Book Eleven of 'The Wheel of Time' (The Wheel of Time

Overall I think you can divide the WoT into 2 series, Lord of Chaos and before as Series 1, and everything after as Series 2. I think we can all agree that sometime before/after LoC, there was a change in the series/plot progression, for better or worse.

That being said, I think many of people's whining is largely unfounded. While I consider the characters' portrayal unrealistic, everyone came to this realization after book 2. Nine books later you can't be shocked when Nynaeve pulls her braid, or Rand not understanding how maxi-pads work.

As for my opinion on the overeall book, I think it is the best of "Series 2" (post-LoC books). "A-" overall compared to the last 3.

The first 500 pages are much like the past 3 books, but the last 100 pages pick up to have some movement and resolution to many of the minor plots that have been dragged out for 3 books.

Rand's entire apperance was completely pointless and somewhat random. Elayne's bubblings were mostly boring. Mat chapters made me cringe (he was my favorite character). Perrin's incessent whinning about his woman was old 5 books ago. Any minor Aes Sedai chapter could have been removed from the book with no impact on the plot whatsoever.

Probably the biggest improvement was in the Egwene chapters. You see a return to the earlier books' Aes Sedai maneuverings (even if the infighting between the Ajahs seems pointless). I'll go far as to say they were the ONLY chapters in the first 500 pages worth reading.

Another good thing was that we only had one swordfight with BUBBLEBEE MOLESTS A RABIT moved to SPIDER PEES ON WEB twisted to MAN SMELLS OWN FART, and that one was pretty brief.

Overall, the improvement in the swordfights (elimination of said item), change in Egwene plot, resolution of most minor plotlines that have been dragging on since Series 2 began, and the impending end to the series made this book stand out from the other Series 2 books.

Compared to regular fiction writing, this book scores 1 1/2 stars, rounded up...

In my opinion the 11th book in the Wheel of Time series goes a long way to getting the series back on track. Jordan has begun to wrap up many of the story lines and by the end of the book I really felt ike the world was on the edge of the last battle.

Having said that there were still some slow parts. Jordan, while an excellent writer, tends to be long winded and heavily descriptive. I like this style, but at times Jordan takes it a bit to far.

I have been a fan of the entire series, althought in the last few books very little seemed to be happening. But that changed in this book. As mentioned a number of the story lines which seemed to stagnate for the last few books were wrapped up, there was more action, and the characters seemed reinvigorated this time (plus my favorite character in the series--Mat Cauthon--was featured heavily in this book).

Like a chess game, Jordan seems to be maneuvering his character and story toward the last battle. I am not sure he can do it in one more book (unless it is the 2000 page book he has joked about at some signings) but he is definately back on track.

I have always thought Jordan's character interesting and the story seems to be moving again so I would definately recommend this book to fans of the series. But if you don't like his long-winded style then you probably won't like this book.

The last few books in the series have not been very engaging for me, probably because there was little advancement in the plot and therefore the characters and story were getting a bit stale.

In Knife of Dreams, I feel that Jordan has surged forward once again and the pace and progression helped re-fuel my interest. I enjoyed the story and the characters, and if I sometimes found myself wracking my brain to remember who the heck so-and-so was, the stories that were told in this novel made it not so important that I couldn't remember exactly when and how a character had become involved. I was sorry to see the book end - not only because there will be another long wait for the next one! ;-) - but, simply because I was enjoying the read.

While I have committed numerous hours to the Wheel of Time Series I am a bit frustrated with the last few books. The characters have been fleshed out. Characters are traveling all over the place, yet it seems like they are getting no where. A few events that devotees to the series knew had to occur have occurred, but nothing really new. It's a lot of pages with no substantial outcomes. I read somewhere that there are 13 books due in the series, and do to past time invested in this epic, I will finish it. But I am not sure this book was worth the LONG wait between it and book 10.

I join the horde of readers all shouting the same thing: This book isn't as bad as CoT.

Mat did his usual grim duty as the only character who is even remotely likeable suffering his way through all of the female horrors that populate his world. Oh and now he's married. Joy.

Egwene and Nyneave managed to be sort of interesting too. Their work in their respective plots is why there are two star up there instead of one. Lan going off to rally his men made Nyneave's plot great (so of course it was a few pages long) and Egwene's strength and craftiness made up for the fact that Jordan seems to think women use corporal punshment when they want to make a point - I begin to suspect that he simply likes to right spanking scenes (I know, you are all so shocked!).

This book made me ask myself a few questions: When did Elayne turn into someone who could carry her own plot? When did Perrin turn into a love-sick automaton who spends his time whimpering over his annoying and emotionally abusive wife? When did the turn-every-female-into-an-irritating-shrew ter'angreal get used and how can we turn it off?

So I went back to the earlier books searching for answers and I ended up with questions for the other readers:
1. Remember when the female characters were distinguishable with seperate personalities?
2. Remember when Nyneave gave wise advice and acted like a grown up (I suppose we got a touch of that here)?
3. Remember when we got to see more of Rand than Oh 4 chapters?
4. Remember when its was FUN to see Rand for more than 4 chapters?
5. Remember when Rand didn't spend all of his time thinking about Min-in-his-head and LTT-in-his-head and That-other-guy-who-would-be-a-spoiler-in-his-head?
6. Remember when people actually talked to each other like adults instead of resorting to SPANKINGS to get their points across? (OH MY GOD! Are you all FOUR YEARS OLD?)
7. Remember when Perrin wasn't married?
8. Remember when minor characters were actually acknowledged to be minor and minimal time was spent on them?
9. Remember when you actually enjoyed reading RJ instead of hoping you would enjoy RJ?

I have to agree that Jordan did do a miraculously better job with this book than his past 5 or so. The problem is, that's all relative. In reality, it wasn't very good at all. I never felt a heart-pounding need to turn the page and find out what would happen next and I'm increasingly more disappointed with the stupid Dragon Reborn who is dropping out of sight as the protagonist. I swear, a total of about twenty pages were spent on him, and the whole time he acts like a jackass. I hardly care about his plight anymore and am more attached to Mat who I initially disliked. Yeah, yeah, Rand's got a lot of pressure on him. I'm still pissed though. I don't see how he can even love Min or anyone else anymore since he hardly seems to feel anything but anger. On that tangent, Jordan's romance lines are far too vague to be even the slightest bit satisfying. I'm not saying I want hardcore porn or something, but there's something so much more charming when it describes someone gently sliding their arm around the others waist and looking lovingly into their eyes than "they had sex". They all go on about how they couldn't live if Rand died but you get no real feel for this. Maybe Jordan is just a prude but I feel like if you're going to go to the trouble to add in romance, then it better be worth the while. Perhaps I'm close-minded in my view though. It's not as if romance makes or breaks a novel. I digress, though. The point is that Jordan has tied his story line into one heck of a knot and I can hardly see how he'll have time to fix it all in one book. The last battle probably won't even happen or something. Or he'll decide to add another 15 novels for no reason. It's good that Elayne gets Andor (sort of), Egwene is succeeding (sort of), Faile gets rescued, and some advancement is made between Tuon and Mat (sort of). These have been major and unnecessary snags for a while. Yet, we know that in the ultimate novel Elayne will have more useless troubles, Egwene will probably have to gain the white tower just in time to get attacked by the seanchan, Tuon will have to make a deal with Rand (possibly with Mat's aid), and Mat will have to go rescue Moiraine. Unless we get some sort of deus ex machina ending, I hardly see how all this can be resolved before the last battle. Anyway, that seems like a preemptory criticism for the last book, but it's in truth a criticism of the penultimate novel that wasn't so penultimate after all. It needed to set up better for the final novel and give you a real fire in your belly, when in reality all I feel is a sort of scorn. And the only real cliff hanger excitement you receive is Taim's not so ambiguous statement to let the lord of chaos rule. If you can't figure out what that makes him then you really should reread those past few novels...and I pity you. The more I read other series, I feel like Jordan's is childish and repetitive. His first 5 books were original, heartpounding, pageturners and amazing. Too bad he added in all the unnecessary crap. The best thing I can say about this novel is, thank god (or the light) that it's almost over. Because, sadly enough, I still want to know what happens, no matter how pathetic that is. In any case, you should probably read this if you've gone to all the trouble to read the others but I can't see it as being anything more than a mild disappointment that slightly whets the appetite for the final novel.

Same old RJ as the last 3-4 books. Lots of descriptions, little resolution to anything. His characters, particularly the women, remain the most irritating and unlikable to be found in literature. The review below on Aes Sedai and PMS is on point. The author's redundancy is stultifying and when something does actually happen, it's so quick that you have to reread the part to realize your own disappointment. RJ clearly never had any idea where WOT would go after the first couple books and so has been biding his time with his never-ending stream of travelogue. His editors should be ashamed, but they're probably laughing all the way to the bank knowing that those who have stuck it out for 11 books will buy #12. Thinking logically for a second, once everyone started Traveling there's really no reason for all the disjointed actions between the main characters. Rand posts an Ashaman or two with all the principles for daily reports and coordinated action. Of course, it's hard to tell the main characters in what must now be thousands of named ones particularly since everyone gets described in nauseating detail. I really don't care about ANY of these characters anymore. The five-star reviews here are ludicrous; note how many don't really say why the book warrants such a rating. Borrow a copy of this, but do not buy it. Better yet, wait for #12 and pray, pray that RJ has pulled his head out of his Dark One.

Wow! I actually thought the book was passable! It even made me forget book 10! Actually, if I had missed book 10 I could have still followed the plot line just the same in book 11. I think I may even buy the 12th book... not really. Actually I wouldn't have read 11 and 12 if my wife hadn't found 10 abandoned in an airport terminal and bought 11 at only 5 dollars (hardback, new and I little expensive, I thought). She somehow thought I would like to know how the series ends. But who is to say the next one won't be RJ's revenge against all those bad comments about his writting? He seems to have an ego the size of Texas. How about comparing himself to Tolkien!!

But let's look at book 12: It moved fast(er) and actually had some good chapters. True, RJ unexplicably often stops to tell us about the fashion of the times. It reminded me of those corny social notes in small town papers written by turned-writters housewifes trying to impress their audience with their worldiness. "And now comes Aes Sedai so and so wearing a beatiful mink stole over a silk embroidered dress with accents of this or that, etc." Or stops to tell me over and over how the Aes Sedai are oh! so in control, but are not. Thy sniff, scowl and twitch... And yes, when he tries to impersonate the characters by reading their mind, he turns them into complete tweets more often than not. Looking back, I think it was the low expectations I had on approaching the book that made it seem better than it actually is. Maybe. I gave it three stars because it somehow I was able to read more than a chapter in a seating without putting it away with disgust. It wasn't too boring, and actually helped me pass the time, mainly on the last third. Oh! I almost forgot. The book was a British soft cover edition with a very nice design, not those cheesy illustrations in American editions. Maybe that helped too. About book 12, I still won't buy it until I find it for 5 dollars or less.

We seem to have different kinds of WoT readers here, so I'll review it from different points of view..

1) If you want don't ever want this series to end and you love all the details that RJ gives:

You will not be completely happy. RJ does a lot of his usual prose, but in this book it is for a reason. Unlike some of the previous books, things happen here. Nothing is truly wrapped up (it's not the last book, folks), but most of the major plots are advanced.

There is lots of Matt/Tuon, Elayne, Egwene, Perrin/Faile. Some Nynaeve. Not much Rand. Doesn't really need to be. The good news for you readers is that some of those little obscure details from the last 3 or 4 other books will start to make sense.

2) If you "just wish SOMEthing would happen already!":

You will be very pleased by the plot advances mentioned above, along with the battle scenes. Again, as I hinted above, things really happen for a purpose and you can see what it is without waiting for 3 more books.

The downside for you will be that some of those advances come a bit abruptly (for RJ, anyway). I've seen some reviews where people seem to applaud the pace and bemoan the writing having changed. You can't have it both ways. Not in this particular series with this particular writer.

3) If you got sucked into this series and seemingly against your will keep reading it yet don't like it:

You won't like this at all. No matter what RJ did or how he did it, you don't like it. There's always a better writer that you feel the rest of us should read instead, yet you keep reading yourself. This is book 11 and you are still writing reviews. And you think WE are the morons???? While some of us complain about particular books, we at least like the series as a whole.

4) If you are me: (I fall into categories 1 and 2 depending on my mood)

I like this book LOTS. I was happy that the plot advanced, especially Matt/Tuon. If you like Matt like I do you should be VERY pleased here. Tuon finally starts to figure out who Matt really is. I was quite satisfied.

I used to like Perrin/Faile, but this kidnapping business just went on too long for me. It served a major purpose at the conclusion (if you missed it, re-read the last Therava/Galina part).

I intensely dislike Nynaeve but after this book (one scene really) I don't hate her anymore. Grudgingly, I'll admit that she has one of the most stirring parts in the book.

To me, Egwene is almost as annoying yet she, at least, is necessary. She has some good scenes in this book also.

Lots of Elayne here. I'm kind of iffy on her, but if you like her you will be pleased at the attention she gets in this book.

Overall there are lots of really good scenes in this book. Plus, now when I read back through the last few books some other bits will make sense. I would have liked a little more Rand/Cadsuane and Avienda, but I'm sure the next book will take care of that. We are almost at the Last Battle and this book takes us loyal reader right there.

You an tell that the series is drawing to a close. So much is happening so quickly. I believe I am going to be saddened that the series will soon be over. I finished Knife of Dreams and could not wait to get to the next book.

There was a time when I consumed the books in the series the same way people currently (myself included) consume the Harry Potter series - quickly and with the utmost pleasure. In fact, I've always thought of Jordan as providing books that read the way you would envision television programs - easy, with no input from the brain needed. Unfortunately, as this series got longer and longer and more and more storylines and subplots were introduced, 1000 page books reached the point where nothing really happened. Rand, the Dragon Reborn and the supposed focal point of the series shows up in 5% of this book, if that. Although many reviewers have astutely pointed out that the book is a vast improvement in terms of pacing to the previous two or three installments, there is still too little accomplished. With only one book left in the series, I wonder how on earth Jordan will be able to tie everything up. Read the first four or five books and save yourself the trouble of reading the others and wasting time you could use reading good literature.

The wait, oh the wait. And finally when I get it it is actually better than the last couple. However, Having waited so long for it, I found that after reading the first chapter, I had to go back and reread several of the more pitiful ones preceding it just to remember who was who, what they were doing and why. Not the main characters to be sure but the mulititued of supporting characters.

Is this over complicated or what? Now I like a convoluted plot with many characters but this series is getting way too many, maybe he should have a cataclysmic disaster which kills off half of the supporting cast so all we have to deal with are a few main players.

Better but still not worth more than a three star rating.

Wow, Robert Jordan is dead. I really feel sorry for him, but I also feel sorry for the thousands of people that read all 11 books. I'm glad I stopped reading after book 6 when I realized that this series had became excruciatingly boring and pointless and should have ended 6 books ago. I think it's ironic that this series was called the Wheel of Time....

A one star review for this book is as misleading as all of the 5 star reviews for COT. It seems like many of these reviews have come from people who have not read the book (why bother with the review ?). I also have a problem with the reviews that start out "I've loved all of the books". I immediately skip the review because I can't respect that opinion.

Hey, if you got this far and liked the early Jordan, you should find this book enjoyable. Things actually happen in this book. Many of the long running plots from the past books are resolved or make major advancement. That being said, all of the problems of the past 4 or 5 books are still here to a lesser extent. Does anyone else find that the words:

lace, bosom, silk ....., are like fingernails on a chalkboard ? I do. I wish that someone would point out to Jordan that he has described the bosom of at least 20 different women by the time the book is done. Is that really necessary ? All of the female characters continue to sniff, stare, tug, spank, slap and make shrill sounds like a bunch of harpies. But then again, that's been true from the first book and Jordan isn't going to change.

All of the chapters that contain Matt (my favorite character) I really enjoyed. He is really the only remaining character that has not turned into a gray character. This is especially true for Rand. Is he still the good guy hero ? It's hard to root for a character that's the definition of `Might makes right'- (Do this or I will kill you). Is that really any different the Hitler or Stalin ? I don't see much difference between him and the forsaken at this point.

Overall, I think this book deservers a solid 3 stars with a couple of stars removed for his female characters.

I am still wondering what the heck "knife of dreams" could possibly mean .

As it is a title , it is of course of immense importance so I must review that in highest priority .

Knife ... dagger ... sword something that cuts and stabs , OK I see .

Dreams ... irrealities ... illusions ... world of dreams , OK I see too .

But knife OF dreams (plural) ... ?

Is it an irreal knife (made of dreams/illusions) that actually does nothing or exactly the opposite , a real knife so good that we dream of it ?

As I am unable to cut this Gordian knot neither with a knife of dreams nor with dreams of knife , I will conclude that it is probably a random computer generated title with 3 words that doesn't make any sense altogether .

Second point is equally paramount - the cover art (and I am still only at the cover what lets suppose that the content will be densely packed with enigmas , action and plot development) .

Did you actually notice how incredibly ugly it is ?

You want a definition of what uglier than ugly is ?

Well it is the WoT cover art .

It took me a long time looking puzzled at this horror to realize that the fat , old , bearded dwarf with unnaturaly short arms was ... Perrin ?

And I have always thought that Perrin was a very young , very tall smith with muscled arms the size of trunks .

It seems that I have been wrong all along these last 10 years .

Or was it 20 now ?

So let us leave now the bad and the ugly on the cover and go for the good inside .

One must be said - it is better than the whatever its name number 10 .

There IS some movement .

OK women still sniff and cross their arms under their cup DD bosoms but there was clearly much less of braid tugging .

Some would say that it was compensated by an increased amount of spanking and they would not be wrong .

However in the perception of a glacier like movement (as opposed to a continent like movement) the question of credibility is coming on the front stage .

Credibility of whom ?

Of Shai'tan , the Dark One himself of course - Light preserve me from saying HIS name aloud .

Do you still remember that incredibly powerful breath and the anticipation of future apocalypses that we have all felt in the first 4 or 5 novels ?

The first chapter of the first book with Lews Therin walking the earth like the Wrath of Gods almost gave me goosebumps back then .

And behind the stage a towering shadow of something yet more terrible .

It was sure , that was going to be a story of Illiadlike dimensions , thrilling while the shadow was rising , a clash of gods .

And where are we now 10 books later ?

The Dragon reborn is a half crazed guy having no plan and caring for nothing .

And the Dark One himself is only going from blunder to blunder .

Practically everything that his supposedly evil and godlike intelligence devises is a failure .

He's only lucky that Rand is still this simpering idiot who is supposed to save the world , yet lets Mazrim Taim who is clearly a Forsaken even for a most retarded Aes Sedai , in charge of the black tower .

So what would you (who are far from being a Dark God) do in this 11th book if you could advice the said Dark God ?

Number 1:

Kill off Egwene . She is of no use and can only mess up something in the Tower . Nuke her and move on . After all you have one Forsaken in place .

Number 2:

While you are at it , nuke Elayne as well .

It is not that she is able to do anything dangerous but it might annoy Rand .

She's prisoner of your Black Ajah so no problem of feasability here .

To make full measure nuke also Min who can't channel .

The way Rand looks at her , this would surely annoy him .

Number 3 :

Nuke Faile and Tuon .

For no particular reason only because you can .

And also because they are the characters I hate most so if I am already an advisor of the Dark One , I can have some fun too .

So now that you balefired a good part of the female population (I don't know why I let survive Nynaeve and Aviendha but they don't matter anyway) , let's look at the men .

Number 4 :

Nuke Perrin .

Not a big probleme here - ask Lanfear to use compulsion on him and if necessary she can appear like Faile and lure him somewhere .

Perrin looses the few brain cells he got everytime he sees Faile anyway so the simplest plan will be the most efficient .

Number 5 :

Nuke Lan Mandragoran .

This one is dangerous . Resilient , singleminded and gifted .

He is surely able to free Moiraine from wherever she is .

So don't take chances and nuke him .

Well and now you are only left with a very annoyed yet still clueless Rand .

Probably the best thing is to let him alone .

He will either trip over something and break his neck or go crazy and balefire himself while wanting to warm his (spiced) wine .

Might be both .

Now do you believe that the Dark One did anything of the above ?

Umm , no .

Utterly incredible .

I can tell you , nowadays any moron is taking himself for the master of the universe ...

A quick question for Mr. Darrel K. Sweet, one of the two main generic fantasy book-cover artists of the past 30 years (the other being of course Keith Parkinson): WHY is Donald Trump on the cover???

Did Loial the Ogier actually say "You're Fired!!!" to someone? Or did The Donald actually commision a portrait from you, and the somatic image just kinda got stuck there, remained in your active brush-hand?

~As for the book itself, it's another slow read; I'm only half done this one, but at least stuff seems to be moving. Hmmm... I'm "only" halfway through, and still absolutely NO SIGN of Rand, the purported star, protagonist, saviour of the world, etc; I guess he's in hiding after cleansing the male half of the Source... unless of course Loial (or whomever that is supposed to be) fired him, that is. Maybe it's just supposed to be a Warder, or something; DKS' earlier Ogiers are kinda more distinctive than this guy... except of course for the Trump bit...

As for the 'Plot' or story-line: I know RJ is alleged to be a great military armchair strategist, graduate of The Citadel and all, but even lots of experience playing Solitaire or moving chess pieces around a board in an empty room by yourself would qualify a person to have written the last two Wheel books; NOTHING HAPPENED except the vast hordes and literal armies of supporting characters... well, they moved from here to there, and others moved from over there to hereabouts; I guess they all just sorta "Took Up Positions" on the maps in his mind or something; NOT very fascinating for the rest of us... better play out the whole Endgame Scenario soon, Commander, or we're all gonna up and desert; this Campaign has already tested our mettle quite enough.

I really wish that I hadn't read the glowing reviews for this book. Or any review for that matter.

My feelings are terribly mixed on this one. It certainly was not the bog we were drowned in during the last two books. Things do finally happen. And in this volume, RJ has given us the best Nynaeve chapter and the best Egwene chapter, probably of all time. Unfortunately, the chapters comprise very little of the actual book, as RJ has to clean all the minor storylines he's introduced in the few books before he can move on in his next book.

As a result, the reading through the book was a chore. It took him 400 pages just to check-in with the major characters, remind you who's with who, where they are and what their business is. I mean, he throws a few paragraphs that keep you loyal along the way, but it really made me feel sorry for him as a writer. He's brought to life this incredibly expansive world with its characters and cultures and the insignia of this country and that, but he's also tied himself down creatively. Literally. I just couldn't help but think that it must drive him nuts.

So when the publisher's review said that this book "leaves ya sweating," I really hoped for a big shake-up. Some criss-crossing of patterns or stories that I wasn't expecting, some new way of storytelling, something that broke free of the expected handful of plotlines. Nope, none of that. What he does instead is go crazy on the characters - within the parameters you'd expect - that still has me shaking my head. I'll be cleaning the bathroom and suddenly wonder, "Did he really do that to that character?" Half of me is caught up in thinking ahead because I finally know what minor character did what in a particular sub-plot, but the other half of me is in honest-to-goodness shocked at speed of how it all happened and how quickly RJ moves on after so much time building it up.

But then there are moments when it's too slow. The examples that stand out are the book-within-a-book of information on Elayne's bid for the throne that in all likelihood will never matter in the bigger scheme of things, as well as the overdescription of a minor battle. The entire back and forth left me feeling jarred rather than surprised, and it's too bad because RJ can be really smooth in his writing.

But let's think positive.

He's going somewhere with it all now. All the exits were necessary and needed, though perhaps not in such a herky-jerky fashion, to knot off plot lines that we've been wondering over for a long time. I hope I'm wrong, but the pieces on the board and who's aligned with who does feel a lot more predictable now after this big sweep.

I keep thinking of lots more pluses to this book but they are very specific revelations about this character or that situation. So I'll let you enjoy it all yourselves, whether you choose to pick up the book now or you are more level-headed (unlike me) and wait for paperback. This hasn't been a particularly sparkling review, but I just wasn't head over heels for this book. This is the book that should have been Book 9, or even 10.

Here's my two cents worth, prompted by the really ridiculous advertisement thinly disguised as a review below:

Jordan has written a LESS terrible book this time around. It's sad to see how little the plots have progressed--when there are plots--in the last 6 years. Two of the most obvious, tedious, and boring plot lines are concluded: Faile's rescue and Mat's marriage. Given that both were pretty easy to see coming 4 books ago (geez!) it was neither surprising nor interesting to read that Perrin finally gets Faile and Mat finally gets Tuon. I'm not sure why they'd want to, given that Jordan really hasn't shown us any love between the men and their gals. For me, the ceasless bickering and name-calling does not pass for courting, not in this world or any imaginary one. Seriously. Other plots are advanced in the stupidest fashion. Egwene did something really dumb at the end of the last book and it moves her to a position in this one to do something completely unbelievable and just.....horrible. Jordan really needs to hire a ghost writer to write some more plausable developments. Rand? Oh, he appears, briefly again, and does something abrupt, stupid, and unbelievable. I won't spoil it here, but let's just say that he suffers the same fate as another, better writer's main character (copycat!) but will never develop as a result of that suffering. It's just....stupid. Elayne appears to finally decide to DO something about her political problems, but again, it's abrupt, illogical, unbelievable, and just too pat. In fact, this whole series is just men and women bickering, with the occasional quick, illogical "plot" development that turns out to be nothing important in the end. Remember how important it was for Nynaeve and Elayne to find the bowl of winds because of the weather problems? Remember the oh-so-important WEEVILS of the last book? Remember the Empire and the Empress and her big nasty family? Yeah. Those seem to have gone off the radar, but that's another issue.

It's all like the quest for the Bowl of Winds. They trek all that way and spend so much time trying to find the bowl and then....just happen upon it at the same time that Mat does. And the Black Ajah do. Duh. Egwene, stuck in a seige, does suddenly decided to try to sneak some magic past some magic-watching Aes Sedai. Duh. Then she gets caught. Rand, needing to solve problem X, does nothing and then X is resolved. Suddenly. Usually in a page or two, sometimes in a paragraph. This is how Jordan writes and "Knife" shows no change. The developments just continue to come slow and unbelievably.

I'm forced to read this drivel because it's part of my job. If you're not compelled to read any more of Jordan's series, why would you do it? Avoid this and go to the sources Jordan has ripped off: Eddings, George RR Martin, Perry, Tolkien, etc., etc. They write much better stuff and without all the stupidity you'll feel like you're not wasting time and money.

If you, like me, have far too much time invested in the Wheel of Time to simply put it down and have been grimly dreading this book after the abyssmal horror that was called Crossroads of Twilight, you're in for a surprise. Knife of Dreams finally progresses things along and sets the stage for the last book in the series.

That being said, Jordan himself has said that while the major plotlines and some minor ones will be resolved in the next, and last book, there will be many that will be left open.

I"m giving this book four stars because it's nice to see some progress. However, the series became far too long to be considered one of the better fantasy series, and while I have all the books, it's doubtful I'll invest the time to read them again. It's unfortunate because Jordan's a good writer and early on had the potential to make one of the greatest fantasy stories. What he's ended with is a lot of words that should be half as long as it turned out to be. By the time it's going to be over, I'll be almost twice as old as I was when it started.

Oh, and I agree with other reviewers. Thanks to Tor for a good editing job.

Having stuck it out through all 11 books and the sequel, I am astounded that such a brilliant plot line could be turned into such a boring set of books. You have to conscientiously make the effort to drag on a story as slowly as this one has gone. On the rare occasions that the author gets around to advancing the plot, the books are interesting but unfortunately this doesn't occur very often. These 11 books could have been condensed into 2 or 3 fast paced, attention getter novels. I only actually read one of these books, the rest were listened to on audio during gym workouts and long drives. I learned they are a great sleeping pill substitute. If a 12th book is indeed printed, I will read it but I will have no thoughts of being saddened that the story is over.

Ok, so maybe Knife of Dreams isn't the crapfest that Book 10 was. And yes, the pace does move along a little quicker. But come on now people: the plot could be at a complete stop and still be moving along more rapidly than in book 10. Jordan continues his flair for writing a whole lot of nothing. On a pain scale of 1-10, with 1 being a poke in the cheek and 10 as slamming your fingers in a car door, I'd say reading this book registered at about a 6.5, right between dropping a cinderblock on your foot and smashing yourself in the face with a wok. So here's the quick rundown of the particularly annoying points.

- very little Rand: our main "hero" doesn't show up much in this book, but really at this point I don't even care anymore. Someone tell me why I keep buying these?

- Faile lives: man I hate her. Can anyone honestly say they enjoy Faile's character? Because I would like to meet that person. And then run him over in my car. Twice.

- lots of pointless plotlines with very minor characters that really should just be omitted so that we can get on with the actual story.

- no completely debilitating injuries for Egwene, Nynaeve, or Elayne: sorry to ruin many of your fantasies, but there is no triple threat cage match between these three ridiculously annoying women that would result in several broken backs, numerous cracked ribs, and a variety of sprain, bruises, contusions, and shattered kneecaps. Sorry guys.

- As several reviewers have noted, Jordan has really focused on this concept of spanking grown men and women as a punishment. What is going on here? RJ is turning into one really weird and creepy dude.

- Know what makes really interesting reading? Descriptions of people traveling, and lots of it. I'm not talking about dangerous journeys into enemy territory or magical realms, but rather just people going from here to there on dusty roads with no significant action happening. Man I just can't get enough of it! And Jordan certainly satisfies my appetite in this book. Plus he does a great job of describing really intriguing and relevant things like wagon wheels, ditches on the side of the road, and clothes of every single character mentioned. Sweet!

- women: Does anyone else wonder if Jordan has actually met a live woman? I mean seriously, they're all exactly the same character, with the dress smoothing, lip pursing, eyebrow arching, braid-tugging activities that can supposedly send grown men scurrying down the street with a glance. The only difference between his female characters is their level of annoyance, ranging from Min (only bang-your-head-against-the-back-of-your-chair annoying) to Elayne (run-face-first-into-a-wall annoying).

- characters coming back to life: Stop it. Just stop. I'm so tired of Forsaken coming back in different bodies. Yes yes, I know the whole theme of the series involves cyclical movement, but seriously, give us some indication that progress in the plot is being made. Aaargggh!

- RJ's lies: I refuse to believe he's going to finish this series up in another book or two. Just not possible, considering very little is accomplished here. Simply a ploy to keep us buying these disasters.

So there you have it. Why the two star rating? Two reasons:

1. KOD is slightly better than book 10. But keep in mind that's not really saying much.

2. I'm trying to make myself feel better for buying yet another stupid WOT book.

So read if you must. But I think Jordan got us again. I hate him.

Overall this is good book, but it is nothing compared to his first couple in the series. I only have a couple of complaints.

1. If Rand is the main character then do something with him. I spent the whole book reading hopeing to get back to something about Rand.

2. I don't want to ever hear another dress described to me. I don't care what kind of lace is where. At most a simple "her dress was red" would work for me.

3. The women in the series are getting very old. I'm tired of these stuck up women running around thinking they are the only characters that know what to do next. What's worse the women can't even agree with each other. I thought the high point of the entire series to this point was at Dunami Well when Rand and the Ashaman nocked the Aes Sedi down a few pegs.

4. There are entirely too many characters. I found myself constantly asking "Who is that?". The constant stream of minor unimportant characters needs to stop.

Despite these points it was overall a good book. If Jordan can manage to get back to Rand, Mat, and Perrin(minus the wife kidnap side story) and finally end the story, then I will still be able to give WoT an above average rateing.

I'll keep this review simple, because I only have a few simple reasons that this book was one of the best in the series. 1. Jordan finally tied up several story lines. and 2. The Seanchan are finally shown to be people with odd customs instead of weird overseas aliens. Elayne gets into serious trouble at one point (don't worry, no spoilers), and my first thought was "Oh great, she'll get out of this in book 16!" But it was resolved in a few chapters. It felt like Jordan is ready to finish telling the story instead of stringing readers along hoping for a big plot development. But to be fair, Jordan does emulate real life pretty well. Nothing ever goes as Rand, Perrin, Mat or anyone else plans it! I would have given it 4.5 stars if the store had a 1/2 rating!

People say stuff finally happens and gives it 4 or 5 stars on that basis, why? Ok, a few things happen but they are completely out of proportion to the time spent building them up and the resolutions are something I would expect a 10 year old to come up with. No offense to all the 10 year olds who think Jordans writing is juvenile.

This book gets two stars for finally resolving stuff, even though it is done in a unbelievable and unintelligent manner. I am starting to believe that someone else wrote books 1-4 for Jordan, because no one could go from writing well-written(but highly derivative) books, to the dreck in the past few installments. Either that or Jordan has suffered from brain damage.

This series started with great flourish and promise .. but started to drift off course by book 5.. I stuck with it and trudged grimly through books 6 to 10, hoping for a glimpse of the spark and energy that had been evident in the first part of the series. Let me make it clear, books 6 through 10 did nothing of note or worth, and could have easily been condensed into one volume which would have been of minor interest. Book 11 "Knife of dreams" is a little better, making some small progress and closing off some sub-plots with moderate success. However I am convinced that the author has largely lost his way with this series. His creation has gotten away from him, and is now peopled with weak and confusing characters and utterly irrelevant sub-plots and red herrings. Enough I cry !!! Please, please, Mr Jordan get a grip on this saga !!

Knife of Dreams is the best Wheel of Time novel since Lord of Chaos. What makes this novel so good is the amount of time it covers. Instead of moving at a snail's pace about events that seem nonessential, Jordan covers days in only a sentence and resolves many of the less important side stories. The only complaint I have about this novel is the time spent wrapping up those old loose ends, but now that they have been resolved I am excited for the next novel. He returns to his rapid, exciting pace, but I felt like he was spread thin; too many plots to go into any great detail. I enjoyed the novel and finished it in less than a week.

What happens? Very much. Sometimes I wonder at the things Rand does--like bringing Min along all the time. I enjoyed the view of Mat from Tuon's perspective, and seeing Mat actually preparing and leading an army was exciting. I believe Jordan showed a completely new side of Mat. Mat was disciplined and purposeful. This was the first novel I can remember that Jordan did not leave out one of his major characters. Developments with Elayne, Faile, and Perrin were satisfactory. Additionally, this one of the first times in many novels that I ejoyed the development of the Egwene's character. Have you ever wondered what Moraine wrote in her letter to Thom? Jordan shows us. The end also had an interesting quote by Mazrim Taim.

I have hope again in Robert Jordan. He has the Wheel of Time moving in the right direction and in an exciting fashion.

I, like many others, have read each of the WOT books, and like several other reviewers agree that the first 4-5 books were wonderful. BUT, the last several books he has vomited up are TERRIBLE, lacking the fast pace and excitement the first had. Though book 11 (by the way, no one should EVER have to go 11 books into one story) was better than the last few, I think I have a good idea why it has been taking so long for Mr. Jordan to get these out... Did any one else notice how many references were made to lesbianism and spankings in this book??? It leads me to think that all that time on his computer late at night wasn't necesarily spent writing this novel. I think he has a little bit of frustration he needed to work out, and he used this last book as a conduit to vent that frustration.

Anyway, like I said, the book is definitely better than the last couple, but miles from the first several books.

To say that this book is better than the last one is sort of like saying that having the flu is better than having pneumonia. Since book 10 is the worst book that I have ever read (fiction or non-fiction, including my high school physics textbook), this one had to be an improvement. Unfortunately, it doesn't get better until the end of the book.

The first 400 pages are pretty much the same useless crap that Jordan filled book 10 with. As the final battle gets closer, and closer, the main characters have lost all interest in saving the world, and spend their time in idle chit-chat, or simply mill around doing pretty much nothing. Mat is doing the same thing he did all through book 10, traveling with the circus, and having more of those witty conversations with his bride to be: "You must learn some manners Toy, you are a foolish slime ball", "Yes Precious. Look I brought you a gift". At least Jordan has given Tuon a nice full bosom in this book. She was just a skinny, bald girl all through the last one. And what about Perrin? He is still fretting over Faile's capture, smelling everyone's emotions, and dicking around instead of doing anything to rescue her until the very end of the book.

Loial's wedding takes all of a half page, and occurs within a few minutes of meeting his wife to be for the 2nd time. It reminded me a lot of my wedding, but instead of shotguns there were axes. His new wife starts bossing him around before he even gets a decent nose job.......yea just like my wedding.

Jordan must have realized that he has left the bad guys out of the last 3 or 4 books. Remember the Trollocs and Myrddraal? In the first few books they constantly hassled our main characters. Then there must have been a big shadow spawn strike and they disappeared for 4 or 5 books, while the Trollocs demanded more human meat, and the Myrddraal held out for more vacation time. Jordan makes up for lost time by attacking Rand with 100,000 Trollocs, and thousands of Myrddraal in what could have been the biggest battle yet. Unfortunately, the entire battle takes 5 minutes. Rand gets out of his chair and takes a step to the window, where he comes up with all sorts of new ways to zap 1000s of bad guys at a time. Too bad not even one of those stupid Trollocs were smart enough to come at Rand from a different direction. They all come straight at Rand standing at his window, so he doesn't have to even take an extra step or go outside to fight them. No use wasting all of that typeface on a boring battle. Jordan can get back to the important stuff, like what the women are wearing and how nice they show off their large bosoms. Will they go conservative with high necklines to the last battle, or boldly showing off their marvelous cleavages to those dreadfully attired Trollocs? What about the hair styles? Surely the women will want braids to tug while they zap the shadow spawn.

And where did all those 100,000 Trollocs come from? Remember the WayGates that Loral said he fixed along with one of Rand's Asha'man? Oops, must have missed one. It was an easy one to miss since it was the one at the main Ogier Stedding. Now Rand has to find another Ogier to fix the gates that Loial forgot about.

In this book there is the biggest meeting ever of the forsaken. The Dark Lord has just 1 command for them......Kill Perrin and Mat. So, if you have 11 of the most powerful beings on the planet at your disposal (capable of traveling, changing their appearance, and producing balefire, lightening, etc., with thousands of Trollocs, and shadow spawn at their disposal etc.) how would you ensure that you kill 1 guy? The best plan they could come up with was to have a darkfriend shoot an arrow at Perrin from 400 paces.....yea that's going to work. I'm sure the Dark Lord was pleased with that effort. Better luck next book forsaken.

I can visualize Jordan reviewing his recipe for a successful series: Lets see, Luke Skywalker loses a hand in Star Wars, Jamie Lannister loses a hand in "A Song of Ice and Fire", Frodo loses a finger in "The Lord of the Rings", "Oh my gosh", the main character has to lose an appendage.....problem solved on page 588, when Rand loses a hand for no other reason than the other writers did it. There are many other obvious parallels: The Ogier coming together to help the stupid humans fight the last battle (remember the Ewoks in Star Wars, and the Ents in The Lord of the Rings), etc., etc..

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. Do you give your kid a bonus in his allowance if he gets drunk and wrecks the car? This whole series has been a rambling wreck since book 5. Don't reward poor writing, and even worse editing. Ok bring on book 12........hopefully the last. I'll wait until my local library has it. I have to read it because I'm an obsessive compulsive that has to finish something once started no matter how painful.

Robert Jordan is an excellent author, but the last four volumes (7-10) have suffered from literary obesity. It's not that nothing happened; it's that too little happened for the length of the volume and the wait in-between to keep the fans happy.

Knife of Dreams went through a more extensive editing process than those last four, and it shows. The prose is far tighter than we've come to expect recently. Every chapter and every scene serves a purpose in advancing the story. We are not deluged with a lot of new POV characters, either--virtually every scene is told through the eyes of the people we've come to know and love.

More importantly, this volume finally resolves several of the ongoing plot lines that had really begun to drag, and in spectacular fashion. For the first time in the series, various threads are beginning to come together, leaving me with the thought that maybe, just maybe, Jordan will manage to pull off a satisfying ending in only one more book. Even if it takes him 1600 pages to do it.

The difficulty with any extended, multi-volume story is the tendency for the middle and late volumes to be exposition-heavy, with too much build-up and too little climax. Knife of Dreams manages to avoid that trap, but still leaves us waiting for the final volume. And it'll be a doozy.

In this book you get the plots of 5 different story lines advanced about 3 chapters each, which is a great improvement from Book 10--where essentially nothing actually happens. The main story lines in Book 11 are Mat, Perrin, Elayne, Rand, and Egwene in roughly that order. A LOT of unecessary characters you only meet once (or met so long ago you cannot possibly remember them all) described in great detail, as usual. The bad guys aren't believable, and so the villain(s) seems to be just a non-descript "evil", unfortunately, and they have no comprehensible motivation for being evil. If you liked the first three or four books in this series, you will see enough here to make it worth reading (and you are probably hooked anyhow). This is one of Jordan's mediocre efforts, though. And it will leave you wondering why we can't just get on with Tarmon Gaidon and get this series over with. Its getting pretty stale, we can see where its going, there is no real suspense, and the only reason to continue with this epic is the characters, all of who you know so well by now they seem one-dimensional as a cartoon character. Anyhow... I can wait until the next one comes out inpaperback as well.

I am a long time fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.

I am a long suffering reader of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.

While Knife of Dreams is far more entertaining and engaging than the previous, tedious, and boring Crossroads of Twilight, I state the following for your consideration:

The series plots finally move forward, i.e. something happens besides women smoothing their dresses and having tea.

The myriad of subplots and plethora of confusing names continues; I find myself in need of a storyboard!

There is no Knife of Dreams!?!?! WTH?

I still, begrudgingly, look forward to the next book. If this had been another Crossroads, I would have offered TOR a real editor. You'd think they could find one.

I have enjoyed Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time very much although I do agree somewhat that the last few books have gotten more and more complex and not featured Rand and Nynaeve and Lan and Min as much as I would like. Since Rand IS the Dragon Reborn it seems more should revolve around him!!

It seems in this story that Mr. Jordan is trying to rather quickly bring some of the plot lines (I won't be a spoiler and say which ones.) and makes those conclusions/culminations a bit less satisfying than a reader might like. However, I do enjoy getting to know more about the Seanchan and about Tuon and Loial from their point of view which made for some interesting reading!

I do think most readers will enjoy most of the story despite the complexities - which I like to some degree if spread more equally. However, I am wondering how long the "last" book will be in order to conclude everything and get them all to Tarmon Gai'don?

Remember this is FANTASY so just read it for fun and don't put too much thought into it!!

I can understand why people enjoy this series so much. Jordan puts so much detail into his characters and the world he has built. This is probably why the book is well over 800 pages long. But, I really enjoyed the complexity of the story and how well developed the characters are. Eventually, i will start the series from the beginning and fully enjoy this.

This book has at least for now restored my faith in this series. The last couple installments simply seemed to be melting down into more and more side trips and separate directions, the main problem with which is that even the glossary-appendix each volume ends in did far too little to help me keep it all straight.

Yes, I do understand Jordan is playing up the whole theme of Time as a great tapestry whose pattern is woven in an unimaginably complex interplay of numerous strands, but methinks that works better as a theme in a book of philosophy or as a line in poetry than as the guiding principal of a work of fiction. In truth, I was starting to wonder if he simply had no idea where to go with the plot and was throwing in new directions because he had a writing deadline to meet and still wasn't sure what he wanted to be heading for in the end. (A pox on writing deadlines if this be so!)

This installment manages to grab up several of the scattered major subplots and pull them forward satisfyingly. This helps to create more of a sense that they really are all heading somewhere in the end. It also puts a stop (at least for now) to the endless spawning of new unresolved subplots that would have... well, "unravelled" the plot worse than indiscriminant use of balefire.

Of course, I'm still not sure how Tarmon Gai'don will manage not to seem anticlimactic after tying up so many intrigues along they way, but at least it feels like all the tumblers are coming into alignment after a couple of books that were starting to make it look as though they would never get there. Here's hoping Jordan will keep going along this path.

Book 11 is better than the last few. three is a100 page boring stretch after the prologue but after that it was better than the last two books combined. without spoiling anything a lot of things we've been waiting to happen happens in this book. that's why i gave it 4stars, not the best in the series but far from the worst.

I was very excited when I was finally able to buy this book; I have been looking forward to it ever since I found out the date it was going to be released. However, after reading Knife of Dreams I was very disapointed in the book. I don't feel like it was as good as many of Robert Jordan's books. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, but it seemed like not much happened. There were a few key events, and a few of my suspicians were confirmed. But everything that happened seemed like it was rushed through, I think half the information that was revealed could have easily been added to the next book rather than have a 760 pg. book of pretty much just fluff. This book is vital to the series...but if you have to don't buy it borrow the book. Overall well-written, but it seemed like a waste of my time. Very disapointing!

The next installment of "The Wheel of Time" comes to a close. I was not disappointed in "The Knife of Dreams" and I am eagerly awaiting the supposed last book, with a working title of "A Memory of Light." I am going to review this book in parts in order to divide up the massive parts of "The Wheel of Time." Many people have been complaining about the recent books in the series. Some of these complaints are grounded and some are not. I consider myself a serious fan of the series, and I think others have gotten lost remembering some of the great scenes of previous book and have lost sight of the character development and worldly events of the series. By diving up this review, I hope to give more people a review of what they find exciting and review the parts that people have come to love. If you are going to only read part of this review, please read the closing comments. There is something that I noticed that a lot of readers, especially those fed up with pace of the books recently, will find valuable.

ENVIORNMENT/HISTORY(C): Since the series is so far along, the history of "Randland" is obviously not going to be developed as strongly as the first installments. However, throughout "Knife of Dreams," there are hints of other events throughout the other parts of the WOT world. For example, we learn of events across the seas in Seachan and the capital Seandar. The Seachan Empire is here to stay, and it is nice to advance some plotlines through conversations about their homeland. The objectives of the different Seachan factions within the Empire is muddled and hard to tell what all they are trying to accomplish, but their history leads to dissention among the ranks. We also learn a little bit about the island of Tremalking and their culture/customs. While obviously there are direct statements about the people of Tremalking and their relationships with the Sea Folk, there is more for the astute readers surrounding implications in Tremalking. It is also neat to learn about some of the houses and history of Andor, as Elayne continues to attempt to claim her throne throughout the book. All-in-all, not so much history and worldly descriptions, but this cannot be a true fault of the book or the author because so much has already been described in the previous ten books.

CHARACTERS(B): For those of you out there that complain about the constant "sniffing" done by the women of the series you will have some more complaining to do. The characters are much the same as in the previous books. The have the same mannerisms and say the same things. I consider this good because the characters are not randomly and erratically changing values to fit within the larger context of the book. There are no convenient mood changes that help the characters achieve their goals. There are some pretty significant changes to a couple of the characters in the book, and without spoiling anything, it is very interesting and entertaining to see how they react/cope. Some of the decisions made are important and life-altering for the characters. We also get a glimpse of Seachan Ogier. There are also some new point-of-view's: Loial and Tuon, very cool.

PLOTLINE (B+): If you've read the previous books, you obviously know where the plotlines are going. In fact, many of these plotlines have been grudging that way for more than a couple books. Those of you disappointed in the previous few installments will be glad to know, as many reviewers have already said, that many of the plotlines advance/get resolved. Not all, but a lot. I was excited by the battles, but not overly impressed. The new weaves and skills in the book were exciting and adventurous. While at times the plot dragged a little bit, it was no where near the same as the previous books. I belive this is because there seems to be a return of "the magic" that I associated with the first group of books. I will speak of this at the end, because I believe it is important above all else in this book.

CLOSING COMMENTS: I give this book four stars because it is exciting, entertaining, and for the most part, fast paced. The most important thing I noticed in this book is "the magic" of the book. I am not referring to magic as in wizards and sorceresses, but the magic of the text. In the first bunch of books there was this magic in the words. Robert Jordan did a magnificent job of creating the world. The famous phrase, "the wheel weaves as the wheel wheels," comes to mind. Specific examples of superb planning lead to truly chance encounters and amazing events. For example, all the parties converging at Dumani's Wells in "Lord of Chaos," and when Rand and Mat are in Rhuidean, and the battle in the sky, and other mystical ta'veren happenings. This book has some of that magic again. It seemed slightly forced at some times, but at others I felt like I was reading "The Great Hunt." The magic has returned to some degree, and it was good reading it. The other books produced many characters and left a little bit of this magic behind. This book wrapped up some of those characters and brought back the magic.

Don't let the one- and two- star reviews get you down. As I said in my rather slanderous (toward the negative reviewers, not the book) review of "The Crossroads of Twilight," if you truly enjoy the Wheel of Time then you will enjoy this book. I am still laughing at all those people who, for the last few books, have been saying they will never read another Robert Jodan book. You people know who you are and you will say that this review was not helpful.

Enjoy this book. It is worth the time and money.

Having grown tired of endless plots that drone on and so many characters, you have to reread the previous book, maybe two before you remember what's going on, I finally gave up and went with newcomer. Brian S Pratt's The Unsuspecting Mage gives what Robert Jordan no longer does, Action! Action! Action!

I liked the Wheel of time, the first 5-6 years I read it. But it never ended.

this new guy may not be a world class auther, it being his first one, but it kept me engrossed and actually found it harder to put down than it was to pick up Knife of Dreams.

I am a loyay Robert Jordan fan, will be with him through to the end, no matter how long it takes, I just wish it got my pulse racing as it once had. I sincerely hope the ending will be worth the time, patience and money I've invested.

I will keep this review short, like many others, I gave up on the series after book 10. However, when the prequel "New Spring" came out, I figured that it was just one book, so I gave it a try. "New Spring" wasn't Jordan at his best, but it did give me hope that he was returning to form, and so, after keeping a close eye on the the store reviews, I have bought and read Knife of Dreams. Realistically,I would rate this book as about as good as New Spring. That is far below Jordan at his best (books 1 to 4)but it IS reasonable entertainment. In the end, publishing the prequel, might just be the pivotal point that keeps some of the longer term readers involved to the end of the series after the utter boredom of Crossroads of Twilight.

Path of Daggers circa 1998. Kiss of Death World of Time, BUT Knife of Dreams Much Better.

For me, this is where the story really came to a stop; there is more repetition, more of the "repeat key" on the computer. Stock phrases are all too common, what is this fascination with bosoms? Someone else noted that there were more allegations to lesbianism in the book. I am not a prude; in fact I am I proud gay male, but come on, can we get beyond "pillow friends?" Perrin was my favorite character in the earlier books. He seemed the most well grounded, the worst thing that ever came into his life was Faile. This character ground his character to a halt. She is also not at all sympathetic. Quite a few folks think that Nynayve is horrendous, or Elaine, or Egwene, but if anyone in Jordan's universe needs to die please let it be this harridan.

With that said, I still rate the book a three star. I didn't rate Crossroads of Twilight but would rate it a one star. Knife of Dreams is much better. The story is tighter. Robert, can write, I just hope he doesn't rush the last books. I know he wants to finish this series in the next book, but please, don't rush the ending. Thirteen seems to be a theme throughout the series. Robert, if it takes thirteen Aies Sedai to complete the series, let them do it, with a helpful dose of Saidan.

There may be hope yet. I have been frustrated at these last couple books. They are full of things that I do not care about. Characters descriptions of things that do not matter. The only reason I will read this last book is because it is being written by Brandon Sanderson. He is one of the best authors I have ever read. If anyone can bring life back into this series it would be him.

I understand people's frustration with the pacing of this series and the length of time between books. I have a theory to propose, which is: people's frustration is directly proportional to the amount of time that has passed since the last book they read.

To wit: I had to start waiting for installments after reading books 1-7 back-to-back. When book 8 came out, I thought the series had taken a HUGE dive in quality, and pretty much hated it from there on out...UNTIL I reread the entire series back-to-back. It might take you awhile (actually, it only took me a month because I wasn't working...it took my sister four or five months when she was working), but it's worth it.

I realized somewhere around book 9 that the drop in quality was nowhere to be found. The quality of the prose, the characters, the settings, the dialog, etc., remained the same. The only thing that changed was the fact that all the storylines diverged into a billion different directions. But here's the thing: reading them back to back, it was EASY to keep track of all those storylines. And more than that, they remained interesting. I couldn't get enough of all of them.

My sister did the same thing (rereading the whole series back-to-back) and agreed that there was no drop in quality. She had noticed after book 9, which was when SHE had to start waiting for installments. I surveyed another friend as to when she thought the drop in quality was, and she named yet another volume that was the last she read before having to wait for the installments.

So mark me "unhelpful" if you want, but try this suggestion: reread the entire series back-to-back, as if they were all one book. You'll agree when I say that there is no drop in quality and that the multiple storylines are easy to follow. You'll also notice all kinds of things that you didn't the first time, and make connections and predictions that have yet to be written.

I'm not trying to convert anyone here (there are obviously many flaws, some of them serious, in this series); I just want people to enjoy this series for what it is in the way I have found it's BEST enjoyed.

This book was OK. Better than the last one, that's for sure. However, I'm still baffled by the way Mr. Jordan has severely elongated plots that don't deal with any of the *real* bad guys. At the guts of KoD, the Forsaken are virtually an afterthought except for in one small chapter near the end, and that bit gets almost no setup. It's as though RJ just threw it in because his editor demanded that something drastic had to happen in the book.

For the most part, this book deals with three things:

1. Perrin finally saving Faile (took what, three books?) from the Shaido. Big yawn, doesn't have anything to do with Rand, the Forsaken, the Dark One, Tarmon Gai'dan (sp?), etc. In fact, it makes Perrin look ridiculously selfish in that he doesn't care a whit about the big picture, he only wants to get his wife back.

2. Mat and Tuon finally get together. At least this plot is somewhat interesting because Mat is the best character in the book, but still, it drags along seemingly endlessly and the battles that take place between Mat's Band of the Red Hand and a pack of Altarans-turned-Seanchan are fairly meaningless in the big picture.

3. Elayne becomes the queen of Andor. Oh my lord, this was the most unbelievably painfully dull plotline I have read in any book for as long as I can remember. Who cares about Elayne bickering with a bunch of otherwise irrelevant small-time Andoran nobles? There are so many other things that should/could be going on, and RJ spends 300 pages (in this book, more in others) prattling on about what amounts to a zoning dispute. Argh.

Again, where are the Forsaken? Where is Padan Fain (sp)? Where is Taim, the evil Ashamen, the real-deal baddies? Why aren't people trying to kill Rand throughout this entire book while Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and the rest of them are struggling to keep him safe? Do we really care about Egwene nibbling about as a trumped up novice again in the White Tower?

As an aside, and this has been mentioned in other reviews, where did all of the flaming lesbians come from in this book? I don't remember mention of anyone being a lesbian in any of the previous 10 books, but KoD is chock full of them. And cripes, the spanking! You can't get through a single page without someone getting spanked.

In random conclusion, the first books in the Wheel of Time series were fantastic because they had an enormously grand scope. Big things happened all the time. That has changed drastically in the past few books. RJ seems content to nibble around the edges in order to drag the series along.

Supposedly the next book will be the final one, but I doubt it will be. My prediction is that the first 600 pages will deal with Elayne trying to decide what to wear to her coronation, while the final 100 pages will describe in full detail how Perrin develops an obsession with sniffing Faile's armpits while she's sleeping. The sad thing is, I'm going to buy it as soon as it comes out regardless of the contents. Kudos to RJ on that one.

Is anyone going to seriously STOP reading the series now? Overall, I like the entire series very much, though I'm glad to see the series appears to be winding down. I'm getting tired of waiting 1.5 years in between books. Could we actually hit Tarmon Gaidon in book 12? Things seem to be wrapping up through books 10 and 11 and it might be so. One of things I liked about 11 is it seemed he stuck with storylines longer without as much context switching back and forth, which helps to keep events organized in your head easier.

There's only two things that get to me about Jordan's style - in the most recent books his descriptions at times become gigantic, such that a three line conversation takes up two full pages. And the 2nd thing, he's improving on, he only used the phrase "folded her arms beneath her breasts" once every 15-20 pages. That's progress I tell ya.

Well, nothing has changed to turn me off of this series. If you've read the first 10, go ahead and get 11, you'll like it. If you're thinking about starting the series, I say go for it, it's one of the most comprehensive fantasy epics out there.

I think I'd actually give it 3.5 stars if I could, but 4 seems OK. There are already a lot of good reviews of this book, I'd just like to boil it all down to some points:

THE PERRIN/FAILE STORYLINE: Finally resolved, although far too much of the book is devoted to this storyline with little happening until the end. Like others have said, Perrin's "only Faile matters!" attitude gets really tiresome. But if you like Perrin and Faile, you will like this book. There is also somewhat of a surprise concerning Aram, although it could have been presented better.

THE MAT/TUON STORYLINE: Not completely resolved, but it does have a resolution of sorts. The best part of this storyline is the discovery of what is written in the letter Moiraine sent to Thom. This storyline also takes up a lot of space in the book. More interesting than the Perrin/Faile storyline, but still not terribly eventful. But a lot of people seem to like Mat, so some will definitely find this interesting.

THE ELAYNE IN ANDOR STORYLINE: Also finally resolved, and also takes up a lot of the book. (These three storylines account for the vast majority of the book--if you're not interested at all in these 3 storylines, you won't be a big fan of the book). More eventful than Perrin's and Mat's storylines, but more still could have happened. However, there are some good things, including the discovery of Adeleas's murderer. Elayne does not seem to be people's favorite, but even if she is not, her plotline at least carries some intrigue and adventure.

THE RAND STORYLINE: Reaches somewhat of a climax, but not a resolution. As many other people say, there should have been more Rand! And like others say, there is a wonderful chapter with Nynaeve and Lan. That, for me, was the best part in the book. It shows what a great character Nynaeve is.

THE EGWENE STORYLINE: Not completely resolved, but moving quickly. More time could have spent on this storyline, also.

LESSER CHARACTERS: Still too much time spent on worthless sideshows like the Atha'an Miere, Loial and the other Ogier looking for him, and the Deathwatch Guards looking for Tuon. All these (and some other) POV could have been left out without the reader missing anything at all.

THE FORSAKEN: These characters never get enough time. I miss past books like "The Fires of Heaven" where we got to read much more about the Forsaken and even read multiple storylines involving them. In this book, they all have a meeting, Semirhage makes two appearances, and there is a brief cameo by Aran'gar with Delana Sedai.

THE NEXT BOOK BEING THE LAST BOOK: I don't see how that's possible. A lot more happened in this book than the last one, but it doesn't feel like it's set up an ending for the series. I'm afraid the next book, if it is the last, may end up being very unsatisfying as it tries to resolve everything too quickly.

POSITIVES: Pace was quicker than the last book; some storylines that have dragged out for too long are finally resolved; some mysteries are solved; some characters get their comeuppance and will hopefully disappear from future books; some interesting characters are finally given the spotlight again (namely, Nynaeve).

NEGATIVES: Too much time spent on only three of the storylines, which happen to be the least interesting ones, and two of them already took way too much space in the last book; a lot of time spent on some of the most uninteresting characters in the book (mainly, Perrin, Faile and Tuon); still not enough action--plenty of fights, but most have little importance and come off as just filler.

All in all, not a return to form for Robert Jordan, but a great improvement on the previous book. Definitely recommended.

I'm with all the people wondering why there are so many reviews from people who haven't even read the book. You gave up on the series. We get it. Write that as a review for the last book you read.

Knife of Dreams picks up the pace considerably. I liked the past few books, but they had a lot more talk of doing things than actually doing those things. It's good to see plots being resolved(Elayne, Perrin, Mat and Tuon), and it was great to have new surprises(Thom's letter; I can't wait for that adventure in the next book). It's a book that builds toward the final battle. The end is upon us. Only one more book to go, and it can't come soon enough.

In the 11th installment of Wheel of Time, armies gather, the shadow enchroaches on everyday life, and some subplots are even concluded. I give this volume 3 stars, knocked down from 4 because of the weakness of the Elayne and Perrin segments. I give the epic entire 4 stars, in spite of its glaring and annoying weaknesses.

WoT is very much an American saga. The reader will not find elves, fairies, trolls, dwarves, gnomes, orders of knights, or any other too familiar fauna from European folktales. What Jordan does offer is a marvelously detailed world, memorable characters, and a compelling story. I would describe the story as a fable about power, its use and misuse. Misuse of power ended the Age of Legends, that age of technological and moral advancement, when people travelled the stars and war had been unknown for centuries.

Jordan shows us a world at work. He understands, as many fantasy writers do not, that arrows must be fletched, swords forged, cloth woven, dyed and sewn, food grown. Reviewers have complained about his descriptions of dresses and furniture, but these volumes also include wonderful descriptive set pieces, such as the harbor at Illian, and Rand's first look at the city of Caemlyn.

How many contemporary genre or "serious" writers know how to create memorable characters? William's Dragonbone Chair series may have been free from many of Jordan's faults, but I will be blessed if I can remember a single character. Jordan has given us a round dozen of characters who remain with us in imagination long after we put one of his books down.

A feature of Jordan's work I particularly like that a number of contemporary pieties receive very short shrift indeed. For example:

The modern, or is it post-modern?, demand for ambiguity, irony and nuance. In Jordan's world, the Light is the Light, the Dark is the Dark, and, you know what, it is not all that difficult to tell the difference.

The ageless wisdom of traditional societies meme: Members of traditional societies, as represented by the Aiel, are shown to be every bit as rigid, short-sighted, selfish, and prone to stupidity as anyone else.

The wise mentor theme: Jordan's young characters are set loose to find their own way in a world in which older and wiser heads are not always helpful, and definitely have their own agendas.

So, why the decline in quality after the first five? I think there are two reasons, besides incompetence of editing. At about book 4, or thereabouts we began to see the intrusion of silly subplots. The barn burning plot was beyond ridiculous, the kidnapping of Faile not much better, and the Queen in exile plot simply unreadable. Possibly Jordan began to believe his own reviews, and thought any product of his imagination was worth reading. The second reason, I think, is that Jordan, bless his American heart, simply is not very interested in the doings of kings and queens, lords and ladies. He was at his wonderful best when his young characters were out in the world, armed only with courage and high hearts, coping as best they could with events and situations not of their making. I find it particularly disappointing that the Rand and his 3 consorts storyline is not working well. Maybe in the last book, Jordan will let these these three women be who they are. Maybe Min the nag will become a wife in deed, creating a zone of peace, if not a home, for Rand, into which the insufferable Cadsuane will not be allowed unless SHE mends HER manners.

Possibly Elayne will be allowed to behave like a queen, instead of a blond ditz, and demand that the White Tower account for the fates of her two brothers, and that the Aeil Wise(sic) Ones return her sister, whose remarkable and unusual talents are badly needed. And, one can always hope, the brave, brilliant and gifted Aviendha will grow a backbone, and tell the Wise Ones she can best serve her people by taking her rightful place with Elayne and Rand.

In my view, it is, finally, the courage, compassion and moral fiber of Jordan's characters which redeems even the worst books of this series. I am who I am, says Egwene, and I will do what I must. Mat could just leave Ebou Dar; instead he rescues three Aes Sedai with no thanks from any of them. Nynaeve demands that a smuggler give passage to a passel of refugees, and pays for that passage out of her carefully hoarded coin.

The decision to purchse is a matter of individual budgets and inclination, but I think this saga is definitely worth reading.

I need to go on record as saying that WOT has been my favorite series for several years now. In the first five books of the series Mr. Jordan was able to create real people that we cared about and could empathize with. While I found the pace of last few novels very frustrating, I was able to tollerate them because I still cared about most of the main players.

In this book, Mr. Jordan has focused so much on making the story progress that he forgot to make us care about the people we have known for years. There were only two or three times in the entire book where I seemed to get lost in a characters emotions. I no longer feel like an extra participant in this adventure.

I wouldn't care if WOT ended up being 15 books long, if the balance of story progression and detail were restored. If not, Mr. Jordan should stop here. If the final book is as heartless as this one, I won't be able to go back and read the series again.

I just finished KNIFE OF DREAMS and came here to see if everyone thought it was as ponderous as I did. Then I read a review that said the Jordan family has chosen an author to conclude the series. I thought, "Wow, Robert is refusing to conclude the series so his family is going behind his back and hiring someone who will. Even they're sick of it!"

But then I read a couple more and discovered Robert had died. My condolences. Sincerely, to his family and friends. Sorry that I missed his passing...just never heard about it and honestly, I wasn't in a hurry to read number 11 after being 'book raped' by the previous 4 or 5.

Kinda felt a little foolish slapping my money down on the Barnes and Noble counter, still bruised and bleeding from number 10, and saying, "Gimme number 11. No way he's gonna do that to me again!" Well, I'm dripping blood and teeth on my keyboard as I write this, so...I guess he did.

I came here to this review section with the intent of telling Mr Robert Jordan just what I thought of his treatment of me...and then I find out he's dead. Like some crazy abused spouse all I can think of now are the good things about him and all those good times we had many years ago when we first met. Robby was different back then. He was fun and daring and never once did I look up and yell at my bedroom ceiling, "For the love of God, MOVE ON!", like I did every 15 pages of number 11 (52 times total). I'm gonna miss you Robby. I truly am.

Like everyone else I have questions that will never be answered by you. Questions like: Why did you name a 761 page book KNIFE OF DREAMS when that knife played absolutely no role in the book whatsoever and was barely even mentioned in it (unless it was in one of those pages I flipped by while I was yelling something at the ceiling)? And questions like: Was that circus caravan a metaphor for the Wheel Of Time series? 'Cause I remember Matt complaining that it wasn't moving and then it did move for a little bit...just like KNIFE OF DREAMS? Again, why the knife? Did I miss something? Why not call it STEAMWAGON because it was in there longer than the stinking knife! Lastly, Suroth. Remind me are we supposed to be glad she's getting hers or are we angry about it. I can't remember...oh wait a second. Is Suroth a metaphor for us, the readers? And that's us getting our clothes torn off and head pulled back while you have your big ol' boot on our rear end? Ah...good times...good times. Rest in peace Robby.

I loved the first six books of the series. Books seven through nine marked a steady decline in quality with an upswing at the end of book nine with Rand cleansing saidan, an event that had me chomping at the bit for book ten. Book ten was horrible, It simply stretched out the plotlines that had been started in book nine and eight. Read the reviews. There was no action, it was overly descriptive, in short it almost ended the series for me. Almost.

This book doesn't rank with the first four, but it easily ranks with book five and six. There is some truly awesome battles sprinkled throughout the entire book including one Dumai Wells type battle. Unlike the last several books you don't have to wait around to the very end of the book to actually see something cool happen.

He actually ties up quite a few plot lines. Not a lot of major ones but enough were I could see this series being easily ended in two books if he maintains the pace he set in this book. There wasn't much development with the Rand plot line but there was some and unlike many of the recent novels all the major plot lines were used, so if you have a favorite character you won't have to be dissapointed in reading the whole novel without them appearing.

Things that were annoying. Cadsuane still should be beheaded, but her presence was maaively trimmed down. Elayne's pregnancy with the details on what she was wearing, eating, and drinking was still there but massively minimalized. I could almost believe that Jordan read the reviews about CoT and acted on them.

I loved this book. Thanks to "Path of Daggers" and "Crossroad of Twilight" I will always be worried when a new WoT novel is released but this book could have ended the series for me if it had been as bad as the last novel.

Last. READ THE BOOK IF YOU WANT TO REVIEW IT. Review this book cased on its own flaws and merits not on the previous book. If you read the book and hated it and want to recomend a different author that's okay, as long as you know what it is that you're reviewing. The bulk of the reviews from people who actually read the book are three stars and above. If you hated the last few books so much don't buy the book. Don't be a troll.

I have been a HUGE fan of Robert Jordan and the Wheel of Time. His early books were almost the perfect fantasy novel in every way - crisp, fast, descriptive but not to the point of bogging down the story. In short, from the first seven books, every chapter, every page, every word (just about) was not only necessary but seemed perfctly crafted, advanced the story, and made me hanging to find out what happens next.

The next few books though dropped the ball entirely. I don't mind the extra characters coming in - I'm the type of reader who loves a long book, so long as the book keeps moving and makes me eager to keep reading.

This 11th book is far better than the last few, but still not to the level that originally captivated me. I found I was more eager to be finished reading the book at times rather than eager for it not to end and to know what happens next. Knife of Dreams is too full of descriptions of almost every everyone in the entire world. It is obvious that Mr. Jordan has an incredible imagination, but as a reader I do not need to know the name of every groom in every stable, or the cook in every palace, not to mention the eye color, hair color, dress type, hair style, items of jewelry/tattoos, hair pulling techniqeus, etc. When Knife of Dreams is on track about the main characters and advancing the story, it is great - like the books of old - but it has so much of the other stuff that does not advance the story that it becomes frustrating at time. For this though I grumble at the editors, not at the author. The author has every right to tell the story he wants to tell - it's the editor's job to ensure the "creative spark" in the writier doesn't take too much of a hold to the point of losing focus on the story.

I'm also a fan of the Forsaken - so much more could be made of them and how they interact; it seems incredibly interesting. And Rand's battle with Lews Therrin in his head is great writing!

But then some major things happen and there is no time really given to them and other things are wrapped up way too quickly as a result.

So the 4 stars are for the main characters and how I feel that I know them so well - were this any other novel my rating would be lower.

hhhmmmmm, lets hope the next novel is the last and the best, and reminds us all of why we we so captivated by The Wheel of Time.

The title says it all. Basically, book 10 is the setup of book 11, and the tying-up of book 9 and 8. And book 11, Knife of Dreams, is the climax of book 10. That's the way I imagine it... Book 10 and 11 together in "Crossroads of Knives of Twilight Dreams."

Anyway, the book itself, KoD is really tying everything up (much like 10 for the pervious) and the setup for Tarmon Gai'don. As always, Robert Jordan lives up to his name. The latest installment, like many others, still has the deep descriptions (although sometimes too deep), and dozens of plotlines interweaving to tell a beautiful, yet at the same dark and cynical tale.

Thankfully, it wasn't a dissapointment like book 10. Now we just have to wait... And wait.

I have for a long time stopped caring about these books other than to come here and read the reviews, which fall into three camps: a) the people who love whatever Jordan writes, no matter how banal and how boring; (b) the people who feel that his current book is "the one in which he turns things around; and (c) those who feel betrayed by how badly he has killed this once great series.

Well, this may be the last book for quite a while. I did an internet search for Jordan and Tor (his publisher) and Jordan is very seriously ill. Regardless of what I think of his books (and I think his writing is terrible), I wish him the best. However, that being said, it looks like this could be the last book in the series or the last one for a very very long time.

Deifinitely a step in the right direction. He still has a tendency to ramble on (I found myself skipping entire pages of "descriptive" writing to get on with the story), but he's not getting as bogged down as he has in the last few books. There was actual CLOSURE on a few subplots! That's something we haven't seen in a LONG time.

I'll keep with him to the end, but my gloomy outlook based on the last few books has been replaced with a glimmer of hope. If he keeps on this trend, he may be back to his more interesting writing style of the first 3 or 4 books. After all, "cyclical" is the theme here, right?

There's something inherently forgiving in the human heart. For whatever reason, we have a tendency to reward improved quality and effort even if, overall, it still falls way short of what we reasonably should expect. It's all about perspective: if someone, say, runs two amazing races, then flubs a few, then manages to stumble across the line again, we congratulate them. They're "getting better". The same phenomenon is at work here: Jordan slammed into the floor so hard in the past few books that he bounced. The uptick in plot, action, and progress of the narrative in Knife of Dreams is only relative to the last few brutal novels, yet so great is our feeling of relief that we are driven to acclaim. Think again: this book in no way approaches the first 3-4, and should therefore be derided.

One can be so starved for food that even the crudest, clumsiest meal seems like a feast. Such is the case here, where Jordan manages to craft a novel that isn't overtly terrible and we're driven to laud him for it. How does it come to this? Just like Lucas with the Star Wars movies, Jordan had it for a while, and then he lost it. Hearing that something "isn't as bad as the last couple" (see also: Revenge of the Sith) isn't exactly a glowing recommendation, yet here we are. My advice is as follows: If you want to read this book, go to the library or borrow a copy. Do not spend money on another Jordan novel until he actually puts in the effort to write one on par with the initial few (if ever). There are plenty of other great writers out there with new books (i.e. George R. R. Martin) whose novels are great in their own right, not merely because they "aren't as bad" as the other ones they've written lately.

I still think that it is a sad comment that after how much I loved the first few books in this series, I can only damn this with faint praise by saying that it is readable. But honestly, after the two books before Knife of Dreams, readable is a significant improvement.

Jordan keeps focus on a few major points, and actually offers some resolution. Knife of Dreams has most of its focus on the relationship between Mat and Tuon, Perrin's attempt to reclaim Faile, and Egwene and her continuing efforts to be accepted as the Amrylin Seat. Furthermore, it drops some fascinating hints about the the next book and I even found myself wishing that it would get here quickly. Knife of Dreams has reminded me how well Jordan can write, and I have high hopes for the final volume despite the obvious number of dangling plot lines.

In any case, I am really pleased to see Jordan back on the right track. I hope that his health improves, both for his own sake and for the sake of the upcoming Memory of Light.

I started reading Knife of Dreams with some trepidation, after the debacles that were the previous 3 books. Thankfully, the eleventh volume in Jordans Wheel of Time series lives up to the excellence of the first six or seven entries. I am puzzled by some of the other reviews here which compare this book to the last few, which as most fans of the series will tell you, had begun to spin their proverbial wheels (no pun intended.) Crossroads of Twilight in particular seemed to be the apex of this stagnation, Jordan had lots of sub plots rolling, but there didn't seem to be any progression, aside from the climactic events at the conclusion of Winter's Heart. For two or three books, it seemed that everything was ABOUT to happen, without anything actually occuring. Thank God that all ends right from the beginning of Knife of Dreams, yes even the 100 page prologue is exciting, as events begin to unfold rather rapidly, as the world prepares for Tarmon Gaidon. The only complaint I can raise about this book is the small amount of the Rand character, but other then that, Jordan should be commended for deftly dancing between his various subplots, never staying with any one section long enough to get boring. If you like Mat, there's plenty of him, and while there isn't as much Perrin, there is enough to be satisfied certainly. Most importantly of all, there is progression, lots of things are resolved that have been left hanging, and there is a lot of action, not to the point of excess, but enough to be thoroughly exciting. By books end I was grinning, because this was the best entry in the series since Lord of Chaos, and by all counts, it would seem that at long last, we have only one more volume to wait for. And based on this novel, I'd say we're in for one hell of a conclusion.

...but he's still clacking at the keyboard. I have read books like this before... you know... where you feel like you are reading through a fog and the writer is using a series of cliches to get through the book? We've all been there.

We just haven't volunteered to do it 5 times.

At least this book is comparable to Lord of Chaos. Remember that one? Stuff happened that tied into the previous books. KOD ties into stuff that happened in the first 6 books... and I mean that literally, you could skip the books between Chaos and KOD and be just fine.

Rand is a cogent presence in the book, which is a relief since Jordan had turned him into a whiny rat-crazy loon. Egwene is still dumber than a box of carpet nails but it is nice to finally have some action in that part of the story. I almost recaptured my previous affection for her. Nynaeve has thankfully quit tugging on her braid and started to do something... and, you know, now that she has a good man to twitch her skirts for her she's calmed down a lot. No doubt that is Jordan's solution to most woman issues. The Mat-Tuon thing is cute because Mat is cute and we already have a relationship with him. Elayne is filler to make the book similar in size to the other books on Jordan's bookshelf. It isn't even backstory, it is sillystory.

But if I may here, now, in the presence of the store and God, plead for the extermination of both Faile and Perrin. Yes, he and his wolves were once adorable, but, unlike Lan and Nynaeve, he has been driven annoying by love. No doubt Jordan's view of the male half of the heterosexual union. Do yourself a favor and skip those chapters (and I mean... CHAPTERS). I would have torn the pages out but I was reading a library book.

Finally, I'll just note that there are many unhealthy addictions in the the world and this is one of the more benign. We could be smoking or drinking or snorting, after all. But we are not. Unless reading this series drives us to that. The upside is that by the time jordan puts a bullet in this tired tale there will be a vast shortage of trees to make paper products to roll tobacco in. Think of the lives that will be saved. Unless, of course, you use the Faile/Perrin sections to roll your own.

I waited 2 yrs for a new installment. KoD is better than the last few, but to be honest RJ seems to be more lost in this story than the readers. This installment starts to bring it back together. to finish in one book...which I understand RJ said he would, it seems, he will have to dumb it down quite a bit. What will be left out, what will be ignored, and what totally preposterous mechinisms will have to be used to tie it up? This series hasn't gone anywhere in the last 4 books. this one finally gets it going again, but, I don't think RJ even knows where. He seems to have written himself into a corner.

Here's the thing about this book - you have to love Jordan's writing style in order to enjoy this book. Which I do, hence the stars. It is true that there is some plot development, but if you've gotten this far in the series, you can predict just about every single thing that happens. There is resolution regarding Matt/Tuon, regarding Elayne/Andor, and regarding Perrin/Faile. Anyone who has followed the series, however, can predict exactly how each of those resolved.

So if all you want to know is what happens next, don't bother reading the book. Just what you think happens, and not very much more. But, if you enjoy spending time with the characters, mainly Matt, Perrin, and Elayne in this one, then it's a worthwhile read. I wish more time had been spend with Egwene, as she seems to be the only female character left who's still changes, matures, etc.

I agree with most reviewers that the world has gotten just a little too out of control for Mr. Jordan, but I'm interested to see how he wraps it up, eventually.

Jordan has turned the rich, lush landscape of eye of the world into the tedium of staring at a complicated wall paper pattern for hours and hours, day upon day.

Eye of the world was a lush, fully imagined world and that world grew richer for a few volumes and the flow of the words were part of that. Then the decline set in. The one time thought had turned into a torrent of constantly repeated cliches and endless repetition of the same trite phrases.

This book is the worst yet. He still has the thread (s) of a story there. But he has gone so far afield with subplots to subplots and peopled this word with so many strangers, it is difficult to remember the relationship between any of the major characters. In all of its many pages, this volume advances the story very little and ultimately fails in its attempt to keep the connection alive between the major characters. The end is the typical teasing cliffhanger of sorts that says don't stop reading now. It also suggests that the next will be worse.

I began Eye of the World not long after it was published. It moved briskly ahead in the next few volumes despite all the new complications. Then it stalled and there it stays. The story has moved at a snail's pace since other than a start here or there. Ultimately, this is not a series of books, but a single novel written long -- or for another comparison, akin to the old serial movies where you lost the plot without the dime one week. You need all the parts. In something that began so promisingly, you have to wonder why someone who had created an interesting world, insisted on turning it into a telephone book of names. And Jordan promises us anohter 12,000 pages to go with this latest bloating -- because he couldn't fit it all into this.

I will probably continue to read Jordan, not because it's worth the time but because I've started and remember the better work. I won't buy hard cover and if I can I'll buy used or borrow from a friend. That is the real trouble with this series. I has become "product" -- fodder for keeping the same shelves full. There are, unfortunately for Jordan's old fans, writers who don't lose the thread so easily.

What one could have wished for an epic saga that resolved some things without in effect having to wait on the world to end. Jordan's world was rich enough that he could have spun off to his heath's content. By jamming everything in, he's weakened the whole of it.

For the former fans, like myself, who read this series; we have realized the truth. Robert Jordan has the ability to make interesting worlds, but he does not have the talent or experience to write interesting characters, maintain proper pacing or make complex character interactions believable.

Some readers want to see the moment when Tam al'Thor and Rand al'Thor are reunited. To them I ask 'Why?' Judging from the way the Perrin and Faile storyline was resolved, in which she was kidnapped, what makes any of you think anything particularly memorable will happen when/if Tam and Rand reunite?

Also, R. Jordan has written himself into a corner - so many of his earlier books concentrated so much on prophecies that readers have started websites and forums debating, that when he actually resolves these 'prophecies', they do not live up to the hype that we as fans have generated.

At this point, I want saidin/saidar to be destroyed along with the Dark One in the final book so that the annoying Aes Sedai and the murderous Asha'Man will be dissolved as organizations. The One Power was so interesting in the first three books - somehow, R. Jordan has become so obsessed with describing in minute detail exactly how each and every weave is formed that he leaves little of mystery or interest left in the entire magic system.

I will just say this - R. Jordan's greatest weakness as a writer is that he is prone to over-description. He does not trust his readers' imagination to fill in details that are unnecessary and thus feels compelled to describe every piece of lace on a minor characters dress; he does not trust us to believe that politics are complex in Randland, so he fills the storyline with minor plots centering around political machinations - which is sad, because R.J. just cannot make politics interesting or meaningful.

He does not respect his readers enough to resolve character deaths, and the end result is that the death of Moiraine and various Forsakens were easily reversed to the detriment of the sense of risk in this story. Some minor characters have died over the course of the story, and some of these are more moving because you know that they have left the bounds of this story forever. Unless, of course, R.J. resurrects everyone after the Tarmon Gaidon.

The truth of the matter should be evident: R. Jordan is wasting your time for 12 books because he is not trying to bring his art to a new level of quality, nor has his writing improved - he simply is writing to finish the story, and unfortunately, for many of his fans, they feel forced to see the story through to the end, regardless of whether it is really worth their time.

This series became a bloated, decaying corpse swarming with maggots already a dozen of years ago.

Objectively it is not that the litterary "performance" in this thing deserves 1 star.

But it is that even if you find a nice golden ring on a corpse, it stays that it is a corpse.

I simply don't care about anything that may or may not happen to anybody.

I am fed up with Rand's idiocy, with Perrin's obsessions, with Tuon's arrogance, with Elayne's and Egwene's cluelessness.

If anything I hope that the Dark One will recover some brains (up to now his IQ is about the one of an oyster) and sweep the floor up with the Rand's company.

Another Breaking on the way but this time the destruction should be complete - nothing and nobody has earned the right to survive.

Least of all the WoT series.

The corpse became now so ugly and smelling that the only thing it deserves is to be buried.

And fast.

What do the following have in common: Cenobites, Red Sox fans, and Wheel of Time readers. The answer: all endure excrutiating agony so that any small amount of pleasure is that much sweeter.

The reviews I have read on the various books of the Wheel of Time series fall into two categories, those who adore every book, and those who are sick of enduring the never-ending plot. From what I can gather, the two groups are also divided on when they started reading the series. Most of the reviewers who give every book 5 stars also admit to have started reading the series in the last 4-5 years. Most of the latter group, myself included, have read the series over 15 years. There is the inherent difference. Maybe I would feel different if I bought all the books over a year's time, and read them consecutively. However, this was not the case. To put it in perspective, when I started reading this series, The Eye of the World just came out in paperback, and The Great Hunt was just released in hardcover. I was a senior in college. Since then, I have graduated college, attended and graduated medical school, finished residency, and am in my seventh year of medical practice. I am now married, and have three children. And I have suffered. Oh, how I have suffered.

The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, and The Dragon Reborn are three of the best fantasy books I have ever read. The detail in Jordan's writing worked well as the complexity of the plot lines matched the style. However, The Shadow Rising was the first of the "bridge" books that took us from one book to the next without any real plot changes. The Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos were fair books, not as good as the original three, but still good books in their own right. Then came A Crown of Swords, where nothing really happened. Then The Path of Daggers, again, disappointing. Winter's Heart almost threw me off the series completely, and after Crossroads of Twilight I had vowed not to continue this series. The disappointment in these volumes was not as much the ongoing divergence and formation of new plot lines, but the fact that I waited 2-3 years between each book! The detailed description that Jordan employs only adds to the frustration of the reader. Here is the true suffering that I, and those of you who are in the same boat, have endured.

Now, Knife of Dreams is released. I was not going to buy it, but I read some of the early reviews and was given hope. Even the nay-sayers of this series noted that things happened, that the plot is moving again. So I bought it and read it, and much to my surprise, I loved it.

Jordan has returned to making things happen rather than dragging things out. This book had, dare I say, convergence of plot lines, and characters actually heading back to a common point. He is starting to tie-up loose ends, and it seems that Tarmon Gai'don might actually be close. Best of all, there is a fair amount of action in this book, and it is a much quicker read than the last four. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm still dubious that he can finish this epic in one more book. There are still many plot-lines to sort through and tie together. I susupect, and frankly hope, that there are 13 or 14 books. If he finishes in 12, I fear that it will cut short all the plot lines he has created (and we have suffered through), and the book will be a let-down. My hope is he continues the remainder of the series in the way he handled Knife of Dreams, with a fast pace, battles, and continued progression to the conclusion.

If you enjoyed all the books, I'm happy for you, and think you will enjoy this one even more. If you're with me, and have endured this series over the past decade-and-a-half, I think you'll enjoy this book as it is a return to the style of writing seen in the first three volumes. In conclusion, much like Red Sox fans and cenobites, we have endured pain in hopes of some sweet glimpse of pleasure at the end of our journey. The question remains, will Jordan emulate Pinhead and leave us suffering for all eternity, or like Schilling will he finally gain victory for the faithful and make our suffering worthwhile?

Wow, after a series of books that I didn't care much for, I think that RJ has achieved some redemption! This is one of the best books in the entire series. I enjoyed almost every single page, from front to back.

Here's who I am.

I liked books 4 and 5, the SR & FoH. I mean, I understand why some folks would say that these books are involved in the slowing of the pace, but a lot of the plotlines in these books were interesting. Perrin the the Two Rivers. Rhuidean. Mat. Tanchico to an extent.

This book does not contain an awful lot of the things that have bothered me about several previous books in the series. (CoS, more). There are many improvements such as:

The character work. Ten times better. People have motivations. They make sense. There might be irrationality, but it fits the nature of the character. GREAT. For example, I thoroughly disliked the way that many Aes Sedai were portrayed in previous books. Suddenly now, Romanda gets to be not dumb.

Pacing. Yes, things happen in this book. Hooray. There are lots of interesting things happening with the major characters. Oh, good. It's probably paced around SR & FoH speed.

The plotlines themselves. What? Perrin's plotline not boring me? You've gotta be... wow. I even liked a fair amount of Elayne's plotline. Besides, these plots are starting to make more sense.

Hope you get the idea.

None of the prose seemed bad. The characters didn't seem badly written. The plots made sense within the world. Basic stuff, but basic stuff of standards that you don't always get in fiction. Nothing pulled me away, and there's a lot that charmed me throughout.

I'm very pleased.

This storyline is great in my opinion with the exception of one minor detail: it is far too long. There are many details that, while they add color and intrigue, could easily be left out and not missed. Granted, with this many characters, there are bound to be some mix-ups, but with so many complex subplots going on, many of the finer details are lost on the reader. This not only makes no sense when read, but also is a waste of time as it has no relevant bearing on the plot as a whole. It is great to understand each character's personality, and I think he does well in bringing it out, but in a series of this magnitude, I think it is detrimental to the overall read to go into each person's characteristics. If only the few main characters are portrayed, I think it is helpful, but with so many going on, it just gets confusing.

Back to the positive, I think that I can finally see some resemblance of the end in sight. The main plot is starting to slowly come together, but I still can't see it for several more books, not to mention that the last battle itself will have to be at least a book to cover all the characters... unless he drops some of them, which will only lead to the question "why were they ever there?" Jordan has done a good job developing Mat's situation and decent at Rand, but I think that Perrin has been left for too long, and has fallen behind the "march to the Last Battle."

Overall, it was an exciting read and did keep me up late several nights. Worth the time in my estimation.

It is not a life-altering piece of literature, but the author has done a good job of redeeming himself after seemingly stalling the action in the previous book. The wordy, page-eating descriptions of what everyone is wearing still show up but much of the laboriously slow planning and meeting sequeces of previous installments has been replaced with a planning, meeting AND action sequences that made the series so popular. The battle-scenes are back with a vengeance along with the occasional, seemingly random occurence of the real bad guy making his presence known to the protagonists, foreshadowing the last battle.

The plot has streamlined itself somewhat, focusing on Perrin, Mat, Egwene, Elayne and Rand, resolving some of the minor characters' issues. Unlike the immediately previous installments, there are indications that the author has a good idea of where the series is going and has a mind to wrap it up.

Robert Jordan is without doubt a writer. Robert Jordan is also a writer whose story ran away from him. That happened in his fourth book. He never got back in charge again. I am done now with the wheel of time. A good idea beaten into the ground, then stamped upon, then covered with dirt. Book four could have been the last one, book five definitely should have been the last one. This was book eleven. The sixth that shouldn't have been. Robert Jordan has proven me wrong. I always held that it didn't really matter what a good writer wrote as long as you enjoyed the way that he wrote. Robert Jordan has become an irritant. To good to throw his books out to irritating to read again. It is a shame that a wonderful idea and a beautiful storyline have been murdered by its creator. What could have been pure joy has become an irritation. I just read that Robert Jordan died. I am sad to hear that. He has no chance now to save his series by writing a new fourth one to finish it off. I also read that his family are intending to finish the series on basis of his notes. Don't. Don't do book 12. Really, I mean it, don't. The series died before the writer of the series did. It is sad but true.

Yes, this series is really, really long. We all know that. Complaining about length at this juncture seems beside the point, almost like griping about an individual chapter in a long book. Why bother? I even admire Jordan for continuing to tell the story at his own pace, complete with all those minutiae that drive people crazy, rather than acquiescing to the demands of impatient readers and rushing the story to a close.

Yes, there is progress with this book. It felt like Jordan was moving all his chess pieces into place for the final battle. Finishing the series in one more book seems a bit of a stretch, however, and I'm betting there will be two more. Jordan is reeling in plotlines left dangling in previous installments, and doing it with his usual adroitness. His characters still aren't everything one could wish for, but he remains one of the most skillful storytellers working in modern fantasy.

If you've come this far with the series, this book will present you with no reason not to keep going. Buy it and enjoy.

Maybe I'm not the person to ask when it comes to this series. After all, contrary to what most of the reviews on this site said about "Crossroads of Twilight" (the previous entry in the series), I thought the book was fast-moving, engaging, and laced with interesting details. I do agree that not all that much advanced in "Crossroads", but I found it to be involving and fun, and that's what's important to me.

Now, I guess I'm going against the grain again, as, contrary to most of the opinions on the store, I don't feel that "Knife of Dreams" was an improvement over "Crossroads". Yes, a couple of long-running plotlines are essentially resolved and things are finally starting to point to the big close, but I found this new volume to be much heavier with chapters and/or long scenes involving characters who don't warrant such lavish attention, and the writing to be sometimes sluggish in those chapters involving the characters that I do like. And those things slowed things down considerably for me.

To be fair, we get a nice dose of Rand (it's a good four or five chapters in a row in the middle of the book, so I don't understand reviews that complain that "once again, Rand's hardly in it") and there's some good stuff with Matt and Perrin. And- oh, yes- there's a nicely done, subtle fade out that makes the reader wonder just who is on Rand's side and who's not. It's because of these stronger elements that I'm still giving "Knife of Dreams" a decent, three-star rating.

But overall, there was a bit of a sluggish feeling to this volume that kept me from reading that extra batch of pages each day, so this book took a good bit longer for me to finish than the last one. But I said it before and I'll say it again: I'm still on board for the next installment. After all, I made it this far, so what's other volume or two?

I am still reading this book (aprox half way though), and agree with a lot of the other reviews I have read.

It is definitely better than the previous few books, but that isn't a huge achievement. Also, there is too much written about minor characters. Can't RJ just kill a few off to keep the book focused on the main ones???

My main gripe is the speed of the book. The Perrin and Mat sections have been good thus far, but the prologue (85 pages!!!) is far too slow, and when it took Elayne some 30 pages just to walk from the outside of the castle to her room and get changed, it was too much!!! Supposedly this has had a full editorial review. Bah! Get new editors and speed this thing up a bit! Sheesh, we all know that WoT books can be good, have been good, and hopefully will be good again before the end.

Still, I will finish the book, as it is mostly good, but mostly because I have been reading WoT for too long to stop now...

All but the most avid fans of this series agree that the last book in the WOT was the worst. Calling it merely terrible doesn't begin to describe how awful that installment was. And yes, this was better. A little.

Then why do I still read these things? It's kind of like a train wreck. You just have to see how bad it can get.

And I refuse to pay for this trash, as I get my copies through the library.

Others have already listed the faults of this novel, so I won't bore you with listing them again. For those who are not critical in their reading, go ahead and give it four or five stars. But if you expect something more for your money than the hack prose supplied by Mr. Jordan, you will be very disappointed.

One last point. Given the spanking fetish Mr. Jordan has developed, I'm thinking the Last Battle might be fought by naughty boys and girls armed with switches rather than with the One Power.

I felt a little saddened reaching the end of this book, wishing it could go on and on, a feeling I haven't gotten from any of RJ's recent books. In short, this novel was much more engrossing the the past several. Finally, there is some plot movement and quite a bit of action takes place. True, it has it's slow moments, but all of Jordan's books have had some slow moments, and they have mainly served to enhance plot development. Thankfully, there are no new plotlines in this volume and several of the previous plots appear to be wrapping up or are actually concluded. Evaluated by itself, this book is good though not quite great, and is certainly a more worthwhile purchase than the last one.

As far as the series goes, I can see no reason now to stop buying these books after buying the first 10, especially seeing how this should get wrapped up in one or maybe two more installments. I'd agree with warning someone with starting this series, since it is no mean feat, but certainly reading it all at once, while daunting, would certainly be preferable to being spaced out over 15 years. One of the worst criticisms I have is that I simply forget some of the characters and the plot from the last several books especially. Nor do I have the time or the inclination to reread the whole series each time a new book comes out. Sorry, there are just too many better things to do out there! Anyways, I think we've all beat this horse pretty much to death so I digress.

Quick and short: if you are a current fan of this series, then buy this book, I promise you'll enjoy it; if you're just interested in starting this series, I'd wait until it's been completed and then read everything consecutively, preferably borrowing from the library to save on the expense of 12 (or 13) books.

I have to say, I was a little skeptical coming into this one, thinking only that I am wasting my money again on Jordan. Books 1-6 were amazing, with 7 alright, but after that Jordan fell off the chair and put out three more books that didn't advance the story and was a slow boring read. Then comes book 11, a fantastic rebirth of Jordan into the epic fantasy author that he was. The book advanced all of the main storylines and did it with a fluid grace that I last remembered in _Lord of Chaos_.

As some other reviewers have said, it can be slow at times, but what do you expect? This is a long epic fantasy that needs to be developed, not hashed through in order to get to Tarmon Gaidon. So long as the book is interesting and the storylines continue moving forward, that is all I can ask for from an author. All of the main characters are touched upon and you get a feel for what they are going through. Even Rand, who after the first few books, despite being the central character, was relegated to a secondary focus of Jordan's, gets a decent amount of time with his storyline furthering.

Jordan is back, but I sure do hope he can finish it up in one final book, or at most two more, because the story is a bit long. But with this installment, he has put himself back on the map as an epic fantasy author. If you are reading reviews wondering if you should rejoin this series (even if that means skipping any of books 8-10), then do it now. I definitely recommend; one of my favorites of the series.

First off, can we request that anyone who hasn't read the book refrain from writing a review? I disliked the last book, was irritated by a prequel before the story was done, etc. as much as anyone, but people coming here want to know how this book stacks up against the other WOT books, not to hear people complaining from a position of ignorance.

That being said, I think that Jordan has taken a step back in the right direction(I'd like to go 3.5 stars). Strongest effort since Lord of Chaos and to me about on par with that book. The statement that "the last 4 books sucked and this one sucks less" is pretty unfair. The way I'd put it is "the first 6 books were at one level, and the last 4 were at another, with a very large gap in between. If you had to group KoD, it would clearly be with the first 6". The full editorial process shows and the story moved forward. Old questions were answered and new ones were not asked. Things happen throughout the book and not just in the last chapter. There were still one part that I largely skipped(Elayne), but for the first time since LoC I found myself anxious at the end of a character's POV and tempted to skip ahead to read more. And most of the major characters seem to have refound their common sense again which was nice(especially Egwene and Nynaeve and to some extent Mat(who never got all that dumb). Perrin and Elayne maybe not so much, but it wasn't so bad because... well, RAFO).

I would also warn that you don't buy into the glowing 5 star reviews you see here. To me this book wasn't another TSR or TFOH. But it is a good book, not just "better than the last 4".

Yes! Red Sea-folk porcelain is the most valuable. Live and learn.

OK, this volume is, in part, rather better than its predecessor, and if that seems like faint praise indeed, I fear it was so intended. The problem with this whole series, it now seems, is that as soon as we run into the girls the whole thing shudders to a halt and starts sinking into a bottomless swamp of tugged braids, smoothed skirts, arms folded under more than ample bosoms, and an unending, interminable, unceasing, relentless, remorseless torrent of redundant, repetitive, unnecessary and uncalled for adjectives, all written with the integrity and conviction of, well, say a politician's PR staff. My theory is that as a child Jordan was viciously abused by sadistic nuns and has been working through this trauma ever since. In contrast to others who seem to feel he takes the attitude that the guys here are the idiots, I think it more accurate to say that his women are pathetically infantile - all of them (with the possible exception of Moiraine who started out OK only to be retroactively infantilised in the prequel) almost always. For whatever reason Jordan seems totally incapable of writing about his females, which is no small problem as the bloody Aes Sedai have taken up most of this series of late. So, there you go, this book can hardly be recommended when half of it is rubbish. Still, what does it matter - I know the next volume will turn up in my Christmas Stocking, and so does Jordan, which explains why he will continue to write such careless nonsense. Any author with a true passion for his tale would be ashamed.

Cheers,

dba

At first I was going to give 3 or 4 stars, because my frame of reference was the last book I read in this series.

Compared to his first five books and other fantasy books I found to be superb, I can honestly give this book 2 stars.

It's full of filler: Full paragraphs/pages of aes sedai smoothing dresses and arching eye brows and having smooth faces etc etc. Full paragraphs/pages of the descriptions of what every single person in the room is wearing. Full paragraphs/pages of the descriptions of all the curtains, paintings and general contents of every room.

Now, don't get me wrong, I want depth and detail and descriptions in a story. But there is a limit, and this limit was reached many books ago.

This book did advance the storyline though, something the last book failed to do entirely. But the battles we been waiting years and books to get to (Perrin saving his wife) were anti climatic to say the least. The battle scenes with Matt left alot to be desired as well. And Rand...well, he was talked about for like 20 pages.

It's apparent Jordan wants to be known for being great at giving details, but the ones he gives are all cut and pasted from everything he has already given us. He may change a color here or there, or substitue smooth silk for frilly lace, but they all are the same tirade that spreads out for pages.

I only wish he spent as much time in detail with the important things as he did with the filler. To have such detailed and lengthy descriptions given to what one of a hundred different forgettable (and similarly named) aes sedai are wearing, you would think Jordan could do half as good with the important scenes (Perrins battle, Matts battles, Rand facing a forsaken, Elayne facing black ajah, etc). But once you read through hundreds of pages of fill to read about something interesting, you read about 2 pages of something anti climatic and move on to what another aes sedai is wearing.

But at least some stuff DOES happen, which is alot more than I can say about book 10.

Maybe book 12 can be written by the same man that wrote books 1-5.

I loved this book! Well after the last one who wouldn't. The story line moves forward for several characters. A good portion of the book involves my favorite character Mat. In his best element not the drivel we endured in the last installment. The Band returns with Mat as there reluctant general. SPOILER!! If nothing else the letter Thom shows Mat is enough to make your mouth water for the next novel. The set up for the future storyline for Lan is another plot point that left me wanting more. This has not happened in the series in several installments.

The downside is that it takes several hundred pages for Jordan to dig his way out of the holes he dug in the last few books. More could have been done in the movement to reunify the White Tower. This story line still felt a little incomplete. Especially some of the individual character subplots involved in it. Also the prologue is eighty plus pages long. This gave me a worried feeling going in that it would be another eight hundred pages of filler novel.

Overall I truly enjoyed this book. I think it could mark a turning point in the story. It was a great effort to bring the series back on track. I hope that Jordan's health will hold so that he can bring this epic to a close. One that both he and his fans can be proud of.

I would really give this book 3 maybe 3.5 stars but there are a bunch of one star reviews from people who have not read it and that is just not fair.

I gave the last book one star.

So with this one the good:
Plot advances, heck even some of the plot lines are tied up (amazingly some people even actually die!)
There is much more action, battles, etc.
I found Perrin's, Mat's, Rand's (albeit brief)and Egwene's POV very strong, along with several of the other minor POVs
The book is setting up for a good finale..although I will go on record as saying it will end up being more than one book.

The bad:
The woman are still all one variation of manipulative and plotting shrews.

Elayne's and Faile's POV, which have never been lacking in the recent books (unlike some other major characters!!) are still as boring as ever.

All in all, a big improvement, but it still dragged in places, esp. with Elayne's plotline.

Thank god that we don't have to read another book with chapter's focused on how the women's hair is fixed, or the cut of there dress', or there insignificant thoughts about all the other women characters that only sets the stage for another boring chapter. Jordan finally gets back to his main characters and moves the plot along. although excrutiatingly slowly but looks to be some hope for an ending in this decade possibly. I mean I only started reading these books in something like the early to mid 90's and here we are ten years or more later and I am still waiting for the conclusion. I have gone from beginng high school reading these books to my first gray hairs{possibly waiting for the outcome of this series} and still going with and end in sight but not in reach. I can't give up now. I just think Mr. Jordan that you need to reread the Eye of the world and the Hunt for the horn, and try to get the old storyline back where you had me hooked after the first pages.

1) Why do people give a book 4-5 stars on the basis of 'well it was better than the last 1 star book he released'. A 5 star book is a masterpiece that every fantasy fan should read. A 4 star book represents one of the finest of the year.

This is not a four or five star book. 1.5 is more accurate. Better than his previous dross but still not worth the time or money unless you have to have series resolution.

2) Why are all the characters so mind-bendingly stupid? I mean, really, really stupid. I am suprised that we don't find several of the main characters constantly trapped by 'pull' doors.

With a whit of intelligence and common sense Rand could have wrapped up the west of the spine in Book 7, sorted out the Seanchan in Book 8 and been ready to face the Dark One in Book 9 with a world unifed under his banner.

The same could apply to the Forsaken, particularly the males (saidin users). I spent a year trying to understand why they did not act to stop Rand and his allies.

The only explanation for so much of the inexplicable incapableness of the 'alleged' leading lights of two ages of civilisation is that...um...

Well, Jordan's latest is about half a star better than the last installment, which was a zero-star book. This one is faster paced, but that just makes things worse. All this time we were told that the last 3 disasters he wrote were "crucial set-up" but in fact it seems that "Knife" reveals that to be a lie. The storylines involving Perrin/Faile and Mat/Tuon are finished, and end as expected. Absolutely no surprise there. Will Mat and Tuon marry? Duh! It's prophecy! Also, they've been abusing each other for 3 books now, so it MUST be loved, a la Jordan's pattern (see Nynaeve-Lan, Rand-anyone, Perrin-Faile, Faile's parents, Siuan and her dude....) There is nothing that happens in these lines that couldn't have been done 3 books ago. In fact, the Perrin/Faile one clearly wasn't necessary. So, we've been forced to swallow all that junk without any real purpose. It didn't contribute to "depth" or "character development" or "plot advancement," that's for sure. Erase those chapters and the story is the SAME. Actually, it would have been better. Sigh.

Elayne's and Egwene's lines advance, but do so in such poor fashion. Elayne finally does what anyone with half a brain would have done about 3 books ago. It takes about 2 paragraphs, though, and then we're done. Seriously. Compare the number of paragraphs where she talks about tea or being pregnant or her irritation with the Birgitte bond to the conclusion of this one. Pathetic.

Also, she does stupid things because she believes she is protected by Min's prophecy/viewing, which is one (1) of three egregious cases of deus ex machina that rot this book. Another (2) is Semirhage's sudden, two-paragraph elimination of the entire Seanchan royal family (save Tuon) OFF CAMERA because, well, Jordan needed to get that out of the way. Never mind that the ability of one channeling woman to take out all those super-skilled warriors and their damanae without a scratch is mind-bogglingly STUPID. If nothing else, we deserve to see THAT feat, rather than the snoreful Perrin-finally-rescues-Faile-in-an-unrealistically-stupidly-planned-venture-only-to-find-her-buried plot. So much garbage, so many pages. Egwene is spanked a lot, which makes women like her, apparently. Who ever would have thought that Jordan would solve the big, boring, long-drawn-out problem of the split tower with spanking? Also, how many million women can now channel? It's such a reverse of what Jordan started with--women who can channel are rare, finding two (!) in Emond's Village was so incredible! and now...and I'm not adding Windfarers, ex-damane, Kin, or Aiel women. It's a joke. FINALLY, I hate the Rand line. One reviewer pointed out that Rand losing a hand is just like what George RR Martin did to Jaime YEARS ago, so it's ANOTHER thing that Jordan has poorly copied from a better writer. Worse, instead of losing it in a believable way, it happens stupidly (that's 3). Most of Jordan's writing, it seems, is stupidly blundering about and then something unbelievably stupid happening to either advance a plot or to end one. I'm done. Get out while you can. This "knife" (why the title??) will make you scream (with frustration).

Wheel Of Time had the makings of a great series. From the third or fourth books, it went spiraling down the drain. Each book became bigger with little content and just dragging the plot. Jordan could have been too much in love with his story to finish it. Then there was a prequel. Ok, I can take that too. But when the prolouge for this book showed up for sale, I drew the line. It is clear this series stopped being a great story a long time ago and just a cash cow for author/publisher. I managed to get my hands on Knife of Dreams w/o paying for it and I can tell you it is same as the previous 6. For those who want to finish the story, just borrow. Not worth the price.

Fans and critics agreed that book 10 was the weakest link in the series by far. After such scathing reviews, Jordan most certainly felt pressure to win back his fan base. Thankfully, he does just that in this book. Some of the subplots that had been running for several books finally reach resolution and you can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. While this book isn't as strong as some of the early volumes, there are moments of vintage Jordan throughout. All in all, this is a satisfying read and you can breathe a sigh of relief that the series is back on track. Highly recommended to all WoT fans.

Ages come and ages go.... they certainly have over the course of this series. Will it EVER end?? I have come to an astounding revelation about myself as I have grimly plowed my way through the Waste of Time series since its inception - that I need MY bottom spanked in order to bring me back into the Light. If it hadn't been for other series such as those by Martin, Goodkind or Eddings, I would have joined the Black Ajah. The only good thing I can say about KoD is that at last, Perrin and Faille are reunited. I think if I had to read one more tome in which "nothing else mattered" but finding her, I would have tugged my braid right out of my head.

I loved the first 6 books in the series; the next 5 could have all been combined into 1 with nothing lost except, perhaps, for a superfluous cast of thousands. By book 8, I gave up trying to figure out who was who by referring back to previous books; by book 10, I didn't give a rip. I think I have spent more time skimming over laborious descriptions of clothing and conversations between characters who appear only once, than text actually read. Frustration with Jordan's increasingly self indulgent writing style and gargantuam amount of fluff padding, finally led to a break in my usual calm state that would geenrally rival that of an Aes Sedai. Not having a "impressive" or "ample" bosom under which to cross my arms in disgust, I quenched my ire with much unecessary smoothing of jeans.

GET ON WITH IT MR JORDAN! Oh - I forgot. He gives no credence to the opinions or reviews of those of us mere mortals who don't write for the New York Times et al. After all, we're just the woolheads who continue to buy his books in spite of it all...

Just a guess, of course...

But as the tale spins on and on and on, I've noticed a tendency to move from occasional, rather restrained, descriptions of women and their outfits to how much cleavage is showing or how see through the fabric is. From a rather Victorian Two Rivers to nudity everywhere - to bathe (duh) and for the oddest reasons. From no mention of sex to lots of sharing of beds to rather voyeuristic glimpses of others (including the bond). From mentions of childhood "switchings" to a lot of descriptions of female flagellation and bondage. Though not lurid, it does all seem targeted at capturing the imagination, one might say. The latest addition seems to be lots of "pillow friends" among the women. What's next in the story that never ends?

Three stars because the author weaves an amazing tale. Only three because he has trouble ending a story line. Any story line.

I suggest waiting for the last and then reading them all. An advantage is that the first volume is likely to be a classic by that time.

Am I the only one who noticed that Jordan's probably going to need two more books at this rate? There are still several prophecies to be fulfilled. The Seanchan have to ally with Rand against the Dark One. They have to recue Moirane. The Whitecloaks have to ally with the Rand people. Egwene has to gain control over the Tower, and she has to ally with the Seanchan to do it. Elanye and possibly Ahvienda have to have their babies. And, everyone has to ally together to march to Shayol Ghul. Who knows, maybe the Sharans will come over the Waste then.

Personally, I wanted more than that about Rand, but it was better than the last book. I think Jordan was reluctant to end the series. Also, I want a man captured and a man doing the torturing. Why is it always women who get captured and tortured, or do the torturing? And why do men almost always seem to save them?

Other than that, it was actually a pretty good book, after the disaster that the last one was. I rather liked it, and we had some progress toward Tar'mon Gaidon. There weren't even an overflow of prophecies promising more.

I think that this novel is as good as any of the earlier books in the series. Crossroads of Twilight moved very slowly and this book was the opposite. You can really see things coming together as the last battle approaches. Several long standing plot lines were resolved. Included among them were the Faile rescue arc, the Mat escape arc, and the Andoran succession arc. A long standing prophecy was fulfilled and the events that will surely lead to Moraine's rescue have been put into motion. The last battle is clearly just around the corner. Moreover if you read books 9, 10, and 11 in succession, they flow seamlessly and Crossroads of Twilight works well as a much need transition between the action in books 9 and 11. Personally I can't wait for the next book, A Memory of Light to come out and hope that Brandon Sanderson can meet the lofty expectations that Jordan has instilled in me.

There are plenty of reviews regarding this book. I agree with the general consensus that this is better than the last two or three efforts, but still not up to the standards set in Books 1-5. I was intriqued, however, by the suggestion to read them all again back-to-back. That might help in keeping track of the multiple plot lines and the plethora of characters and if I'm ever hospitalized for a month, I'll do it.

Unfortunately however, once again very little happens in this book. Oh, there's the traditional pulling-of-braids and lots of lengthy descriptions of dress styles, but very little plot advancement. Of the ten different plot lines, only two are resolved!

What Jordan really needs is an editor to stand up to him; this book could easily have been one-half as long without sacrificing any character or plot developments.

I no longer buy Robert Jordan books. I read them at the library. It saves me money and keeps me from damaging the book in frustration.

Honestly, how can anyone defend the last four or five books in Jordan's Wheel of Time? I have read thousands of fantasy books. From William Morris and David Lindsay to the latest Steven Brust. I can safely claim enough experience to judge critically.

So why do I keep inflicting Jordan on myself? A fair question. It's a faint, lingering, silly hope that he will return to the form of the first five, or, even more unlikely, wrap the series that keeps me reading them at all. There's also the idle curiousity in wondering how Jordan will ever clean this sorry mess up.

True, the plot actually advances a step or three in Book 11. That's different than Books 8 and 10, where nothing at all happened, or Book 9, where only one thing happened. The number of unresolved plot threads is narrowed to perhaps only 50 - 60. Remarkably few completely new characters are introduced, which is different. Time is spent with a lot of characters I like, who I haven't seen in several volumes. But that's a thin blanket on a cold night.

Comparisons with Melville and Dostoevsky are laughable. This guy is simply long winded, and apparently being paid by the word. He knows how to write well. Look at the first five books. He's just stopped. And he stopped a long time ago.

It's not some religious debate. It's pointless to work yourself into a frothing rage. It's just bad writing. Join me in hoping for an end. Please.

At this point, I don't know why I am still reading these books. I guess it is because the first five were so good, but the rapid decline of the recent installments has made them almost unreadable. Book 10 was the worst with 800 pages of nothing happening other than Mat following Tuon around calling him toy. Book eleven is a bit better and it starts to move at a crawling pace. The best part of this book is the Lan plotline. During these chapters Jordan seems to return to his old form. The bad part of Book 11 is the lack of originality, and should be renamed The Empire Strikes the Return of the King. For example, Mat gets even with Tuon's toy nickname by coming up with his own pet name that is making Tolkien roll over in his grave. Jordan must be praying that George Lucas doesn't sue after reading what happens to Rand halfway through the book. After reading this book, I now know what happens in book 12

*spoiler alert*

In book 12 the dark one will corrupt Rand, who then together rule the world. Then 20 or so years later, one of the twins that Elayne has will give Rand a chance for redemption. Together they will slay the Dark One, free the world, and Rand will die. Rand's child will go back home, only to find that he is unable to return to a normal life, and goes across the sea to live amoung the seachan. The Epiloge will finally bring back the awesome golem, who proceeds to ruin Min, Elayne, Egwene, Lanfear, Perrin, all the Aes Sedai, the Seafolk, the Seachan, and Tuon. When Tuon dies, Mat takes off his medillion, swings it around his head like a flail, and kills the golem. Mat then tosses the Medallion which strikes the wheel from the wheel of time, and breaks it ending the world. The End. I just saved you 30 bucks.

Like all of RJ's "plots," those in this installment of WOT are too easily and too quickly ended. All this buildup to some amazing rescue of Faile and....pffft! It's over as soon as it's begun. All the tension building up to a nice encounter with the Forsaken (for once, let's have a good battle!) and pffff! It's over in a page and it didn't seem logical, realistic, or in tune with any character's behavior. The resolution of Tuon and Mat's courtship? Pfft! Out of the blue and one paragraph later, the climax is over. Very unsatisfying. I'd like to agree with the reviewer who earlier pointed out that almost all of Jordan's writing is like this: all kinds of worry and then an absolutely unsatisfying end. I want my villains to be scary. I want to worry about the possibility that a MAIN character might actually die. I want to wonder about how things will turn out. Here? Not so much. No tension, no worries, we all know how these plot lines end. What's the point? Why wait for the big ending? Even the Trollocs, who make a sudden, illogical return, are...pffft! in about 2 pages. It's said that authors often put their own feelings and lives into their work. RJ must live in a world of men-hate-women-who-hate-men, get all worked up about nothing, and pffft!

This was the fantasy series that got me started reading fantasy. I have to say I loved it from the start. However, as I have grown older and my tastes have matured I find RJ just does not cut it anymore. I don't know if he's just phoning it in, or if I just have different tastes now, but these last books just suck. I urge anyone else that feels this way to try Steven Erikson's The Tale Of The Malazan Book Of The Fallen. Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, and Memories of Ice have recently been released in the US for the first time. These are great books. At least check out the reviews while your here at the store.

Reading Knife of Dreams after going through the same experience as most Jordan readers have, euphoria at the first five to seven books and then apathy and disappointment (maybe it has something to do with age? I was 16 when I read the first five books and am now 27), I realise that there is only one interesting plotline in the book and that is the Rand/Lews Therin plot. All the rest are just predictable plotlines (Perrin chasing Faile, Elayne competing for the throne etc) with boring one-dimensional characters. It is very boring and you keep hoping against hope that Moridin or Demandred finally get their act together and kill some of them but of course this is Jordan and, unfortunately, not one of the major characters on the good side can die.

When the battle at Dumai's Wells took place what seems to be so long ago, I gripped my armchair, tore at my hair, and bit my nails in cycles and in response to a wonderful anxiety only fine authors illicit. Jordan has the power to affect the reader in such a way. Although he has gone astray in recent books, in A knife of Dreams he makes brief visits to the gripping action he's capable of. All major characters -- Rand, Mat, Perrin, Elayne, Egwene, and others -- make crucial strides in their respective quests. At long last I feel a sense of satisfaction with what is being accomplished; for too long, nothing has been accomplished at all. Finally, I feel Tarmon Gaidon like drum sounding from afar, distant but approaching.

Why should you read this book? First, there's finally some action. While in recent books the action is nigh non-existent, here the action comes hard and regular. Blood, death, and deluges of the One Power flow through several battle scenes throughout the book. Second, plot lines come to a close, though not always satisfactorily. Sometimes I wondered why a plot line was even necessary. Third, you can't stop now. I started reading back in high school, near a decade and a half ago. The Last Battle is nearly here, and I have stood strong for at least an Age. Now that it's nearly come, I can't quit.

Here are some questions you may be asking yourself and some of my answers: Is there enough Rand? No. Does Rand do anything important? Not really. How about Mat? Mat's great-- my favorite character in this book. His points of view are the most entertaining. And Tuon? Fun and funny. What about the boring women like Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene? Still boring, for the most part. But at least they have big bosoms. What about the Forsaken? Active. And the Dark One? He touches the world more strongly. So why read this book? Because it's FUN! Jordan's world, though hackneyed and dusty for the most part, is still a great escape!

May the Last Battle be enough to make my wait worthwhile.

Reading this series is like having bad sex. Starts off great, you then realize everything is not like you were led to believe, and eventually you're just praying for it to end.

Theres no climax in this book, and Jordan for the most part is just going through the motions. Although he did some exploration and laid the groundwork in his earlier books, once again there's no attempt at character development and Jordan shows no sign of going down there again anytime soon. I'm not going to reiterate the other flaws in this book, as plenty of other reviewers here have already submitted commentary on this matter.

However, for those that have already started and realize it's too late to pull out of the series, you can at least protect yourself and wait for paperback, or even just settle for seconds and borrow the book from someone else. I'll admit I went for seconds. Knife of Dreams is NOT worth buying in hardcover. It's not a one star piece of complete fluff that others have been saying, but neither is it a 5 star culmination of joy that others been espousing. There's no need for beer goggles in an online book review. In Knife of Dreams there unfortunately is enough drivel that weighs it down to warrant 2 stars, but some decent one-on-one with Mat and Egwene to merit 3 stars if you're an honest die-hard fan of the series. If you absolutely need something to read, spend your money, at the store (shameless plug), on something worth your time for the amount of money you're going to spend. George Martin"s A Feast for Cows (the 4th book of his A Song of Ice and Fire series) is being released on the store Nov. 8th, or you could go for more bang for your buck by picking up some paperbacks of R. Scott Bakker (The Prince of Nothing series) or Steven Erikson (Malazan Series).

John (can't stop, but looking forward to the eventual end)

I though Knife of Daggers was on of the better ones in the Series. Jordan got back to the basics of what made all of his readers Love the Wheel of Time. I DO HAVE VERY BAD NEWS, BUT ALSO GREAT NEW FOR WHEEL OF TIME READERS, AT LEAST WITH REGARDS TO HIS FINAL BOOK #12. Please read the following passage all readers need to know both bits of information.

Robert Jordan (this is his publishing name, not his real)....his real name is JAMES OLIVER RIGNEY, JR. Here is a link so you can read it all([...]). James Rigney (aka Robert Jordan) passed away in September of 2007 (last fall)....however there is still good news for all the readers. The whole staff and editors have the notes and spoken ideas Jordan left while in the hospital the last few days before he passed on. The Book will be named A Memory of Light! The family and editors have hired a Fantasy writer to finish the Series and last book. This Writer (Brandon Sanderson) was a personal friend, and was mentored by Jordan too over the years. He will also have Robert Jordan's wife... Harriet.. helping (she edited and helped on all the books with him). They say on their web-site that they are shooting for Late Fall or Early winter (Sept-Nov) in 2009 to have the last book in the Wheel of Time Series on the shelf. This will be called as I said Memory of Light and will be book 12 and will finish the Wheel of Time. This is what they our saying at least, and they know the book might be BIG, and very hard to get all plots and everything in place...... so the Last Battle can be fought....but they will do it, so they say. I really enjoyed all the books, and I know with all the help from his wife (who knows a man better then his wife) this will be worthy of Robert Jordan's Memory and Life.

Ross Hill (who is just a simple man that RJ helped change with getting me to read a lot and that helped me Graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Management)

Plenty of well written reviews for KoD for everyone to get the idea of things. This book is a slight improvement over the last but isn't anywhere near as good as the first books of the series. 2-3 stars at most. Though I think Nynaeve bidding Lan farewell as she lets him go off to resume the fight in the Borderlands, then calling on the men to remember Malkier, that the Golden Crane flies again as Lan rides to Tarwin's Gap and Tarmon Gai'don, and rousing them to join him warrants the 3 stars, even if it is only a small part of the book. I think it's the best scene written so far in the series.

So this has got to be one of the longest stories ever written. I am guessing two more books to complete it. If you have gotten this far in the series, I can't imagine you would stop because of poor reviews. By the end of this book the battle lines are pretty well set up for the Last Battle. In this book Egwene and Mat become dominent leaders, Rand is pretty much clueless about what is happening, and Perrin remains with a one track mind to save Faile. We are asked to look forward to the answer to these questions in the next book or two: 1) Will Egwene unite the White Tower without a fight? 2) What role will Moiraine play? 3) Will Morgase return to Caemyln? 4) How is Rand going to die but live? and most importantly, how many pages to the end of this never ending story?

I am so pleased that Jordan finally concludes some of the plot lines, it makes for a really exciting read. I can't wait to see how he brings it all together again, for the final battle, but I will be more than disappointed when the series comes to a close.

It has been said of Jordan that he is like a modern Tolkien, but I have to disagree, he is better, FAR better. Jordan develops the characters over such a long time, with so many influences in their lives, but stays true to their unique personalities. What a work of art! He takes six main characters, makes them all equally interesting, and equally developed. He juggles the LEGIONS of sub characters with fluent and complete mastery. He writes so well, one almost believes that Jordan LIVES in this time, this place.

The multitude of cultures further impress, each different; distinct and unique. If you love adventure, the battle for good and evil, exploring new cultures and meeting new people, you will love Jordan's series The Wheel of Time. It is a series you can read again and again and still find new things in...

Only thing I wish Jordan would do, is publish a list of characters, especially the secondary and tertiary characters and their history. I dont know how he keeps it all separate and clear in his own mind, because I sure have a hard time remembering who is who, and what they did last novel or three novels ago for that matter!

Addicted,

Meg

Like many of the readers who wrote reviews, I have continued to buy Robert Jordan's WOT books in the hope that the writing quality of the books might return to a decent level. With this latest release, Mr. Jordan continues to disappoint. Like some of previous reviewers, I realized as I read this book that I had ceased to care about the characters or the series.

I will concede that this book wraps up some plot lines and is starting to move the series toward a rather hasty conclusion (if we can believe that this is indeed the penultimate book). This is the ONLY reason the book did not get one star. However, any reader who can argue that the writing and substantive qualities of this series are just as good as ever must be 1) insane, and 2) probably failed high school English. I don't expect Jordan to write like Updike or Faulkner, but it does truly seems like he gets paid by the word. Attention: Sometimes brevity is a GOOD THING! I refuse to believe that it takes two years to write such incomprehensible drivel. Therefore, I can only conclude that he must not only be taking extremely long vacations, but also lounging in his home and gleefully counting his piles of cash, as he and his TOR editors congratulate themselves on deliberately delaying the release of each book to build and maintain the hype of the WOT series. Well congratulations, Mr. Jordan! You've managed to bilk me and thousands of other disappointed readers out of hard-earned cash to buy the books in this once-promsing series for the last several years. No more!

Several additional comments about the plot line:

1. The Forsaken - As other reviewers have mentioned, how anticlimactic are these battles? The Dark Lord must take such pride and comfort in knowing that his best and brightest disciples, who are supposed to have a vastly superior understanding and control of saidar/saidin and technology, are falling like flies to the supposed "primitives" of Randland.

2. The Women of WOT - Yes, we get it! Women are just as strong as men! They kick ass! That being said, I'm glad to see that it's not just me. Mr. Jordan has gradually flushed out his obsession with bosoms and spankings. His latest dramatic revelation (CUE DRAMATIC MUSIC): "pillow-friends" in the Tower! Wow! "Pillow-friends"? Give me a break...

3. Convenient plot line resolutions - This is self-explanatory. If you don't get it, go back and read some of the reviewers' complaints.

For those of you will continue reading, feel free to throw away your 15 or 20 bucks, but prepare for a feeling of emptiness and ask yourself whether it was worth it to wait until Fall 2007 (or even later) for a disppointing close to a series that started with such promise and lost its way somewhere along the line.

Jordan said that we would be sweating by the time we finished this book, but my eyes (as some of his characters would say), this book was intolerable. Jordan has completely lost me. I have had it to the back teeth with flouncing Windfinders, slurring Seanchan, deadly Warders, arrogant Aes Sedai, incompetent Forsaken and insecure Asha'man. Midway through the book I was sick to death of Mat taking it in the teeth from Tuon, and Rand from Cadsuane. I was beyond caring whether Elayne secured the throne, paid her mercenaries on time, got her sewers cleaned, and was going through baby blues, for how long the Shaido would put up with Sevanna, whether Verin was Black, whether Elaida would lose the Tower and end up bent over someone's knee getting a penance, and just what IS it about Jordan's women and physical violence??? The amount of slapping, spanking, slippering, whipping and other assorted abuse is quite incredible, as are the increasing hints of lesbianism in the White Tower that have the subtlety of a brick in a muddy pond. Will Jordan perhaps be brave enough to acknowledge the same thing in the Black Tower? Perhaps he has, which is why all the Asha'man have their backs to the wall in the final scene with the Reds...

There is nothing to recommend in this book. There is (spoilers ahead in this paragraph) one good chapter, concerning Egwene's imprisonment in the Tower, and a couple of scenes with Rand. That is it. Elsewhere, it seems that Jordan has been rapped on the knuckles (hopefully with the collected hardback editions of his books) and told to flaming well get on with it, because too much, far too much, of this book feels hurried. A classic example is Rand's meeting with the fake Tuon - built up and up over previous volumes, it is over in a page, and Rand looses a hand as I frequently lost my place in the book. Perrin strides unscathed through the Shaido encampment to rescue Faile, getting rid (finally) of Aram along the way, and Elayne is kidnapped by the Black Ajah, finds out who killed Adeleas, is rescued, and fights a battle to all but defeat her rivals for the throne in the same day. There was the potential for real drama in some of these plot lines, all undone by the morass the series has slipped into and Jordan's need to get himself untangled quickly.

It is hard to believe this is the penultimate volume, and too bad he could not have ditched all these plot lines earlier and concentrated more on getting his world ready for his last battle. Rand's absence these last books is criminal, as Jordan's world turns round him and we need to understand what he has in mind (as well as what he has on it and in it). The Asha'man are a good example - that Rand has done nothing about them for three books now when he knows they are falling out of his control has stretched credibility out of all bounds. Incidentally, what would it take for Jordan's main characters to talk to each other a bit more (such as Cadsuane to Rand - what a ridiculous relationship that is) about how they are going to save the world? He could have made up a Council of the Light, staffed it with his characters, and used that as the forum for a bit of clarity as well as for his endless flaming attention to sartorial elegance and politicking. And speaking of clarity, the glossary at the back of the book is a joke it is so outdated.

Consider this, however, which I found on another review at the store US: "Jordan claims to never have read a review on the store, having stated that "if you're going to get your heart checked out, would you go to a doctor (professional reviewer) or walk up to a guy on the street?"

Seeing as Jordan has had the boundless arrogance to say that he never reads his readers' reviews, why am I bothering writing one. Venting anger comes to mind, seeing as I am one among many loyal fans who has made him a wealthy man. There are far better writers out there now. George RR Martin has long since surpassed him as the reference in epic fantasy (as well as parsimonious narrative and prose), and Robin Hobb for detail and characters, and if anyone wants something nice and chunky and original to get their teeth into, go out and buy Neal Stephenson's `Quicksilver'.

As for me, I'm guessing the next one will be split in two like `A Feast for Crows', but I'll wait for the paperback...

Yeah, so stuff actually happens in this book, and some plotlines get resolved. But not enough, and those that are resolved are often anticlimactic, especially for the length of time they've been building up. If the events of CoT and KoD had all been one book, with Elayne's plot taking up less than 5 chapters total, I would give that book 4 stars. As it is, I can't give this more than 3. But still, Jordan's tendency to cram a badly done RR Martin book (involving minor characters no one knows or cares about) into each WoT book seems to at least have subsided, if not vanished.

Characters are described in a lot of detail but half of the read delves into boring details of each character which does not contribute to the general plot of the book. So many pages are wasted which could have been better spent focusing on true fantasy. Who cares about Elaynes moodswings during her pregnancy, the whole relationship thing between Mat and Tuon...how much can be written about the traveling shown and how each day goes by...man, what happened to real fantasy/fiction?

Half of the book is focussed on random daily events that seems totally senseless and devoid of any reason or meaning.

This series started out with some solid achievements and great promise (also some annoying stylistic features), but then something funny happened to the author (on his way to the bank? ). As of now, Jordan's creative (as opposed to financial) enterprise has developed into a huge mess, and there's really no way to fix it. But,there is still hope that the core of the story can survive and be passed down as something precious to future generations. How? Well, the whole thing needs to shrunk down to about a third of its size. Many of the characters, especially from later volumes, need to be eliminated. The whole attitude of pseudo-gallantry and not-so-pseudo contempt for women must go. Perhaps even the character development of some of the major players needs to be re-thought. It would not be the first time in the history of literature that an initial failure was later revised into a classic. I don't think this is something a committee could do: a single devoted, skillful artistic spirit would be best. From what I have seen of Robert Jordan, he would fight this tooth and nail to his dying day, and well beyond, with copyrights. Whatever. If a new, better version of this story comes along some day, the Wheel of Time will become a lasting part of our culture. Otherwise, the present overblown failure will be forgotten within a generation.

How much is Jordan paying for all these 4 and 5 star reviews? Haha, c'mon now, one reviewer even messed up and re-copied the other rave reviews he's been submitting to boost Jordan's book's rating. Snicker... snort....but thanx for letting me know you're "feelings" about Crossroads of Twilight in the KNIFE OF DREAMS CUSTOMER REVIEW section. I checked too.... nice 5 star rating you gave Crossroads as well!!!!

Just for that, I'm rating this a 2 instead of the 3 I was going to give. Like others have mentioned, this book is an improvement over the last 4 pieces of dung Jordan released in this series, but it's no stand-alone novel and it's no where near the first 5 books in this series. Those were awesome books that made you want to read more. This book on the other hand is just average at best, and that's only if you've been keeping up with the series. Ok stuff if you like Mat and Perrin, but its nothing vital or anything. Rest depends on your tastes and what you've learned to skim over..... you like Galina, read her stuff. Don't? Then skim. Same with Elayne. Same with Rand (I like Rand but c'mon he's hardly in the book~). Ugh. I'm glad I got this as a present. Just finish this series and stop dragging it out Plz!!

I read these the store reviews like I watch my NASCAR... I stop and stare at the horrible crashes.

I don't know why people who don't like Mr. Jordan's amazing descriptive and detail-rich prose continue to read his works if they're so hell-bent against these traits, but for a fan who appreciates all the glory that is Jordan's Wheel of Time, this latest edition is a provocative thrust toward Tarmon Gaidon and the fulfillment of an investment in characters I've spent so much time with over the past few years. As others have mentioned, there is a goodly amount of closure in this latest edition and Perrin and Mat show that they are indeed main characters essential to this three stone soup that Jordan is brewing.

I give you my 5 stars as a fan of Jordan; others who are not so interested in finding themselves immersed and pleasantly overwhelmed in the Wheel of Time will maybe disagree with my excitement over this latest edition. That said, the last page left me screaming for more and excited at the numerous gripping events that make this a must-have addition to your fantasy library.

:j

Thank goodness I didn't have to wait for this book. I had it on hand the moment I finished Crossroads. I read it in a week. I thought the pace of this book was very different to the others. The beginning was extremely intense. The middle was a more comfortable pace, and the end matched the beginning, with a cliff hanger that was positively cruel! I'm sure the question on everyone's lips is, is the last battle coming? Well, there are signs that a grate change is coming. The layout of buildings keeps altering, the dead are walking, and towns sink suddenly in to oblivion. Still, I don't feel that the last battle is imminent. Without wishing to give anything away, I can say that several plot lines come to a conclusion, which is perhaps a sign that the series is nearing it's end, but some things are still left unresolved, leaving things to look forward to in the next book. For me, the most ominous sign was the absence of Rand. He was not really in it much, though his page time was very gripping. Normally when Jordan's characters are absent, they are missed, but it doesn't matter. But with Rand, I felt a sense of foreboding.

One thing I must mention, so beware of a spoiler: Mat does finally marry Tuon. I only mention it because I can't stand Tuon, and my heart aches for Mat. After all, what sane woman makes someone take her to a rough house purely in the hope of witnessing a fight? It's to Jordan's credit that he can arouse such passionate feelings in me for his characters. I hate her!

But anyway, there you have it. A worthy addition to the series. Well worth the wait for those who have suffered so long. Now I must endure my torment until the next instalment arrives. Let's hope it's not a long one.

Oh yes, Kate Reading and Michael Cramer read the book once again. It looks like they're sticking out the series to the end. I certainly hope so.

The following contains no spoilers - as I have yet to finish the book, however it is all very true! Veteran readers of RJ will enjoy it, prospective readers should be scared away - if you haven't started reading the series, don't! For those of us inexorably hooked we are left to ponder only what could have been, as we wait for the final fateful words: He dies. The End.

I expect to be thoroughly entertained as Perrin chases Faile, Rand broods then takes a bath while participating in his first four-some with his "wives" (oh yeah, the maidens will of course be watching to make sure he doesn't screw up, all the while commenting on his ineptitude at pleasing three women at the same time.) Matt will continue fumbling his relationship with the Daughter of the Nine Moons - because men are simply incapable of understanding the depth of women, especially ten-year-olds. The Aes Sedai will do the same thing they've been doing: bickering amongst themselves, fighting with the other group, arguing over who's right, being snooty know-it-alls, get reprimanded by Rand or some other come-lately that has infinitely more wisdom than the self-proclaimed wisest bunch on the planet, and finally end at the exact same point they started when the book began. The Forsaken will be convoluted. I mean convoluted. They'll be there, but who really knows what they're doing or who they really are - hopefully we'll finally be able to keep track of their new genders. The Dark One will stir, and touch the land as only the Dark One can. Morridin will cackle with insane laughter. Shadar Harran will loom over someone. Fain will try to kill Rand and just kill others. The Children of the Light will fight everyone. Rumors of Morraine returning will surface along with rumors of Artur Hawkwing's armies returning from across the sea. Rand will fight against the Seanchan. Nobles will be stupid. Trollocs will eat people. The Aiel will unveil some new weird practice that is absolutely necessary for their existence, and then promptly break it as need dictates and then complain about the stupidity of others for no less than 58 pages. We'll hear from characters who were introduced 3 books ago and haven't appeared since prompting us to consider them as new characters, but we really don't care because we're just skimming at this point. New characters will be introduced that we won't hear from again for at least 3 full books, and when we do, we'll all think we're being introduced to new characters, but it doesn't really matter because we're just skimming at this point anyway. We'll flash back to the Age of Legends, which is actually the age to come, and we'll see evidence of stuff that hasn't happened yet, I think. Lan will be cool. Brilliance will be displayed from a horse. At least 100 pages will take place before the end of book prior to the last one so a string of plot is developed that is absolutely necessary to introduce or reintroduce or resurrect or trick us into thinking there is the return of some character that is absolutely unnecessary for the rest of the story to continue. Partially naked women will make men uncomfortable. Women will be spanked. Everyone will get about 2 weeks older. And we'll be left anxiously waiting for the next installment so the process can start all over again.

You have to hand it to Robert Jordan. He knows how to keep us hooked!

Jordan's tiresome "epic" fails to entertain in this latest installment. Characters continue to show their "love" for one another by insulting and belittling each other (and not in a jovial way). All the spell-casting women of whatever flavor continue to be interchangable, unlikable, and unrealistic (in the sense that such people don't exist in such numbers, AND in the sense that they behave in irrational ways). Jordan continues to use automatic filler to make "scenes" longer: sniffs, snorts, icy stares, porcelain, etc. take the place of meaningful conversation, realistic interaction, and plot. The bad guys continue to be un-scary Keystone Kops. Want to know which character could really be a Forsaken? Hard to tell, when they're ALL THE SAME. And who cares, really?

Just as Cadsuane cutely calls Rand "Boy" instead of "Rand" and Faile called Perrin "blacksmith" (or whatever) instead of his real name, now we have Tuon calling Mat "Toy" and it's really the end for this series. Fate and prophecy (a.k.a. deus ex machina) remove all reality from Jordan's dribblings, as Nothing Much happens for a long time until suddenly Something Unrealistic But Fated happens. Zzzzz. Elayne's pregnancy is the worst ever. In an era when women can magically assess her health to the nth degree at any moment, they still treat her as if she's going to miscarry at any moment. Then she goes and risks her neck because she knows it's OK since Min's prophecy (that she will give birth) is guaranteed to come true. In that case, why bother with the annoying 400 pages of "how to keep Elayne healthy through a restricted tea diet"? God this series sucks.

Anyone who thinks it doesn't is a complete sucker for crap fiction.

OKEY first of all i am 13 years old and i spent my last 2 years reading fantasy books ...and i gave this series a year ...to read i may be slow but please consider this just a personal review :-

first of all i would like to say the first 1-6 or even 7 books were good and the first 5 were great and every one knows that so i thought oh my god these books are great so i bought the whole series in the box sets and started to read and to read and it was like a nightmare mr jordan got nothing to do so he writes this crap i mean this book was awful ... i dont know how i pulled off and read all these b0oks i just regret every single time of my life that was spent on reading these stuff really and i dont know why my parents got me this book they think i like this series but i was saying in my self oh nooooooooooooo ....i dont want to read this but i had to read it so i read it and the story is just a dump crap nothing happens in these books and lets be honest i dont think that i ll be able to pull of anymore of this sereis and i am not planning on getting the next books at all......

so was this helpful ? ? ? :)

If you're a fan of the WOT series then pick up Knife of Dreams. Jordan finally cleans up a lot of loose ends in preparation for the final installment. I felt like KofD was what CofT should of been. Crossroads seemed like writing for writing's sake (don't get me wrong, I really like all the characters in the series, but Crossroads was just too slow). Knife of Dreams, in comparison, is paced very well. We see the culmination of a lot of plot lines and can really feel the end is near. I only wish this one was longer. At only about 800 pages we really don't get to see a lot of Rand and the end of the series, though nearer, is still only just in sight. Jordan has said that the next book will definitely be the last, even if it must be 2000 pages long. I only hope he can conclude the series properly, giving all the characters the ending they deserve.

Books 10 and 11 both make me think of book 4.

"Book TEN makes you think of book FOUR?!?!?", you say? Well, yes... specifically, that part where the Shaido clan-chief-wannabe was in the heart of Rhuidean and was tearing his eyes from their sockets rather than go on seeing what he was seeing. Pretty much sums up my experience of reading book 10.

Knife of Dreams reminds me of book 4 in a different way - the story lines make PROGRESS. Things happen. Book 10 was painful, with the last chapter being the only required reading in the whole thing. KoD isn't as good as book 4, though (IMO), because there are so many story lines. In earlier books a story line would split off, but for every two leading off you usually had one or two coming back in. But if you have 10 story lines (for example) sharing 700 pages, you obviously don't get as much progress made in each one as you would with just 4 to follow. I understand that's the nature of the series at this point, but there you are - I'm less satisfied with the overall progress. That said, what progress IS made has a much more furious pace that in recent volumes, reminding me once again of The Shadow Rising (ie, book 4) and leading me to a final rating of 4 stars. I'd give it 4.5 if I could - it's really not the fault of this particular installment that it has so many story lines to deal with.

If this seems more like a review of the pace of the book than its content... it is. Had the first couple of reviews I read indicated this was a repeat of book 10, I think I would have just went to message boards for plot summaries and spoilers rather than spend a few hours reading it. When the series came out, I was in university and had much more time for reading. Now I have a job and two kids, and I'm a different audience than I was back then ... I can't devote hours and hours of my life to reading a book that offers a few minutes of intrigue. So the pace in book 11 was my number 1 concern. Jordan has already shown he can weave an intricate and compelling tale, so that was never in doubt for me. He certainly did not fail to deliver just that in this new novel, and I once again am eagerly waiting for the next book in the series - Thanks, RJ!

I read these the store reviews like I watch my NASCAR... I stop and stare at the horrible crashes.

I don't know why people who don't like Mr. Jordan's amazing descriptive and detail-rich prose continue to read his works if they're so hell-bent against these traits, but for a fan who appreciates all the glory that is Jordan's Wheel of Time, this latest edition is a provocative thrust toward Tarmon Gaidon and the fulfillment of an investment in characters I've spent so much time with over the past few years. As others have mentioned, there is a goodly amount of closure in this latest edition and Perrin and Mat show that they are indeed main characters essential to this three stone soup that Jordan is brewing.

I give you my 5 stars as a fan of Jordan; others who are not so interested in finding themselves immersed and pleasantly overwhelmed in the Wheel of Time will maybe disagree with my excitement over this latest edition. That said, the last page left me screaming for more and excited at the numerous gripping events that make this a must-have addition to your fantasy library.

:j

Thank goodness I didn't have to wait for this book. I had it on hand the moment I finished Crossroads. I read it in a week. I thought the pace of this book was very different to the others. The beginning was extremely intense. The middle was a more comfortable pace, and the end matched the beginning, with a cliff hanger that was positively cruel! I'm sure the question on everyone's lips is, is the last battle coming? Well, there are signs that a grate change is coming. The layout of buildings keeps altering, the dead are walking, and towns sink suddenly in to oblivion. Still, I don't feel that the last battle is imminent. Without wishing to give anything away, I can say that several plot lines come to a conclusion, which is perhaps a sign that the series is nearing it's end, but some things are still left unresolved, leaving things to look forward to in the next book. For me, the most ominous sign was the absence of Rand. He was not really in it much, though his page time was very gripping. Normally when Jordan's characters are absent, they are missed, but it doesn't matter. But with Rand, I felt a sense of foreboding.

One thing I must mention, so beware of a spoiler: Mat does finally marry Tuon. I only mention it because I can't stand Tuon, and my heart aches for Mat. After all, what sane woman makes someone take her to a rough house purely in the hope of witnessing a fight? It's to Jordan's credit that he can arouse such passionate feelings in me for his characters. I hate her!

But anyway, there you have it. A worthy addition to the series. Well worth the wait for those who have suffered so long. Now I must endure my torment until the next instalment arrives. Let's hope it's not a long one.

Oh yes, Kate Reading and Michael Cramer read the book once again. It looks like they're sticking out the series to the end. I certainly hope so.

The following contains no spoilers - as I have yet to finish the book, however it is all very true! Veteran readers of RJ will enjoy it, prospective readers should be scared away - if you haven't started reading the series, don't! For those of us inexorably hooked we are left to ponder only what could have been, as we wait for the final fateful words: He dies. The End.

I expect to be thoroughly entertained as Perrin chases Faile, Rand broods then takes a bath while participating in his first four-some with his "wives" (oh yeah, the maidens will of course be watching to make sure he doesn't screw up, all the while commenting on his ineptitude at pleasing three women at the same time.) Matt will continue fumbling his relationship with the Daughter of the Nine Moons - because men are simply incapable of understanding the depth of women, especially ten-year-olds. The Aes Sedai will do the same thing they've been doing: bickering amongst themselves, fighting with the other group, arguing over who's right, being snooty know-it-alls, get reprimanded by Rand or some other come-lately that has infinitely more wisdom than the self-proclaimed wisest bunch on the planet, and finally end at the exact same point they started when the book began. The Forsaken will be convoluted. I mean convoluted. They'll be there, but who really knows what they're doing or who they really are - hopefully we'll finally be able to keep track of their new genders. The Dark One will stir, and touch the land as only the Dark One can. Morridin will cackle with insane laughter. Shadar Harran will loom over someone. Fain will try to kill Rand and just kill others. The Children of the Light will fight everyone. Rumors of Morraine returning will surface along with rumors of Artur Hawkwing's armies returning from across the sea. Rand will fight against the Seanchan. Nobles will be stupid. Trollocs will eat people. The Aiel will unveil some new weird practice that is absolutely necessary for their existence, and then promptly break it as need dictates and then complain about the stupidity of others for no less than 58 pages. We'll hear from characters who were introduced 3 books ago and haven't appeared since prompting us to consider them as new characters, but we really don't care because we're just skimming at this point. New characters will be introduced that we won't hear from again for at least 3 full books, and when we do, we'll all think we're being introduced to new characters, but it doesn't really matter because we're just skimming at this point anyway. We'll flash back to the Age of Legends, which is actually the age to come, and we'll see evidence of stuff that hasn't happened yet, I think. Lan will be cool. Brilliance will be displayed from a horse. At least 100 pages will take place before the end of book prior to the last one so a string of plot is developed that is absolutely necessary to introduce or reintroduce or resurrect or trick us into thinking there is the return of some character that is absolutely unnecessary for the rest of the story to continue. Partially naked women will make men uncomfortable. Women will be spanked. Everyone will get about 2 weeks older. And we'll be left anxiously waiting for the next installment so the process can start all over again.

You have to hand it to Robert Jordan. He knows how to keep us hooked!

Jordan's tiresome "epic" fails to entertain in this latest installment. Characters continue to show their "love" for one another by insulting and belittling each other (and not in a jovial way). All the spell-casting women of whatever flavor continue to be interchangable, unlikable, and unrealistic (in the sense that such people don't exist in such numbers, AND in the sense that they behave in irrational ways). Jordan continues to use automatic filler to make "scenes" longer: sniffs, snorts, icy stares, porcelain, etc. take the place of meaningful conversation, realistic interaction, and plot. The bad guys continue to be un-scary Keystone Kops. Want to know which character could really be a Forsaken? Hard to tell, when they're ALL THE SAME. And who cares, really?

Just as Cadsuane cutely calls Rand "Boy" instead of "Rand" and Faile called Perrin "blacksmith" (or whatever) instead of his real name, now we have Tuon calling Mat "Toy" and it's really the end for this series. Fate and prophecy (a.k.a. deus ex machina) remove all reality from Jordan's dribblings, as Nothing Much happens for a long time until suddenly Something Unrealistic But Fated happens. Zzzzz. Elayne's pregnancy is the worst ever. In an era when women can magically assess her health to the nth degree at any moment, they still treat her as if she's going to miscarry at any moment. Then she goes and risks her neck because she knows it's OK since Min's prophecy (that she will give birth) is guaranteed to come true. In that case, why bother with the annoying 400 pages of "how to keep Elayne healthy through a restricted tea diet"? God this series sucks.

Anyone who thinks it doesn't is a complete sucker for crap fiction.

OKEY first of all i am 13 years old and i spent my last 2 years reading fantasy books ...and i gave this series a year ...to read i may be slow but please consider this just a personal review :-

first of all i would like to say the first 1-6 or even 7 books were good and the first 5 were great and every one knows that so i thought oh my god these books are great so i bought the whole series in the box sets and started to read and to read and it was like a nightmare mr jordan got nothing to do so he writes this crap i mean this book was awful ... i dont know how i pulled off and read all these b0oks i just regret every single time of my life that was spent on reading these stuff really and i dont know why my parents got me this book they think i like this series but i was saying in my self oh nooooooooooooo ....i dont want to read this but i had to read it so i read it and the story is just a dump crap nothing happens in these books and lets be honest i dont think that i ll be able to pull of anymore of this sereis and i am not planning on getting the next books at all......

so was this helpful ? ? ? :)

If you're a fan of the WOT series then pick up Knife of Dreams. Jordan finally cleans up a lot of loose ends in preparation for the final installment. I felt like KofD was what CofT should of been. Crossroads seemed like writing for writing's sake (don't get me wrong, I really like all the characters in the series, but Crossroads was just too slow). Knife of Dreams, in comparison, is paced very well. We see the culmination of a lot of plot lines and can really feel the end is near. I only wish this one was longer. At only about 800 pages we really don't get to see a lot of Rand and the end of the series, though nearer, is still only just in sight. Jordan has said that the next book will definitely be the last, even if it must be 2000 pages long. I only hope he can conclude the series properly, giving all the characters the ending they deserve.

Books 10 and 11 both make me think of book 4.

"Book TEN makes you think of book FOUR?!?!?", you say? Well, yes... specifically, that part where the Shaido clan-chief-wannabe was in the heart of Rhuidean and was tearing his eyes from their sockets rather than go on seeing what he was seeing. Pretty much sums up my experience of reading book 10.

Knife of Dreams reminds me of book 4 in a different way - the story lines make PROGRESS. Things happen. Book 10 was painful, with the last chapter being the only required reading in the whole thing. KoD isn't as good as book 4, though (IMO), because there are so many story lines. In earlier books a story line would split off, but for every two leading off you usually had one or two coming back in. But if you have 10 story lines (for example) sharing 700 pages, you obviously don't get as much progress made in each one as you would with just 4 to follow. I understand that's the nature of the series at this point, but there you are - I'm less satisfied with the overall progress. That said, what progress IS made has a much more furious pace that in recent volumes, reminding me once again of The Shadow Rising (ie, book 4) and leading me to a final rating of 4 stars. I'd give it 4.5 if I could - it's really not the fault of this particular installment that it has so many story lines to deal with.

If this seems more like a review of the pace of the book than its content... it is. Had the first couple of reviews I read indicated this was a repeat of book 10, I think I would have just went to message boards for plot summaries and spoilers rather than spend a few hours reading it. When the series came out, I was in university and had much more time for reading. Now I have a job and two kids, and I'm a different audience than I was back then ... I can't devote hours and hours of my life to reading a book that offers a few minutes of intrigue. So the pace in book 11 was my number 1 concern. Jordan has already shown he can weave an intricate and compelling tale, so that was never in doubt for me. He certainly did not fail to deliver just that in this new novel, and I once again am eagerly waiting for the next book in the series - Thanks, RJ!

I would say that Knife of Dreams is one of the better books written since book 5 of the WOT. This book was a major improvement over the previous installment, Crossroads of Twilight, and saw several plot lines move forward to conclusion. There are some pretty memorable scenes in this book and overall it was a very good read.

I'm not going to argue with anyone who says that Robert Jordan has gotten longwinded and perverted in his last six books. However, I believe that this series is still some of the best fantasy fiction out there.

Knife of Dreams (yes, yes, another obsolete title) is good. I couldn't put it down. The Matt and Tuon story is fantastic, and the Egwene and Elayne stories move along nicely too.

Rand... I stopped being a Rand fan when the whole plural marriage thing started, and his plotline is a little silly in this one. He walks into an obvious trap, battles the dark side of the force, and receives a little-too-familiar limb amputation.

But, It's good! I don't think Robert Jordan is milking his fans. He's a strange man who gets bogged down with his own neurotic details and an ever growing cast of attractive women who smooth their skirts needlessly and express things with their bosoms.

However, the man is still a genius even if he is clearly mad. We, his previously dedicated readers are clearly over the honeymoon period with the man. But I intend to see this thing through because I still love Robert Jordan. Let's all hope he survives his chemo and lives to write the last book.

First let me say that I think the story has had it's definite slow points. I understand the frustration of waiting 300 pages for Rand to do a single thing. We don't wait 4 hours to see the main character in a movie, then only have him in it for 3 minutes, then out of it for the remainder of the movie.

But that's why the Wheel of Time is different. Wheel of TIME. It's meant to be bigger than most universes we've ever explored. Yes, he talks waaaaaay too much about floor tiles. But seriously...have you ever seen an author be able to reflect so much imagination? It may be like watching grass grow, but even that can be amazing if you understand what you're looking at.

Everyone wants quick thrills...the big "payoff" as someone put it.

I'm tired of hearing about Nynaeve's braid too, but the characters are so in depth, you know them so well. Even if they annoy you...that's the point. You're supposed to feel emotions towards characters.

A good buddy of mine recommended that I read this series as if it was one big book. Someone posted that when you read it back to back, then it's not like waiting for a payoff. There is no stop and go, putting all your stock into the big orgasmic ending of one book. When it doesn't come, of COURSE you're disappointed.

But that's what Robert Jordan is (hopefully) doing. Writing one large story that doesn't rely on individual climaxes. Some of his climaxes happen in the middle of books, and even one I remember the best parts were during the first 100 pages, after the last book where the best part was the LAST 100. I found the end of book Six and the beginning of book Seven to be the most climactic, intense part of the series.

He has drifted quite a bit from Rand, and it does annoy me. But I'm trying, Mr. Jordan, to keep the faith and hope that you pull through with one HEEEEEELLLLUVAn ending that satisfies all of our Rand cravings. You've been starving us of him for a good portion of the series now, and I hope that we're not let down by the end product.

I think that the end of the series will prove what the rest was worth reading through. I think he's got some wicked sh** up his sleeve. People are ripping the unexplained from book 11. The walking dead, the misty happenings. He obviously is developing something there, why does he HAVE to finish it in the same book? It's one big story, isn't it?

There are so many characters, so many storylines, so much plotting, and yes an infinite amount of detail. Can't we just take it for what it is and say "Wow that's a pretty vivid world he's created."

It's different, and we usually don't accept different. If it bores you to tears, sorry. Go read something else. There is definitely something out there that will satisfy your cravings. Plenty of great authors, Jordan is not the best.

But still, for now, my faith is preserved.

Don't let me down RJ.

Whenever a new book in this series comes out, I keep on thinking of that movie Weekend at Bernies, and Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman spend the movie dragging around the dead guy in an attempt to convince everyone he's still alive. Sometimes I wonder if the publishers at Tor are doing the same with Mr. Jordan.

This book wraps up Perrin's journey to rescue Faile, Elayne taking control of Andor, and Mat marrying Tuon in a less than exciting fashion. Rand battles a Forsaken, if you can call what occurs a battle. This book is hardly worth purchasing in hardcover, unless you can get a used copy for dirt cheap. Otherwise, I'd suggest waiting for mass market.

Final review: Average.

I really liked this book. Maybe its because anything would look great in comparison to book 10? Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It starts a little slow but once you hit the final quarter of the book you wont be able to put it down.

This book is better than the last several. That's the best I can say about it. In my opinion, the last five could have been condensed into one book, which followed the main characters and their plotlines.

I can say this though, unlike the last 2 books, I read the whole of it. The last several have been such that I read only the first several chapters, then jumped to the middle, then the end, just to save myself hundreds of pages of pointless detail, zero plot advancement, and the utter drudgery that his convoluted plot-lines have spun into.

This one actually has made me hunger for the next book though, and I might even get it in hard-cover.

I am surprised at all of the negative commentary for this book. In my opinion book 10 was very disappointing, but book 11 has moved in the right direction. Jordan has finally stopped (or at least lessened) the amount of repeated information as though people who have read 10 books of greater than 1000 pages don't already know what is going on in the story. This book actually resolves some of the plots for a number of characters, which suggests that we are really moving towards a completion of this story. There is a lot less of the really irritating cardboard stereotyping of characters which has been becoming more pointed and obvious in the last few books.

I found that I really enjoyed this book. There was some really satisfying storyline. The characterisations of Mat, Perrin, and Egwine have really come into their own. Rand's storyline was pretty short and to the point, which is a bonus in my eyes as he is pretty stagnant and unsympathetic. Jordan seems to be moving the Aes Sedei characters back from ridiculous, pathetic characters that wouldn't be able to stand up for themselves in a PTA meeting (which he turned them into during the last few books) into the strongwilled characters that they were when first introduced to us. Best of all he hasn't introduced any brand new storyline which will need another 3 books to develop.

Hopefully, in this book the plot has moved far enough that he will finish the story in the next book.

If he published the next installment in 3 months rather than waiting over a year it would feel like Christmas.

I have read (many times), all the books in this series so far. I own all of them except Book 10.

I'd rate the first 4 books (1-4) as 5 stars, the next 4 (5-8) as 4 stars, book 9 and 11 (this book) as 3 stars.

Book 10 is the worst - (1 star). Read that in a library for completeness, but don't waste money on buying it.

--

This book once again continues the stories from Book 9, (almost no story in Book 10.)

It's worth reading.

I liked this series much better than George Martin - I've read the books, but decided not to buy any, since reading once is enough.

RJ has apparently read some of the criticisms of his latest 4 books. This book finally contains some action and some (annoying) subplots are resolved. Some of the action appears a bit out of the blue and the book contains some other shock moments too.

For some reason RJ decided to spice the book with sexual (mostly lesbian) innuendo. Odd.

I think it should be possible to finish the main story in two more books. Some subplots will remain unresolved for sure.

There are people who have died before seeing the ending of this story! Loyal fans for years, and years, and years. I wont be one of them.

I got about halfway through Book 10, closed the cover in disgust. I no longer had patience or interest in going one page further.

Let me preface this review by stating that I have been reading this series since the original Wheel of Time book was published and loved the early novels.

Robert Jordan has turned what was once one of the most engrossing and promising fantasy series of our modern day into thousands of pages of useless drivel that neither moves the main plot forward nor provides any sense of connection with the vast majority of the characters or occurences (if you can describe them as such).

Subplot after boring subplot has been introduced into this series along with a seemingly endless supply of uninteresting character after uninteresting character. Clearly Robert Jordan has no intention of ever finishing this series, he seems to have embraced a 'form' approach to writing - at the end of each novel he introduces yet another bland and divergent subplot that puts the succeeding novel on a treadmeal to nowhere for 95% of its pages.

How many times on a page do I have to read the description of yet another "grey haired Aes Sedai named 'such and such'" or some woman pulling her braid or some random but reoccuring comment about Aes Sedai 'pillow friends' (seems Jordan has a real fetish for this).

What happened to the Forsaken? What happened to the Tarmon Gai'don? Rest easy denizens of Rober Jordan's world - you'll die of old age long before that climatic battle ever occurs.

Bah! As you can tell I'm sick of this story and sick of waiting for anything resembling a resolution to it. Good luck to those of you who manage to stick with it going forward I'd place in 50/50 odds that either you or Robert Jordan die of old age before he completes the series.

I found this one rather good, and I'm not being paid to say this. Tiresome though the overly lengthy descriptions can be, there're less annoying this time. The characterisation is more straightforward, major plotlines are resolved, some of which are long prophesized.

Ok, so far I've only talked about how it isn't as bad as COS and POD. Now I'll talk about what I felt was good.

The overall epic mood of the story seems to have come back. The buildup to the resolution of certain plotlines, though slow, have a gritty hands on feel to it.

The characters are more real and serious this time. This time, conflicts end with nice quick deaths or submissions. No more pointless conflicts that last for books and books. In fact, a lot of supporting characters are killed off, and I rather liked the fact that RJ didn't stuff the ensuing grief down our throats. I think its so much more poignant when readers are left to empathise for themselves.

The courtship of Tuon was rather funny, and its rather satisfying how Mat, my fav hero, showed that he was nobody's Toy.

RJ seems to have tried pruning its writing, its now more entertaining and informative, though still in a somewhat long-winded way. But the long-windedness doesn't drag down the storytelling to a standstill anymore. Even when a chapter is only building up to something bigger at the end, its still contains enough interesting info, jokes, tactics, and shock to make the read worthwhile.

And ooooh, Morgase starts channelling for real instead of whining about how she's too weak to even try. Should be fun when Queen Elayne finally meets her mom, hehehe.

And Vandene gets her revenge!

And there's finally a glimmer of hope of seeing Moiraine again, though Light knows if she'll actually escape alive since I dun think it was mentioned anywhere that Rand needs her to win the Last Battle

And the bad.

I really really hate Egwene, ever since she brutally bullied Nynaeve in Book 5, and then felt no shame at all in what she did. RJ wants to make her great, but he's doing it at the expense of dumbing down her friends, enemies and predicaments. When you read KOD and think how great she is, then start thinking how well she'll cope if she was under Therava, forced to swear fealty under the oathrod, and there's no Healing allowed after each torture session. Or if she's being held by Darkfriends instead.

Next, a few chapters are from the POV of obscure Seanchan or other minor characters. I dun know them well enough to care about reading several pages of their POV, so I wish RJ had just summarized their POV into a few paragraphs.

Next, the buildup to resolving certain plotlines are unneccessarily slow. Such as the rescue of Faile. And also Elayne's claiming of the Throne. Everybody KNOWS the outcome already, and its not like these are important enough to be foretold in the prophecies or have any obvious dire consequences.

Next, its always the women that get caught and tortured! And usually by other women. Does RJ have repressed sadistic S/M tendencies? Why can't the men, especially the men Forsaken, get caught and tortured? I thought there was a chance of seeing at least the capture of a male forsaken in female flesh, but alas, not even that.

Oh, and the monkey-see-monkey-do whiny reviews online and everywhere else are the worst part about reading WOT. Thank the Light I dun have to read them unless I'm feeling particularly psychotic.

The book started off fairly good and then it swap back and forth between charactors who I could not remember from the previous book, much less pronounce their names,and also I get tired of who has what on, lets get back to the to the story line and plot, move faster on the action, and for pete sake, have them quit keeping secrets and open up with a little trust in the charactors.

Once again, Jordan plods along with the plot line.

This is an improvement over the last 2 installments, which were unreadable.

However, the high point of the series was The Great Hunt, book 2.

The Eye of the World was also excellent.

This book does not materially advance the plot at all.

And I'm quite sick of the rampant feminism that's becoming increasingly evident. Enough is enough....

Those readers interested in seeing whether Jordan can revive this long-dead series in the latest installment should simply stay away. There's almost nothing exciting in this "story," although Jordan does sloppily slap together conclusions to some of the longer, dreadfully boring storylines. Elayne's quest comes to a conclusion (three guesses), Mat's and Tuon's "romance" (abuse?) reaches a point we could all predict 6 books back, and both Rand's and Egwene's lines take an illogical turn for the unlikely. Faile's attempts to be rescued reach an end, albeit in a manner thoroughly unsatisfying. In the end, there is almost no reason to have had this plot in the first place, and many loyal readers who once liked Perrin (and some who even tolerated Faile) will no doubt be bored to tears and rooting for the bad guys to take them out.

Though a lack of development, cardboard characters (of type A or B only), and heavy borrowing from other authors have long been the hallmark of Jordan's writing, he seems to have added more awkward plot advancements lately. Storylines that readers patiently endured come to an end, only to leave those same readers bewildered as to why it took so many pointless pages to get to these points in the saga. Many lines that were presumed to be important enough to distract from the main characters for 100s of pages at a time--the problem of drought/heat (quest for Bowl of Winds), the plague of weevils (hee!), Moiraine's disappearance, the hunt for black sisters in the Tower, etc., are all either completely ignored for several volumes (esp the Bowl of Winds line) after being "crucial" for so long or are ended with a whimper.

Jordan has replaced his usual tiresome descriptions of tea accoutrements with a new twist: tiresome descriptions of colored tile. However, this cannot hope to take the place of plot or character growth.

In short, this is yet another volume to ignore, despite the die-hard fans and publisher's reviewers that vainly try to artificially inflate the ratings for these "books."

This is a pretty good book. I have been collecting these books for about 10 years. I must say this one does not compare to the first three books but back then I was new to the world RJ created. The detail in this book is great. I see that a lot of people are complaining about the spankings, buxoms, and the length of the series. I for one have no problem with the length. As for the spankings and buxoms it might be RJ's attempt at appeasing the fans that have acquired adult ADD apparent by past complaints of too much detail and long windedness.
I must confess though that this series should end soon though, but not in the next book; I say in 4 more. In the mean time RJ should include with every novel not just a pair of buxoms and butt smacking's but also a pair of shiny jingly keys with LED's. Man those last two work wonders with my 1 year old, it just might also work wonders with the special ones.

The best thing that can be said of this novel is that this behemoth of a series is nearing an end. Some reviewers of this and the past 5-6 books in this series continue to sing its praises. I wonder if they read the same book that I did. This is the 11th book (yes, 11th!) in a series which was good for about the first 4-5 books. Somewhere along the line Mr. Jordon fell in love with his own prose and excruciatingly complex plot and character development. I hung around this long in the hopes that the magic of the first couple books would re-emerge. I don't see that happening and thus I will not be reading the 12th or so on.

Knife of Dreams was a great continuation to the greatest fantasy series I've ever encountered. Many of the major conflicts facing the main characters in the last books ended, and it ends the book leaving you with no idea where it while go next. Hopefully, book twelve will start off with the characters getting closer to their goal of uniting the lands for the Last Battle. The ending of this book was excellent with many important and exciting events happening. I could not put the book down, and now I must face another year of waiting for the next book to come out. If you are a Wheel of Time fan, then this is a must-read as it will not disappoint.

I eagerly awaited "Knife of Dreams", anticipatiang a return to form for Robert Jordan. Something along lthe lines of "The Great Hunt" or even "Lord Of Chaos". Imagine how disappointed I was to find out that this book is as dull, poorly plotted and poorly written as the last four or five books in the series have been. Mr. Jordan seems to have lost his understanding of pacing and character development. As Tarmon Gaiden is looming, this should have been the most exciting chapter in the series. Instead the character stand around fuming about each other in exceedingly dull overly-detailed passages that lead absolutely nowhere. This book is a sever disappointment.

Robert Jordan's latest work was a satisfying read. Towards the end of the book I kept hoping that suddenly another chapter would materialize to allow the saga to continue. Alas, we will all have to wait until the next book of adventure arrives.

No spoilers: The book ties up a number of issues from preceding novels and interjects some interesting twists that leave the reader wanting more. I'm not jaded from this series. It is a pleasure to read about a world being fleshed out carefully with each new chapter rather than simply having a hurried ending trying to messily tie up all the details.

Bravo!

Just finished reading Knife of Dreams. I was a little nervous when my husband surprised me with a copy. I didn't think book 10 was all that

great, and I didn't even bother picking up the prequel based on all the horrible reviews it received. In my opinion it's not as bad as book 10, but not as good as Fires of Heaven, The Great Hunt, etc.

I enjoy reading about Mat's courtship with Tuon, so I especially found those few chapters intriguing, but aside from that nothing inspiring happened. Perrin rescues Faile. Who didn't see that coming? Same with Elayne and her quest for the throne. Even my husband can't believe even I find her character extremely annoying.

I will be the first to admit the last four books have been dismal compared to what got me hooked on the Wheel of Time. But this latest book is actually very good. It is fast paced and very exciting. Oh, it still has some annoyances like Faile and Elayne, but not any more than early books when they were a pain but not detrimental to the overall flow of the novel. Instead Jordan finally manages to wrap up several threads, reveal hidden secrets readers have been pondering (not Asmodeon though), and move the story along significantly.

You get to see Rand, Mat, Perrin, Elayne (not a favorite of mine), Egwene, Forsaken, Tuon, and more. The minor characters you hear from get just enough face time to be interesting without bogging you down with too much detail. A few pages from their POV will give you what we used to get: a quick look into who they are, what they are thinking, and where their loyalties lie.

The plot seems to move forward across the board and the Last Battle is no longer some distant event we are working towards, it is coming and coming soon. As you read it becomes more and more obviouse that things are really heating up.

My only gripe about this book along with the other books of Jordan's series is that they waited til he died to find a better artist to design the front covers. But the art is not his fault so I give the read 5 stars ;]

If you have not started this series- please don't. This is truly one of the worst efforts in Fantasy Lit in a long time. The first 2 books were promising...but this is just horrific. The characters are dead- if you can keep track of them, but then who cares? The storyline is silly, the descriptions are repetitive in the extreme, and well it is just bad.

It is too bad so many have invested themselves in this drivel. Mat, Perrin, Lan and Loial were worth reading for at one point....but now it is just too much crap to wade thru to get to anything even remotely good.

Save your $$. Gamble, drink, do something wothwhile with your $$- DONT BUY ANY OF THESE "BOOKS". Super @#$%

This book is terrible. There have been bad books in the series, but this one tops my list because it marks a huge shift. Faithful main characters are turned into archetypes. Plotlines are not only predictable, they are broadcast, you know, just in case you miss the subtle hints. The male female dynamic has been totally obliterated, and that was one of my favorite parts. Even Cadsuanes character has been generic'd into shrewish stereotype. And what's up with all the exclamation points? Stephen King did this same thing to me one time. He ruined The Dark Tower series. Everything was going fine until that pink book came out...

Quit now and keep your fond memories.

Absolutely hate this series now, but feel oddly compelled to read the rest, in the same way that you slow down when you pass a car wreck or the way you kinda keep listening to that one Ashlee Simpson song even though it's crap. I guess I want to know how it ends. After that, I'll never go back through these books again. To me, that's the difference between classic and craptastic. The former makes me want to reread books, chapters, or passages. The latter just makes me wait for an end.

This series has finally cut back on the tea drinking, heaving bosoms, and dresses. However, there's still too much of it and Oliver has added a new pathetic description to his limited imagination: tiles. That's right, this book has no less than two digressions in the first 89 pages in which characters take the time to note the floor tiles and form opinions about them. Any strategy or planning by the Forsaken? Nope. We get floor tiles, but no villains. Oh, they are there, but in a stupid, not threatening, and certainly not interesting way.

Say it with me folks: FLOOR TILES.

Can this series get any worse?

One of the best parts of this book is the resolution (or at least advancing) of a number of issues, and PLAIN answers to a bunch of questions. Like "How come the forsaken just can't gate in 100000 trollocs and destroy any enemy they want?" or "Who killed Adeleas?" (Vandene's friend)"Just how is Perrin going to deal with 400 Shaido Wise One's?" "Is Mat EVER going to get somewhere????" (the road between Ebou Dar and Murandy has to be the longest road anywhere!) Etc, etc...each character gets some long time (and thorny) questions answered. Some quite bluntly as if Jordan is tired of answering them at book signings...lol.

I don't like the way some people complain about details of scenery or a scene, because that is one of the delightful parts of the series. That is how an author paints the picture in your mind, and makes it more pleasant. I do have one critism and that is - enough with the spanking already! (you'll see.)

Altogether an enjoyable book, plenty of action, all characters advance, lots of good things happen. I find myself thinking a lot about details in the book and will be reading it again right away, which has not happened since some of the earlier volumes.

Several subplot lines are resolved or close to resolution in this 11th book of the series. None of the following plot comments will ruin the book, but don't read on if you don't want to know. Mat and Tuon get married; Egewin begins to unite the White Tower; Fraile and Perrin are reunited; and Elayne appears headed toward the Andor throne. If you didn't know these would happen eventually, you can't be a fan of the series. In a bit of a surprize, a tear came to my eye when Nynave sent Lan accross the borderlands and took steps to revive Malkier. The pace is much better than in books 4 through 10. But, it still appears like there will be at least two more books before the series is concluded.

I don't really have too much to complain about in this volume. All the characters advance along nicely. It would be more acceptable if we don't have to wait so long for the next volume. The problem is that I forget some of the specifics dealing with each character and I don't recognize some of the minor characters' names at first. Normally I am against giving a "back story" to catch readers up to speed, but in the case of these installments it would probably be helpful.

I will agree that the past 2 or 3 in the series were not up to par i won't however judge this book based on their merits but on its own. this is a worthy edition to the series and ties up a lot of loose ends. i have been reading this series for 16 years now and my only major complaint,and it is a big one, is how long he takes to write a book. the first 6 were pumbed out on an average of 1 a year. i could handle that. 2 or 3 years however is way to long to have to wait. i dont know if jordan got fat, rich and lazy or if the publisher was trying to build demand. either way i would like to hope he gets it finished before either I or jordan himself drop dead! anyway read the book with an open mind and i think you will find it is his best in years.....and i do mean yearssssssssss.

I have enjoyed all of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I must agree with the general consensus that pacing has been greatly varied in a number of the books. In recent books, I think that what has been missing is some cases is the punch of significant things happening at the end of the book. Book 10 had a big punch at the end and is why I believe it tends to have more positive things said about it. Book 11 did not have an ending punch the story just seemed to close a chapter and end. Book 12 seems to have a couple of interesting punches but not a big end punch.

I will theorize that this deals with the increasingly involved plot line and the difficulties inherent in telling the amount of story Mr. Jordan wants to tell.

In reading these books I always find them page turners because I want to know how the story ends. The joy for me is being in Jordan's world and continuing to learn more things. I do not know how many times I have been reading a series which I know to be X number of books. Upon reaching the end of book X, there comes with it sadness because the series is complete and we know that this world may never be visited again. For me in reading the Wheel of Time there have been many wonderfully exciting times over a period of 15 years. I pick up each new book with excitement and find enjoyment within. This has definitely been one of the longest series written in terms of years and pages. Isn't what we all desire sometimes when we reach book X is that the journey did not have to end.

So to all of the critics out there I would say that when the series is done, be it in book 12, 13 or 23, think of the breadth of the work. Few if any series currently match it. Think of the time it would take to read the series first book cover to last book cover. Think of the enjoyment which could be had traveling the Wheel.

Some may say the road is too long and boring. I say just being on the path continues to bring excitement and joy.

Wouldn't it be great if the store had a spell checker built into this web form.

Alright, I have been reading this series for 6 or so years now. But really I am getting fet up, especially with the lackluster quality of the past two volumes. This book has the most lukewarm ending I have ever seen. Granted at least something happened in this book unlike number 10, but so little happened of consequence and so many sub-plots have just disappeared. At least by the sounds of it the next novel will finally get us to the last battle, and perhaps the end of the series. Let's hope this final book (if it is the final) will be more akin to the first three books or so.

After wading though pointless plot lines that in the end will only effect the outcome in minor ways, Jordan finally got to the juice! While some may complain that Rand was given the short end of the stick I would prefer it that way because everytime we see him he is even more dark and disturbed. All we really NEED from him is a last battle. The other characters however played a much more satisfying role in this new book. For instance Lan finally got around to doing something and Nyneave showed the fire that Jordan had begun to take away while she was off with Elayne (Really not a good combination of personalities.) While the worst was thought about Egwene's capture it turned out to be very benefical, and things in the rebel camp are progressing nicely, though I wish he had put more in about Siuan who is a very strong and interesting character. What I liked most about this new book was the different sides of Mat we saw through Tuon, it gave us an interesting perspective, and showed us more of his character development.
Over all this is the best of his recent books mainly because stuff actually happens instead of people sitting around thinking! Definitely a must read, really if you've read up to book 10 why stop there?

Yes, I know it seems a lot of people seem to like their books and stories broken down into nice, easy to digest pieces like a 60 minutes installment of a sitcom. There is a good side to shorter stories but they cannot offer what Jordan has.

The scope and complexity that Jordan has created is incredible and engageing. I will grant the last couple of books were slow, but mostly because at the end you knew you had 1-3 YEARS before you could continue! Knife of Dreams takes so many steps forward and answers so many questions that it warrants 5 stars.

True, this is NOT a stand alone book but anyone who has not read any of the WOT should go straight to book one and be glad they haven't been suffering for ~15 years to wait for each installment. For many, by the time they get from book one to book eleven book twelve will probably be out.

Knife of Dreams is just the newest installment of one really long story and the best we've seen since Fires of Heaven.

Oh my, there a few people who take these reviews far too seriously. I can't comprehend why you would berate everyone else who doesn't agree with your opinion.

As I see it, instead of blaming some great "conspiracy" against a book's rating, why don't people blame the process instead. Is anyone honestly surprised to see book ratings here at the store BEFORE a book is even released? The company makes money from selling items. It's not much of a sell to say a book is not good. As time goes on, more reviews come in which give a better (though not necessarily accurate) reflection of the book simply due to a larger sample size that is harder for one reviewer to influence. Or a group of reviewers, if you prefer. A book has a "high" rating after a good deal of reviews, it's fair to say that it's probably a decent book. Likewise for a book who has a rating drop, one might say that it's probably not a decent book.

A book's rating changed in between the times you visited the store? The current rating is not as high/low as it once was, or even not equivalent to the rating that you submitted in your review?

Get over it.

If you're crying about how all the other reviews are unfair perhaps you should get some fresh air and clear your head. Unless your spiritual, financial, or mental well-being is proportional to the success of Robert Jordan's book selling through the store, by coming back to a piddly book review and wailing about it only shows other readers that you were crying mere moments ago.

And besides.... "Crying? CRYING??? There's no crying in Baseball".

I still read Robert Jordan, even though I do not believe he is currently one of the top writers in his genre. I'm not overly fond of his love of exposition, and find his latest books suffer from the weight. I do not think it's merely an exercise in filling out the world he has created. Yet I continue to read Jordan's books because I enjoy reading all types (those I consider good and bad) of fantasy books, and it's unrealistic to expect an author I do enjoy reading to release a book every week, every month or even every year.

I thought Knife of Dreams was similar to Crossroads. The "resolved" plotlines seemed hurried and forced, but at least the plotlines have moved. My thoughts as to why this book rates below average are the same as many other readers. Too much focus on minor characters. Poorly written paragraphs of endless description. The lack of character development. Et cetera, et cetera.

As for books/series that I have enjoyed and would recommend before starting Robert Jordan's series, I would have to list (in no particular order):

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn/Shadowmarch/War of the Flowers --- T. Williams

The Briar King --- G. Keyes

Farseer/Tawny Man trilogies -- R. Hobb

A Song of Ice and Fire --- G.Martin

Malazan book of the Fallen -- S. Erikson

The Darkness that comes before/The Warrior Prophet -- Ray Scott Bakker

Fionavar Tapestry/Tigana/Lions of Al-Rassan -- GG Kay

A Cavern of Black Ice -- JV Jones

Now of course since I have listed these authors that I feel are better than Robert Jordan, it must mean that I an in fact actually one of these authors, am in the employ of one of these authors or a publishing firm, or simply a raving lunatic who has made it my life's ambition to perform a "Great Hunt" for Robert Jordan book reviews and bemirch them unmercilessly. I would much prefer to be an actual author, so if you are inclined to believe that Conspiracy 2 is not just another movie script on some movie studio's to-read list, at least imagine me as one of the authors I've listed. By day just your mild-mannered author, but at night a spandex-wearing crime-fighing heroine with a tough-as-nails personality and an obsession with truth and justice.

The sign of a good series is wanting and caring about the lives of the characters.

I love the Jordan series and anxiously await new additions.

This chapter of the series did not really add any value however. All of the questions from Book 10 are still open...and compounded. I don't want the ride to end, but this was a speed bump more then a continuance down the smooth road.

It is amazing how people hate details. Robert Jordan isn't trying to create a fast pased and exciting story. He is saying,if you change the laws of physics and drop us into this situation, how would we react? He is creating a world and putting people with common amount of flaws, and lack of trust, and fear, and lack of communication into the world, just as we have them. If you read his interviews and blogs it is easy to see this as he spends a little time talking about how for example evil is fairly dumb in this world. And he cited examples from past wars. Our beloved writer is pulling things from this world and putting them into his world.

This story is of a phase of that world that Robert Jordan has created.

It started in book 1 as a fantasy story with lots of talk of fate,destiny, and action. Then it matured into a world story. There is less and less of the talk of fantastic destiny as the characters came to understand their problems and strengths as in the real world when you come to understand something it often loses its mystic sense.

Of course the characters are as blind as people are in real life too. A fact that has many people upset as this is not typical of fantasy stories.

Book 11 like all of the other books has two types of readers: the ones looking for the fantasy story and the ones looking for the world story. Those of us who love world stories will give this book an average of a 4 stars. There is room for improvement, but not much from this point of view. I think everyone is glad the Perrin and kidnapping plot line is done. It improved, as this is probably the best plot I have seen of that plot line. But that plot wasn't ever that great.

Those of us looking for a fantasy story will call this book fluff and complain about the very same details that I enjoyed the most as someone wanting to read about a complex world.

Whether or not you will enjoy this book will depend on which you want: a quick fantasy tale, or story of a world.

The Wheel of Time began as a reasonably good fantasy action adventure story (primarily) about three young friends who left their sleepy village to combat a great, gathering evil force. Now, the Wheel of time is a bloated, boring, second rate soap-opera set against a fantasy back-drop.

The last few volumes of the series have made it obvious that the story is inadequate to fill the number of volumes that the series is (now) going to run to. Knife of Dreams is another such installement in the saga. It's true that several of the plot lines that have been running for far too long are concluded, and that there is actually some action to keep us interested contained in the book, but it's just too little too late.

My main gripe with the story is not the pages upon pages of needless and arbitrary descriptions of clothing, tea, furniture and the like (although this is quite irritating). It is not even the one dimensional characters: after eleven books Mat is still a lovable rogue, Perrin still the strong silent type, Rand still a slightly brooding all American quarterback hero - and that is the extent of the character development. My main gripe is that the plots that are advanced are done too quickly, in uninteresting ways.

For several volumes we have known that Mat will marry Tuon and that Perrin will rescue Faile and that Jordan has been filling the chapters with padding until these inevitable events happened. Given the amount of time that he's had to think of interesting ways to bring these events about, what we finally get is quite a dissapointment.

The action scenes are also unsatisfactory. Most of them seem to be just randon, unnecessary fights, like Rand being attacked by a hundred thousand trollocs and Mat getting attacked by thugs outside an inn. These scenes fail to generate any excitement at all as we all know that the main characters are in no real danger of dying.

I've read every novel in this series, even the almost unbearable Crossroads of Twighlight and I vowed to grit my teeth and continue to the end. But this is the last straw. The predictable plot, pages of padding, and badly developed characters are just too much for me. No more Wheel of Time for me. I quit. There are fresher, better, more innovative fantasy authors out there. I suggest Steven Erikson, his books are real epic fantasy that don't patronise the reader.

With the opening line of this book you can only hope it will be a good read. Knife of Dreams had a great start in the prologue but after that it went downhill. Don't get me wrong there were some good scenes in the filler, but all the description of dresses and women standing with arms crossed underneath their breasts got real annoying. I remember when this was a new series and had a fresh lively breath, now it is like on old man lying on his death bed with emphysema. I also remember liking the characters in the books, with the exception of Mat, they are all psycho and have one mind of anything. It is sad when you hope the main character isn't in the book, which thankfully he wasn't much in this, 'cause you can't stand his total arogance and the fact that nothing happens in his chapters that is exciting in the least bit.

I will read the next one and buy it just because I own the rest but would I recomend the series to any others I'm sorry to say no I wouldn't. If anyone asked a good fantasy series to read I would tell them Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, Terry Brooks' Shanara series, but stay away from Jordan's Wheel of Time.

All I can say now is I can't wait for that "Wind that blew across Almoth Plain it was not beginning nor end there are niether beginnings or endings to the wheel but this was an 'end'."

Tarmon Gai'don is near. But the world is still not ready. And neither is Jordan it seems...

Knife Of Dreams though is considerably more fast paced than the previous 3-4 books. A LOT of things get revealed. A LOT happens. Several key plot lines get resolved, others get advanced, but in typical form -- Jordan managed to sow a few new ones.

So, is this better than the previous few installments?

Heck yes. If you're a WOT fan then go out and read this -- you will not be disappointed.

Although expect to be in for a long wait for the next installment. The final book (and Jordan has confirmed there will be only ONE more) won't be out for a while. Jordan still has quite a ways to go and I'd imagine we have to wait at least two years for book 12.

But what can you do? It's the Wheel of Time after all!

214 pages into the book and only two events have happened that moved the story along. Otherwise Jordan's subject has been so and so wore this type of dress, in just this way, made of this cloth, tailored in just this way, and spoke and acted liked this. And if she didn't, she was severely punished. I've had enough of the spear carriers holding center stage on the proper manner of drinking tea. No more for me, thank you. I won't be there when Rand's inevitable victory at Tarmon Gai'don is won. Perhaps someday a condensed version in 5 or 6 volumes will tell this story as it should have been.

Love the WoT, while I understand the argument made by other fans about Jordan slowing the series down, unlike them I never minded (except the arc about Faile & Perrin searching for her). Great story & returns to a faster pace setting up the last battle which is now imminent, I can't wait for Nov '09 for the 12th.

Knife of Dreams is a great disappointment. It focuses largely on minor characters, and despite the great length of the novel, very little happens. There is much travelling, but not much happens on arrival. More and more characters are introduced, more and more names, and all of it is unnecessary and tedious. Many chapters (perhaps most chapters) could be deleted without any sense of loss; indeed, this would improve the flow of the novel. The chapters concerning Elayne were especially eye-rollingly tedious and completely peripheral to the story.

I loved the first five books of the series. I stayed in on weekends and cancelled appointments to finish them. This book was a chore. It has taken me nearly two weeks to read it. When I finally got to the end, I vowed to myself I would never read another Robert Jordan book again. Fool me once (cough Crossroads of Twilight) shame on you, fool me twice (Knife of Dreams groan).....

Despite my heartfelt hope for some type of return to quality writing, Robert Jordan appears to be under the delusion that if he can write it, then it must be worth reading (and publishing), and that if quantity X is good, then quantity 3X must be even better. Unfortunately, novels do not work that way. F Scott Fitzgerald once said that the hardest part of writing was cutting out the sections of the story you liked the most. Robert Jordan should emulate Fitzgerald's economy. As any performer knows, it is better to "always leave them wanting more" than to outstay your welcome.

Knife of Dreams contains 150 pages of an adequate novel lost within what is essentially a 783 page Wheel of Time travesty his publisher chose to pass off as the latest addition to the series. Many chapters should have been deleted, and much tedious detail eliminated. In short, it needed a good editing, and its editors should be embarrassed about letting this baggy monster loose before it was ready.

Slow, Boring and Annoying. The best way to read these books is to skim the pages. If you do happen to get lucky and run into some action, you can always stop and read it thoroughly. Of course, I'll read the next (and hopefully last) book when it comes out. I've gone this far and would like to know what happens. I am not excited about it though, just curious. It's unbelievable how slow and plodding this series has become. Plus most of the main characters are really annoying and fight like they are 12 year olds. Even the Forsaken are annoying. And I would have liked to see more of Shadar Haran in the series.

Get this man an editor! I think that one huge problem with some of the sucessfull authors is that they seem to be able to ignor their editors. There were about 300 pages that could have been trimmed from this book. Repeated and lengthy discussions of unstrurdy chairs and page long dissections of facial expressions hardly make for compelling reading. Get on with the story! One of the jobs of a good editor is to trim the fat and make the books more readable. Where is Jordan's editor?

Oh my, there a few people who take these reviews far too seriously. I can't comprehend why you would berate everyone else who doesn't agree with your opinion.

As I see it, instead of blaming some great "conspiracy" against a book's rating, why don't people blame the process instead. Is anyone honestly surprised to see book ratings here at the store BEFORE a book is even released? The company makes money from selling items. It's not much of a sell to say a book is not good. As time goes on, more reviews come in which give a better (though not necessarily accurate) reflection of the book simply due to a larger sample size that is harder for one reviewer to influence. Or a group of reviewers, if you prefer. A book has a "high" rating after a good deal of reviews, it's fair to say that it's probably a decent book. Likewise for a book who has a rating drop, one might say that it's probably not a decent book.

A book's rating changed in between the times you visited the store? The current rating is not as high/low as it once was, or even not equivalent to the rating that you submitted in your review?

Get over it.

If you're crying about how all the other reviews are unfair perhaps you should get some fresh air and clear your head. Unless your spiritual, financial, or mental well-being is proportional to the success of Robert Jordan's book selling through the store, by coming back to a piddly book review and wailing about it only shows other readers that you were crying mere moments ago.

And besides.... "Crying? CRYING??? There's no crying in Baseball".

I still read Robert Jordan, even though I do not believe he is currently one of the top writers in his genre. I'm not overly fond of his love of exposition, and find his latest books suffer from the weight. I do not think it's merely an exercise in filling out the world he has created. Yet I continue to read Jordan's books because I enjoy reading all types (those I consider good and bad) of fantasy books, and it's unrealistic to expect an author I do enjoy reading to release a book every week, every month or even every year.

I thought Knife of Dreams was similar to Crossroads. The "resolved" plotlines seemed hurried and forced, but at least the plotlines have moved. My thoughts as to why this book rates below average are the same as many other readers. Too much focus on minor characters. Poorly written paragraphs of endless description. The lack of character development. Et cetera, et cetera.

As for books/series that I have enjoyed and would recommend before starting Robert Jordan's series, I would have to list (in no particular order):

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn/Shadowmarch/War of the Flowers --- T. Williams

The Briar King --- G. Keyes

Farseer/Tawny Man trilogies -- R. Hobb

A Song of Ice and Fire --- G.Martin

Malazan book of the Fallen -- S. Erikson

The Darkness that comes before/The Warrior Prophet -- Ray Scott Bakker

Fionavar Tapestry/Tigana/Lions of Al-Rassan -- GG Kay

A Cavern of Black Ice -- JV Jones

Now of course since I have listed these authors that I feel are better than Robert Jordan, it must mean that I an in fact actually one of these authors, am in the employ of one of these authors or a publishing firm, or simply a raving lunatic who has made it my life's ambition to perform a "Great Hunt" for Robert Jordan book reviews and bemirch them unmercilessly. I would much prefer to be an actual author, so if you are inclined to believe that Conspiracy 2 is not just another movie script on some movie studio's to-read list, at least imagine me as one of the authors I've listed. By day just your mild-mannered author, but at night a spandex-wearing crime-fighing heroine with a tough-as-nails personality and an obsession with truth and justice.

The sign of a good series is wanting and caring about the lives of the characters.

I love the Jordan series and anxiously await new additions.

This chapter of the series did not really add any value however. All of the questions from Book 10 are still open...and compounded. I don't want the ride to end, but this was a speed bump more then a continuance down the smooth road.

It is amazing how people hate details. Robert Jordan isn't trying to create a fast pased and exciting story. He is saying,if you change the laws of physics and drop us into this situation, how would we react? He is creating a world and putting people with common amount of flaws, and lack of trust, and fear, and lack of communication into the world, just as we have them. If you read his interviews and blogs it is easy to see this as he spends a little time talking about how for example evil is fairly dumb in this world. And he cited examples from past wars. Our beloved writer is pulling things from this world and putting them into his world.

This story is of a phase of that world that Robert Jordan has created.

It started in book 1 as a fantasy story with lots of talk of fate,destiny, and action. Then it matured into a world story. There is less and less of the talk of fantastic destiny as the characters came to understand their problems and strengths as in the real world when you come to understand something it often loses its mystic sense.

Of course the characters are as blind as people are in real life too. A fact that has many people upset as this is not typical of fantasy stories.

Book 11 like all of the other books has two types of readers: the ones looking for the fantasy story and the ones looking for the world story. Those of us who love world stories will give this book an average of a 4 stars. There is room for improvement, but not much from this point of view. I think everyone is glad the Perrin and kidnapping plot line is done. It improved, as this is probably the best plot I have seen of that plot line. But that plot wasn't ever that great.

Those of us looking for a fantasy story will call this book fluff and complain about the very same details that I enjoyed the most as someone wanting to read about a complex world.

Whether or not you will enjoy this book will depend on which you want: a quick fantasy tale, or story of a world.

The Wheel of Time began as a reasonably good fantasy action adventure story (primarily) about three young friends who left their sleepy village to combat a great, gathering evil force. Now, the Wheel of time is a bloated, boring, second rate soap-opera set against a fantasy back-drop.

The last few volumes of the series have made it obvious that the story is inadequate to fill the number of volumes that the series is (now) going to run to. Knife of Dreams is another such installement in the saga. It's true that several of the plot lines that have been running for far too long are concluded, and that there is actually some action to keep us interested contained in the book, but it's just too little too late.

My main gripe with the story is not the pages upon pages of needless and arbitrary descriptions of clothing, tea, furniture and the like (although this is quite irritating). It is not even the one dimensional characters: after eleven books Mat is still a lovable rogue, Perrin still the strong silent type, Rand still a slightly brooding all American quarterback hero - and that is the extent of the character development. My main gripe is that the plots that are advanced are done too quickly, in uninteresting ways.

For several volumes we have known that Mat will marry Tuon and that Perrin will rescue Faile and that Jordan has been filling the chapters with padding until these inevitable events happened. Given the amount of time that he's had to think of interesting ways to bring these events about, what we finally get is quite a dissapointment.

The action scenes are also unsatisfactory. Most of them seem to be just randon, unnecessary fights, like Rand being attacked by a hundred thousand trollocs and Mat getting attacked by thugs outside an inn. These scenes fail to generate any excitement at all as we all know that the main characters are in no real danger of dying.

I've read every novel in this series, even the almost unbearable Crossroads of Twighlight and I vowed to grit my teeth and continue to the end. But this is the last straw. The predictable plot, pages of padding, and badly developed characters are just too much for me. No more Wheel of Time for me. I quit. There are fresher, better, more innovative fantasy authors out there. I suggest Steven Erikson, his books are real epic fantasy that don't patronise the reader.

With the opening line of this book you can only hope it will be a good read. Knife of Dreams had a great start in the prologue but after that it went downhill. Don't get me wrong there were some good scenes in the filler, but all the description of dresses and women standing with arms crossed underneath their breasts got real annoying. I remember when this was a new series and had a fresh lively breath, now it is like on old man lying on his death bed with emphysema. I also remember liking the characters in the books, with the exception of Mat, they are all psycho and have one mind of anything. It is sad when you hope the main character isn't in the book, which thankfully he wasn't much in this, 'cause you can't stand his total arogance and the fact that nothing happens in his chapters that is exciting in the least bit.

I will read the next one and buy it just because I own the rest but would I recomend the series to any others I'm sorry to say no I wouldn't. If anyone asked a good fantasy series to read I would tell them Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, Terry Brooks' Shanara series, but stay away from Jordan's Wheel of Time.

All I can say now is I can't wait for that "Wind that blew across Almoth Plain it was not beginning nor end there are niether beginnings or endings to the wheel but this was an 'end'."

Tarmon Gai'don is near. But the world is still not ready. And neither is Jordan it seems...

Knife Of Dreams though is considerably more fast paced than the previous 3-4 books. A LOT of things get revealed. A LOT happens. Several key plot lines get resolved, others get advanced, but in typical form -- Jordan managed to sow a few new ones.

So, is this better than the previous few installments?

Heck yes. If you're a WOT fan then go out and read this -- you will not be disappointed.

Although expect to be in for a long wait for the next installment. The final book (and Jordan has confirmed there will be only ONE more) won't be out for a while. Jordan still has quite a ways to go and I'd imagine we have to wait at least two years for book 12.

But what can you do? It's the Wheel of Time after all!

214 pages into the book and only two events have happened that moved the story along. Otherwise Jordan's subject has been so and so wore this type of dress, in just this way, made of this cloth, tailored in just this way, and spoke and acted liked this. And if she didn't, she was severely punished. I've had enough of the spear carriers holding center stage on the proper manner of drinking tea. No more for me, thank you. I won't be there when Rand's inevitable victory at Tarmon Gai'don is won. Perhaps someday a condensed version in 5 or 6 volumes will tell this story as it should have been.

Love the WoT, while I understand the argument made by other fans about Jordan slowing the series down, unlike them I never minded (except the arc about Faile & Perrin searching for her). Great story & returns to a faster pace setting up the last battle which is now imminent, I can't wait for Nov '09 for the 12th.

Knife of Dreams is a great disappointment. It focuses largely on minor characters, and despite the great length of the novel, very little happens. There is much travelling, but not much happens on arrival. More and more characters are introduced, more and more names, and all of it is unnecessary and tedious. Many chapters (perhaps most chapters) could be deleted without any sense of loss; indeed, this would improve the flow of the novel. The chapters concerning Elayne were especially eye-rollingly tedious and completely peripheral to the story.

I loved the first five books of the series. I stayed in on weekends and cancelled appointments to finish them. This book was a chore. It has taken me nearly two weeks to read it. When I finally got to the end, I vowed to myself I would never read another Robert Jordan book again. Fool me once (cough Crossroads of Twilight) shame on you, fool me twice (Knife of Dreams groan).....

Despite my heartfelt hope for some type of return to quality writing, Robert Jordan appears to be under the delusion that if he can write it, then it must be worth reading (and publishing), and that if quantity X is good, then quantity 3X must be even better. Unfortunately, novels do not work that way. F Scott Fitzgerald once said that the hardest part of writing was cutting out the sections of the story you liked the most. Robert Jordan should emulate Fitzgerald's economy. As any performer knows, it is better to "always leave them wanting more" than to outstay your welcome.

Knife of Dreams contains 150 pages of an adequate novel lost within what is essentially a 783 page Wheel of Time travesty his publisher chose to pass off as the latest addition to the series. Many chapters should have been deleted, and much tedious detail eliminated. In short, it needed a good editing, and its editors should be embarrassed about letting this baggy monster loose before it was ready.

Slow, Boring and Annoying. The best way to read these books is to skim the pages. If you do happen to get lucky and run into some action, you can always stop and read it thoroughly. Of course, I'll read the next (and hopefully last) book when it comes out. I've gone this far and would like to know what happens. I am not excited about it though, just curious. It's unbelievable how slow and plodding this series has become. Plus most of the main characters are really annoying and fight like they are 12 year olds. Even the Forsaken are annoying. And I would have liked to see more of Shadar Haran in the series.

Get this man an editor! I think that one huge problem with some of the sucessfull authors is that they seem to be able to ignor their editors. There were about 300 pages that could have been trimmed from this book. Repeated and lengthy discussions of unstrurdy chairs and page long dissections of facial expressions hardly make for compelling reading. Get on with the story! One of the jobs of a good editor is to trim the fat and make the books more readable. Where is Jordan's editor?

Though this installment will make many think that Jordan is "back on track" I find that it simply reveals the weaknesses of the series overall and the last 4 books in particular. I applaud the faster pace of this one. Readers will find that Jordan has actually decided to pay attention to the main story instead of simply filling time with subplots. However, the main lines he's ignored for so long or has dragged along for 4 years (!) are so abruptly and unsatisfyingly ended that this book will make many wonder why he even bothered with them in the first place. Rand's line is again nearly ignored, save for a quick, unsatisfying, and illogical few pages. The Mat and Perrin storylines move to a conclusion that could have been done about 4 books ago. Why did we need this? Did it have to take so long to get us here? The villains are still incompetent goofballs and the heroes still one-dimensional versions of the same two characters: bumbling male and shrewish woman. Most of what's happening is silly; more of what SHOULD be happening doesn't. Rand doesn't simply tell Cadsuane to treat him with the dignity with which one should treat pretty much all humans; We still have no clue WHY Perrin and Faile are in love, why Nynaeve and Lan are in love, why Siuan Siuance and whatshisname are in love, why Egwene should even care about Gawyn, why Mat should care about Tuon, etc. Instead, it's apparent that Jordan believes "love" is based on "abuse." Worse, he seems to equate the two. Also, no one seems to think logically. Women argue because they're angry or irritated. They almost never THINK. For example, in this book, Egwene (still) knows that 1) she can find people (like Gawyn, the Wise Ones, even Darkfriends) in their dreams. 2) She can shield them in their dreams and they're "stuck" 3) She has enemies. 4) These enemies sleep....and that's as far as she gets without making the logical jump to 5. Does Rand need to know what Mat and Perrin are up to? Yes. Does he bother to find out? No.

Does he fall for a stupid trap? Yes. Is it with a Forsaken? Yes. Is it as implausible as his last several battles with them? Yes. In this case the battle is set up by significant actions which occur, as one review pointed out, off stage, off camera, and are basically told to us in a couple of paragraphs. Oops! Problem solved: deus ex machina. Ugh.

This book reeks. Stay away.

Why four stars? Robert Jordan is an amazing author and has pulled this series back on track with this book - but I have to wonder if there is anyway he can finish it up with the next book. This and a few other flaws keep it from hitting the 5 star mark.

If you are just seeing this book as a new novel you have a LOT of catching up to do. There is no way that someone could pick up this book and read it through and have any idea what is going on!! You have to read the other 10 plus 1 that come before this to really get a grip on it.

As a series - I LOVE IT!! I have been anxiously awaiting each new novel since the early 90's when the series started and have read through the previous books again in advance of the next book coming out to line everything back up (good thing I can read quickly with this set!!)

In summary, this is a really the 12th book in the series and the end will be coming soon. Amazing series and VERY complicated plot lines. Start at the beginning of the series before reading this one, but it's worth the wait.

I waited for this book to come out to take on the plane with me overseas. It was so boring and went NOWHERE that i shoved it in the luggage department and watched "the longest yard" 3 times.

I couldnt put the first 6 books down! I cared about everyone but now there are so many that I couldn't care less about any of them. There is a group of us that are reading Jordan's series and we are drawing straws to see who will buy the next book and then JUST TELL US WHAT FINALLY HAPPENS!!!

Bravo Jordan!! You have once again crammed 450 pages of over descriptive, drawn out, long-winded JUNK into a 760 page book. I am assuming that the final installment of this series will be about 1100 pages and the characters will mill around moving about 6 ½ feet until the last 50 pages when you will get into a rush to tie up all the loose ends? I haven't seen a worse book since Simon R Green wrapped up the Deathstalker series in Deathstalker Coda. That waste of money was not fit for toilet paper. I have very small expectations for the final book and will only buy it when it hits paperback.

What is the story that is being told here? How many unnecessary sideplots and diversions are there going to be? Is there actually a story in here or is it simply a chronicle of events?

In my opinion, this story is suffering from too many details, too many characters, too many sideplots and not enough editing. I have lost complete interest in these initally captivating characters and concepts.

As long as hardcore fans keep slavishly snatching up the next installment, it will continue to be a money maker for Tor. My hope is that they use this profit to invest in new authors and series (and editing staff).

I realize this review is harsh but there are literally thousands of books in this genre that are more engaging.

I enjoyed this book so much. Overall, I think this is the book we (WoT fans) were waiting for. While I did not hate CoT, it was very unfulfilling, as most of the books in the last half of the series have been in one respect or another. KoD fulfilled all my hopes and then some. It's good enough to bring the jaded readers back into enthusiasm and fuel even more obsession from those totally...well...obsessed. ;)

Not only does the plot pick up the pace, but I found the characters to be more likeable. Some characters even did a major turnaround in my eyes. (I'm talking mostly of Egwene, reasons to follow later.)

The biggest problem I had with this book was the writing. Some things were abrupt and some places were embellished too much or not enough. However, I greatly prefer that the writing be imperfect than the plot suffer. The best part about the plot was that everything actually had a point.

The Mat and Egwene sections were especially wonderful, and added to development of their characters greatly. Many of the Mat scenes in this book rank up there with my other favorites from the entire series. Mat's part involves revealing plot details and setup up for the next book, interesting characterization, and lastly, a lot of humor which I loved. I'm not usually one for Aes Sedai politics and I have even less affection for Egwene's character. To me, she's always seemed manipulative, misinformed, and melodramatic. I despise the way she treats Rand (and others), not to mention the way that the White Tower conflict has dragged on has also made me lose respect for both her as a character and her plot thread. But in KoD, let me reiterate, everything had a point, including the AS intrigues, and I could not have been more impressed with Egwene in this book. Her sections were original and interesting, and brought me from an Egwene-hater to someone who has great respect for the Rebel Amyrlin. What a turnaround. :)

All around I found this book well-put together, insightful, and most importantly, enjoyable. I'd certainly give it a 9 out of 10. So many awesome things happened and as a whole, I loved it.

At long last we get a hint at the final resolution of the WoT. Rand is poised at LONG LAST by the end of this one to finally face the bad guys. We all know that Cadsuane has something to teach Rand and I know what it is: She will convince him, finally, that it is perfectly OK to slaughter women. Instead of simpering over some out-dated chivalry, Rand will at last be fed up with Cadsuane and obliterate her after she slaps him. Then he'll finally grow a pair and take out the rest of the Forsaken, using balefire because, duh! Just for good measure he will fulfill the prophecy regarding his relationship with the 3 gals (which ends in death----FOR THEM!) and then balefire the White Tower out of existence.

Unfortunately, he cannot obliterate his insipid creator, Rigby, who has offered up this fast-paced drivel, filled with unrealistic and unsatisfying conclusions to REALLY LONG BORING STORYLINES that we were all FORCED to endure. All this book shows us is that Rigby did indeed waste our time from books 7 to 11 and is a really, really awful writer.

IF YOU ARE ON THE FENCE ABOUT BUYING THIS BOOK, DON'T PURCHASE IT. DON'T EVEN BORROW IT. JUST MOVE ON.

Jordan promised sweat. No heart-pouding here (unless you count the caffeine that I needed to stay awak through most of the book).

I used to love this series, now I only feel obligated to complete it in order to justify the hours I have invested. As with the last 4, I felt myself skimming over what Elayne was wearing that day, what color and style the embroidery was in, and in what style her hair was. It's great imaging, but the story is lost in the details.

At any rate, a few storylines were semi-resolved in this offering, but they are 3 books to late. Rand did not even appear until the midway point, and only then for a battle and a skirmish. Half the book was about Elayne, and after a while, it became draining to continue.

Also, I'm a little upset that lesbianism is being addressed so openly now. Sorry to be prim and proper, but it's ruining the series for me. It was present before, if you read into it, but it's now beginning to taint the series. Keep it clean Jordan.

No reason to say that the first 4 books were his best; it should be apparrent to anyone reading this series. A lot of action and Rands development was the main focus in those first few books which made them awesome. I loved it. The middle books were harder to get through. A major event when a new book came out, I bought it immediately and made it through hoping for forward movement and allot of chapters about Rand...Finally book 11 had some forward movement in it and more of Rand than what seems like forever. I read it 3 times in a row in one week.

I enjoy re-reading the whole series before a new book comes out but with a special method. I have marked all chapters in all books that have Rand in them. I then read the books in order but only the Rand chapters. It brings much enjoyment and unfortunately doesn't take to long since some books barely have Rand in them. Nevertheless it works for me and allows me to focus on my favorite character. I suggest that you try this. If you want some help with which chapters let me know. I have them index in excell. I have to confess that when I am in a lull with other books I have reread the series and paid attention to the "other than Rand" chapters. What can I say. I love the series, hoping for a conclusion and wanting it to last forever at the same time. Hope RJ doesn't die on us before he finishes it though.

Somebody ought to pay for this embarrassment and for stringing us readers along for 11 books in a story going nowhere . What started out as a very exciting story has now been turned into a sub-par boring epic. I think I'll go torque my thumbs down in a vise and remove my fingernails! I'll not spend another dime on this!

I think Jordan is simply covering up the fact that he has lost control of the series by filling every page with meaningless details. I believe there is an unspoken contract between reader and author...I read, and I get answers to questions.

In Knife, everytime we enter a different setting, (which is way too often) we are treated to details about how every lamp, ravine, wagon, bed spread and irratable woman is situated before we get to the meat of the story. It is entirely possible to skim most of the book and still not lose anything important.

Worst of all, he has the audacity to give us 100 page prologue to a book that has nearly 8000 pages of history. What could he possibly have not told us that we needed to know?

I've become nearly indifferent to the characters and thier words tend to grate on my nerves. I feel completely ripped off by Jordan. I only continue to read this because I hate not finishing a series. I just wish Jordan felt the same way.

I'm guessing his strategy is that since he has enraged any reader who knows good fantasy, he must milk this series for all its worth. No one is going to read his ramblings after this debacle.

It's time for me to put in my two farthings on what has gone wrong with Jordan. My comments go beyond just book 11, but bear with me. We all agree that the first 5 or so books were excellent, then something happened. So how can Jordan get back to writing engrossing novels? I'm not sure he can at this point, for reasons which will follow, but I'll offer him (and you) my best advice.

First books were engrossing because they were laying out a new world to be discovered. Neither the reader nor the main characters (who were simply people from a small isolated village) knew much about the world and so we and they were constantly discovering new things about the world and about themselves. Jordan was able to keep this up for about 5 books. He did this in part by having the main characters visit new and mysterious places each new book. Tear, Tanchico, Falme, the Waste, the Ways and you name it. Back then, extended descriptions of say the stone of Tear or the Ways were fine, because it was new and we didn't know about it. Problem was around book 6 Jordan had pretty much taken us every place on the continent. There wasn't anyplace new to explore or discover. He tried to get back some of this in Book 9 with that city where no one could channel. It didn't work though because it basically felt as though Jordan had suddenly created this place out of thin air just for the purpose of finding a new location for an adventure. I mean, if there had been a city where there were no magic I think we would have heard about before book 9. (Also it fell flat because Rand was so stupid going there it didn't make sense, more on that below.) So by around book 6 we had been everywhere. For the next books the repeatedly experienced deja vu, and not in a good way. It was "been there done that." This of course only got worse as Jordan started to reincarnate Forsaken. Rand killed Aginor in Book I then we dig him up again and start all over. It obvious that Jordan basically ran out of new places to visit, and along with it new ideas. He began recycling old places and old ideas. The moral here was Jordan should have stopped when he ran out of new places and new things to describe. J.K. Rowling take note. Don't ride your horse into the ground. One thing Terry Brooks did right with the Shanarra series was once we had been everyone in the "Four Lands" he discovered new lands, he didn't go back to discover one all over again.

Related issue. Jordan maybe gave too much away with the prophesies. We've known for what 5 books that Mat and Thom were going to rescue Moraine. So finally in book 11 they actually decide to do it. Too often even when something finally does happen there's no surprise (and no suspense) because the reader has known about for 10 years.

Second big problem: the characters have become less engrossing and empathetic. The first 5 or 6 books were good (not just because they stuck to the main characters) but the characters were basically likeable and believeable. For the most part they were ordinary people with whom the reader could identify. Then, apparently often to create some adventure most of them (Rand most of all) started doing really stupid things. Rand seems crazy sometimes, and does things like allows himself to get captured and put in a box, or going to that city where he can't channel and allowing himself to be captured again. I mean he's the most powerful magic-user in the world, so of course he goes someplace where he can't waggle his fingers. Elyne allowing herself to get captured in Knife of Dreams is another really stupid thing. She's got a whole army and dozens of chanellers and she goes to raid a dark friends house with 3 aes sedai at least one of whom she knows is Black. That's stupid to start. Then of course, did she forget that the two Black sisters she's trying to capture were part of a group of 13 that escaped from the Tower with a bunch of dangerous terangreal? She doesn't even wonder where the rest of the Black are? While I'm on that. Egwene was dumb enough to get captured too. Why didn't she at least invert her weaves when she tried to seal the harbor. She may as well have brought along a great big neon sign that said "Egwene is here." The examples could go one and on. My point is that when characters repeatedly do stupid things to get themselves captured (I've lost count how many times Egwene, Neneyve, Eleyne and Rand have been captured by enemies in the book) the reader stops caring, not to mention the "been there, done that" again. It also becomes farcical. It's like the old Bat Man episodes where they're always captured and left in some weird device that supposed to kill them; but we know they're going to escape. So I've lost empathy for most of the characters. (Mat probably being the biggest exception. He's about the only character where the reader is not constantly asking "How can (s)he be so stupid?")

Third point, related to the second. Jordan has lost the sense of danger, for the most part. Remember the first few books where the characters were being chased by some really scary monster/person. Like Frodo being chased by Black Riders. That was exciting. At this point the characters have all been captured so often that we know even if they are captured it won't matter, they just escape. Or the characters seem to be invulnerable. Characters like Elyne and Rand and Egwene never feel fear (as we're constantly being reminded). One of the reasons the early books were so exciting was because the characters were terrified, and that feeling of terror and excitement was passed on to the reader. Now that the characters are never afraid or even nervous that sense of danger and excitement of the early books has been lost. So it's not only annoying that Rand feels invulnerable and does stupid things but it ruins the whole atmosphere of the book.

I think these are the main problems. It may be too late to resolve most of them, even if RJ would listen to the likes of me.

I started reading this series when I was in college. I have since been through medical school, residency, and have been working for several years. I regret that I ever picked up the first book. I enjoyed the first three books, but always anticipated a grand finale that never came. Somewhere after the fifth book, I quit. No longer could I bear to hear about a female character tugging at her hair when she was angry or other such interminably repeated mannerisms. Because of this series, I promised myself I would never start a series that had not already been completed. In fact, I was so disappointed in the time I had wasted in reading these books, that I have read little fiction since. Let my experience serve as a warning to you: don't start this series until it is done and you know from others that it is worth the investment of time and money. I suspect the series will never be really done, and that even though a few plot lines will finish, we will see spin-offs of the secondary characters.

well, this is my first review on the store. nice huh?

well, what can i say. surprise. a good wheel of time book for a change. it was a long time, right? actually, this book deserve only 3.5 but because you can't do it in the store (why can't we?) and because 3 seems less fitting i gave it 4. i won't go into specific plot details but i will tell you what happened with the differenet storylines. i won't spoil anything and it's a promise. ok?

i read this book over the weekend (it was only released last week in hebrew. had to wait for it) the good news - jordan still have it. when he write good he write better then anyone else including jrrm. unfortunately, since he made a huge mess in the last 4 books (uncared charactes, charactes you can't remember why they are there in the first place or who they actually are etc. etc.) he had to clean it somewhere. this book is the victim. more then a couple of characters which i have no idea how they connect to the plot are... retired in different ways. this is good. it means jordan had more time to waste on the main characters. let's see...

mat and tuon - a storyline which i'm interested in. writing for mat was very well. it was really fun reading it. there's a certain huge surprise dealing with mat and another character (i said no specific spoilers so i reveal nothing) and most of this storyline is solved by the end of the book. only a certain small thing left...

rand - stuff happes but not much. it seems like rand got what he wanted just not the way he wanted it. can't tell much.

egwene - i like her amyrlin storyline when it started but it dragd for so long that i kind of lost interest in it in the last few books. not much is happening but since the writing here is so good i wish it wouldn't end. it was really fun to read. really!

perrin and fail - i care none for them. but their story line is over.

the shaido revolt - over! yes! finally! it was for... huh, 6 books?

elayne - mildly interested in this storyline. it's over!

i can see jordan finish it in the next book. half the book is finishing the remaining storylins and half for tarmon gaidon. it may be a huge book but i can see jordan keeping is promise.

thank you for reading!

First of all I have to get off my chest...Please people a few points:

1. Read the book if you're going to review it. Hate it, that's just fine. Hate it all you want, but know what you're hating.

2. Review the book, not the series and PLEASE don't just spend your time ranting. If you hate it and you're glad you quit reading all those years ago, find somewhere else to do your self-congratulatory whining. Ranting in vague terms about how Jordan sucks has no place in a review, at least take the time to be specific and address your issues with the book in question.

3. Only the most passionate readers on both sides are posting or reading these reviews (with a few noteworthy exceptions) so don't make grandiose claims about what the literally millions of Jordan readers feel/believe based on the miniscule portion that post their opinions on line.

Now then an attempt at a reasonably spoiler free review.

All of the major plotlines (in my opinion there are five, one for each of the Emonds fielders and one for Elayne) move forward dramatically. Egwene and Rand are left with much to resolve, but the way forward seems clear. Elayne, Matt and Perrin should all be looking for new problems to focus on for book twelve as the main threads of each of these plotlines are resolved by the end of the book.

The storylines in question have plaid out over several volumes of the series now and are brought dramatically to conclusion, each well paced to have a chapter or two to climax as the book ends. For those who argue that the series needs to speed up, I must point out that slowpaced does not necessarily equal bad, and I can remember many similarly whiny cries lifted in my high school English classes about many fantastic books. Similarly I have finished many a fastpaced novel with an empty feeling of having read nothing.

That said, another volume of placing things in position (as book 10 was, its climactic moments nearly all revolved around decisions being made that would come to fruition in this book) would have truly been the needless extension that Jordan has been accused of putting out. This is no such novel. Instead right from the first section of the prologue major events are occuring that reshape nations and major political/military factions throughout the world of the novels. Instead of the nearly faux climax of book ten, (which lends itself much more legitimately to the complaints of suddenness and contrivance than does anything in this book) we are treated to major resolutions and telling seens of action in each of the major storylines as the book closes.

I was disappointed that Rand didn't seem to do much. His trip into Tear seemed pointless, especially if his focus is as completely on meeting with and joining the Seanchan as it is made to seem. If this is his priority, why the side trip? His storyline in this book could have been brought to an earlier climax (it was a small climax in comparison to those given the other plotlines in any case) and then we could have at least had his Seanchan question resolved. There is still wiggleroom for a truce with a "true" representative of the Seanchan empire, but hopefully Jordan moves past that quickly in book twelve. As it is I enjoyed it, but I wanted more Rand. I can only hope and assume that Rand will finally receive an equal portion of attention in this final volume as we ride for Tar'mon Gaidon. More purposeful writing on Rand to match that given to the other characters and this would have been a book to match the best of the volumes in the series, a five star example of all I love about Fantasy.

As it is it still garners a four star rating, a great accomplishment for a middle volume of a now eleven book series. The Wheel of Time turns, it picks up some much needed speed here, and hopefully it turns a little faster between volumes 11 and 12 as well. Two and a half years is too long! Bring on the next book...I'm ready.

I don't know what peoples problems are with this series. Yes, Jordan avoids straight forward story telling like the plague, but for me that's exactly the reason that makes it enjoyable. He's not afraid to experiment with storytelling conventions, often deferring main character POV's for other key characters. Jordan seems interested with creating a WHOLE world, equally represented by the narrative. This is risk to be sure, but one that has endeared me to his series and marked it unique. Tolkien was interested in giving birth to a mythology, and Jordan is interested in creating psychological insight into character motivations of non-central characters. I personally don't see anything wrong with this, but can understand if people aren't interested in investing their time into this world and it's character's. Contrary to the majority I found the 10th book of the series (Crossroads of Twilight) as intriguing, as the rest of the series. If you don't have the time to delve into an alternate reality, then pass this one up. If however, you like the series and enjoy multiple perspectives of the same event then their is likely enjoyment to be found.

Not long ago I used to check WOT sites to find out the latest opinions on the books. Now I find myself just checking for the latest reviews - they're by far more entertaining.

My take is not that much different from the majority of people reviewing Knife of Dreams. Knife of Dreams is not a good book. Why is this book so bad? Because as another reviewer said, there are only two good sections throughout the entire book, those with Egwene and Nynaeve. The rest is just filler. And what was the point of the prologue? Was the plotline with Galad really that important that it needed to be the opening of the book? On its own I can put up with bad characterizations, I can put up with the ridiculous amount of descriptions, I can actually put up with the Rand hardly being present in the book, etc. etc., but I can't put up with all this together for 95% of the book. The sections with Elayne and Nynaeve only underscore how well Robert Jordan can write when he puts his mind to it, and how he sadly gave a half-hearted effort with this book.

I have been reading this series from when the first book came out. I even went back and bought the first book in hard-back (very hard to find at the time). The last few books have been a chore to read, although I felt that the last book (Crossroads of Twilight) wasn't that bad, probably a 3 star. The writing and storyline of Knife of Dreams recall the first 5 or so books of the series. Not as good, but close. I am just hoping that book 12 (the last?) won't be 2 years in the making. I just realized that this series has stretched over 15 years, with The Eye of the World published in November of 1990. 15 years!

I have read the good, the bad, and the ugly reviews of this book. The good/excellent ones don't say a lot of useful stuff, the bad ignore the feat he is attempting by writing 13 books, and the ugly sound like idiots.

I will admit, I have bashed the hell out of Jordan quite a bit in my reviews due to his last several horrible books. In fact, he almost single-handedly turned me off of fantasy as book genre.

Despite his last few failures, this book actually does alright in moving plot forward granted a bit slowly. It sucks he ignores Rand, but frankly Rand is a bit annoying to me anyway, so the focus on Matt was a welcome change. His writing had a bit more action than his last few flops.

However, in the grand world of writing, just because his last book was significantly better than his last few books, it doesn't warrant a five star rating. If I eat a bowl of doodoo for three weeks, and then I am offered Mcdonalds, it doesn't make Mcdonalds a five start meal because of what I was eating before. There is my point about relativity in this book.

I guess my conclusion in this book is, it is definitely an improvement but keep in mind what his last few books were like. Finally, I have to ask how the hell Jordan plans to wrap all these loose strands of plot into a conclusion. If he succeeds in this feat even decently, that will make this series a feat in itself regardless of a few bad books.

FYI I just looked over the dates of publications for all 11 books in this series. Here is a short comparison of times between publication dates. Between book 1 and book 2: 10 months. Between book 2 and book 3: 11 months. (jump ahead about 13 years) Between book 9 and book 10: 34 months. Between book 10 and book 11: 34 months. At this rate I think it is useless to hope for book 12 anytime before Summer 2008. And will that be the end of this opus? So far this series has been 17 years in the making. Shall we hope for denouement by the year 2010?

Another book from Mr.Jordan. I have enjoyed the last 5-6 books in the series more than the first few, contrary to what a lot of people usually say. A lot happens in this book, although I have to admit I almost preferred the slower pace of book 10. I don't feel the need to rush anything, I like spending 3 pages reading what people are thinking in between their conversations. I like getting all the little details that happen throughout a characters day, and I especially like the attention to who is wearing what. A few spots in the book felt "rushed" or "forced" but overall it was the same quality of writing you can always expect from RJ.

My favorite characters are Matt & Egwene and they appear enough in this volume to keep me satisfied. Those two characters are why I keep reading! The best chapter was "Honey in the Tea". You can't not love Egwene after reading that chapter! It's a good thing Rand is hardly in this book. Who says the story is supposed to be about him anyways?

Unlike some reviewers I have ACTUALLY read the book. If you've read this series before then you know what to expect from Jordan. The "quality" of his writing is consistent. I hope he takes 12 years to write Book 12!

It seems opinions are mixed as ever on Jordan's latest. After reading the first part of Knife of Dreams I wasn't really sure if it was more of the same or a return to form for Jordan. The closing sequences helped sway my decision on a return to form, at least the story looks to be going in the right direction. Rand, I miss you buddy.

Once again a disappointing WoT novel. Let me say first of all that this installment moves things along at a much quicker pace than the previous six. That's normally not saying much, as Jordan simply had his characters wander around doing nothing for several thousand pages. This one actually has stuff happen, stuff that actually advances the plot. Unfortunately, the fact that this one moves things along highlights--as if we needed more proof--the fact that the last 6 were absolutely, undeniably horrible. Rand cleansing saidin is pretty much the only thing of importance that happens in the last 6, and it's a non-issue after he does it. Which stinks. Anyway, the pace of this one really shows us how bad the earlier ones were.

Of course, the problem with this one is that it is TOO fast. Everything feels rushed. Imagine 2000 pages of slow prose about tea, and then..."So Rand defeated the Evil One and eveyone lived happily ever after." That's about how this one feels. Many overly long, boring, slow plotlines are tied up in about a paragraph. Perrin's resolution of the Faile problem is sudden and illogical. Aren't there 8 zillion Shaido? Isn't it highly unlikely that even half of the Wise Ones that could channel would drink the drugged tea AT THE SAME TIME? Geez. All that moaning from Perrin for HUNDREDS of pages and then THIS is how it's resolved? Ditto for Rand's confrontation with Semirhage. It's so contrived. First of all, what group of supposedly intelligent people would walk so stupidly into so obvious a trap? And how in the world would Rand get hurt so easily? This scene was ridiculous, and yet more proof that the Forsaken are a joke, which saps ALL the tension (and therefore excitement) out of the series. Also, the big problem with the Seanchan was the whole Daughter of Nine Moons thing, and Jordan resolves all of that OFF STAGE by having Semirhage basically say, "Well, I killed all of the nobles, so now it's just Tuon." NEXT! It' SO MUCH like Jordan to do this: an entire plot line develops excruciatingly slowly--often over the course of years--and then he ends it in one paragraph by having people do something illogical and/or stupid. See, for example, EVERY battle Rand has with the Forsaken and the quest for the oh-so-important-but-no-one-seems-to-care-about Bowl of Winds. Rand vs. Rahvin? No problem, we'll have Moiraine zap him while he gapes stupidly, even though he's there, prepared for a battle and he has vast skill, experience, and knowledge. Rand vs. Sammael? Oh, we'll just have some very noticeable black thing eat him without him noticing. Keep in mind that Sammael was searching for Rand, so he had his eyes peeled for anything strange, but somehow MISSED THE BLACK TENDRILS ALL AROUND HIM. DUH! Rand vs. the first two Forsaken (whose names I've long since forgotten)? Oh, he suddenly just, um, kills them. With some help. Even though they're really smart and strong and....bah! This is just pathetic. Elayne's boring storyline, which we were forced to endure for years, ends with, "And then she finally did the obvious thing which is to zap to their HQ and capture the bad people. The end." I don't care if she didn't know the exact location of he main rivals on any given night. Just zap somewhere, take the leaders of that camp prisoner, and thereby keep weakening them until you get them all. Simple. And so obvious. But of course, Jordan doesn't want that. He wants to spend time having characters be stupid and petty. Want to know about Moghedian as she flies into the big black ball that was Shadar Logoth (or wherever)? Too bad! Want to know what Graendal or Messana are plotting? THEY'RE NOT! Want to know why the evil folks don't simply kill Rand? You won't--at least not until the end, when it is TOO obvious that they need him alive to do something to set the Evil One free, but of course he'll sacrifice himself to avoid that. Which makes them totally useless. Want to find out who killed Vandene? Let's do in in all of two pages, in a confrontation that is incredibly stupid. Oh, and Adelas? She gets her revenge, somehow, even though they're guarded and shielded and...Bah! More stupid plot resolution for RJ. While I'm ranting, can someone tell RJ that "learning to read at the age of four with the incidental help of his brother" is both egotistical and stupid. I know far smarter people than you, pal, and none of them are so insecure as to put THAT kind of self-congratulation on a book cover or resume. And learning to read at four? Not impressive.

Back to the book:

Think of all the plot lines that he WILL, I promise you, bring to a far too abrupt and stupid ending: He'll have Mat and Thom and one other zip in, grap Moiraine, and zip out. Lan will rally the Borderlands, because, um, even though it's illogical, everyone seems to be flocking to his banner. Also, the rest of the Forsaken will be caught or killed stupidly. Any that are killed may or may not be reincarnated, so who really cares? Bowl of Winds? Do we care? No. Argh. I could go on and on about this crappy series. My one final thought: Since Semirhage is the greatest healer ever, why not fit her with a collar and force her to fix Rand's hand? Why not have her fix or at least explain the mysterious/illogical wounds in his side? BECAUSE THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE. And this series has long since stopped doing that.

Robert Jordan is one of the greatest fantasy writers of all time. I don't know why people complain that his series keeps going. I think it's great. I'm truly sorry that he lost his battle with amyloidosis.I'm glad that Brandon Sanderson has picked up the torch and that three more novels in the series are forthcoming. I only hope that The Wheel of Time continues.