Rating: Summary: Send this horse to pasture. Please. Review: Out of the 766 pages of this book, less than 100 are worth reading. If you like over 600 pages of identical women trying to manipulate each other, while yanking on their braids, twirling their skirts, and turning a well-turned calf, this book is for you. If you like anything resembling the earlier books in this series (that's to say, anything resembling an interesting story), I suggest you skip to the very end of the book -- I certainly did.Normally, I hate abridged books -- I feel like they are an insult to the author's vision. However, if there is any book in the history of mankind that needs it, it's this one. To compare Jordan to Tolkien is like comparing a Harlequin Romance book to Homer's Odessey. Do yourself a favor and read a real Fantasy writer.
Rating: Summary: Still good, despite... Review: Yes, yes. I agree with a lot that other reviewers have pointed out. Jordan's back plots have taken over and there is much repition. However, I still find myself waiting to read the next book. And the next. And the next. If that isn't good writing, what is it?
Rating: Summary: Twiddling My Thumbs Review: I am rereading the whole series from start to "finish," while waiting for the next installment. By Book 7, I was getting bored. By Winter's Heart, I am not sure I want to invest the time again. I just want the whole series to come to some kind of conclusion. Everything is STILL hanging up in the air, and I am also getting tired of all the sniffing and cool stares. Unlike an earlier reviewer, however, I don't find all the power issues unrealistic; anyone who's spent any time in the work world can see that the book reflects the jostling for position that can go on in real life. I do feel that Book 9 seems to be setting us up for some real forward motion; I was getting sick of waiting for the Daughter of the Nine Moons to show up finally and snare Mat but good. He used to be my least favorite character. Now he's my favorite. He adds some MUCH needed humor to the series. But, overall, I find myself just twiddling my thumbs while hoping that this series wraps up soon. Jordan has real talent that seems to be spreading thin of late. You can only defer the answers to important questions for so long before people get disgusted and turned off. Tarmon Gai'don--Bring it on! Bust a move, already!
Rating: Summary: No action, no resolution, no movement Review: I have read all 9 volumes of the Wheel of Time saga. The fantasy world that has been described in these books by Robert Jordan is unique and wonderful. Too bad that the same cannot be said for the story line. These is essentially no plot movement in this book. There is no resolution to any of the dilemmas set up in the previous book. The writing is getting repetitive. Characters no longer develop, but go through the same motions over and over. While there is an interesting climax to this book, all of the action that occurs could have been described in 50 or 60 pages. The rest is just fluff. I wonder if the number of subplots has gotten so out of hand that the author can no longer keep track of them. Or perhaps he has no further ideas for the story, so keeps all of the subplots going without resolution. To keep our interest, Mr. Jordan needs to move things along. How many books will there be in the series? At the rate the action moves in volume 9, no end is in sight.
Rating: Summary: To many plots Review: While the action is good and at least this book is making progress in the storyline there are simply to many charactors now and to many plots. Far to often I found myself asking "Who the hell is this person and where did he/she come from." Also they take up much of the book which leaves less room for the characters I actually care about, such as Matt, Perrin, Rand and Elayne. Each only has a few chapters in the book and the only one who accomplishes anything is Mat and Rand. I simply think Jordan needs to start killin off some of the needless characters he's created.
Rating: Summary: Yet another ... Review: The Bad: I refuse to reread the whole series just to read the next installment. With that said, I picked up book 9 and started reading. The major characters, I remembered. The minor ones, I had no clue until something obvious was mentioned. There are so many characters with simialar names - I must admit I was confused. RJ must have a huge map, with little models of tons of people with little name tags - just to keep straight who he is writing about and where they are. I do feel the story has spun out of control. There seems to be a gazillion characters and plots going on. I do not see how he can wrap this up anytime soon. And with a book coming out every two years - it drives me nuts. What if he gets hit by a bus? I guess I just want him to finish the blasted series. The Good: We did get almost 800 pages of story. We finally got back to Mat. I think Mat is my favorite character. Rand's story was furthered. I enjoy the writing style, I think the world is interesting, the major characters are interesting. The book did leave me wanting to read more. The most frustrating thing is that the work is not yet complete. I agree with most of the reviewers, books 1-4 were great, books 5-8 expanded the universe, and now book 9. It held it's own, only introducing a few more characters. For me, I will wait for paperback and for the series to finish before re-reading all from start to finish.
Rating: Summary: Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series Review: The first book was great. The second good. Now I'm just praying he'll finish in 10. A good read, but buyer beware, if you get hooked, you'll be waiting with the rest of us.
Rating: Summary: Nine with no end in sight Review: OK, so all Robert Jordan fans love the WOT series and want another nine books. All fine and good, but how about new readers? Would a new reader interested in reading Jordan's fantasy be so eager whe s/he finds it nine books and counting? People are put off from reading The Lord of the Rings because of its length and that's a mere 1,000 pages or so. WOT is what, 7,000??? And still no major developments judging from what I've been reading from these posts. To judge any better I'd have to read the book itself. No thanks.
Rating: Summary: Still a Great Book!! Review: I think most, if not all, of us have to agree that the earlier WoT books were the best (#s 4, 6, etc). It's true that book nine is slower than they, but it is an improvement on #8 (which was not that bad). Besides, when I say slower, I mean slower for Jordan, which is great compared to most authors. It's also true that Nynaeve's braid-pulling thing is annoying, as well as Elayne's upturned nose, and some of Min's quirks. But the plots and subplots DO advance here, and we get to see Egwene and a few others develop more of a character. And the climax, with the Choedan Kal, was amazing! All in all, it's still a great book that all lovers of sci-fi/fantasy should read.
Rating: Summary: An improvement over the previous 4 books. Review: The wheels are in motion. At least that was the sense I got when I finished this book last night. The conclusion was pretty good but the conclusion is usually not the problem with Jordan's books. The meat of the book is what needs addressing. Jordan's repetitive nature needs to be reigned in. At least he got the "boxing the ears" reference under control but he still pushes the following pros too far: 1. Whenever someone of the opposite sex speaks we must here a soliloquy on how inept that opposite sex is and how no one understands the opposite sex. 2. We know saidar and saidin feel good to embrace. Hell! We've known that for the last 6,000 pages! 3. Sometimes you have to buckle down and, yes, actually get to the point. As much as I enjoy descriptions about how the wall looks or how deep the servants are bowing and scurrying away, this information is not only irrelevant it is, and I hate to use this word but it is seemingly unavoidable when describing Jordan's pros, REDUNDANT. 4. The characters are starting to slip. The Forsaken are especially thin. The only person that seems flushed out anymore is Matt. Ok now that I've complained enough, let me point out the good things in this novel. Despite what others have said, this novel leaps forward in the plot where it has only inched along in the last 4 books. The book left me satiated. (notice I did not say satisfied) Of course I will spend an eternity waiting for the next one, but I'm used to that by now. Jordan's writing seems different in this book...more mature; like he has accepted the fate of the plot. I think he sat down and forced himself to outline book 9 to the conclusion. He needed to, because this story could've kept going until Rand was fighting with a angreal walker and throwing his false teeth at one of the reborn forsaken while feeling the "wounds that wont heal and we'll never hear the end of" in his side. No Egwene in this book! Woohoo! Although Elayne is almost as bad, Egwene's ties to the central characters are weak at best. She no longer has an intimate connection with anyone, and I feel that Jordan writing her into the Amyrlin position has weakened her to the point of a minor character. Oh, wait, she's in one scene in this book...don't worry though, it doesn't last long. Two last side notes before I go(I promise only two more) 1. The True Power(as opposed to the one power), the situation with the forsaken, the situation with the Seanchan/Shaido Clan, i.e. all the plot topics and new twists that were introduced in the last 3-4 books bear repeating. Unless the plot line has progressed from a major thread in the first 4-5 books, I forget about it. This may be something only a few readers have issues with but the last 4 books have been a blur and plot lines I remember most usually relate to the major characters. 2. What's with the typos in this book? Do we not know the difference between "through" and "though"(I think this was a problem in another one of his books it may be a "TOR" issue. "Become" spelled "Beome"? A few times words were completely missing, leaving a sentence that made no sense. In a hardback I could understand some of this, but the book has been out for months with hundreds of thousands of copies being sold. A paperback with this many errors is puzzling.
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