A Review of Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

After almost two years waiting, fans of the Wheel of Time series have been starved for this continuance of Robert Jordan's fantasy epic.  Knife of Dreams delivers everything you have come to expect from Jordan's masterful storytelling.  If you're reading this review looking to pick up a new read, then you should look to the Eye of the World, the first of this series.  As any fan will tell you, it is nearly impossible to grasp the complexities of all the characters, plots, and histories in the Wheel of Time without starting at the beginning.

So, if you're still reading, I must assume you have familiarity with the rest of the series.  What can you expect from Knife of Dreams: a major step forward in most plots, resolution of many hints and foreshadowed events, a strong declaration that book twelve will finish the series, and a bit of a change in Jordan's writing style.  Jordan seemed determined to avoid the slow, meandering pace of some of the more recent Wheel of Time offerings.  While the general time frame covered in Knife of Dreams stays consistent with the more recent novels, about two months or so are covered (as opposed to the year or so covered in the early books), much more is accomplished in Knife of Dreams than in, for example, A Crown of Swords.  Furthermore, the rushed, heavy-handedness of Crossroads of Twilight or Winter's Heart is definately gone.  Jordan took his time on this one and it definately has the well-crafted feel of the best works in the series.