Rating: 
Summary: Please make it stop!!!!!
Review: I feel at liberty to rip on this book because I loved the first three books as much as anyone, but this is getting ridiculous. All the women have become the same annoying, bickering, snooty idiots. Rand is nothing but a moody, unpleasant person. Where's Matt? Perrin, like everyone else, is doing nothing in meaningless, wordy splendor. All the women continue to cross their arms under their breasts, sniff, look down thier noses, and pull on their braids. Hey Robert, how about having them do something interesting, like in the first books of this series? It started out so great. Now it is a sad, pitiful, bloated, aimlessly wandering monstrosity. Mr. Jordan has clearly lost his edge. I am greatly saddened that I just don't care what happens to these people any more. Probably because nothing has happend for a long, long time. I have great respect for TOR. I am greatly suprised that they published this sorry excuse for a book.
Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK
Review: A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. For the WoT series we've got an 8 book begining, no middle and no end in sight. This book has 600 pages of character development. It has no plot and does nothing to advance the over all storyline. A storyline which has become so bloated that I'm not sure Jordan will ever be able to resolve all of the plots and sub-plots. If you're hooked, wait until it's out in paperback, or better yet wait until it's in the library. If you haven't started the series, DON'T. Personaly I don't intend to buy another WoT book until Jordan finishes the series, assuming that ever happens. For now I give PoD and the WoT series zero stars.
Rating: 
Summary: why does everyone hate this book?
Review: I for one actually enjoyed this book. Sure, it was one of Jordans' shorter works (it is NOT 1,000 pages!)but it did cut to the chase. What does everyone want, to see the Seanchan be beaten in 50 pages? THAT would have been a let down. But Rand did take them on and did win a decisive battle at Ebou Dar against them-which was one of the really good parts of this book. Some of the Asha'man also went mad and tried to kill Rand. Egwene solidified herself as Amyrilin, and gave the Sitters a lesson in Aiel respect. She also declared war on Eladia and her supporters in the White Tower. Perrin found Morgase, allied Rand with Ghealdan, and confronted Masema. Faile and Berelain got kidnapped by Sevanna and made into Gai'shain. Elayne, Nynaeve, and Aviendha, along with Atha'an Miere and the Kin, used the Bowl of Winds, and Elyane made it to Camelyn and declared herself heir to the Lion Throne. I'd say that is alot of things going on in the novel, not just alot of people talking and whining (well the Aes Sedai, Windfinders, and Kin do enough of that) While Mat had nothing to do with this book, and the parts of Elayne and the group traveling to Camelyn was annoying, it didn't drag down the novel, as it was spaced between the other plots. Moridin is interesting, because there had to have been other users of the One Power from the AoL that made it out of that time besides the Forsaken. For the next novel or two, Rand will be consolidating his holdings in Randland, and possibly taking out the Seanchan from Ebou Dar, maybe Amadica. The Borderlanders most likely will side with Rand, or fight the Blight alone. Elayne will formally be ascended to the Lion Throne, and she will build her support for the Throne and Andor (maybe by making Rand her Warder?). Egwene will start the seige against Eladia, where Eladia will most likely bungle the whole thing and get most of her supporters killed because of their superiority complex. Mat will be stuck with the Seanchan, and will find the Daughter of the Nine Moons, who'll then ally with Rand. Perrin will beat the heck out of Masema and Sevanna. A Path of Daggers is not a bad book, but isn't Jordan's best either. I'd rather have a book like this set up a major, dense book, rather than a book where everything speeds by and glosses over the plot. So read this book, enjoy it even though it isn't Jordan's best, and don't expect A Path of Daggers to be the most dramatic novel before Tarmon Gai'don.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of words about nothing.
Review: If Robert Jordan continues with this seemingly endless parade of books, he will find himself in danger of losing even the most diehard of fans. The Path Of Daggers was nearly 600 pages in length. The amount of plot development and action that was actually in the book could have been written in a third of the books length. After years of waiting for the eighth volume in the series, this fan was very disappointed. The Path Of Daggers took readers almost no further in the storyline. Sub-plots that were developed in the first five books remain un-resolved. Character development is at a standstill. Overall progress in the storyline has reached a standstill in the last three books. Is it possible that Robert Jordan is simply 'milking the cash cow'? I would hope not. However it is starting to seem that way. Originally the WOT was supposed to be contained in seven volumes. Now at volume eight with possibly four more books to go at this rate. I for one am not willing to wait for this parade of books to reach the end. There are many other well written series on the bookshelf. I would recommend to other readers to try one of these other series. It would be better than waiting for years to read another book that takes you no further in the WOT storyline.
Rating:
Summary: God, Please let it end.
Review: Do not buy this book. If you have to because like me you got hooked on the previous books, wait for the soft cover. Send the difference in price to your favorite charity. I bet you'll feel that your money was better spent.
Rating: 
Summary: Path of Daggers Disappoints
Review: While I love this series, I did not like this book. Jordan spent too much time describing how foolish and childish Nynaeve has become with her constant pouting & worrying over Lan -- 50 pages of this would've been more than sufficient rather than the 500 to which Jordan subjects the reader.I agree with many of the other reviews that Vol 8 fails to advance the series. The ending lacked any drama -- Egwene's troop should've strung her up by her heels if she'd decided to trek across the face of the planet rather than to Travel to Tar Valon. Instead, everyone thought her decision to Travel some suprising stroke of genius. Let's see, drag an army across 1000 miles of snow & ice or get there in an instant, REAL tough choice. I can't believe I waited 2 yrs & paid the hardcover premium for this book. While I'll read #9 (if it ever comes out), I will not buy the hardcover.
Rating: 
Summary: RJ is tired of this series and so am I.
Review: When I finished waiting for and reading WOT 7 I began to harbor the feeling that RJ might be getting tired of writing this series. Now after waiting for over 18 months for WOT 8 and finding it the least satisfying of all the books my inital feelings are confirmed. RJ is taking longer and longer to complete a volume and there is less and less in it. I believe he is not as dedicated to finishing this series as he once was. Taking into consideration the trend set over the past years I figure WOT 9 should hit the presses sometime around Fall 2002, with larger type, fewer pages and less interest on the part of everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Blah, Blah, Blah....
Review: Mr. Jordan has succeeded in thouroughly frustrating me. The first three books in this series were fantastic. Numbers four and five were still quite good. Six was disappointing. His latest, like his seventh, is rubbish. It takes him 150 pages to explain what they do with the bowl of winds. Another hundred to say that Morgaise joins Perrin...you get the idea. Words, words, words... Nothing happens in this book. 600 hardback pages and nothing happens. For this we waited 2 years? I feel like Jordan is playing me for a sucker. He knows I am hooked and so just keeps prolonging this story in order to get as much money out of me as possible. He could have written this book in 100 pages, although that may be generous. What a rip off and a waste of my time. Jordan, be a real man and write a decent conclusion and get it over with already. Your (former) fans deserve much better. I will not pay another cent for this garbage. If I must finish the series (and I hate to admit I probably will), I'll wait for it to come to my local library.
Rating:
Summary: And the grand scam continues....Who else will pay the price?
Review: Like approximately 300 reviewers on this page, I have not read this book. Unlike those readers, I do not plan to read it. Ever. I refuse to be gypped into buying a book with more content on the jacket cover than it has inside--for such was the case with 'A Crown of Swords', and judging from the reviews, 'A Path of Daggers' was even worse. The people who are certain that all this is a huge buildup for a fantastic book nine should take a moment to scan the reviews of ACOS. Nearly everyone on that page who still had some hope for the series was convinced that it was only a buildup, and book eight would be the BIG one. Reread the fond predictions--that Mat would marry, that a showdown with the White vs. Black Tower was at hand, that a storm was in store for Rand and his followers--and ask yourselves how far the series has gone to fulfill your expectations. Face the fact that for whatever reason, Robert Jordan has ceased to take his work seriously, and now churns out fluff because he knows it will sell. Anyone who can think otherwise at this point is either naive or lives somewhere in Randland. I can sympathize with both--at one time I was in both situations--but enough is enough. We don`t fork over our hard-earned money so that Robert Jordan can expand his swimming pool. Tor has undermined the intelligence of thousands, maybe millions of fans by expecting us to blindly buy anything with a WOT sticker on it. Don`t fall for it. A drop in sales might convince them that quality takes precedence over quantity, that we don`t want Tarmon Gai`don in book 26, but in book 10, after a solid chunk of well-told storylines and well-developed characters--the basic landmarks of the first five books of the Wheel of Time. No more sitcoms, no more dumb one-liners and sexist drivel. No more pain from watching a once magical writer sell his innermost soul piece by piece for a few extra dollars. Otherwise, not only will he lose readers now, but ten, fifty years from now no one will even bother with the WOT--it`ll be in the second-hand bookstores along with John Grisham and Danielle Steel. While the less popular 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' trilogy by Tad Williams will go on to become a classic, the cult following of Jordan`s series will dwindle and fade. That is because the former contains an element missing from the latter, basic yet all too rare: artistic integrity. I admit it took awhile, Robert Jordan, but most of us finally woke up. See to it that you do too--before it`s too late to save what`s left of the original Pattern. (If anyone wants to comment or criticize, go ahead and e-mail me, but don`t bother with hate mail--believe me, I`ve seen it before.)
Rating:
Summary: sad portents or just a stumble?
Review: I used to think there were two diseases suffered by otherwise good story-tellers. The first I call the Piers Anthony disease. That's when a writer loses interest in his story and just cranks out tired prose and lame conclusions to fulfil his contract. Then there's the Robert Parker disease. That's when the characters you like become caricatures of themselves and lose the ability to inform, surprise or even interest you. Now we may have the Robert Jordan disease. At first glance it might just seem to be a combination of the other two, but there's something worse, I fear. It's hard to pin down what's wrong, but there are at least two components. First, we're being excluded from the development of a solution to Rand's problem. The world is coming to an end and Rand is going to die trying to save it - unless he figures a way out. We occasionally get an obscure hint, but mainly we're just pulled along in a story about a bunch of blundering fools. Assuming Jordan actually has an ending planned, I think he should involve us more in seeing it evolve. Which leads to the second problem. Simply put, this series is starting to suffer from abusive, neurotic, adolescent stagnation. Is anyone going to grow up? Will any of the men actually talk with any of the women (and vice versa) about anything important? Is anyone going to think of a way to handle their interpersonal relations that doesn't involve boxing somebody's ears, burning someone's hide, or sadistic and even brutal methods of teaching? I find it terribly disappointing that the people I've come to like are reliably turning into tyrants as soon as they get any power. Personally, I'm finding less and less to respect or like about the major characters. If Jordan doesn't start sharing more and the characters don't start displaying some adult behaviors, this story is going to get increasingly unpleasant. A few books back, I was worried about how long Jordan would take to finish and whether the finish would meet the high expectations he had created. Now I'm more worried whether he'll degrade his once-fine story to the point where I won't care.
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