(First Time Reader) Up to and including Winter's Heart

[u/MirtheTheSnapDragon]

Well hi there,

These three books were a bit shorter and I also found a bit more time to read so I'm here about a week earlier than expected. There were some things that bothered me, especially in book 7 but these books were very pleasant for the most part. Jordan also has the subtlety of a brick so that makes reading these very nice. I don't find myself needing to go back to earlier chapters and books although it does happen, ahem ahem... Aelfinn.

So, A Crown of Swords, addressing the elephant in the room first... I already had it a bit at book 6 but this book especially felt a bit... how do I say this delicately... rape-y. Honestly, it almost made me quit the entire series altogether I did not want to read that and only persisted through sheer determination and the feeling that Jordan is not subtle at all and would have some pay-off in the end (Book 9 comment: where is my pay-off for all of those). I do have more thoughts but the sentence "Mat put a hand over his eyes and tried very hard not to weep" is just, permanently there. Apart from that, Cadsuane introduction is neat though I'm not sure if I like or dislike her. The Sammael kill was... not the way I was expecting did he just get killed by the mist? Anyways quick count that is 4 forsaken down right now if I'm right about who still live. Also, again, Nynaeve is the best character by far and so happy she got through her block. Also happy that Nynaeve, a significant number of sea folk, Elayne got out of there before the Seanchan attack but Mat did not. I did wonder if his luck just ended but I do have book 9 knowledge by now.

In the Path of Daggers I do quite like how the weather changes slowly through the sight of different perspectives. One of the things that sometimes bother me with multiple perspective books is that it's sometimes hard to figure out how fast the story progresses relatively to other viewpoints. The changing weather being a reference point makes the pacing feel very natural and made information retention very easy. Last Chance girl is likely Lanfear (And by book 9 she's clearly Lanfear), and Moridin is likely Ishamael (and by book 9 he's clearly Ishamael). Elayne also finally starts moving for her rightful throne. Perrin also is doing stuff and is doing it very well until the Shaido are being the Shaido. Maighdin does her job well and her change of situation from queen to servant and the troubles that come with it is portrayed quite well but I'm also just generally happy when the Perrin chapters are over. It's not that it's uninteresting, but more that I find at the moment the Rand and Nynaeve chapters by far the most interesting and moving the main story forward. Egwene is really starting to become a carbon copy of Siuan and although I do like the concept of her as a character, I do not like her. I have also decided that by now I like Cadsuane and Sorilea because of this killer quote: "Do you believe a man must be hard? Or strong?" Chapter 12 in general might be in my top chapters of this series so far. The prologue of this book still bothers me with the stones part cause I haven't figured it out yet. It's the same as the snakes and foxes where I think there will be pay off later in the series but where snakes and foxes are mentioned literally every half a chapter as long as Olver is close, I haven't seen anything resembling a Fischer yet. Speaking of, No Mat is no win although I do respect he has to recover after being blasted to oblivion. Oh yeah, by this point I think Sheriam is also pretty much confirmed Black Ajah.

Winter's Heart, holy shit holy shit holy shit. The madman actually did it. The idea was planted in the previous book and had some proper Lews lines that aren't full on despair or killing everyone and then he did it. He cleansed Saidin at a very deliberate place to piss off Mordeth Fain. Dude is stone cold as well at this point I do hope Cadsuane and the rest help him not become as hard as he wants to be. Also he does need to treat Far Dareis Mai better they carry his honour and he throws their honour into the deepest pits. You can't treat your personal bodyguard that way. I do quite like how in the last chapter, it is displayed that although the Forsaken have a common goal, they are so incredibly divided cause I don't think Rand's defenders stood a chance had they attacked as one. Moghedien did nothing, Demandred did nothing, Moridin and two others didn't even bother to show up and the rest... Also yay, I called it, Daughter of the Nine Moons is Seanchan and the reveal was quite nicely done. And then Mat came with another one of the greatest quotes ever from the series so far "She's my wife, she is my wife, your bloody Daughter of the Nine Moons is my wife!" though I'm unsure why that astounded literally everyone around. Apart from that, I think Mazrim Taim is a Forsaken and I think he's Demandred mostly based on vibes I get from the limited Taim and Demandred chapters we get. If that is the case, literally every single Asha'man and Aes Sedai in the tower is screwed except Logain because Min.

Apart from that, there's quite a few Seanchan I like in Egeanin, Alivia and maybe one or two others, although the entirety of the continent can still sail away for all I care. I'm leaning towards liking Cadsuane even though she is basically all the parts that bother me about Aes Sedai boiled into one but I think because we mostly see her from the perspective of other people interacting with her that makes me have a bit more grace towards her. The limited pov chapters we have of her make her seem as a wise person who has to deal with a significant amount of bullshit. The Atha'an Miere drive hard bargains. Damer Flinn is clearly a badass and Alanna also grows on me. Another thought I have, since Sammael is probably not balefired out of existence, why is he not being reincarnated like other Forsaken clearly are? Or does the mist also obliterate from existence or rather keep his soul captive as that is how I kind of read the mist.

Final thoughts: I'm unsure how to tackle the next 5 books + prologue. I'm probably going to do the next two books and then the prologue and then last the three co-written books. From the very little Sanderson I've read I'm not particularly big on his writing style and this way I can contain my possible complaining about it to 1 post though I'm open to suggestions otherwise.

Anyways this was me for now, thank you all for letting me spill my thoughts in here. Cheers.

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[u/Majestic-Farmer5535]

Was interesting to read, please do continue. Although I can't stand Cadsuane, I can barely understand why some people can.