The Path of Daggers by Robert JordanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Robert Jordan really believed in drawing out a story! Here I am, just finished book 8 of this series, just past the halfway mark through the tale. It makes me a bit weary, honestly, knowing that I still have six thick volumes ahead of me before things are resolved.
In this fantasy world, men & women believe that clear communication is impossible. Everyone seems to completely lose the ability to think when they fall in love. And people do fall in love, despite the hostility between the sexes. It makes me wonder what Jordan's marriage was like!
I'm used to backstabbing and double crossing in fantasy fiction, but usually the perpetrators have better reasons than these folks seem to. Its unclear what many of them seek to achieve. It's fascinating (like a car accident at the side of the road) to watch Egwene assert herself as the Amerlyn Seat, to wonder what will become of Elaida the pretender to that office, the state of various factions of Aes Sedai, Elayne's arrival in Camelin to claim her throne, and the alliance with the Windfinder women (and the team which used the Bowl of Winds). And that's not even mentioning what's happening with the men in the book!
This was a very female-centric book, staying largely focused on the many, many women involved in this tale, with short diversions to look in on Perrin and Rand. You would never guess Rand's central role from this installment! Over 600 pages, and we didn't get a sniff of what Mat is doing either.
Once again, I am left at the end of this novel with enough unresolved story lines that continuing is unquestionable. Despite the feeling that reading it was like wading through molasses! On to book 9 next year!
Book number 378 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
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