Rating: 
Summary: Worth Reading
Review: Although Jordan does tend to spend too much time on the perpetually stagnant characters of Elayne and Perrin, there is a definate move towards the resolution of the series. Many things which had not been previously known are revealed in the book, and it also has new surprises. Definately worth reading if you have read the other books, and if you haven't, you should.
Rating:
Summary: End at 10!
Review: I discovered this series several books in and enjoyed becomming so involved in the intricate plot. But 8 and 9 have been major disappointments! I find myself skimming boring plot lines that could be summed up in a page. It's time to end. Please!
Rating: 
Summary: getting annoyed
Review: First off let me say that I am a big fan of WoT. It is the best fantasy series ever. My problem is that I still had hair when the series began and will probably be dead before it is finished. The last two books have been four years in the making and the source of my irritation is.... WHY?! The first 5 books of the series (the best ones!) were put out in about three years, so obviously Jordan can put out quality writing much faster than he has been lately. The last two volumes together are 1300 pages of double spaced "Dr Seuss" sized print and more than half of that is braid-pulling, sniffing, blushing,skirt smoothing,stalking, tantrums(you get the idea)and all manner of description and scenes that could all be cut and pasted from any of the earlier books.(In fact I could swear that some were.) Waiting so long for so little is enough to make me want to pull what hair I have left out by the roots. Still, Winter's Heart is a step in the right direction as the plot actually advances a little and some plot questions are answered but... please RJ, you OWE it to your fans to devote a little more time to this series. At the current pace I can't see the series concluding in less than 4 or 5 more books, which is fine, (I will be sorry to see it end) but waiting 10 years is completely unacceptable and I'll bet that the majority of WoT fans agree.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the wait, and your time
Review: Finally, it's out! After counting down the days until #9 was published, my impatience has been satisfied (of course, now I have to settle down to wait for book 10). Sigh. Anyway, for people who haven't read this series before, stop right here and begin at book one (The Eye of the World). Otherwise you'll be completely lost. After a somewhat dissapointing read in #8, which moved very slowly, Jordan's picked up the pace. The first 100 pages are a bit of a snooze, but things really start happening after that. My favorite character makes his reappearance, and we finally meet the Daughter of the Nine Moons. However, Egwene and her impending siege are completely left out, much to my frustration; Perrin and the Prophet have very minor places in this book as well. Winter's Heart resolves some major plot questions,and the last chapter will leave you out of breath and your stomach in knots. ( I won't be more detailed, I don't want to ruin it.) The scenes are richly detailed, as always, but the characters seem a bit distant, with less internal development of character. I'd say this book is definately darker in tone, with less of the comedy mixed in with more serious scenes. The only real complaint I have is that the writng ( stylistically, not plotwise) seems a bit rushed, like the author hurried to just get the book written and published. ( Yes, I know, it's been two years, but he wrote another book in that time, and I think he focused on that one more). Bottom line: read this one, it's a lot better than The Path of Daggers. Though not with the charm of the first two books, the ending is written in true grand Jordan fashion. It'll take at least two more books to finish the series,but Winter's Heart heads toward a conclusion. And for those of you who think the series is too big and long, go watch TV and its 1/2-hour plot lines. The world needs a few big stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Better, but...
Review: I will first say that I checked this book out at the library, since spending more money on this monstrosity is something I swore I would never do again after reading "The Path of Boredom." This series is making me completely mental, but having invested so much time into it already, I figured I would read it if I didn't have to spend any money on it. The first problem with reading a new WOT book is that it has been so long since the last one, and there are so many plots, sub-plots and sub-sub-plots, that by the time I read this book I barely remembered what the hell was going on. After quite a bit a reading, I finally got sort of a feel for what was going on...good thing he introduced a bunch of new crap I gotta try to remember. Mostly needless new crap. Basically, this book is better than the last two (how could it be worse?) because Mr. Jordan has finally decided to resolve some major issues. Thanks so much. But it is still nowhere near the quality of the earlier books. It is still pretty boring and exceedingly long winded (his lengthy descriptions are becoming so tedious...any paragraph that begins describing anything, I just skip...it makes the read far more endurable). Please, Mr. Jordan, I beg of you, end this in the next book so we can move on and spend more time reading worthwhile, exciting, and witty fantasy like George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire which starts with the first book, "A Game of Thrones." It is so far superior to Jordan's recent crap. It is worth spending full price for. Check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Winter's Heart is the best Wheel of Time novel yet!
Review: I just finished the book and all I can say is "Whew!" It seems that the series has moved into four major plot lines: Mat in Ebou Dar with the Seanchan, Perrin searching for Faile and the rest of the company, Egwene and her army marching on the white tower, and Rand resolving the major problems of his life :) I won't get into more detail than that.This book spends the majority of its time on the Mat and Rand plot lines (thankfully, since those are the best in my mind.) For the first time since "Lord of Chaos" Jordan has delivered a book to us that is mostly plot development - and good plot development at that! Bottom line is that this book finally gets the series moving again. Unfortunately, it sets book 10 up as a potential dud, as it will most likely focus on Perrin's search for Faile and the seige of the White Tower (that won't be too bad, but it's just not as good as Mat and Rand's plot lines). The pace set in this book erases all hopes of completing the series by book 11. Maybe 12 will do it.
Rating:
Summary: A series for the history lover
Review: As I shift through the reviews of this, and other Wheel Of Time books it strikes me that many readers are slightly missing the point. Robert Jordan has gone beyond the simple sword and sorcery novel into a relm of pseudo history. He has taken the time to weave the characters into a believable world, full of individual nations and peoples that come alive with detail of dress, custom, and ideologies that become more imortant as the series progresses. You come to feel the history of a world only slightly removed from our own and drawn in to the possibilities it offers. It is the different cultures he creates being forced together in the course of the story that creates the tension on a realistic level and keeps the fantastic from being too cliche. Winters Heart progresses the plot further along not only by grand strokes of the brush, but also in the small dots that connect the grand scheme and make it more satisfying in the process. The action of the novel is balanced, as always, with the seemingly minor problems of relationships between lovers and friends; and the everyday situations of finding food, clothing, and shelter that somehow lead the characters towards their destinies, and the great events that move armies and level cities. Each character is finding thier path at different paces, Nynaeve and Lan's marrige, Perrin's battle of self, and of course Rand's battle to stay sane and whole until the Last Battle, and what some perceive as padding or slow plot developement, is actually character building and definition. Those times of inactivity or reflection say as much about the characters as throwing spells or waving a sword. The events in Winters Heart delights on both levels and has on of the most beutiful concepts I have ever considered happening between two people in the first 60 pages, and a battle of epic perportions while the fate of the world is decided by the end, and both are given equal weight by Jordan in this masterful tale. If you have yet to begin the journey that is the Wheel of Time, and enjoy an intelligent and truly mythical tale, begin now, start at the beginning and travel the path that will lead you to this most enjoyable book, and join the rest of us in wondering where the Wheel will take us next.
Rating:
Summary: Lets compare......
Review: Ok, call me a critic, but I think I have the right after dropping so much money and time into Jordan's uh...stuff. Since he takes so long between books (and understand that I don't want to rush "greatness"), I have taken up reading several other series and would like to take a moment to compare his stuff to another incredible writer, Terry Goodkind and his SWORD OF TRUTH books. Let's see, where should we start....how about at the beginning..... It all starts off with a simple woods guide (Rand/Richard) who meets a beautiful woman (Moraine/Kahlan) and thus begins the adventure. He find that his simple life has developed into something else. He is the key to saving the world from the evil dude (Shaitan/The Keeper) and must do so unsing his "gift" of magic that has been inside him this whole time without him knowing it. Low and behold he must fight an evil, evil man at the end of the first book (Ba'alzamon/Darken Rahl) and the reader sees that it only begins from there. There are the Aes Sedai (or are they the Sisters of Light?), but they are questionable with their help because you might not know if they are of the Black Ajah (Sisters of the Dark?). Rand conquers the Stone of Tear, but Richard also finds the Stone of Tears. Rand and Richard also use "the power" and require a man's help to teach him since no one else can (the Sisters of Light can try, but to no avail). Rand chooses a Forsaken (Asmodean) and Richard has a host of others. It goes on and on from there... Does anyone else see these connections? If you read interviews with the writers, neither of them have read each other's work. Shyea...ok. I started off reading Robert Jordan's books back in 1946 when he wrote THE WHELL OF TIME and have waited somewhat patiently for the rest to come out and finish the story. I must admit that I thought they were the greatest things ever written, until I started reading Goodkind and the others. Then, I had a basis for comparison. While Jordan's series is still enjoyable, it doesn't have the fire that it started out with. Maybe I have just grown up since then and have learned to expect more from a book. I have to honestly say that I like Goodkind's more, but I am so hopelessly hooked on Jordan's saga that I can't stop. We've all devoted so much time and money into following our favorite characters that it would be foolish to stop now, even though the books are not what they should be. Bottom line, don't expect much and you will be pleasently delighted with Book 9. You and I know that no matter what I say here, we are all going to buy this one and the next 15 that come out until Jordan get's anywhere close to finishing the series, but at least we can grumble about it together. While you and I wait the next couple years for Book 10, I humbly suggest that you pick up the SWORD OF TRUTH and start in on it. I think you will find it a bit better....
Rating:
Summary: not to happy
Review: I just finished Winter's Heart and I have to say that aside from the end of the book I am not too impressed. It seems since A Crown of Swords Robert Jordan has developed a formula: short books with minimal plot development. There are so many storylines that he only addresses once every other book that it makes the waiting between installments seem like wasted time. I would prefer to wait a couple more years and get a big honking whopper of a novel instead of these 600 page snippits. I am beginning to lose faith...
Rating:
Summary: Back on track, although what a long track...
Review: Winter's Heart is the first book since Fires of Heaven to actually move forward with the Prophecies of the Dragon rather than continue world-building at a snail's pace. Without ruining the plot, a number of major plot lines throughout the series advance quite nicely -- Rand and saidin, Elayne and her kingdom, the relationship between Min, Elayne, Aviendha, the Forsaken and Darkfriend plots, Mat's eventual fate, the use of all sorts of neat toys, a new city and culture that's not inserted solely as a backdrop. Where I was somewhat disappointed -- and where I still shake my head with this entire series -- is why Jordan continues to insert a dazzling amount of new characters when so many of the old ones (Perrin, the Aiel, Moriaine and Thom, Padan Fain, the intrigues of the White Tower and Aes Sedai, and most of the minor powers-that-be-in-conquered-and-other-kingdoms) have so much more that could be done with them and remain relatively ignored from book to book. (It may say something that the prologue here runs a full 85 pages to try to at least touch on some of the otherwise ignored plot lines!) By now, you should know whether you love or hate Jordan's style of writing, so the paragraph long vivid narrations either grab your attention or allow easy speed reading to find what happens next. He does also use a lot more in-the-mind-of-individual-character views here which does move the plot forward (at least you know whose side they're on for a change). Net-net, this is clearly the best book from him since either the Shadow Rising or Fires of Heaven and the ending here does make you wonder for the first time in about 4 books as to where the series goes next which is perhaps the most refreshing of all things about the novel. The only bad news is that given the plots he has to wrap up I still think he's got another 3 books at least. For now, though, a worthy holiday escape.
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