Rating: 
Summary: Jordan is killing the series
Review: It's lame that Jordan want's to make money instead of writing.
It's ok if he earns some bucks, but writing books for gaining money is not a cleaver move.I bouth the first books from jordan here in amazon, een my winter's heart copy. The book is just not worthy. Please be adviced Robert Jordan has just turned the series into a money making franchaise. Do not buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: I shoulda' known better
Review: The Robert Jordan series started off with a bang. I read the first three books in under a week and looked forward to the next books in the series. (At that time I had no idea that Robert Jordan had no idea what he was going to do with his series). I don't remember how many Forsaken were left after the first three books but it seemed like a good number to show up at a great final battle. At this point we had one, maybe two, books to go. Then Jordan plodded on. There were some memorable scenes, but the books were so bad that I don't remember which book had which scene.
But I kept reading. Each book was good to bump off two Forsaken (I think that is the mean number of forsaken dead per book) but Jordan began the habit of brining the dead back to life. And his characters didn't go anywhere- apart from wandering all over his imaginary world. I will give Jordan that he has created an interesting imaginary world. He is obviously so excited about what he had created that he now requires his main characters to tread every last inch of it.
They have too much to go.
I finish the books I begin to read. There are very few that I don't. I have even finished books so that I could give an educated negative review. I was unable to finish Winter's Heart. The book was long and unbearable. And I don't use the word long lightly. A Song of Ice and Fire series by Martin are as heavy in the hand as Jordan, but reading them is exciting and by the end of one you wonder why 700 pages only took a few hours (until you look at the clock, realize that instead of going to bed you will now be getting up and going to work). Neal Stephenson's Cyptomonicon is over 1000 pages and only took me a weekend. Something was wrong with Winter's Heart when I was at it over a week and was only about halfway.
Jordan has succeeded in proving the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Entropy will always increase with time). Jordan's plot has become so spread out as to be unrecognizable from background noise. And I have given him too much of my time. I want it back.
Rating: 
Summary: And lo! There shall come a direction!
Review: It's amazing to see all these one and two star reviews still lingering around this late into the series . . . don't get me wrong I don't say that because I feel those folks don't have a point (they do) but I figured by now, this late in the game, Jordan would have whittled his fanbase down to the diehards. It's a testament to the strength of the early books and the promise that people still see that so many are sticking around to see how it ends, whether it's from honest interest or just morbid curiousity. Reviewing these books is a bit of an odd task these days because I'm mostly writing this to people who have already read the book and want to see if I hated or loved it as much as they did (or conversely, they've given up on the series and want to confirm they made the right decision). Any potential new readers should take these reviews with a grain of salt . . . the series really is very good, but has some serious flaws which may or may not do it in by the time it finishes. Best to wait until it's near the end and then read the whole thing straight through. This novel, book nine in a series that maybe possibly might be a total of twelve books (so he says currently, only time will tell) and unfortunately this tends to follow the same pattern left by the previous couple of books . . . characters tread water for the bulk of the novel and then in the last chapter something important happens. Really, if you were try to summarize the novel through events you'd really only be able to name the last chapter as crucial and after six hundred pages of epic fantasy, I think the reader needs more than that. However, this novel bodes well for the closing sections of the series . . . for one thing, something does actually happen that will make a difference in later books, which is probably more than the last two novels combined. Secondly, Mat returns to action after being totally ignored in the last novel . . . he doesn't do all that much but it's nice to have him back in the story itself . . . although that does come at the cost of losing Perin, who makes an appearance early on and then vanishes with nary a mention again (though to be honest, he's getting less and less interesting as the novel winds on). Jordan remains as readable as ever, his penchant for over-description never bothers me so much since when I sense it's starting to overtake the narrative, I just start skimming . . . chapters really do fly by and I managed to finish the book in only a few hours of reading. A bigger problem is that there are just too many stinkin' characters, cutting the glossary down to bare bones was a terrible idea since Jordan tends to keep exposition to a minimum and some chapters only feature supporting characters, most of whom are just people with funny names talking about stuff I don't understand (it's like visiting a foreign country only we're all speaking the same language) . . . I've found the solution to that, other than getting angry, is to simply go with it . . . the trick here is that very few of the supporting character subplots are really vital to the main story, it's just there to give the reader an idea of what's happening in the world and thus I just simply breeze through it without trying to understand and if it becomes important later by some odd chance, I'll just figure it out then. This highlights yet another problem with the book though . . . the beyond glacial plotting. Rand announces his main goal at the end of the prologue and then proceeds to putz around for the rest of the novel right up until the end. It's the same with the other characters, they fiddle about and then as the novel starts to close stuff starts to happen as if the characters all realize they're running out of space. The problem is that most people are reading because of the main narrative, of Rand getting ready to either save the world or crack it in two . . . and any chapter not dealing with Rand is mostly just taking up space and killing time, ensuring that any steps the plot takes are baby steps toward the end. Awash in characters not doing anything too important, most readers just stop caring. On the plus side, the male-female politics are toned down a bit to a more reasonable level (though Rand manages to achieve the ultimate male fantasy, it stretches credibility a bit, but hey he is the Dragon Reborn) so at least the characters aren't as annoying as they were threatening to become. What the novel (and the series at this point) is missing, I think, is a sense of momentum, what made the early books so fascinating (besides the shock of the new) was that the End felt imminent, that the world was really racing toward the Final Battle and it could happen at any second and time was running out. The series has sort of lost that "running for their lives" aspects of things and has traded it for a more leisurely pace, and yes this allows Jordan to stretch out and show a nice crosssection of a world in turmoil, but at the same time it sacrifices nearly all the drama from before. Even the Forsaken no longer seem scary, once they were terrible and fearsome, now we're not even sure how many there are, and most of their appearances involve them sitting around talking about evil things they might do. If there is anything that brings hope for future books, it's the final chapter, which should have served as a template for the rest of the novel, with a dozen things happening at once, with important things at stake . . . but even then the biggest action seems to happen off-panel and there's still a sense of momentum missing, I liked it but it still felt by the numbers to me. So what's the verdict . . . readable but lacking that pressing sense of "I gotta know what happens next" . . . I bought this when it came out and haven't read it until now, simply because all the urgency is gone, I get to it when I get to it. And while this means I don't get as agitated as some others do when it doesn't live up to my expectations, at the same time, it's clear that something is awry. It's good, solid fantasy, but I really can't recommend people start it until the whole series is finished, lest they be trapped in limbo like the rest of us.
Rating: 
Summary: Another long on words short on plot effort
Review: I'd like to start by stating that I'm a huge fan of Robert Jordan's previous books, but every book since # 6 feel like he is milking his readership and writing for the money rather than for the story. Literally 3 or 4 events occurred in this book - Nothing is happening in the series since book 6. Please Mr Jordan, give us a book like books 1 - 6 and let us know how the series ends. Some suggestions... Moiraine returns from limbo where she was sent (book ?), Lan unites the north behind Rand, Perrin unites old Manetheran, Matt is the general, they all meet to fight the Trollocs, etc., and Rand and company win. Rand writes a book entitled "From there and back again" and sails off with the Seachan. The end. Please, please, finish this up versus making me read through endless details of no value to the series. The last few books have felt like reading the phone book. These books aren't cheap and you are close to loosing me.
Rating: 
Summary: 3 1/2 Stars, actually
Review: A year or so ago, after trying to read this novel twice, I turned my back on Jordan. No more, I thought. Never again. Well, I tried to get away, but they pulled me back in. Actually, I was just too curious. All of the faults of this over-bloated epic are here in force--the repetition, the non-stop skirt-tugging and sniffing and glaring and eyebrow-scrunching and endless bickering between characters who really, by this point, should have more important things to worry about. Minor cast members come tumbling in, only to be introduced at length so that they can utter one or two lines of dubious importance and move aside for the next one. It's enough to make you tug on your braid, isn't it? However, the plot DOES move forward, if only in baby steps. I skimmed sometimes, but I kept reading. Call me crazy, but I'm going to keep slogging on to part 10 to see what happens next.
Rating:
Summary: Err...
Review: Well...I'd have to agree with the critics. The first six books of the series were awesome, and I liked the developments in book 7 (Nynaeve's block...etc.). Book 8 was the most horrible creation I've ever had to endure in my life. By book 9 you become very good at...skimming. I mean, seriously, is it necessary to describe it every time Elayne changes her shirt? Just say she's wearing silk. While the story itself is very good, the descriptions makes you want to throw the book out the window. And never see it again. Especially the battle scenes. Ack, those are the worst. Anyway...Jordan needs to work on shortening the descriptions a little bit, and put a few more interesting parts BEFORE THE CLIMAX. If that gets fixed, it will be fine.
Rating:
Summary: This book was just a serial set-up
Review: The 'action' and 'movement' in this book were just to set up book 10 so RJ could sell a few more copies ala "When we last left our intrepid hero." (Something he's been in the habit of doing since Dumai Wells at least). Knowing what we know now, the story isn't a decology, and faced with the crisis of being caught extending this series ad naseaum and not being able to sell book 11 he rolls out a prequel to prove to us he can still advance a plot. The problem is he won't do too much in book 11 or the series will be done before he dies/book 30 (whichever comes first). Jordan is playing us for suckers. This series is a train wreck and the engineer is still asleep.
Rating:
Summary: What happened to the Plot? the storyline ??
Review: Just lame : no progress in the plot, actually went backwards !!
Rating: 
Summary: Why so many complaints?
Review: I just finished reading Winter's Heart. I had put off reading it after seeing so many bad reviews on this site. I understand the frustration of some readers who wish the action would pick up. I would like to see the series end soon, too, but I didn't think this book was so bad. There is plot development. The charcters are growing (albiet slowly) and maturing. I'm glad Mat finally met his future wife; it was a long time coming. I wish Jordan would write more about Perrin; he's by far the best charcter. I don't think I'll wait so long to read Book 10, but, Mr. Jordan, have pity on us. I enjoy long stories, but can't you end it soon? I'd love to know how it ends.
Rating:
Summary: Winter's Heart
Review: Robert Jordan keeps the series very much alive with another amzing book in The Wheel of Time Series. If you have not read any of the series so far, i suggest you begin. The very first book, The Eye of the World is great, and each book after is better than the last.
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