On this ranking system, I would say pretty much identical except for The Great Hunt, which i have always considered more of a B or C tier book in the series, that is mainly held up by all of the great world building in the precious book. Still good though, but one of the ones i least look forward to reading.
We have more or less the same list. My top three are 1. The Shadow rising (my favorite fantasy book of all time) 2. Fires of heaven 3. Knife of dreams Also spot on with reading new spring after Fires of heaven being the best spot. Really ties the aiel and Lan stuff together. Damn, I feel a reread on the horizon.
I don't rank the books. I rank the storylines. The books are very uneven as far as I'm concerned, and they are very arbitrary as far as how they break up the story. I see it more as one long narrative, given to us in more or less linear chunks. S Tier: Egwene chapters and other White Tower storylines, Forsaken POV chapters. A Tier: Nynaeve/Elayne and Rand chapters, Black Tower chapters, Moiraine chapters and New Spring. B Tier: Everything not mentioned in other tiers. C Tier: Mat chapters. I dislike Mat, but sometimes interesting things happen in his vicinity. D Tier: Perrin chapters. I would like Perrin the person, I have no doubt, but Perrin the character is dull as dishwater.
S. the dragon reborn (I love how Matt and Perrin get to develop as Rand moves from them), the shadow rising the fires of heaven (I love how Rand and Avienda's relation comes to fruition, the breathtaking speed at which rand conquers new lands, the siege of cairhien and matt accidentally playing the hero, the conflict with rand and the maidens, also the whole circus arc for nyneave and elayne that was alot of fun) towers of midnight, a memory of light. A. Eye of the world the great hunt, crown of sword winters heart (love the part where rand comes to caemlyn in secret and gets bonded, more parts with matt (always good), great job at cleansing saidin, at this point the white tower still feels like it is doing something rather than just waiting for egwene to take over) knife of dreams B. Path of daggers, crossroad of twilight the gathering storm C. lord of chaos (aside from dumai's well and a few other scenes, this book mainly feels frustrating after all the progress in the previous books it feels we are just waiting, the way way nyneave and elayne get treated in salidar (though understandable) gives me a lot of irritation just as it does for them) D. New spring (no desire to reread this one) As an aside I have never felt the supposed slog of books 9 and 10, they are only 20 hours long in audio form, whereas lord of chaos is 40 hours, with only dumais wells to look to, that book felt like a real slog to get through instead.
I had so many moments I adored in The Gathering Storm. I could be biased because it’s the first Sanderson novel I ever read, but I thought the book did wonders for the characters of Rand and Egwene. There are moments with both of them that are among the best moments ever in the series for me so I was shocked that it not only didn’t land in S tier, but landed in B tier. That’s cool and all, but it was just surprising how different I feel on that choice.
S - The Shadow Rising, A Memory of Light A - The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, Knife of Dreams, Towers of Midnight B - The Dragon Reborn, A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, The Gathering Storm C - Winter's Heart D - Crossroads of Twilight
@@themegastudThis is my list as well. The Dragon Reborn almost went down to C for me because it just felt very telegraphed. It just felt like there was an obvious nature to what was going on... but the story built up as if th reader was in the dark.
Finished the series a couple of days ago, and the more I think about the whole journey and try and remember what happened in the earlier books the more I think I'm going to have to do a re-read at some point in the future!
It’s interesting you mention trying to remember what happens in the earlier books because it reminds me of a moment that was kinda surreal for me. The span of time between the first and last book is about 2 years. The time it took me to finish the series, at my own pace, was roughly the same as the span of time covered in the books. There was a part the last book after everyone reunites, and they were reminiscing about the start of their journey. For the characters it was about 2 years prior. For me, it was also about 2 years prior. Being able to think back on it have it be the same distance away in my mind as it is for the characters in the book was what made the moment sort of surreal for me. It made it feel more real. Reminiscing on earlier events with the characters in the book, with it being the same distance away in my mind time-wise as it is for them.
I am reading the series for the first time and just got through the “slog”. I tried my best to go into those books with my mind open and minimal external influence but after reading then, I can see why people don’t love then as much. The whole Perrin, Faile and Shaido plot actually made me throw my book against the wall once.
Please let us know what you think I just finished it yesterday and I wasn't too impressed. It was enough to get me to buy book two but if it doesn't get better I have to say I'm going to probably move on.
@@knocks101prime8 stick with it. Remember, there is a grand story arc that is happening and you can't judge the series as a whole on the performance of any one book. I know people who would put the entire series in S and A. To them it doesn't get any better. Just stick with it and you will see for yourself why it's considered arguably to be one of the greatest fantasy series of all time.
Memory of Light was for me the best. I remember reading it pretty much in 24 hours just in different positions around the house hogging the story in. I was so immersed i got all teared up at times. Oh boy, I might have to read it again.
When you were talking about a great scene in ToM, I thought you were going to say Matt's scene in the tower with the snakes and foxes. Man, that scene was one of the best for me, as was that book. 💜
Are we just gonna ignore how genius the concept of ta'veren was? It made it so much more believable as a story. I mean look at the timeline of any of the minor characters. The ta'veren experience more in ~2 years than most will in 2 centuries. Thats what stood out to me in LOTR. From the few pages ive read it seemed like a series of short stories loosely chained together in an acid trip-esque manner.
I even think it's my favourite wot book. Even though Brandon didn't do a good job at mat, but I love Rand, Egwene and of course Verin makes the book even better. I think Amol and tsr are close to be my favourite too, but the gathering storm is slightly better in my opinion.
In my opinion, a memory of light is one of, if not the most, impactful conclusion to any story I’ve ever experienced in any medium. Robert Jordan is one of the greatest writers to ever live and Brandon Sanderson is absolutely sitting at his side. I can’t wait to see how he concludes Stormlight and if Kaladin dies I’m going to be an emotional wreck lol.
I almost completely agree with the rankings except: - Fires of Heaven is firmly B tier for me (pretty much all of Elayne and Nynaeve stuff in this book can be cut out and nothing would change). - The Great Hunt is S tier for me, so many awesome moments, great world building, great character moments, the world really opened up in this book.
I’m only on book 6 so here is how I rank them(not including 6 since I haven’t finished yet) 5. Fires of heaven 4. Shadow Rising 3. Eye of the World 2. Dragon Reborn 1. Great Hunt
I finished "The Wheel of Time" last week and boy did I enjoy the journey. I read it all in one go so it was a little exhausting in the middle(around the slog), but it was worth the struggle. I really liked your character examinations, and I'd like to thank you for introducing me to this amazing world.
Late to the party here, but Crown of Swords is the single most underrated WOT book. I refuse to believe that's part of 'the slog.' I feel like I'm the only person in the world that rather likes Winter's Heart as well. Yeah, sure, the Perrin/Faile thing is infuriating at times, but so many cool and important things happen with Rand and Nynaeve obviously cleaning the taint (so much of the series builds to this moment, and it's so important it happens. Great payoff imo) and Mat meeting Tuon. When he kidnaps her is one of my favourite scenes in the series. Laugh out loud stuff at times there. My ranking: S: The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, A Crown of Swords, Towers of Midnight, A Memory of Light A: The Eye of the World, The Dragon Reborn, Lord of Chaos (although Dumai's Wells is S tier), Winter's Heart The Gathering Storm B: The Great Hunt, Knife of Dreams C: New Spring, The Path of Daggers D: E: . . Z: Crossroads of Twilight
Wow, I can't believe I've found another Crown of Swords fan! I thought ACoS and even PoD were actually really good, just natural continuations of the series and some really interesting and satisfying things happen in them. Winter's Heart wasn't that bad either, it was really only CoT that hurt to finish.
I started watching this video after finishing the third book and being halfway through the fourth - I've come back every time I've finished a book to see how you ranked it. I've now finished the wheel of time and finally the video. It was a weird ritual, but I enjoyed it.
D: Crossroads of Twilight C: Path of Daggers, Crown of Swords and Winter's Heart B: Eye of the World, Fires of Heaven, Knife of Dreams A: The Great Hunt, the Dragon Reborn, Towers of Midnight S: The Shadow Rising, Lord of Chaos, the Gathering Storm, A Memory of Light
Love your videos. I haven't read WoT yet but because of you and your community being huge wot fans i thought i would give it a try and become a part of that :)
Watching this in 2023. Been watching alot of Daniel's Wheel of Time videos en route to the Season #2 launch of the TV Show adaptation next month and I'm stunned to realize that Daniel has never actually done reviews of all 15 books in the series. The Wheel of Time is of course his all-time favorite Fantasy saga ever & he's made dozens & dozens of videos dedicated to The Wheel of Time but he's never done actual reviews of each book in the series. I really would love to see Daniel revisit each Wheel of Time book & review them one by one.
I can agree with almost all of this. Except new New Spring. I personally love that book. The insight it gives to Moraine and Lan and Siuan really makes it one of my favs. Plus re reading it after you know all of the black sisters makes it really fun.
I'm still reading the series and I appreciate your ranking. I'm struggling thru book 8. Path of Daggers so I'm glad to see you agree. A struggle. But I will keep preserving as the overall story is wonderful, exciting and I want to share that ending with everyone!
The ending of WoT was maddening, glorious, unexpected, saddening, confusing, perfect, and a relief all rolled into one tidal wave of emotion. Such a great story. R.I.P. Robert Jordan you are loved and missed by so many (and a huge thank you to Brandon Sanderson for bringing the final pages to us so respectfully).
Not sure how book 3 is not S class. Egwyain's acceptance is the first glimpse into the depth and clarity of the authors vision of the world. It took the series from a fantasy adventure into a world beyond ours. I read it in awe at the mental machinations that were churning inside of Jordan's head and his ability to weave such an intricate story without leaving us bored by the weeds. Truly impressive.
i loooooved fain's closure, it was funny as hell, from the moment he shows up i busted out laughing. it was all "bwhahahhahaha i am sooo powerfu...wtf..ow ow ow ded." It was fitting, perrin had slayer, rand had Ishamael, and mat, with his connection to shadar logath, made fain the closest thing to his nemesis. And sence mat is generally the comic relief, its fitting that his nemesis goes down in a silly way.
I actually liked Fain's ending as well. Like you said, he showed up and just started _deleting_ people. When Mat got impaled I seriously thought that was the end. I thought the reveal that he was immune was actually epic, and loved that he was the one to actually finish off Fain.
Padan Fains death headcannon for me was the Wheel setting up the possibility of another dark one to balance the pattern just in case Rand killed The Dark One.
A short summary for each book's main plotline would have been helpful here. I read most of them so long ago that the titles don't mean much to me anymore and i can't remember what happened in which book. They just all kind of blended together in my mind ....
I might be a little weird, The Gathering Storm was my favorite book. Set up the last two books fantastically, and for me, was the strongest Egwene book. Nicely wrapped up a couple of plot points and felt the fastest paced book since the beginning of the series. S - Gathering Storm, A Memory of Light, Towers of Midnight A - The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising, Knife of Dreams B - The Fires of Heaven, The Eye of the World, A Crown of Swords, Lord of Chaos C - Winter's Heart (for me the best of the slog, kinda felt like a tier of its own) D - The Path of Daggers, Crossroads of Twilight I also ranked them within their tiers
I personally love that you rated the final two books in the series so high. They were my two favourite books in the series, and they had me far more hooked than any other book in the series. I agree with your ranking for the most part. I would rank The Gathering Storm in the A tier, but besides that, pretty well the same! Awesome job!
Daniel- I would love a similar video where you rank the original book covers (I know you don’t care for them as much as the newer ones- but you could rank them and even poke fun at them- I think you could have a lot of fun with it and it would be infectious).
Michael Feeney I have & love the ones Daniel uses in this video, although all of them may not be well done. I think the hardcover ones are Ugly!! Britain sell them with just the symbol of The Wheel Of Time in different colors but the print is too small for my bad eyesight. Good request.
@@brendanmckenna7613 I think he didn't understand Matt at all. Matt jokes in the face of danger because it's his coping mechanism; if he can make himself laugh then he isn't focused on being scared. While he may constantly talk like a man who doesn't want responsibility, he's highly responsible and follows through on everything he says he will do. Before the last three books Matt's jokes are more off the cuff chances to laugh as an attempt to lighten the mood. In the last 3 books his humor is almost forced to the point the becomes the butt of the joke.
I never truly felt this sentiment. Maybe it's because I was young (around 12 years old) when I first read the series and didn't mind the sluggish parts. But while I never felt any of the books were truly bad, insomuch as many describe the middle books to be, I do have my favorites.
So my introduction to wheel of time was 20 years ago I was given a crown of swords by one of my platoon sargents ( I have a habit of picking up books mid series) didn’t know who half the characters were till midway and I was like are there more of these. Lo and behold it was number 7 and when I read eye of the world I was like holy crap that’s who they are!! Never made it to the end tho life got in the way. But rereading from 1-7 then I can get the rest
I want to start this by saying A Memory of Light was the first WoT book I bought when it was released. Everything else I bought and read in a 20 month marathon, broken up only when the new Dresden Files came out. The series had gotten me through my toughest time in university, both through the "hell year" for my major and the dissolution of most of my social life. I would become known on campus as the guy with the books, because I would take almost any chance to read them that studying couldn't be done. That said, it is my opinion that A Memory of Light is the single best WOT novel. It was gorgeously written, immensely satisfying, and gloriously entertaining. Egwene's last scene, along with others, drove me to tears with how beautiful and touching they were. After finishing it the first time, I was driven to reread it four more consecutive times. The Shadow Rising is definitely an incredible book and I agree with everything Daniel said about it. However, A Memory of Light just hit me so much more that I have to say it is the best WOT book. It is what drove me to read more of Brandon Sanderson, leading me to Mistborn.
Agree with you about Shadows Rising. Oh man I’ve probably read that book ten times. Your ranking on WoT is on the ball and my thoughts align almost exactly with the strengths and weaknesses of the middle books.
Knife of dreams had the best impression on me. Especially that cliffhanger ending with Pevera meeting Taim and says "Let the lord of Chaos rule" which he then starts laughing maniacally with all the Ashaman by his side. I got so scared for the Red Ajah members there it gave me goosebumps :(
I've read this series twice and have listened to it another 5 times. I ty to listen to it at least once a year while I drive. With that being said, I agree with your rankings. The struggle of Rand in the box is probably my favorite though. The slow build up in tension untill an explosive narrative crescendo in an epic battle... so well done..
I know this comment was two years ago but I saw on Wikipedia tonight that listening to the audio books takes over 19 days total listening time. That's pretty much 100 days of your life listening to WoT.
I'm surprised TGS is so low, for me it's the best book in the series. The parallels of Rand and Egwene were great and the Dark Rand->Evil Rand->Veins of Gold was beautifully done. Mat's character was a bit wonky but he's barely in the book so it didn't bother me. Nice to see you going gently on the Path of Daggers though. It's a quiet book done well, and the end is just miserable and depressing which gives the cleansing next book so much more catharsis.
S. Gathering Storm, memory of light A. Lord of Chaos, Shadow Rising, Towers of midnight, Knife of dreams, Great hunt B. Dragon reborn, fires of heaven, eye of the world C. Crown of swords, path of daggers, new spring D. Winters heart E. Crossroads of twilight
To be honest, never read The Wheel of Time, and don't intend on ever reading it, but I do find it fun to watch Daniel nerd out about one of his favourite things.
@@grahamtpeterson Yep how to lose weight , get the audiobooks but you make a rule you can only listen while exercising. Suddenly doing 2 hours of cardio a day looks awesome!
The final book was only missing an appropriate epilogue. We spent 14-15 books along with hundreds of characters, and we get what seemed only a few pages. I know RJ wrote the epilogue, so maybe Sanderson just wanted to respect that. I just wanted more after all the time we gave into this universe. Great list! You were very generous with book 7! Way to be boldl lol good stuff
Great rankings. I still think EOTW and TGH are above KOD. I also think Sanderson did a great job closing out the series....but no better than Jordan did at opening it and getting us hooked. I could see maybe only elevating one of those two to the S Tier..which should be TGH. Good stuff buddy!
Sanderson was awful. Jordan's biggest flaw was how he handled the later books. To say that trio Sanderson excrete compares in any way to Jordan's opening is beyond absurd. Sanderson's writing is puerile, he destroyed multiple characterizations and he lacks genuine wit or subtlety. He does not have enough real life experience or knowledge to write political scenes plausibly or military scenes engagingly. He isn't smart enough to maintain the intelligence of characters. Look at how Sarene thinks in LoC, or the discussions between White sisters in KoD or CoT, and then compare it to the grade-school level debate Egwene observes and joins with Ferane. Egwene wins in negotiations for absolutely no reason. Jordan's writing was good enough to get us to overlook that most of her successes came through loopholes in laws he invented, but with Sanderson, it is clear she is only winning by authorial fiat. The Sitters had no reason to vote for Egwene's proposal in the Hall, and the Sea Folk had no reason to sign on to her training agreement, since it gave them nothing they did not already have, and required them to surrender a number of concessions they had already obtained from the Tower. You're supposed to come away from scenes like that being impressed at Egwene's ability in getting them to agree, not wondering why they agreed at all. When Jordan had a scene like that, it happened off camera, like Egwene blackmailing Sheriam, so we can't say for sure that there is no way Sheriam would have agreed. Sanderson lacks reading comprehension as well. Aviendha's tiresome conversation with Nakomi in the Waste was just a rehash of a soliloquy she gave in tFoH, when tending to Rand after the collapse of the watchtower. Throughout Jordan's books, there is a constant refrain about leaders not going to the front lines, that commanders should stay back and command. We see it with the Aiel, where the kids make an effigy to be the chief so they can have fun playing fighters. Mat's final chapter has him quote that old general's book about generals fighting. Gareth Bryne is quoted by Elayne saying that "an army is a general's sword...a general who uses another blade has mistaken his job." The book with that quote ends with Egwene taking over the harbor chain operation and getting captured, only surviving, because Elaida is much more merciful and reasonable than she. Then Brandon Sanderson takes over and suddenly Gareth Bryne is a blademaster who owns a heron-mark sword. We get moronic lines like "Wake up the night guard and have them put on their armor"! We get Bryne leaving his army to lead a small commando raid WHILE A BATTLE IS TAKING PLACE! I already thought he was an asshole for blowing off his unofficial step-daughter just because he wasn't having sex with her mom any more, but until Sanderson started writing him, I didn't think he was incompetent and corrupt as well! Jordan, the military veteran, wrote characters who survived a battle, merely relieved to have survived, thinking of victory as a compensation prize, and absolutely NO glory experienced by those forced to fight. Nynaeve's disgusted comment that war is men behaving like animals is not out of tune with what other characters experience when forced to fight a war. Elayne & Mat win victories that are entirely due to their brains and leadership and their attitude is simply "Fine, now what's the next job we have to do?" But Sanderson, unless he was trying to turn Egwene into a villain protagonist or an egomaniacal anti-hero, missed all that, and wrote Egwene's post-battle reaction to be reveling in the destruction and death she caused and the power she weilded. Just to make sure it wasn't a mistake, he had her celebrating her kills during Tarmon Gaidon! He even had her commit atrocities, without any indication that he was aware what she was doing when she uncollared damane and then burned their now-helpless sul'dam alive. Another point made in Jordan's books was that Egwene giving speeches that openly appealed to emotion & idealism would not work in the Hall, but that's the only kind of speech Sanderson has Egwene give. Sanderon's greatest strength as a writer, from what I understand, is in creativity, which makes him the wrong pick to continue a fantasy series where all the creative work is done. He is supposed to be clever in having characters utilize established magic in inventive new ways, but the scene where Takima is making a recon gateway for Gareth Bryne is just dumb if you know how gravity works.
@@jiiaga5017 Absent any arguments, points of discussion or reasons, that doesn't mean a whole lot, especially because I absolutely reject the idea of a mutable or personal reality as firmly as I do a Flat Earth or geocentric universe.
Glad you put book 4 in S tier (not surprising really) that book is absolutely amazing. Also I love the cover with Mat holding the Ashanderi, the events surrounding him in that book were awesome
From what I've read so far which is the same 1 dragon reborn 2 great hunt 3 shadow rising 4 Eye of the world I would say 1 and 2 are interchangeable I loved them pretty much all the way through. I really liked the shadow rising loved the beginning, perrins story and the end but found it dragged a little with rand traveling with the aiel.
Daniel, I don't know if you have already read part or all of it, but I think you would love Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings (Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, Tawny Man Trilogy, Rain Wilds Chronicles, Fitz and the Fool Trilogy). It's a bit of a grower. Farseer, Tawny Man, and Fitz and the Fool center around one set of characters and places, while Liveship and Rain Wilds are in a different place with different characters, but there is absolutely some overlap and you'd miss it without reading them, not to mention they are great reads. The series is sad at times, but it does get happier later on, with one of the best endings I've seen. The magic doesn't seem all that interesting in Farseer, but it's another one of those "the knowledge is lost" bits and it gets much better later.
Just finished the series and am still processing it! Here is my ranking (which may change upon further consideration): The Gathering Storm Fires of Heaven Shadow Rising A Memory of Light Towers of Midnight The Dragon Reborn The Great Hunt The Eye of the World A Crown of Swords Lord of Chaos Knife of Dreams Winter's Heart Path of Daggers Crossroads of Twilight
I think Sanderson wrote most of The Gathering Storm. It was my understanding that Jordan wrote much more of the ending before his death so when Sanderson took over he had the most to fill in early on in the closing book (so B1 of closing trilogy) I think it's not a matter of Sanderson not in the Jordan groove as much of just seeing more of Sanderson's voice on display early because Jordan had so much completed when he died....I agree with your list btw.
I'm pretty sure Jordan planned on it being one very thick book and when Sanderson sat down to work on it he realized (unlike some fantasy ppl cough cough game of thrones) that it wouldn't do justice to the source material to have it be so fast paced. So he decided along with Jordans wife to split the last book into a trilogy, which gave him the space to set the pace better and have events flow more naturally.
Such a great video! I agree globally with your rankings, though since it's been a while since I read most of the Wheel of Time books. Based off my memories and ratings of the books at the time though, I think we'd mostly agree. I really enjoyed this video!
This is surprisingly close to my own. I'd flip 8 & 9, and then knock down 1, 7 & 13 a single step. That's it. I especially enjoy that you're also a Knife of Dreams fan and your view Sanderson hadn't quite figured out WoT in 12 (particularly his Mat scenes [Hinderstap] rubbed me wrong - but fixed by 13).
Solid video, and it was great hearing how you arrived at each decision. Maybe I'll post my rankings later, but the main issue I have is crown of swords. I think the storyline in Ebou Dar takes too long to really make progress. Once it does, you are really going to not want to put it down. But before that, once Rand returns to Cairhen, it slows to a damn crawl. Definitely B at best.
So I have one question about your rankings i noticed you didn't mention Matt's arc very much. I had a harder time following anything Perrin did. But Matt easily had some of the best moments in the wheel. I agree with your rankings I just felt like Matt's story wasn't represented at all.
The scenes I loved in ToM is the Maradon battle, Perrin making his hammer, Mat rescuing Moiraine, Noam's identity revealed......I love that book as much as books 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 11, but A Memory of Light I loved the most. I still come back to that book, I love it so much. 10 was the lowest, but still to me that book is many times better than other books. It is a masterpiece series for me that stands as a really unique fantasy title.
I will say this, I would rate all three of Brandon's books in the top 5 of the Wheel of time books. And it's amazing to see another author come in 75% of the way through and write some of the best books in the series. Well done to Brandon and Jordan's wife for choosing him.
When you mentioned where one scene can redeem every negative in the rest of the book. I finished the series as it was released... And my mind immediately went to the forging scene. So many years later it is the one i still remember vividly and fondly
The Shadow Rising is by far onee of the best books I've ever read. Not just fantasy books, but of any book I've ever read in my life. It is almost impossible to ever surpass that. Having said that, Knife of Dreams would be the second best, no question. After book ten i was becoming very disinterested and almost quit the series... and then Boom! Robert Jordan starts droppin' bombs son. Lan's march across the border lands, is epic. "My husband marches to Tarwins gap and the last battle. Does he march alone?" I cried when i first read it, and I'm covered in goose bumbs now just thinking about it. Love it. Love everything about it. This is what brought me right back in. And then Brandon wraps it all up nicely. My only complaint is Mat. He just felt of. Not terrible, but just not himself. Long story short best book series in the history of literature.
I have read through books 1-7 twice and I cannot seem to get through Path of Daggers. I'm starting again hoping maybe I can make it through this time, but I felt a little better knowing this is where the "slog" starts.
As for the lists: could you do a list of top 10 (or top 5 if ten's too much) best magic systems? WoT is number 1, that is known, but I'd like to see more of the ones you like
You could probably fill a list like that with Cosmere-magic alone... I mean; I still haven't read one where I didn't wish I could use the magic system. Forgery, AonDor, Surgebinding, Allomancy, Biochroma, and Sand mastery all sound awesome.
This was a pretty fair ranking, that I mostly agree with, though I would put The Great Hunt in S tier and Knife of Dreams in B tier, mostly because I didn't care much for the Perrin/Faille relationship and that kidnapping subplot took way to long to resolve. The Shadow Rising is definitely the best book, and it convinced me that this series was truly special and I was then dedicated to reading the whole series. I reread the first 3 books twice and kept forgetting about the series (not that they aren't bad of course), but then Shadow Rising suddenly elevated WOT to the greatest fantasy series ever for me. I then finished the whole series back to back over the next 6 months.
KrisJM1234 I wonder if Anyone likes Perrin & Faille? Or Rand & his 3 sister-wives or Mat & Tuon or Egwene & G- man ( I forgot which one she luves). I would include Nyneave & Lan But he barely causes any relationship problems I’ll leave them out of the uncomfortable couples. Robert Jordan is terrible at depicting loving marriages or sexual relationships.
I lost interest around book 8 a year ago and haven't picked up the story afterwards, instead moving on to the Mistborn series etc. I loved how the end of each book is just such a crazy rollercoaster, but some parts are just so tedious and my goodness, after 8 books the same old jokes or silly refusal of developing some characters in some aspects is such a struggle for me.
I was really enjoying this series and could not finish book 9 when I got to it, it’s nice to see that the sentiment is shared and it gets better from there, I’ll attempt it once more with that in mind
There's a reason that on some rereads I tend to skip most of the later Perrin portions as well as Elaine when she is pregnant. Those two stand out as particularly low points of the series. I will say that I agree with your list and would probably have ranked them identically.
I just started with the Wheel of Time yesterday so I left the video when you said there were spoilers ahead, but love your videos man. Keep up the work. I'll compare my list with your when I am done reading the entire series. However, good job mate. 👍
Its probably time to give these a re-read, I started the series when Path of Daggers was the latest book and finished that before Winter's Heart came out. (That would be why I have the first 8 books in paperback and the last 6 in hardcover). I don't have fond memories of any of Jordan's last 4 books, especially Winter's Heart and Crossroads. Sanderson really brought the series back for me.
Just finished last night, absolutely adore these books, mat is the absolute MVP of the series for me, but it’s not without its criticism, around book 7-8 something seemed to of happened to the pacing it ground to an absolute halt, I got half way through book 9 and said if mat doesn’t appear soon I’m done, luckily he showed up with a bad leg a few chapters later and the pace instantly picked up, I’ll be starting the series all over soon as
Daniel, Crossroads got so much hate because the fandom was very concerned the series would never be finished. One of the things on re-reads is that once I knew the series had a finale I enjoyed the extra character development we got in the whole series. In retrospect none of the books are "bad" like you said, but the Amazon review hate this book gets is only because a majority of the reviews were concerns about the series ever finishing.
One thing that surprises me is the comment about The Dragon Reborn not being enough about Rand, because the book revolved around him. By his absence he drove all the plots and the ultimate survival of every major character depended upon him. Rand doesn't reach Tear & defeat Baalzamon & Belal, and everyone dies. It's also one the most development-heavy books for his character. The difference between the guy at the end of The Great Hunt and the beginning of Shadow Rising is huge, moreso than any other book's worth of development except maybe Lord of Chaos, although that built a lot on things that had been germinating in the two prior books. Also, one contradiction about tFoH, which definitely belongs in S-tier, is that we didn't actually lose a character we love, anymore than we lost Perrin in Shadow Rising or Mat in Crown of Swords. Just because they weren't there doesn't mean they are gone from the story, and really, her faked death was the best thing that could happen to Moiraine in her fan standing. In hindsight, that "awesome" exit scene does not hold up, considering how much of it she engineered, probably for the express purpose of being able to manipulate Rand's emotions so he would trust her when she returned. Considering how much suffering on Rand's part occurred because of her engineered peril, I don't have much respect for her. She's like Varys in A Song of Ice & Fire, a monster whose excuse for atrocities is that the end result will enable good to happen. You do NOT get to make those calls. Beyond those issues, I don't understand how someone can rank KoD so high despite ranking its immediate predecessors so low. After Lord of Chaos, the books became less self-contained, and by Path of Daggers, they weren't at all, they were serial installments. Everything people praise about Knife of Dreams is merely the culmination of what was setup in Winter's Heart & Crossroads of Twilight.
I don't agree with your take on moraine. The knowledge of the rings was always fragmented, the glimpses of the future vague - we are clearly told that several times. To say moraine engineered everything to fake her death is not believable to me. What I got from the time leading up to her "death" was that she knew her time with rand was limited, and she knew that there was only ever a chance, not a surety, that she might survive. At no point have I ever interpreted that as just cold manipulation.
@@jiiaga5017 That's all true, but she made Rand come down to the docks where she knew Lanfear would be waiting, specifically so she could save him. She says that hearing about Morgase's death made the docks inevitable but Rand didn't want to go, he got voted down. Moiraine forced him into a scenario where she had control, because in any alternative where he does not go to the docks, but just heads to Caemlyn as planned, is a timeline she didn't retain or doesn't get the outcome she wants. Moiraine has never proven to me that she trusts Rand or his destiny 100%. Her reiteration of "You will do well," comes across as her trying to convince herself he'll be all right without her guidance for the next half year or so. Even as late as the book where she disappeared, she is still trying to manipulate his course of action to benefit the White Tower and sow dissent among his followers to benefit her own standing with him. As late as Egwene's news of Elaida's rise to the Amyrlin Seat, she freely admits her first loyalty is to the Tower. Yes, she tells him on a couple of occasions not to trust any other Aes Sedai, but the individual sisters are her rivals, so that's not necessarily taking his side. She will not expose the Tower's workings to Rand to a sufficient degree to enable him to identify the factions or sisters most able to abet his agenda, which is what a real loyal advisor would do. Cadsuane at least specifically promises that whatever her sympathies, which remain with the Tower, she will only act in his interests. She tries to build Rand's character, whereas Moiraine fed into his problems, and her premeditated disappearance and faked death was one of the worst contributions to his downward spiral.
I stopped reading Wheel of Time when I got to Crossroads of Twilight. It's been fifteen years and I can still remember the exact scene that I closed the book and gave up- a bunch of women arguing in a bath.
@@Gbt31 That was an excellent scene of genre deconstruction. The point is that unlike most fantasy stories, being a ruler is not a reward for winning in the big fight scenes. Elayne's story starts out on a down note. She's in unfamiliar surroundings, coping with the rigors of being on the campaign trail, and always being on display, as well as the inconveniences of pregnancy. Then she feels an apocalyptic danger, on top of which she realizes that the man she loves is directly threatened, and she can't do anything about it, in spite of her power. She arrives at home and is plunged into work, work, work the moment she is off her horse, having to manage crises and personnel problems, cope with disloyal or incompetent subordinates and all the while, keep putting on the show of the person In Charge. The only thing she wants is to relax in the bathtub for a minute, but because of the demands of her position, she can't even have privacy there. Instead, she has to listen to reports in the bath, which are themselves intended to be back-channel propaganda. She can't kick the servants out so she can relax in peace with her BFF, because she needs them to hear the propaganda so they can spread it around. And her one moment of me-time gets interrupted by an ambassador who is notoriously difficult in negotiations, so she has to jump right back to work, with her opponent having timed the discussion to catch her off-guard. The point of that incident (there was no arguing, BTW, but it's women and talking, so of course, you assume it's a catfight) was to show just how much work, how unpleasant and how NOT a reward being a queen is. Elayne's problems and discomforts in that scene had nothing to do with the fact that she had not yet won the throne (in stark contrast to the women who would take the throne in her place, who ARE obsessed with comforts and luxuries), and everything to with the fact that she was in charge, and had the ultimate responsibility for her side's success or failure, and her eventual victory would only make that worse for her. The crown is not a prize for Elayne, despite the servants and luxuries she has. It is made clear that the point of having servants is so she doesn't have to waste her brain on mundane stuff like putting on her clothes or preparing and fetching food. People bring food and messages to her, so the time spent doing that is time she can use to make decisions or address people's problems. Unlike other leaders, like Rand, she can't blow things off and appoint a deputy because prophecy, and unlike Egwene, the stakes are much higher than the political futures of 300 wealthy & powerful elites. Elayne's leadership plot is the flipside of Rand's "duty is heavier than a mountain". Rand has to suffer over a lot of big things, but Elayne has to give up almost all her time to little things that are not glamorous or exciting and can't be solved by spinning a weave or eliminated by killing a Forsaken. At the end of her storyline in that book, after all the grinding annoyances she deals with, she is happy & has a win, just because her pregnancy has been diagnosed as twins and the guy she loves survived whateverthehell seemed like it would destroy the world. It's all about taking small victories and smelling the roses when you get a chance, because life is work and problems on top of problems. Ironically, the shallow reader's go-to criticism of Elayne is that she's "just a spoiled princess" and her plot line in Crossroads of Twilight takes a sledgehammer to that contention.
@@loriannwhite8384 Probably. I didn't find it to be a slog, but there is not as much conflict or plot resolution in book 10. Jordan made an arbitrary decision to match up most of the plotlines with the ending event of book 9, which kind of slowed them down. Crossroads of Twilight is a set-up and character development book, and is the mid-stage for a lot of plots or arcs that kicked off in Winter's Heart and climaxed or were resolved in Knife of Dreams. Don't except slam-bang wish fulfilment or gratifying things like Falme, the Stone, Emond's Field, Rhuidean, Dumai's Wells, the conquest of Illian or the end of Winter's Heart. Honestly, I thought Path of Daggers was pretty much the same as Crossroads, except Mat's in Crossroads (and yes, his & Perrin's stories drag a little, because of the aforementioned plot-synching), but I thought the story stuff was still pretty good.
I read these years ago, re-started them all a few weeks ago, started with the prequel, in the middle of Eye of the World now. Doing audio books, just no time to read anymore, but easy to find moments for audio books.
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What’s your ranking?
On this ranking system, I would say pretty much identical except for The Great Hunt, which i have always considered more of a B or C tier book in the series, that is mainly held up by all of the great world building in the precious book. Still good though, but one of the ones i least look forward to reading.
We have more or less the same list. My top three are
1. The Shadow rising (my favorite fantasy book of all time)
2. Fires of heaven
3. Knife of dreams
Also spot on with reading new spring after Fires of heaven being the best spot. Really ties the aiel and Lan stuff together.
Damn, I feel a reread on the horizon.
S - TDR, TSR, FoH, AMoL
A - EotW, TGH, ToM
B - NS, LoC, CoS, PoD, TGS
C - WH
D - CoT, KoD
I don't rank the books. I rank the storylines. The books are very uneven as far as I'm concerned, and they are very arbitrary as far as how they break up the story. I see it more as one long narrative, given to us in more or less linear chunks.
S Tier: Egwene chapters and other White Tower storylines, Forsaken POV chapters.
A Tier: Nynaeve/Elayne and Rand chapters, Black Tower chapters, Moiraine chapters and New Spring.
B Tier: Everything not mentioned in other tiers.
C Tier: Mat chapters. I dislike Mat, but sometimes interesting things happen in his vicinity.
D Tier: Perrin chapters. I would like Perrin the person, I have no doubt, but Perrin the character is dull as dishwater.
S. the dragon reborn (I love how Matt and Perrin get to develop as Rand moves from them),
the shadow rising
the fires of heaven (I love how Rand and Avienda's relation comes to fruition, the breathtaking speed at which rand conquers new lands, the siege of cairhien and matt accidentally playing the hero, the conflict with rand and the maidens, also the whole circus arc for nyneave and elayne that was alot of fun)
towers of midnight,
a memory of light.
A. Eye of the world
the great hunt,
crown of sword
winters heart (love the part where rand comes to caemlyn in secret and gets bonded, more parts with matt (always good), great job at cleansing saidin, at this point the white tower still feels like it is doing something rather than just waiting for egwene to take over)
knife of dreams
B. Path of daggers,
crossroad of twilight
the gathering storm
C. lord of chaos (aside from dumai's well and a few other scenes, this book mainly feels frustrating after all the progress in the previous books it feels we are just waiting, the way way nyneave and elayne get treated in salidar (though understandable) gives me a lot of irritation just as it does for them)
D. New spring (no desire to reread this one)
As an aside I have never felt the supposed slog of books 9 and 10, they are only 20 hours long in audio form, whereas lord of chaos is 40 hours, with only dumais wells to look to, that book felt like a real slog to get through instead.
I just finished this series 20 minutes ago. Time to binge all the WoT content I've been putting off 😌
Same
A bit late, but congratulations!
me right now! what a story!
@@nomchicky7515 Congratulations, Mate
Same
I had so many moments I adored in The Gathering Storm. I could be biased because it’s the first Sanderson novel I ever read, but I thought the book did wonders for the characters of Rand and Egwene. There are moments with both of them that are among the best moments ever in the series for me so I was shocked that it not only didn’t land in S tier, but landed in B tier. That’s cool and all, but it was just surprising how different I feel on that choice.
i think this guy likes WoT #hottake
i dunno he dosent seem super passionate
S - The Shadow Rising, A Memory of Light
A - The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, Knife of Dreams, Towers of Midnight
B - The Dragon Reborn, A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, The Gathering Storm
C - Winter's Heart
D - Crossroads of Twilight
Poopanator1000 wow, my thoughts exactly
I nearly agree, except that Winter's heart is one of my favourites and I preferred The Gathering Storm than Towers of Midnights ^^
Correct
@@themegastudThis is my list as well. The Dragon Reborn almost went down to C for me because it just felt very telegraphed. It just felt like there was an obvious nature to what was going on... but the story built up as if th reader was in the dark.
This is my list too
Finished the series a couple of days ago, and the more I think about the whole journey and try and remember what happened in the earlier books the more I think I'm going to have to do a re-read at some point in the future!
It’s interesting you mention trying to remember what happens in the earlier books because it reminds me of a moment that was kinda surreal for me. The span of time between the first and last book is about 2 years. The time it took me to finish the series, at my own pace, was roughly the same as the span of time covered in the books. There was a part the last book after everyone reunites, and they were reminiscing about the start of their journey. For the characters it was about 2 years prior. For me, it was also about 2 years prior. Being able to think back on it have it be the same distance away in my mind as it is for the characters in the book was what made the moment sort of surreal for me. It made it feel more real. Reminiscing on earlier events with the characters in the book, with it being the same distance away in my mind time-wise as it is for them.
I am reading the series for the first time and just got through the “slog”. I tried my best to go into those books with my mind open and minimal external influence but after reading then, I can see why people don’t love then as much. The whole Perrin, Faile and Shaido plot actually made me throw my book against the wall once.
I just bought the Eye of the World! This is going to be an adventure! Oh and i really love your videos, man! 😄
Please let us know what you think I just finished it yesterday and I wasn't too impressed. It was enough to get me to buy book two but if it doesn't get better I have to say I'm going to probably move on.
@@knocks101prime8 It really turns into a different kind of style of book after the first couple
I just started it also, it's awesome
@@knocks101prime8 stick with it. Remember, there is a grand story arc that is happening and you can't judge the series as a whole on the performance of any one book. I know people who would put the entire series in S and A. To them it doesn't get any better. Just stick with it and you will see for yourself why it's considered arguably to be one of the greatest fantasy series of all time.
@@knocks101prime8 I would suggest at least read up to 3rd or 4th. If you don't like even then It's probably not for you.
Memory of Light was for me the best. I remember reading it pretty much in 24 hours just in different positions around the house hogging the story in. I was so immersed i got all teared up at times. Oh boy, I might have to read it again.
When you were talking about a great scene in ToM, I thought you were going to say Matt's scene in the tower with the snakes and foxes. Man, that scene was one of the best for me, as was that book. 💜
Are we just gonna ignore how genius the concept of ta'veren was? It made it so much more believable as a story. I mean look at the timeline of any of the minor characters. The ta'veren experience more in ~2 years than most will in 2 centuries.
Thats what stood out to me in LOTR. From the few pages ive read it seemed like a series of short stories loosely chained together in an acid trip-esque manner.
Can you rank Brandon Sanderson's books next?
do the Cosmere yeaaah
Most of his works would be either S or A tier in my book. Compared to other authors, at least.
@@Chalken376 No argument mate.
I think he has already done Cosmere ranking. th-cam.com/video/nEJCL-MNUhs/w-d-xo.html.
dude he just did ;)
I literally come to this every time I'm about to start the next book
Same -- just started LoC and look! Here I am.
Gathering Storm is S tier. Rand's descent into full time crazy and Egwene's tower rebellion is a narrative 1 - 2 punch. It's great
Agreed, I just finished reading gathering storm and I just had shivers
I even think it's my favourite wot book. Even though Brandon didn't do a good job at mat, but I love Rand, Egwene and of course Verin makes the book even better. I think Amol and tsr are close to be my favourite too, but the gathering storm is slightly better in my opinion.
@@hierkonnteihrewerbungstehe5587 imho the book featured so many major threads that were resolved in a more than satisfactory manner
@@BiologicalRiley yes and I think it's the darkest wot book too and I'm a big grim dark fan soo
Dark Rand is perhaps my favorite character in fantasy history
I’m so glad we agreed on the shadow rising. To me it is where the series takes off like a rocket and gets you unconditionally hooked.
Agreed , TSR is my favorite.
In my opinion, a memory of light is one of, if not the most, impactful conclusion to any story I’ve ever experienced in any medium. Robert Jordan is one of the greatest writers to ever live and Brandon Sanderson is absolutely sitting at his side. I can’t wait to see how he concludes Stormlight and if Kaladin dies I’m going to be an emotional wreck lol.
I almost completely agree with the rankings except:
- Fires of Heaven is firmly B tier for me (pretty much all of Elayne and Nynaeve stuff in this book can be cut out and nothing would change).
- The Great Hunt is S tier for me, so many awesome moments, great world building, great character moments, the world really opened up in this book.
Right with you for The Great Hunt. It is so much fun. Love that book.
Agreed. CoT is really C and Winter's Heart is a solid F.
I’m only on book 6 so here is how I rank them(not including 6 since I haven’t finished yet)
5. Fires of heaven
4. Shadow Rising
3. Eye of the World
2. Dragon Reborn
1. Great Hunt
I finished "The Wheel of Time" last week and boy did I enjoy the journey. I read it all in one go so it was a little exhausting in the middle(around the slog), but it was worth the struggle. I really liked your character examinations, and I'd like to thank you for introducing me to this amazing world.
Late to the party here, but Crown of Swords is the single most underrated WOT book. I refuse to believe that's part of 'the slog.' I feel like I'm the only person in the world that rather likes Winter's Heart as well. Yeah, sure, the Perrin/Faile thing is infuriating at times, but so many cool and important things happen with Rand and Nynaeve obviously cleaning the taint (so much of the series builds to this moment, and it's so important it happens. Great payoff imo) and Mat meeting Tuon. When he kidnaps her is one of my favourite scenes in the series. Laugh out loud stuff at times there. My ranking:
S: The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, A Crown of Swords, Towers of Midnight, A Memory of Light
A: The Eye of the World, The Dragon Reborn, Lord of Chaos (although Dumai's Wells is S tier), Winter's Heart The Gathering Storm
B: The Great Hunt, Knife of Dreams
C: New Spring, The Path of Daggers
D:
E:
.
.
Z: Crossroads of Twilight
Wow, I can't believe I've found another Crown of Swords fan! I thought ACoS and even PoD were actually really good, just natural continuations of the series and some really interesting and satisfying things happen in them. Winter's Heart wasn't that bad either, it was really only CoT that hurt to finish.
I got the first book with not knowing it was over 700 pages. Can’t wait to read it, the biggest book I’ve read
I started watching this video after finishing the third book and being halfway through the fourth - I've come back every time I've finished a book to see how you ranked it. I've now finished the wheel of time and finally the video. It was a weird ritual, but I enjoyed it.
Every time I finish a book I come back and watch another minute or so of this. One day I’ll finish the video. One day…
D: Crossroads of Twilight
C: Path of Daggers, Crown of Swords and Winter's Heart
B: Eye of the World, Fires of Heaven, Knife of Dreams
A: The Great Hunt, the Dragon Reborn, Towers of Midnight
S: The Shadow Rising, Lord of Chaos, the Gathering Storm, A Memory of Light
Book 1-A. 2/3/4-S. 5-A. 6-B. 7-C. 8/9-D. 10-C. 11/12-B. 13/14-A.
Love your videos. I haven't read WoT yet but because of you and your community being huge wot fans i thought i would give it a try and become a part of that :)
How'd it go? Did you finish the series and did you like them?
Watching this in 2023.
Been watching alot of Daniel's Wheel of Time videos en route to the Season #2 launch of the TV Show adaptation next month and I'm stunned to realize that Daniel has never actually done reviews of all 15 books in the series. The Wheel of Time is of course his all-time favorite Fantasy saga ever & he's made dozens & dozens of videos dedicated to The Wheel of Time but he's never done actual reviews of each book in the series. I really would love to see Daniel revisit each Wheel of Time book & review them one by one.
Do one for witcher! P.s. We are still waiting for Lady of the Lake! Much luv Greenish Daniel
I can agree with almost all of this. Except new New Spring. I personally love that book. The insight it gives to Moraine and Lan and Siuan really makes it one of my favs. Plus re reading it after you know all of the black sisters makes it really fun.
yessss i was looking for this comment. i would put it in s or at least top of the a tier
I'm still reading the series and I appreciate your ranking. I'm struggling thru book 8. Path of Daggers so I'm glad to see you agree. A struggle. But I will keep preserving as the overall story is wonderful, exciting and I want to share that ending with everyone!
Robert Jordan: Commits Murder
Daniel Greene: Brilliant, Utterly Brilliant
The ending of WoT was maddening, glorious, unexpected, saddening, confusing, perfect, and a relief all rolled into one tidal wave of emotion. Such a great story. R.I.P. Robert Jordan you are loved and missed by so many (and a huge thank you to Brandon Sanderson for bringing the final pages to us so respectfully).
Not sure how book 3 is not S class. Egwyain's acceptance is the first glimpse into the depth and clarity of the authors vision of the world. It took the series from a fantasy adventure into a world beyond ours. I read it in awe at the mental machinations that were churning inside of Jordan's head and his ability to weave such an intricate story without leaving us bored by the weeds. Truly impressive.
Egwene’s acceptance?
i loooooved fain's closure, it was funny as hell, from the moment he shows up i busted out laughing. it was all "bwhahahhahaha i am sooo powerfu...wtf..ow ow ow ded."
It was fitting, perrin had slayer, rand had Ishamael, and mat, with his connection to shadar logath, made fain the closest thing to his nemesis. And sence mat is generally the comic relief, its fitting that his nemesis goes down in a silly way.
Fain and the gholam I feel were Mats main archenemies, the way he took out both was awesome
I actually liked Fain's ending as well. Like you said, he showed up and just started _deleting_ people. When Mat got impaled I seriously thought that was the end. I thought the reveal that he was immune was actually epic, and loved that he was the one to actually finish off Fain.
Padan Fains death headcannon for me was the Wheel setting up the possibility of another dark one to balance the pattern just in case Rand killed The Dark One.
Late but completely agree
I have liked again, Daniel Greene.
A short summary for each book's main plotline would have been helpful here. I read most of them so long ago that the titles don't mean much to me anymore and i can't remember what happened in which book. They just all kind of blended together in my mind ....
I might be a little weird, The Gathering Storm was my favorite book. Set up the last two books fantastically, and for me, was the strongest Egwene book. Nicely wrapped up a couple of plot points and felt the fastest paced book since the beginning of the series.
S - Gathering Storm, A Memory of Light, Towers of Midnight
A - The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising, Knife of Dreams
B - The Fires of Heaven, The Eye of the World, A Crown of Swords, Lord of Chaos
C - Winter's Heart (for me the best of the slog, kinda felt like a tier of its own)
D - The Path of Daggers, Crossroads of Twilight
I also ranked them within their tiers
The Shadow Rising has always been my favorite. Interesting that so many people seem to agree.
I personally love that you rated the final two books in the series so high. They were my two favourite books in the series, and they had me far more hooked than any other book in the series. I agree with your ranking for the most part. I would rank The Gathering Storm in the A tier, but besides that, pretty well the same! Awesome job!
Daniel- I would love a similar video where you rank the original book covers (I know you don’t care for them as much as the newer ones- but you could rank them and even poke fun at them- I think you could have a lot of fun with it and it would be infectious).
I can just imagine you dissecting how Nicholas Cage would do in the WOT world.
Michael Feeney I have & love the ones Daniel uses in this video, although all of them may not be well done. I think the hardcover ones are Ugly!! Britain sell them with just the symbol of The Wheel Of Time in different colors but the print is too small for my bad eyesight. Good request.
Really excited watching until "There will be spoilers in this video from here on..." I´m OUT!!!
Rodrigo Santos same. I was super excited because I just finished book 3 like 15 minutes ago. When he said spoilers I noted out.
Mute the video and got to the end if you want the ranks
its impossible to rank them, they are all my favourite.
...but if i have any favourite at all its evrything Mat after fires of heaven.
Couldn't agree more!
even COT?
hellz ya, mat is both awesome and funny as hell especally after being that queen's plaything and his new affinity for lace.
Joakim Nybäck Mat is such a fantastic character. He outshines Rand after the sixth book...
The most noticeable Brandon writing aside from the scene on Dragonmount is how he handled Matt in general. It just felt like a different person to me.
I've heard that he said mat was the hardest character to write in Jordans style.
I personally enjoyed the change.
Sanderson's word choice can also be jarring. Modern slang feels out of place in medieval fantasy.
@@brendanmckenna7613 I think he didn't understand Matt at all. Matt jokes in the face of danger because it's his coping mechanism; if he can make himself laugh then he isn't focused on being scared. While he may constantly talk like a man who doesn't want responsibility, he's highly responsible and follows through on everything he says he will do. Before the last three books Matt's jokes are more off the cuff chances to laugh as an attempt to lighten the mood. In the last 3 books his humor is almost forced to the point the becomes the butt of the joke.
Books 8, 9 & 10 remind me of watching bad filler episodes in my favorite anime. Ugh.
Winter Heart Did Had The Cleasing Of Saidin So That Not Really Filler For Me, But Crossroads Of Twilight Is Like Playing A RPG With Only Fetch Quests.
I never truly felt this sentiment. Maybe it's because I was young (around 12 years old) when I first read the series and didn't mind the sluggish parts.
But while I never felt any of the books were truly bad, insomuch as many describe the middle books to be, I do have my favorites.
So my introduction to wheel of time was 20 years ago I was given a crown of swords by one of my platoon sargents ( I have a habit of picking up books mid series) didn’t know who half the characters were till midway and I was like are there more of these. Lo and behold it was number 7 and when I read eye of the world I was like holy crap that’s who they are!! Never made it to the end tho life got in the way. But rereading from 1-7 then I can get the rest
I'm almost through crossroads of twilight, and I am SO glad to hear it's getting better soon!
I want to start this by saying A Memory of Light was the first WoT book I bought when it was released. Everything else I bought and read in a 20 month marathon, broken up only when the new Dresden Files came out. The series had gotten me through my toughest time in university, both through the "hell year" for my major and the dissolution of most of my social life. I would become known on campus as the guy with the books, because I would take almost any chance to read them that studying couldn't be done.
That said, it is my opinion that A Memory of Light is the single best WOT novel. It was gorgeously written, immensely satisfying, and gloriously entertaining. Egwene's last scene, along with others, drove me to tears with how beautiful and touching they were. After finishing it the first time, I was driven to reread it four more consecutive times.
The Shadow Rising is definitely an incredible book and I agree with everything Daniel said about it. However, A Memory of Light just hit me so much more that I have to say it is the best WOT book. It is what drove me to read more of Brandon Sanderson, leading me to Mistborn.
How Elayne and Morgase treated Perrin regarding the Two Rivers was a low moment for me.
Politics and real world power, very realistic honestly.
Agree with you about Shadows Rising. Oh man I’ve probably read that book ten times. Your ranking on WoT is on the ball and my thoughts align almost exactly with the strengths and weaknesses of the middle books.
Me who knows absolutely nothing about wheel of time: *interesting*
I 100% agree with Shadow Risings rank. That is the book that got me hooked! I would place it higher than S tier if a higher rank existed
Knife of dreams had the best impression on me. Especially that cliffhanger ending with Pevera meeting Taim and says "Let the lord of Chaos rule" which he then starts laughing maniacally with all the Ashaman by his side. I got so scared for the Red Ajah members there it gave me goosebumps :(
Couldnt have done this any better, I like how you are such a fan and still being honest about the whole series, your list is my list tbh :P
I've read this series twice and have listened to it another 5 times. I ty to listen to it at least once a year while I drive. With that being said, I agree with your rankings. The struggle of Rand in the box is probably my favorite though. The slow build up in tension untill an explosive narrative crescendo in an epic battle... so well done..
I know this comment was two years ago but I saw on Wikipedia tonight that listening to the audio books takes over 19 days total listening time.
That's pretty much 100 days of your life listening to WoT.
I'm surprised TGS is so low, for me it's the best book in the series. The parallels of Rand and Egwene were great and the Dark Rand->Evil Rand->Veins of Gold was beautifully done. Mat's character was a bit wonky but he's barely in the book so it didn't bother me. Nice to see you going gently on the Path of Daggers though. It's a quiet book done well, and the end is just miserable and depressing which gives the cleansing next book so much more catharsis.
S. Gathering Storm, memory of light
A. Lord of Chaos, Shadow Rising, Towers of midnight, Knife of dreams, Great hunt
B. Dragon reborn, fires of heaven, eye of the world
C. Crown of swords, path of daggers, new spring
D. Winters heart
E. Crossroads of twilight
To be honest, never read The Wheel of Time, and don't intend on ever reading it, but I do find it fun to watch Daniel nerd out about one of his favourite things.
the audiobooks have spectacular narration, if that helps.
@@grahamtpeterson Yep how to lose weight , get the audiobooks but you make a rule you can only listen while exercising. Suddenly doing 2 hours of cardio a day looks awesome!
The final book was only missing an appropriate epilogue. We spent 14-15 books along with hundreds of characters, and we get what seemed only a few pages. I know RJ wrote the epilogue, so maybe Sanderson just wanted to respect that.
I just wanted more after all the time we gave into this universe.
Great list! You were very generous with book 7! Way to be boldl lol good stuff
A ranking of all the Brandon Sanderson books you’ve read and the same thing for Steven King would be really cool!
Fuck yeees
Fantastic, I’ve just started Shadow Rising so I’m looking forward to book 4 even more now!
Great rankings. I still think EOTW and TGH are above KOD. I also think Sanderson did a great job closing out the series....but no better than Jordan did at opening it and getting us hooked. I could see maybe only elevating one of those two to the S Tier..which should be TGH. Good stuff buddy!
Sanderson was awful. Jordan's biggest flaw was how he handled the later books. To say that trio Sanderson excrete compares in any way to Jordan's opening is beyond absurd. Sanderson's writing is puerile, he destroyed multiple characterizations and he lacks genuine wit or subtlety. He does not have enough real life experience or knowledge to write political scenes plausibly or military scenes engagingly. He isn't smart enough to maintain the intelligence of characters. Look at how Sarene thinks in LoC, or the discussions between White sisters in KoD or CoT, and then compare it to the grade-school level debate Egwene observes and joins with Ferane. Egwene wins in negotiations for absolutely no reason.
Jordan's writing was good enough to get us to overlook that most of her successes came through loopholes in laws he invented, but with Sanderson, it is clear she is only winning by authorial fiat. The Sitters had no reason to vote for Egwene's proposal in the Hall, and the Sea Folk had no reason to sign on to her training agreement, since it gave them nothing they did not already have, and required them to surrender a number of concessions they had already obtained from the Tower. You're supposed to come away from scenes like that being impressed at Egwene's ability in getting them to agree, not wondering why they agreed at all. When Jordan had a scene like that, it happened off camera, like Egwene blackmailing Sheriam, so we can't say for sure that there is no way Sheriam would have agreed.
Sanderson lacks reading comprehension as well. Aviendha's tiresome conversation with Nakomi in the Waste was just a rehash of a soliloquy she gave in tFoH, when tending to Rand after the collapse of the watchtower.
Throughout Jordan's books, there is a constant refrain about leaders not going to the front lines, that commanders should stay back and command. We see it with the Aiel, where the kids make an effigy to be the chief so they can have fun playing fighters. Mat's final chapter has him quote that old general's book about generals fighting. Gareth Bryne is quoted by Elayne saying that "an army is a general's sword...a general who uses another blade has mistaken his job." The book with that quote ends with Egwene taking over the harbor chain operation and getting captured, only surviving, because Elaida is much more merciful and reasonable than she. Then Brandon Sanderson takes over and suddenly Gareth Bryne is a blademaster who owns a heron-mark sword. We get moronic lines like "Wake up the night guard and have them put on their armor"! We get Bryne leaving his army to lead a small commando raid WHILE A BATTLE IS TAKING PLACE! I already thought he was an asshole for blowing off his unofficial step-daughter just because he wasn't having sex with her mom any more, but until Sanderson started writing him, I didn't think he was incompetent and corrupt as well!
Jordan, the military veteran, wrote characters who survived a battle, merely relieved to have survived, thinking of victory as a compensation prize, and absolutely NO glory experienced by those forced to fight. Nynaeve's disgusted comment that war is men behaving like animals is not out of tune with what other characters experience when forced to fight a war. Elayne & Mat win victories that are entirely due to their brains and leadership and their attitude is simply "Fine, now what's the next job we have to do?" But Sanderson, unless he was trying to turn Egwene into a villain protagonist or an egomaniacal anti-hero, missed all that, and wrote Egwene's post-battle reaction to be reveling in the destruction and death she caused and the power she weilded. Just to make sure it wasn't a mistake, he had her celebrating her kills during Tarmon Gaidon! He even had her commit atrocities, without any indication that he was aware what she was doing when she uncollared damane and then burned their now-helpless sul'dam alive.
Another point made in Jordan's books was that Egwene giving speeches that openly appealed to emotion & idealism would not work in the Hall, but that's the only kind of speech Sanderson has Egwene give.
Sanderon's greatest strength as a writer, from what I understand, is in creativity, which makes him the wrong pick to continue a fantasy series where all the creative work is done. He is supposed to be clever in having characters utilize established magic in inventive new ways, but the scene where Takima is making a recon gateway for Gareth Bryne is just dumb if you know how gravity works.
@@Gunleaver cool!?!
@@Gbt31 Never!
@@Gunleaver I reject your reality, and replace it with my own.
@@jiiaga5017 Absent any arguments, points of discussion or reasons, that doesn't mean a whole lot, especially because I absolutely reject the idea of a mutable or personal reality as firmly as I do a Flat Earth or geocentric universe.
Glad you put book 4 in S tier (not surprising really) that book is absolutely amazing. Also I love the cover with Mat holding the Ashanderi, the events surrounding him in that book were awesome
1The shadow rising
2 The dragon reborn
3 the great hunt
4 the eye of the world
That’s as far as Ive gotten yet
ChiefHandgrenade 11 So you’re saying with every book they get better?
Lol you got a lot of Reading to do
From what I've read so far which is the same
1 dragon reborn
2 great hunt
3 shadow rising
4 Eye of the world
I would say 1 and 2 are interchangeable I loved them pretty much all the way through. I really liked the shadow rising loved the beginning, perrins story and the end but found it dragged a little with rand traveling with the aiel.
For me so far
1. The Shadow Rising
2. The Dragon Reborn
3. The Eye of the World
4. The Great Hunt.
Lots more to go!
@Disoriented Kiwi At least until now
Daniel, I don't know if you have already read part or all of it, but I think you would love Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings (Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, Tawny Man Trilogy, Rain Wilds Chronicles, Fitz and the Fool Trilogy).
It's a bit of a grower. Farseer, Tawny Man, and Fitz and the Fool center around one set of characters and places, while Liveship and Rain Wilds are in a different place with different characters, but there is absolutely some overlap and you'd miss it without reading them, not to mention they are great reads.
The series is sad at times, but it does get happier later on, with one of the best endings I've seen.
The magic doesn't seem all that interesting in Farseer, but it's another one of those "the knowledge is lost" bits and it gets much better later.
YES HE DID IT, THANK YOU DANIEL
Just finished the series and am still processing it! Here is my ranking (which may change upon further consideration):
The Gathering Storm
Fires of Heaven
Shadow Rising
A Memory of Light
Towers of Midnight
The Dragon Reborn
The Great Hunt
The Eye of the World
A Crown of Swords
Lord of Chaos
Knife of Dreams
Winter's Heart
Path of Daggers
Crossroads of Twilight
I think Sanderson wrote most of The Gathering Storm. It was my understanding that Jordan wrote much more of the ending before his death so when Sanderson took over he had the most to fill in early on in the closing book (so B1 of closing trilogy) I think it's not a matter of Sanderson not in the Jordan groove as much of just seeing more of Sanderson's voice on display early because Jordan had so much completed when he died....I agree with your list btw.
I'm pretty sure Jordan planned on it being one very thick book and when Sanderson sat down to work on it he realized (unlike some fantasy ppl cough cough game of thrones) that it wouldn't do justice to the source material to have it be so fast paced. So he decided along with Jordans wife to split the last book into a trilogy, which gave him the space to set the pace better and have events flow more naturally.
Such a great video! I agree globally with your rankings, though since it's been a while since I read most of the Wheel of Time books. Based off my memories and ratings of the books at the time though, I think we'd mostly agree. I really enjoyed this video!
The Dragon Reborn was the first book that I found absolutely gripping
This is surprisingly close to my own. I'd flip 8 & 9, and then knock down 1, 7 & 13 a single step. That's it. I especially enjoy that you're also a Knife of Dreams fan and your view Sanderson hadn't quite figured out WoT in 12 (particularly his Mat scenes [Hinderstap] rubbed me wrong - but fixed by 13).
I am about 1/3 into eye of the world and just bought part 2 3 today. I got bot for €10 in my local bookshop. I’m happy out.
Solid video, and it was great hearing how you arrived at each decision. Maybe I'll post my rankings later, but the main issue I have is crown of swords. I think the storyline in Ebou Dar takes too long to really make progress. Once it does, you are really going to not want to put it down. But before that, once Rand returns to Cairhen, it slows to a damn crawl. Definitely B at best.
So I have one question about your rankings i noticed you didn't mention Matt's arc very much. I had a harder time following anything Perrin did. But Matt easily had some of the best moments in the wheel. I agree with your rankings I just felt like Matt's story wasn't represented at all.
Matt’s is pretty much s tier book 4 and onwards. Not much to say there.
The scenes I loved in ToM is the Maradon battle, Perrin making his hammer, Mat rescuing Moiraine, Noam's identity revealed......I love that book as much as books 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 11, but A Memory of Light I loved the most. I still come back to that book, I love it so much. 10 was the lowest, but still to me that book is many times better than other books. It is a masterpiece series for me that stands as a really unique fantasy title.
I agree completely with what you said about Memory of Light. The fact that it managed a satisfying ending to WoT is such an epic literary feat.
I will say this, I would rate all three of Brandon's books in the top 5 of the Wheel of time books. And it's amazing to see another author come in 75% of the way through and write some of the best books in the series. Well done to Brandon and Jordan's wife for choosing him.
When you mentioned where one scene can redeem every negative in the rest of the book. I finished the series as it was released... And my mind immediately went to the forging scene. So many years later it is the one i still remember vividly and fondly
The Shadow Rising is by far onee of the best books I've ever read. Not just fantasy books, but of any book I've ever read in my life. It is almost impossible to ever surpass that. Having said that, Knife of Dreams would be the second best, no question. After book ten i was becoming very disinterested and almost quit the series... and then Boom! Robert Jordan starts droppin' bombs son. Lan's march across the border lands, is epic. "My husband marches to Tarwins gap and the last battle. Does he march alone?" I cried when i first read it, and I'm covered in goose bumbs now just thinking about it. Love it. Love everything about it. This is what brought me right back in. And then Brandon wraps it all up nicely. My only complaint is Mat. He just felt of. Not terrible, but just not himself. Long story short best book series in the history of literature.
Winter’s heart at tier C? *pulls braid*
*YANKS*
I have read through books 1-7 twice and I cannot seem to get through Path of Daggers. I'm starting again hoping maybe I can make it through this time, but I felt a little better knowing this is where the "slog" starts.
As for the lists: could you do a list of top 10 (or top 5 if ten's too much) best magic systems?
WoT is number 1, that is known, but I'd like to see more of the ones you like
You could probably fill a list like that with Cosmere-magic alone... I mean; I still haven't read one where I didn't wish I could use the magic system. Forgery, AonDor, Surgebinding, Allomancy, Biochroma, and Sand mastery all sound awesome.
This was a pretty fair ranking, that I mostly agree with, though I would put The Great Hunt in S tier and Knife of Dreams in B tier, mostly because I didn't care much for the Perrin/Faille relationship and that kidnapping subplot took way to long to resolve. The Shadow Rising is definitely the best book, and it convinced me that this series was truly special and I was then dedicated to reading the whole series. I reread the first 3 books twice and kept forgetting about the series (not that they aren't bad of course), but then Shadow Rising suddenly elevated WOT to the greatest fantasy series ever for me. I then finished the whole series back to back over the next 6 months.
KrisJM1234 I wonder if Anyone likes Perrin & Faille? Or Rand & his 3 sister-wives or Mat & Tuon or Egwene & G- man ( I forgot which one she luves). I would include Nyneave & Lan But he barely causes any relationship problems I’ll leave them out of the uncomfortable couples. Robert Jordan is terrible at depicting loving marriages or sexual relationships.
I lost interest around book 8 a year ago and haven't picked up the story afterwards, instead moving on to the Mistborn series etc.
I loved how the end of each book is just such a crazy rollercoaster, but some parts are just so tedious and my goodness, after 8 books the same old jokes or silly refusal of developing some characters in some aspects is such a struggle for me.
I was really enjoying this series and could not finish book 9 when I got to it, it’s nice to see that the sentiment is shared and it gets better from there, I’ll attempt it once more with that in mind
There's a reason that on some rereads I tend to skip most of the later Perrin portions as well as Elaine when she is pregnant. Those two stand out as particularly low points of the series. I will say that I agree with your list and would probably have ranked them identically.
I just started with the Wheel of Time yesterday so I left the video when you said there were spoilers ahead, but love your videos man. Keep up the work. I'll compare my list with your when I am done reading the entire series. However, good job mate. 👍
Its probably time to give these a re-read, I started the series when Path of Daggers was the latest book and finished that before Winter's Heart came out. (That would be why I have the first 8 books in paperback and the last 6 in hardcover). I don't have fond memories of any of Jordan's last 4 books, especially Winter's Heart and Crossroads. Sanderson really brought the series back for me.
Just finished last night, absolutely adore these books, mat is the absolute MVP of the series for me, but it’s not without its criticism, around book 7-8 something seemed to of happened to the pacing it ground to an absolute halt, I got half way through book 9 and said if mat doesn’t appear soon I’m done, luckily he showed up with a bad leg a few chapters later and the pace instantly picked up, I’ll be starting the series all over soon as
Daniel, Crossroads got so much hate because the fandom was very concerned the series would never be finished. One of the things on re-reads is that once I knew the series had a finale I enjoyed the extra character development we got in the whole series. In retrospect none of the books are "bad" like you said, but the Amazon review hate this book gets is only because a majority of the reviews were concerns about the series ever finishing.
Kudos to you for finding redeeming qualities in the slog books. I would have put all 3 of them in D they were so hard to get through.
The Shadow Rising is my all time favorite fantasy novel.
I think the more important question to go over especially for the Uninitiated is what order does New Spring falls in the series
Oh! Behold the great Wheel of Time content once again............. .
One thing that surprises me is the comment about The Dragon Reborn not being enough about Rand, because the book revolved around him. By his absence he drove all the plots and the ultimate survival of every major character depended upon him. Rand doesn't reach Tear & defeat Baalzamon & Belal, and everyone dies. It's also one the most development-heavy books for his character. The difference between the guy at the end of The Great Hunt and the beginning of Shadow Rising is huge, moreso than any other book's worth of development except maybe Lord of Chaos, although that built a lot on things that had been germinating in the two prior books.
Also, one contradiction about tFoH, which definitely belongs in S-tier, is that we didn't actually lose a character we love, anymore than we lost Perrin in Shadow Rising or Mat in Crown of Swords. Just because they weren't there doesn't mean they are gone from the story, and really, her faked death was the best thing that could happen to Moiraine in her fan standing. In hindsight, that "awesome" exit scene does not hold up, considering how much of it she engineered, probably for the express purpose of being able to manipulate Rand's emotions so he would trust her when she returned. Considering how much suffering on Rand's part occurred because of her engineered peril, I don't have much respect for her. She's like Varys in A Song of Ice & Fire, a monster whose excuse for atrocities is that the end result will enable good to happen. You do NOT get to make those calls.
Beyond those issues, I don't understand how someone can rank KoD so high despite ranking its immediate predecessors so low. After Lord of Chaos, the books became less self-contained, and by Path of Daggers, they weren't at all, they were serial installments. Everything people praise about Knife of Dreams is merely the culmination of what was setup in Winter's Heart & Crossroads of Twilight.
I don't agree with your take on moraine. The knowledge of the rings was always fragmented, the glimpses of the future vague - we are clearly told that several times. To say moraine engineered everything to fake her death is not believable to me. What I got from the time leading up to her "death" was that she knew her time with rand was limited, and she knew that there was only ever a chance, not a surety, that she might survive. At no point have I ever interpreted that as just cold manipulation.
@@jiiaga5017 That's all true, but she made Rand come down to the docks where she knew Lanfear would be waiting, specifically so she could save him. She says that hearing about Morgase's death made the docks inevitable but Rand didn't want to go, he got voted down. Moiraine forced him into a scenario where she had control, because in any alternative where he does not go to the docks, but just heads to Caemlyn as planned, is a timeline she didn't retain or doesn't get the outcome she wants.
Moiraine has never proven to me that she trusts Rand or his destiny 100%. Her reiteration of "You will do well," comes across as her trying to convince herself he'll be all right without her guidance for the next half year or so. Even as late as the book where she disappeared, she is still trying to manipulate his course of action to benefit the White Tower and sow dissent among his followers to benefit her own standing with him.
As late as Egwene's news of Elaida's rise to the Amyrlin Seat, she freely admits her first loyalty is to the Tower. Yes, she tells him on a couple of occasions not to trust any other Aes Sedai, but the individual sisters are her rivals, so that's not necessarily taking his side. She will not expose the Tower's workings to Rand to a sufficient degree to enable him to identify the factions or sisters most able to abet his agenda, which is what a real loyal advisor would do.
Cadsuane at least specifically promises that whatever her sympathies, which remain with the Tower, she will only act in his interests. She tries to build Rand's character, whereas Moiraine fed into his problems, and her premeditated disappearance and faked death was one of the worst contributions to his downward spiral.
Make a s+ teir and put memory of light there and I'll agree with you :D
That B > C > D > S ranking sequence is for sure shared by a LOT of us.
The Great Hunt was especially thrilling to me. It was such a huge increase in scope compared to the first book.
I stopped reading Wheel of Time when I got to Crossroads of Twilight. It's been fifteen years and I can still remember the exact scene that I closed the book and gave up- a bunch of women arguing in a bath.
Pretty sure it was Elayne and Aviendha….yeah that was a bad scene.
@@Gbt31 That was an excellent scene of genre deconstruction. The point is that unlike most fantasy stories, being a ruler is not a reward for winning in the big fight scenes. Elayne's story starts out on a down note. She's in unfamiliar surroundings, coping with the rigors of being on the campaign trail, and always being on display, as well as the inconveniences of pregnancy. Then she feels an apocalyptic danger, on top of which she realizes that the man she loves is directly threatened, and she can't do anything about it, in spite of her power. She arrives at home and is plunged into work, work, work the moment she is off her horse, having to manage crises and personnel problems, cope with disloyal or incompetent subordinates and all the while, keep putting on the show of the person In Charge. The only thing she wants is to relax in the bathtub for a minute, but because of the demands of her position, she can't even have privacy there. Instead, she has to listen to reports in the bath, which are themselves intended to be back-channel propaganda. She can't kick the servants out so she can relax in peace with her BFF, because she needs them to hear the propaganda so they can spread it around. And her one moment of me-time gets interrupted by an ambassador who is notoriously difficult in negotiations, so she has to jump right back to work, with her opponent having timed the discussion to catch her off-guard.
The point of that incident (there was no arguing, BTW, but it's women and talking, so of course, you assume it's a catfight) was to show just how much work, how unpleasant and how NOT a reward being a queen is. Elayne's problems and discomforts in that scene had nothing to do with the fact that she had not yet won the throne (in stark contrast to the women who would take the throne in her place, who ARE obsessed with comforts and luxuries), and everything to with the fact that she was in charge, and had the ultimate responsibility for her side's success or failure, and her eventual victory would only make that worse for her. The crown is not a prize for Elayne, despite the servants and luxuries she has. It is made clear that the point of having servants is so she doesn't have to waste her brain on mundane stuff like putting on her clothes or preparing and fetching food. People bring food and messages to her, so the time spent doing that is time she can use to make decisions or address people's problems. Unlike other leaders, like Rand, she can't blow things off and appoint a deputy because prophecy, and unlike Egwene, the stakes are much higher than the political futures of 300 wealthy & powerful elites.
Elayne's leadership plot is the flipside of Rand's "duty is heavier than a mountain". Rand has to suffer over a lot of big things, but Elayne has to give up almost all her time to little things that are not glamorous or exciting and can't be solved by spinning a weave or eliminated by killing a Forsaken. At the end of her storyline in that book, after all the grinding annoyances she deals with, she is happy & has a win, just because her pregnancy has been diagnosed as twins and the guy she loves survived whateverthehell seemed like it would destroy the world. It's all about taking small victories and smelling the roses when you get a chance, because life is work and problems on top of problems.
Ironically, the shallow reader's go-to criticism of Elayne is that she's "just a spoiled princess" and her plot line in Crossroads of Twilight takes a sledgehammer to that contention.
@@Gunleaver ...feel better?!?
Gunleaver Is this the slog everyone has warned me about as I head onto book 10?
@@loriannwhite8384 Probably. I didn't find it to be a slog, but there is not as much conflict or plot resolution in book 10. Jordan made an arbitrary decision to match up most of the plotlines with the ending event of book 9, which kind of slowed them down. Crossroads of Twilight is a set-up and character development book, and is the mid-stage for a lot of plots or arcs that kicked off in Winter's Heart and climaxed or were resolved in Knife of Dreams. Don't except slam-bang wish fulfilment or gratifying things like Falme, the Stone, Emond's Field, Rhuidean, Dumai's Wells, the conquest of Illian or the end of Winter's Heart. Honestly, I thought Path of Daggers was pretty much the same as Crossroads, except Mat's in Crossroads (and yes, his & Perrin's stories drag a little, because of the aforementioned plot-synching), but I thought the story stuff was still pretty good.
I read these years ago, re-started them all a few weeks ago, started with the prequel, in the middle of Eye of the World now. Doing audio books, just no time to read anymore, but easy to find moments for audio books.
My ranking:
1. Dear 2. God 3. Why 4. Did 5. You 6. Succumb 7. To 8. The 9. Tier 10. List 11. Fad 12. You 13. Horrible 14. Man