This was a great ranking! My take on Dumai’s Wells and why it was so impactful to me was just the sheer scope of the magic being wielded. There are times where the One Power seems almost elegant in its presentation, I mean strands of it are called weaves. He just totally flipped things on it’s head with how terrifying the One Power can be.

@beardfromtadcymru9714

Жыл бұрын

asha'man kill!

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

Yes absolutely, I agree it was a showcase of how terrifying it can be!! It really set up some of the later battles and uses of the One Power

Great list, you have a similar taste to myself with most of these books. The Gathering Storm is my absolute favorite and Tam al'Thor is one of the most underrated characters in the whole series.

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

I absolutely agree! Tam deserves the world!

This a good and very fair ranking. I probably would have had the Dragon Reborn higher, but that is just personal preferince. I think the problem with Lord of Chaos is that fans hype it up because of the ending. This leads to high expectation, which can then be disappointed. Also, the rest of the book is actually quite slow, so that can also cause problems with enjoying it.

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

Yeah I think that’s a fair assessment, I agree with you!

Now that it's been finished for a number of years, and after re-reads, the slog for me consists of only Crossroads of Twilight.

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

Interesting!! I can see this happening for sure, once you know where events are leading in the overall story framework it probably makes the progress feel more real

I’ve only read 1-3 and they get better and better here at the beginning but I will add this to watch later as I don’t want spoilers. Thanks!

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

I’m so glad you’re enjoying the start of the series!! Happy reading ☺️

Great breakdown!

Quickly skipped through some of the spoilery parts, but really loved hearing your explanations for this ranking!! The fact that Crossroads of Twilight got its own separate category cracks me up, lol. I have Lord of Chaos up next, so it's good to know that I should probably temper my expectations a bit for that ending. Great ranking!! 🤩

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

I can’t help but not want to put any other book in the same category as CoT, it’s in a league of its own 😂 I’m interested to know how you feel about LoC because I know lots of people do love that ending so we shall see which side you fall on!!

Well, i thought this was not going to contain spoilers.

Great video, and I thought you were reading my mind up to Lord of Chaos! Firstly happy for you that you read New Spring when you did, I saved it to the end, which is the worst time I think as it's a huge come down after the epic ending. I think LoC is the beginning of the slog but loved the end. Then progressively worse. I did enjoy the end of WH but not enough to save it from being the worst book (until CoT took that prize) Ending amazing and agree with every thing you said for the last 4 books.

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

Haha yeah New Spring certainly would be a big change in vibes from the finale! Interesting take that LoC begins the slog, I feel like it’s almost more sloggy than Crown of Swords, but maybe that’s just me! I understand not liking WH as well, that ending saved it very much for me

@beardfromtadcymru9714

Жыл бұрын

@@GraceDionneReads the ending of WH is amazing, but so much slog before it. My friend has just finished it this week and I think he agrees with you that the end saves it. I hope I've fully prepared him for CoT 😂

this was really interesting to watch as someone who is currently in a pause in the middle of the great hunt and trying to decide how to proceed. It's hard to hear that there is something in the future should I continue that is actually referred to as "the slog" when I am already had to really push myself through book 1 and am trying to do that again with book 2. the writing style and characters are a struggle for me but the plot is so interesting I really want to know what happens - so I'm really trying to figure out if I think it's going to be worth it to spend the effort to read so many incredibly long books to get to the ending. so this is a helpful set of data points to consider. Based on this I might try to get through the first four and feel more confident making a decision on the series at that point

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

If you feel comfortable with trying 4 books before making your decision I do think that’s the best point to completely know whether the series is for you or not! But honestly, if you’re not enjoying yourself, there’s no shame in DNF-ing the series ☺️ there are so many other things to read, you should be enjoying what you read!

@andreabootsma8478

Жыл бұрын

@@GraceDionneReads thanks for the encouragement. I think knowing it's a consensus decision point will help counter the internal "but what ifs" as I really do find the plot so far incredibly intriguing. I think getting to a point where I have a better sense of where the plot is headed (and a bit longer to try and connect with different characters - book one is incredibly rand pov centric) will help me know if that's going to be enough for me even if the writing style isn't my favorite

@yougurttrashcan

Жыл бұрын

I just finished the whole series and I have had the exact same experience as you did. I first found the world, the plot and cultures intriguing, but none of the characters resonate with me. Elmond Field's boys feel like three not likable immature dumb kids lol. The writing style is a bit too much on the details. But I continued on and I was very suprise to see how much the characters grow on me. I don't care about the "slog", I even find the last 6 books much more enjoyable than the first 6 (as oppose to the fandom majority's opinions). The characters go through huge changes and mature a lot in the series. The character development itself is intriguing to read. In the end, you feel like they are real person but not merely characters. As for the writing style, I growed so used to it that I find other writers' style too simplistic (How can I form a picture in mind if I don't know the finest details on her dress haha). I am very glad I did not give up on WoT. Hope this helps somehow

I am just finishing Lord of Chaos and man is this one kind of a drag. People keep calling it a good one I don't see it. Doesn't seem to be enough action and very drawn out.

Hi 👋 good video... happy reading to you!! 📽🎥🎄☃️

Dragon Reborn, Shadow Rising, and Lord of Chaos are my top 3.

For me the ranking looks like this 1. The Shadow Rising-S 2. A Memory of Light-S 3. The Gathering Storm-S 4. Towers of Midnight-S 5. The Great Hunt-S 6. The Dragon Reborn-A 7. Knife of Dreams-A 8. The Fires of Heaven-A 9. Lord of Chaos-A 10. The Eye of the World-B 11. A Crown of Swords-B 12. Winter's Heart-B 13. New Spring-C 14. The Path of Daggers-D 15. Crossroads of Twilight-D

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

This is really fair!! I’m glad so many of the books are S tier for you as well, that’s amazing. I think overall we have similar opinions ☺️

I agree that Winter's Heart was slow at the start (hated Perin/Faile storyline with Dragonsworn), but from Rand sorting out things with the girls on it was great. Only knock was involving so many forsaken that did virtually nothing. I'm concerned that you rate CoT so low, because I just finished Winter's Heart which was the fastest I've finished any of the books, and 3 days in, I can't get motivated to get beyond page 10 and interrupted the series to read Pratchett's "Guards! Guards!" Not feeling Discworld yet so I'm hoping to push into CoT soon.

I agree with a lot of your points, including that Lord of Chaos is somewhat overrated as a whole. Some of your rankings might change if you do a re-read, but I think yours are pretty close to the fandom’s in general.

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

Yeah I can totally see things changing after a re-read, I’m looking forward to having that perspective someday :)

I read this series for the first time this year (8 months! January to August). I'm with you on Lord of Chaos feeling overhyped, especially Dumai's Wells. Difference for me is that Lord of Chaos felt sloggy to me, but this is largely due to tone change. Books 1-5 we fought Shadowspawn, but Book 6 it became for political, Game of Thrones-y, and I did not enjoy the transition. My favorite ending remains The Great Hunt. I also am 100% with you for your 3 favorite books: The Shadow Rising, The Gathering Storm, and A Memory of Light, and your 2 least favorites Path of Daggers and Crossroads. Winter's Heart made me cry twice. Once when Rand is confronted by the 3 ladies... because of the vulnerability that comes with the magic bonding, which creates an understanding of each other. That got me crying. And the ending with Rand and Nynevne and A Few Good Men and Women FINALLY cleansing the One Power for Men. The trust that Rand and Nyneve have with each other to reach such a conclusion got me in tears again. But yeah, Wheel of Time is my new favorite Fantasy series, and it is largely because of how A Memory of Light ended. It was so satisfying, I wanted to restart the journey. And I did, through audiobooks. Much slower, but Michael Kramer and Kate Reading knock it out of the park.

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

Wow, 8 months! That’s wild! I agree with pretty much everything you said here except that I do love some Game of Thrones-esque political intrigues ☺️ I’m so glad you loved the ending of Winter’s Heart as well!!

You did an honest review and you obviously put thought and time into it. I agree with some of what you say but not all. This is fine, we you cannot have a "wrong" opinion, its yours. I think Sanderson did an excellent job wrapping up the series. There are a couple of issues I would have liked done differently; but I freely admit he did an overall AMAZING JOB. That said, he does not write Mat as well as Jordan does; not even close. I missed that in the final books. Mat was often what kept me going through the "slog". Growth and changes with certain characters from books 7-9 kept me going. Sanderson. I find 12-14 well paced and good. Sanderson (as I said) did a good job. He summarizes and wraps up very well. However, it bugs me people basically rank all his books so highly.... your basically saying he is a better author of Jordan's series than Jordan is. Jordan's characters and world building are what brought you this far. I do not feel like Sandersons books are better than Jordans good books and surely not better than his great ones.

@GraceDionneReads

5 ай бұрын

I appreciate your thoughts!! I definitely understand what you're saying about Sanderson, but at the same time, I don't really think that any disrespect for Jordan is why people rank the final books so highly. I personally feel like it's more a result of Sanderson getting the opportunity to write the climax of the entire series, including so many plotlines and character moments that people had been waiting years for, which you are absolutely right, came from the heavy lifting that Jordan did. But since the final books contain so much of that exciting content, it's natural to love them! I am really happy that Jordan wrote Knife of Dreams because we got to see him at his best once again after the slog, and it goes to show that if he wrote those final books they would have been just as beloved! That's my perspective 😊

@winnoweriv2650

5 ай бұрын

@@GraceDionneReads thank you for being well spoken and reasonable in your reply. I appreciate the discussion

@robbedoes77

2 ай бұрын

Personally, I appreciate Brandon's style a lot more (having read his other books as well); my biggest gripe with Jordan was the overdescribing (and repetitiveness of the braid-tugging and skirt-smoothing and fist-clenching). I fell in love with Jordan's worldbuilding with immense stakes and the characters grew on me once they matured, but in books 6-10, despite epic moments, not enough happened to keep me interested. Brandon just made things happen in those last books that it was a rollercoaster. I think I read the last books in just 2 weeks, being absolutely glued to the pages. Credit goes to Jordan for creating this fantastical world, but I'm afraid if he wrote those last books, they would've been double the size and pacing is so important for me. We'll never know of course, it could've been even better if he wrote it like The Shadow Rising, for instance...

I'm only 8 books in so far, but for me book 6 is head and shoulders above the rest still for me

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

I’m glad you enjoyed it so much!! ☺️

Great tier list and i am at the stage where im too hesitant to call it quits I've just started lord of chaos. I thought for the majority of the part fires of heaven had gotten really stale from rand's part where he was just meeting political figures in the wastelands. But yeah this guy doesn't know what brevity is and goes on such long tirades over nothing. Being descriptive is one thing but he adds so much fluff that honestly adds nothing to the story. I dont wanna know the lifestory of rand's stableman or mat's tailor and shit. Each book can easily lose 40% of the material in it and it would still serve its purpose. Great storyteller but man was he a bad writer.

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

Haha yes he certainly does not! It didn’t bother me so much in earlier books but when the plot slows down it becomes very apparent

90% of robert jordans books were such a slog for me, during branden sadersons last 3 books were so good for me imo

@GraceDionneReads

2 ай бұрын

I agree that Sanderson’s books were really good!

Sometimes pain is all that lets you know you're alive. -- Crossroads of Twilight Epilogue Just sayin'

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

Haha I mean there’s still some good content in Crossroads of Twilight!

Are you at all interested in board games? If not then no drama, but i designed a WoT boardgame that has a great online community, if youre into that and want to come try it sometime :)

@WheelUpTime

Жыл бұрын

Just meant if youre eager for more wheel of time in your life haha. Havent gotten past the into just yet but looking forward to the watch

@GraceDionneReads

Жыл бұрын

That sounds super cool and props on designing a board game, wow!! I honestly don’t think it’s something I would have time to do, but not because I don’t think it would be fun, just because life is so busy these days ☺️

@WheelUpTime

Жыл бұрын

@@GraceDionneReadsyeh the games can go long haha, we have a discord server and livestreams if you ever have fancy having a peep :) look forward to whatever wot stuff you decide to do next