same breath. They are totally different writers.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A lot of filler and transition
Review: All in all, I can't believe we had to wait two tears for this. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book, but it seemed to me that most of it was simply an attempt to get characters into the proper places for the next book's events. Dragging it out for 600 pages wasn't really necessary. In adition, did you all note that while the book contains 600 pages, it is printed in a LARGER FONT than previous books? I guess that explains why it took less that 4 days to finish the entire book (and it could have been read in two). I didn't really get excited until the final 100 pages when things actually started to happen, but even these events just seemed like devices to position characters for the next book. We were all expecting something phenomenal, but this was a bit of a let down. Let's all hope that Mr. Jordan now has everyone where he wants them and things can really start happening, like the siege on the White Tower, the inevitable Rand/Seanchan war (not just a couple battles), Elayne taking the throne, and hopefully the utter annihilation of the Shaido, who seem to be just wasting pages at this point. make something happen Mr. Jordan! All this filler work and exposition is killing your loyal readers!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The last Wheel of Time book I will read
Review: "A Path Of Daggers," the 8th volume in Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, was for me the end to what had been a great reading experience. After the steadily slowing saga began to drag, drag, drag, I decided to bail on Jordan's bloated epic. Based on the reviews of volumes 9 and 10, I'm glad I did. After reading this installment, I'm surprised people have stuck on for two more. At one time I was enthralled with the story; now I could not care less about the tale's resolution.

I won't be finishing this series, and I don't mind a bit.

What was once an epic, well-plotted, well-paced story with interesting characters and an intriguing (if dense) plot became by this volume a plodding, directionless, dreary mess with little to grip the reader save increasingly bad and repetitive characterization and prose begins to grate. (The decline, for me, began in volume 6, but the story remained engaging enough to keep going. By Path of Daggers, that was no longer the case)

The most blunt review one can give would look like this: This book is boring.

Very little happens. The characters are either badly portrayed or are simply annoying. The writing is mediocre. The plot - well, there isn't a plot.

Rather than tie up plot threads, Robert Jordan instead lets them dangle, barely even inching them forward. He abandons some subplots whole. While doing this, he throws even MORE plot threads out. The massive story that once moved with great agility despite its size now lumbers like a drunken beast. It's as if Jordan is trying to figure out where to go next. It seems Jordan is writing from the hip - and it doesn't work.

If you've gotten through the volumes before this but are unsure if you want to go on, I can only urge that you DON'T. If you're a Jordan loyalist, read on, but others should be warned that from here on in, it's all downhill.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Jordan needs to re-focus because he's losing it!
Review: At least these reviews don't say Jordan is better than Tolkien anymore, that was always over-exaggerated. Path of Daggers lacks all of the elements that made the first 4 -5 books in the series great. In fact there is no climax or ending, after reading this, you can't help but get the impression that he just quit writing ended each subplot wherever it was, and shipped the book for the Christmas selling season.

Where have all the songs, jokes and deep character interaction gone? Each character has become a parody of him/herself. Rand, Nynaeve, even Elayne. Why do we need a whole sequence of chapters to explain Perrin's two day visit to a city. A great author would have brought everything into balance by telling is only what we need to know. Who cares about the carrots in Nynaeuve's lentil stew being too hard?

Tolkien wrote 10 books worth of background information for the Lord of the Rings. But he edited it down to a phenomenal 3 book series that has become a modern classic by a genius. then he left it to his son to publish all of the historical details and stuff like what elves ate when times were tough. Maybe if we're lucky Jordan will have a son who will edit this series down to a trilogy that deserves to be mentioned in the same paragraph as the Lord of the Rings. If you haven't started this series yet, just wait for that day, or if you want to see what all the hype is about, just read the Eye of the World and then wait for the post-humous readers digest version. As it is, you're going to be waiting at least five years to read the end of this story anyway.

Jordan is like a guitarist who thinks he will be Jimi Hendrix because he plays fast...Tolkien wrote a great story, Jordan has just given us 8 books and the promise of at least 3 more...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: :::groan:::
Review: It's official, the WOT series ground to a screeching halt in book 8. The characters kept me involved in the first seven despite the pacing, which runs slower than a bottle of Heinz Catsup. But in book 8, Jordan has lost me. The man must get paid by the word, that's the only explanation I can come up with for the level of detail he goes in to. It is completely unnecessary, especially EIGHT books in to an endless series.

And I must say, from the beginning all of the comparisons to Tolkien struck me as laughable at best. It's not bad for brain candy (which we all need sometimes, right?) but is nothing particularly intellectual, insightful or meaningful.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Much Better Than Crown of Swords
Review: So much happen in this book. Rand is faced with even more difficulties especially with the seachan invasion and the desertion of the men that can channel. A downside this book is that there are more and more characters to keep track of. This book is definetly not as drawn out as the last book.

This book is like a meat and potatoes book. Straightfoward and just plain fun to read.

Some of these parts won't let you put the book down.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Jordan's Roller Coaster Series Hits Another Snag
Review: After finishing book seven of the Wheel of Time Series, I had high hopes for the remaining books of the series, but, sadly, the series has again taken another downturn in "The Path of Daggers". So many more characters have been introduced that I've completely lost track, except for the main characters, of course. There are now so many that I simply scan right over the new ones.

As for the activites of the characters, Rand is on the brink of going insane while continuing his battle against the Seanchan, who have overrun Ebou Dar and are now threatening Rand's armies. The Bowl of the Winds has been used and the drought that had covered the lands has been replaced by thunder, lightning, rain, and even snow. Egwene continues to develop her hold as the real Amyrlin as she heads toward Tar Valon and her confrontation with Elaida. Nynaeve and Elayne continue on toward the Lion Throne while trying to evade the Seanchan at the same time.

I had a difficult time maintaining my interest while reading this book. There were several times where I read many pages, but I had no idea what had happened. The introduction of so many new characters has made it very difficult to keep track of who's who, and thus the overall plot of the series has suffered. The great cyclical nature of the entire series has been frustrating as well. Just when the reader thinks that the series is picking up, another dud such as this book comes along and sets the whole series back. I will read the final two books of the series, and I can only hope that the roller coaster will swing back up again.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not what it could be.
Review: This series started out fantastic, and then it started to go downhill. Some things that I had let pass before - because the series was too good to drop it for such minor things - are now popping out and driving me crazy. This series is aggravating me to no end. Here are some of the once minor things that have now made this series completely unrealistic and unimpressive.

1-half the women in this series should be dead from the labors they are forced to go through as prisoners of the Aiel, especially from dehydration. These unrealities have been running for several books now, but only in PoD does it actually become a problem. Anybody who is unaccustomed to such physical hardships (especially women, for the obvious reason of the time period) should not be able to do it at all, no matter how fearful the Aiel are. Your body simply cannot handle it, no matter what.

2-looking at the descriptions of the winter (snow to the knees) would make it at least -20 Celsius. No matter how modest you are, when you're stripped in the winter to bare skin, you would not care one bit about being naked in front of men. You would die, or at the bare minimum, get a severe case of frostbite. That of course never happens. Apparently, fear makes people invincible in Jordan's world.

3-Jordan's incessant urge to tag "under her breasts" whenever he says "she crossed her arms" is downright ludicrous, at the least. It's a given that somebody is crossing their arms over their chests/under their breasts, so why does he need to say it? Unless it's a different way than the obvious (over her hips) it's useless and an added three words for every page.

4-I'm sick and tired of "switches" and "boxing." Do women carry switches in their pockets? How often are they used - every page? Whatever Jordan calls it, it's a whip. Substitute "switch" with "whip" and tell me that that's not more than a LITTLE disturbing. "Boxing ears" is no better, because that's just a light way of saying PUNCH IN THE FACE. Again, substitute "boxing" with "punching" and see the impression you get. What kind of women are these, to go around whipping and punching people left and right?

5-description is limp and dead now. Every time saidin is held/released, literally 1/3 of the page is dedicated to how it feels; 2 pages on undoing a weave; 7 pages (literally) on various people asking (literally) the same questions; 2 pages on somebody undressing (okay, so that's in book 9, but the principle is still the same); 1 page on people asking to be Aes Sedai. And the list goes on. It's a waste. He describes every incident that's useless; not the relevant ones. When Mat got his new memories, there was only one example of Mat letting his military-knowledge slip, from the supposed dozens. When several people ask the same questions, Jordan literally describes at least 6 instances.

6-at least five consecutive chapters in a row are given to each group of characters; only one of those is worth anything. It's not a matter of 5 chapters doing something that can be condensed into one chapter. There literally is only one chapter that should be included at all.

7-the Aiel are seemingly immortal. They should be bogged down considerably with the snow (that goes to their knees) but it's little more than an inconvenience. It should reduce their armies considerably, but no, they're too strong for that, of course. Strong will and strong fear can make people do anything, after all.

(PS, excluding Mat was a horrible decision, but I can let that pass. It's more a personal thing since he's my favorite character, but still. The only thing that gets me through these books is the thought, "three more chapters until Mat! Five more chapters! Half a book! 300 more pages!" and so on and so forth. It took me 2 months to finish this book without those little rewards.)


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