The Good:

1) Jordan moves a few of the major plot lines forward. Certain events that we were expecting finally occur along with the revealing of several identities.

2) He returns Mat to the story and provides him with some good chapters.

3) The juvenile romances (among every single couple) are mostly absent.

* It frustrates me not to have more positive things to say about a WoT book.

The Bad:

1) Still overly emphasizes on EVERY female character continuing to either tug at their braids, smooth their skirts, adjust their shawls, blushing, etc.

2) After the last book's cliffhanger of Egwene and her contingent of Aes Sedai approaching the White Tower, Jordan decides to completely skip over that subplot (in the same way that he left Mat out of "Path of Daggers").

3) The prologue is over 70 pgs long. Most of it contains worthless story filler without much happening. The 6 chapters following the prologue mostly involve Perrin and Faile in rotations. They are likewise dull and uneventful.

4) Way too many minor characters with similar names. Keeping track of them all seriously requires an index. As someone pointed out to me in a slight exaggeration... "you need to distinguish Daigian from that other character Dagin, without confusing him from Degian or that scum Dagean." Really hated looking back into the last 8 books to check.

5) Excessive details given to minor characters and scenary. A lot of talking, but a lack of meaningful conversations. What suffers from this is the progression of the story.

The Ugly:

1) Not by any means a large book (625 pgs) considering the large font that Jordan chose to have each page printed in.

2) Waited 2 years for this, book 9 of the WoT, only to learn that Jordan still hasn't recaptured his writing technique from the first 5 books of the series. Although improved from the last 2 books, Winter's Heart continues to show that Jordan is losing control of how to get to the end of this once epic story.

3) Jordan has announced (verbatim) at a recent book signing in San Diego that he "can not complete his vision of the story in fewer than 3 more books." Given that he takes 2 years to write each one... we'll have seen Star Wars Episode 2 & 3 by that time.

Final Thoughts:

I've faithfully been following RJ's acclaimed series and have been a fan since book 1. The first 3 books of the WoT series are his best. RJ has created a rich fantasy world with some great characters and background history, but for all that potential... the writer must keep his audience encaptivated and loyal. After enduring the declining quality of his story writing, it scares me to realize that I'm losing my emotional attachment to the story and its characters. It's no longer a series that I can confidently recommend to my friends and colleagues, knowing that a new reader will find the WoT deteoriate as an engrossing story as they surpass book 5. Why are many once loyal fans of the WoT starting to have serious doubts, some of them leaving the series behind only to pick up another fantasy author's work? It's really a rhetorical question. Some die-hard fans will continue to exalt RJ's work without unbiased eyes. 2 years later, I'll continue to read his work simply for the sake of intellectual curiosity to the story. Meanwhile, I search for other authors who've been "overshadowed" by Jordan's fame (slowly turning to infamy) and publicity, but who've been given genuine praise for their writing in the fantasy genre.

75 of 78 found the following review helpful:

Good, but only in comparison to the last two in the series  Nov 17, 2000
By M. Alexis
Be warned that this review contains some minor spoilers. Let's be honest - if you have read the Wheel of Time to this point, you'll read it to the end no matter how bad the future installments are. Unfortunately, Robert Jordan realizes this too. Everything in this book and the last two could have been condensed into one, excellent book of the same quality as "The Shadow Rising" or "The Fires of Heaven". But why charge readers for one book, when you can charge them for three?

Jordan's biggest problem, in the words of a good friend of mine, is that he loves keeping secrets for the sake of keeping secrets. For example - in Book 3, a gray man showed up dead in the White Tower. Now, in Book 9 (8 or so years later) we find out that Isam killed that gray man. I only remembered this because I decided to re-read the series for the first time before this one came out. Why keep this a secret? Isam kills two unidentified poeple in this book - I'm sure we'll find out who they were in another 8 years. Every other chapter of Winter's Heart seems to involve either: a) The resolution of some irrelevant plot point left in limbo for years or b) The introduction of a new and equally irrelevant plot point.

Jordan's ability to develop his characters has also apparently whithered. He used to stir and inspire us - for example, Ingtar's redemption in Book 2. Now, his characters almost seem fungible. Why should I care if one sniffing, vomit prone Aes Sedai dies? There are apparently hundreds more just like her ready to take her place. I cared more about what happened to a single minor character in the first few books than I do now about most of the major players in the series.

For that matter, the writing itself is a bit stilted and utterly fails to inspire or energize the reader. Not to give away too much, but there is a battle at the end of the book that involves most of the living Forsaken. Talk about anti-climaxes. For example, Demandred attacks, encounters minor opposition, and just leaves. The battles at Falme and Dumai Wells kept us at the edge of our seat; this one puts us right to bed.

Half-hearted writing about half-hearted characters just doesn't work. Considering what happens at the end of this book, you'd expect some sort of big to-do. Instead, the book just ends. Jordan missed a wonderful opportunity here. A five or six page pro-logue about "after-effects" could have redeemed this entire book.

With that said, I should emphasize that I only criticize this book because it was written by an author of Robert Jordan's caliber. If this were from some minor author, I would be raving about it and recommending it to my friends. But we all know Jordan can do better.

I should also say that, in my experience, there are few people as unforgiving as fantasy and sci-fi fans when it comes to their favorites. Everyone has a bad day, and I think, if we really are fans, we owe it to authors to give them a break and not act like hysterical children when they turn out a sub-par work. Problem is, this is Jordan's 3rd (arguably 4th) sub-par work in a row. I'm starting to think that the quality of this series doesn't have as much to do with Jordan having an "off" day as it does with him holding his readers in contempt. The "five dollars for the pro-logue" fiasco certainly doesn't help Jordan's case.

82 of 88 found the following review helpful:

Its not too late to save this series...  Dec 01, 2000
By Flynn
I, too, have been a reader and rereader of this series since it began a generation ago. This latest book was, AGAIN, disappointing. Jordan and Tor should be concerned, too many people are giving this series up for dead.

Can you remember what those first books were like? Fleeing at breakneck speed from Shadowspawn? The fear? The wonder at this brilliant world, the histories, the cultures, the laws of nature and magic? The amazing women and men? The innocence of the good and the black heart of the evil? Those books made your heart pump! And the characters - just as that first original cover review stated so long ago - seem like old friends.

What happened?

Slow, gradual, decent into mediocrity.

The last several books have been, as many other reviewers have written, fluff. Filler. Spotted with great scenes, but generally shallow and getting shallower. We want to get into it! But at every turn Jordan forces a sigh of agony or a roll of eyes from his readers, by repeating the same descriptive passages, or repeating the same bickering between characters, or repeating the same tired thought threads (Faile...likes to be shouted at...?). Aarrgg! Same thing again! We know already!!

Put some focus into it. Rand and his tragic love square(trapezoid?)? Soap opera? Didn't have to be. Mat as Queens plaything? Overly obnoxious? Didn't have to be. Focus, follow the arc, and move on. Our characters becoming less and less important and powerful? Fine, just tie it together and move forward. New characters, new background, new threads? Fine, but remember the story. Remember why we all came to the table in the first place. Tell the story! Put your back into it man!

Its not too late for this series. Just give us something to cheer for! Cut out the filler, the petty, the repetitous. Give us intrigue! Give us glory! Give us a 300 page battle for Tar Valon! Give us love! Give us Moraine back from the Aelfinn to save the day as the Blight spills shadow over the lands! Give us peril! Aei Sedai at the gates of The Dark Ones prison! Adventure! Passion! Mystery! SOMETHING!!

50 pages at the end of 600 is not putting your back into it.

He needs to stand up to his publisher and swallow his ego. Jordan began as the best voice in fantasy we had seen in ages, but like so many greats before him, has been broken under the weight and fame of this series.

But its not too late...just one powerful book is all we need. It'll feel good to write it. He'll see how satisfying it is. And his numbers will stop dropping off so sharply. Reading bad reviews from the industry as well as fans has got to get old.

35 of 36 found the following review helpful:

Winter's Heart left me feeling a little chilly.  Dec 19, 2000

First of all, let me say that I too am often amazed and awe-struck by the complexity of the WoT series. It's obvious to me the Robert Jordan's outline alone must have been a huge undertaking. That's what keeps me reading and coming back for more.

However, some of the reviewers here are accusing readers who give this book a less than sterling review of having short attention spans. Anyone who has stayed with the series this long is not suffering from a short attention span. The problem with the series is not the length and it is not necessarily a lack of action. The problem is that the series has gotten stale. The same things and the same descriptions are just being repeated, and they are still being described in the same way. There is too much filler. I don't think most people want to read a description of what each character is wearing unless there's a specific reason. It may have been important earlier in the series that Rand was wearing elaborately embroidered expensive finery while his friends were still dressed in humble country clothes. Now, however, he's simply wears variations on the same outfit, but they're always described in detail.

I'm not surprised that some readers are having trouble remembering the huge cast of characters. Just the similarity of the names alone is becoming an annoyance. Notice anything similar here?: Alaine, Bain, Berelain, Cadsuane, Caredwain, Dain, Deain, Dobraine, Egwene, Elayne, Ellaine, Faolain, Jain, Lain, Logain, Luaine, Melaine, Moiraine, Mordraine, Padan Fain, Raen, Shiaine, Tigraine. It's enough to make Nynaeve tug the braid right off of her head!

I've also noticed the lack of a really evil, frightening foe in the later books. Trollocs were scary in the first book or two, but now they're just fodder. The Forsaken have, for the most part, been too easily overcome. The book needs something like a Balrog to spice things up. The gholam isn't active enough, and I'd like to see the gholam be a much bigger threat.

I, too, am disappointed in the depictions of the women characters. The most ridiculous scene of all was when several groups of women got together to use the Bowl of the Winds and right the world. Strong and capable women should have been willing to put their differences aside and work together, but did they draw together for a common cause? No, they argued back and forth and acted like a group of 10 year olds, even though some of them are supposed to be hundreds of years old. I've seen very little evidence of wisdom among all these "Wise Ones" and "Wisdoms" and whole lot of childish temper tantrums. A bad temper is a sign of weakness, not of strength. The casual attitude toward violent physical punishment among all cultures of women is also disturbing. I'm amazed at the number of times grown women are punished by "switchings" or beatings. Every culture is also obsessed with status, and whoever has the lowest status in the room is forced into doing menial tasks. Just once, I'd like to see the lowest-ranking Aes Sedai have some spunk and say "Pour your own tea, you lazy slob!"

Finally, there's one thing about our Two Rivers heroes that really puzzles me. These characters are still very young, yet they seem to have completely severed all family ties. Rand is understandably hesitant about seeming to care about his hometown, but why hasn't Egwene written to her mother to say, "Hey Mom, guess what? I'm the new Amyrlin Seat." Personally, I can't believe her parents haven't hunted her down and...given her a good "switching"!

157 of 181 found the following review helpful:

The Wheel Turns...and Turns...and...you get the idea.  Oct 28, 2000

First things first: Winter's Heart is a much better book than its two most recent predecessors, A Crown of Swords and The Path of Boredom...er...Daggers. I can't really go into plot specifics about why Book Nine is better without spoiling the story, but I will say that fans who have been waiting for "big stuff" to happen won't be disappointed by the ending of this book. The ending of Book Seven was so abrupt I still have whiplash, but this one is actually good, and in the last chapter an event takes place which is the biggest moment in the series so far. And no, I ain't telling what it is. On the down side, if you were ticked off because Mat wasn't in Book Eight (he is in Book Nine, though), RJ pulls a similar stunt this time around. A major storyline from the previous book is not dealt with, and that's not good. Other than that, if you've read the first eight books, you'll read (and probably enjoy) this one. Still, RJ introduces more plotlines and complications than he resolves. Storylines are left up in the air until Book Ten (at least), there are more dangling threads in this series than on a cheap suit. This series is going at least eleven books, so buckle up, it's going to be a long ride.

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