Rating: Summary: great book to deep thinkers Review: This book overall was a little tedious, but as an avid WoT fan "I fear no novel". I reread this series for fun, come on now. I am not "counting down" to the end, and if Jordan were to die before the conclusion i would still consider it a monument of fantasy ranking with JRR Tolkien (who, if he had not died, probably had a few more good books in him, i might add.). I love the characters, i love the wit, i love the physics concepts (some could be very real [Jordan- physics major @ the citadel]) and I have no doubts that when the end comes, it won't be THE ending, but AN ending. Cheer up loyal fans! Besides, all us D&D nerds know, that every once in a while, you have to do some politics, because otherwise girls won't play. Read it for the experience, not the ending.
Rating: Summary: He lost me after book 7 Review: Why do you all keep wasting good money on this puke? The series started out great and I hungrily read one book after another then the story got weak, then it got pathetic, then it just ground to a halt. The good news is I knew enough not to buy book 9 or 10. After looking at these reviews, I can see I made the right choice. So did the series finally end or is it still running on and on like bad case of diarrhea?
Rating: Summary: Oh My God.................Never Again Review: What a ......, ......, ...... book. The worst in the series so far. It took so long to read it felt like the 'Age of Boredom'. No action, no balefire, no Forsaken dead, no weird creature with the thing around its neck. If Nynaeve had mede an appearance instead of a brief mention she would have pulled her braid out roots and all. Don't care about Egwene's wobbly chair, sick of Lelaine, Romanda and Aes Sedai politics, had enough of Luca's Travelling Show and wish Perrin would just get on with rescuing Faille. Rand you say? Who's he? Tarmon Gaidon, it sure felt like it. Will I read Book 11? Probably, but only out of some sort of misguided loyalty. (Handy Hint-Don't pay good money for this book, borrow it from your local library, then all you've lost is time.)
Rating: Summary: A real snoozer Review: I've had it with this guy. The first 2/3 of this book was nothing but Jordan continuing to expand on irrelevant events and develop on even less relevant characters. About 2/3 of the way through it *finally* looked like it was going to pick up when it started talking about familiar characters and events. I was shocked when I got to the end and nothing of significance had happened! There was absolutely no climax to this thing! It's just one long, boring, shameless attempt by Jordan to turn a story into an ongoing income source. >>> THIS BOOK IS POINTLESS TRASH, IMHO ... ...perhaps 'well-written' trash, but pure trash nonetheless. Jordan needs to go back and reread his first book if he wants to rediscover how to write. The problem with this plan is that I doubt he has the confidence that he could ever come up with another 'good' series (or at least one that begins well). His cowardice is the clear reason he refuses to move this storyline to a close. I had been purchasing this series brand-new, in hardcover, since the very beginning. Right now I'm sorely tempted to dispose of all of them in a dumpster.
Rating: Summary: I want to give this book 0 stars and a funeral pyre Review: The Wheel of Time had a strong begining, but, personally, I found my interest waning over seven books ago. Strangely enough, despite the paper that has been wasted providing fodder for this series, the characters do not seem to have grown much at all-they've accumulated experiences, but no new maturity.I consider myself a highly selective reader, and the Wheel of Time has sunk so low with this newest waste of time that I am ashamed I ever brought any of these books. R. Jordan mistakes quantity for quality; unlike authors such as George R. R. Martin, Frank Herbert or James Clavell, he doesn't know when new characters start weighing down the overall story, nor does he exercise restraint when constructing descriptions or dialogue. As a result, the only thing that really separates the characters from one another are personality quirks (I regret to say that most W.o.T. characters don't really have what you could call 'fully realized personalities') and the type of clothes that they wear. I admit that I was mainly interested in the Tower conflict. Unfortunately, after more than five years reading about Aes Sedai politics, various descriptions of Aes Sedai clothing and the personality quirks of particular Aes Sedai and/or their warders, I have been surprised to find that I no longer care. To be honest, I have been reading the last few books just to get to the end. This series might have done better in a trilogy format, as well as a good editor. Unfortunately, it seems to be bogged down in repetitive plot contrivances, bland dialogue and explanations of politics that make you wonder whether the combined mental age of the characters is four years old or less. I wouldn't wish this horror on my worst enemy. Steer clear of this series before you waste your time and money. Try an author that will make you think as well as entertain you. I suggest Frank Herbert, James Clavell, George R. R. Martin, and Yukio Mishima.
Rating: Summary: Long and insipid Review: I started reading tWOT back in the day when it was 6 volumes, thinking that it was complete and finished. It certainly didn't occur to me it was half-way (or most likely even less than that). 3000 pages or whatever it was at the time really seemed enough for any story IMO. As most WOT readers have noticed, things really go downhill from book 4. Obviously I was expecting this book to be slow as well and it is, very. I have the distinct impression that the first 400 pages or so cover a single day. Don't expect that to be an action-packed day, with battles and lots of power-wielding, it's all sniffing, walking around and pondering about woolheadedness. Others have noted that #10 forms a basis for the next ones, but that is just like #9 was a basis for #10 and #8 for #9 - doesn't mean all the details in #8 were necessary for the plot development in #9 or #10 (no jokes about "What plot development?" please). a) There's no need for all the minuscule details from the last 5 books and probably the next 5 and b) if this much detail really was needed, nobody is going to remember it by the time it is needed because it's simply too long ago in terms of both time and pages. It's not just detail, it's repetition in detail too - and not merely the sniffing, but really big pieces of text. Every time Egwene walks around the camp and sometimes even when she's sitting in her unstable chair (that wobbly chair probably has more text devoted to it in this book than Rand and the Seanchan put together - please just give Egwene a decent chair and get on with it!), RJ explains how all the apprentices don't recognize her as the Mother and how the Two Rivers girls can't come to grips with her not coming out to play with them any more. He could get on with the story and spare us the tedious repetitions if he just wrote "and then she went to the tent where the Hall was gathering", but no, we must really understand that she needs to rearrange her shawl so that everyone sees the stripes and we must know exactly how many novices stare at her and by the way her head hurts a lot and it also hurt yesterday and the day before but not the day before that and nobody knows a cure etc. Every time Siuan enters the picture, we read *again* how powerful she used to be and how everyone makes her fetch tea now. Similar repetition is to be expected for other characters, leaving virtually no room for Rand or the Seanchan in all those hundreds of pages (which is probably the reason Rand doesn't whine about the dead Maidens), despite a hint somewhere that something exciting will happen in the very distant future. Nynaeve makes only a very small appearance, I'm not even sure whether she gets to sniff. So, is the book worth reading? Judged on its own, purely on its own merits, it's a bad book, to be avoided at all costs. Why do I give it two stars instead of one? Because if you've already read the previous 9 books, it's a relatively small investment in terms of time and/or money. Which was what I'd have said for books 5-9 too. Every one is just a small step compared to the previous ones, so why not read it? Yes, it's a flimsy argument in its favor, but it's all I can come up with. I also have given up hope that the pace will pick up in the next book, because I've been hoping that for a very long time now. If you're new to the series, I have two pieces of advice: 1. Don't start reading until it's finished (it may take quite a while, since RJ has now started writing books dragging the beginning of the series back in time instead of giving the series a closure, which is what it badly needs by now). There's a real and ever growing risk that RJ will die before the series ends and leave you stranded with 12 books on your shelf but still only halfway the story, roughly where he could have been in book 6. There's also the possibility that he'll lose track of all that's happening and give up (if he hasn't already - his continuous claiming that he really does know what will happen till the very last page sounds suspicious given how little of that alleged knowledge has made it in the last six books). 2. Never buy hard-cover editions. Wait for the cheaper paperbacks when buying new RJ books. The thrill and suspence brought by new books in the series are not even really worth the price of paperbacks, so you won't be missing a lot if you buy the latest sequel (or prequel) of this endless saga a few months after its initial release.
Rating: Summary: Skip This If You Have ADHD Review: The Wheel of Time Series is not for those who read a couple of books a year. If that describes you, then, indeed, trying to delve into this series will be a waste of your time because you will never be able to keep track of the plot threads. If you love the Fellowship of the Ring movies but think that the books have too much "descriptions of walking," again, Robert Jordan is not for you. If, on the other hand, you are a voracious reader, and you realize Tolkein's "wasted space" descriptions of Middle Earth are the reason that Peter Jackson was able to capture the mood and settings of the stories so well for the rest of us to enjoy, then you really should give the Wheel of Time a try. Some of the later books in the series do read more like C-Span than a Fox News sound bite, but I like the feeling that I am getting the whole picture of what's happening in this world Robert Jordan has created, and I continue to be glad that he has chosen to share his vision in rich and vivid detail.
Rating: Summary: Dear Robert Jordan Review: You suck. This book sucks. Thanx for ruining a good series by selling out and dragging it into oblivion. Hope all the money you made justifies ruining what could have been one of the greatest works of literature in Science-Fiction/Fantasy history. Instead you have more money for producing 10, 11, 15 books instead of 7 good ones.
Rating: Summary: Hmmmm Review: Well, "Crossroads of Twilight" was better than the reviews I've read had led me to expect. I found it exciting and oddly tedious at the same time. I guess it's all that waiting for something to happen . . . Seriously, Book 11 has to be make or break for The Wheel of Time. I'll do Jordan the credit of saying that all the elements now seem to be in place, enough so that some serious fireworks should occur from now on ("Seem", "should" - okay, I'm optimistic). There was not much of a story in "Crossroads of Twilight". The book largely comprised updates on all the characters, rather than any real action, and I was surprised by the things Jordan chose to focus on, at the expense of some very important things taking place "off-screen". I can cope with the physical descriptions of new characters, as we all need something to hang a name on with such a large cast, but the minutiae of trays, dresses, and layouts of tents really serves little useful purpose and did come across as padding in this book. Some of the characters are as engaging as always . . . while some are their usual annoying selves. Sadly, only one of the Forsaken appeared very briefly, so no news on what the side of evil is planning now; but for the alert reader there was plenty of sub-text to pick up on, to do with various varieties of skullduggery. Perhaps the biggest flaw of "Crossroads of Twilight" is that the momentous events at the end of "Winter's Heart" are not engaged with. I truly do hope Jordan has it all mapped out and is not inventing on the fly . . . (Though a number of things do suddenly appear in his books without being previously referenced, such as towns or Aes Sedai secrets, and become new favourites to be used at every opportunity). So why three stars, you ask? Because three stars is to me a book worth reading, and I'm judging (perhaps unwisely) in the context of the series as a whole. And Jordan below par still beats most authors out there, for me.
Rating: Summary: Can I get a refund. Review: I guess not since I got this from the library. This book should have one of the following titles: 1. If you need to start a fire buy this book. 2. Insomia cure inside 3. If you like reading drivel buy me 4. 600 pages of nothing and still counting A side note to those who say to enjoy this book you should reread the series. Most folks dont have time to reread 6000 pages. Most folks dont like having to reread 6000 pages to understand something. Most folks enjoy some movement of storyline somewhere in 600+ pages. Jordan wont get another penny from me.
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