Timewaster's Guide Archive

Long time no see everyone!! Sooo sorry but I've been very busy. I finished ToM a few weeks ago actually but I haven't been able to scrape together time to come here and talk about it! Almost forgot about this thread! Happy to see I've still got some loyal followers. Okay here we go....
   Wow I loved this book! Brandon has done such a great job of continuing this story faithfully while at the same time incorporating his own style into the book! I've been to some of the forums at Dragonmount and some of the RJ die hards dislike Brandon's style as they feel he's made the characters too "agreeable" with eachother. I kind of like this though, because the constant bickering and infighting got really old. These people are out to save the world and they argue over some of the stupidest things. I think it's very important for the progression of the story that the characters start to compromise with eachother more (Rand and Cadsuane, Mat and the Aes Sedai etc.)
   I enjoy Brandon's pacing a lot more than  RJ's also. Don't get me wrong, I've truly enjoyed all these book up until now, it's just that RJ's tendency to go on and on about peoples clothing in paragraphs that were way too long gave me a headache sometimes. On the flip side there are a few things from RJ's style that I miss. For example, the Aes Sedai don't seem as big of an authority as they once were. Seems like their brick wall of pride has been taken down a notch, specifically Cadsuane. Before BS took over she was absolutely unshakeable. Everything she said was 100% right and she never displayed too many human emotions like surprise or uncertainty. That gave her an air of invincibility and wisdom that it was comforting when she was around. That's not there as much anymore, but I still like her.

Onto the book!

-First off, I did not pick up the hint that Graendal killed Asmodean. Not until reading the forums afterwards did I see that. At least that's solved!! FINALLY lol. Although it is a bit anti climactic, I'd still be interested to know why exactly she did it. Yes he betrayed them, kind of, but Graendal doesn't seem like the type to go personally assassinate someone. And nobody felt a female channeling when she did this?? Anyway, it was good to see her alive as I was hoping her ambiguous "death" in TGS wasn't the last we've heard of her. But ooooh, she's in a wee bit of trouble now!!

-Pardon my French, but I thought it was pretty badass of Rand to walk right into the White Tower without a drop of fear and announce he was going to break the seals. I honestly don't know why he'd do that though. Wouldn't the Dark One be immediately released once they're all broken?? Shouldn't he wait until EVERYONE was right in front of Shayol Ghul to do that?? Anyways, I like the new Rand. After his big change at the end of TGS I've been looking forward to having Rand who wasn't crazy and hearing voices but was instead of sound mind, in touch with his emotions but in control of them, and ready to strike the final blow. I wished there was more of him in this book, he kind of took a back seat to everyone else. Would also have liked to have seen him in action more. But I'm sure there will be plenty of that in the next book. The scene in Maradon was VERY cool. Everything leading up to it also.

-The whole storyline with Perrin and his army ALMOST battling Galad and the Whitecloaks at first went on too long. I really thought it was going to happen and that it would be such a waste of valuable fighters from either side. I was glad they came to a conlusion, and the whole trial thing didn't go on too long at all. I was finally glad to see Morgase's secret revealed and her reunited with her son. (I've been waiting for that to happen! lol) Thankfully they have reluctantly joined forces and will fight side by side at the Last Battle.

-The whole section of the book dealing with Egwene and the Aes Sedai, Wise Ones, Windfinders vs. Mesaana and Black Ajah/ Perrin vs. Slayer/ Gawyn vs. Blood Knives left me breathless!! Hooooly crap that was awesome. Kudos to BS for putting that together so well!! Where do I start?!? lol
    1) I'd been waiting to see Mesaana in action. This was all very well done. The battle with the Black Ajah was great as Egwene showed her superiority in Telarinriohd ( bad spelling I know) Although it looks like Perrin could teach her a thing or two about dream world powers. I laughed when he said "They're just weaves, Egwene." And brushed them off. But I digress. I've been waiting for Katerine to get hers btw. The whole switcheroo fake out with her and Mesaana surprised me. But Egwene really owned this scene when she broke Mesaana's mind like that! Awesome. Come to find out she was Danelle in the White Tower all along. Never guessed it, but over at the WOT FAQ I guess Danelle had been a popular choice. How am I suppose to guess?! There's so many characters in these books! lol Those people go over these books with a fine tooth comb for God's sake!
    2) Perrin's battle with Slayer was everything I wanted it to be. R.I.P. Hopper.... very sad. The whole game with the dreamspike and hopping as far as the dome would allow made for some really good action. Perrin has really developed his powers in the dream world, but I still feel he was overmatched by Slayer. I'm not sure exactly who Slayer is and what his deal is. I know his name is Isam and it's revealed he works specifically for Graendal (although who will he work for now???) How did he get to be so powerful in the dream world and why does he spend so much time there?? Well, he is still alive and I eagerly await the next time him and Perrin do battle.
    3) I really liked the Blood Knives (have they been in any other book??) I honestly thought Gawyn was toast there for a moment but he really showed warrior spirit and cunning by making the room dark and basically fighting sounds. He took their advantage away, although their advantage turned out to be terengal rings they were wearing. He has three now, and I wonder where that plotline will go. Happy to see him and Egwene finally together!!

-Now Mat (still my favorite character all along) sure had a hell of a lot to do in this book! Hell he made the cover!! lol First off, I'll say his decision to face the gholam was one that made me jump out of my seat. I always knew he'd have to do it but I never knew how he'd actually defeat the gholam. The fight scene was brilliant, surrounding the two with lamps and Mat's true anger at the creature. Very exciting, and arguably one of the most terrible deaths imaginable. (Being an immortal creature.... falling in a void forever?? that sucks dude) I've been enjoying additions to Mat's character that are clearly BS hallmarks (tipping his hat in certain scenes... a few lines of dialogue I know came from Brandon)
 Tower of Ghenjei sequence was the 2nd biggest highlight of the book (the first is listed above) How great it was to see Moiraine again. I honestly missed her. She was such a driving force in the early books. She was their Gandalf. God it seems so long ago she disappeared... Fires of Heaven was it?? I very much look forward to seeing the other characters reactions to her return. Specifically Rand and Lan. My guess is that she is one of the ones who has to wield Callandor with Rand. From what I've read on the internet that's a popular assessment.
 Poor Mat. He got his eyeball ripped out!! Half the light of the world. I never put it together. I typically avoided WOT forums in the past other than this one, but from what I've read recently that was something many people were expecting! Yikes those Aalfinn and Ealfinns are creepy. That was a hell of an action scene. Noal as Jain Farstrider...again something that the WOT fanatics picked up on earlier that I never did until it was revealed in the book! But I suppose that's the best way!! Now I'm curious, Lanfear came through with Moiraine also. I imagine they both continued their battle until the snakes and foxes imprisoned them or captured them somehow. It was said that Lanfear was killed because they fed off of her too much. But in the book it says someone came and got her.... or her body. I imagine this to be Moridin. But how did he get there?? Why didn't the snakes and foxes capture him?? Does the Dark One have power over them?? Or some kind of truce?? This left me a little confused!

-Props to Elayne in her scene with the Black Ajah. Everything from disguising herself as Mesaana to the fight with all of them was very exciting. This is a prime example of taking a character you never expected to be in the action.....but then you put her there. She's pregnant with twins and is now queen so I just expected all her scenes to be political mumbo jumbo and filler. This was interesting to me and kind of gave me a sense that all the balls are in the air and nobody is safe.

-Where/who is Demadred?? I don't even recall him being in any of the books. I thought he was Taim, but from what I've read online RJ said that's not true. I'm only left to believe he is someone in the Seanchan hierarchy. 

-Where is Loial?? I miss that guy. I don't even remember where he went!

-Padan Fain..... oooh I can't wait for you to get yours pal. I don't know yet who's going to give it to you! lol

-Moghedian and Cyndane/Lanfear.... are they relegated to just standing besides Moridin whenever he appears anywhere?? Hopefully they have a more expanded role in the next book. The next book will be the last book so I'd say it's time to let them loose!! I'm sure Graendal will wind up mindtrapped too.

Whew!! My hands hurt again!! I know I haven't covered all the bases as there was a lot that happened in this book and even the things I addressed were very much shortened versions of what happened. Overall I will say that I was very happy with this book! My real only complaint is that I have to wait another year for the next and final volume! They wrapped up a lot of plot lines in this book but I am anxious for a few more to be wrapped up. I want to see Moiraine reunited with all the old characters and to see what her part is to play in the Last Battle. Mostly I just want to see the last battle!! lol I've been through 13 books to get here so it better not be just a chapter or two!!!
  Thank you guys for keeping this thread alive. I eagerly await responses from my regulars, especially douglas and mtbikemom. I know there's plenty more to discuss and I would love to hear your angles on things....... or just the entire book in general. Being long time fans, what is your impression of Brandon's continuation of the story. I mean there are clear differences between his and RJ's style, but what are the positives/negatives to this in your opinion?? I would be very interested to know.
 Thank you again for keeping this thread alive. Hope you guys had a great Christmas and a wonderful New Years!! Talk to you soon! Yes I'm back! I'll try to make more time to visit and interact with the posters here!!!

No I purposely haven't. While I appreciate Brandon doing that for the fans in principal, I would kinda feel a bit teased. It would make the waiting a lot harder for me. But it's not all that bad. I just grabbed Salvatore's new Drizzt book today so I will VERY much enjoy that in the meantime!! Good to see you again btw douglas!

Update!!! I finished Gathering Storm!!! lol

I just finished the book and came here to compliment it and figured I'd use my own thread to do it!! This book was EXELLENT!! So many situations resolved and new one created. There was so much great action!! I truly feel Brandon's style really helped the story move along at a great pace, but with much respect to RJ's original vision. I'm very curious to hear the opinions of the people who were the main contributors to this thread like Champion Kaz, Ingtarwasframed, and Renoard. But MOST especially Shard and douglas, as they were the two biggest contributors to the thread and took so much time to address each subject in my posts. You were the guys with all the answers for me because you were such big fans and knew the story so well. I would LOVE to hear your opinions on TGS and what you liked/disliked. I'll gladly share mine too!

It's good to be back!! lol
-Joe

FINISHED KNIFE OF DREAMS!!!! ALL CAUGHT UP GUYS!!

Well, I actually finished it last Wednesday, so you'll have to forgive me for being lazy. I had a lot to think about. This book was EXCELLENT!! Fires of Heaven is still my favorite, but this one ranks a close second or third. Lot of action and great story. This is what all of the books should have been structured like.
  Okay, time for the update. I needed some help from wikipedia on everything that happened because SOOO MUCH happened! I can't remember it all. Here we go....

-The prolougue where Galad challenges Valda was intense. Valda grants his right to challenge whom he's accusing, only for Galad to turn around and say Valda was the one he was challenging. Very cool! Good fight scene. I'm finally happy to see Galad coming into his own as Gawyn has. It's a shame these two characters took so long to become so important.

-Surprisingly, I thought Egwene's story was the most compelling in this book. Usually it would be Mat or Rand where the action is. But her imprisonment in the White Tower was written so well. Her endless beatings at the hands of Silviana while still maintaining her dignity and claim to the Amyrlin Seat have shown how far her character has come. The subtle ways she sows dissent among the Aes Sedai. Jordan did a good job of showing how effective her methods were. How some Aes Sedai would get mad outright at the things she said, implying they agreed even if they wouldn't say it out loud. Egwene is slowly planting seeds here and there about how unstable an Amyrlin Elaida is. The only thing I don't get is that Beonin (who betrayed Egwene in the first place) told Elaida about Egwene's ability to communicate with the rebels via her dreams. Why hasn't  Elaida done anything about this??

-Mat and Tuon's relationship finally progressed....she completed the marriage ceremony!! Well, that was at the end but it's still a big deal lol. Mat and his Red Band army where battling Seanchan sent to kill Tuon throughout the book and eventually got help from the leader of the Deathwatch Guards. (Why would the Seanchan army have orders to kill Tuon but not the Deathwatch Guards??) Anyways, Tuon agrees to go with the DW guards for her safety and splits ways with Mat after completing the marriage ceremony. I don't really understand Tuon that much. She is more appealing in this book, and I've enjoyed the couple of chapters that were from her viewpoint, but I still just don't GET her. She has no problem watching Mat's army slaughter Seanchan with arrows. Aren't these her people?? By the way, the scene where Mat spanks Joline for slapping him had me laughing out loud. Nobody could do anything because of his foxhead medallion. For someone who hate Aes Sedai as much as Mat does, this must have been a big deal for him lol. She deserved it though. Joline is humbled very easily when she can't just wrap someone up in Air.

- Thom finally let Mat read his letter from Moiraine and HOLY CRAP!!! She's alive!! I guess she's prisoner (?) to the Finn's and only Thom, Mat, and one other person (I think it might be Noal) can save her but only if they themselves go. Otherwise she will die. This had my heart racing. I'd LOVE to have Moiraine back in the story. I've wanted to see her reaction to certain events for a long time since she "died." I want to see her meet Cadsuane. I want to see her reaction the the cleansing of saidin. What she thinks of Egwene as Amyrlin seat. Potential Thom/Moiraine romance?? So many things!!! I'd love to see other Aes Sedai's reactions to her being alive, as she is now legendary among Aes Sedai for killing TWO Forsaken herself. This is one plot thread I will eagerly be awaiting.

- Perrin finally rescued Faile. This is one storyline that went on for far too long lol. I thought it was creative pouring forkroot tea into their water supply. Also, when the Two River's archers are brought via a gateway to help Perrin, Tam is with them!!! I had totally forgotten what happened to him! I'm stoked to have him back in the story. The battle scenes with the Shaido were done very well. Perrin's Aes Sedai battling the Wise Ones who could still channel. Meanwhile, Faile manages to get a hold of the Oath Rod because Galine told her she'd help her escape if she got that for her. Surprise surprise, Galine betray her, Alliandre, and Morgase (as Maighdin) and takes off. They are all rescued by Rolan who is then killed by Perrin!! This I didn't like. I understand that Perrin would tear through anything and anyone to get to Faile but I actually liked Rolan. It was just so weird how he died. Perrin just smashed his head and Faile didn't even get upset. Maybe this is a future plot thread?? She decided not to tell him anything about Rolan. Smart decision I guess.
 Also, Aram tried to kill Perrin out of nowhere. He claimed that Masema convinced him that Perrin was a darkfriend. This I didn't see coming, but I actually thought it was pretty cool. I never liked Aram anyway lol. Perrin doesn't kill him though, he is struck by Shaido arrows......as he chose to try killing Perrin in the midst of a large battle. Smart one. I absolutely cannot wait until Masema is dealt with btw. I'm sick of him!!!

- Elayne gained the throne FINALLY!!!!! Once again Elayne's story kind of bogged down the book until the end. When she went to battle the Black Ajah and was captured was when Elayne became interesting again. Birgitte's rescue and subsequent battle was very well written. Now they has a terengal that can make balefire and some of the Black Ajah are captured. Since they used a gateway to take so many soldiers outside the city, they march right back in afterwards behind Arymilla's soldiers and box them in and defeat them. Thus...finally....mother of God finally.....she attains the crown. All of the other nobles stand with her and give her their support. Here's to hoping that her storyline moves past the politics in the future books.

-I thought what Nyneave did to Lan was tricky, but her love for him made me understand it. Though, the more I thought of it, the more I didn't like it. He wants to go to Sheinar but Nyneave uses a gateway and leaves him at World's End in Saldea!!! Why?!? What if he is killed or gets lost?? She'd feel pretty bad!! Anyways, it later shows her finding Lan's old countrymen and convincing them to find Lan and follow him to Sheinar. I thought it was pretty cool that Lan get's send to the end of the world and immediately make a b-line for Sheinar anyways. I figure that his storyline will culminate with him and his newly gathered army saving the day in one of the future books. I also look forward to the next time he sees Nyneave in person lol.

- Rand is fully convinced that Tarmon Gai'don is coming. The dead are walking and every now and them are strange ripples in the Pattern. He is supposed to meet with the daughter of the nine moons for a truce with the Seanchan because he can't find them and the shadow. First off, the battle scene where all the Trollocas and Myrdrall descend on Rand in his palace was AWESOME. Lews Therin took saidin from him and began using battle weaves that we haven't seen before!! Like, gateways that go horizontal and slice through line of shadowspawn. I never thought of that!! I love how Loagain and the Asha'man were all confused for a second then copied his weaves. Like the red arrows that shoot from his fingertips. Logain actually accuses Rand of holding things back from them once the battle is all over lol. When he goes to meet TDotNM he is ambushed. Turns out that it was actually Sermirhage in disguise. Her illusion flickered for one second revealing her to be fake, unfortunately Rand was unable to seize saidin in time and LOST HIS HAND for it!!!! Holy crap that sucks!! Unfortunately, I knew he lost him hand. The cover of Gathering Storm kinda spoiled it for me. At least I didn't know how. I totally didn't expect it to be Semirhage. She hasn't been very active throughout the books and all of a sudden she makes an attempt on Rand's life. (Why?? I thought Moridin told the Forsaken to only kill Mat and Perrin) Very well written scene btw. Now Semirhage is captive. The best part was when Cadsuane went face to face with and Air bound Semirhage and said "I look forward to long talks with you." or something like that. SOOOO COOL. Those are interactions I will be looking forward to in the forthcoming books.

Whew!!! My fingers hurt. There's a lot more to discuss but I am tired of writing right now. Hopefully you guys are as glad as I am that I am now caught up. November 6th is when I first started EOTW. Been a long time and I will very much enjoy being part of the discussions with you guys. Man, there was so much that happened in Knife of Dreams. Even stuff I didn't pick up in the book, only to learn about it when reading about it online. For example, I didn't know it was one of Cadsuane medallions that made Semirhage's illusion flicker. Or that what Taim said at the end, "Let the Lord of Chaos rule" was something ONLY the Forsaken have said. Man this story is deep. There's other things to discuss and I will be back to discuss them. I also had some questions for the people who've responded the most like douglas and Shard. I thank you very much for following me on my journey and reading these updates!! I am going to hold off reading New Spring until maybe October. I kinda wanted to take a little break from WOT and let everything settle. Plus, I wanted to read Warbreaker (of which I am not 60 pages into.) Don't worry, I officially am a fan of WOT now. Thanks again for all your insight you guys. We still have lots to talk about!!!

Maybe CoT did another fan in

LOL Nope! Almost though! This book was very slow and frustrating to read. I'm almost done though and I should have an update on Monday or Tuesday. Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been very busy.

UPDATE!!!  I finished Winter's Heart!!!
I'm sorry I didn't do any updates with this book but I have been very busy and also there never really seemed to be a good place to do an update with this book, because there weren't as many notable major events. However, I did like this very much and the ending was SPECTACULAR!! I'll save Rand cleansing saidin for last because that is the biggest deal.

-I was so glad to be reading about Mat again, as he has always been my favorite character. He has a limp now because of his injuries sustained during the Seanchan takeover. He is still Tylin's "piglet" (what's to complain about, Mat?!?!?) Tylin has sworn allegience to the Seanchan and they have allowed her to rule Ebou Dar UNDER the Crystal Throne of course.  Finally, we have met the Daughter of the Nine Moons and her name is Tuon. First off, the Seanchan chain of command is very confusing, so when they talk of how someone below Tuon can criticize her because she's not REALLY below her per se, it kind of melts my brain. LOL Well anywho, while Tylin is away, Mat plans his escape and how he's going to get the Aes Sedai out of there without them being caught. Tylin comes back and catches him but she let's him go and has him tie her up underneath her bed so as to clear her of helping him. On the way out he is forced to kidnap Tuon, and apparently she isn't all that upset about this. I'm very curious to see where this goes because I don't see Mat marrying this girl unless he is forced to....which would still fullfill Min's prophecy anyways.

-Elayne claimed her throne, but unfortunately her parts of this book were kind of slow, as they dealt with all the nobles wanting her throne. The assassination attempt on her has led to a darkfriend Daved Hanlon becoming the head of her personal security. That was the only interesting part of her story for me.

-Perrin was in the book looking for Faile.....and then they never went back to him. What the heck?? I like Perrin and Faile and I wanted to see that story line get solved. It's so weird how it left off like that.

-Elayne, Min, and Aviendha all bonded with Rand. I'm surprised he actually let them do this, seeing as he is destined to die and anyone who has somebody bonded to them and they die, that person dies soon afterwards. But, he understood that it was their choice and they love him. Also, Rand finally made love to Elayne. In one of the funniest scenes in the WOT books Min, Aviendha, and Birgitte all feel and see what's going on through their warder bond. I thought this was great, because of how uptight some of these characters are. All this talk about going redfaced at the sight of cleavage or embarrased when anyone talkes about sex, and here they all mentally WATCH this happen despite their best efforts. Very creative Mr. Jordan....

-Rand goes to Far Madding to hunt down some of the Asha'man that tried to assasinate him. He kills one of them in a duel. Cadsuane, Nyneave, Lan, Verin, and other Aes Sedai and still loyal Asha'man are with Rand. He gets a note telling him where the remaining Asha'man are and asks him to leave. Suspecting a trap, him and Lan go to this inn and sneak inthrough the roof. There the encounter Padan Fain (who wrote the letter) and Toram. This battle was so awesome to read and I love the image of Lan and Rand battling side by side. What a great scene. Also, I never realized Fain was so skilled a fighter. He gives Rand a lot of trouble but eventually escapes (how? I have no idea....because there were guards outside) Rand does kill the two remaining Asha'man and him and Lan escape the inn. They fall off the roof and are captured by Aes Sedai, but are eventually free'd by Cadsuane. I didn't know why this short imprisonment was even necessary, then I realize that those Aes Sedai will report back to Elaida that Cadsuane in working with Rand. I suppose that's significant. I'm starting to like Cadsuane very much and I find her the most trustworthy Aes Sedai besides Moiraine. I wish I could see them two meet!

-Okay, Rand decides to use the access keys to clease the male half of the source. The female key will be used by Nyneave, as she is the strongest in the Power, and she will link with Rand to do this. Cadsuane, Verin, and all the Aes Sedai and Asha'man they can muster all for different circles around the hilltop near Shadar Logoth because they realize that such a massive use of the One Power will attract channelers from all over the world......especially the Forsaken. And oh boy do they ever. First off, the descriptions of how saidar and saidin interweave and saidar seems to be actually squeezing the taint out of saidin literally into the air were amazing. The taint is spilling out and forming a huge ball that is blacker than black and is growing larger and larger. All this time I wondered how one could remove the taint and here it is, FINALLY. No more woozines or "molten filth"  or any of that garbage. Saidin is CLEAN!! Can you imagine how much different it must be for any male channeler now. This really changes EVERYTHING. The White Tower no longer has any right to hunt down male channelers. There can be male Aes Sedai again and saidin and saidar can be used together again!! Just like in the Age of Legends, where they said that the greatest achievements were made with both halves of the Source being used together. WOW, I can hear the thump of all the Red sisters simultaneously fainting. lol I still see struggles ahead, because male channelers being insane is so ingrained into The White Tower's laws and practices it will be very difficult to change things. But oh boy, I am glad this moment is finally here!!
 
Whoops, got a little off track sorry. The battle: was AWESOME. ALL of the Forsaken came to stop what was happaning. I really like the how the Forsaken are written so I always get excited when the come around. But to have them all in one spot in a battle??? Beautiful. A couple of notable absences though. I didn't see Greandal or Moridin. They never mentioned Mesaana, but at one point a woman is spotted running through the woods changing colors...which is consistent with how Mesaana looks (the saa??) Demandred comes but spends his time running from the fireballs being shot at him. The Aes Sedai and Asha'man are working together so that, if any male or female channels near them (which they know will be the Forsaken coming) they immediately shoot fireballs in that direction. Moghedian, despite her fear of Moridin, actually sits this one out. I'm a little surprised she didn't take this chance to get her revenge on Nyneave. Aran'gar is spotted by an Asha'man who is shocked to find her using saidin. Her secret's out. Dashiva, the renegade Asha'man, shows up only to be immediately annihilated. Finally, the best part of the whole battle is when Cadsuane squares off with Lanfear/Cyndane. I nearly had to read this part standing up. Two VERY powerful female characters who are MAJOR players in this story. Cyndane's shock at how her "nasty" weaves disappear when she uses them on Cadsuane (because of her teren'gal) and Cadsuane being stunned every time one of her weaves are "sliced" by Cyndane. Lanfear is the only character that I remember knowing how to "slice" someone elses weave. Man, she is so strong in the Power, I always enjoy any scene of her battling. Or even just using the Power at all. Unfortunately, the ending battle scatters the stories so we never get any definitive ending for the individual duels. Cadsuane does think to herself later on...something to the effect of her not being satisfied with "one dead renegade and a few singed Forsaken. So I take it none of them were killed. That's fine. All the more for Rand to kill, especially now that he doesn't have to worry about Callandor magnifying the taint.

Okay my fingers hurt. lol. I do have my order in for Crossroads of Twilight. Yes, I've been warned about this book, but I am keeping an open mind still. I think the cleansing of saidin is the biggest event in the WOT stories so far and it has really invigorated my enthusiasm for these books. I'm so excited to see where they go from here. Tarmon Gai'don can't be THAT far away anymore lol. I'm almost caught up guys. Again, sorry for the long wait. I put a lot into this update because you guys have been very faithful readers and very helpful with your comments too. I can't wait to start reading the next book! I'll keep you guys updated....of couse!! lol 
-Joe

Hey guys. Sorry I didn't do the update but a close friend of mine was killed in a car accident. It's been rough and I miss her but I'm trying to do things to keep her off my mind. So I figured I give an update since I did finish Path of Daggers.

Okay, I'm gonna say that unfortunately I did not enjoy this book as much as I did the others. There were definitely good parts but overall I think too many things were drawn out. I'm still not giving up though!

-Perrin met Masema and gave him his order to report back to Rand. Masema says he'd rather travel the long way than to go through a gateway made with the Power. I am really anticipating this guy being put in his place by Rand. He has certainly caused a lot of trouble. Faile and Morgase are captured by the Shaido Aiel. Again, the whole Shaido storyline is frustrating but now I'm actually worried for Faile. I like her.

-Egwene, however, has put both Romanda and Lelaine in THEIR places. She has gotten the Hall to declare war on Elaida and at the end of the book they are going through a gateway to Tar Valon. I'm very curious about how they are going to do this. Afterall, Artur Hawking had the White Tower sieged for years and eventually lost. Though, I don't believe he had any channelers on his side.

-Elayne claimed the Lion Throne finally. Though apparently it won't be easy for her because others have laid claim to it. Then she rips down all the Dragon banners!! Man, women are cold sometimes. lol

-Elaida's embassy to the Black Tower was ambushed by Asha'man. They were led by Toveine who she herself was captured by Logain. I don't recall Logain joining the Black Tower but I think it's a great addition. Now, Toveine wasn't making it easy on him, so he kissed her. Now, I may be wrong but I think he gave her an orgasm. Is that what happened?? If so, that was very nice of him.

-Liandran is damane now. Serves her right.

-Rand's battle with the Seanchan was not as much fun to read as I hoped it would be. I actually wound up with a splitting headache from all the talk of his seeing double everytime he used saidin. All the back and forth character points of view didn't seem very necessary. I will admit that I almost jumped out of my seat when he revealed he had Callandor. It's too bad that he killed a lot of Seanchan AND his own army. Cadsuane reveals later that Callandor is flawed and actually magnifies the taint. She says he needs to link with two sisters to use it, with one sister controlling the flows. I personally think he should find a way to cleanse saidin. That would solve problems!
 Back in Carhien, Rand is attacked by Dashiva and other Asha'man who have betrayed him for some reason. Have they gone mad?? I guess I kinda saw this coming, because the prophecies said that there will be dreadlords at Tarmon Gai'don and I imagine that this is where they come from. Too bad Rand couldn't kill Dashiva. That could be a big problem.

Sorry if this update is kind of crappy, but my heart just isn't in it today. I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer though. I did order Winter's Heart and it should arrive in a couple of days. Take Care!
-Joe

A couple thoughts for Joe:
The Bowl of the Winds can draw on saidin by itself. Some ter'angreal can do that. (Just so you aren't waiting for a random channeler to pop out.)

Morgase has abdicated the throne, which is irrevocable. This happens right before the Seanchan attack the Whitecloaks and she's thinking about jumping out the window. It's not a huge scene, so it's easy to miss. She's having a difficult time readjusting to life now.

I agree, the scenes with the Forsaken are great. And the action picks up a little later so hang in there. Thanks for the update!

I do remember the scene  with Morgase. She kinda mutters that to herself before getting ready to jump out.

Also, I forgot to put in a little nugget of information I picked up. When Cadsuane is talking to Allana, an ornament in her hair goes cool when Alanna channels (I don't know why she did channel in that scene BTW) I think Cadsuane has a terengal just like Mat's foxhead medallion. I like her, and I imagine being the oldest Aes Sedai alive she must have a few tricks up her sleeve.