Slow, Boring and Annoying. The best way to read these books is to skim the pages. If you do happen to get lucky and run into some action, you can always stop and read it thoroughly. Of course, I'll read the next (and hopefully last) book when it comes out. I've gone this far and would like to know what happens. I am not excited about it though, just curious. It's unbelievable how slow and plodding this series has become. Plus most of the main characters are really annoying and fight like they are 12 year olds. Even the Forsaken are annoying. And I would have liked to see more of Shadar Haran in the series.

Knife of Dreams is another huge installment (1.3 days worth of audio!) which suffers the same faults as the last several WOT novels. But, if you've made it this far, perhaps that won't bug you.

I have to say that Robert Jordan can surely set a scene; indeed, each chapter begins with a very detailed description of the setting, including such minutia as the style and oiliness of men's beards, the height of ladies' boots, every knickknack on every plinth, every bit of jewelry worn by each character, how much bosom is exposed, how tight the pants are, etc. The reader certainly feels immersed in the setting, but for those who have other books they hope to read this year, this may be aggravating.

By this point in the series, I can no longer keep track of the characters. In the chapters about Elayne, we find Pelivar, high seat of House Coelan, and Perival, high seat of house Mantear. Ack!! And here are the names of the characters whose names begin with "An": Anaiya, Anaiyella, Ananda, Anath, Andaya Forae, Andaya Murasaka, Ander Corl, Ander Tol, Andhilin, Andil, Andra, Andric, Andris, Andro, Androl Genhald, Mistress Andscale, Anemara, Mistress Anford, Anghar, Angla, Anjen, Ankaer, Anlee, Annharid, Annoura Larisen, Anthelle Sharplyn, Antol, Anvaere, Anya. You'll find a list like this for every letter of the alphabet (see them at Encyclopaedia WOT. Did he expect us to study? I feel like I need flashcards.

Again, there's so much stuff in Knife of Dreams that we've already heard before: eyes a man could drown in, rosebud mouth, seductive copper-skinned domani, Aes Sedai don't show emotions (but they do), Loial sounds like a bumblebee, damp bowstrings don't work, arms folded beneath breasts, unnecessary adjustment of clothes, smiles that don't touch eyes, Mat worries about his men's influences on Olver (wink, wink -- yeah, we got it already!). I could go on and on and on. And don't even get me started on the spanking. There was more spanking in Knife of Dreams than any of the previous novels. Why are adults spanking each other?? (It's not for fun.) I rolled my eyes so often, I started to worry they'd stick.

There was one major redeeming factor here, though, and that's that the plot actually moves forward in Knife of Dreams. There are some big events that occur (each surrounded by a lot of fluff). I got the impression that after the last book (in which nothing happened for 900 pages), Mr Jordan woke up and said "oh, Light! Tarmon Gai'don's got to happen in the next book and I've got to get everyone there and on the same side!" And so we see that starting to happen -- alliances are being made, people are getting in position. In fact, some of it happens much too quickly and easily to be believed (e.g., Egwene's storyline, Whitecloak storyline). But that's fine with me -- let's get this over with.

Since Knife of Dreams was Robert Jordan's last book published before his death, let me say that I have enjoyed the world, the story, and the characters he created -- The Wheel of Time is truly epic and I respect Mr Jordan's work. My complaint is that it became aggravatingly slow and repetitive for the last several novels. But I eagerly look forward to finding out how it all ends.

You're up, Mr Sanderson!!

I Love Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. This is one of the best books in the series.

Overall I really like the series, but he has been dragging things out a bit. The characters spend a lot of time worrying about the same thing over and over and really just fill pages up. The story and plot is great and I really like the characters (some do change into too sappy of characters though). The series looked to need at least 12 books to finish, but no... he took time off to write Conan then some books that take place before the series and now I guess he is dead (sorry to hear). The first book came out in 1990 and he was writing one book a year for a long time (I started reading before book 4 came out). When he finished 10 (I think) he started wandering to other things and took something like 10 years off from finishing this series. All that is really left is the big battle(s) and a nice reunion/pro log and maybe something to explain a few things (all the prophesies, ancient ruins, and other worlds)... especial with so many years gone by and me loosing about half the books in a flood.

After the disappointing and critically-mauled Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan seemed to have a serious rethink about his Wheel of Time series was progressing. He stopped writing the series - taking a six-month break to write the extended version of the prequel novel New Spring instead - and when he came back to it he seemed to have recaptured some of his old fire. The resulting eleventh and then-promised-to-be-penultimate book in the series, Knife of Dreams, is a definite step up from the preceding three or four books, although some of the series' latter problems continue to be an issue.

The Last Battle is drawing near. The fabric of reality itself is breaking down as the seals on the Dark One's prison begin to fail. The dead are reappearing, long-lost towns and cities are flashing in and out of existence and the One Power itself seems to becoming unreliable. Yet Rand al'Thor's task of unifying the Westlands against the Shadow is far from complete. The Seanchan invasion force, now massively reinforced, is continuing to absorb more territory in the south-west of the continent. Whilst Rand's forces are large enough to destroy them, it would only be at a terrible cost in blood. With little choice, Rand extends an olive branch to the Seanchan whilst a Domani general launches a massively ambitious gambit to throw back the Seanchan armies encroaching on his kingdom.

Meanwhile, Perrin has made the fateful decision to ally with a Seanchan general to destroy the Shaido Aiel encamped at Malden who hold his wife Faile prisoner. Inside the camp, Faile is making her own escape plans but is relying on some very dubious partners to pull it off. Elsewhere, Mat Cauthon's flight from Ebou Dar with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons runs into difficulties when he encounters a huge Seanchan army blocking the way into Murandy, and Egwene al'Vere has been captured by the Tower Aes Sedai, whose plans to break her are foiled at every turn. In besieged Caemlyn Elayne Trakand makes one last throw of the dice to win the Lion Throne of Andor, and the Ogier teeter on the brink of a fateful decision that may have ramifications for the Last Battle.

Knife of Dreams is a much busier, far better-paced book than the ones preceding it. Several major storylines in the overall Wheel of Time series, some of them extending back seven or more volumes, are brought to final conclusions, and long-dangling minor plot threads are finally picked up on and expanded. We also get some tantalising clues as to the origins of the Ogier (one of the least of the series' mysteries, but welcome nevertheless) and, at long last, some major combat scenes. Rand, Mat and Perrin each have a major battle to fight and Elayne also has some skirmishing to do to win the throne of Andor. However, the storyline that possibly most impresses is Egwene's captivity in the White Tower. Jordan deftly avoids falling into the trap of making this a contrived story, and Egwene's quiet method of defiance against her captors is genuinely interesting. Also, the fact he packs virtually the whole story into one chapter is a plus as well.

However, Knife of Dreams is plagued by some of the same troubles as earlier books in the series. An absolutely vast number of minor characters whose import to the series is questionable continues to expand, and the minutiae of Elayne's pregnancy and arguments between different groups of channellers continues to weigh the series down. About halfway through the book, however, these problematic elements recede and the focus on resolution and conflict becomes more apparent, making the second half of the novel far more enjoyable to read, almost as much as the series at its best.

Reaching the end of Knife of Dreams, it is abundantly clear that there is no way that the series could be resolved in just one more book, and the recent confirmation by Brandon Sanderson that A Memory of Light will almost certainly be two volumes strangely comes as something of a relief: after such a huge journey, wrapping everything up in as short a space as possible for the sheer sake of it would have been dissatisfying.

Knife of Dreams (***½) was the best Wheel of Time novel in a decade when it was published and although the series' flaws were not eliminated by it, Robert Jordan's decision to acknowledge the weaknesses of the previous volume and move to counter them was effective. It certainly leaves the reader anxious to leap into the next book as soon as possible, and hopefully less than a year from now that will be possible. The book is available from Orbit in the UK and, with quite possibly one of the worst fantasy covers in history, from Tor in the USA.