The Shadow Rising

Yep... Brought me to tears again.  Damn that Perrin.

The Dragon Reborn

This is probably my second favourite in the series.  The scenes with Mat always make me smile.  Rands's not in it much, but when he is, he's crazy.

The Great Hunt

Moving right along.  Apparently this book isn't as long as I thought it was.  I'd forgotten that last time I saw Rand as Jared Padalenki.  It still stands.

The Eye of the World

Continuing on in my re-reading of my favourite series.  I have read this book before.

New Spring: The Novel

Why yes, I have read this before.

Towers of Midnight

I was so excited to start this book.  The cover was Mat, Thom and Noal standing in front of a tower.  I thought, "Finally, they're going to rescue Moiraine!"  Then I read and read and read and read some more and they were still just talking about rescuing Moiraine.  At least Perrin has dealt with the Whitecloak problem.  And Berlain and Galad have met and are making cow-eyes at one another.  Everyone knows that Morgase is alive.  Rand stopped being stupid, and became essentially the second coming of Jesus.  But Mat?  Not much.  Though a nice reunion between him and Perrin.

Finally, right near the end, Moiraine is rescued.  And Mat loses an eye (also finally).  It seems so anti-climatic.  These were things that I had been waiting for nearly the entire series to finally happen.  Jordan had laid so many sub plots in the first 4-5 books that I knew what was going to happen eventually but then he seemed to get sidetracked by other things.  Now there's a rush to tide everything up before the big climatic battle.  I was getting a little concerned that the next book wouldn't be the last book as promised.  Now I'm not.  I'm worried that it'll be rushed and unsatisfying.

The Gathering Storm

This is the first of the last three books in the Wheel of Time series.  It's also the first that wasn't written solely by Robert Jordan.  Brandon Sanderson does have a different voice for the characters than Jordan did, and some of them do take getting used to.  His Perrin and Elyane are the closest to Jordan I think, with Mat and Egwene being the furthest.

Besides the voices of the characters being slightly different.  The action also heats up.  I don't know if that's what Jordan intended but it seems like everything is coming to a head at once.  It definitely feels like the Last Battle (and the end of the series) is just around the corner.  I laughed when I read that this would be the end, that it wouldn't be dragged out for a few more books but after reading this one I think I may have been wrong.

Knife of Dreams

So much happens in this book.  A lot of it is stuff that I've been waiting for forever.  Mat marrying the Daughter of the Nine Moons and then leading the Band of the Red Hand.  Rand losing his hand.  Perrin finally getting Faile back.  The plot really starts ticking along with this book and the climax actually seems to be coming into view.

Crossroads of Twilight

This book is what's happening to everyone else while Rand cleans saidin in the last chapter of Winter's Heart.  Pretty much the whole book takes place in about 2 weeks.  Although it is jam-packed with the plot actually moving forward.

The assault on the Tower is moving forward quickly (though a plot about murders of Aes Sedai is added).  The uncovering of Black Ajah in the Tower is moving forward (though Alviarin isn't outed, just deposed as Keeper).  Mat's wooing of Tuon continues (and if we ever see a look through her eyes we might find out how he's doing).  Perrin knows where Faile is being held and will work with the Seanchan to free her (though something about towns with undead uprising is mentioned).  Rand's going to work with the Seanchan too so that's all good (though Cadsuane is still going on about needing to teach him something).  And both Towers independently come to the conclusion that they should start working with the Black Tower and start bonding Ash'a'man.  Neither will like it when they find the Black Tower is divided as much as the White and that they've already started bonding Aes Sedai.

Winter's Heart

Sometimes with Robert Jordan, the plot plods along and you're immersed in the world building.  Nothing's really happening but background is laid.  And sometimes all the threads come together and STUFF HAPPENS.  Stuff happens in Winter's Heart.  Stuff that was a long time in coming.  Like Mat coming out from under the rubble and finding the Daughter of the Nine Moons.  Like Rand finally getting all three women in the same place.  And Cadsuane getting what she wants and the Saidin being cleansed.  Though the cleansing of saidin never happened the way I thought it would.  And hey!  Another Forsaken bites the dust and that's all good.

The Path of Daggers

The first time I read this book was easy. My favourite character had just had a building fall on him and he had knives in hidden pockets all over his body. I figured there'd be resolution for sure. Except that Mat's not in The Path of Daggers. At all. He's mentioned. There's a sort of vague feeling that he's hurt but will be OK but that's it. That's what makes this one one of the least satisfying of the series.

Other stuff does happen. Another Forsaken falls. People move toward where they need to be for the end game. It's like the mid-game and the pieces are just moving into place.

A Crown of Swords

There's a flurry of activity in A Crown of Swords, for Robert Jordan anyway. The plot takes some major leaps in this one - Egwene and the Aes Sedai, Nynaeve and Elayne find the bowl, another Forsaken is killed and Rand actually takes a crown.

I love the bits with Mat in this one. He earns Elayne's respect (which he should have had long since) and his interaction with Birgitte is wonderful to read. I should feel bad about what happens to him in the hands of Tylin but I can't quite. I like the sheer desperation that comes through. It's too bad it ends in a cliff hanger that I know won't be resolved in the next book.

Lord of Chaos

Up to the sixth book in my Wheel of Time reread. Lord of Chaos is usually where I start to slow down. Jordan has started to introduce multiple story lines. Rand, Mat and Perrin should be the central figures as the series started with them (though Mat is sort of on the periphery until his link with the knife is broken) but now there is major plot developments with Egwene and the Aes Sedai, with Elayne and Nynaeve, with Morgase and the Whitecloaks, etc. The story starts to get pulled in lots of different directions. In some ways that's what I really like about this series. It's very rich in detail. In other ways I just want to see more of my favourite characters.

Lord of Chaos does have one of the most climatic endings of Jordan's series. The battle of Dumai's Wells is epic in both scope and what it sets up for the rest of the series.

The Fires of Heaven

Another strong book from Robert Jordan. The Fires of Heaven is the one where things really start to move for me. All three of the characters have accepted their roles (though Perrin is barely mentioned in this volume) and the plot is beginning to move forward. Another two of the Forsaken are killed and Rand has returned from the Waste.

Once again, my favourite moments in this book come from Mat. He blossoms as a general here and it's not because he wants to. I enjoy his small steps that inevitably lead to where he's supposed to be.

The Shadow Rising

Of the books in the Wheel of Time series that focus on Rand and his plans this is one of the ones I like the best. He's less arrogant and more concerned about all of his actions, even if he knows that some of the decisions he makes will not work out the best for everyone.

This is also one of my favourite Perrin moments. His internal monologue about how much he misses Faile and how much it hurts him to essentially sacrifice himself bring me to tears every time I read it. I know that everything will work out in the end but the story still moves me.

The Dragon Reborn

This is book 3 of the Wheel of Time series and is one of my favourites. It's where Robert Jordan first lets the reader see Mat's point of view and Mat is my favourite character. This one has the scene between Mat, Gwain and Galad. It always makes me laugh to read it. Unfortunately, this is also the book where the girls start doing stupid things. The beginning of the hunt for the Black sisters involves some poor decision making on characters that I otherwise enjoy. Interestingly, although this is the book where Rand essentially declares himself the Dragon Reborn, he isn't in it much. Things are sort of working around him.

The Great Hunt

I like a reluctant hero (probably where much of my love for Mat comes from) but I don't like a whiny hero. Yes, Rand has it tough. People are trying to kill him and he will go insane. He's got the world on his shoulders as the Dragon Reborn but does he have to mope about it so much?

The Great Hunt probably one of the better written in the Wheel of Time series. Like The Eye of the World it's fairly self-contained. The Horn of Valere is stolen in the beginning of the story and it's back in the hands of the heroes by the end of the book. That's something the series veers away from as it gets longer. There's elements of intrigue and most of the characters get their chance in the spot light (except for Mat, I'm starting to wonder how he became my favourite).

In my opinion, the only real down side to The Great Hunt is the great chunk in the middle where Rand and Loial and Hurin are stuck in the Portal Stone world. If I can't pin point where my love of Mat came from I can certainly assign my dislike of Rand to this part. I think it's mostly his "wool headedness" (to use a Jordan term) with regards to Selene. Rand knows Moiraine, all the Cairhienin are described as short yet the beautiful woman that shows up in the middle of nowhere and is incredibly knowledgeable does not raise any red flags by being near his height (and we all know that Rand is tall... really tall. I'm beginning to picture him like Jarad Padalenki).

The Eye of the World

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan is one of my favourite books. I find Jordan's world interesting. I think he has some very strong female characterisations (and while those characters do get a little annoying at times) they are all different.

Jordan writes from first person perspective which lets the reader see the action from the eyes of one of the main characters. What makes The Eye of the World great is that the first person changes through out the story. Each character has a voice and they're recognizable right from the beginning of this very long series.

New Spring: The Novel

I'm a big fan of Robert Jordan. I've read New Spring before and I'll likely read it again. It's the prequel to the Wheel of Time series. Honestly, it doesn't add anything to the plot of the series. It's more a character piece of Moiraine and her Warder, Lan.

One of the things I really enjoy about Jordan is the rich background in which he's chosen to set his world. Reading the series there's always the sense that what has happened in the character's pasts has an effect on what they are doing in the present. And the feeling is that Robert Jordan knows what those events are. The meeting of Moiraine and Lan, her bonding of him and the beginning of her quest are all things that play an important part in the Wheel of Time but were more implied until this novel was released.

Moirane and Lan are younger in this book. Less sure of themselves in some ways and more arrogant in others. The ending of the story is known but there's great fun in getting there. It's a 4 for me.