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A review by woolfsfahan
The Complete Wheel of Time by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan
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: ★★★☆☆
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: ★★★☆☆