Rating: 
Summary: Give Him a Break
Review: Ok, ok, so I haven't really read the book. HOWEVER, I would like to express my dissapointment that fellow fans are putting Mr. Jordan down so much. He's taking his time, making the characters good, that kind of thing. Step back for a second and look at the big picture. He's started us off with some engrossing books, kept us captured. Now he's slowing down, doing major work on the series. Slow books recently only mean that he is building to one HUMONGOUS climax. Read all his books, and when you read the last book, all 900 pages of it or so, in a day, you'll be grateful for the in-depth story line. Delayed gratification here. You can't have everything now. If every book was as good as The Eye Of The World, there'd be nowhere to go. You can't have everything now. Hold back, and get something way better in the end. Have some faith.
Rating: 
Summary: one more great addition
Review: I just finished this book and I think that Robert Jordan is one of the best fantasy writers of this time. When I first started the first book I didn't think I would look foward to the rest but now I can't wait to see what happens next.
Rating: 
Summary: Enough With the Spanking Already!
Review: The flaws I hoped Jordan would improve on have gotten worse. I don't want to read the life history of every minor character who crosses the page! The heroines who kicked butt in previous novels are now being "put in their place", and is there a single character who hasn't been beaten within an inch of his or her life? The endless torture scenes are getting stale and depressing, as are the tiresome descriptions of power struggles between minor characters. No one is doing anything useful, we've learned nothing new about the world of WOT. For the first time it was a chore to finish a Robert Jordan book.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! This book Stunk!
Review: After book 7, I wrote a review telling everyone to lighten up, Book 7 was obviously being used to set up the ending of the story and Books 8 onward would be high paced epics like 1 through 6. Man was I wrong! Book 8 stunk, it went nowhere slowly. For those of you who haven't bought it yet, wait for the paperback or skip it completely.
Rating:
Summary: "Stab the reader in the back, again" would be a better title
Review: I am geting a little tired of shelling out $27+ for a book that contains relatively no action. This reminds me of a psychology book: pages of words with little to no meaning. Either Mr. Jordan has lost his way telling the story, or he has no idea of how to end it. I don't know how many readers going to continue paying $27+ for essentially garbage. Maybe the series should be retitled "Wheel of Pain" of "Waste of Time." Matt doesn't even appear in this book, but is talked about as having "important work to do." Get real, and get the story over. Borrow somebody's copy of this book, but DON'T buy it. Maybe lack of sales will be Mr. Jordan's motivation.
Rating: 
Summary: An incomplete book that was rushed into print after 2 years.
Review: Like many of the reviews I read, I was also very disappointed in Book 8. This book was written to wrap up the sloppy loose ends from Book 7 and to give a prelude to book 9, which promises to be quite exciting. There is no plot to book 8, except to prepare the reader for book 9. My theory is that after 2 years of pressure from his publisher, Mr. Jordan simply allowed an unfinished work to be published thus accounting for a meager 591 pages from a prolific writer who normally needs twice that space to complete a storyline.I was overwhelmed by the introduction of new minor characters and the continuation of information about uninteresting minor characters from previous books rather than a focus on the main characters. Unfortunately, Rand, our main character, continues to be an unlikeable dellusional psychopath. The women, once the backbone of the book with their strong characters and interesting personalities, have become braid tugging, skirt smoothing, snifling crybabies. Matt is only rarely mentioned by other characters and Perrin's storyline never really gets going until the last few pages of the book. The book cover leads the reader to believe that Perrin must "destroy his soul" to save Faile. Wait! Mr. Jordan forgot that he didn't finish the book so that part is not actually included in this book. I'm sorry my friends that will actually happen in book 9. My advice to Jordan fans is to hold off on buying The Path of Daggers until Book 9 is finally published. Then I would read them together as if they were one book. Finally, pick up Terry Goodkind's fantasy series. It is fun to read and every book has a conclusion. Wow, what a concept!
Rating:
Summary: The entire book was one HUGE cliff hanger.
Review: I say if you haven't started RJ's series don't start until he's finished, maybe another 6 years. When I read the cover of the book, I thought that the problems on that cover would be resolved. I could've only read the cover and known as much as I know now. That's so disappointing. What I don't understand is, if you're going to take 2 years to write a book then why give us a filler? I would rather have waited another two for the quality I'm used to from his books. They are addictive, but like a drug, after the first bad experience you wonder if you should continue.
Rating:
Summary: No action, only character interaction
Review: Total disappointment! 1. No review of the story so far (I am not a WOT fanatic, so don't remember the details of the plot, had to skim through COS before starting this one). 2. Too many characters with similar names and the reader expected to know everything about all of them. 3. Almost 80% of the text is devoted to what each of these characters says to or thinks about the others. 4. No direction to the plot. 5. No sense of anticipation (in my opinion an essential ingredient). 6. No conclusion or feeling of achievement. 7. In short, NOTHING HAPPENS! Sorry, Mr. Jordan, but you have let us down. After so long a wait, we deserve more. Sure I would have bought the book even had I read these reviews earlier, but that is a measure of our need to see a conclusion to this saga and not an endorsement of your own plans to milk it to the maximum.
Rating:
Summary: the wait continues...
Review: For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the next action packed installment of the Wheel of Time, keep on waiting. For those of you who have been awaiting the next book in a series that has captivated you with its intense characters, magical environment, and twisted plots, the wait is over. The Path of Daggers, though it is quite a change of pace from the "good vs evil" battles that have filled earlier books in the series, is none the less a splendid book. Granted, the many smaller conflicts in this book can seem a bit tedious when compared to the great battle to come, but they are part of what makes Jordan's world so real and his stories so great. And the character developments in the book are wonderful. Egwene begins to be a real Amyrlin, Elayne a real queen, and Rand a real maniac, as he turns captain Ahab in his fight against the Seanchan. And, of course, there are many little surprises along the way that hint at intriguing things to come in the next book... But for those who still yearn for action, realize that the series has moved on for a bit. And you had better move on with it -- it's a long way till Tarmon Gai'don.
Rating:
Summary: Can this series move any slower?
Review: Let me collect my thoughts and attempt to write something nice. Ok. I can't. I'm sorry, folks. This book is the epitome of how NOT to write epic fantasy. The first 6 books were wonderful. ACoS left me fearing the worst. I was prepared for this one unfortunately. By now there are plenty of cliches where there was once a living world: who believed that the characters were three-dimensional beings now knows that they have been reduced to one-dimensional, utterly predictable cardboard caricatures. What about the plot you ask? If you thought that ACoS went nowhere you'll be in for a treat in tPoD: nothing happens! NOTHING! Ok, you say, like fine wine, it develops slowly and deliberately. It's perhaps like the midgame in chess: the pieces are being moved to their correct position before an explosive endgame. But consider this: what really have we learned by the end of tPoD? The usual: women simper or pout or tug their braids or flash cleavage or cry or scream. Right, as I said, one-dimensional. The men? Rand is the most imposing figure in this book, and since he IS the central character this bodes well, right? Sorry....sure he's going mad, but he is reduced to another one-dimensional stick figure with actions that are totally predictable. Perhaps when the series will be complete, this utter disaster will fit well with the rest of the books. But as a stand-alone book that should further the story, this deserves negative stars.
|
