Rating: Summary: I liked it Review: Before reading this book, I went back, and started reading again from book one to book ten. When I did that, I realized I really did like Path of the Dagger and Winter's Heart and Crossraods. I think what frustrates most people is that there is a 2 year wait...when I could flow from one novel till the next it seems like one continous story. Although, I'll admit, I wish more time was spent on Mat than Elayne...which is why the book only gets four stars. Truly the main characters can't be fighting major wars every book, they'd run out of soliders before the final battle.
Rating: Summary: Where has Rand Al'Thor gone? Review: Whatever happened to Rand? You know...the Dragon Reborn? Robert Jordan has lost sight of the MAIN character in this last book. Im sick of Mat Cauthon and Perrin Goldeneyes Aybara with their shallow plots, mainly courting and love interests. Remember, Mr. Jordan, that Rand Al'thor and his battle against the encroaching darkness is the main plot line...not the sub-plot. I suspect that Robert Jordan is no longer out to right a piece of literature but is only out to make a quick buck.
Rating: Summary: Complete stall in action and hanging on unimportant details Review: The saddest part is that I have had to defend Mr. Jordan for three books now with the friends I got addicted to the 'Wheel of Time'. Now Mr. Jordan has written one that I cannot defend. Absolutely nothing happens in this book. More unimportant characters are described in lavish detail. The only two items of interest are that both camps of Aes Sedai are entertaining alliances with the Black Tower and Egwene ends up captured by Tower Sisters. Other than that, you could skip this book entirely.
Rating: Summary: Get over it! Review: I get so angry reading some of these reviews, because it shows me how easily a man¡¦s career can be destroyed by a bunch of illiterate [fools.]You say this is a horrible book because Jordan goes into too much laborious and repetitive detail and characterization, not enough attention is given to the ¡§main characters¡¨, and there¡¦s not much action. Nearly 700 whining, sniveling reviews, and that¡¦s all you can come up with to justify your opinions. I have read the majority of the reviews here, and if anyone should be embarrassed by the amount of laborious repetition in their writing, it is you people. The few truly intelligent and insightful reviews given are all positive (one intelligent person in particular, thanks ¡¥hawkedup¡¦). So many people complain that there is little attention given to Rand as the ¡§main character¡¨. What on earth gave you the idea that he is the ¡§main character¡¨ in the first place? Just because he¡¦s the Dragon Reborn doesn¡¦t mean the whole story has to revolve around him. This saga is about the people AROUND Rand, and how their world is affected. Rand is a great guy, but there are SO many other characters in these books that are infinitely more interesting and malleable. As for the introduction of new characters who never return and the time spent on ¡§marginal¡¨ characters, someone mentioned in their review the chapter told through Alviarin¡¦s point of view. I am relieved that at least one of you understands Jordan¡¦s style enough to realize that he is not actually developing new characters as much as he is using the point of view of those characters to reveal integral material, such as the inner workings of the White Tower. I find this to be a fascinating approach to storytelling on Jordan¡¦s part. (By the way, for those of you who say Jordan never draws any of his subplots to a close, did you forget completely about the struggle between Alviarin and Elaida for control within the Tower? I¡¦d say that one was pretty much decided when Alviarin was deposed as Keeper.) As for the ¡§excessive¡¨ use of detail¡K.how can you read these works and not appreciate every detail you¡¦re given as one more way to immerse yourself in the story and allow yourself to truly know and understand the characters, to become them and see what they see, feel what they feel? If Perrin is standing in the snow berating himself because he hasn¡¦t been able to rescue his wife, I want to know how cold that snow is, because it brings me closer to what Perrin is experiencing. Now for my final point: the lack of action. I admit that ¡¥Crossroads of Twilight¡¦ was under par in this respect, but come on, people! It¡¦s called delayed gratification! It¡¦s been Jordan¡¦s M.O. in every book, so what exactly were you expecting? It is very unfair and rather immature for us to impose the worn-out old model of the ¡§fantasy novel¡¨ to Jordan¡¦s work, when he¡¦s the first one to break free of those strictures and attempt some genuine originality. If you want the predictable tension/climax/resolution formula, I suggest you stick to more sophomoric authors such as Terry Brooks. For those of you who found Crossroads of Twilight frustrating but are mature enough to remain loyal to ¡¥The Wheel of Time¡¦, try to see the big picture! Perhaps the suggestion of waiting until the final book is published, then reading them all together would work better for you. And for those of you who think Jordan¡¦s convoluted plot is out of control because you can¡¦t keep up with it¡KGod help you, because you¡¦re just too dumb to be reading such sophisticated material. Get over it.
Rating: Summary: The wheel spins and spins and goes nowhere. Review: Plot within plot, whithin plot, whithin.... The wheel of time just spins and spins, and goes absolutely nowhere. This series started out so great, but now it is a total waste of your time and money.
Rating: Summary: You asked for it Review: So here you all are, moaning and complaining over Jordan's last work. "It's boring," you say. "It doesn't advance the plot." Of course it doesn't and that's the point. If the last 1500 pages of mind-numbing filler haven't kept you from buying this book, I've got some swamp land you might be interested in. Who are you people that keep shelling out for this stuff? Ever hear of a library?
Rating: Summary: Crossroads of boredom Review: This is by far the worst book in this series. If you've read the others, then you're used to Jordan taking his time with plots and characters. However, this book reaches new heights of boredom. Basically, nothing happens. No subplots are resolved, the main plot is not advanced in the slightest, and too many of the main characters are only given a scant few pages. This is largely the story of Egwene and Elayne, and hence, it is filled with page after page of squabbling women and the insignificant doings of characters you aren't given any reason to care about. This is not to say that these two characters are not interesting in their own right, but Jordan doesn't do anything interesting with them in this book. Neither character moves more than 500 yards throughout the entire book, and after slogging through hundreds of pages, you're not even rewarded with a climax. Sadly, this book is a huge let-down after such an investment by Jordan's readers. You're left with the strong impression that the author has nothing new to say and is spinning his wheels at this point.
Rating: Summary: Enough is Enough! Review: This latest installment from Jordan is the icing on the cake as far as how BAD this series has become. The first book in the series was very good, and each book since then has decreased in quality. This series was originally intended to be 7 books. One can only surmise that due to the popularity of the series Mr. Jordan has decided to string things out, to what else, line his pockets with money. Let's face it, this is the only series that Jordan has written that has sold very well. Since he makes a living on writing, it only makes sense that he keep writing this rubish as long as fools like me keep buying. Mr. Jordan has fallen in line with other successful series by Eddings, Feist, Anthony, and Brooks. Each started out with a trilogy and then kept expandiing...ie. trilogy #2, #3 and so on. As far as the current book is concerned, we had to wait until page 540 before the key firgure, Rand, even spoke any words. In prior books at least, Mr. Jordan would mundanely take us through 600 snoozing pages and build to a climax over the last 50 pages or so. This book takes the cake in that there was no climax, just filler. Finally, there's something to be said about character development. In this series however, we have character overload. There must be a couple of hundred characters that I defy anyone can keep straight in their head. If I could give this book a 0 I would.
Rating: Summary: Yet Another Excellent Volume in a Titanic Epic Review: I loved it! The plot and character set up were excellent yet again. A WOT novel is something to savor like a fine wine not gobble up like a burrito from Taco Bell. Those who read these must remember to use patience and to let your self savor the excellent story. Its hard to find a fantasy author thats willing to write to such high standards and I for one am eternally grateful that Mr. Jordan has.
Rating: Summary: Wheel of Time or Wheel of Fortune? Review: The first 5 books in this series were "must-reads" for any fan of literature, fantasy/science fiction or otherwise. I rate them slightly below The Hobbit/LOR, equal to The Foundation series and perhaps a bit better than the Shannara books. Six and seven were a drop off, but still highly enjoyable. There was still a reasonable standard of quality. Books eight, nine and ten are simply terrible. If not for the fame the first seven books garnered for this author, I am not sure they would have been published. This is a Frank Herbert "Cousin of the Hairdresser of Dune" type plunge motivated almost entirely by money. Why finish the series if the books are still selling? If not for copyright issues, the author probably would introduce "Conan the Barbarian" as the Lord Dragon's long lost cousin just to keep the series going. If I wanted to read soap operas, I would go to the romance novel section.
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