- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
The world of Wheel of Time is one of queens and kings, nations and wars, and the One Power. Aes Sedai (women who can tap into the female half of the One Power, called saider) rule from the White Tower located in the city of Tar Valon. Even kings and queens are wary of Aes Sedai manipulations. Men who can channel the male half of the One Power (saiden) are feared because of the taint on saiden by the Dark One. They are hunted down by Aes Sedai and cut off from the power to prevent madness and destruction. However, the prophecies say that the seals on the Dark One's prison will weaken, letting him into the world, and a male Aes Sedai, the Dragon Reborn, will face the Dark One again.
Although Winter's Heart does add a few major plotlines, it mostly enhances the universe of the Wheel of Time. The unnatural summer has ended, bringing winter with its fresh set of problems, plus plenty of fresh activity. Elayne continues her quest for the throne of Andor. Perrin's wife, Faile, is captured by rebel Aiel. After an attempt is made on his life, Rand decides to go on the run to deal with rebel Asha'men. Later, Rand addresses the taint on saiden. Cadsuane tries to help Rand understand his humanity. Mat schemes to get out of Ebou Dar and away from Queen Tylin, receiving help from an unexpected source. A Seanchan princess -- known as Daughter of the Nine Moons -- arrives in Ebou Dar, while the Seanchan capture and consolidate more lands in the west. The Forsaken gather to plot against Rand.
Jordan has created a world of characters and places as diverse and complicated as those in real life. He weaves many stories, tales, and legends to create a colorful tapestry. However, the complex and numerous plots, plus the development of various characters, border on overwhelming at times. And remembering all the pertinent details from preceding volumes is next to impossible: what the characters have previously done, what they know, what they don't. The first few Wheel of Time books are among the finest fantasy writing ever, with tight story lines and fast-moving action. The most recent volumes in the series, including Winter's Heart, have featured less action and fewer grand plot arcs but have developed more character histories and shadings.
Reading the previous eight Wheel of Time books is essential to appreciate the many characters and plot subtleties of Winter's Heart. And although Jordan's latest effort may not be as heart-pounding as earlier books in the series, Winter's Heart adds welcome textures -- and pleasant diversions -- to the Wheel of Time series.
Don Ross is a freelance writer in northern New Jersey.
East the wind blew above the cold gray-green ocean swells, toward Tarabon, where ships already unloaded or waiting their turns to enter the harbor of Tanchico tossed at anchor for miles along the low coastline. More ships, great and small, filled the huge harbor, and barges ferrying people and cargo ashore, for there was no mooring empty at any of the city's docks. The inhabitants of Tanchico had been fearful when the city fell to its new masters, with their peculiar customs and strange creatures and E. women held on leashes who could channel, and fearful again when this fleet arrived, mind-numbing in its size, and began disgorging not only soldiers but sharp-eyed merchants, and craftsfolk with the tools of their trades, and even families with wagons full of farm implements and unknown plants. There was a new King and a new Panarch to order the laws, though, and if King and Panarch owed fealty to some far distant Empress, if Seanchan nobles occupied many of the palaces and demanded deeper obeisance than any Taraboner lord or lady, life was little changed for most people, except for the better. The Seanchan Blood had small contact with ordinary folk, and odd customs could be lived with. The anarchy that had ripped thecountry apart was just a memory, now, and hunger with it. The rebels and bandits and Dragonsworn who had plagued the land were dead or captured or driven north onto Almoth Plain, those who had not yielded, and trade moved once more. The hordes of starving refugees that had clogged the city streets were back in their villages, back on their farms. And no more of the newest arrivals remained in Tanchico than the city could support easily. Despite the snows, soldiers and merchants, craftsfolk and farmers fanned out inland in their thousands and tens of thousands, but the icy wind lashed a Tanchico at peace and, after its harsh troubles, for the most part content with its lot.
East the wind blew for leagues, gusting and fading, dividing but never dying, east and veering to the south, across forests and plains wrapped in winter, bare branched and brown-grassed, at last crossing what had once been the border between Tarabon and Amadicia. A border still, but only in name, the customs posts dismantled, the guards gone. East and south, around the southern reaches of the Mountains of Mist, swirling across high-walled Amador. Conquered Amador. The banner atop the massive Fortress of the Light snapped in the wind, the golden hawk it bore truly seeming to fly with lightning bolts clutched in its talons. Few natives left their homes except at need, and those few hurried along the frozen streets, cloaks clutched around them and eyes down. Eyes down not just to mind footing on slick paving stones but to avoid looking at the occasional Seanchan riding by on a beast like a bronze-scaled cat the size of a horse, or steel-veiled Taraboners guarding groups of onetime Children of the Light, now chained and laboring like animals to haul refuse wagons out of the city. A bare month and a half in the Seanchan fold, the people of Amadicia's capital city felt the bitter wind like a scourge, and those who did not curse their fate meditated on what sins had brought them to this.
East the wind howled over a desolated land where as many villages lay burned and farms ruined as held people. Snow blanketed charred timbers and abandoned barns alike, softening the view even as it added freezing to starvation as a way of dying. Sword and axe and spear had been there already, and remained to kill again. East, until the wind moaned a dirge over unwalled Abila. No banners flew above the town's watchtowers, for the Prophet of the Lord Dragon was there, and the Prophet needed no banner save his name. In Abila, people shivered harder at the name of the Prophet than they did for the wind. People elsewhere shivered at that name, too.
Striding out of the tall merchant's house where Masema lived, Perrin let the wind whip his fur-lined cloak as he pulled on his gloves. The midday sun gave no warmth, and the air bit deep. He kept his face smooth, but he was too angry to feel the cold. Keeping his hands from the axe at his belt was an effort. Masema-he would not call the man Prophet, not in his own head he would not!-Masema was very likely a fool, and very certainly insane. A powerful fool, more powerful than most kings, and mad with it.
Masema's guards filled the street from side to side and stretched around the corners of the next streets, bony fellows in stolen silks, beardless apprentices in torn coats, once-plump merchants in the remains of fine woolens. Their breath was white mist, and some shivered without a cloak, but every man clutched a spear, or a crossbow with the bolt in place. Still, none looked outwardly hostile. They knew he claimed acquaintance with the Prophet, and they gaped as if expecting him to leap into the air and fly. Or at least turn somersaults. He filtered out the smell of woodsmoke from the town's chimneys. The lot of them stank of old sweat and unwashed bodies, of eagerness and fear. And of a strange fever he had not recognized before, a reflection of the madness in Masema. Hostile or not, they would kill him, or...
ChristineEveryday
Posted March 21, 2009
I Also Recommend:
The review earlier that commented that they thought Robert Jordan would die before giving us the end was a very offensive review. For the record, Robert Jordan did pass away, may he rest in peace, but he made arrangements prior to that for the last story to be written. He created such an amazing fantasy world and he cared enough about the story AND the readers to see to this. His books are so colorful and full of life; other fantasy books have just two aspects to them-we're good and they're bad; let's use magic and dragons to deal with it! In the Wheel of Time series you have fantasy and also the aspects of actually living in that world. Robert Jordan will be missed and I am sad that I will not be able to look forward to any more by this amazing author.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.lorisfay
Posted July 2, 2010
This is book #9 and at first I was annoyed that there are no endings and very little happens in each book. But now I am hooked, it is pure escapism. So far there is no #10 in ebooks and I want more!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is a complex sword and scorcery novel with a panoply of characters and subplots all intricately woven together. It was, at first, a little hard to follow the action that shifted back and forth from place to place and character to character. By chapter three, however, you'll be completely sucked into the narrative and like the characters themselves, find it difficult to extricate yourself.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 20, 2011
Winter's Heart isnt the best book so far, but it is still very good. The series is ludicrously long, but definetly worth it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 19, 2011
not sure about the direction some of the characters have gone yet i still keep reading on to book 10!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 3, 2011
My grandson requested this series and he loved this edition, now he needs the next book for his enjoyment.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 27, 2011
The suspense rises throughout the entire book and culminates with a massive climax. But ends with more suspense leading up the the end of the series.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.ThePhantomGirl
Posted July 13, 2011
All of his books have amazing detail and wonderful characters! Always giving the audience what they want while giving the book an unexpected twist. I have come to love ALL he characters and the way Jordan writes. When writing from the veiw of a woman I feel it is a woman speaking and not an imitation. Beautiful story and plot I love it!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Melfunction
Posted March 22, 2011
I have enjoyed all the wheel of time series books and Robert Jordan's style of story telling. It has given me hours of enjoyment
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Wheel of time turns, along with the books. I am a very avid fantasy reader, my very pleasing indulgence. This is epic fantasy at its best. We must always be aware of each characters purpose and pursuits. I hear people say in the reviews "When does it end"....Well, why must it end. From book one I was involved in each characters life. To experience the fullness and richness of Jordans world we must have politics, religion and patience enduring the heavy descriptions of the world. No book is perfect. No author, story or world either. Whether we are reading to escape, have an adventure, fell in love with characters, the world, etc. I do not see how you can quit and not finish this incredible journey that we have traveled so far into to. I never look forward to end of a series, story or plot. I always just enjoy the now magic. Trust me my fellow readers, when this story does end then what?????
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Honestly, I cant remember wether it was book eight or nine that I had to stop reading The Wheel Of Time. What is fantasy, one might ask. The Lord Of The Rings(The Hobbit, The Silmaralion)introduced us(me)to a "fantasy" realm. Now a-days it seems most fantasy writers are following some trend in having to write Politics and such. They "shower" their stories with cities and individuals, drenched in religion and race, gender and bigotry...Some of this is fine. Truely it is. But why not just go write books on todays issues, and leave fantasy to fantasy! This is not just R. Jordan. Writers are beggining to leave off much information on the "fantasy" evil driven and selfish characters, that only their names make me think Im reading fantasy! WHAT is fantasy? For 1000s of years, we have had a few consistant characters to fascinate us, to take us away to another world. Would we want a Western w/out Cowboys? Or w/out Natives? Or w/out Doc Holliday(Tomestone)? Would we want a civil Rights Movement(in the 50' & 60')w/out M.L.King or M.X.? These reasonings can go on and on. The answers are NO! Not possible, if we want a true sense of meaning. Well, Dragons, giant ones, will never cease to fascinate me. Dragons have been at the core of our fantasy immagination for 1000s of years. I am not saying put a dragon in all books. I am saying let fantasy remain fantasy, and leave excesive politics and feelings of personal gender and so on(in excess)to todays issues in the writing. I had to stop reading The Wheel Of Time, for it bcame frustrating, having to deal with the many names, changes in plot that did not need to go there, and the seeming unending publishing of books indicating no near end in the story. The Wheel Of Time IS A MELTING POT OF STORIES COMBINED, IN ANOTHER MELTING POT, BEING WRITTEN ON SIMMER-VERY SLOWLY...I think I might have read up to book nine, maybe eight...
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 6, 2007
Good god they're great books but by the time this one came out i had to read the glossary to get a handle on the story again which did nothing to help with the character names so many so close it was freakin confusing. i got so frustrated i stopped buying them after this book. my dad stopped two books before this for same reason, and he swears jordan will die before he finishes the story and we'll never have an end to it!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 19, 2006
I thought it was not the best because there was not enough action. It was still one of my favorites. I haven't read the next one yet but the way he wrote Winter's Heart sets it up to be a good one.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 12, 2005
Robert Jordan¿s Winter¿s Heart, the ninth book in the epic heart-pounding series Wheel of Time, the Last Battle draws still closer. Rand al¿Thor is the world¿s only hope for salvation from the Dark One. His battle with sanity continues to climb as the dead Lews Therin fights for control in his mind. Although not constantly being bombarded with intricate fighting scenes, like the previous books in the series, Jordan still continues to intrigue his writers with action and drama, but now he starts to tie the loose ends that will lead to the inevitable Last Battle. Mat is plans his escape of Ebou Dar, now controlled by the battle hardened Seanchan. Perrin¿s wife is held captive in the Shaido Aeil camp. In the climax Rand decides to cleanse the taint of saidan. This climax is among the greatest climaxes ever to fill the pages of fantasy books. Robert Jordan¿s writing never lets the reader down in this amazing tale of light against dark. His intricate battles and plots suck the reader into the amazing world he has created. And the ending is bound to leave the reader breathless.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 11, 2005
alrite i liked all the books he wrote for this series but this one was i think the worst talked to much about the aes sedai problem and stuff i think if i can remember o.o really i dont care about aes sedai shorten that shet
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 7, 2005
Okay, the first books were great. I LOVED books 1-7! there were great plots, and I couldn't put the books down. Now, the plot is starting to stretch and get added on to. RJ is just taking too long with these books. He has book 11 coming out soon, and I just hope he wraps up the series with book 12, or at least stop stretching the story line! I had to put the book down for about a month or so at a time every 5 chapters or so, because the book bored me so. PLEASE just wrap up the series!!!!!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 30, 2005
The Wheel of Time series is one of the most beautiful written works I've ever read or heard. I think it was difficult to get used to Kate Reading, but after a while she wasn't noticable at all and was the voice of those characters you love. The story does advance here and one gets to see some of the most wonderful events to happen to our characters we love.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 29, 2004
This is a GREAT book like all the rest of the series. Huge plot twists, nations falling madness, all the things i liked in the lord of the rings. I love it and cant wait for the next book in the series. However, i think that that the previous reviewer is trying to change things more to his point of view. Are you sure that the wheel of time was really heading that way? It sounds more like its the way you want it to be instead of the way it IS.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 28, 2004
I started reading this series in 1998. I felt that the first 7 books were excellent, above par. By book 8 'The Path of Daggers' I could start to see him slipping. Book 9 (what I'm reviewing here) was the harbinger of doom in my opinion. At the end of book 9 I started to feel unsatisfied with the series, had previously made a point of buying every book instead of borrowing, but now am reluctant to even start reading 10, 'Crossroads of Twilight.' I sort of wonder if good old RJ has not heard the well-worn saw, 'Don't bite off more than you can chew.' You'd think he would have learned that creating more subplots only complicates things. I think his major problem now is that he's too close to his characters, believes in them too much, can't give up on them or kill anyone important because they're almost real to him. That's all well and good, but now I'd like to take the time to 'suggest' how the series should end, not that I'm completely qualified to do that. 1. Kill someone important. I don't care if it's Perrin, or Mat, or Faile or Lan or Egwene or Nynaeve. More importantly, make it an integral part of the plot. 2. Have the blight start to expand, thereby forcing Rand to act or for millions to die. 3. Have millions die anyway, the populace turn against Rand, making him kill the innocent instead of the monsters coming out of the blight. 4. Have Rand & Co. meet up at a nice place near the blight after they solve all their lovey-dubby troubles by agreeing that the fate of the world is more important than the color of a woman's dress. 5. Rand & Co. wade into the blight at the head of a combined army of Seanchan, Aes Sedai, local armies and spirit heroes from the time of Artur Hawking. 6. Despite all efforts, Rand must sacrifice his life and those of his friends to reseal the evil dark lord and his friends in his prison, including that Padan fain guy and anyone other evil dudes you've been making up since book 7. The end.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 27, 2003
I love the Wheel of Time series. I am a reader, and can easily get into a book and never put it down. With all the great books i've read this series is the best! I feel the same appreciation and love for each book in the series and am looking forward to reading #10. Personally, I hope Jordan stretches this out as long as he can! Thank you!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Overview
The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.