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

Okay, I've read some of the reviews on here and think that it's sort of silly to review this book as a standalone item. Who starts reading a series at book 11? Only idiots, that's who. So why review it as such? You can't, and reasonably, you can't review it without looking back at previous books, plotlines, characters, and - unfortunately - pacing.To start, I read the series again over the summer in anticipation of book 11. Anyone who's not a complete Jordan apologist understands that book 9 was a juicy stinking pile of "taint" and book 10 was bad copy of book 9. The plots stagnated, uninteresting characters completely took over the book with uninteresting storylines, they seemed nearly unedited, pacing was terrible and generally anyone who paid for the books probably feels robbed to some degree. Sure, some things came out, some cool things happened, but you could have summed up book 9 and 10 in 200 pages and kept it moving along at a brisk pace. What is this fascination with tertiary characters that any other author would NEVER introduce when a series is supposed to be winding down?When reading back through the series, I've come to believe that books 1-7 actually really are an amazing feat. Even up through half of book 8 it remains interesting, fresh, decently paced and thoroughly entertaining. When Perrin and the MUCH hated Faile storyline began in earnest, I quickly lost interest with the plodding and painful tack he took Perrin. WHY even have Faile as a character? She's completely unnecessary and mainly irrelevant to everything going on around her. But I digress. The point is that during book 8, Jordon lost his narrative, his control, his pacing, and I'm pretty sure a lot of his audience.Now, with all of that, the series remains fairly original, if you ignore that a lot of the material is based on existing mythology and stories from our own past. I actually enjoy that he's incorporated many old and modern fairytales and fantasies in creative ways. Trying to figure out the nuggets he drops in (all too few!) is good geek fun.So, if you are comparing this book to 9 or 10, it has to get a 5 compared to their 1. But if you are looking at it as a continuation to the series, he's done quite well. plotlines wrap up, characters get their due, and most importantly "something happens!" Yes, unlike 9 and 10, there's almost non-stop action. Sure, a few things slow down, but I don't see how that's avoidable, given all the excess previously introduced. Some storylines begin to coallesce into single lines, pacing is maintained, the narrative (obviously edited furiously) remains tight and with almost nothing that's extraneous. No new major plotlines are introduced; in fact many start wrapping up. Same with small storylines.As compared to the rest of the series as a whole, I give it a 4 out of 5. Sure, it doesn't have some of the driving punch of the first 3 or the introduction of interesting mechanics in some of the others, but how can you expect this at the end of the series? Jordon delivers here, plots wrap up, it's obvious that much too much was made of many subplots in 8, 9 and 10 and they sort of get wrapped up summarily. You are left wishing some of that had happened earlier on, but at least it's done.There's a definite feeling of "gotta get this over with" and I have a feeling if he closes the series with only 1 more book, it's going to get worse than in book 11. ESPECIALLY if he intends to have a decent epilogue (and if he doesn't, I'll never buy another book from him - EVER). How can a 12 book series (with 3 prequels ) that has probably 100 continuing characters and literally a 1000 non-continuing, passing reference characters not give you a sense of what's going to happen to the gang after they defeat the Dark One? Don't think they will? Please. Rand's going to live (or at least die and come back), Mat's going to be the next King Arthur (oops, I mean Artur Hawkwing!), Perrin? Well, I think he might just bite the dust, but that's because I'm not imaginitive enough to figure out what he might be good for other than supplying Rand an army and involving the wolves.Anyway, if you've given up on the series, this will almost certainly bring you back. Probably even worth the purchase, but if you feel robbed from 9 and/or 10, then go to the library, borrow it, or wait for PB edition. Don't give RJ any more of your hard earned cash if you're feeling like he was just milking this. The book brought me back from the brink. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't give up a series this far into it, but 10 had me thinking that if 11 sucked, I was done. It doesn't suck. If ONLY his editors had reigned him in 3 books back. :-(So here's the good:1) Plots move along and smaller plots get pulled into their main stories finally.2) Only two semi-major lines are introduced (Seanchan/Perrin and The Whitecloaks - but not enough to kill my enthusiasm)3) Pacing is quite good. Only a few sluggish parts where RJ had to write like mad to get past the setup he's been struggling with for 3 books.4) Stuff Happens. Story arcs complete in preparation for the final push.5) Editors actually show up!6) Hardly any wasted space - although there's the standard tide of throwaway characters and their unintelligible names - but if you've come this far, you expected that right?7) Some of the coyness is gone... he point blank tells you who's who and who WAS who from books past. Those keeping their Darkfriend/Forsaken lists will be happy to see some things clarified. FINALLY! Why did this need to be so hidden? Why did their names change 5 times each? Ugh.The bad:1) Uh, Isn't Rand the MAIN character? He makes an almost cursory visit here, and both main things that happen seem like "eh - what's next" Both (fights) seem largely pointless and don't really add anything new to the story. I remember actually worrying more back when he was running from the Two Rivers.2) Min, Aviendha, Lan - several other characters you actually care about barely register a blip on the radar.3) Faile didn't get her throat slit, have her bones dissolved, or get tortured to death. Much to the entire readership's chagrin.4) Things go a little too well. But I suppose that didn't bother me as much as it might others.5) The Forsaken are pretty ineffectual here. They could at least cause some inconvenience! They offer so little overall threat or fear in the book, that I often wonder how they got to the top of their field and why the Dark One hasn't just killed them all himself!6) Let the Lord of Chaos Rule. See #5. Time to hire some henchmen who don't suck! At least at the end, there's some actual threat - but any long time reader will know that they will be thrown into the final battle and not really cause any problems with the Light side until the end. *sigh* It could have been so much more....In order for there to be only one more book (book 12), I think too much has to wrap up. Not to mention that they have to fight the final battle. It's going to make this one look positively compact if it's done well. But I expect Tarmon Gai'don to be like 10 pages instead of the section of 15 chapters it deserves. I suppose some of the prequels will fill in the historical blanks that will undoubtedly be left gaping. I actually hope there's 2 more books. I hope there's a supplement in the back of the last book that lists and explains (IN DETAIL!) all of the prophesies and predictions - Min, Egwene, Elaida, Aelfinn, etc. Tor, I hope you're trolling and pick up on this! It could probably be written into a reference book, which the series really could use.I'm probably over-enthusiastic about my rating simply because I was pushed down a well with 8, 9 and 10 and in 11 someone finally came to rescue me. But I do think that it deserves the rating if for no other reason than I found it more entertaining than most of the other books in the series. And Jordan Redeems himself. For all of those apologists who claimed 9 and 10 were masterpieces that were misunderstood, get a grip. They sucked on nearly every level and each could have been summed up in their own amazingly long prologues. Sure, a series this complex is going to have it's ups and downs. Thankfully this is a MUCH needed and LONG awaited UP to the series. If the next book or two finishes on this note, he'll have a fan for life. If not, then he already has enough of my money. And I hope he puts it to use on a stylist and a trainer. The guy looks like he could drop dead any day! I honestly hope he lives long enough to finish the series. And Editors at Tor better have the major storyline stashed in a safe somewhere ala J.K.Rowling!Don't give up... even if you give this a 3, it's back to RJ's old self and it's a 3 because he's making up for his past mistakes. So, even if that's how you feel, I think the next one will be a 5, even if it's not the final book in the series.

The novels of The Wheel of Time recall the old nursery rhyme:There was a little girl,Who had a little curl,Right in the middle of her forehead.And when she was good,She was very, very good,but when she was bad, she was horrid.The Wheel of Time comprises 14 novels by Robert Jordan, a pseudonym for James Oliver Rigney, along with the usual collection of stories and novellas that accrete around a long series. Each individual novel is a thick tome. It has been estimated that they total over 4 million words. It may be the longest conventionally published single-author work in existence (pace The Wandering Inn)It is not quite a single-author work, however. Rigney died while writing The Wheel of Time, and the last three books (numbers 12-14) were written by Brandon Sanderson based on Rigney's notes. Sanderson did a great job with them. He graciously gives full credit to Rigney and his widow.Most of the 14 novels fall in the "very, very good" category. However, there is a problem. Rigney was deathly (literally) ill as he wrote the later novels, and it shows in his writing. This is the origin of the horrid Wheel of Time novels. The main literary symptom of his illness was an inability to advance the plot. I attempted novel 9, Winter's Heart, but couldn't get through it. In tedious chapter after chapter, pages are filled with words, but nothing happens. I gave up and decided the series was dead to me.However, I like Sanderson, so when his interpretations of the last three novels were published, I read those. They are very, very good. Word had reached me that novel 11, Knife of Dreams, Jordan had regained his mojo, so I decided to tackle it.Knife of Dreams is, IMHO, the sole Wheel of Time novel not adequately described by The Little Girl with a Curl. It is neither very, very good nor horrid. It has some of the characteristics of both. There is an excellent story in there, and the characters you have learned to love and hate are there and as lovable and hate-able as ever. But it is very, very slow. At times Jordan seems unable to tell you what happens in any scene until he has given you an exhaustive description of the appearance of each character: hairstyles, figure, and clothes, clothes, clothes. (This was also one of the main strategies used in novels 9 and 10 to fill pages without allowing anything to happen.) I made it to the end and was overall more amused than bored by Knife of Dreams. But I felt relief at reaching the end -- always a bad sign.Knife of Dreams is the last Wheel of Time novel I intend to read. I have already, as I said, read the final novels written by Sanderson and I recommend them highly. I will remain satisfied with the Fandom Wiki summaries of novel 9, Winter's Heart, and novel 10, Crossroads of Twilight. For first-time readers of the series, I would recommend reading novels 1-8, reading the fandom summaries of novels 9-11, then reading the Sanderson novels 12-14.

Finally, an end to dreary prologues – this book opens with a bang! Straight into the action, and you sense the end game is near. The signs are more prominent and ominous, and it almost seems as though this might be the penultimate book at times.Sadly, it is the last one written by Robert Jordan. While I have no doubts regarding Brandon Sanderson’s abilities, I will miss Jordan’s writing style. Luckily, he left behind extensive notes, so we will get to see the true ending that he envisioned for his story.The last few books have involved sidequests for Perrin and Mat that have dragged on a bit, Perrin’s in particular. Egwene in my opinion has the best chapter in the book, as her story arc ended as a real cliff hanger in Crossroads of Twilight. Elayne also in the thick of things, annoying at times, but active. Very little Nynaeve, though she’s had enough chapters so far in the saga to be my favourite of the three.As always, decent ending to the book, and leaves you desperate for the next one in the series.

Right from the first few pages, I got the feeling that this book was something different to the previous few. While it took some time to get there, I was proven correct.This feels like the beginning of the end and it finally ties off some of the plot threads that started as far back as Crown of Swords. Mat, Perrin and Elayne all have a proper climactic ending and once this book was over, I felt that we could get down to the remainder of the plot instead of dragging out story lines over the course of four or five books.MatUnfortunately, for the most part, he doesn't have much to do except court Tuon. Until the end where he commands a decent battle for the first time since Fires of Heaven. It is in this book that Mat and Tuon's relationship hits a long expected moment in an unexpected way and makes you think whether it would have happened at all if Mat had not walked through the Ter'angreal in Tear.PerrinAgain, his story is basically tying up the plot of his rescue of Faile. Again, we get an exciting battle where allegiances are shifted in unexpected ways. At one moment I was genuinely surprised by one character's actions and saddened it ended like that. The only benefit I can say of stretching this story across four books is that when Faile and Perrin are finally reunited, you get the same elated feeling that Perrin feels. If maybe for a different reason.ElayneAs before, this is another tying up of Elayne's fight for the throne, though most of this is contained within the last couple of chapters, with a couple of interesting side plots that have a small amount of bearing on the outcome.EgweneFor the first time in this series, I can safely say Egwene's story is one of the most interesting and well written portions of the book. In perhaps the only plot point of Crossroads of Twilight, she was taken by Aes Sedai of the White Tower, and in this she tries to use it to her advantage. Reading about her sowing seeds of dissent and refusing to back down just because of a few punishments makes me feel how far the character has come. It is in her story that one of my favourite scenes to date occurs and is simply her walking into the mess hall and sitting down to eat. I'm not going to spoil why this is good though.RandAnd here is the weak point of the novel. Rand has virtually nothing to do. Oh he gets to battle Semirhage, and suffers yet another lasting injury, but he doesn't get much else. It seems that Jordan is just trying to shoe horn him in because he's the main character, and that he can't allow Rand to do anything until the others' stories are finished.All in all, a fantastic return to form, and here's hoping it gets better from here.

It's been a long wait, and whilst I'm not saying it was totally worth it, KoD does make me happy in a few ways! He has actually closed off a few story lines and things really do seem to be progressing towards the final battle. The question is still though will he live long enough to write it!! Jordan's style is heavy going with paragraphs of who is wearing what, and really pointless conversations, but when he wants to kick a story along he can. Once the drugs for the verbal diarrhoea kick in for him his ingenuity and sometimes plain nastiness for some of the characters [often well deserved!!] just rushes you along and the pages fly by - but so often you end up reading bits begging for the action to start!Bring on Tarmon Gai'don!!! (please...)

The last book in the series that Robert Jordan completed before his untimely death, this continues the story of a group of ordinary young people from the Two Rivers being thrust into totally unordinary circumstances. If you enjoy fantasy novels, don't start with this one. Start with the first book in the series - The Eye of the World - and read through. The series is much better read in the correct order. If you are really serious about understanding the story, go one better and start with the shorter prequel, New Spring, which precedes the main series by 20 years and gives a good background story to help you root yourself in the novels.

You can curtainly tell the female characters are written by a man. This book has started of better than book ten, which you need to read to understand the story.. but be warned book 10 is full of gass and not much else. However, my husband and i have been working our way through all the books, and we do like the characters, just wish the books got to the point more often. It is an intregueing world that they author has established.