Which book should I read first?

[Ari54]

As for someone suggesting ‘slogging through the first 11 books of the WoT is worth it if you like traditional fantasy”, I definitely do like traditional fantasy and have every intention of rereading the series. I actually read up to book 8 of the series and stopped. But I stopped reading in general, not just WoT (long story). So I just want to reread the series again because I have forgotten so much and then also read 9, 10 and 11 before I start TGS.

That's what I would recommend with regards to WoT anyway. The series picks up a bit in 10 and 11, so you kinda stopped at a down anyway, so re-reading should be very enjoyable given that you can skim-read some of the slower bits.

[Hobbun]

That's what I would recommend with regards to WoT anyway. The series picks up a bit in 10 and 11, so you kinda stopped at a down anyway, so re-reading should be very enjoyable given that you can skim-read some of the slower bits.

Yes, I heard at least from 9-11 are not quite up to par to the earlier books in the series. Which isn't why I stopped, btw. What I did was basically read up to Path of Daggers (which was the current book at the time) and when Winter's Heart came out, I had forgotten a lot of the little nuances and the series was far from fresh in my mind, so that is when I made the rule for myself that I am just going to wait until the series is done (or close to it as when I finish TGS, AMoL should be out or it will soon be).

[Patriotic Kaz]

11 is awesome 9 and 10 are the ones that are lacking

[Hobbun]

Well, from the reviews I have read about Knife of Dreams they are pretty mixed. A lot still are ‘meh’. In fact, the last ‘good’ book I am seeing is Lord of Chaos. I’d have to agree to an extent, at least speaking from Crown of Swords and Path of Daggers (as I haven’t read past that). CoS was ok and PoD was good, but they don’t compare to Lord of Chaos and the prior books.

[Shivertongue]

11 is awesome 9 and 10 are the ones that are lacking

I loved 9. I'm probably one of the few who did, from the sound of things. 10, though, was very lacking.

[Obsessiforge]

I just picked up Warbreaker, so I'm hoping to read that one next.

[Ari54]

11 is awesome 9 and 10 are the ones that are lacking

I loved 9. I'm probably one of the few who did, from the sound of things. 10, though, was very lacking.

I loved 10/Crossroads of Twilight, but I read it knowing I'd have 11/Knife of Dreams to follow immediately after. I think a lot of the dissappointment around it is the whole "This is what we got after waiting years?" aspect. For people starting new or catching up again, I think it reads a lot better than it would have for someone on the bleeding edge of the series.

And yeah, I hated 9/Winter's Heart.

Well, from the reviews I have read about Knife of Dreams they are pretty mixed. A lot still are ‘meh’. In fact, the last ‘good’ book I am seeing is Lord of Chaos. I’d have to agree to an extent, at least speaking from Crown of Swords and Path of Daggers (as I haven’t read past that). CoS was ok and PoD was good, but they don’t compare to Lord of Chaos and the prior books.

It depends whether you're won over by Mat at that stage, I think. Knife of Dreams focuses heavily on him and really develops his character, so if you haven't started laughing at him whenever he shows up by then, then you're not really going to like it.

Knife of Dreams also goes a lot faster than the previous books did, and reads a lot more like The Gathering Storm.

[Hobbun]

I loved 10/Crossroads of Twilight, but I read it knowing I'd have 11/Knife of Dreams to follow immediately after. I think a lot of the dissappointment around it is the whole "This is what we got after waiting years?" aspect. For people starting new or catching up again, I think it reads a lot better than it would have for someone on the bleeding edge of the series.

And yeah, I hated 9/Winter's Heart.

It depends whether you're won over by Mat at that stage, I think. Knife of Dreams focuses heavily on him and really develops his character, so if you haven't started laughing at him whenever he shows up by then, then you're not really going to like it.

Knife of Dreams also goes a lot faster than the previous books did, and reads a lot more like The Gathering Storm.

Ok, that's good. Sounds like I will have no issues with KoD as Mat was one of my favorite characters from early on.

Now can I ask why you didn't like Winter's Heart? Without giving a spoiler?

[Patriotic Kaz]

When KoD came out I had just finished Crossroads about 2 months before and i still was disappointed. The whole book was a drawn out set-up for the end of the series and therefore little to no action and dull.

[Hobbun]

I’ll admit, I try not to believe too much on user reviews on Amazon, especially considering when a lot of them go “It sucks!” “Boring!” or other very short and uninformative responses. But I do read the longer, more in depth reviews and I will say I was pretty shocked on not only the amount of overall negative reviews, but the percentage of them that were extremely low, and I am talking about the reviews by the readers who were informative, not the abovementioned useless one lined ‘reviews.’

Either way, I will still read Crossroads of Twilight as it is part of the series. But maybe if I go into it not expecting it to be that great, it will be better than I hope for. That method works for movies, at least.   

[Aranfan]

I liked Winter's Heart.  It was epic.

Crossroads I'll admit wasn't so good.  IIRC it covers only about three days, and is mostly how the very, very large cast reacts to the climax of Winter's Heart.  I would suggest moving to Knife of Dreams within the same minute you finish Crossroads. 

[Hobbun]

Yes, that's what I plan on doing as once I start my re-read of WoT, it is going to be straight through. With maybe the exception of New Spring after book 5.

Hopefully by the time I finish my re-read (and new books I haven't read in the series), I will be finishing up with Towers of Midnight right around when A Memory of Light is released, or soon before it.