Knife of Dreams: Book Eleven of 'The Wheel of Time'

After receiving a falsely advertised copy of this book from another seller I looked elsewhere and found this site and ordered a copy of the book which was exactly as advertised.

My book did not come with a book jacket.

Yes, the series was adrift for a few books (reaching its nadir with #8, in my opinion) but IT'S BACK! Knife isn't quite at the level of the first 4 or 5 in the series but, let's face it, if it didn't have those for competition almost everybody would be delighted with it. Unlike many, I didn't mind all the new characters Jordan introduced book after book. Almost without exception, they became interesting people under Jordan's deft touch - that's one of the things he's really good at, after all. Nor did the multiple plot lines annoy me - they just created a richer, more realistic tapestry. The main thing that bothered me during the down years was that I wasn't seeing much maturation in the characters. And their adolescent antics were getting pretty irritating. Maybe the real-life comparison with the destructive adolescent antics of George Bush have made me more forgiving, but I think I detect some actual growth where little was visible before (in Jordan's characters, not Bush). I hope I'm right and I hope that continues. Nyneve's stunt with Lan was a gem. I'll avoid a spoiler, but it represented a real breakthrough (I hope). A lot of folks have been begging for more Mat. This book delivers. After being the least interesting of the original crew (to me), he's become a very strong and likeable character over the last 2 books and will presumably be a key to uniting various enemies before the final battle. Perrin has been one of my favorite characters from early on and I'm happy to say that his somewhat lame obsession over Faile is finally resolved well. The best part of that, however, is the relationship Perrin develops with a Seanchan General which will presumably pave the way for a future alliance. As will Mat's links through Tuon. Except for a disturbing level of corporal punishment, Egwene's efforts to unify the Aes Sedai remains as one of the more interesting and compelling unresolved threads. It's hard to see how Jordan can wrap this up with one more book - unless he gives short shrift to some of people and plot lines. And I hope he does NOT try. We need a much better picture of the Forsaken and the Dark One. Some of the Forsaken have been the strongest characters, taken individually, but the enemy as a whole remains somewhat undefined. Also, what about Morraine? I'm sure a lot of us have been expecting and hoping that she would pull a Gandalf. Will it happen? And Rand? Jordan has set in place some machinery that may allow Rand to survive the final battle. Or maybe not. And in what condition? He already suffers several unhealing wounds. There are too many things to do, and I'm sure all fans want them done well. Now that the end is in sight, I hope Jordan will be quick, but not brief.

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.

Let me preface this review by saying that I started reading this series back in 1992, when The Dragon Reborn (Book 3) came out. I was in high school then, and I hadn't read anything quite like The Wheel of Time. Like most, I eagerly awaited each new installment. And like most, I became increasingly annoyed by the declining quality and glacial pace of the last few books. I was ready to give up entirely after Crossroads of Twilight (Book 10, see my review of that and you'll agree), but like Kevin Smith and Star Wars, it seems I am genetically predisposed to like this series, regardless of what has happened to it. I just can't help myself. I am weak. So, when I heard some early reviews about how good Knife of Dreams was, I jumped back on the bandwagon after previously vowing to never ride it again. And I'm glad I did. Knife of Dreams is easily the best book in the series in the past 10 years, since Lord of Chaos (Book 6), and better than the first two. I may just place it in my top three of the series. Finally, things start to happen. Finally, Tarmon Gai'don is just over the horizon. All the endless setup and skirt-smoothing and braid-pulling is starting to pay off. With the exception of the first batch of Elayne chapters (Andor zzzzzz), I had trouble putting this book down. Reading this made me feel like I was back in high school again, reading the first 5 volumes for the first time. People who read earlier installments but say this is a boring book A) are trolls sowing internet discord because they think it's cool, B) can't admit they like it because they hate Jordan so much for Books 8-10 and don't like to admit they're wrong or C) have lost that sense of wonder and adventure that comes with reading a fantastical story, which I find to be sad. I would have normally given this a 4 star rating, but to offset the trolls giving 1 stars for no reason other than they can, I'll give it a 5. Many things I've have been waiting for for years FINALLY happened in this book. FINALLY. A lot of interesting information and secrets are revealed, which probably killed a 1/4 of the WOT FAQ in one fell swoop. There is a conversation about a certain letter which put a huge smile on my face. The chapter icon alone for that chapter put an even bigger smile on my face. I actually had a tear in my eye thanks to Nynaeve and a moving scene in a tavern in Saldaea. We see new and amazing uses of the Power. I also have a new-found respect for Egwene - her single chapter in the middle of the book was fantastic. Many minor characters get their due and will probably never be seen again. But best of all...things resolve. Many of the plotlines that have been dragging on for the last few books are thankfully resolved and over with. I am happy with that, though some are resolved so quickly you wonder why Jordan bothered to spend so much time on them to begin with. But it is what it is. Some parts seem a bit rushed, but I don't care; the story moved and

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 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.