Rating: 
Summary: Wait for the Paperback
Review: Another disappointment. What Jordan does in 100 words, most authors do in 10. This series started out great but in the last few books, it's just dragged on. I have about 10 years into this series and I'm just about at the point of saying enough is enough. There has been so many characters and subplots introduced it's difficult to figure out what's happened between books. It's almost as if Jordan does not know where he's going with it and hoping he will think up something. In the meantime, he is getting rich writting crap. Get with it Jordan and move this series along.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the last couple
Review: This book is paced muched better than the last two books. Also, it has a more interesting ending. This book ends with something that will effect the rest of the series, not just another "I must fight a Forsaken" type ending. The book has the main characters interacting with each other more than in the last two books as well. Overall, an enjoyable read. It is still better than most of the fantasy being put out today and appears like it may be finally heading towards a conclusion!
Rating: 
Summary: What happened?
Review: I am very disappointed. I raced through books 1-8, eagerly anticipating the further adventures of Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Elayne, Nyeaeve, Lan, Loial, etc. I'm stuggling even to finish this one. Jordan has brought in too many new or barely mentioned characters this time around. Yes, there are continuing stories of the old characters, but there sandwiched between chapter after chapter of characters that I don't really care about. What I really wanted to read, was that Moiraine really wasn't dead, that she had somehow been caught up in some thing, and would reappear or the others would come upon her (maybe as a slave without her memory?) I only started reading this series a year ago under protest, but was immediately hooked. If this new book is a sign of what's to come, I'll quit now, while my opinion of books 1-8 still stands as outstanding!
Rating:
Summary: Sheep Swallop and Bloody Buttered Onions
Review: Ever since Book 6 we've been given less to read and longer periods to wait for the next one. Count the number of lines per page in LoC and examine the font size, not to mention the number of pages. NOW, take a look at 7, 8, & 9 - the font has increased, the leading has increased, and look at the number of pages in the books. They sure haven't bloody increased! All of us Dedicated to this series appreciate every word Jordan writes, every one of Lini's wonderful sayings, every twist, every love scene, every time the One Power is channeled, ALL of it. But I hope I can speak for all of us when I say that the Fans, the people who are building Jordan's retirement nest for him, are not being treated right. Oh, and I have to mention the grotesque number of spelling/grammatical errors in Winter's Heart - Light! - two bloody years to come out with another dribble of the story, anticlimactic thing that it is, and all those errors. Lastly, and this is for you, Robert, why even have that poor glossary in the book? I'd prefer 10 or so more pages of story than that poor excuse for a reference. I hate to be so bloody hard on Tor and Jordan, but their actions have earned it as far as I'm concerned.
Rating:
Summary: Not Great
Review: Winter's Heart is ok. The main problem is the slooow pace. There were chapters of (so far as I can tell) nothing. If Jordan could finish the series in another book or possibly two that would be great, but I'm doubtful. The other main problem is the lack of ending in anything but the main plot. I know this is a series but the lack of ending is a huge problem. Last, I may be a really fast reader but I don't have time to reread the series. I was lost over a lot of the terminology used for the various artifacts and people. ....
Rating:
Summary: Not The Best -- But Not The Worst Either
Review: .... The fact of the matter remains -- Robert Jordan has created one of the most (if not THE MOST) convincing fantasy universe in the last fifty years. This series proves this. For all of you who want more action there are other writers who seem to specialize in the "hack and slash" genre. However, from what I can garner from this series is that Jordan writes in a "High" fantasy mode, akin to Tolkien, and he writes in such a way so that he can truly flesh out the universe he has created. And Winter's Heart continues to flesh it out. The biggest plus with this series is the minute detail that fills it. Jordan does not simply want to get his point across that is very easy. Jordan wants to ILLUSTRATE his action, his drama, his characters -- his world. Which brings me to Winter's Heart. Is this his best work -- of course not. Is it his worst? Hell, no. I found this novel to be a return to form. It seemed more inspired, more immediate, and just plain better than the last two novels. And so those of you who hated the last book can feel empowered, I too didn't think too highly of Path of Daggers. And it took two readings of Crown of Swords for me to gain an appreciation for what was going on there.... Something happens in this novel. And not just the obvious climactic event (brilliantly written though it was). Several things, in fact. I have been waiting for some time to see Min, Elayne, and Aviendha in the same room together. The sense of urgency apparent in this scene is representative of the novel, and is one of the most wonderful things about it. Indeed, Jordan is at his best when the urgency is palpable. Path of Daggers peaked early after the Bowl was used. Leaving the remainder of the novel lacking in force. Winter's Heart never loses its direction, nor does it really expand beyond it's relatively small scale. Jordan writes his main characters well, and he continues to do so through this novel. Even though Perrin bows out sooner than I would have hoped, but I'm not writing this series, so I'm not going to complain about how Jordan writes it. Which brings me to the final truths, as I see them: I too tire of his depiction of women. In my opinion, especially in the Fantasy Genre, it is hard for a man to effectively write a woman. Jordan does a better job than others have, but he gives each of his main women certain traits and makes them stick too them (Nynaeve and her braid, Elayne and her sniff, etc.). It is unfortunate, but not unexpected. I too grow weary of the Wait. But there are a billion books in this world. And a good many of them are worth reading..... imagine the mental energy that goes into keeping a world like Jordan's running. Try creating something on so grand a scale, and then keep track of it. There is some amazing focus going on here. Not once in this series have I seen Jordan lose control of the world he created. It has taken Jordan ten years to write/publish nine novels, Tolkien produced the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in the same span of time. Jordan isn't working slowly in comparison. Finally, Winter's Heart shows that Jordan can write a decent story, on a relatively small scale, that has drama, action, and plot development all working together toward a common end. Just as he proved he can write on a larger, battle oriented scale in Shadow Rising and Fires of Heaven. This book is not without faults, but no piece of literature is. I continue to have faith in Robert Jordan -- a dry spell in the body count will not deter me from reading and enjoying such a brilliantly vivid universe.
Rating:
Summary: Getting better, but still not great
Review: The series does recover somewhat from previous books due to this book, but not completely. Less slumber parties, but nevertheless more of the same old, same old. Characters are unidimensional, dialog is often infantile, overly verbose, repetetive descriptions, etc. Did anyone expect otherwise? I'll finish reading the series. Not because it's great, but because I'm one of those people who has to finish a story once started. I did experience some hesitation, however, because of the last book and after reading Jordan's claim (here on Amazon) that he's a better writer than Tolkien. Talk about cheek!
Rating: 
Summary: THE WHEEL KEEPS TURNING
Review: After waiting 2 years to get this latest installment I was pleased with the result. Sure, Jordan can be slower than an armadillo crossing a Texas road, but his descriptive prose is wonderful. He has created a vast world and is able to keep this world new and alive. There are so many characters and plot lines going that there is just too much going on to rush things. This novel picked up the pace from the Path Of Daggers though and Rand and friends are getting closer to their respective goals. There were some exciting things that came about in this book and some things happened that should have happened a long time ago. Jordan does however lose sight of Perrin and Faile. They are strong in the first of the book and then just fade out of sight. Other than that this book was very welcome and I am now looking forward to number 10. The wheel continues turning as it will.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the magic?
Review: Several people have compared 'The Wheel' to a soap opera and I think that's an apt description. Some people like soap operas: the complex (and usually highly charged) social interactions, the endless, soothing flow of the story (rather than a story written with a succinct purpose in mind), the incredibly detailed personal histories of the characters, etc. etc. If you are one of those people, you'll enjoy this book. If you are not--you won't (I think this describes the disparities in the scores Jordan has received here). I, however, do not enjoy soap operas and so can't give this book over 3 stars. In fact the only reason I give it 3 rather than 2 or even one is that Jordan has, mainly in his first 6 books, managed to create one of the most richly detailed, well-written fantasy worlds found in popular literature. But he does little to enrich this fertile setting here. He spends endless lines detailing social interactions in which I have absolutely no interest (the opinions of Elayne's guards on her lover? Why should I care?). He still cannot make me believe in his female characters (3 women-1 man: who REALLY thinks this is viable? Most people can't stay married to one person, much less three). His battle scenes, admitedly well written, don't seem to resolve anything, giving rise to a sense that this is bloodshed simply for bloodshed's sake (we've been offing 1 Forsaken a book, more or less, for a decade of real time now and all that's changed from one to the other is the setting--and now they're apparently reincarnating each other so this will undoubtably go on ad nauseum).... And the biggest disappointment is this: the MAGIC is gone. Do you remember the first few books when you felt that sense of wonder (and even fear) after Rand encountered his first Trolloc, or Perrin saved Three Firs, or Matt regained his ancestral memories? It's absent now. The magic, which has faded remarkably in the last few books, has now utterly vanished. Let's face it: if I wanted reality and to experience people behaving like children-I'd watch the news. When I read fantasy I want to escape and recapture that sense of wonder that most of us lose when we become adults. Unfortunately, Jordan no longer does this. This series has the makings of one of the biggest unintentional tragedies ever in popular fiction. One can only hope that Jordan does the seemingly impossible and rescues it before that happens.
Rating: 
Summary: Slightly better than Path of Daggers.
Review: After a long wait, we get what a lot of people expected would be an explosive book; plot lines would be advanced, established characters would become more intriguing and overall it was expected to be a return to his former writing style. Unfortunately, what we get is mostly filler, albeit with a great ending. Winter's heart is better than Path of Daggers, but only just. We have pages of unending descriptive passages about styles of dress and character traits that have already been detailed in earlier books, for example, the way the Sea Folk dress and the Ebou Dari women, the Caemlyners, etc. In earlier books, Herid Fel was built up into a mystery with regard to his having a clue to remove the taint from saidin. In this book, Rand just goes ahead and does it. No insight into the thought process that led him to use the Choedan Kal. An example of filler:- a two minute walk by Mat around the palace is stretched into two pages, while Lan's fight with Toram Riatin is dismissed in two sentences. I used to enjoy the world Robert Jordan created, with its detailed and enjoyable descriptions, but now these seem repetitious. My experience with the Wheel of Time is at an end. I do not have the patience to wait 2 years between books for another 4-5 books that will be needed to finish this series.
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