Just the 3 first of the serie are somehow worth the reading. Following the readers review I bought straight the 9 first books. What a mistake. the Game of Thrones or even Sword of truth series are far better than the Wheel of time serie. It is as if Robert Jordan is paid by the line like the french writers from the 19th century, Balzac, Flaubert etc...
So far I have finished 1 to 7. From the 4th (till 7th) they just are impossible to finish. Like chewing branflakes forever and being unable to swallow it.
I really regret I went further the third.

Do not make my mistake unless slow rythm and low level action is what you seek.
Robert Jordan has also the gift for beginning threads of stories with no intention of closing them, creating new characters without really caring to give them substance, depth or real influence on the plot.

My recommendation: read the 3 first ones, and then taste the 4th, if you have the patience and like it carry on. If not don't hope it'll get better and you'll get some action or anything ...stop right there.
Same with the 5th etc...
Don't buy them all at once like me.
This a real never ending story, not even close to that, and it just gets slower and slower with more and more characters...
I hate it, but may be you won't.
My bet ? you will.

This review is intended for people who have not read the series yet
and not as a discussion piece.

I was thrilled by Lord of Chaos. I have read a lot of disparaging
remarks about this book from supposed Wheel of Time fans, but this
book did not live up to their badmouthing. For one thing, the story
takes a noticeably different track than the previous books, focusing
on the developments laid in The Fires of Heaven. In other words, this
book does not follow the "pack up and leave" storylines of the
previous five books. With a few exceptions, the characters are not
journeying, but are dealing with developments as other characters come
to them. I found this quite refreshing.

I expected Lord of Chaos to be a dud because I knew that there were
several events in the storyline that had to take place, and at the end
of The Fires of Heaven, none of them seemed close to happening.
Quite the contrary, Lord of Chaos shows new windows into previously
neglected areas, including The Forsaken, men who channel, and several
other areas. The workings of Aes Sedai are further fleshed out by the
events in Salidar --- I really like reading about the ceremonies in a
way that is relevant to the characters. That is particularly
satisfying in a way that The Star Wars prequels just were not.

Further disappointment in my expectations occurs in the last third of
the book where no fewer than six major twists occur in the plot.
These were things that I totally did not expect. In other words, the
first six hundred pages are merely good and the last three hundred are
incredible. I was blown away by things starting at around page 600.
The story picked up phenomenally at that point. The conclusion is
even more earth-shattering. The story totally did not go the way I
thought and it was very entertaining.

Keep reading. The only recommendation I have is to have a copy of A
Crown of Swords on hand for when you finish. There is little
resolution after the thrilling final scene, except some setup for the
next book. A Crown of Swords even begins with a retelling of the
final scene of Lord of Chaos, which I welcomed.

I am still anxiously waiting to be disappointed by these books: so far
I haven been thrilled.

I liked the first couple of Wheel of Time books well enough to keep reading, though from the beginning I saw that all comparisons to Tolkien were wishful thinking. Book 5 was hard to finish, though, and I hoped Book 6 would be better. IT'S NOT. I love books--I read constantly--but I could hardly finish Lord of Chaos. If you like to read nearly 1000 pages about people having meetings with various other people, arguing and complaining about the exact same things in about the same words, and having more meetings to discuss it all, then believe me, this is the book for you! If you like a story, just give up on the Wheel of Time books and find something better. I kept reading Lord of Chaos just so the loose ends could be tied up: the terangreal would be found and the weather changed, Rand and Faile's misunderstanding would be fixed, it would finally come out that Morgase is alive...this is just the beginning of the plot pieces that needed tying up. But none of this happens, and the book is ended with a series of disjointed paragraphs that open new cans of worms instead. I couldn't even remember who some of the people mentioned in the ending paragraphs were. I felt I had been cheated or tricked.In other words, despite 980-plus pages, almost nothing happens! You would think that Mr. Jordan had been paid by the word instead of by the book! This is the end, as far as I'm concerned. I've wasted way too much of my life reading these books already, and i'm certainly not going to waste another second on them now.

'Lord of Chaos' is book six of a projected twelve (!) in the 'Wheel of Time' series. The series is now firmly less an adventure story and more like a political thriller (fantasy style). There are plots and schemes and machinations and conspiracies galore. In fact I would say there are too many subplots and way too many characters- especially give Jordan's penchant for naming everyone and everything (including horses!). Having said that although I think the series could use a lot of trimming, I'm still caught up in the storyline and can't wait to find out what comes next. My understanding is that next few books are a lot like this one. We'll see if the momentum from the first five books is enough to carry me through.

This is book six in a series of books by Robert Jordan called "The Wheel of Time." It is a well-written sprawling science fiction fantasy saga about a young man who is born to end up battling with the evil force in the world. He and his friends travel all over the world trying to get everyone on his side, getting ready for the big battle which will decide whether the end of the world will go to the evil one or the good people. But not everyone will believe in him. There is magic, and unseen forces, monsters, strange peoples from far away, all kinds of different unexplainable things happening that can only happen when magic is used. It's a fun read, there are many small plots and twists to follow along the way. I love the story line, and the writer is wonderful. It's very colorful, and it is easy to visualize in your head, based on his descriptions, what is going on. The characters are very real and their personalities are very distinct and some are quite unusual. I have looked forward to each book as I have gone along through the series.