Some pretty big things actually happened in this installment (re: development of Rand's relationships, his goals for saidin, etc., but a lot of it was more about politickin' and another slow buildup to whatever is next. I liked it that Mat's story is finally moving along with the fulfillment of an important prophecy.

I was commenting to Hubby that the Forsaken are pretty crappy villains. They don't really do much except sit around and be evil. They finally got a chance to come out of their hidey-holes at the end of this one, but we didn't even get to see most of the fights occur "on stage." Meh.

It appears that maybe my prediction of Demandred's secret identity was wrong. We shall see.

Hoping we'll finally get to see Elaida's @$$ handed to her in the next book.

This one wasn't my favorite, but I'm in this for the long haul. ( )

7/10

Although not a fast-paced story by any stretch, this more compact volume in the series seemed to move along fairly well. Lots of different viewpoints and some plot lines actually progressed.

I really need a printed cast of characters, though, and one that cross-references the characters (mostly the Forsaken) who have multiple names. That was the most confusing part for me at the climax--trying to figure out who was who. ( )

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the others (so far). A whole lot of hurry up and wait do nothing. ( )

Fantasy

Rereading. As remembered, some of this book is boring and slow, and some is exciting and interesting. So many of the relationships in this series are dysfunctional, it makes me wonder what Jordan's own marriage is like. He excels at worldbuilding, which I love, but even I get tired of all the description. Still, many plotlines moved forward, even if not fast enough for my taste. The ending finale is good. With all the ter'angreal around, it makes me wonder why the Forsaken don't have any. Is that the Dark One's doing, to keep them from challenging him? In any case, it leaves them vulnerable to the likes of Cadsuane. Despite all the things that are annoying about this series, I still really like it. ( )

Ugh. How many books left? After reading (listening) to four books back-to-back, I'm taking a break. ( )

De vaart is weer een beetje terug in het verhaal. Rhand is ook weer wat aangenamer en de dames hebben een grote rol. Mooi. ( )

Definitely not my favorite, I just wish the ending battle was longer. I feel like it could have been very interesting, and could have developed more, but it ended fairly quickly after 700 pages of largely minor things happening. I feel like Robert felt like he had to write an obligatory action sequence to keep readers interested, but those sorts of scenes weren't his favorites to write. It just seems like a pattern after the last few books. Setup for the most part, one big battle at the end. There was still enough here to keep me reading though. ( )

I thought the last book in the series was slow and feared I was in the midst of the so-called slough, but Winter's Heart is a delight to read. It helps that it's centered around my favorite characters, Rand and Mat, with a dose of Elayn that I tolerated (not a favorite character). Mr. Jordan manages to wrap up a few of the major plot points as well and kept the story moving along. I enjoyed this book a lot and I'm looking forward to see where we go next in this excellent series. ( )

Stuff happened!

Based on everything I have heard, I expected book 9, like book 8, to be rather blah. And parts of it were rather slow. But there were a couple of story lines that made a lot of progress and were interesting too. There were also a couple chapters that needed some pretty heavy editing -- my tongue tripped constantly while reading aloud. But still, I very much enjoyed this book. ( )

La Ruota del Tempo è un ciclo che tempo fa avevo abbandonato, ma che poi ho deciso di leggere ancora. Pur trovando dei difetti, non me ne pento.
La storia in sé è interessante e articolata. Riprende diverse mitologie, in particolare quelle orientali. Vi è un’immensa quantità di personaggi, tutti diversi tra loro, di condizioni economiche diverse e di popolazioni diverse con culture totalmente estranee le une alle altre. Questo in particolare è una delle cose che mi ha fatto continuare a leggere. Da ciò che ho potuto leggere del fantasy di solito il protagonista è maschio, bianco. Anche qui il protagonista è maschile, però con il corso dei libri si da sempre più spazio ai personaggi “secondari” senza cui Rand non potrebbe fare nulla, molti dei quali sono donne. Nei libri precedenti ho adorato Moiraine, e continuando a leggere i libri ho cominciato ad apprezzare anche Nynaeve e alcune delle altre donne della storia.
A parer mio l’autore ha mostrato di saper cogliere le diverse sfaccettature dei personaggi, di farceli odiare o amare, di farli crescere e cambiare.
Una pecca abbastanza consistente però è stato lo stile di scrittura. L’ho trovato troppo “tell” e poco “show” e inoltre nel racconto si avevano dei punti morti in cui succedeva poco o nulla. Avrei preferito che il racconto scorresse più velocemente, anche perché la lentezza della narrazione mi ha fatto prolungare di molto il tempo di lettura.
Nell’ultima trentina di pagine però si è arrivati ad una vera svolta nella storia, che mi ha fatto restare incollata al libro.
Mi piace anche che alla fine del libro ci sia un Glossario con note riguardanti le date storiche, i personaggi e le parole inventate che fanno parte del testo.


recensione postata anche qui http://thereadingpal.blogspot.it/2016/07/recensione-il-cuore-dellinverno-di.html ( )

Stórverk Jordans heldur áfram á sniglahraða. Hann dundar sér við að þróa persónurnar en mér fannst lítið vera að gerast og leið meir eins og að bókin væri einn ógnarlangur millikafli í stærra verki. ( )

This book isn't the worst of the slog. There is a lot of politicking and bureaucracy, but it helps show how young new leaders grow into their jobs. The Aiel first-sister ceremony is one of my favorite moments in the series so far, majestic, funny, shocking, and moving. Maybe real-life weddings should be like that. There is a long-awaited reunion that is horny in ways I was not expecting. There is an increasingly complicated (and somewhat kinky) scheme to escape the great port city of Ebou Dar, and the independent little city Far Madding has a cool security system. And we get a brief but consequential sizzler of an ending. ( )

A surprisingly enrapturing tale for a mid-series novel. Excluding, yet again, Jordan's antiquated perspective of the sexes being incomprehensible to one another with pithy aphorisms stated by his characters that fall to the level of misogyny and misandry, his deft weaving of multiple character arcs and story plots, some parallel, some intersecting, is unescapably admirable in keeping the reader engaged. The climactic ending of this tome where Rand, our hero, attempts to cleanse the tainted male half of the One Power aided by as well as opposed by many of the notable characters he's attracted to him through many of the previous novels is particularly satisfying. A sense of a major turning point is conveyed despite the many threats yet to be faced beyond the long-delayed but inevitable and ultimate Last Battle against the Dark One. ( )

Definite improvement over the previous title, this one saw a lot of action and seemingly long-discarded story points start to get resolved. ( )

As usual, there is a great heart stopping end but it's often a slow slog to get there. Perrin and Faile - yawn but at least that's at the beginning and then disappears. The whole 3 wifes bonded to Rand is all rather peculiar but hey ho. As is the Mat and Queen whoever relationship. Mat coming out with "She's my wife" about the Seanchan princess actually made me laugh out loud. I'd still rather read about Rand than any of the other characters although Nynaeve didn't annoy me quite so much in this novel. There's going to be lots more Faile in the next book though isn't there - SIGH. ( )

A man who trusts everyone is a fool and a man who trusts no one is a fool. We are all fools if we live long enough.

In my opinion, entirely too much of [b:Winter's Heart|13891|Winter's Heart (Wheel of Time, #9)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480096268s/13891.jpg|791225] if taken up by Perrin attempting to rescue Faile and Elayne solidifying her grip on the Lion Throne. Either is an interesting enough plot line to carry for a little while, but they just go on and on... I don't think I'd mind if either was shortened significantly or even dropped entirely if/when the Wheel of Time goes to TV.

One pair of cool scenes we get though is Elayne and Aviendha becoming first sisters and then they plus Min all three bonding Rand. The entire relationship between the four of them is just strange and I'm not really sure what the point is it from a meta narrative perspective. But we do get a few interesting bits, such as this scene. Aviendha and Min feeling Elayne and Rand having sex through the bond though... oy. So very awkward.

The main redeeming trait of Winter's Heart? The finale, where Rand and Nynaeve use the most powerful sa'angreal every made--the Choedan Kal--to cleanse saidin. Similar to the use of the Bowl of the Winds in [b:The Path of Daggers|140974|The Path of Daggers (Wheel of Time, #8)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390508613s/140974.jpg|1098593], this is a truly epic use of magic. On top of that, we have a direct battle between channelers of the Light and the Dark, without all those pesky soldiers to get in the way. Pretty intense.

Mat finally learning who the Daughter of the Nine Moons is pretty cool too. Quite a way to introduce yourself to your future wife... ( )

This is the first of the books I never read in my youth, swearing to return when Robert Jordan finally finished the whole thing and the fact the last few books had been... not good. Its only took me about 20 years to make that return. The series is starting to pick up again, but even so, its still only limping along. Again, the most exciting bits are shoveled into the last few chapters.

Much of the book focuses on Matt, but instead of actually spending time learning more about the Seanchean, for which this would have been a perfect opportunity, we're pretty much still in the dark in the end. There is creature hunting Matt... but that's not the story either. The story is his sexual encounters (or, attempting to avoid those encounters) with the queen. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

Somehow, Faile is still stuck with the Aiel.

It took an entire book for Rand to somehow make his way to Shadar Logoth to attempt the cleansing. And just as it picks up, you get to the end. Again. ( )

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Winter's Heart
Series: The Wheel of Time #9
Author: Robert Jordan
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 598
Words: 244.5K

Synopsis:

From Tarvalon.net & authored by Toral Delvar

After being subjected to the Chair of Remorse, Talene forswears her Black Ajah oaths and re-swears the Three Oaths, as well as one to obey Seaine, Pevara, Yukiri, Doesine and Saerin. She insists Elaida must be Black as the Black always knows what Elaida plans. Although they all doubt it, no one realizes Alviarin is Black. Taim arrives to meet with Elayne. He tells her he has damane and sul'dam for her. He grants her permission to inspect the Black Tower. She is instructed to strip for the first-sister ceremony while Taim is there. The ceremony involves the creation of a bond, in some ways similar to the Warder bond, between her and Aviendha. In the Black Tower, Toveine considers the various factions present and how she might be able to use them to escape. Logain is trying to find men interested in Healing severing. It is announced that Damer, Jahar and Eben are rebels. Rand lays false trails and tells Min he plans to cleanse saidin.

Perrin returns from meeting Masema, who is keen to go to Rand, but not by using the One Power. Perrin learns Faile has been taken by the Shaido. Alliandre tells the Aiel who she is. Galina Heals the prisoners. Alliandre, Faile and Morgase are set to work as Sevanna's maids and told to spy on her by Therava. Galina enlists them to fetch an Oath Rod in return for aiding their escape. Perrin learns Masema has been meeting with the Seanchan. Masema agrees to help Perrin look for Faile, even accepting the use of Travelling.

Hanlon organizes and foils an attack on Elayne and is named Captain of her bodyguard. Rand Travels to Caemlyn to meet Nynaeve and to arrange the cleansing saidin. Nynaeve teaches the Windfinders and Talaan asks to be a novice. Alivia and two of the damane decide they no longer wish to be damane. The sul'dam refuse to admit they can channel. Min forces Rand to meet with Elayne and Aviendha. He tells all three he loves them and they tell him the same, much to Nynaeve's disgust. All three of them bond him as their Warder and all are concerned about the pain he feels and that the only emotion they can sense is his love for them. He sleeps with Elayne, much to Birgitte's displeasure, getting her pregnant according to one of Min's viewings. Min, Lan and Nynaeve leave with Rand, taking Alivia, angreal and ter'angreal. Merilille returns from meeting the Borderland army and Elayne goes to meet them. She decides to use their presence in Andor to try and unite the factions behind her. On her return, she learns from Norry that there are four small armies approaching from the east.

Harine argues with Cadsuane. Sorilea announces that the last of the captive Aes Sedai, all Red, have sworn fealty to Rand. Corele announces that Damer has Healed Irgain. He is allowed to Heal the other two Aes Sedai stilled by Rand. Alanna collapses and will not wake. Dobraine impresses Cadsuane by telling her that he has sent Darlin and Caraline to Tear, where Darlin is to be Steward.

The Forsaken learn of the decision to cleanse saidin and are told by Moridin to kill Rand to stop him. Tuon arrives in Ebou Dar, regretful over having a damane beaten for a telling of the future she did not like. Mat tries to persuade Aludra to help him make weapons, and to persuade Beslan to be sensible. Mat sees that the Mistress of the Ships has been executed for rebellion. He arranges passage out of Ebou Dar with the circus. He is attacked by the gholam and saved by Noal, who distracts it. He meets Tuon, stopping the dice in his head. She offers to buy him from Tylin and takes a general interest in him, later offering to buy his ashandarei.

Mistress Anan shows him Joline. Mat agrees to help them escape, along with Teslyn, who, he learns, warned Elayne and Nynaeve, just to spite Elaida. Teslyn insists he also free Edesina. Mat sees Domon and Egeanin together. Bethamin is told by a Seeker to befriend Egeanin, in order to spy on her, but Bethamin warns her instead. Domon decides to enlist Mat's help as he remembers him escaping Trollocs. Tylin tells Mat that she is going with Suroth to see which lands will be hers. He talks Juilin into stealing an a'dam and a damane dress. Setalle tries to hold Joline with it, but both fall to the floor whimpering. Domon accosts him and Mat persuades Egeanin to leave quickly with him, and also to procure for him three sul'dam. He releases Nestelle, a Windfinder who promises to wait before trying to free the others. Mat is forced to tie up Tylin, who has returned unexpectedly. Tuon tries to stop him leaving, but Mat and Noal tie her up. Juilin brings Amathera. Egeanin reveals that Tuon is the Daughter of the Nine Moons when she sees her. Mat says that she is his wife. Selucia arrives and relaxes when Mat promises not to hurt her but to take her with them, which causes Tuon to smile.

In Far Madding, Rand fights Kisman and Rochaid, killing Rochaid. Kisman escapes but is killed by Fain, who wants Rand for himself. Min worries that Rand felt nothing. Isam/Luc is killing people for one of the Forsaken, who hides his own identity. Cadsuane takes Harine, Shalon, various Aes Sedai and the Asha'man Warders to Far Madding. Shalon notices tensions between the groups. It is revealed that within Far Madding is a ter'angreal that mimics a stedding, in that no one can sense the One Power or channel within its bounds. Cadsuane talks to the First Council and Verin mentions the dangers of upsetting anyone with an army as large as the Dragon Reborn’s. Alanna goes to see Rand. He sends her to Haddon Mirk to deal with the Tairen rebels. Verin decides not to poison Cadsuane after learning of her intent to remind Rand that he is human.

Rand learns that the Stone is under siege and that the Seanchan are advancing into Illian. He gets Verin to ask Cadsuane to be his advisor. Nynaeve and Cadsuane are revealed to be carrying channeling wells, a type of ter'angreal that allows them to store a measure of the Power and use it, even in Far Madding. Rand, Nynaeve and Lan go to kill Torval and Gedwyn. They watch them enter their dwelling, and are then lifted in by Nynaeve, using the One Power. Min and Alivia fetch Cadsuane. Inside, Torval and Gedwyn are dead, having been killed by Fain. Fain attacks Rand, who is severely affected by the pain in his side. Toram attacks Lan, but is quickly dealt with. Fain flees. Rand and Lan are arrested by men who were sent to investigate Nynaeve's use of the Power. Cadsuane intimidates the rulers into releasing Rand by showing them that she can use the Power within Far Madding.

They Travel to a spot outside Shadar Logoth. Rand and Nynaeve link and use the two great sa'angreal. He links the taint to the city using saidar. The others form into groups to try and protect him, taking angreal. Cadsuane maintains a shield around him and Nynaeve, while Elza, Merise and Jahar stay near him for added protection. Damer, Sarene and Corele fight Demandred; Shalon, Verin and Kumira fight Graendal; Eben, Daigian and Beldeine fight Aran'gar, who, they are surprised to discover, can use saidin. Alivia fights Cyndane and Elza kills Dashiva. Moghedien avoids fighting and sees a great black dome form, and when it collapses she is sucked towards it. The taint is shown to be gone, but Kumira and Eben are killed. Damer Heals everyone else.

My Thoughts:

This book was on a one way ticket to 3 stars for the first 85% of the book. Jordan just dicks around and overdescribes everything. When someone walks into a room we get a detailed description of everything they see, from the scenery to the people to the clothes they are wearing to the weather conditions, etc. It felt exactly like what Dickens did in his books, but Jordan is no Dickens and it bored me.

What was worse, Jordan would do this WHILE characters were having conversations. So Egwene would be talking to Elayne and ask a question and then we'd get a paragraph of what Elayne was wearing or what Egwene was feeling and in the freaking middle of all that blather Jordan would insert Elayne's one sentence answer. I ended up just skimming and looking for quote marks when characters started talking to each other. And that 85% is either setup or nothing. I felt the bloat so bad that I wondered if I needed to take some pepto bismol™.

The last 15% were good enough though to make up for it. Rand is bonded by the 3 women (which was interesting as I had forgotten that Min wasn't able to channel and so how they included her was interesting just from a “huh, so that's how they do that” perspective) and the cleansing of Saidin. THAT was a big battle between a bunch of the Forsaken and allies of Rand. While not as intense as the Battle of Dumai Wells (where the Ashaman rescued Rand and beat the snot out of the Aiel), it was good enough to raise this up to 4 stars.

But it brought to mind, once again, just how weak the Forsaken actually are. That leads into how in the world did they do what they did in the last breaking of the world? Whatever, that question just never gets answered.

On a completely different note, I REALLY like this ebook cover. I tried to find a high-res cover but all I could find was this 450x680 version. I even tried using TinEye and came up empty. I just like how it shows Rand using the Key and it's a good reminder that he's Aeil. I keep forgetting he's got red hair even though it is mentioned in almost every book :-D

★★★★☆ ( )

If it wasn't obvious enough before, this book makes it strikingly clear that Robert Jordan didn't hold himself to normal fiction-writer standards—and that is both good and bad.

Rather than attempt to at least progress some of the absolute nothing that happened in Path of Daggers, Jordan saw fit to introduce new plotlines, as if that were the most normal thing to do in bloody book 9 of a series. Egwene's plotline—the only marginally interesting story of book 8—is shunned aside to make way for more "exciting" plot twists.

Faile's and co.'s kidnapping and Perrin's resulting emo-ness, as well as Elayne's boring succession thread, would not have been nearly as frustrating if they hadn't been drawn out over at least 3 bloody books. Jordan graces us with more details than even the nerdiest of fantasy nerds care to read about, and it NEVER ENDS.

On a brighter note, Mat is back! Unfortunately, that also means Tylin is back, but Mat's snarkiness is a much-needed buffer to all the less exciting stuff going on throughout Randland.

Rand continues to harden, which is extremely frustrating to watch. It's a good thing Min is always around to remind him to feel something every now and then.

As slow-paced and intricately detailed these later Wheel of Time books become, I can't help but admire Robert Jordan at least slightly for crafting such a believable and complex world. He must have had a super-sized brain to be able to maintain the magnitude of his Wheel of Time world.

I've said it before, but no one can spoil a medicore book with an epic ending quite like Robert Jordan can. The ending of this book is the most epic of the entire series to date. It remains to be seen if the Last Battle will surpass it. Rand cleansing saidin is a huge, huge deal, especially since we've been plowing through Elayne's irritation due to her pregnancy diet and Mat's continued abuse from Tylin for 700 pages. It felt so good to finally see something astronomically good happen to the Light side, and the whole cleansing sequence always has me "on my feet" with anticipation. I love the way Jordan captures so many viewpoints without slowing down the suspense.

And now I'm going to try to forget that it takes a very long time for the effects of the cleansing to finally take stage . . . . ( )

Another great book in the Wheel of Time series. ( )

Oh man. I picked up this series in 2002 or 2003 and blazed through all the books published to date, which I think was Crossroads of Twilight. At this point, I can't believe I made it that far in the series. I remember thinking that the first book was all right, but even after book three I started getting WoT fatigue. And now, looking back, I really have no desire to reread in order to finish off the series, because there is no way I could jump back in with book 11 and have any idea what is going on. ( )

I loved this book. It might have been a little political, but I personally found it intriguing.

The only thing this book needed was a little more of a certain man named, uh, MAT CAUTHON. ( )

I love the wheel of time series and I've been reading the series since the 90's and I've reread these books at least 4 times and I always say the whole series is my favorite whenever anybody asks which books I like.

The way Robert Jordan describes his world, he does it in such detail that you can picture it in your mind and I just love his characters he created. He has so many characters that have there own storyline and there own adventures they go on and I love following them. Sometimes I go back and reread individual characters storyline and each reread I discover something new about them because Robert Jordan is so detailed with his characters that sometimes you don't catch everything on the first read.

I would recommend this series to anybody.
( )

This is definitely one of my favorites of the series! Lan and Nynaeve are reunited and married! And Rand, Elayne, Aviendha, and Min are finally reunited...and they bond Rand...Also, the cleansing of Saidin! There is also the battle between Aes Sedai, Asha'man, and Forsaken as Rand and Nynaeve are in the process of cleansing the male half of the Source...one of the best of the series!! ( )