Rating: 
Summary: No More Nynaeve and Egwene!
Review: Even though the Wheel of Time series is essentially supermarket pop fiction, I really enjoyed the first two books. The continent and its legends, plus the great story of seeing the Dragon Reborn, make the series a lot of fun. You're just drawn to pick up the next book because it's a world you want to return to.That said, Robert Jordan is a frustrating writer who's capable of the most glaringly juvenile characterization and mannerisms in his writing. It can become very, very difficult to read someone who is utterly incapable of writing female characters. Half of The Dragon Reborn follows Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne, and their adventure at the White Tower (I'll avoid spoilers) as they progress to become Aes Sedai. This subplot really hurt the book, for me at least, keeping it from being anywhere near as good as the first two books. The White Tower mystery was excruciating. The primary conflict comes from the girls being faced by an Aes Sedai who looks at them crossly and scolds them. The girls curtsy and scrape, then leave, only to be faced with another cold Aes Sedai who looks down on them. Repeat again and again, ad nauseum. The feeling of being flustered before someone with position or respectability is a common scene in the WoT books. It happens on almost every page. In the Great Hunt, at least, Jordan uses it well by having Rand stand up for himself, earning the reader's respect. But in this third book, it annoyed the hell out of me. With Min gone, not a single woman in the White Tower was interesting. Is it just me? And the female characters the reader is stuck with have an annoying habit of "sniffing," as in "'Men are all fools,' she sniffed." I counted it used 23 times. 23 times! In addition to the sniffing, the Amyrlin Seat can't speak without using a fishing metaphor (she's a fisherman's daughter). Someone tell Jordan that a mannerism is a poor substitute for genuine character. And in this book, Jordan introduces Nynaeve's habit of tugging on her braid when she's angry or nervous, which is always. Again and again, Nynaeve tugs on her braid and sniffs. I missed Rand. He was hardly in the book. The path of Perrin and Moirane was enjoyable; I wish they'd been given more pages, and the White Tower less. But I was growing tired of the familiar scene of going to an inn and meeting the innkeeper, which has been done many many times in the first three books of the series. And then having to escape in the middle of the night. Since we're on the topic of repeating things, the ending of this book is the same ending we've seen in the first two books. Time for something new! So Robert Jordan repeats things a little too much. If you read this book, keep a running tally of the braid-tugs, sniffs, and fishing metaphors. And being flustered around someone glaring. The dream sequences in the first two WoT books were really boring to me, so I was dismayed to find out that now it's going to be a major point in the stories from now on. Ugh. Enough with the dreaming! Still, the WoT is a lot of fun despite Jordan's poor judgement. I've read on Amazon that Faile becomes another really annoying female character later on, but I can say she's a lot of fun in this volume. Let's hope the next book has more Rand and less White Tower. If you don't mind corny fantasy, you won't mind this third book in the WoT series.
Rating: 
Summary: The Dragon Reborn
Review: I have read and re-read the Wheel of Time series many times and have always found it entertaining. The third book is especially important. Although it focuses largely on the Emond's field women, it is an important book in the series. It devolps the characters which will come to be key players in the fight against the Dark One. The third book opens up the plot and begins to introduce the reader to a completely different world and furious battle against the Dark One and other, well "bad" people. One other reader had complained that Robert Jordan had described all the of the sword action in "forms". I would like to point out two things: 1) Robert Jordan is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. If anyone knows what battle is really like, it would be a vet. 2) I have done extensive research in the medieval battle and weapons. The sword was and still is taught based on "forms" this allows for maximum concentration and extremely fast reaction times. If you can recognize the begining of a form you know where the blade will land and can plan accordingly. Having fought with replica weapons also extensively I can say that forms work. period. Most people have a false idea of battle and sword play, but oh well! The only critisicsm I can make is that the editing is sometimes poor (alot of typos, but we are all, to some degree, prone to that! ;-))
Rating: 
Summary: One of my Favorite
Review: I love this book almost as much as I loved the Eye of the World and the Great Hunt. Rand has proclaimed himself the Dragon Reborn and many are following. But not enough, so Rand does something that nobody expects, he leaves. But can the others find him in time to save him from the dreaded Forsaken and the fabled Black Ajah.
Full of excitement, sorrow, danger, and evil. You won't want to put this book down until you've finished it.
Rating: 
Summary: I've had enough of the Waste of Time series
Review: It started off so promising. The first book was great, the second book okay, and I hesitated a while before I started reading the Dragon Reborn. Out of curiosity I decided to pick it up anyway and I now wrestle my way through the last 50 pages of this book, after which I'll say goodbye to this series for good. In case you are wondering why, here are my reasons:
reason 1: Did you know that Nynaeve tugs her braid when she's agitated or angry? If you have read book 1 or 2, you should know already. But in the unlikely case you forgot, Mr Jordan describes this particular trait twice every page when the plot turns to Nynaeve. unfortunately I am not exaggerating. She is always tugging that braid because being agitated or angry is pretty much her default setting. Which also says something of the shallowness of her character.
reason 2: Did you know Warders often wear a cloak that seems to shift color? You will for all the reasons given above....
reasons 3 thru 2,103: I could build a really long list of examples like these that explain why the book becomes boring. Characters are flat and their good and bad sides are described so often (using pretty much the same words every time) that you start wishing The Dark One would appear to end it all here and now.
The actual story lines are also slowly grinding to a halt and if I may believe other reviews, it gets worse from here. I have no intention to find out for myself.
Robert Jordan has plenty of imagination. He just lacks the writing skills to keep the suspense going. Above all he lacked an editor with the guts to throw back this manuscript and demand better story lines, to-the-point writing, and plots that actually go somewhere.
An example of his poor writing is that book 3 is full of 'casual killing' as I call it: main characters killing off darkfriends that are after their throats every so many pages. But it changes nothing to the story line: they were on their way to this or that city, they fight, win, and continue their journey to that same city. Too many of these casual events fill up the story without adding something to it. The fact that Jordan comes up with new types of darkfriends to be faced and killed, doesn't really make the story richer or more exciting. Knowing that there are at least 11 books, you can be pretty confident our heroes will survive anyway, and as the story does not hinge on these encounters, they might as well have been left out.
If there would be a reader's Digest version of the WoT, I'd probably buy it. All books would fit into a single volume without hurting the story. Which leads to the conclusion that for every page worth reading you must work your way through 10 pages of boredom.
At this point of my review you may start thinking "yeah yeah, you told that already. I got the point. Move on."
If you feel that way, you really DID get my point and you should stay away from the WoT. But if you are still reading this, thinking "wow, this is a great review, I like the way this guy describes his point from every possible angle, I can't wait until he comes up with another example why book 3 is so boring!" Well, in that case you may even like this book. Have a try. At your own risk :-)
Rating:
Summary: HIGHLY UNDER-RATED
Review: Let me tell you how good this book is. My public library didn't have books one and two of the Wheel of Time series, so I was stuck with book three (a friend of mine had recommended the series to me). But even though I was missing out on roughly 2000 pages of material, Robert Jordan developed his characters and his world so well that I felt that I wasn't missing anything at all. I remember that I couldn't wait to come home so I could read this great book. I think the biggest thing that I liked about it was that it was ORIGINAL. No sorcerers (at least not by that name), no fire-breathing dragons. The characters treated the enemies as if they were REAL, causing me to further believe in the story. I like how RJ starts off the book by putting one of the characters in a wicked catch-22 situation. And RJ is very skilled when it comes to ending a chapter. Some authors are so boring that you have to push yourself to turn the page. Not so with this book. But most of all, I liked the part towards the end, where they're on the rooftop, which reminded me of that chimney-sweep dancing scene in Mary Poppins. Sorta. As for those of you who complain that Rand becomes the Dragon Reborn too quickly, I don't know what you're talking about. It takes him 2000+ pages to become the Dragon Reborn. All throughout the series we see how he is slowly making the transition from denial to acceptance. In this book he finally accepts who he is. Believe me, a slow transition like that is far more believable than one of those dumb books where the protagonist realizes that he's a prince on page 50 and kills the "ultimate" evil on page 300. Do yourself a favor, pick up this book and read it. I've read it FOUR times (and counting). In my mind, this is one of the top three Wheel of Time books. I'd rather read a bad (not that he's written any bad books) RJ book than read some stupid L. Sprague de Camp book who is a PASTICHE author, who can only make his living finishing uncompleted ROBERT E. HOWARD Conan stories!
Rating:
Summary: Still Great
Review: The Dragon Reborn is almost as good as the first two. Although there are more parts that are a little slower than expected, there is still the same character depth we've come to expect from Jordan. It really was difficult to put down! I still find some of the desperaging remarks puzzling. This, much like the other two, was deep, descriptive and enveloping. With Jordan's descriptive writing, it is easy to picture in one's mind just what is happening. Like before, he puts you right there. The trio are no longer merely farmers and a blacksmith from the Two Rivers of Emonds Field, they've now become men of the world, part of the Universal Destiny. The adventures preparing them for this just keep coming. No rest for the weary.
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS CLASSIC!!!!
Review: The Dragon Reborn is the third book in The Wheel of Time series, after The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt. This book is a great addition to this series. I enjoyed the whole book and thought that nothing in it was bad. If you like fantasy, you will definitely enjoy this series and this book. This book has action, mystery, and even magic.
Rand al'Thor is the Dragon Reborn, and he is unable to control his ability to channel the True Source, the power that turns The Wheel of Time. He knows he must face the Dark One when the Last Battle comes, but he is afraid. He also knows he must fulfill the prphecies written about him. This book also includes the corresponding adventures of the other characters:Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, Moiraine, Lan, Min, Thom, and Loial. This book is good throughout all of the pages, and the action at the end really ties the book together.
If you've read Tolkien and Harry Potter, pick this book up.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific!
Review: The Dragon Reborn is where, in my mind, the story really gets started. While the Great Hunt was an excellent story, it is more of a side quest. Here, seeds for future events are laid, most notably with the Aiel, Mat, and the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Dragon. Mat and Perrin continue to grow and evolve, with Mat becoming quite humourous at times and Perrin struggling with his "gift". The pacing is amazing,even better that tGH, which is almost 30 pages shorter. The weaving of the various threads into a spectacular and somewhat surprising climax in Tear speaks well of Jordan's abilities. Keep up the good work RJ!
Rating:
Summary: CONTINUE TO ENJOY....SO FAR
Review: The story continues. I have to admit to enjoying this series so far. As with the first two books, my comments pertain to just this single work and not to the entire series. This third volume seemed to me to be a bit repetative at times, and for my personal taste, the story line did not hold my interest as much as the first two books. That could very well just be me though. This series is turning into one of those that I simple enjoy reading between other works, somewhat like the David Eddings "The Belgariad" and "The Malloreon" books. They are fun to read, do not overly tax my mind as I slip into my dotage, and I know there will be many more to come. As with the first two books, the story is complex, Jordan continues to display a very good imagination and they do provide entertainment. All in all I recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Jordan you have outdone ourself again!
Review: This book is incredible, once you pick it up you can't put it down. Rand isn't in the book enough, but Mat actually turns in to a cool character. Mr. Jordan you are the greatest, and I hope you continue to write this epic adventure for all time!!! I can't wait to see Rand Kick the hell out more evil bad guys. The world he creates is incredibily rich with detail and he gets your emotions running like horse's blood pumping in a sprint. Rock on Robert!
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