Rating: 
Summary: Another Disapointment
Review: For all the Jordan fans waiting for the series to finally get back on track...don't hold your breath. Jordan starts off with an utterly useless section about Perrin and continues with hundreds of pages about Elayne's political troubles. There is virtually no major advancement of the main plot until the very end of the novel. Remember what the main plot is? Don't feel bad if you forgot. It's been a long time since anything important has happened in Rand land. As for those who think this series is as good as Tolkien's 'Lord of the Ring', get real! On sheer imagination, Jordan's series is immense. However, it's too unfocused and divergent to be ever considered as good as Tolkien's.
Rating: 
Summary: Where is the action?
Review: THE NEGATIVES (the positive below)
The book seems more hurried than previous one as if the writer was under the gun to finish it faster. The final battle of the book seems to be missing details of individual fights. Lan's fight with another sword master is undocumented other than the fact that it happened. What happened to the two renegade Ashaman who were coming up the stairs?
Where is the author's vaunted imagination when it comes to describing what Rand and Nyenvae had to do to ... with the most powerful sa'angreal? There are no battles only talks of them, the same goes for swordfights and the power is used mostly for traveling and healing. The bubbles of evil are nowhere to be seen and the crowd of forsaken and dark friends sit on their butts through 98 percent of the book. THE POSITIVES
However, weather and scenery as well as people are described in great detail just what you had come to expect from Mr. Jordan. I waited for this book for a long time and, I read it with a hungry passion, not being able to put it down for any great length of time. I want to know what happens next, and will wait eagerly for the next book, which may or may not be the last. The plot is magnificent in its diversity and wondrously detailed. Mr. Jordan's imagination rivals that of writers like JRR Tolkien and Isaac Asimov. CONCLUSION
This book is a slightly more active continuation of pulling all of the threads together and getting them ready for what comes next.
Rating:
Summary: Much better than Path of Daggers, but room for improvement
Review: Thank goodness, it's an improvement on the last one! I enjoyed it. RJ gets mired down in details in the first half or so, but the second part picks up (thanks mostly to Mat, naturally, but Rand also takes care of some big business). Still, some tension and excitement has been lost. The pacing isn't quite what it used to be; events seem to happen, in a sort of dry outline format, and then it's on to the next character. There's little thought about events or what it means for character development. Near the end, something happens to Rand that supposedly makes him even more a tough guy, but it's not really clear _what_ that was, since RJ never tells us. Perhaps we'll find out in book 20 when we've already forgotten about the whole incident! Many things happen that are not really explained; perhaps RJ avoids explaining them, lest he get pinned down to details, at the hazard of losing his ability to slop 'em all over the place. Which brings up another problem: there are so many characters, and so many past events, and so many plotlines, that RJ could come up with whatever he wants at this point and I would be like, "OK," simply because I can't remember all the things that have happened. For example, there is a character named Alivia who suddenly takes on great importance in book 9. I can't remember her at all from previous books. She simply wasn't memorable. He should stick to a handful of key characters and leave it at that. More precisely, he should concentrate on Rand, Mat, Perrin, Thom, Lan, some bad guys, and cut down the women's page time by half. They just fume and smooth skirts all the time, it's really tiresome. He tries to make the women so strong they make the men look wimpy, and in the process they become ridiculous. They still squabble like middle school girls. I'm all for gender equality, but these women are no longer interesting whatsoever. There is also some marital stuff that is simply weird/outlandish, unneeded, and dumb. That said, I liked the book. Perrin didn't get as much play as I would have liked (he needs to chill about Faile, too, and stop feeling sorry for himself), but Rand is more approachable. Mat had a decent share of chapters, although he could have seen more action. Some of the stuff is rather predictable, but there's excitement when he's around. All in all, a book worth reading. It's not quite the fulfillment of earlier books' promise, but at least it's moving in the right direction. Let's hope the next one's even better!
Rating:
Summary: Winter's Heart
Review: I enjoyed this book. It's not quite as good as the first few books, but it's definitely a step up from "Path of Daggers", which was horrible. The last chapter was the best.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good!
Review: Mat-lover that I am, I was DEVASTATED by that travesty known as Path of Daggers. Compared to that huge disappointment, Winter's Heart was much better than I had expected it to be...though still without quite enough pages devoted to my favorite character. The conclusion was fantastic: exciting and bizarrely funny to boot, nothing like the conclusions to the last couple of books. Aside from the momentous conclusion, however, nothing truly earth-shattering occurs, and there is no disippation of the influx of random new characters that appeared in the last book. I truly wonder how Jordan expects to wrap everything in up in only one new book after this! Nevertheless, I still highly recommend this book, and it is a definite improvement over PoD. Fellow Mat-lovers should be forewarned, however; once again, his chapters end in a cliff-hanger. (Though nothing compared to a building falling on him!)
Rating: 
Summary: As the Wheel Turns, so do the days of our life...
Review: You've got to be kidding me. Jordan has derailed his once epic series with a third-straight book that bogs down in the details and makes you want to scream. Through the first four books, Jordan had compiled a marvelous fantasy series where major actions happened with all the characters and you could barely put the books down, but the Wheel of Time has a flat tire and isn't going anywhere any time soon. This book does have things happen, although way too slowly. Mat does indeed meet the DoNM, but they only meet. Nothing too drastic happens with them. Perrin has a few chapters devoted to him at the beginning, but that's it. Way too many details of Elayne's difficulties ruling are covered, and Egwene is seen briefly in only two chapters. Didn't the cover state that one of the plots covered would be the Rebels vs. The White Tower? The end is eventful, but poorly written. Once again we have a very fuzzy ending. Is the taint removed or not? I assume that one of the Forsaken died, but it was so sketchy, it's hard to tell what happened. You would think that cleansing the taint on Saidin and a battle with six Forsaken would be incredible, but it's not. It was downright disappointing. I miss when Jordan fully fleshed out his characters and had epic plot threads crossing each other, but it is sadly over. Mat was taken take by Tylin in book 7, and he finally escaped her cluthces in book 9. Faile was kidnapped in Book 8, but that's still not resolved. Can we please move this thing forward. Remember when Rand would conquer a country and face down at least one Forsaken a book, Mat would face epic battles and learn more of the memories in his head or find the Horn, and when Perrin found he was a Wolfbrother, returned home, and led an army. It has degenerated into a really bad soap opera where nothing happens anymore, and it leads me to a very scary conclustion. Jordan has no idea how to end this thing. He had a great idea for four book, but now he's trapped in the middle. Or maybe he just wants to milk this thing. It will go at least 15, probably 20, but regardless, the series' best days are long since over. Somebody wake me when this thing is over, because until then, it's just not worth reading this drivel...unless you like Seinfeld. After all, that was a show about nothing.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's a list of words for "Great" when you need one?
Review: Firstly, I must say that if you do not believe that an enthralling political center combined with terribly realistic characters in a novel can bring together a story line just as well as a simple, "Let's go smite evil...again..." story line, then do not read these books! These are not your run-of-the-mill fantasy novels; they are filled wih intrigue and subtle twists that leave you filled with wonder and tingling with anticipation for the next page. Of course, there is always the omnipresent life-or-death struggle between good and evil that should fulfill all of those adventure-lovers' desires out there. Oh, and that British summary is horribly inaccurate; please remove it.
Rating: 
Summary: Wait until he's finished
Review: Unless you've JUST started reading this series and have been kept abreast of all that's gone on, I'd honestly suggest doing what I'm going to do from now on: wait until the series is COMPLETELY finished. The book *is* better than the last couple (which, sadly, isn't saying too much), but I'd just suggest waiting until the series is over, then rereading the ones you've read and then the newest ones, so you won't have to wait the 2 years between each book! *sigh*
Rating:
Summary: The Fun is Gone
Review: This is a better book than at least the previous two...but it's not that good. He has too many plots going on which hardly get addressed, and are never resolved in one book, often not even two. He has finally resolved some issues here, which is nice, and he finally brings Mat back, which is better, but now Egwene is MIA. I used to be a big fan of the series but it has now become more like a chore to read the books than a joy. He could still use some editing help, as his writing style is still somewhat bloated and awkward. If you still enjoy the series then you should like this book, but if you are hoping for the book which will re-kindle your love of the series.....this one isn't it either.
Rating:
Summary: Winter's Heart
Review: Robert Jordan's ninth book in this series was like a relaxing drink from a magnum of champagne. Problem is, there's soooo much to drink! Anxiously waiting fans (like me), were waiting to snap this book up and hope for some conclusion to the many plotlines running amok in the incredible world of the Wheel of Time. Unfortunately, this book was just another stop in what may be a 15 book epic. Jordan manages to maintain his many characters' personas while adding several new ones(again!) to the list. There seems to be a focus on the influence of the women foretold in the fates of Mat, Perrin, and Rand. The stunning ending of the book is a tiny bit vague, but serves to quench some of the thirst to read about the One Power in action. Jordan also details the internal politics of Andor (and we thought Gore/Bush was bad!) while updating the individual adventures of Mat Cauthon, Perrin Aybarra, and Rand Al'Thor. There is the feeling that he is beginning to close major loose ends in preparation for the Last Battle, but the magnitude of accomplishing that with all the running storylines is going to take awhile. Personally, I was happy to finally read some more about the Wheel of Time world. It is a well-established world with a plethora of peronalities, culture and history than you can dive into. I just wish I didn't have to wait 2 years for next book!
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