Rating: Summary: Jordan's Weakest Effort Review: There are long passages in Path of Daggers that feel a great deal longer. The book doesn't seem to be finished. Without Mat's presence to liven things up, Path of Daggers isn't a particularly engaging book, and it's Jordan's weakest effort. Perhaps we are victoms of higher expectations; the last two books (actually the whole series thus far) were outstanding, and it's asking a lot of an author to match that standard of quality. But Jordan's weakest effor is still light-years better that anything I could write, so I should cut him some slack. Also Recamended: The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, The Left Behind series by Tim LaHayn and Jerry B. Jenkins, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkin, The Shannara series by Terry Brooks, The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan, and the Remnants series by K.A. Applegate
Rating: Summary: Great Book! Review: I've read A LOT of negative reviews for the Wheel of Time series. I will agree, however, that the 1st book was the best. And, of course, that a few of the middle ones were slightly boring in places. But, RJ has redeemed himself from those with book 8. I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy fans.
Rating: Summary: Where is Mat? Review: Let me just say I don't intend to buy another volume in this series. My favourite character makes virtually no appearance in this book. Jordan seems to have written this book just to see how many suckers there are in the world. In fact, I'm getting tired of this whole series. There are too many characters to keep straight. I think he's done a masterful job of creating a world and cultures (or adapting those of Earth) but I think it's time for him to end it. I'll keep reading the books; I'm too vested in the characters by this time - but I don't recommend this series to new fantasy readers anymore.
Rating: Summary: No such thing as a bad WoT book, but this was the Weakest Review: As with all the WoT books, this story has many elements in it that appeal to me, but I was ultimately dissapointed with this book.Why? The story didn't really go anywhere, and the conclusion wasn't all that interesting to me. First off, the complete lack of Mat in this book upset me, because I have grown to like Mat a lot since the beginning of the series. He truly shined in Crown of Swords and I was expecting more in this book. Much of the Mat story in book 9 should have appeared in this volume, in my opinion. Once again, the forsaken don't make a huge dent in this story, and you have to wonder what the Dark One is doing.:). The inclusion of late of the Sea Folk in the plot has done nothing for me at all. Here we go with yet ANOTHER group of bossy female characters that seem to hinder more than they help. It would be nice to actually see mature and helpful women in this story, but since the demise of Morraine, its been witchy. To credit this volume, the Seanchan battle was really cool, and fun for me to read, and entertainment is the most important value in a story. It looks like Perrin is destined to resurrect Manetheren, a ancient kingdom, but then again, I don't like Perrin, and have found him the weakest of the big 3 characters thus far in the series. The march of the rebels finally goes somewhere in this volume, but still it could have gone farther(and truly was a dissapointment in the next volume). The end of the Weather plot was the a big plus, since I was getting bored with it. Still, the conclusion was lacking, and I felt this book should have been longer, with more content (much of it being in the 9th book). My verdict, if your a WoT fan, you have to read it, but as a stand alone, it was painful compared with the rest. Doesn't stop me from reading WoT though. :)
Rating: Summary: Oh, Robert! Review: We waited what seemed like an eternity for Book 8 in hope to have some of the minor plot questions answered. Up to this point, Mr Jordan has carefully kept all subplots in his fascinating fantasy tied up quite well. Personally, I have been enthralled with the work he has done. However, Book 8 seemed to open more questions than it answered, leaving me, the reader slightly sour, wondering if he is going to wind up dropping some of the minor threads. If this was his intent, it left me with a feeling of being "let down" instead of anticipating his next work. It's almost as though his tale finally carried him away, instead of him writing concisely and compactly. Oh, Robert, please tie up all those loose ends!
Rating: Summary: Very boring!!!! Review: This was almost as bad as The crown of swords. Why is Rand in one book almost Omnipotent, then in the next he is terrified of Cadsuane?? Sucks, JR make up your mind who Rand is!!! I'm tired of everyone's personality suddenly taking a detour or worse, regressing!! This book sucked, I don't want to read anymore WOT. Finish it up and be done with it. The first 5 books were good, after that it went to hell.
Rating: Summary: Quicksand Review: Just finished the book and had the feeling I was swimming around in quicksand. There is alot of action but in the end you find that not only have you not advanced anywhere but in reallity you are further away from the destination. The problem I have is that since I'm hooked I will not be able to avoid the next book unless I do some serious therapy. It is a real pity beacuase I was trapped in the begining by something different and well written. I realise that this is being drawn out bok after book for purely comercial reasons just like a television soap opera!
Rating: Summary: "Mr. Jordan, your life is calling you...." Review: A good series but nowhere near Tolkien's level of craftsmanship. Essentially, a McQuest. Jordan is a good writer, don't get me wrong, he's just not a great writer and his weaknesses show up glaringly along with his strengths in the WoT series. After eight books, I despair that Jordan will let his characters mature emotionally. Currently, there's no one in the series (aside from Bela, the horse) with an emotional age of more than five or six. Pouting, shallowness, sulking, whining, refusing to accept consequences, belligerence, provincial thinking and selfishness dominate EVERY character, especially females. Examples: Will Nynaeve ever; a) stop tugging her braid, and b) stop refusing to admit when she's wrong? Will Rand ever get over his own inflated sense of self-importance and melodrama? Will Perrin and Mat accept their roles as ta'veren (sp?) and quit kicking their feet and throwing tantrums because they have to do things they don't want to do? Will we ever see a villain that is at least as intelligent as the average English Lit. college student and is more than a cartoon sum of their evils? I've also found the gender stereotyping is extremely tiresome. Every woman thinks every man is a skirt-chasing, shiftless, lazy, pub-crawling slob bent on ruining her life and Jordan's men passively lie back and allow themselves to be dominated and abused by these harridans while they exchange a "Mustn't upset the ladies!" look. Not to say his work is all bad. The series is worth reading for the ideas the Jordan generates and his world is well-thought-out and interesting. His premises are very interesting even if his execution of them sags often into two dimensional characters and events. My caveat for you: If you're just starting this series, buy the books at a used book store; don't pay full retail for them.
Rating: Summary: More Robert "the god of fantasy" Jordan Review: the Wheel of Time is the greatest fantasy setting ever. Period!!!!But be mindfull, there are ALOT of FACTS, NAMES,EVENTS and CHARACTERS that you need to keep track of through ALL the books, making the series not for the weak hearted. the book is great, the plot flows off the page, tying off several sub plots, while introducing new ones. The main characters just keep evolving and evolving, it is a pleasure to read. Do not listen to bad reviews off this book, they just didn't take enough time to read. BUY IT!!!!! you will not be disappointed
Rating: Summary: Boring boring boring Review: This one barely managed to escape a 2 star rating, but since I gave A crown of Swords 3 stars I have to give this 3 stars, since its slightly better than book 7. But that's not saying much. If you've read my previous reviews of this series you know what I am going to say (what I'm sure everyone else is saying); that Jordan has slowed the pace of the series to a crawl, that nothing truly exciting ever happens... its that last point that really makes me mad because while I commend Jordan on the fully visualized world he has created (something few authors ever do, even less do it well. Jordan does both.), and a cast of characters that act (for the most part) believeably, he fails to ever create any true suspense because after the main characters escape a dangerous situation unharmed over and over again, we come to know that they will be fine. True, a couple of the good characters have died, but in a situation like at the end of book 6 I believe, Rand was captured by Aes Sedai, and 100 pages later he is freed. Jordan could have really mixed up the story there, added some much needed flavor by having Rand stay captive, but he doesn't (there have been many opportunities such as this throughout the whole book). The only reason I am still reading this series is because of the amount of time I have invested in it, and because I want to see how the Last Battle will play out. If this were the first book in the series without a doubt I would not continue to read (I fell asleep once reading it, at 3:00 in the afternoon!). True, it does have its good points, but for the most point it's bland.
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