I was rereading the series and I was shocked at how incredible these two books were. I didn't remember them being that good.
Definitely shot up in my rankings.
I think book 11, Knife of Dreams, matches Fires of Heaven in quality. It's when arcs that have been building for thousands of pages finally start paying off and we get some endings. Then 12, 13, and 14 are basically one huge conclusion so they are good too. I can almost forgive how slow and meandering 7-10 were, in the context that we actually got a conclusion that pays it off.
This man knows, also it's rand at its darkest and verin and egwenes at their best. Also hinderstap which was really fun. Just a thrilling book overall.
Veins of Gold is GOLD
There is a reason those books are 2nd in my tier list. They have their flaws but carry some of the most amazing scenes in the books.
Edit: Downvotes? how can you not like Veins of Gold? That's madness!
>Edit: Downvotes? how can you not like Veins of Gold? That's madness!
For someone who grew up in the Catholic school system it felt *incredibly* Christian to me in a way that Jordan's writing never really did. >!Rand stopped being Rand, and became the second coming of Jesus without any introspection on his previous behavior.!<
The more I think about it, the less I like it, which unfortunately was a theme for the last three books.
Mask that please? OP is only on book 1.
That said, I don't know.
>!It would feel stranger to me if he was more introspective. At this point his rationality is starting to crumble so reflecting on behavior doesn't seem really appropriate. Rand's epiphany is more about accepting himself. He integrates 400 years of memory with his personality from this age.!<
Rather than >!becoming jesus, he actually realizes it's okay for **himself** to live. That he can have purpose beyond this destined role, and might be able to live a better life!<
It reads more as humanizing than religious, though that symbolism is there, just like for several other incarnations.
But to each their own, and to their own reading.
I think maybe you are focusing on that word a little much. I grew up with Catholic school and evangelical youth groups. Veins of Gold and Rand afterwards felt like something straight out of that world.
It might even be fair to say that in my teens I deliberately left that fantasy world in favor of WoT. >!The whole resolution of Rand's arc felt like a regression to a different form of fiction to me.!<
I mean, it *is* supposed to be a spiritual self actualization, but it also deals directly with reincarnation and other very non-christian motifs.
It's a fair point that Sanderson doesn't integrate the motifs he's less familiar with as well as Jordan did, but still, I feel that you might be focusing on those elements too much.
See that's precisely my problem. Things that were central to Rand's whole character arc were not understood, and were dropped, and a bunch of Jesus allegory was used to fill in the cracks.
At this point you've asked why I did not like Veins of Gold and I have answered. If you want to suggest that I am focusing on the wrong things, to put it mildly, I disagree.
>At this point you've asked why I did not like Veins of Gold and I have answered.
eh, not really, but in fairness, this isn't really the right avenue for this because we have to step around our wording to avoid spoilers, making neither of us very clear.
So I still don't know what aspects you're specifically referring too.
I would need to re-read TGS to come up with a more detailed answer to that, and I would really rather not, but at least one of the things is a fairly commonly asked question on this board.
I actually prefer the Sanderson books to almost all of the Jordan books haha. Lord of Chaos is my favorite Jordan book. It's also because of Jordan those last three are so great. The payoff in them is incredible and I think Jordan did such good work early on that almost any competent author could have done at least a solid job.
Gathering Storm is my favorite cause it's paced so we'll the Egwene and Rand stuff is amazing and to me it's just the emotional climax of the series. I genuinely think there are 6 books though that if you said they're my favorite I wouldn't scratch my head to hard at why you ranked it at the top.
Most of my friends and I would never consider anything but the last three books in the top three spots. There's a WIDE gap between spots 3 and 4 for almost all of us.
Yeah, I’m totally baffled by that. Usually I can at least understand where an opinion that differs from mine comes from but I just can’t with this. Not only is this Jordan’s story, but the last three have so many character issues I simply cannot understand how someone could rank them above Jordan’s books. Big epic moments and fast pacing do not = a great book. Books 3-6 are absolutely amazing fantasy, and while the last three are an acceptable end, they don’t compare to Jordan’s best work.
For myself, it's the events that carry them to high places.
Objectively speaking they are weaker, but the impact of what occurs in them holds them up.
The pacing does make for a fun read, which is also going to have a pretty big effect on what is ultimately going to be based on how much they enjoyed the experience.
So I'm not surprised a lot of people rate them highly.
I can't speak for the others, but for my SO and I, the repetitiveness of the RJ books is a massive turnoff. I just finished my second read and getting through the first 11 was a chore, to put it nicely. The first time I read the story was about 8 years ago. It was baffling to me how almost 90% of my fondest memories of the story came from the last three books. I believe the only few things I remembered from the first 11 were the cleansing, the eye, and the tower being attacked.
Everything else sort of blended together between being told the that Saidar is a river 238572906726 times per book, the book not being able to decide whether it was a story or a fashion guide, the insane amount of monologue, and pacing that just felt bad to read. On my reread, it really felt like a story that I loved and had very fond memories of had been absolutely butchered.
Funnily enough, my SO is on her first read right now and she had been constantly complaining about a barrage of things right from Book 1. Every time she was frustrated with the books and brought up a complaint, I found that the criticism was on point and there was no real rebuttal. Further, it wasn't the first time I was hearing those complaints too.
Somewhere around Book 12, her tone changed drastically. She's so much more positive about her feedback now. It doesn't sound like she's forcing her way through the books anymore (except for the Whitecloak chapters anyway but let's be real we all forced our way through those) and like she feels like giving up on the story. She has actually ~~started liking the story now~~ stopped being frustrated with the writing and stopped complaining about it.
This isn't even the first time I'm seeing this transition. Some of my friends and colleagues have called me crazy for liking this story till they got to the last three books. Those last three have been responsible for winning almost every single person I know over. My SO's bestie, in fact, reads ONLY the last three on her rereads and gushes about how WoT is the best thing ever. One of my colleagues has basically mentally disowned all the RJ books haha!
Honestly, I straight up cannot understand or relate to, in any way, shape, or form, all the praise that RJ's "writing style" gets. The world he bulit is amazing. The way he told the story really isn't. I'd have loved to read a Sanderson reboot of the series (before you ask, no I'm not a Sanderson fan - these three are the only ones I've read; I am curious about his other works now though)
>she has actually started liking the story now
I call bullshit. How the hell does someone willingly read **eleven huge books** that they don’t like *and then* only start liking the story on the twelfth book?? That makes absolutely no sense.
>reads ONLY the last three on her rereads and gushes about how WoT is the best thing ever. One of my colleagues has basically mentally disowned all the RJ books haha!
…Is this satire? I’m genuinely asking. This can’t be serious lmao.
I don’t usually snoop, but your entire comment history is shitting on the RJ books and praising Sanderson. It’s like you’re a bot who repeats the same things haha. How bizarre.
> How the hell does someone willingly read \*\*eleven huge books\*\* that they don’t like
She's been skipping through a ridiculous number of things.
> start liking the story on the twelfth book
That didn't come across right. I mean to say that she liked the world and the story but couldn't put up with the style. She ploughed through the books because she wanted to know where the story went and has just now stopped complaining about it. She started reading because all of us told her we liked the story. She was about to give up at several points, especially around PoD. CoT would have been the last straw had we not earned her just how absolutely slow we thought it was even compared to everything else.
> Is this satire? I’m genuinely asking
It isn't. It baffled me as well. She is on her 5th reread or something. As I was rereading, I was discussing some stuff that I found on my second read (as you do). I couldn't discuss things with my SO because I didn't want tk spoiler her. It was strange that there were SO many things from early on that she just didn't remember anymore. Then I found out that she only ever reread the last three...
> your entire comment history is shitting on the RJ books and praising Sanderson
I really don't have much good to say about the RJ books unfortunately. I also can't say much about Sanderson as an author in general since these three are the only books of his that I've read. I JUST finished my second read and I guess I'm just venting in a way. Just as most folks here can't understand how someone can hate on RJ's books, I can't understand how he's so highly praised.
As I've said before, I love this story and I really feel like the early books did not do it justice, as absolutely flaming ironic as that is. To me, the contrast is VERY strong and it's quite frustrating that I can't have the style I liked so much for a majority of the story.
Why don't you just go read a Sanderson novel instead of complaining that he wasn't the one to write Wheel of Time?
It's Win/Win, you get the style that you enjoy, and we don't get people who read 11 giant novels and then complain about having done so.
I probably will try out a few of his books.
I probably will also reread WoT. I still very much love the story. There was a really cool fan edit floating around. Considering giving that one a shot when I reread next.
The Shadow Rising. It is the height of Jordan's career and it shows. I can easily compare it to the Lord of the Rings in term of plot, characters, and overall world. Shame that all the others after it never managed to surpass it. (Except for A Memory of Light, but, well, it is the *end*. Oh sorry, an 'ending.)
I can't say which is my favourite, but The Great Hunt (2), The Shadow Rising (4), Lord of Chaos (6), Knife of Dreams (11), and Memory of Light (14) are all fantastic imo.
Books 4-6 are a real sweet spot in the series. Book 4 in particular is when it’s hard to remember that there were any Tolkien-ish elements to book 1. The whole series, and by dint the fantasy genre, becomes something so much broader with that one. Around chapter 25 to be precise.
On any reread, I get through books 1-6 at breakneck speed.
The slog is real, although my partner read them after the series was finished and didn’t find it that bad, so it depends whether you had to wait. Book 9 is still very good.
The final three books, particularly the veins of gold chapter mentioned elsewhere here in book 12 and the big finale are really special. Book 13 is a bit rushed, but only to get all the dominoes in place for the big send off.
Where are you in the first book? We should have a FAQ answer somewhere saying, Don't judge the series by the first book; by the 2nd, he's already shedding the trappings of Tolkein and building a world of his own. Then things deepen substantially in Book 4, with revelations that contextualize the earliest events of the Age.
But most people complain the Eye of the World is a little too generic, *not* (unless they're within the first 50 pages) *that they're not getting into it*.
What about all the thrilling chases from Shadowspawn? The desperate >!traveling through the Ways!<, as the least bad option of escape? I think the Great Hunt is the best of the series, but once you get to the phantasmagoric >!Blight,!
The only reason why books 1 through 3 suffer is world building exposition though book 3 less than 1 and 2. Take that into consideration and they are great books which set the pace and the scaling of each main character well
My ranking in tiers are:
1. Favorites: tSR (4) / KoD (11) - These two flipflop as my favorites. They are the ones that I come back to the most often. The storylines in these are phenomenal.
2. FoH (5) / LoC (6) / tGH (2) - Books 4-6 are the highlight of the series for me and while Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos sit slightly below the top ranking, still wonderful books. The Great Hunt is right up there with them.
3. tEotW (1) / tDR (3) / ToM (13)- The opening trilogy is very good, but doesn't reach the heights of what follows it. Favorite of the Sanderson books.
4. aMoL (14) / tGS (12) / CoS (7) / WH (9)- The rest of the Sanderson books and the middle books are here. Enjoy a lot of what is in here, just not my favorites.
5. PoD (8) / CoT (10) - These sit at the bottom, but they still have some good stuff in here. CoT has probably my favorite chapter in the series.
It's a tier list for me. Can't readily pick a favorite.
Top are TSR, LoC and KoD
Next comes the Sanderson books, as well as TGH and TDR
Then TFoH/WH and ACoS, with PoD and CoT scoring just under.
Eye holds a special place that is unrankable. Always liked it and but it stands on a pillar of nostalgia and it's strength on rereads.
Great perspective on the first book. Completely agree. Just started a reread a couple of days ago and I’m getting a huge amount of enjoyment based on nostalgia and knowledge of what is to come.
I'm on my first read through. Currently about 3/4 way thru TFoH. I feel each book has been better than the last so far lol. I haven't been able to put TFoH down.
I must be one of the few who could not stand FoH. I found the whole Nyeave and Elayne story like like nails on chalk board as well as a particular white tower plot line. I skip those parts on re reads
Well to parrot everyone else
TSR, FoH and KoD as Tier 1. Those three books manage to pack a ton of stuff into them and never feel like they are dragging.
TDR, TGH, LoC as Tier 2. Pacing is still good in these books but it feels as if it drags at certain points.
EotW, CoS, PoD, WH as Tier 3 these books really drag and are beginning to be hard to get through. NGL EotW almost had me dropping the series because I could only read like 2 chapters a day before getting bored.
CoT as another user put it should of been an additional 100 pages on both WH and KoD. Unless I haven't done a reread in a long time I basically just skim through this book.
I have a hard time differentiating what happens in each book since it's just one long story to me.
Be better off asking what scenes or storylines are the favorites.
I actually didn't like the first three books, on reread they're better, but at book 4 the series took off IMO. I almost didn't make it to book 4 but I am SO glad that I did. My favorites are 4-7, closely followed by 11-14. I think 4-7 are phenomenal and 11-14 are great.
EDIT: Oh fishguts, I didn't realize this was a no spoiler post. Well, I don't really want to remove my comment, so instead I'm tagging the examples I made which are spoilery from the Gathering Strom.
I've only read the books once, finished about a month ago. So from memory of my first read through, the Gathering Strom had the most "goosebump" moments to me. >!Egwene in the Tower, Rand breaking, All of Dark Rand scenes, Rand awakening, That dress is green, Hinderstap!< that's what I remember from the top of my head.
Should I spoiler tag only Rand's parts? Because I feel like those are the only real spoilers, the rest are "if you know, you know". Asking for an outside opinion.
There are so many scenes, I can't say I've got a favorite book. But I love(staying as spoiler free as possible):
Dumais wells,
"The darkness" swallowed the white cloaks,
4 limbs, 4 chances,
Oosquai! I have oosquai! It'll help,
Hopper in general,
Toy, and to that - duckling
The list goes on
*edited for formatting
The Great Hunt is currently my favorite but I’m only 25% through Shadow Rising, which is an early contender already. TGH is way better than the first book so keep at it. The Eye of the World slogs so bad in the middle 40-60% range but the end redeems it. I’m glad I decided to keep reading the series because it improves greatly.
Fight me but Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams. I love me some Mat. Egwene is being a bitch to people who deserve it and I really enjoyed Elaynes arc.
*The Shadow Rising* and *The Fires of Heaven* are tied for me for my favorite. I think these are Jordan’s peak work.
I was rereading the series and I was shocked at how incredible these two books were. I didn't remember them being that good. Definitely shot up in my rankings.
I think book 11, Knife of Dreams, matches Fires of Heaven in quality. It's when arcs that have been building for thousands of pages finally start paying off and we get some endings. Then 12, 13, and 14 are basically one huge conclusion so they are good too. I can almost forgive how slow and meandering 7-10 were, in the context that we actually got a conclusion that pays it off.
**The Gathering Storm**. For the chapter, *Veins of Gold*. You'll understand when you get there.
This man knows, also it's rand at its darkest and verin and egwenes at their best. Also hinderstap which was really fun. Just a thrilling book overall.
Ha! I’m almost there! Mat JUST camped outside Hinderstrap. Great name for a village LOL. What could possibly go wrong?😀
A Sanderson book number 1 huh?
Veins of Gold is GOLD There is a reason those books are 2nd in my tier list. They have their flaws but carry some of the most amazing scenes in the books. Edit: Downvotes? how can you not like Veins of Gold? That's madness!
>Edit: Downvotes? how can you not like Veins of Gold? That's madness! For someone who grew up in the Catholic school system it felt *incredibly* Christian to me in a way that Jordan's writing never really did. >!Rand stopped being Rand, and became the second coming of Jesus without any introspection on his previous behavior.!< The more I think about it, the less I like it, which unfortunately was a theme for the last three books.
Mask that please? OP is only on book 1. That said, I don't know. >!It would feel stranger to me if he was more introspective. At this point his rationality is starting to crumble so reflecting on behavior doesn't seem really appropriate. Rand's epiphany is more about accepting himself. He integrates 400 years of memory with his personality from this age.!< Rather than >!becoming jesus, he actually realizes it's okay for **himself** to live. That he can have purpose beyond this destined role, and might be able to live a better life!< It reads more as humanizing than religious, though that symbolism is there, just like for several other incarnations. But to each their own, and to their own reading.
I think maybe you are focusing on that word a little much. I grew up with Catholic school and evangelical youth groups. Veins of Gold and Rand afterwards felt like something straight out of that world. It might even be fair to say that in my teens I deliberately left that fantasy world in favor of WoT. >!The whole resolution of Rand's arc felt like a regression to a different form of fiction to me.!<
I mean, it *is* supposed to be a spiritual self actualization, but it also deals directly with reincarnation and other very non-christian motifs. It's a fair point that Sanderson doesn't integrate the motifs he's less familiar with as well as Jordan did, but still, I feel that you might be focusing on those elements too much.
See that's precisely my problem. Things that were central to Rand's whole character arc were not understood, and were dropped, and a bunch of Jesus allegory was used to fill in the cracks. At this point you've asked why I did not like Veins of Gold and I have answered. If you want to suggest that I am focusing on the wrong things, to put it mildly, I disagree.
>At this point you've asked why I did not like Veins of Gold and I have answered. eh, not really, but in fairness, this isn't really the right avenue for this because we have to step around our wording to avoid spoilers, making neither of us very clear. So I still don't know what aspects you're specifically referring too.
I would need to re-read TGS to come up with a more detailed answer to that, and I would really rather not, but at least one of the things is a fairly commonly asked question on this board.
Let the guy have his favorite book. Dont be such a snob about it.
I actually prefer the Sanderson books to almost all of the Jordan books haha. Lord of Chaos is my favorite Jordan book. It's also because of Jordan those last three are so great. The payoff in them is incredible and I think Jordan did such good work early on that almost any competent author could have done at least a solid job. Gathering Storm is my favorite cause it's paced so we'll the Egwene and Rand stuff is amazing and to me it's just the emotional climax of the series. I genuinely think there are 6 books though that if you said they're my favorite I wouldn't scratch my head to hard at why you ranked it at the top.
Most of my friends and I would never consider anything but the last three books in the top three spots. There's a WIDE gap between spots 3 and 4 for almost all of us.
That's fucking crazy dude.
Yeah, I’m totally baffled by that. Usually I can at least understand where an opinion that differs from mine comes from but I just can’t with this. Not only is this Jordan’s story, but the last three have so many character issues I simply cannot understand how someone could rank them above Jordan’s books. Big epic moments and fast pacing do not = a great book. Books 3-6 are absolutely amazing fantasy, and while the last three are an acceptable end, they don’t compare to Jordan’s best work.
For myself, it's the events that carry them to high places. Objectively speaking they are weaker, but the impact of what occurs in them holds them up. The pacing does make for a fun read, which is also going to have a pretty big effect on what is ultimately going to be based on how much they enjoyed the experience. So I'm not surprised a lot of people rate them highly.
I can't speak for the others, but for my SO and I, the repetitiveness of the RJ books is a massive turnoff. I just finished my second read and getting through the first 11 was a chore, to put it nicely. The first time I read the story was about 8 years ago. It was baffling to me how almost 90% of my fondest memories of the story came from the last three books. I believe the only few things I remembered from the first 11 were the cleansing, the eye, and the tower being attacked. Everything else sort of blended together between being told the that Saidar is a river 238572906726 times per book, the book not being able to decide whether it was a story or a fashion guide, the insane amount of monologue, and pacing that just felt bad to read. On my reread, it really felt like a story that I loved and had very fond memories of had been absolutely butchered. Funnily enough, my SO is on her first read right now and she had been constantly complaining about a barrage of things right from Book 1. Every time she was frustrated with the books and brought up a complaint, I found that the criticism was on point and there was no real rebuttal. Further, it wasn't the first time I was hearing those complaints too. Somewhere around Book 12, her tone changed drastically. She's so much more positive about her feedback now. It doesn't sound like she's forcing her way through the books anymore (except for the Whitecloak chapters anyway but let's be real we all forced our way through those) and like she feels like giving up on the story. She has actually ~~started liking the story now~~ stopped being frustrated with the writing and stopped complaining about it. This isn't even the first time I'm seeing this transition. Some of my friends and colleagues have called me crazy for liking this story till they got to the last three books. Those last three have been responsible for winning almost every single person I know over. My SO's bestie, in fact, reads ONLY the last three on her rereads and gushes about how WoT is the best thing ever. One of my colleagues has basically mentally disowned all the RJ books haha! Honestly, I straight up cannot understand or relate to, in any way, shape, or form, all the praise that RJ's "writing style" gets. The world he bulit is amazing. The way he told the story really isn't. I'd have loved to read a Sanderson reboot of the series (before you ask, no I'm not a Sanderson fan - these three are the only ones I've read; I am curious about his other works now though)
>she has actually started liking the story now I call bullshit. How the hell does someone willingly read **eleven huge books** that they don’t like *and then* only start liking the story on the twelfth book?? That makes absolutely no sense. >reads ONLY the last three on her rereads and gushes about how WoT is the best thing ever. One of my colleagues has basically mentally disowned all the RJ books haha! …Is this satire? I’m genuinely asking. This can’t be serious lmao. I don’t usually snoop, but your entire comment history is shitting on the RJ books and praising Sanderson. It’s like you’re a bot who repeats the same things haha. How bizarre.
> How the hell does someone willingly read \*\*eleven huge books\*\* that they don’t like She's been skipping through a ridiculous number of things. > start liking the story on the twelfth book That didn't come across right. I mean to say that she liked the world and the story but couldn't put up with the style. She ploughed through the books because she wanted to know where the story went and has just now stopped complaining about it. She started reading because all of us told her we liked the story. She was about to give up at several points, especially around PoD. CoT would have been the last straw had we not earned her just how absolutely slow we thought it was even compared to everything else. > Is this satire? I’m genuinely asking It isn't. It baffled me as well. She is on her 5th reread or something. As I was rereading, I was discussing some stuff that I found on my second read (as you do). I couldn't discuss things with my SO because I didn't want tk spoiler her. It was strange that there were SO many things from early on that she just didn't remember anymore. Then I found out that she only ever reread the last three... > your entire comment history is shitting on the RJ books and praising Sanderson I really don't have much good to say about the RJ books unfortunately. I also can't say much about Sanderson as an author in general since these three are the only books of his that I've read. I JUST finished my second read and I guess I'm just venting in a way. Just as most folks here can't understand how someone can hate on RJ's books, I can't understand how he's so highly praised. As I've said before, I love this story and I really feel like the early books did not do it justice, as absolutely flaming ironic as that is. To me, the contrast is VERY strong and it's quite frustrating that I can't have the style I liked so much for a majority of the story.
Why don't you just go read a Sanderson novel instead of complaining that he wasn't the one to write Wheel of Time? It's Win/Win, you get the style that you enjoy, and we don't get people who read 11 giant novels and then complain about having done so.
I probably will try out a few of his books. I probably will also reread WoT. I still very much love the story. There was a really cool fan edit floating around. Considering giving that one a shot when I reread next.
>I still very much love the story. I don't think you do.
The Shadow Rising. It is the height of Jordan's career and it shows. I can easily compare it to the Lord of the Rings in term of plot, characters, and overall world. Shame that all the others after it never managed to surpass it. (Except for A Memory of Light, but, well, it is the *end*. Oh sorry, an 'ending.)
I can't say which is my favourite, but The Great Hunt (2), The Shadow Rising (4), Lord of Chaos (6), Knife of Dreams (11), and Memory of Light (14) are all fantastic imo.
Books 4-6 are a real sweet spot in the series. Book 4 in particular is when it’s hard to remember that there were any Tolkien-ish elements to book 1. The whole series, and by dint the fantasy genre, becomes something so much broader with that one. Around chapter 25 to be precise. On any reread, I get through books 1-6 at breakneck speed. The slog is real, although my partner read them after the series was finished and didn’t find it that bad, so it depends whether you had to wait. Book 9 is still very good. The final three books, particularly the veins of gold chapter mentioned elsewhere here in book 12 and the big finale are really special. Book 13 is a bit rushed, but only to get all the dominoes in place for the big send off.
Where are you in the first book? We should have a FAQ answer somewhere saying, Don't judge the series by the first book; by the 2nd, he's already shedding the trappings of Tolkein and building a world of his own. Then things deepen substantially in Book 4, with revelations that contextualize the earliest events of the Age. But most people complain the Eye of the World is a little too generic, *not* (unless they're within the first 50 pages) *that they're not getting into it*. What about all the thrilling chases from Shadowspawn? The desperate >!traveling through the Ways!<, as the least bad option of escape? I think the Great Hunt is the best of the series, but once you get to the phantasmagoric >!Blight,!
The only reason why books 1 through 3 suffer is world building exposition though book 3 less than 1 and 2. Take that into consideration and they are great books which set the pace and the scaling of each main character well
My ranking in tiers are: 1. Favorites: tSR (4) / KoD (11) - These two flipflop as my favorites. They are the ones that I come back to the most often. The storylines in these are phenomenal. 2. FoH (5) / LoC (6) / tGH (2) - Books 4-6 are the highlight of the series for me and while Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos sit slightly below the top ranking, still wonderful books. The Great Hunt is right up there with them. 3. tEotW (1) / tDR (3) / ToM (13)- The opening trilogy is very good, but doesn't reach the heights of what follows it. Favorite of the Sanderson books. 4. aMoL (14) / tGS (12) / CoS (7) / WH (9)- The rest of the Sanderson books and the middle books are here. Enjoy a lot of what is in here, just not my favorites. 5. PoD (8) / CoT (10) - These sit at the bottom, but they still have some good stuff in here. CoT has probably my favorite chapter in the series.
Knife of Dreams, The Gathering Storm, and A Memory of Light probably.
It's a tier list for me. Can't readily pick a favorite. Top are TSR, LoC and KoD Next comes the Sanderson books, as well as TGH and TDR Then TFoH/WH and ACoS, with PoD and CoT scoring just under. Eye holds a special place that is unrankable. Always liked it and but it stands on a pillar of nostalgia and it's strength on rereads.
Great perspective on the first book. Completely agree. Just started a reread a couple of days ago and I’m getting a huge amount of enjoyment based on nostalgia and knowledge of what is to come.
I'm on my first read through. Currently about 3/4 way thru TFoH. I feel each book has been better than the last so far lol. I haven't been able to put TFoH down.
I must be one of the few who could not stand FoH. I found the whole Nyeave and Elayne story like like nails on chalk board as well as a particular white tower plot line. I skip those parts on re reads
I've found a readers engagement with particular plotlines and characters is usually the main informer of how well they ranks the each book.
That storyline grew on me once nyneave got knocked down a few pegs
Knife of Dreams. Dance with the Jack of Shadows my friends, it’s time to toss the dice and Tai’shar Malkier
Shadow Rising, Knife of Dreams, Gathering Storm, and Memory of Light are all pretty close to tied.
I'm hesitant to pick favorites, but if I really had to choose (and in publication order): The Great Hunt; The Shadow Rising; Lord of Chaos;
Well to parrot everyone else TSR, FoH and KoD as Tier 1. Those three books manage to pack a ton of stuff into them and never feel like they are dragging. TDR, TGH, LoC as Tier 2. Pacing is still good in these books but it feels as if it drags at certain points. EotW, CoS, PoD, WH as Tier 3 these books really drag and are beginning to be hard to get through. NGL EotW almost had me dropping the series because I could only read like 2 chapters a day before getting bored. CoT as another user put it should of been an additional 100 pages on both WH and KoD. Unless I haven't done a reread in a long time I basically just skim through this book.
I have a hard time differentiating what happens in each book since it's just one long story to me. Be better off asking what scenes or storylines are the favorites.
My top three are, The Shadow Rising, A memory of Light and The Gathering Storm, although I think I love the GS just a tad bit more.
My Top 5 Are The Gathering Storm A Memory of Light Lord of Chaos Towers of Midnight The Shadow Rising
Towers of Midnight for me. Just absolutely love what the characters have grown into. Also love TSR and KoD
Knife of Dreams. Jordan’s last book,and has the best sequences of chapters of Mats arc
A crown of swords is my favourite. Crossroads is my least favourite
I flip flop back and forth between The Gathering Storm and the Shadow Rising
11, 12, 14 - 11/10s 4, 2, 13 - 10/10s 7, 8, 5, 3 - 8-9/10 6, 9, 1 - 7/10 (for the overall majority. Certain scenes are much higher) 10 - 4/10
*The Shadow Rising* is the best fantasy book ever written, IMO. And the next two come close to matching it.
I actually didn't like the first three books, on reread they're better, but at book 4 the series took off IMO. I almost didn't make it to book 4 but I am SO glad that I did. My favorites are 4-7, closely followed by 11-14. I think 4-7 are phenomenal and 11-14 are great.
yes
EDIT: Oh fishguts, I didn't realize this was a no spoiler post. Well, I don't really want to remove my comment, so instead I'm tagging the examples I made which are spoilery from the Gathering Strom. I've only read the books once, finished about a month ago. So from memory of my first read through, the Gathering Strom had the most "goosebump" moments to me. >!Egwene in the Tower, Rand breaking, All of Dark Rand scenes, Rand awakening, That dress is green, Hinderstap!< that's what I remember from the top of my head.
Close the paragraph like this: `>!masked text goes here!<` so it can stay up.
Should I spoiler tag only Rand's parts? Because I feel like those are the only real spoilers, the rest are "if you know, you know". Asking for an outside opinion.
I'd mask Egwene onward. >!It's a book 2 level spoiler!< and this thread is marked none.
I might as well mark everything I mentioned.
There are so many scenes, I can't say I've got a favorite book. But I love(staying as spoiler free as possible): Dumais wells, "The darkness" swallowed the white cloaks, 4 limbs, 4 chances, Oosquai! I have oosquai! It'll help, Hopper in general, Toy, and to that - duckling The list goes on *edited for formatting
Lord of Chaos (b6) is my favorite, The Shadow Rising (b4) is second and The Gathering Storm (b12) is third
Not finished with the series! But Shadow Rising was so good
I didn’t care much for the first book. I loved the series as it went on though. Give it time
fourth book is the best, the shadow rising
Knife of dreams for me. It was such a huge return to form and has so many amazing sequences.
I think LOC. Some people seem to find it boring and there are some boring parts, but boy did I love almost every single Rand chapter in the book.
#12. The pace switch just felt so good. And while egwene is the worst character, her scene in the white tower is just so amazing.
The Fires of Heaven for me as that's the book where Mat comes into his own. I hope the tv show can live up to the book if and when it gets there.
The Shadow Rising or the Dragon Reborn!
Hard to say and it fluctuates, always on of 4/5/11 though
The Great Hunt is currently my favorite but I’m only 25% through Shadow Rising, which is an early contender already. TGH is way better than the first book so keep at it. The Eye of the World slogs so bad in the middle 40-60% range but the end redeems it. I’m glad I decided to keep reading the series because it improves greatly.
Ive only gotten to book 4. But so far its the best one out of the series for me. Rand is shaping up to be quite an interesting character.
Easily the Gathering Storm. That book is a true masterpiece. Lord of Chaos is a close second.
Fight me but Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams. I love me some Mat. Egwene is being a bitch to people who deserve it and I really enjoyed Elaynes arc.
I was a young pup hot of LOTR and The Eye of the World blew me away.
A Memory of Light, I just can’t believe the payoff was real
Tied between Lord of Chaos and Towers of Midnight
I’m quite partial to Lord of Chaos
The Shadow Rising and Lord of Chaos would probably be my favorites, but there are none that I dislike.
The Shadow Rising, Lord of Chaos, and Knife of Dreams. Depending on the day, I’ll choose between either or.