Rating: Summary: Very slow reading Review: I'm a very fast reader, and the first four books in the series zoomed by, and after that I was beginning to get sick of the repeatedness, the same metaphors and descriptions being used over and over. We the readers all understand that in Tel'aran'rhoid women's dresses keep changing when they think of their beloved. Speaking of women, why is it almost all the women are exactly the same??? Being a girl myself, I'm not complaining about the fact that Jordan makes in look like the women always have the men under control, but why can't we have a female who isn't unusually pretty or unusually strong in the Power? This book, like the last (though it was decent--Mat was in it) is very slow reading. I've been reading it on and off for the last few weeks. It has really gotten nowhere, I'm losing track of characters, AND WHY DON'T WE FIND OUT HOW MAT IS DOING??? I apologize for the harsh review, but it seems to me Jordan has lost his enthusiasm or something...
Rating: Summary: Path to where? Review: Probably the worst book ever written. Wait, no.......ONE of the worst. The other ones are Lord of Chaos, Crown of Swords, Winter's Heart, Crossroads of Twilight. Everything has been said already. If you haven't read it, don't bother. Go purchase A Game of Thrones and this Wheel of Time nightmare will end. What is so appealing about this series? The Characters? Men-hating women and women-hating men. THIS is not good chracterization. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME. I mean where are the rude, lustful people? Where are the clever people? Where the anti-heroes? Where are the tragic heroes? The charming people? The traitors? Why don't major characters die? Why isn't the hero in one of those losing-against-all-odds situation, at least? Why does EVERYONE fall in love at first sight, without any sense of love at all? Why don't villians and heroes marshal armies with even a BIT of strategy? Why do the characters act like children when they are grown men and women? How many times must Jordan describe meaningless details? tea? clothing? scenery? Why does he disregard all events from the past, like the Horn, the Eye of the World, Bowl of Winds? Why hasn't the Dark One died of old age yet? Why do men start using magic when nothing has been done to clear the taint? Why is everyone in the story either beautiful or handsome? Why do they hate each other anyway? Why are men so powerless to women (not in the one power)? Like Lan? How come no character has even a shred of social skill? Where is the humour? action? tragedy? mystery? Why dosen't Jordan's editor do anything? WHEN IS HE GOING TO END THIS?
Rating: Summary: JORDANISM Review: [Please I need help! Who am I? where or whom are my friends?-Yes, that was me, it could happen to you-JORDONISM.] This is book eight in the infamous WHEEL OF TIME saga. Jordan starts with, can you believe it? Another character, looks to be an antagonist. Pardon me-how many bad guy do we have now? A flow chart would be needed. Mr. Jordan may know-NOT. Alot of people love JORDAN including me. THE EYE OF THE WORLD-the first of this series, is a fantasy of historical note, one of my notable books. Now there are too many characters which detracts from the core characters. The initial characters were fabulous(TEOTW). I want to read about Rand since he is, in my opinion, the central character. By book eight there are so many characters big and small. So much time is wasted with what a particular character is thiking about, noticing, or boring, boring, stream of consciousness. Waiting for 300 pages for action to take place or to get back to a paticular character you like. I read the former seven books, things deteriorate after the 5th book of this saga. MR. JORDAN forgot book 1(TEOTW), he does not remember his 30th antagonist. I quite halfway through this book, and I am happy I did. If I have trouble sleeping I will pick it back up and nod off soon after. NOTE: On one of the main TWOT message boards, a person stated that by book ten he would skip chapters and read those only pertaining to his favorite character.
Rating: Summary: A good time to bail out ... Review: "A Path Of Daggers," the 8th volume in Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, was, to me, a nice time to drop out of this series. And based on the reviews of 9 and 10, I'm glad I did. After reading this book, I'm surprised people have stuck on for two more. After being enthralled with the story, I could not now care less about this tale's resolution. I won't be finishing this, and I don't mind a bit. What was once a well-plotted, well-paced epic story with interesting characters and an intriguing (if dense) plot became by this volume (though it was starting to lean in this direction in the midst of volume 6) a plodding, directionless, dreary mess with little to grip the reader save increasingly bad characterization and prose that serves well enough when there is a plot worth reading but that is not at all pretty enough to warrant reading simply for the joy of nice words. Or, to be brief: This book is boring. Little happens. The characters are either portrayed badly or are simply annoying. The writing is less than good. The plot nonexistent. Robert Jordan no longer feels the need to tie up plot threads, instead letting them dangle while throwing even MORE (uninteresting) threads out there, abandoning some subplots whole. The massive story that once moved with great agility now lumbers like a drunken beast. It's as if Jordan is stalling, figuring out where to go next. If at one point this series was plotted out and had direction, it no longer is and no longer does. It's clear Jordan is writing from the hip - and it doesn't work. If you've gotten through the volumes before this but are unsure if you want to go on, I can only urge that you DON'T. And if you're a Jordan loyalist, well, we all know you'll assign five stars to whatever he puts out and insist it's masterful, so no need for advice to you.
Rating: Summary: Guess what, Jordan? 700 pages of nothing is STILL NOTHING! Review: Why does he call it "Path of Daggers?" It has absolutely no meaning. Not even metaphorically. Most of his books bear names that serve no purpose to the story. I have never read books so terrible, an author so redundant, a series so boring. Yet the Wheel keeps rolling....downhill. Rand continues his quest in assimilating nations, forging them into an empire to confront the Dark one. Elayne prepares assail Tar Valon and the false Amyrlin Elaida. Nynaeve tugs her braid, Elayne and Avienda are embracing each other like sisters, etc. Make an end. Robert Jordan wasted thousands of pages and our time. We'll be losing all our trees becasue paper is being depleted in this series. The Dark One has probably died of old age. But Rand and his pathetic league of heroes and friends are to stupid to know that. There is no character development, no distinctive points of view, no true shock or tragedy, and no reason to cling onto this lengthy series. I look forward to reading these reviews here. It's a wonder why it was ever a NY Times Bestseller. I have taken the time to appreciate the first three novels. After that, its mortifying struggle to read. Even so...you can notice in the first three there is something terribly worng and the series would suffer from that. The characters are all the same. Lan was once a smooth, lone warrior (stereotyped, yes, I know. It's Aragorn Reborn). Then he somehow falls in love with the braid tugging Nynaeve and becomes a pitiful harridan's slave. At least he wasn't a slave when he was Moiraine warder. Alas, she's dead and everything crashed. Jordan completely disregards all the events from the past. They got the Bowl of Winds and then completely forget it in the later chapters and in the next book. Remember the Horn of Valere? Barely. Whatever happened to the heron mark blade? So many wasted words. Jordan writes as well as any other fantasy writer. Every one of these writers tends to give some brilliant description here and there. But enough is enough. All the reviewers who are loyal and continually rate the books with 5 stars have not yet read "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin. That is a true series, with no stereotypes, and utterly enthralling and realistic. Probably the best, next to "Lord of the Rings." I've checked out some reccommendations and have seen that hundreds have reccommended "A Game of Thrones" (1st book in "A Song of Ice and Fire") instead if any Wheel of Time book. Trust me, if you can't stand the sound of the Wheel of Time turning and would like to free yourself of any suspense, read "A Song of Ice and Fire." This series should end very soon. My only hope is that Jordan makes a good ending, though that may not suffice for the tormenting writing in all of these books.
Rating: Summary: Jordan is an excellent plotter but a terrible writer Review: Prior to reading _Path of Daggers_, I'd come to think of Jordan's series as "The Wheel of Hay Fever." Everyone sniffs. All the time. It's the only nonverbal sound they make. With this latest installment, however, Jordan finally decides to mix things up. In _Path of Daggers_, characters sniff *and* snort! The man can't write women, he can't write dialog, and he can't write description. He does, however, know how to construct a good plot and is a master of narrative hooks that hold my attention. Ultimately, reading Jordan is like eating a cheeseburger: it's fun to do, but you know you've had better and you feel slightly guilty afterwards. That said, I'm still holding out for a good harumph.
Rating: Summary: Nothing Happens Review: What can I say? Nothing happens. Unfortunately, this is the Jordan standard now. Don't look for anything more after this. Only us psychos keep hanging on.
Rating: Summary: In addition to this book, I would recommend Power Rangers. Review: I remember the first four books in this series being worth reading. I remember the following three books being tolerable in hope of a conclusion. After reading The Path of Daggers, I realised that the series had decayed from rich fantasy with meaningful characters to the book equivalent of an action-figure cartoon. The only hook left is a perpetual series of false climaxes supported by an upward spiral of powers for the good guys and the bad guys. It has enslaved the plot, which has, in turn, enslaved the characters. If this book had any ears, I would box them. No, wait, I would kiss it! . . . er, no, I'd box its ears.
Rating: Summary: Thinking about it gives me headaches Review: After all the reviews here, my worst fears were confirmed. This series will NEVER end. Jordan has obviously lost his ability to bring a plot to conclusion. It would be MUCH more interesting for him to conlcude the conflict and then move on to backbiting subtwists that show that the story didnt actually end completely. No movement, extremely slow to change characters, it has taken him 10 books now over many years to move at best a year or so into the future.. Has it even been that long???? Save your sanity... dont expect a conclusion. He's milking for a living and not actually writing for entertainment.. or any other purpose for that matter as far as I can see. I will skip to book 20 when he gets there and see if there has actually been a shocking conclusion to the series... none expected at this point. And just expect the series to get slower and slower by then... On second thought, save your money. That is what I am going to do.
Rating: Summary: Average for the WOT series Review: I think Jordan's books are best read quickly. I was stuck halfway through "A Crown of Swords", putting it down and finally getting back to it after years and picking up the later books as they came out. So now I can read them back to back, which helps since "Crown" and "The Path of Daggers" have minimal gaps between the two. One thing about such long series is that the author creates such brilliant complicated worlds and characters. It does get old when chararcters keep repeating how much they want to beat sense into each other and the same arguements come back. I like Matt and trust he will return in the next book. The movements in this series seem to be like a chessboard with new pieces added and others subtracted almost at random. I do admit to have some of the "series guilt" that other reviewers have, where you have invested so much time and yes money into reading the previous novels, that to give up after reading 8 hefty books seems to mean wimping out. I hope I can keep up, but after skimming the one and two star reviews for "Crossroads" it may be as much a test to keep reading as it is for Rand to stay sane.
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