Rating: 
Summary: THE WHEEL OF TIME IS STILL FROZEN IN THIS WINTER'S HEART
Review: as an avid reader if the wheel of time series, i can't help but continue to be disappointed. where some questions were answered most were not. and can someone please tell me what is happening w/perrin and fail? this story line begins the book and then just disappears. also, did i miss something, or shouldn't winter be over? i could have sworn that was what the bowl of winds was for. as w/the last 3 books, i spent much of the time just skimming pages looking for something of real interest. it is no longer the series that enthralled me w/magic and monsters galore. now we are lucky to have rand channel to just to bring a pitcher of wine to himself or to see a grey man pop up. where has all the fun and action gone? i just want to get to the last battle and be done...
Rating: 
Summary: A Solid Continuation
Review: I was a bit concerned after the previous entry (Path of Daggers) that Jordan was running out of steam. Not a lot seemed to happen and I was worried he was padding the story some. And the fact that Matt was completely absent was a real bother.This one removed most of my worries. Not a lot happens in the first half or so - which is not unusual for a WoT novel, really - but the ending is (almost) spectacular. We get to see a lot of Matt this time - a very good thing. The three "main" characters - Rand, Matt and Perrin - each get their own distinct cliffhangers, of sorts (Rand's big task is essentially complete at novel's end but we won't know the repercussions for some time). The one real problem with the book is that Perrin's dilemma is set up and left hanging very early, then we don't hear from him again. That's okay, as it appears a fairly minour subplot, but Jordan usually spreads stuff out through the book better. A few of the characters we've come to expect to hear from more get short shrift (i.e., Egwene and Elaida) but that's a small thing. Contrasting that are some excellent interactions, a few truly amazing events (Rand's climactic scene in particular) and the usual splashes of terrific, character-driven humour. If you've been reading WoT, this one will be sure to please.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Happening
Review: I've been disappointed with the last four books in this series. Winter's Heart kept the streak going. The last one I enjoyed was #4, The Shadow Rising. Books 1-4 provided the reader with a genuinly enjoyable complete story. Winter's Heart was 600+ pages of fluff. As book 8 ended, Perrin's wife had been kidnapped. In book 9, we get as far as Perrin breaking camp and starting to give chase. Book 8 had Matt trapped in Ebou Dar, Book 9 ends with his plan for escape just starting. Rand is 100 or so pages of weak writing, ending with a boring "climax". Thinking about it, Jordan has always spent allot of time on fluff. He has gone to great lengths to give background information, in some cases simply reprinting paraphrased sections of earlier books. I never really minded it because he still told a good complete story. Winter's Heart went to the extreme, it was almost all fluff (designed to fill pages)and no story. It could have been salvaged had he provided and extra 200 - 300 pages to complete the significant subplots started in book 8. Without the pages required for a certain amount of closure, it was the equivalent of a high school student rambling on so he could fill the 10 pages required for a minimum passing grade. For whatever reason, Jordan no longer bothers to tell a complete story. He has taken to adding countless minor subplots, spending significant time on background filler, or foolish twists (like renaming villains). These detract from what started as a great series Years back, one of the best books I read was the first book of L. Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth series. Book 2 was also good. 3 and 4 went down hill but I bought them because I expected what I had received in 1 and 2. I think I bought a couple more out of habit before I simply gave up on the series. Mr. Jordan has just about reached the same point where it's time to give up on him. Bottom line, Winter's Heart was a waste of time and money. The odds are I will wait until the series end (one can only hope that will come soon) before I bother, if I bother, with any future books
Rating:
Summary: Winter's Heart excellent where it stays on track
Review: Robert Jordan has once again managed to sell a book to me. The first book introduced the main characters to me and made a strangely strong bond causing me to care about their stories and their destiny. For several books the story line advanced srongly alternating between key initial characters. Then filler happened. Again in this book any portion dealing with any of the characters found in the first book is excellent. But between those sections dealing with our protagonists is page after agonizing page of pure filler. New characters are introduced for no particular reason other than to delay the story line. We strongly want Matt to meet his wife. But we have absolutely no interest in periferal characters dealt with more extensively than our key characters. Rereading this book if one reads only the sections in which a primary initial character appears and skips the rest one can miss nothing but increase the reading pleasure to 5 stars. Perhaps when the series finally ends or when Robert Jordan's heirs conclude it with a ghost writer there can be an abridged version which takes the 668 pages of this volume and makes it one BOOK of a book combining every 3 now published volumes - abridged based on the pricinciple mentioned. Best wishes - It is worth buying but perhaps not reading in its entirety.
Rating:
Summary: Please Make Him Stop
Review: Please Make Him Stop!! This series has gone from mildly entertaining at the outset to a ludricous repetition of pet phrases, one-dimensional characters, and a plot full of holes. It's time to stop the madness. If your looking for thoughtful writing and interesting characters turn to G.R.R. Martin or T. Williams. If you want dark heroes, turn to David Gemmell. . . but regardless stop reading this garbage.
Rating: 
Summary: There are no beginnings in the turning of the wheel of time
Review: ...and endings don't seem very forthcoming either. However, book nine in the hernia-inducing "Wheel of Time" series accomplishes a feat rare for Robert Jordan: it is too short. Where the pace started to drag for the last two or four books, depending on your point of view, "Winter's Heart" keeps building to a finale that will leave you panting and wanting more. At six-hundred some pages, Jordan revamps any waning interest. Maybe the series won't conclude for another half-dozen books, but perhaps Jordan can keep it interesting. "Winter's Heart" suggests that maybe he can. Some of the turns-of-events that have been promised since the beginning are finally coming around. One or two even seem to be completed, in one way or another. Of course new issues arise, mostly in the venue of inter- and intra-metropolitan squabbling, but the main story picks up the pace and chugs along nicely. If you haven't started the series, don't. Not unless you have a year with nothing else to do, or you have infinite patience. But if you have started, even if you're only on the first book, keep reading. Suffer through the mild boredom of "A Crown of Swords" and "A Path of Daggers" and the reward will be "Winter's Heart". Robert Jordan has remembered what the series is about, and this book should keep you going, for however long that may be.
Rating:
Summary: There are no beginnings in the turning of the wheel of time
Review: ...and endings don't seem very forthcoming either. However, book nine of the hernia-inducing "Wheel of Time" series does something few of the books seem to be able to accomplish. It seems too short. At six-hundred some pages, "Winter" picks up the pace that has been lacking for the last two to four books, depending. Jordan could have gone with his habit of nudging the page numbers against the quadrupal digit boundry and I don't think reading it would have been an effort. If you haven't started the "Wheel of Time" series, don't. Not unless you have nothing else to do with your year. But if you are in the series, keep going. Suffer the mild boredom the "Crown" and "Path" will induce and "Winter's Heart" will be your reward, with a few of the long-promised turns-of-event that Jordan has been promising us, and an ending that will leave you panting and checking for more pages. Maybe the series finale won't be for another half-dozen books or so, but this one will remind you why you are still reading, nine books into it.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the last two
Review: Hey stuff finally happened. Nowhere near as good as the first four or five but infinitely better than the recent books, especially Path of Daggers. I started reading these books when I was in high school and I'm starting to think I'll be close to retiring when Jordan finally finishes this series up. The first half of this book was dreadfully slow with people wondering around the wilderness or sitting in palaces doing paperwork. It did start to pick up about midway through and unlike recent books there actually was a coherent climax that seemed to resolve some outstanding issues. I guess my greatest problem is that it didn't resolve much and it even brought some new elements of conflict into the story. Now I don't know about the rest of you but it's nearly impossible for me to remember what's going on from book to book. Fortunately this time I reread Path of Daggers right before reading Winter's Heart which proved to be an immense help. Of course it would have helped to reread Crown of Swords before Path of Daggers and so on but at least I had some memory of what had been going on when I started this book. Anyways I don't know if this review helps much. Overall I'm happier than I've been recently but not thrilled. The book was only about 600 pages long and it makes me sick that I'll have to wait another 2 years for the next volume. People have said they're four more to go which means 8 more years which means I'll be about 35 when this all finishes. Ack. So in a nutshell better than recent stuff. Things are resolved and the plot finally moves forward. I guess the good thing that comes out of this is that with only four more volumes to go that means those will have to be a positive whirlwind of action to finish things off. Either that or that's just another rumor and this series will never end. Got it?
Rating:
Summary: Another book.......waste of money ...once again
Review: Not much to say about this one...since not much happens...Elayne wonders around her palace...and not doing much...Perin is still as whipped as ever... The whole book was predictable....especially the end....I mean Rand said in the prologue for God's sake....can Jordan be any more obvious...this series is all over the place....tie some knots ...man... Very slow pace not to mention boring...if you were suckered into buying it... like I was ...just read the last chapter...thats the only action you'll get G... ps...Jordan should read George Martin's series...to see how a real author writes books...(please)
Rating:
Summary: Waste of years of waiting
Review: . . . and close to $30. Only a Jordan fan in denial could see this as more than drivel. Absolutely nothing happens in this book, so readers should be grateful it's not nearly as long as some of the previous ones. No plot development, just more convoluted twists and turns that don't appear to go anywhere -- at least anywhere interesting. No character development, except for Mat and certain female characters' sexual appetites. Jordan and his story began to get dazed and confused several books ago, and this newest installment seems to continue down an increasingly pointless path, seemingly emphasizing that there are "neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the wheel of time." Don't believe the hype. "Rand, with Min, is on the run, and Cadsuane, in Carhien, is trying to figure out where he is headed." Well, you will be too, even after reading this book. A shame for a series that started out so well. Really awful. Skip it.
| 
