Rating: Summary: Ha Ha Ha Review: This is hillarious. I've given up on this series long ago, but I enjoy coming back again and again to read the reviews. Most complain about how wordy and stale the books are, but the hundreds of reviews always average out to a pretty good rating. Why should Jordan change anything? He is selling lots of book and obviously has a huge readership hooked. I feel for you people, but nothing is going to change. Accept it, or get over it. Good Luck
Rating: Summary: On the way to redemption Review: I don't think I was ever so frustrated with a book as I was with Path of Daggers. That is Mr. Jordan's gift...the ability to turn a normally rational fantasy fan into a raving maniac pulling out his or her hair because they want to know when Moiraine's coming back or how Mat and the Daughter of the Nine Moons are going to get along. It's amazing. After Path of Daggers, I went around telling people I wasn't reading any more Robert Jordan books. Of course, that didn't hold true. I'm glad it didn't. Winter's Heart still doesn't quite live up to the wonderful pacing, action and development as the first three books in the series, but it's a good start. Mat came back to pester the Seanchan. Finally. Elayne skipped around the Lion Throne, deciding whether or not to take a seat and made a fool of herself over Rand, as usual. As did Min and Aviendha. Rand was accumulating a sizable harem, although he did manage to bestir himself in the end. And those Ashaman are great characters. The ending...What a scene! Perhaps a few too many Forsaken with alternate names scurrying about, but absolutely great. I smiled the whole time. Finally, something happened! There were flashes of the engaging characters that reached out and grabbed me and I hope book 10(does anybody have a date?) delivers even more. The parts from Mat's perspective are hilarious. Best line in the book is in his last scene. I laughed a lot! My complaints - Mr. Jordan's previously interestingly detailed descriptions are unnecessarily long, especially in the case of Elayne and that Sea Folk woman. Almost as if someone were getting paid by the page... Where was Egwene? Is the disappearance of major, important characters for an entire book going to become a habit? I hope not. Why are there women stronger in the Power that Nynaeve? I mean, she does have a great role in the last scene, but she's not quite as fiery as she was before. I guess it would take Lan to tame her. She's a great character, though, and I hope she doesn't get pushed to the background. And, for heaven's sake, I know Moiraine's got to be around there somewhere...
Rating: Summary: wondering Review: After reading a few of the reviews listed I had to say my piece. I have been reading this series since Eye of the World was 2 days old, and I have to say, everytime I get done with one book I cannot wait for the next, the biggest complaint I have of any of the books is the wait for the next one. From the first page I have read each book from start to finish without putting it down to even sleep, I might stop sometimes to really think about what all has occured before, but that is it, for those of you who don't think Jordan knows where he is going with the plot, I say so what, as long as he does what he has done and stick with the story he is telling, I say write another 10 books before finishing, I would not complain one bit, as much as I want to know the ending, I don't want them to end.
Rating: Summary: Disappointed Review: This book went no where. It took me 4 months to finish because I kept putting it down in favor of more interesting books(like my dish washer manual). If its content were edited to half the number pages and a small climax and partial conclusion were added, the book would have been much more enjoyable. I don't consider the encounter at the end a climax. It seems like it was just pasted in. I won't buy book 10 unless it's the conclusion, and that's only because I've invested so much time already.
Rating: Summary: It keeps going and going... Review: With so many reviews I'm suprised that this book rated as high as it did. Jordan obviously gained many devoted fans with the first few books of the series, which were among the best I have ever read. The problem is that Jordan has introduced so many side characters, that 90% of recent books is taken up by useless dialog that does nothing to further the main plot. If it wasn't already taken, I would recommend that the series be renamed "The Never Ending Story". If you haven't yet started the series, read the first 6 or so books and wait for the last one, if it ever comes out. There's nothing in the more recent books but filler dialog.
Rating: Summary: Winter's Heart.... Review: I agree with all of you when you say you enjoyed the first book throught the sixth, and after that it went dry for a little while... but I think the ninth book was wonderful! At least, the second half of it was. I started out reading it, and wondering if the long awaited Winter's Heart would be just as pointless as Path of Daggers, and then found that after Rand was bonded, the plot quikened amazingly. In fact, I couldn't put the book down after that. Also, The seventh book was no great masterpiece, but I still found it entertaining. In my opinion, the only failure in this series was Path of Daggers. I think most of the complaints come from people who are tired of waiting for the end, and though I fell the same way, I think this book deserved a LOT more than the 1.5's and 2's you people are giving it.
Rating: Summary: Fourth Grade Review: I can understand many of your opinnions of this book. Really i can. I can calmly sit here and read the Robert Jordans faithful fans have abandoned him. People who waited in lines for his books. I can understand that. To tell you the truth i might have said the same thing a while ago. but, you see, i grew up. I started reading R.A Salvatore when I was in fourth. His books are great, action packed with tons of exciting battles. But to tell you the truth, when a character died i really didn't care. The characters just didn't have depth. I recently read a number of Mercedes Lackeys novels. Unlike Salvators action adventures her books were set in a world where i could belive in true love. Her characters have not only acheived a normal level of depth but they have surpased even my expectations. I was brought to tears by the thoughts of a woman as she cried over a lover she couldn't have. And yet these book were not perfect either. The lack of action made them slow, almost dull at times. When a friend of mine introduced me to Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series two weeks ago i thought i had found the best of both worlds. Jordans books merged my most inventive dreams and hopes of what a fantisy novel should be. Not only did Jordan merge the worlds but he has written books that can satisfy even my thirst for pages(I read a mite bit fast). The characters he has created before our eyes, grow, bloom wilt and die and as much as it pains us to let them go, we must. Some reviewers say Jordan has no idea where the plot is going, then tell me this: how can a suggestion in book 2 lead to a prediction in book 7 and to the reality in book 9. Did you really think you understood the complex plots and themes woven into the life of this world? AS to the new characters let me say this, the blood line was getting soft, just as Failes blood line was getting soft. Nynaeve is changing. She is not abandoning who she was, she is blooming. She is maturing and growing up. That is what i sugjest you do. And when you have, look back at Robert Jordans books. After all, your not in fourth grade anymore.
Rating: Summary: The beginning of the end Review: Too bad, I loved the first 6, just like everyone else, and the 7th and 8th weren't bad, either. But this book went nowhere. Most of the time was spent in dense description of anything at all, just to fill space (pages about the thoughts of some minor Sea Folk character who will never appear again.) Scores of minor characters are introduced for the same purpose. A major mistake was to introduce all these new powerful characters, and new Talents (healing Stilling, for example, which Flinn can also do now). I mean the Forsaken were supposed to be the most powerful Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends, and now they're just small potatoes. Many new ter-angreal popping up also serve to make the good guys more powerful, and the series more boring. In the finale, (without getting into details), the Forsaken are beaten off by a tiny amount of good guys. Of course, they don't trust each other enough to link, and crush Rand. With the good guys getting stronger, and the Forsaken getting stupider, they do not even seem like a menace anymore. Half the fun of the series was in speculating about the things left unsaid, (who killed Asmodean, all the new characters). The ninth book, answers almost all these questions directly, not leaving very much to discuss. Asha'man getting bonded is also another stupid 'addition' to the series. They can bond the Aes Sedai themselves, but they jump at everything the Aes Sedai say. Almost nothing happens in the book, which Jordan tries to make up with sex. It used to be this series was a refreshing change from most books on the market. Now it too has resorted to the same stale tactics to get excitement. Robert Jordan is clearly desperate to keep his series alive, and it shows.
Rating: Summary: You are right, it is an improvement, but not by much Review: I remember the days when this series was interesting, oh so very interesting, I read, and re-read just to make sure I didn't miss anything in the very colorfully written books. I stood in line at the bookstore to buy each new book as it came out. It was what fantasy was supposed to be. But somewhere between books 5 and 9 Bobby lost his touch, or maybe just got greedy. I bought this book before a deployment to Greece, I started reading it, got to page 200, slowly placed the bookmark in it and closed the book. As I left Greece, I had a lot of full bags of souveniers and was very tempted to leave it in my hotel room to make room for some of them. I kept it and gradually, in very painfully boring spurts finished the book, if The Rock where to rate this book, any book after 5 for that matter he would most likely say "This book absolutely SUCKS!!!!!" Why does this book suck oh so badly? For starters, who in the hell are all these new people? Bobby my friend, you need to stick with the characters we know and love, it's fine to mature them and change them, it's part of life and we understand it, but don't just throw new main style characters in the mix. Secondly, it's fine to throw a bunch of detail out there, detail is good, it makes the book, but too much detail makes the book boring. Lastly, the book just plain and simple has no action, not that the first few had a lot, but they had enough to keep you enthralled. The simple fact is, Jordan has lost his touch, his direction, and yes, he has gotten greedy. Why do I still read this series? I don't, this book was my last chance for it. So for all you cheapo's out there, if you want a free copy of the book, I'll send you one free of charge. In the unlikely event that Bobby Jordan reads this: Bobby, if you feel that you can't finish the series in a timely and entertaining manner, let me finish it for you.
Rating: Summary: At least it's better than _Path of Daggers_... Review: .. But somewhere along the road, Jordan got it into his head to start supplanting main characters, and that's not cool. I can handle the disappearance of Egwene and the almost-disappearance of Perrin. I can handle the realization that book 9 takes place between the last chapter of book 8 and its epilogue. I can even (sort of) handle the fact that Mat is supposed to marry a bald noble who can learn to channel and who has some inordinately close relations with Semirhage. Sort of. But I don't understand why suddenly it was necessary to introduce characters who Healed better than Nynaeve, and now at least three non-Forsaken characters who are stronger than she is. Nynaeve was like the Rand of the Aes Sedai. There were some parallels. Yet suddenly, Nynaeve has gotten married and she's become useless. Essentially. I don't care what she did at the end of _Winter's Heart_, but her actions before it, both in book 8 and book 9, were deplorable compared to what she used to do. Nynaeve has been slowly declining, her courage leaving with her bluster and returning only in brief spurts, but leaving her without even her strength in the Power is just... unbelievable. I feel almost betrayed. Until the end, the action of _Winter's Heart_ was rather unremarkable. There were some amusing surprises, like Perrin waking up in Berelain's bed, or Min, Birgitte, and Aviendha 'experiencing' Elayne and Rand... complicated, repulsive, but funny all the same. There were some rather predictable plot twists, as Perrin abandons Rand's plan to find Faile and Elayne essentially gaining control of Andor (and proving herself an utter moron as she did so). The last scene of the book was the best, returning to the high level of other books in the series, but at the same time it was too short. With so many characters present, and so many POVs at once, it would've been nice to see a bit more detail. It would also be nice to see the Forsaken acting as though they had even one brain between them, but I think that that's about as impossible as the sun turning green, another reason that _Winter's Heart_ irritated me. Here are these villains, the most frightening group of people in the world, and they can't even settle their differences long enough to launch a successful attack on Rand that would finally end their troubles and leave them free to deal with each other? Jordan made his Forsaken too powerful, and leaving them beached and helpless against Rand not only does them a disservice, but it *feels* wrong as well.
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