Home :: Books :: Science Fiction & Fantasy  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
The Path of Daggers (The Wheel of Time, Book 8)

The Path of Daggers (The Wheel of Time, Book 8)

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 .. 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 .. 167 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Very, Very, disappointing!!!
Review: I have waited intirely too long for this book and the series to come to some type of conclusion to have found this book to be written in such a slovenly manner. One thing that has kept me a fan all these years is that the books kept getting better and better. But, not this time...this time it was horrible. I am sorry but Horrible is the BEST thing I can say at this time. I waited a year and half to two years for this! I can only hope that this is a tease for his next novel that is due out sometimes soon...like next week. If the next book is not on the shelf in next month or so then I am through with ROBERT JORDAN. I usually dont mind waiting on his books...however, I can no longer wait with anticipation just to find this sorry excuse for a book. It is too obvious that Robert Jordan did not put any effort or time into this novel and wrote it at the last minute only to meet his deadline. Mr. Jordan, If you are bored and tired with this series then please, for all our sakes finish it. I do wish this series would go on forever, however to wait for one book every two years from him is ridiculous. When you see authors such as Stephen King coming out with a new book every other day or so then you can't help but to question what Robert Jordan does between novels. However, Not even I can compare Robert Jordan's superior books to Stephen King's horrible...sorry Horror novels. PLEASE PLEASE, Mr. Jordan do not disappoint us again. And lastly, I can not believe that a professional book publisher such as TOR books would sign their name to this book.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Loosing Interest fast - Please save me
Review: Dear Mr. Jordan, you are losing me fast. I have gone from your most advocate reader to a person that will passingly consider your next volume of STUFF. Whatever happened to the fast-paced nail bitting story built and told during the first three volumes and the now ridiculos pages and pages of banter and chatter amoung the characters ? If you are bored, then please knock out the SET, complete the story within two volumes, finish them over the next 18 months, and then we can all get on with our lives.

You might consider a project that interests you after you complete the one that seems to so disinterest you now!!! Please don't lose me... My heart beckons to return to the EARLY WOT!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: it's okay Robert...im still hooked
Review: I hammered through Crown of Swords in no time at all because i was eagerly reading for the action. We all know the documented problems that Jordan has with his meandering story lines but this book just didn't help. Jordan still has an uncanny knack for making the mudane fun to read...but a few more of these types of abbreviated books thin in action and even his skills will be put to the test. Still...all that having been said...the old son of a gun still has me wrapped around his finger...like a serpant biting its own tail...just bring the next one out soon sir...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: End it
Review: Not worth the paper. Don't read it.

First I would like to apologize for my englsih which is not my native language.

I love WOT. I have read last year the first 7 books in less than a month. Already Book seven showed a slow down in the plot and interest. I thought I did not like it because I rode them too quickly, but this book shows that Jordan has lost is magic touch.

You could say he is himself lost in the story. Too many plots, vilains, goods. In this book he forgot some of them who could be dead as far as this book is concerned. Where are Fain, Matt, Demandred ???

There are still I don't know how many vilains around. More seriously, the main plot has been totally forgotten. What did Rand do ? Push away with few soldiers the mighty army of the Seanchan : too easy. Where is the challenge, where are the forsaken ? Finally he end the bowl of wind part, but the rest.

One think which is also very disapointing is plot of the White tower. Are there left in the tower only the stupidest sisters ? Where are the women who manipulate the world. The rebels rediscover travelling, dreamwalking, knows what happens before it happens, the white tower month later if not the wrong information ...

Another deception is Elayne character. She is supposed to be clever and to support Rand even if she wants the throne of Andor without his help (by the way she would have been happy to chase away the forsaken without his help). But burning his flag to show to all the world that he does not retaliate, how can it help him. It can only weaken him. Is this the act of a clever woman ? May be Jordan will explain the usefullness of the burning in his next book but I am one of those who is done with it unless....

I am done with WOT unless Jordan ends the story in the next book. He only keeps with it because we buy the books. May be he should start a new story.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A slight improvement
Review: After spending two books in neutral and reverse, the plot finally lurches into first gear in this book. Most notably, the irrelevant tedium of the quest for the Bowl of Winds is finally wrapped up. (When was the last time a plotline was actually resolved?) And the two Aes Sedai factions are so close to their final confrontation that not even Jordan could write another book without finishing that off as well. That's not a lot, granted, but it's still better than the previous two volumes.

The main weaknesses of the previous volumes remain, however. Jordan still seems to feel compelled to have every single event, no matter how insignificant, occur on-stage. So we are "treated" to many more long scenes showing various bad guys (and gals) plotting against Rand and the other heroes. Of course, to maintain suspense, Jordan rarely reveals any details of the evil-doers plots, so we have dozens if not hundreds of pages whose sole message is that many people want to do bad things to the main characters. (Anyone remember a few books ago when we had at least a hundred pages of internal plotting by the Whitecloaks? Did that have a point?)

While improved from the last couple of volumes, Jordan's writing is still overly verbose and workmanlike at best. And, while there's less of it, there's still too much of the childish male-female simpering, fawning, and flirting. It was amusing at first, but Jordan rode that particular horse into the ground several thousand pages ago.

Most ominously, in my opinion, is the way Jordan has turned Rand from one of the most interesting characters into the most annoying. It's going to be tough managing to make the story work when the hero grates like fingernails on a blackboard. The whole madness/voice in the head thing has been poorly managed by Jordan, and has made all the scenes with Rand in them almost painful to read.

Anyway, if you've made it this far in the series, you're probably as hooked as I am. And in that case, it's probably worth it to spring the $20 for the hardcover, saving you the wait and the difficulty of reading another one of the cheap cubical paperbacks. (Why don't they release them in a nice trade paperback edition, instead of the smaller size? It would be much nicer, especially for books of this length.)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally a true cliffhanger!
Review: Well, while the plot was not advanced a whole lot... this book is much better than the two previous releases in the series. Mr. Jordan has finally figured out how to end a book in true cliffhanger fashion. Plus, the book was written in better fashion. Although small, only 500 pages for two years of work!!!, this is a great edition to the series. Hopefully we won't have to wait 2 more years now. Only one bad thing to say, Where the heck was Mat?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A LETTER TO ROBERT JORDON
Review: Dear Mr. Jordan, Where to begin? First let me say that I am not a newbie to your fiction. I was reading your work when you were still writing Conan paperback novels.(Many of your fans were unaware of this work until the hardcover collection came out) They were much simpler than the material that you have been turning out the last few years and with the exception of the first four WOT books, much better. The fact that it has taken forever for you to get this book out is of no consequence. I don't mind waiting for a superior product. Unfortunately this is not what we have here. After reading the first half of "Path of Daggers" I found myself praying for rain as much as any Aiel. It was that dry. There are those who say that your world is "richly detailed". To them I say that one doesn't describe a forest by examining every single leaf or even tree. There are those who say that your characters are alive and "well fleshed out", and that you have taken time for us to get to know them. I can only say that most of your character interaction reads like a teen romance novel. It is obvious that the last three books have been written for women and really have been exercises in male bashing when you aren't throwing in not-so-subtle dominance and submission games. Your characters have grown in power but not in maturity even after all this time. Does anyone really believe these self indulgent delinquents have a snowballs chance of saving the world? All this skirt straightening and plait fixing and useless Henrietta highschool plot and dialog is MIND NUMBING! Your publisher(who should be seriously consider a new editor for you)was sleeping at the wheel to let "Daggers" be printed as it was. The last three books should have been edited and printed together. The only character I would ever read about again is Perrin and I suspect he will probably die in the end. He is the only one with a shred of intelligence and nobility thus he will doubtless be sacrificed. There are some who suggest that you are the finest fantasy writer and for politeness sake I will not argue. I do suggest though that they read the original three" Chronicles of Amber" by Roger Zelazny. I am sorry that you have lost your drive for your current series. You are a fine writer when you have direction. It is a shame that this is the work that you will be remembered by.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Path Of Daggers Both Disappoints And Excites
Review: I eagerly awaited this book with no pretense at patience. I wanted it moments after putting down ACoS. This one left me with a bit more disappointment than any of the previous books. For one thing, Mr. Jordan returned to a rather annoying practice of totally dropping characters. Loial isn't even given a single mention throughout the book and one of my favorite characters is mentioned two or three times, but never seen. Bringing back a previous and well-liked character from a previous book, in a way, balances Loial's absence, but not the other. Mr. Jordan did the same thing with Perrin back in the The Fires Of Heaven and it annoyed me back then just as much as it did this time. Aside from that, however, the book has its good and bad points. Characterization is continued and we are let in on much more of the personalities of various people, including Cadsuane, the Knitting Circle, and the Seanchan. Other aspects of personalities of already known characters are brought forth and given their due. This is all well and good, but it tends to make the book slightly more chaotic than the previous books. You just get interested in a plot thread and the book jumps somewhere else. It almost seems like this book needed about 500 more pages to really let us in one some of the things we so desperately wanted to know. For myself, I enjoyed the Cadsuane thread immensely, but was left disappointed with the sparse number of pages devoted to her. But, I would suppose that having so many characters leaves little room to give each any proper space. The various plot threads seem to have advanced very little, with an exception or two, and leave us even more confused than ACoS left us. For the most part, only the threads with the rebels and Elayne seem to be going anywhere. Rand seems almost stuck in a rut and actually does very little but become even more self-righteous and wrapped up in himself and his problems. A number of times I kept waiting for him to do something more with his plan to unite the nations, but it seems that it has been put on hold for a tad while he tries to figure out what he should be doing against the latest (but not newest) threat. But, the weaknesses in the plot structure aside, it is another book in the series and I was all too happy to read it. In the perfect world, I could just run down to the store and the next book would be awaiting me, but it is not the perfect world and I will have to wait another year or more to have some of the confusion arising from this book cleared (I hope). All in all, I am pleased by the book because of its power in holding me and leaving me wanting more. A good read, if a trifle confusing at times.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Can't wait for the next book in this series.
Review: I've heard people say that they would never read the Eye of the World series because it is much too long. Think about it, a series that goes on for ten long books. If you are one of the people who feels this way, then you've obviously never read one of Jordan's books. One of his readers would look at the opportunity to read and savor each and every page. Each book will leave you begging for the next. And when you close the cover on the last book, you're either going to weep that there's no more, or pick up book one and read it all over again. Jordan makes you feel emotions like nothing else. He makes you laugh at the character's mistakes, and cry with their pain. He makes you feel alive in the book, and the story isn't one that takes place on paper but around you. So if you are looking for an escape from everyday mundane life, or are tired of reading the same old thing, pick up a Robert Jordan book. Another book that has caught the fancy of my reading friends is Steiger's new hit, Alien Rapture. I assure you, your life will never be the same if you read these books.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Relatively disappointing, but still better than most fantasy
Review: I read "Path of Daggers" this week and I was extremely disappointed. Two major characters were completely ignored, more new questions were raised than old ones answered. Plots were introduced and then left hanging. As far as serial writing goes, Mr. Jordan could learn from any soap opera on tv. Keeping the plot numbers (at any one time) low and resolving them faster would be great start, as well as speeding up the publishing pace (each book takes longer than the previous one to publish). After 5,000 pages, I am losing interest rather than gaining, or even maintaining the interest built up by the previous 7 volumes. I can say that after nearly 10 years and countless hours invested in this series, it is quite likely that I will grow to old to enjoy this genre before the series moves forward. I am absolutely certain that after the last two books, I am not looking forward to number 9 too much. I am sure I will read it, but unless Mr. Jordan finds a way to re-invigorate the story or at least resolve the hundreds of dangling plotlines, I'll be able to wait until a used paperback copy is available at a garage sale (which should be about 3 years at the current slow pace)


<< 1 .. 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 .. 167 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates