Rating: 
Summary: Barely An Improvement
Review: Better than the last one, but just. Something important happens in this book, which is more than I can say for the last few. If you're still with the Wheel of Time, I guess you should read this one. What a ringing endorsement, huh?
Rating: 
Summary: Winter's Heart
Review: What is wrong with Mr. Jordan? Did someone else write his last two books?What happened to the fast paced, heart pounding stories from the first 6 or so books? I made up my mind that if this book stunk, then I was not going to finish the series. Well, the book stunk!
Rating:
Summary: I am amazed at how high this book is rated!
Review: I can't believe so many people actually like this book. Nothing happened in it. Well OK the story progressed a little tiny bit but for the most part everyone is in the same place they were when the story started. To me it seems like Jorden is milking a cash cow. He keeps writing books thinking we will keep buying them because we are hooked on the series. If the characters continued to make progress the series would eventually end. I don't think Jorden wants it to end so he has started to write books where very little progress is made! The reviews on book 10 are dreadful. I am done with the series. It is really a shame since the first several books were so good.
Rating: 
Summary: Lets get to the point
Review: I found the book frustrating. I realised by the end that there will be no end to the series. The author seems to have researched his varied cultures very well, but I find he has stereotyped the women characters to one style, good or bad.
Please end the series!
Rating: 
Summary: An amazing novel
Review: I can't help but give Winter's Heart five stars after The Path of Daggers. Wow, is this the same author. I didn't get bored at all reading Winter's Heart (I've learned to skip worthless descriptions that have no effect on the plot). The material of this novel, may be the strongest since The Fires of Heaven. I never felt like there were dull moments. Some parts of the novel were less exciting than others, but he kept the pace of the novel never slowed. In The Path of Daggers I would read 200 pages and wonder why, that never happenned to me while reading Winter's Heart. I really like this novel because Mat Cauthon seems to be the focus of it. Additionally, each individual plot leaves you ready to read more. He never writes through Egwene, but he gives us hints about what is happening with her. The plots concerning Elayne, Perring and Mat are left with a great deal in doubt. I am going to start Crossroads of Twilight today and I can't wait to see how Jordan resolves their situations. This is the novel Jordan needed to write after The Path of Daggers. I almost forgot one of the best parts. Rand accomplishes something major.
Rating: 
Summary: Some turning points, the end may be near!
Review: Wow, nine books through this series already. If it wasn't for Lumley's "Necroscope", the Wheel of Time would be the longest series of novels I've ever read. Jordan must be doing something right, and I've broken out three things I liked about "Winter's Heart". My list of complaints is a bit long too, so I've listed the top three problems with this novel as well. The Wheel of Time is a well-done fantasy written with the complexities of Tolkien yet combined with a more contemporary, character-driven writing style. Since this is the ninth book in a series which will continue for several more books, I'm not going to give a lot of plot synopsis since new readers have no reason to begin reading these books at this point. If you attempt it, good luck... complicated, ain't it? OK, positives about "Winter's Heart" 1. My favorite of the original cast of characters, Mat Cauthon, returns after a hiatus. I don't think he appeared at all in "The Path of Daggers". In any case, Mat is one of the most unique of Jordan's male characters and his mischievous nature makes for a fun time reading, regardless of the situation he's in. The chapters focusing on him are great. 2. A MAJOR plotline gets resolved. I'm not going to say which, but resolving this particular plotline points to an actual ending in sight (!) to the Wheel of Time saga. Of course Jordan weaves several other plotlines into the mix, and for the most part does a great job. It seems to me that Jordan has given all the background information necessary on the assorted nations, characters, and cultures within the plots of The Wheel of Time, and that this series is getting ready for the home stretch. I'm still interested to see how it all ends. 3. Jordan's writing style is very fluid and he makes it easy to sit back and spend an hour or two reading his books. I plowed through "Winter's Heart", reading 200 pages at a time which is unusual for me. I can always kill an evening being drawn into this series, and I'm happy to say this book held my attention in a stranglehold. I do have some complaints though... 1. Too many characters! There are 50-60+ major characters in this series, and Jordan has a nasty habit of introducing, by name, each and every new face we come across. He tends to give long-winded descriptions of innkeepers, guards, merchants, assorted servants, and anyone and everyone who shows up for no more than a page or two. I'm having a hard enough time with the volume of major players, let alone being introduced to SO MANY new characters. 25% of the cast could be killed off and the plot wouldn't suffer one bit. 2. Too complicated! Now, let me say that I DO enjoy an intricate plot, and I like to read stories with a complicated plot. But there comes a time where it gets to be too much, particularly when dealing with Jordan's diarrhea of the word processor. He's capable of weaving so many plots that major characters like Mat can be cast aside for a book and a half (nearly 1500 pages). In the meantime I found myself forgetting a LOT of the characters and their motivations. Several times reading this novel I got lost. I read about a book a week, and with stories this complicated I have a hard time getting back into the swing of it after 2 years without a new W.O.T. story. I'm going to read book 10 and 11 consecutively after they are released, since re-reading the previous books in the series doesn't fit into my schedule. Streamline some of these plots, please. 3. Here's where I take some heat. Be ready to click that "not helpful" button. Jordan has been praised, rightly, for his thoughtful and well-presented female characters, and he takes it a step further by having a great deal of matriarchal societies within the Wheel of Time books. I think his female characters breathe with a life of their own, something quite different from the norm. Some characters' actions and reactions have gotten monotonous, but overall they grow very well in Jordan's hands. These days, it seems to me that EVERY description of hierarchy, ceremony, societal interaction, and everyday conversations MUST involve the fact that in Jordan's world, women run the show. Early in W.O.T., one of the charms was that the balance of power between men and women was spelled out in such a way as to amuse and entertain the reader, and Jordan's gifts in wryly bringing out the political and personal interactions between equally powerful men and women were masterful. Now, throw it all out the window because the women are "wearing the pants" in every society in this world. That sly balance Jordan used to employ has swung the other way entirely... this is quite a change from the original books, and I can't help but wonder if Jordan is playing to his female readership demographic. Cynical or not, I suspect this is what's happened. "Winter's Heart" is better than "The Path of Daggers" and finds this series on the upswing again. I'm rating it 3 ½ stars, but am rounding UP because of the wrapping up of important plotlines and the return of Mat. A good continuation of this series, I recommend you start at the beginning though.
Rating:
Summary: Don't let the pace of the series deter you ...
Review: I've been seeing a lot of reviewers who go on and on along the lines of "WAAAA, Jordan's stuck ... he's in a rut ... the series is going nowhere!". Don't let the negativity deter you from reading this incredible series of books. Having been a voracious reader ever since I learned, I have to say that this series has been one of the most captivating and compelling I've ever read. The incredible complexity of the story, with so many strong and vital primary characters with an enormous supporting cast, draws me (no compells me) to want more and more of the story. As far as I'm concerned, as long as he keeps the characters and the story line so vital, Jordan can run this series to 20 books. So, if you're new to this series, I say ignore the immediate gratification detractors who are looking for a quick fix. Enjoy it! Savor it! Take your time, get to know the characters, learn about this incredibly complex society that Jordan has created. If you do that I know you'll enjoy it as I do.
Rating:
Summary: Enough already!
Review: This is the book that Mr. Jordan finally lost me on. I faithfully slogged through the previous 8 overlong volumes, but I have finally had my fill.
We could've gotten to this point in the story after 4-5 books, it certainly doesn't merit 9. Way too long, overly detailed, extreme lack of anything happening for at least a book or two. Was an editor assigned to this series, or does whatever he churns out make it into the final print?
I particularly dread the sequences with the "Forsaken". Does anyone find these at all interesting or compelling?
Another point-if you're going to have a series with about 5000 characters, please put a complete character index in each volume. I grew tired of reading a 30 page chapter on some character that hadn't appeared in the series for 5 volumes and not having the faintest idea of who exactly they were, and why I was supposed to care about them. Jeez.
Rating:
Summary: Winter's Heart
Review: My God!... If I have to hear about Nyneave tugging her braid and smoothing her skirts for another 1000 pages I'm going to scream. This book was the worst yet. How can Mr. Jordan waste that much time and never get anywhere? I am hopelessly caught in a never ending loop of useless description of charactors and what they are wearing. Why does Mr. Jordan spend so much time describing what someone is wearing and then only devote a couple of pages of a very long book to any real action? Of 766 pages, only the last two chapters did anything to advance the story. I got caught into what I thought was going to be a very good series and have now been left feeling I have wasted my time. I am just glad I never wasted my money on the hardbacks. I will be waiting patiently for my turn at the next grueling book(at the library!!). Mr. Jordan PLEASE finish this!...
Rating:
Summary: Rich detail, but lacking in direction
Review: There is no doubt that Robert Jordan is a talented writer in many ways. He is very adept at word building and character description, but at this point I feel that his series has stalled. Given the length of the book I was left feeling that very little of any substance happened. Winter's Heart continues to add detail and depth to the characters in the series. I really enjoy the rich cultures and their varying customs. Anybody who writes creatively or plays RPGs would certainly find some inspiration from the WoT setting. In my opinion there are just too many different threads to the story at this point. They add detail and explore the many rich settings of the world Jordan has created, but they have also caused the series to bog down. I don't think its worth 25 pages just to set up a few small details that will be important later (which is what I get the feeling was going on at times). This problem, which has existed through much of the series, seems to be especially serious in Winter's Heart. Those who feel this is a strength, and who have liked the direction the series has taken will be pleased with book 9. I think those of us who are this far into the series will want to continue on, but at this point I'm telling people not to start the series in the first place because I just don't feel there are enough quality scenes given the length of the books. I don't feel that the recent books have been fulfilling the promise made by the earlier ones. Its important that people who are thinking about starting the series take this into consideration.
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