Rating: Summary: Reprise Review: I already gave a review but I wanted to add these last few points that I forgot to mention. I purchased the hardback version of book 8 "The Path of Daggers". I will not do so for the next "several?" books. With so many other soft cover fantasy and sci-fi books of very high quality around I find it difficult, no impossible, to purchase a hardback version of a book in a series of books that has become so ho-hum. In fact, I may not even purchase another until the final book is published.
Rating: Summary: Book 9 has become a series of short stories within a novel Review: After reading the current reviews I tend to agree with many of the people who have given a low rating to this book and, in fact, the last 1 or 2 books. I find myself wondering if Mr. Jordan has a clear picture of what he sees the end to look like.(?) In this book he has 'unhappily' succeeded in separating out the main characters to the point that each story is like a stand alone story that he cannot complete because of his book size constraints. As a result, no story is completed and we as readers find ourselves wondering from one unfinished chapter to the next. It's no wonder this volume went nowhere. None of his "short stories" in this novel resulted in any kind of finality nor is there any path to unification of the characters, which of course is necessary if the series is to complete. They seem more apart and separated physically (although we all know they are only a gateway away) and spritutally, since they cannot seem to connect in this novel, than in any other that we have read. Although Mr. Jordan left us with some intriquing possibilities for his next book, I fear that it too will suffer from the same disease this one does - no focus. While some may argue that this is like life, full of impossibilites and improbabilites that seem to come true, Mr. Jordan needs to put focus on what it is our Hero's and Heroin's must do in order to complete an ending, to the series seemingly without end. In short, I found this book to resemble "Waldens Pond", full of descriptions of activities that go on for pages and pages, but nowhere, and with litle or no value added to the overall story line. Mr. Jordan needs to focus on unifying his characters and completing his series. At this point, most of us are more interested in how it will end not on how his characters are dressed. After all, this is what he is setting us up for. What has his sizable imagination concocted for us and more importantly, will it rival his first 3 books? I can only hope.
Rating: Summary: This can't be the same series I started reading in 1990 Review: I could put up with Jordan writing one very bad book (A Crown of Swords) since it could possibly be an exception to the rule. However, the degradation of this series (starting back in Book 6) is now rearing its ugly head. No plot movement, endless and useless descriptions (especially about clothes), weak characters (more like archtype than indicvidual characters). It is strange that since Jordan has taken more time to work on his books, they've gone down in terms of length and quality. Well, I have no choice but to move Jordan off my "By Hardocver on Sight" list until (if ever) he returns the series to what it used to be. Here's hoping George R.R. Martin doesn't follow the same pattern.
Rating: Summary: A great read - made me hungry for more Review: I cannot believe all the people who thought this book was slow, plodding or uninteresting. This book kept my interest so much I read it in one sitting on my day off. No one has mentioned the discovery that the sword of Callandor will only work if Rand is joined with two women (presumably Aes Sedai). Although I began to think that he needed to have help after the wildness he experienced when he used it. I loved all the plot twists and turns that took place with all the women. I especially enjoy the newer characters we get to know better, such as Cadsuane, the Kin and the Athan' Miere. Even though women do brutalize women in this book it never takes away from the plot or character development. In fact, it drives home the fact that the Forsaken and Seanchan are bad news. I bought this for my brother and we continue to spend hours discussing the characters and guessing what might happen next. Great job Mr. Jordan!
Rating: Summary: doesn't go anywhere Review: This book just doesn't advance the stor
Rating: Summary: This book didn't really end, it just sort of stopped... Review: Mr Jordan's eighth book left me with the odd feeling that I was closer to the end of the story in the third book than I am now in the 8th. In 591 pages there was hundreds of subtle events you probably won't remember by the time volume nine is printed, and only a couple major events that you will remember this book for. It did not really have an ending - it just sort of stopped - as though the editor just said, "enough for now" and printed it. Volume 7 was similar in this regard, and so the series has almost become "soap opera-ish" You would miss some important events if you skipped this release and waited for volume nine, but it's hard to say how much difference it would make to you in the end. It's the time between this book (volume 8) and volume 7 that is the biggest issue. This may well have been the best writing Mr. Jordans' done to date, but that is totally lost because the plot is far too complicated and there are way too many characters to leave the readers hanging for so long (two + years?) without an update. Who can remember all this after being left wanting for so long? I found myself struggling to remember what the major characters were doing at the end of volume 7. I never did recall the details of ALL the characters; where they came from, what they'd done or when they entered the story. I spent some time wondering who I was reading about. Is it worth reading? I certainly recommend it for anyone who has already come this far. I know the climax of this series is going to be worth the wait and I recommend sticking with it. (I just hope I'm still alive to read it.) For those who haven't started the series yet, I'd recommend waiting for the final book before starting. I think the flow will work much better, from book to book, if you don't have to wait a year or two between releases.
Rating: Summary: An OK book. Review: I found "A Path Of Daggers" to be tedious, and not worthy of being published. If the quality of book 1 was like this, there would not have been this terrible fervor over Robert Jordan's books. The only reason I finished this book is that books one through six were very good, and book seven was fair. Also I would like to see the story to the end. But if Robert Jordan keeps writing the way he has, it will take another 28 books to finish the story.
Rating: Summary: A masterpiece within a masterpiece! Review: And when I say masterpiece I mean MASTERPIECE! Sure it didnt tie up al the loose threads but that would be impossible. Its plot developements were startling. Its writing fresh and new(unlike hundreds of other author). And no matter what anyone will say NOT! ripping off of Tolkien. Yes there are similaritys but every author since Tolkien resembles Tolkien(and at least Jordan doesnt passages word for word like hundreds of other authors). I could compare him to Tolkien, to Shakespeare, to White, to Asimov, to Heinlien, to millions of others to no avail because hes BETTER! Anyways returning to PoD anyone who is considering buying it but isnt because of the hard cover price buy it. If you only have thirty dollars left and your about to go bankrupt buy it. As I said before I loved it. To close it up I salute Jordan as the greatest author the world has or will ever see.
Rating: Summary: Don't waste your time on this book Review: I have read all of the previous seven books in this series, and found them very pleasant reading, except for the previous book, book seven, which suffers similar faults as this one. In Path of Daggers, nothing happens. No enemies are disposed of, no major battles are faught, nothing even interesting happens. All the characters just mill around repositioning themselves geographically and making you feel like something momentous is about to happem - but it never does. It reads like the first half of a novel, but it's too tedious even for that. If things proceed like this in future books in the series, there could be hundreds of volumes before anything happens! No matter what the next book is like, you can skip this one and never notice it at all. And you could spend your time better reading something more interesting, like your car insurance policy.
Rating: Summary: Great Book, but too short Review: I thought this book was very good and am anxiously waiting for the mext book. This book contained lots of plot development, though little character development and seems to be setting up for a major climax in the ninth book. Everything I've been waiting the last few books for seems about to break in this book, but doesn't. I think maybe I was too hopeful for this book to resolve the questions I've been waiting to see answered, but the end of this book provides hope that the next book will answer at least some of these questions. Aside from the fact that it ended without some of the expected stuff happening, some unexpected stuff did happen and that is why I give this book four stars, that and that this is the WOT.
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