Bryce's Reviews > Winter's Heart

Wow. What a difference a book makes. The series went from its low point last book to a fantastic book this outing. (Someone explain to me why they decided to have Perrin walking through snow on the cover. Yes, it's called Winter's Heart, and snow is a wintry thing, but still--why no Shadar Logoth on the horizon with Rand and Nynaeve being assaulted by all the Forsaken and protected by Asha'man and Aes Sedai? Seriously. Would have been a great cover . . .)

In any case, I almost gave this book a five star. (Elayne's sections managed to bring it down for me. That conflict and Perrin chasing Faile both feel extremely contrived to me, and it frustrates me when I have to read them.) The book was very well paced, had tons of great action scenes, the plot advanced by leaps and bounds--seriously a great Wheel of Time entry. Yes, it was a bit spotty, with huge chunks of one plot line at a time, but I was okay with that. Each one stopped at a reasonable time, and each one (with the exceptions noted above) kept things interesting.

It also helped that Rand didn't seem quite so Froot Loopy this time around--he had a plan, he stuck with it. Sure, he did some stupid things, but he's trying not to go crazy--I'll cut him some slack. Mat's sections were fantastic. Love the reveal of the Daughter of the Nine Moons.

All in all, a great read. Makes me really look forward to book 12 coming at the end of October . . .