Rating: 
Summary: Another solid performance by Robert Jordan
Review: Once again, Robert Jordan has come through with a very enjoyable installment in his epic saga, The Wheel of Time. Each of the 650 plus pages holds on to you and leaves you breathless for the next installment. I'm not holding my breath though...but I would if it would make Jordan write faster!
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the first few, but better than the last few
Review: This book was very good. It brought back Mat, advanced a few plots(yes a a snails pace), had a few suprises(The way Rand accepts being bonded) and left me not knowing how in the hell this thing is going to end. I would say that there will be at least two more books in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Welcome Back Robert Jordan!!
Review: After getting bogged down in the last two books, Robert Jordan has delivered another great installment. The excitement and storytelling skill that was so evident in the first volumes is back!! We spend more time with the characters that we care about, see much more action and make real progress during this installment. Unlike the last two books, this one left me wanting more. This volume reaquaints us with Mat who is one of the more engaging characters in this story. He has a personality that we can relate to, cynical, irreverent and fun!! Winters Heart doesn't get bogged down in explaining what can happen, it lets it happen. This book left come great possibilities for the next volume. I can say that I'm looking forward to Book 10 and that's something I couldn't say after Books 8 and 9.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm a woman too...
Review: How this made the bestsellers list, I will never know. Doubtless on the strength of the first few books... When I first read Eye of the World & The Great Hunt some 7 or so years ago, I was excited by to see the debut of a new major fantasy epic (just love a good rollicking epic). I eagerly anticipated the 3rd and 4th books. Even possibly the 5th. Since then, it's palled more with each volume. I bought Winter's Heart out of a weird obligation to see the epic through, but though I've had the book for a couple of months, I can't seem to read more than a few pages at a time. I'm a woman, and am nauseated more than anything else by the women characters: a bunch of simpering, power hungry, self-righteous, smug creatures whom I could never imagine calling friends. For example, while I never (from the beginning) particularly liked Elayne, and REALLY disliked the sanctimonious Egwene, Nynaeve was a strong fiery character. Along with the Amyrlin Seat, Min and one or 2 others, she was one of the few I liked. She (and most of the others) have been reduced to mere cowering shadows of their former characters. Perhaps this is supposed demonstrate lessons in humility, administered by the obnoxious Egwene & Elayne. ANd then.. the Kin? A KNITTING circle? The backbiting harridans of the White Tower? Boxing men's ears? Sheesh. I've heard Robert Jordan models his female characters on his wife. Whoa! That must be something. As for the rest, I agree with all the other criticisms: that nothing happens (800 pages to describe a day, with details of dresses, costumes and names of a huge cast of minor characters), endless repetition of the same battles under different names, and of course... you can never kill the creatures of the dark. They always come back. Oh woe. End it already, Robert!
Rating: 
Summary: It's exactly what Jordan wanted
Review: Those who started this journey with Jordan are now divided into two camps -- those who think he has gotten long-winded and lost focus, and those who think the long-windedness is great storytelling. The latter have won Mr. Jordan's heart. I read the last few WOT books lamenting its descent into the realm of a fantasy soap opera. I didn't care about the (as I saw them) juvenile romantic adventures and misdaventures of Mat, Perrin, Rand, Nynaeve, etc., etc. The worst author of bodice-ripping romance novels writes about romance and male/female relationships more credibly than does Mr. Jordan. But I always thought that the trend towards more of this dreck was something Mr. Jordan might reverse, and restore some flow and reasonable level of maturity to the series. Because this series certainly has some great ideas behind it. After staggering through a few hundred pages of this book I finally have accepted that we will never see a return to the style of the earlier books in the series. Mr. Jordan has not lost his focus -- he has found it. It is clear from many of the comments in these reviews that Jordan has a host of fans that are interested in this series precisely because of those romances and relationships. Those of us who are hoping to see a return to a more event-driven story have lost the battle. Jordan will continue to write books that contain exhaustive detail about dress and juvenile interpersonal relations, while interspersing just enough plot-focused action to keep the rest of us satisfied. I think he knows that he'll lose a few readers along the way, but he'll be able to write additional volumes for his other fans that will more than make up for the loss. As for me, I couldn't even finish this book despite knowing the blockbuster at the end, and will not finish the series. The negatives simply outweigh the positives. George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, starting with A Game of Thrones, is so superior to WOT that comparisons are almost impossible. Full of true surprises, characters with real depth, tremendous action and incredibly intricate plotlines. Mr. Martin writes female characters that actually are individuals and, best of all, the series moves like lightning. If you're tired of WOT, give it a read. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: This book is only for hardcore fans
Review: Along with other fans of this series, I was anxiously awaiting the next installment. But all I can say is that I hope Mr. Jordan will slow down and take a bit more time before publishing the next book. This is a disjointed, dull effort with little plot, not at all on par wwith earlier, exciting novels. Characters who were developed at length in other books do not appear here. Most of this novel's characters -- and their often complicated backgrounds -- are never reintroduced. It is assumed that the reader understands the most casual of references to events that occurred in previous books. But only those who have thoroughly digested all eight other books have a prayer of understanding what is going on. I was very disappointed in this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Again?
Review: If you're a big fan of this series, read no further. In my opinion, this is the last 7 books all over again! The review/summary at the top of this page could apply to any Jordan novel: "Rand Al-Thor continues to travel the world seeking allies--as before, he finds himself disastrously caught up in the local politics of small city-states and has to sort them out at some cost to himself. His fellow villagers...deal with their own local problems; the agents of evil are abroad everywhere". While the series is very well written and Jordan's ideas are good, the series has gone almost nowhere over the course of the last several books, being sidetracked by subplots instead of bringing any actual resolution to the main themes. I recommend taking a rest from reading them until the Seanchan have finished invading, the Aes Sedai have actually done something about their problems, the agents of the Dark manage to bring their master back, or Rand Al-Thor finally masters his powers and saves the world.
Rating:
Summary: Much ado about nothing much....
Review: I've been an avid reader of the series, enjoying each successive Jordan missive as they've been releases. For books 4-8, I re-read the entire series before reading the latest release, just for the continuity and because the books are, well, re-readable. But now...ugh! See, to me, it's all about "suspension of disbelief"...or, in other words, the ability to be immersed in a story line so convincing that your right-brain takes over and mundane things, such as time, cease to be. Just didn't happen in this book. I actually found myself forcing my hands to pick up and continue where I had lost dropped the tome in distracted disgust. I think this is the last Jordan issue I will buy. Part of my problem with the story line is that the characters lose their "other ordinariness" because they take so damn long to *make* things happen. Rand as a re-active (as opposed to proactive) character just isn't a convincing sell. Sorry...on to other novels...
Rating:
Summary: Falling to Pieces
Review: This book continues the saga of a story that has lost grip with the idea of itself. RJ has completely lost the ability to write a gripping story. While his early books were filled with adventure, history, and background that served to provide a gripping detailed account of a world-shaking story, his last few books have become bogged down in the myriad new characters attempting to influence the increasingly myopic worldview of the book. RJ has taken a magnifying glass to the story he started and used it to examine each and every subplot and minor character to an extent that slows the actual story down to a crawl. Where the first books covered months of time in an equivalent number of pages, the latest ones cover mere weeks or even days without even touching on each character. In the latest book, RJ has a prologue that lasts almost a quarter of the entire book. Too many plot ends are left dangling and virtually no action takes place, mental,physical, nor emotional. The few characters that are actually examined are barely touched before being set aside again for their next chapter in the next volume. Where did the tight storyline go? I haven't seen any evidence of progress towards completion of this story in the last two books. The sheer lack of change in the world due to each volume is frustrating and disappointing. Save your money, and buy a George R.R. Martin book instead.
Rating:
Summary: quicherbellyakin!
Review: The last time I reviewed RJ, everyone was screaming about how horrid "Path of Daggers" was. Now, everyone is screaming about how dreadful "Winter's Heart" is. Amazing. First off, if Jordan is such a poor writer and his books are so ghastly, why do you keep buying them? Just what are any of you whining about, if you want it to be the same book nine times in a row, why not just buy nine copies of "The Eye of the World"? It's not like your reviews are going to get any different. Your complaints certainly haven't gotten to be any more creative. Once upon a time, there was a thing called the Hundred Years' War. Nobody ever knew what was happening from one district to the next, never mind on the other side of the continent, people dropped out of sight, news got convoluted and confused, and in fact, sometimes people didn't know if family or friends or even an entire population was even there anymore. And amazingly enough, it wasn't over in a day... or a week... or a month, or even two years. Lots of information got lost. Not everything got resolved. And life went on, so lots of new things started up, and sometimes, nobody was really certain how they were going to turn out. Today we have a little problem called The West Bank. Hasn't this conflict been going on for about 52 years, now? Does anyone know how it's going to turn out? Personally, I find the story fascinating. I've enjoyed reading about all the characters, good and bad, and I've watched them grow and change throughout the telling of the tale. People who seem insignificant in earlier rhetoric pop up in a pivotal moment and turn everything on its head. Some who seemed key suddenly disappear, and who knows? They may surface again, or may not, and perhaps they weren't so important as I might have thought. Kind of like people I see every day, in work, in school, in town, on the highway in passing cars. Some things have been resolved, to my immense satisfaction. Some things have been introduced, which I find intriguing. Some things were left hanging, and I'm going to wait with baited breath for another two years, I suppose. Ah, the two year wait... as a spoiled rotten brat who didn't get into the series until "The Dragon Reborn", I had the advantage of not having to wait at the start, and now I anticipate each release. I eat this story up with each new publication, and I re-read each of the older books before I read the new one... and get something new out of the series each time. Now: I only call this book 4 star quality because I cannot call it 4.5 stars: I think the only 5 star book was The Dragon Reborn. And OK, truth be told, Path of Daggers was a 3.5. The Fires of Heaven, by the way, I think was the weakest link. I'm sure I'll be lambasted for my opinion on that. Oh well. I would not even presume to say I can write 5,000+ pages of literature. And until one of you would-be critics can produce that sort of output, why don't you hush? Because I truly enjoy the experience of reading this story -- and I recommend it highly to everyone who enjoys smart reading. by the way, I would not presume to criticize Tolkein, either.
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