Rating: 
Summary: Can I say CRAP!
Review: This book was a total waste of time to reed or even look at. How could anyone give it a 10? The art had absolutely no basis on any discription and anyone with a IQ of greater than that of a peanut could have done a beter job on it. I have loved all of Jordan's other books and hope to see many more HIGH QUALITY titles in the future, but this one was a disgrace to the series...
Rating: 
Summary: Read through it first. Do not buy it first.
Review: This book is extremely disappointing, in a word. I'm a loyal (and somewhat obsessed) reader of the Wheel of Time series, and I pre-ordered this book as it looked really good. When I got it...well. While the information contained in the book is a good reference for someone as obsessed as myself, the artwork really, really brings the book down. The characters look like they have some kind of deformity (Loial with his head smashed in, Lan having some sort of nose problem) and it's in a style I, personally, do not like. To its credit, the book has some interesting information on the Age of Legends, etc, but please, read this at a local bookshop and see if you can get past the artwork. If you can, then go ahead and buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Are you taken by the Dragon?!
Review: I was honestly hoping for a source of information perhaps like that in Tolkien's The Silmarillian, and the accompanying encyclopedia. There was not art but a map of the old Earth, but it wasn't needed. Without spoiling the atmosphere, it perfectly added to the mythos of the Lord of the Rings. Instead I flipped it open to be horrified by the "portraits" within. Verin is ageless only due to the lack of detail, and Aviendha...? Reminds me of the lizard she spitted to show Rand. The sheer number of contradictions and typos is a quick turn-off, especially contradictory pieces within the book! Now that I've suitably bashed it, I ought to bring up the guide's good points. There is quite a bit of new information relating to Shara, Seanchan, the AoL, and the Forsaken. Overall, this book probably makes par... Par, however, won't win world championships any time soon.
Rating:
Summary: ttog@mucho.ca
Review: I read this book thoroughly, and it discusted me. I think the Robert Jordan series of the Wheel of Time is the best series I've ever read. This book, on the other hand is full of useless facts, bad artwork, and nearly set me off the entire series. I'd advise you not to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: WOT The Heck is This Crap?
Review: Just because Jordan is a popular author, and his other books are fairly well executed, that does not and most certainly should not mean that his fans will automatically give ANYTHING by him a favorable review. This books is a mess, both in theme and execution. The "narrator" claims to be a historian writing contemporaneously with the WOT storyline, and as such that is supposed to excuse the great, gaping holes in the information. Fine. But then the "narrator" tends to have great reams of information about the Age of Legends, which no contemporary historian in WOT has. You can't have it both ways. Either he's laboring under the limitations of a WOT historian in the 3rd Age or he is not. It's a technique that fails miserably. The information that the "narrator" gives about the current world is so shallow and silly as to be nonexistent. More to the point, it's painfully obvious that Ms. Patterson was only drawing on what she read in the novels as her source, without any real access to Jordan's fabled "notes." I mean, whatever happened to "The Strike at Shayul Ghul"? That short story was advertised on Tor's webpage as an element of this book. It's NOT HERE!!! Why not? The book is so simply awful that words cannot suffice. The book demeans this epic series, oversimplifies everything, and chalks up all the amazing complex political systems and intracies that Jordan set up in the novel to Ishaemal and exiled Aes Sedai. And some of the information about the Age of Legends is just STUPID. Like the forces of the Light being turned to the Shadow everytime they were sent in Shadow controlled territory. Why would they keep doing that, if it was so friggin' obvious!! What that tells you is that Patterson came across that section and in the novels and blew it up in a full explanation in the Guide, despite the fact that it was never mentioned again. If the book was full of rich and insightful details, then I might excuse the errors and typos. But it's not, so I can't. People call the bits of information about Seanchan and Shara "insightful." It's all rehashed from the novels, and in the case of the Seanchan, the only bits of new information are about the Ogier and the Seanchan Throne. I am skeptical that that will ever appear in the novels. This book was maddeningly superficial. It was expensive, allegedly because of the fine quality paper used. For crying out loud people, easily forty percent of each page is all white space! Blank. Without text or illustration. This book could have been easily condensed to lower the cost. Nope. Half fill the pages, double the size of the book, Double the size of the book, inflate the selling price. Lastly, we turn to the illustrations. It amuses yet perversely saddens me to see people explain away the misrerable art in here as "period illustrations." Stop that. It's asenine. They hired a bad artist. That's all. They were not trying to carefully mimic the artistic styles in "Randland." They hired a bad artist, he gave them wretched work, they placed it this horrendous book, and dropped the word "Illustrated" from the title because they couldn't call it that without laughing. It's amazing how awful and incorrect these pictures are, considering how much detail Jordan bestows upon his creations. My personal favorite example of this is the illustration of the White Tower, and the text description of the same, both of which are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the descriptions given in the novels. Everything about this book is awful.
Rating: 
Summary: Just over look the artwork!!! and read the book!!!
Review: I agree!, I didn't care for the artwork that much, but I still have to say that it's worth reading... It gave you alot of info you didn't know before... If you don't want to spend the money for it, then do what I did and get your library to get the book for you.. Then you can read it for what it is, and not worry about having spend money on something that wasn't what it should have been... It's a good book, but just think how much more money they could of made if they have just done it right! They should of just waited till the series was done and then make this book. They still can do it, and do it right. With true to life artwork of the characters we all love!!! I know I would buy it if they did it right!!!
Rating:
Summary: use your own mind
Review: Part of the beauty of Robert Jordan's work is the vivid characterizations and the consistancy of the facts he has created in his broad and complex world. I am sorry that I even looked at this book because it put images into my head that contradict things in the books, books that I hold in reverance. I can only tell people to not buy this book and use your own head. Jordan provides wonderful descriptions of every aspect of his world and a book like this only trivializes that fact. It spoils much of the intrigue- I love finding things out as the series progresses. I love figuring things out as I read and Jordan is so wonderful at allowing you to do that. Additional information is wonderful as long as it is consistant with the book. But ascertaining that information from the books is so much better than what one is handed in this book. Plus, the pictures that are created in the readers' head by Jordans descriptions in the novels are infinitly better than any illustration could ever be. I love Jordans' consistancy and attention to detail in all descriptions and characterizations; this book negates that. I wish I had not seen it. But, in fairness to Jordan, I am thankful for the wonderful world he has created and he can take as long as he wants to write the books as long as they stay at the same quality level. I hope he writes many, many more novels. I will just try to forget about this trivial sideshow and concentrate on the novels, which are true masterpieces. They are all you need and I am thankful for that.
Rating:
Summary: Should have been two ratings....
Review: The 7 I gave this book should have been higher but for the lack of anything resembling art work..os well. The actual information in the book was very good, and informative. I liked the insight into the Seanchan, and Sharra. The book read like a history text book, which, I assume, is what it was supposed to be. It wasn't quite worth the price tag, and it should be rated in two catagories, one for actual content and one for art. I don't know why Mr. Jordan approved the art work, it was horendous, but all in all the book is a useful resource.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting book to pass the time until book 8.
Review: While I agree that this book is NOT up to RJ's usual high standards, I found myself unable to put it down. It read like a history book, and I guess that's what it really was supposed to be. As for the art. Well, it's fairly rough. However, I interpreted the pieces as being "period pieces." (Folk art?) If taken from that angle, they are not that bad. If one imagines the author hastily scriblling the pictures to illuminate the text, they are enjoyable. Of course, I've never been that critical of Mr. Sweet either. Overall, I'd say that the book is ESSENTIAL for the avid WoT fan. If you are not sure about your dedication to this epic series, then stay away. If you are a true fan, you'll enjoy it despite its short-comings.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a Travesty
Review: I have rarely seen such a wonderful idea go so wrong. The fact that a guidebook to the WoT world was needed was undeniable. But usually when an author is still alive it is possible to put together a book that actually contains more information in it than the books it is ment to describe. What we got, is something like the many weaker Tolkien world guides which just repeat what was in the books. The WoT guide lacked any analysis, a decent picture, or even a well designed structure. The book looks like it was the work of one morning. The only things that interested me was the older maps, and some of this history. If you are thinking about this book, DONT. Hop online and read the newsgroups, you'll get a deeper analaysis, and even better pictures!
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