2024 the best tv series of all time review


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The fourth book in Robert Jordan's internationally bestselling epic fantasy series, THE WHEEL OF TIME, now reissued with a stunning new cover design. The Stone of Tear, invulnerable fortress of legend, has fallen. The Children of the Dragon have risen to the call of prophecy and march to the aid of the Light. Callandor, the Sword That Is Not a Sword, is held by Rand al' Thor, the man proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn. But still the shadows lengthen and still the Forsaken grow in strength. If he is to fight them, Rand must master the male half of the True Source, a power corrupted by the Dark One, a power that drives men to madness, a power that may save or damn the world. Find out more about this title and others at www.orbitbooks.co.uk
Reviewer: Jonathan "Jimmy Dean" Lane: libertarian
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Easily the best thus far
Review: As always, if I get the spellings of names and places wrong, just let me know. Don't flame, don't hate, just let me know. Thank you.As I wrote an extremely lengthy review for book two, but failed to write one for the equally mediocre book three, I will try to keep this one brief. Sorry if I’ve failed in that endeavor, but these are long books, and require long reviews. Up to this point The Wheel of Time has been a long disjointed disappointment, occasionally flashing me with brief glimpses of greatness such as the Seanchan plot line in book two, but as a whole has been one long wordy mess after another. I can only read so many chapters of long pointless descriptions strung together with horribly sexist female characters and the bland male counterparts who put up with them. Book three took a step in the right direction when it carted all the female characters off into their own plot line so I could skim over their parts. As far as I'm concerned the quality of these books is judged entirely on one thing: Mat/Perrin> Nynave/Egwene/Elayne. The more Mat and Perrin, and the less of those three wenches, the better the book. Simple.TSR starts as all Wheel books do, with an improbable and unbelievable attack by darkfriends. In this case, it’s a small army of Trollocs and Fades sneaking into the most powerful fortress in the world by hiding in barrels (yeah, barrels, You read that right) and nearly capturing the "most powerful fort in the world" for the second time in a week. Note to Jordan, if he wants me to think this Stone of Tear is so damn strong, don't make it so easy to take. Just saying. Upon the completion of the obligatory opening fight scene, Rand, Mat, and Egwene are off to the Aiel Waste to meet with the Wise Ones and hopefully raise an army while Perrin returns to Emonds Field to confront the Whitecloacks who've taken up residence there. Nynaeve /Elayne meanwhile travel to Tanchico to find the Black Ajah while Min- what little we see of her- returns to Tar Valon to help the Amyrlin Seat hunt down traitors in her midst.As I said, this book starts out like all of Jordan’s previous ones, but as page after endless page goes by (yeah, these books are way too long) the story started getting better. The further from Tear the characters traveled the better the story got. One of my all-time favorite moments in all the series takes place when Rand travels to a ruined city in the Waste and discovers the shocking truth behind the Aiel. Not since Nynaeve went through the Ter'Angreal in Tar Valon to become accepted has such an awe inspiring moment occurred (a true feat considering how long these books are). It’s truly amazing some of the backstory that went into this series. That chapter alone would earn this book at least a three even if the rest was nothing but Nynaeve tugging her braid. Not even Egwene manages to ruin it. She does make her usual annoying comments here and there, but Mat and Rand have grown accustomed to ignoring her. Good for them.Though Rand has always been the main character/Jesus figure in the series I've never really liked him. He's always come off to me as a leaf blowing about aimlessly with no real idea where he wants to go or how he would get there. People, circumstances, and simple madness tug him about and he goes along with it. TSR is the first book where he becomes a leader in his own right and starts take the story into his own hands. He even stops listening to the female characters, which in all honesty he should have done somewhere near the beginning of book two. Character growth isn't Jordan's strong suit, but at last he's decided to try.Perrins story, meanwhile, is easily my favorite. Even though it starts out pretty rough with his girlfriend Faile (the only female character I actually like) trying her best to make me unlike her, but once they get back to Emonds Field all her transgressions were quickly forgiven and I was treated to the best story arch of the entire series thus far. Trollocs and Whitecloacks infest The Two Rivers and it is up to Perrin and his merry band of plucky farm folk to fight them off. It’s a crime that we had to wait four books for an honest to God battle but we’ve finally gotten it, and it is glorious. OK, maybe the First Battle if Emonds Field wasn’t so great, but the skirmishes that proceeded it, and the siege that followed, were all grade A stuff. Not only that, but we finally see a worthwhile romantic relationship develop between the ONLY likeable-dare I say loveable- female character, Fail, and her hairy blacksmith Perrin. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have a female character I actually like. Before Fail came along I cringed every time a female in this series open her mouth. Now I only cringe when a female who isn’t Fail opens her mouth. PROGRESS.On a side note, TSR is the first book in the series to acknowledge that sex exists, and that it’s something young people might want to do. With each other. This isn’t A Song of Ice and Fire; there are few nude scenes and no sex scenes, but it really helps mature the series to at least admit sex is a thing. I half suspected people reproduced via cuddling.And then we get to the Tanchico subplot. There is a cancer in this series, a cancer eating away at its very soul. A disease that if not cut out will forever ruin any enjoyment this series might give me. I’m speaking of course about. Nynaeve, Nynaeve, Nynaeve, why is this woman still a main character? Why is she still hanging around, infecting good story lines with her crap? I swear if I have to listen to her whine and complain about how mull headed men are, or tug on her braid, or act out in that arrogant way she does, I’m going to start skipping over every chapter she appears in. I’m serious, I’m that sick of this woman. I’d take Joffery from Song of Ice and Fire over Nynaeve. That's how much I hate her. Wheelers, for the love of God, please tell me Jordan kills this woman off . I might have liked the Tanchico plot if not for her,even Elayne didn’t bother me TOO much. But my God people, did Jordan hate women or was he really just that out of touch?SPOILERBut for all the Nynaeve hate I’ve expressed, even I have to admit this book ended with a bang. From Perrins heroic last stand in the Second Battle of Emonds Field, to Rand outsmarting Lanfear, and even Nynaeve’s extremely epic magic battle with one of the Forsaken, its, dare I say, even better than the ending to book two. Hell, even Min, who only appears for a few brief chapters (well, at least what could be considered brief for a Wheel of Time book) has some really amazing moments that had me on the edge of my seat. The ending is what really gets this book a five star rating for me.In conclusion, I’m happy to see Wheel of Time finally, in my mind, drag itself out of mediocrity and become something truly great. The series as a whole may be less than stellar, but this book is amazing. Let’s hope the follow up, The Fires of Heaven, can live up to this one.

Reviewer: Bryan Desmond
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Wheel turns..
Review: Whew. This one took me a while. But clocking in at a little over 1000 pages (and according to Wikipedia's word counts), it's the longest one yet. Don't be fooled though, into thinking my long read time was due to the book itself. No, real life simply got in the way. The Shadow Rising, much like The Great Hunt, was entertaining all the way through. And like The Dragon Reborn it felt very complete. I felt that it accomplished a lot for being the fourth of a fourteen book series.There was a particularly satisfying amount of worldbuilding in this one, still Jordan's greatest strength I'd say. We especially learned a lot about the Fremen- er, the Aiel, in this one, through some really excellent Rand scenes. I've always said that Brandon Sanderson is very accomplished at answering reader questions through his books, while at the same time using those answers to raise greater, and even more complex, questions. I now see that this was a tactic he'd had some inspiration for in the form of Robert Jordan. Jordan does exactly that in this book, showing the reader a glimpse, giving us a taste, of the vast, deep mysteries surrounding certain elements of this story. He gives us some answers. And I have a whole lot more questions. I'm also consistently pleased with just how.. cosmic, and mystical, this series can be. For a traditional Fantasy story, the Wheel of Time has some truly trippy moments brought about through the One Power. To the point of me wondering how multiverse theory could fit in with the Power and the True Source. Exciting stuff.Beyond that, there was some very solid character development in this installment, and unfortunately some areas where I'd like to see improvement. Perrin's plot line took center stage for me in this one. Perrin is a character in turmoil. A man struggling between the life he'd choose and the life duty has seen fit to give him. Ta'veren can only stray so far from the Pattern.. And as he wrestles with this internal battle, Perrin is growing. I won't give anything away, but the events surrounding him in this book are really fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing him progress. Now, the other side of the coin. I'm a little put out at some of the female characters. Specifically Nynaeve and Elayne's plot line. Don't mistake me, I really enjoyed it. It was a worthwhile segment of the story. But at times Jordan's female characters do feel a little underdeveloped. Not all of them mind you, but some. Many of them seem to be driven by nothing more than either unending desire for men, or hatred of the same. Aspects of Nynaeve's character for example are really well done, and very interesting. And then there's the part of her that seems to be perpetually spiteful to everything moving. It's a little.. stale. So as I said, it isn't that I didn't enjoy it, but I'd like to see improvement there. As for our 'main' character.. Rand's chapters were some of the most interesting in the book. It's hard to review these and mention specifics, because the characters and their situations have changed so much from the first book. Rand has come a long way from sheepherder in the Two Rivers. Watching him do so has been exciting, and I'm eager to see what he'll do next.Hell, I'm eager to see what all of them will do next. I am loving this story, and the journey so far. Book five up next.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This book is from a series that was suggested by a friend. We enjoyed the tv series and he suggested I read the books. They are long and he tells me there are 14 books. I am not a great reader but bought the first book (over 500 pages). Well, I am now on my 6th book. The story develops into various story lines, develops very realistic characters with internal struggles. The author seems to take joy in the men in the story giving there wisdom about women, and similarly, women giving their wisdom about men. I often share these bits of wisdom with may wife so we can both laugh. She particularly likes the "wisdom about men". Regretfully, I tried to rewatch the tv series after I read the first book and knew more of the background of the characters. However, i found the stories to be quite different. Like the tv one needed to crunch much of the story to fit into a series framework. Still a good series but now I need to think of it as an alternate story.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Another great continuation of the series. A great read from start to finish. The suspense holds on every page. Onwards yo book 5

Reviewer: kunal singhal
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Probably the best moment yet experienced for Perrin. It was surreal to watch his journey. Loved the ladies plot in Tanchico too. Rand as usual takes the story to the next level in Aiel Waste.

Reviewer: Mia
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Jättebra bok - men finns mer att önska när det gäller hållbarheten av pappret och inbindningen. Ser väldigt välsliten ut efter endast en läsning. En del av texten var lite suddig också…

Reviewer: Marcos Tadeu Medeiros Rosemberg Peixoto
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Muito bom.

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