Rating: 
Summary: I've never read this book, but if I did....
Review: As stated, I've never read this book, but based on the negative reviews I've seen here, I'm sure that I would be ripping tufts of hair out of my scalp in frustration & boredom if I so much as read the 1st page. So, in closing, this book has got to be one of the worst I've never read!
Rating: 
Summary: Jordan still does a great job
Review: I have read many of the others reviews on Robert Jordan's "The Path of Daggers", and I find myself agreeing in some ways, and disagreeing in others. I agree that the 8th installment in the WoT series is a little slow in some places, and by the end of it, it seems that you haven't gotten very far in the overall plot of the series. However, I have hopes that Jordan did this on purpose, using this book to set up a chain of events that will start in book 9. What remains though, is that Jordan is an excellent writer, and in reading his WoT series, the reader is picked up and transported smack dab in the middle of the fantasy realm he has created for us. His WoT series, slow or not, will always be my favorite, and the one I recommend to everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Is there no end?
Review: Robert Jordan has had an effect on the fantasy genre in literature, although whether it is for better or worse is a matter of opinion. He hasn't change anything fundamentally in the way fantasy books are constructed, but instead made the ideas bigger, in about every way imaginable. Fantasy was too simple before? Well, now you get more detailed races, more characters, and more political intrigue! Everything is also described in painstaking detail, which might not be your cup of tea if you don't like reading long, long books.But apparently, a lot of people love this much detail, because his books are selling like crazy now. The last few have approached, and sometimes reached, the top of the Publisher's Weekly bestseller charts. And a lot of that success is well-earned. The Wheel of Time isn't classic literature, but the story is quite complex and compelling for the most part. However, after the first 5 books in the series, the charm began to slowly wear off. Ever since, the storyline has been slowing down considerably, with things presumably being set up for something big to happen, although by now it has taken 3 books (at least) to get to this "something big", unless things get dragged out even more. Now don't get me wrong, I still find the books pretty compelling. It's just the detail that was so fascinating at the start is becoming a little annoying as more characters and stories are introduced, without old characters being removed and old stories being wrapped up. When the plot for one of the original main characters can't even make it into a 600 page book, then it is time for the author to consider improving the story's pacing. It didn't seem like there was 600 pages of plot advancement, either. There's certainly a lot of effort here by Jordan, but I don't think he's putting it all into the right places. Until then, the series isn't living up to its potential. 6/10
Rating: 
Summary: Adding to the cacaphony
Review: Alright... I have skimmed a bunch of the reviews and can see many of the points. My biggest problem with the book was that he departed a bit from his style. In previous books he kept us moving from moment to moment, character to character. It kept you interested and thinking of how each characters actions and experiences influenced the others. The problem I find in this book is that he concentrates soley and heavily in the first part of the book on the bowl of winds bit. I'm not saying that is bad. But I would be willing to wager if he broke that first section in one or two pieces and went back and forth as he has done in previous titles many people would have found it less ponderous. I found myself wanting to skip pages just to get out of the section. The circle of friends I move in is heavily fantasy oriented and most say the same thing. If you can get through the first half of the book it's not that bad. On the whole I have enjoyed the WoT books but I think Path stumbles not in substance but in execution. I still recommend it. I don't think it is the strongest book in the chain, but it is still a chain worth persuing.
Rating:
Summary: Not so fast
Review: So many readers, so little patience. As an avid reader of WoT, I have to disagree with those of you out there who demand a veritable circus of characters. Does that really make it interesting? The characters in WoT are colorful. They are more so than many other books I've read. I can picture these people from WoT in my life and in my mind. Yes, he describes them in many the same ways but in truth, many people are the same when seen from the exterior only. As far as the plot getting ponderous and long, well, that's because it reflects the lives and viewpoints of the characters. When they started out as naive villagers, the book was simple and exciting because that's how the world outside their village was for them: exciting from a villager's viewpoint. Now, with their lives forever mired in decision, responsibility and the immense burden of truth, the plots become that way too: intricate and burdened. Action? You wanted action? Asides from all out armageddon, there was plenty of action. Keep in mind that they can't simply shirk their roles in the world and go off adventuring. They (the main characters) are, as another reader already pointed out, policitians and leaders. The style of the book evolved along with the characters. Now if that's not good writing, what is?
Rating: 
Summary: No way to tell
Review: Will you like this book? This series? It depends entirely upon what kind of person you are. As you've noticed: review 1: 1 star... review 2: 5 star... review 3: 1 star....And so on. So how do you know if you'll like this book? Really, there is no true way to tell before hand. Start the series. if by book 5 your not istrested anymore, stop. I'm on book 9 and i've LOVED the books. 5 stars for all on them. You may think diffrently, there is no way to tell, well, no way in a review. But keep in mind that bestsellers are bestsellers because people like them. 1 star reviewers should have quit by book 5 if they were really so bord.
Rating:
Summary: Some people just don't like this kind of story..
Review: From book one, WoT has been incredible. As stated in another reveiw, some people just want to see battles and blood and Tarmon Gai'don (SP). Even though PoD was signifigantly shorter and took longer than usual to come out (The first four books of WoT came out almost a year within each other and it may be safe to say that Shadow Rising was almost twice as long as PoD), it was still a great read. Jordan's writing has consistantly been excellent while some peoople just ignore that. If you don't like the series, then don't read it.
Rating:
Summary: Wow... those poor trees that had to die for this
Review: I have given up reading this series. I have been encouraged by many of the intelligent reviews written about this series. But to those who are still fans of Mr. Jordan, the art of writing also has an aspect called knowing when to finish a tale. And this series should have ended at about Book 6 at the most. "Oh, it's just a transition book, wait til Book 9". No no... We've been waiting since Book 5 and NOTHING has happened. I have to agree with the HILARIOUS review written by one person who said that Mr. Jordan is most definitely dead. He probably died around Book 5, but since this series was bringing in such money, the publishers brought in other authors to write the series, never actually planning on finishing it. This is the only argument that makes sense. No one can write such bad books; it's a sin against all the trees that it has killed in its 5000 pages. Read George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. Now there's a book.
Rating:
Summary: where is all the action?
Review: I think that of all his books this one is most frustrating to me because there is no conclusion to the events that he built up in the 672 page book. This series has been great at hooking me in and I have found it hard to put the book down at certian points. When I finaly finished the book I was so dissapointed that I threw the book down. You should not be allowed to end a book without concluding at least some of what has been going on throught the whole series!
Rating:
Summary: Guys, I think he's doing it for a living now...
Review: Beware the lollipop of mediocrity...lick it once, and you'll suck forever, or so they say. Well, Jordan hadn't started at all well; Tolkien readers must have laughed -then wept- whilst drawing analogies between the Eye of the World and the Lord of the Rings. As the volumes just rained down from the sky after that, some would, on occasion, wonder if perhaps this Jordan character is coming up with a serious series after all; I was willing to forgive Eye of the World by the time I had finished v.3 , the Dragon Reborn. I could see how the central plots had sprouted minute subplots that twisted and coiled around them in a most satisfactory way; I could see Rand al' Thor becoming something of a tragic hero; I could begin to hope The Wheel of Time My only regret at the time was that Jordan would make his books sort of like a cigar, with the real juicy bits reserved for the end... But I would still forgive the man. Then Jordan started to lick on the old lollipop for all he was worth. You see, by the time I was done reading the Path of Daggers the only real questions were 1. when are Rand and Elayne finally going to do it? 2. what new magic trick are Rand or the Asha'man or the Aes Sedai going to come up with next? 3. who's the next super-powerful villain waiting to be butchered by the Dragon Reborn? 4. when oh when is Jordan going to portrait a woman who CANNOT turn your knees into jelly, just for a change? Anyway, the thing is, Jordan has not only run out of ideas as far as character traits and emotional situations are concerned, which forces him to mass-produce identical people and scenes, he even describes them the VERY SAME WAY, too! Plus, after 7 volumes of trying the cheesy trick of having Rand hunt somebody down and kill them in the last 10 pages, Jordan has now decided not to have EVEN that... And to think he could have at least fleshed out the main characters... But no, you can still describe everybody in the series using two to three adjectives. Only the Forsaken could have ginen the Dramatis Personae list a breath of fresh air, and Jordan has not even bothered with them; they're either bowing and scraping to some emissary of the Dark One or other, or having other Darkfriends (hadrly a menacing term, that) do the same for them. Pity. Where is the devious scheming? Where is the knowledge of the Age of Legends? Or the supra-genial minds you would have expected? Pity, really... In conclusion, I do not regret bying this book and will buy the next one too. But that is only because Jordan managed to get me addicted in the beginning. That's how he got most people to keep reading him, I realised the other day. And because he knows he has done so, and his editors know it too, he keeps up with the mediocrity and expects to get away with it. Don't be weak like I was; try somebody else who writes well and needs the money... P.S. that cover art must go, too. Why doesn't Tor give Michael Whelan a call? I'd buy v. 10 just to see the illustration!
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