Reviews

The Complete Wheel of Time by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

krindor's review against another edition

slow-paced

5.0

jadzeea's review against another edition

It’s a reference guide. It does contain spoilers. 

squidbillyinvictus's review

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

travisc2010's review against another edition

5.0

Just finished the series and had to include my rankings of the books. From favourite to least favourites. But all of them were great!

A Memory of Light
The Gathering Storm
Towers of Midnight
Knife of Dreams
Lord of Chaos
Dragon Reborn
Shadow Rising
The Great Hunt
Eye of the World
Winters Heart
Path of Daggers
Crown of Swords
Fires of Heaven
Cross Roads of Twilight

kaileighb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

zaeritha's review against another edition

3.0

The last two books are 10/10. There are sections, arcs, and specific characters throughout thar where great but I cannot say that as a whole it was super well written. The first couple books are solid 6.5/10s, then they got slowly worse up through book 11, then book 12 was 8/10, then the last two 10/10 really well done. Brandon Sanderson is more on the nose but much better than Jordan's rambling. The level of detail in worldbuilding kept me going somewhat, but I can't say I'd recommend anyone read the series, which is a shame. Ultimately, Robert Jordan just needed a better editor to trim the fat, but I can't stop thinking about the ending so it's certainly something worth reading if you are a really hard-core fantasy fan who is really into the details

lundos's review against another edition

5.0

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.”

As Sony and Amazon are doing a Wheel of Time (WoT) TV series I decided to read this series again. I sort of went through my teenage years and early 20s with WoT and I remember fondly discussing the prophecies, direction of the plot, and the men/women relationships back then.

Fantasy wasn't as big a genre back then as it is today (it was before Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, Malazan Book of the Fallen, the Lord of the Rings movies, etc). Men tended to have most (all) of the leading roles and most of the power, the general level of epic fantasy was more or less a fight of good vs. evil and ninjas didn't hug. Then came Robert Jordan (RJ). While the overall plot is (heavily) inspired by Tolkien and is a fight of Good vs. Evil, RJ went his own way regarding world building, magic system, characters and especially the way society is controlled.

WoT is an epic tale of love, life, friendship and duty. It's full of adventure, suspense, surprises and invention. The plot is timeless both in the sense of the good vs. evil fight but also in its continuation since the Wheel of Time itself is supposed to repeat itself endlessly in all worlds and realities.

The world is rich and diverse with different cultures and manners from each country from the extremes of Aiel tribes of the Waste to the Seanchan caste system. Each are individually described in detail as the main characters visit each cultural area.

The cast is huge entering into the hundreds over the 14 books. While the main three characters are arguably Rand, Mat and Perrin there is no denying that Egwene, Nynaeve and Moirane are almost as important in the overall plot and then we have Min, Aviendha, Elayne, the Daughter of the Nine Moos, etc who are also very important. One of the main concepts are the way that men and women interact and behave, how love can affect you (to make stupid decisions but also "force" you to do more than you thought possible), how men and women are equal and how - despite differences and behavior - men and women have to work together. This is set up in the first book when it's mentioned that in the Age of Legend the most powerful magical creations were done by women and men working together, and it's important during the entire series even until the end.

The magic system itself is extremely innovative. Only women can use the One Power without fear of madness in this Age. The background for this and how it affects the world is one of the better parts of books and it is an important plotline from the beginning of the Eye of the World. Both in which women uses their magic power and how they use the fear of that power in a way to control men and countries and society.

Overall, while it's quite long, it's the best classic tale of good vs. evil and definitely worth the read.

There are, quite right, also some critique of the series. One of the better ones are this review (contains spoilers for the first 10 books): https://forum.malazanempire.com/topic/21832-hateful-wheel-of-time-review/

woolfsfahan's review against another edition

4.0

I read the series as individual paperbacks, not in this collected Kindle anthology, but for convenience I'm reviewing them as a unit.

This is good fantasy. Jordan's prose is great (sometimes overly flowery and detailed, but I personally like that), the tension escalates so smoothly, and Jordan juggles the narrative and different points-of-view very well. The character work here is some of the best you'll find in the genre; the characters actually feel real, in the sense that they're often bullheaded, wrong, and irrational, just like real people. The setting is well-crafted and effectively utilized in service of the exploration of free will, inter-gender relationships, greed and selfishness, the relationship between power and duty, and messianism. The whole series is just dripping with intent, even after Jordan passed away and Sanderson took over. For his part, Sanderson does an excellent job at matching the pacing, tone, and style of Jordan, and finished the series with few bumps.

Below is my rating of every book in series order, with the prequal (New Spring) at the end. books 7 through 10 (A Crown of Swords to Crossroads of Twilight) are a bit of a slog because the pacing grinds to a halt. The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and A Memory of Light were completed by Sanderson.

The Eye of the World: ★★★★☆
The Great Hunt: ★★★☆☆
The Dragon Reborn: ★★★★☆
The Shadow Rising: ★★★★☆
The Fires of Heaven: ★★★★★
Lord of Chaos: ★★★★★
A Crown of Swords: ★★★☆☆
The Path of Daggers: ★★★☆☆
Winter's Heart: ★★★★☆
Crossroads of Twilight: ★★★☆☆
Knife of Dreams: ★★★★☆
The Gathering Storm: ★★★★☆
Towers of Midnight: ★★★★☆
A Memory of Light: ★★★★★
New Spring: ★★★☆☆

groovysneezes's review against another edition

5.0

wow, what a story! although it was very slow at points (for books long), i never wanted to give up. at points, the characters were frustrating, i wanted to smack them upside the head sometimes; but overall one of the greatest fantasy stories i've ever read. the ending did not disappoint for me either

cozybookhobbit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The show didn’t do this story justice. Even with all its flaws WOT will always have a place in my heart.