Robert Jordan - The Path of Daggers

Omg another WoT book.. what to say about it.. Well, I think I actually liked it more than CoS. Let's try to explain why.

Although not many important things happened, there were some cliffhangers at the end of the book. A lot of point of views are getting ready to do some really important things: Elayne coming back to Camelyn, Rand getting mysteriously attacked at the end, Egwene coming to Tar Valon (though this could have maybe been done better as this plot didn't move quite as much as the others), and Faile being attacked. There were even some interesting things happening back at the white tower. So in all it ended on a good note for me.

I get the impression that overall there was less bickering between Elayne and Nyneave which might have made all the difference as to why I enjoyed it more than CoS. I just couldn't stand that, especially while listening to the audiobook.

I'm looking forwards to reading Winter's Heart now - apparently some important things actually happen ;)

3/5

Robert Jordan - A Crown of Swords

People like me picking up the Wheel of Time sort of late in the game have heard the warnings: it gets long, drawn-out, and nothing happens. Book 7 was long and drawn out, but at least something happened.

RJ has so many characters that including each one in the book would clog up hundreds of pages. It doesn't have to be that way of course, but considering his story-telling style, that's what would happen. It's like he's incapable of a plotline overlapping multiple people's points of view. The whole bowl of the winds thing made me want to fall asleep. Actually, during most of the audiobook I DID stop paying attention.

The only other thing that happens is that Rand takes Illian. Okay. That happens in the LAST chapter of the book. The LAST 30 pages. Before that all that's happening are factions Aes Sedai fighting with each other. And there is no Egwene in this book (who I enjoy most). All of Perrin we see is a sort of paranoid dude who obsesses over his wife. Not cool.

Anyways this volume was considerably less enjoyable than the ones before it. At least in book 6 there is a fantastic ending. The plot resolutions here were kind of boring slash predictable.

3/5

Robert Jordan - Lord of Chaos

Like usual, the 6th installment of the Wheel of Time started out slow. Rand is hanging around Andor with the Aiel and Nyneave and Elayne are in Salidar. I'm sick of RJ spending so much time feeling the need to remind us where everyone is. There are so many characters, you just can't do that, since then you need almost a separate POV chapter for each character.

The only things that really happened in the first few hundred pages (of the hardcover) were that Rand is giving Mazrim Taim the duty to find men/boys who can channel saidin. More of the forsaken (Semirhage, Sammael, Demandred, and Graendal) are introduced. Elayne is figuring out how to make Ter'angreal and Nyneave still has a block to channeling. Embassies of Aes Sedai are being sent to meet Rand. That's it.

Things FINALLY pick up a little more than half way through the novel, and after that things start going fast. There are a ton new developments, most of which are quite shocking! I really enjoyed the latter half of the book. POV characters who have been separated for a long time were reunited. The last chapter was EPIC.

The book would have been quite excellent if the scope was narrowed more to focus on just the main characters. Only one chapter was necessary each for the forsaken, Morgase, embassy Aes Sedai, and perhaps even Mat. The focus really needed to be on Nyneave, Egwene, and Rand in this book.

4/5

Robert Jordan - The Fires of Heaven

This is the 5th installment of the Wheel of Time, and most people claim it is the beginning of the series going downhill. I did not enjoy this book as much as the 4th, but that probably has to do with the characters that were featured. Perrin isn't in this book at all. The book covers Rand/Egwene/Moiraine/Lan with the Aiel and Nyneave/Elayne/Thom trying to keep a low profile. There is also a lot of Siuan and Min escaping from the White Tower.

I really enjoyed the action that happened in the book and the character development. Especially Nyneave vs. Moghedien. Rand is sort of becoming a bland character and I don't feel like I can relate to him as much as I did in the first two books. This is sad because I REALLY liked him in the beginning. At this point I'm not sure that I can say I have a favorite character. I'm continuing the books for the story, not the characters.

Except that the story is becoming increasingly bogged down. There are a lot of pointless descriptions and chapters that I wish RJ just cut out. And I'm even listening to the audiobook (meaning I can zone out when things get boring). I feel like I zoned out a lot during the book. I'm tired of hearing about women "sniffing". I'm not even sure what this means.

RJ finally got the balls to kill off some characters (Though actually I think these characters are not permanently dead.... sigh). This is one of the things that bugs me about these books.. NO ONE EVER DIES!!!

Overall I'm still interested in what happens. So I'm going to keep reading.

4/5

Book Obtained through paperbackswap.com