Rating: Summary: yawn Review: This was by far the worst book of the series. I first read The Eye of the World way back in 1990, I was 10 YEARS OLD!!! Now as we enter into 1998 I wonder if Jordan will ever finish this series before the year 2000. I have had to re-read the series each time a new book comes out to stay on top of things since Jordan writes so damn slow. I think I will just skip this book when I reeread the series. Does anyone know when book #8 will appear in the stores? If it isn't better I quit! I have learned I valuable lesson from this series, wait till the author decide to finish before reading.
Rating: Summary: Enough Already! Review: This is getting ridiculous! A Crown of Swords is just the same as Vol. II thru Vol. VI - Rand and friends wander aimlessly for three-fourth of the book, and fulfill another miniscule part of the prophecy! Go read the Eternal Champions series by Michael Moorcock. It is far more entertaining and better written. On the bright side, at least Lan is back into the picture.
Rating: Summary: Why so long??????? Review: First, the book was so long, and he never stops describing the characters, towns, villages and other various items untill it's been blown way out of perportion. And next, too many twisting subplots to follow. He writes on one untill some actuall action happens(about 300 pages later), then in the middle of the action, he starts on one that no one can even remember. Ironic, isn't it. At the rate he's writing, hell be dead before the series is finished, and if he isn't, who will care about the climactic finish of him against the Dark One. I certainly won't. The story seams to be getting more and more subplots, without tying any of them off. The first few books were colorful, but then the passion is suddenly gone, with olny one book.
Rating: Summary: Light at the end of the tunnel... Review: I really love these books. And to think i picked up the first by chance out of bordem at an airport.. Anyway, one thing I don't see is when, where and how is "The Last Battle" going to take place.. Is it going to be a big military campaign (like Pedron Niel predicted) or is it going to be the battle of the gods? Can't wait for the next. and the next. and the next.
Rating: Summary: Sheesh, Ariod! Take a nap or something! Review: Ariod, we heard you the first time. No one supported your view then, probably indicating that most of us don't agree with your rape premise. But, like Nynaeve, say, you're back to bully us into submission! Let's look at some of the aspects of your arguments. First, Tylin is more likely forty than sixty - but so what? Mat's main problems - from my masculine point of view - are that this little affair is being prosecuted on someone else's terms and that he is unsure how Beslan and Elayne and Nynaeve are going to react to it. The first one could get him killed; the girls (as you call them) are hard enough to deal with under the best of circumstances. Since we aren't privy to the actual bedroom scenes, we don't know what takes place - maybe even dialogue! Mat's reactions aren't those of an outraged person, but rather one discomfited. The deal with Rand and Min similarly falls into a reasonable pattern. Rand is pretty traditional (in the terms of tradition developed in the books) in his outlook about male-female relationships. He builds up strong feelings - he falls in love - toward Aviendha, first, and Min, later. But, he represses these severely because he's pledged himself - in his way of looking at things - to Elayne. However, when a crisis occurs that throws him into physical contact with a female who has similar feelings toward him, and who isn't so reluctant to act on these feelings as he is - well, look out! Afterward he is ashamed of himself, and I think, seriously concerned that he has taken advantage of the woman. I liked Min's response: she let him know in no uncertain terms that she is in charge of herself, and that it takes two to tango. Finally, if Robert Jordan is putting sex scenes in these books to appeal to morons and sex-starved teenagers, then the audience reading them contains few if any such people.
Rating: Summary: Fantastic Review: Beautiful prose; an epic tale. For all those who love "getting inside the book" this is a must read.
Rating: Summary: Crown of Bored Review: There's a great deal of material at this site already about this book, much of it lauding Robert Jordan's achievement (which is magnificent; i don't dispute that and I love the series) and much of it also criticizing the lack of plot in this particular book. As much as I'd like to say otherwise, I'm afraid Jordan could have compressed this book into something one fifth its length. It's not that there's no plot -- of course there is, but the plot is ten volumes long. It's rather a question of whether or not the plot goes forward in this book, and in CoS the plot just doesn't move forward very much at all -- certainly not 1000 pages worth. Comparing the occurences and rapidity of events in this book to the other six, the "what happens next" factor in the first six that kept me up until dawn reading, there's just not much that happens. For instance, we learned about the Bowl of Winds in the last book, and this book was taken up entirely with finding it -- we don't even get to learn what it does or whether or not it works! Rand does face Sammael, but his (Sammeal's) end is somewhat ambivalent and ultimately unsatisfying -- which brings me to my major point: Jordan's story is in no way original. Almost every fantasy/sci-fi device gets pulled out and used, and many of us have seen them all before. Tolkein and Frank Herbert seem to loom particularly large in Jordan's invisible pantheon of world-creators. But that's not the point. Why we read and love this series is not because it's an original story, but rather because we know and love the story, and we feel fairly certain about the outcome already. It's the execution that makes the series great -- HOW Jordan does what he does, the order in which he tells the story... how he weaves his "pattern." And CoS is poorly woven. Nothing decisive happens, and the things that do happen happen in a most unsatisfying way. It's as if he decided the the series will be 10 books long, but he only has enough material for 8.5 or 9 books. So he padded this one out with lots of (so-called) character development, which (for me) is one of the most annoying things about the series -- it's to the point where I skip the "romantic interludes," which have displayed the same infuriating stupidity and obstinacy on the part of his young male and female protagonists for seven books now. To me, character development means that the chartacters learn something about themselves and one another -- and to give Jordan his due, the characters do soften, open up, and discover some interesting things in this book -- but again, not 1000 pages' worth. See "the Dark One's Dictionary" (do a web search; you'll probably find it) for some ironic commentary on Jordan's one-dimensional ideas regarding women and their relationships with men (search for "sniffer" in the dictionary). The unfortunate thing is that you have to read this book to prepare for the next one, Path of Daggers, in which I am anticipating some big payoff.
Rating: Summary: One of the greatest books in the best series ever written Review: I cannot understand people whining about ACOS! In my opinion it is with TFOH the best of the seven. You learn more about the characters, have funny and interesting scenes (see the Tylin scenes with humor, friends, and if not, things like that happen) and at the end, you nearly burst of suspision, what might happen in the next book. What will happen in Ghealdan? Is Taim Demandred? How will the Aes Sedai attack on the Black Tower end?......... There are no holes in the plot, and even if there doesn't happen so much in the CoF...It's good so. It makes the story more real. I bet, in APoD there will be enough of that. And people,...do me a favor...stop complaining about the length! If you think it is to long stop reading it, if you can! If you kept up with it to #7, I think you can't. I think the books are much to short. I hope for at least 5 more, but I have heard, #10 will be the final one. And to everyone who hasn't read the WOT yet.... DO IT!!!!!! START NOW!!!! Only after you started, you will know what you missed. There is nothing similar to the Wheel of Time! Nothing even close. And to those people out there who don't like the series...I feel terrible sorry for you. I absolutly can't understand you. Robert Jordan, by the Light and my hope of rebirth, you are the MASTER of fantasy and the best writer ever, but please, please hurry on with APoD!!!!!!!!! Your fans are waiting !!!!!! Christoph Kollen
Rating: Summary: My two cents Review: Enough joys in life are too soon over, don't let's rush another. The WoT series may be long, but it is well worth the time RJ has taken to write it. It is one of the few great series I've had the good fortune to encounter. Each return to RJ's WoT series reveals more skillfully interwoven depths, whether made via a new release or revisiting a previous book. As for those who seem to want it over already, I say: stop dwelling! RJ's chosen style for WoT series was made crystal clear in book 1 and remians consistant through book 7. Minimalist it will never be. A small guess at the future: the Daughter of the 9 Moons is the Heiress-Apparent to the Seanchan Empire. . . .
Rating: Summary: Just another notch in the old bedpost... Review: Though the other books in the series were obviously superior in pace to this one, aCoS stands on its own if one wants to learn the true art of character development. Jordan focusses his boundless talent on expanding the breadth of his most important characters, but unfortunately draws no closer to Tarmon Gaidon. He is milking this series for all it is worth, but be honest: What will we all do when the end finally comes? I'm in no hurry to destroy this world, are you?
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