Wheel of Time: Final Book Rankings (Tier List)

Mike gives his final rankings for the Wheel of Time books after getting pressured by his Discord server (not really) to do his first Tier List. No Spoilers.
Want to send Mike something? You can do so to the below address:
Mike K.
15201 Mason Rd
Suite 169
Cypress, TX 77433
Support Mike on Patreon: / mikesbookreviews
Join Mike's server on Discord / discord
Visit Mike's Amazon Wishlist: amzn.to/2zpHooW
Follow Mike on Goodreads: / mikesbookreviews
Follow Mike on Twitter: / zepp1978
Like Mike's Book Reviews on Facebook / mikesbookreviews
Follow Mike on Instagram / zepp1978
Follow Mike on TikTok / zepp1978
------------------------------------------------------
Theme music provided by Infraction
/ @infraction
Music used: Epic (No Copyright Music)
infractionroyaltyfreemusic.ba...
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0(CC BY 3.0)
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
------------------------------------------------------
#MikesBookReviews #WheelOfTime #TierList

[@mikesbookreviews]

Hey Wheelies and Darkfriends! I had always planned to rank these after some time had went by but everyone was treating NOT using Tier List as if I was still using a VCR to record TV shows, so I figured I'd give it a try. What's your rankings? Drop them below.

[@stuart1346]

Nice after battleground will you do the same for Dresden?

[@zachbreth9696]

S- Shadow Rising, Towers of Midnight (i forgive you for the trial Perrin), Knife of Dreams, A Memory of Light A- Lord of Chaos, Gathering Storm, Crown of Swords B- The Great Hunt, Fires of Heaven, Winters Heart, 2nd Half of Eye of the World C- Path of Daggers, First half of Eye of the World, Crossroads of Twilight D- The Incredible Tales of Valan Luca's Menagerie F- Elayne, who is the Dark One incarnate, masquerading as a blonde buffoon

[@williamjones3534]

Well Mike you were warned about "Knife of Dreams" I was so pissed when I read this book, especially when I realized that it occurs over the course of two damn days in which nothing happens. Again I'm in the minority. The dragon reborn was my #1 book with Knife of dreams being my least favorite. By the way you should check out recappa sedai. and Wheel talk. I think you will get a kick out of it

[@Jrdn357]

S: The Shadow Rising, Knife of Dreams. A: Lord of Chaos, A Memory of Light, Winter's Heart, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn. B: The Eye of the World, Fires of Heaven, Crown of Swords, Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight. C: Path of Daggers. D: Crossroads of Twilight.

[@TheAdversary2099]

@@stuart1346 Lol I was going to say the same thing.

[@jessi4894]

"Jordan's version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..." Ah yes, I recall that. The Tar Valon All Girls School of Spankings and Pillow Friends.

[@NikhilKoparkarmusic]

Been looking for a non-spoilery tier ranking of WoT for a while now (starting book 10 soon). Thanks for doing this!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Glad I could help!

[@isakdahl7054]

I’ve heard that 10 is the worst, so be prepared I guess! I started the first one yesterday!

[@NikhilKoparkarmusic]

@@isakdahl7054 That's awesome! Loved the first book (and it keeps getting better!) I've heard horror stories about book 10 too haha so I'm mentally prepared to just sit back and dive into 1000 pages of political intrigue if necessary :P

[@isakdahl7054]

Nikhil Koparkar Haha, thanks though. I just got to the part on where Rand meets Moraine for the first time (and I’ve heard that she’s a huge character), although you probably don’t remember that particular scene if you’re so deep in already! When did you start?

[@NikhilKoparkarmusic]

@@isakdahl7054 Funny enough I remember that scene very well! I just started last July (and it was the first fantasy I ever read!) I was so inspired by book 2 that I ended up writing a music homage and hiring the Budapest orchestra to perform it! I went deep hahaha. Book 1 is great, but Book 2 is where it really becomes it's own thing!

[@gaiden81]

I order from best to worst (SPOILERS): S Memory of Light - Best battle on a book ever, nothing but meat Gathering Storm - Egwene is such a badass The Shadow Rising - Mat is such a badass, Rhuidean Towers of Midnight - Perrin's Lvl Up, Mat's sacrifice Lord of Chaos - Dumai's Wells, Rand's capture Crown of Swords - Nyneave's big moment and Lan's rescuing her (My favorite part in the whole series) A Knife of Dreams - The slog is ended, return to form for RJ Winter's Heart - Cleansing Saidin The Great Hunt - Falme, Egwene's capture Fires of Heaven - Mat becomes a battle genius, Rand undoing Rahvin B The Path of Daggers - Good stuff here and there, but nothing too earth shattering Eye of the World - Effective story but a bit low key The Dragon Reborn - Where is Rand? New Spring - Slow first half, good second half C Crossroads of Twilight - Holy slog batman

[@danhathaway7984]

I would drop CoS, TPoD, and WH down a grade each. Ya Winter had the cleansing of Saidin but the rest was slog I will not read again. Would raise EotW one grade and TBR two grades. I love TBR, it didn't have much Rand but all the plots were interesting and it's where Mat takes-off into being the series best character. I agree on the majority of them.

[@jtlivin]

Thank you for publishing this with no spoilers! I'm almost done with book 5 right now and loving the series, but it's good to see how you think the books stack up, especially with "the slog" looming for me.

[@sjkrum320]

It's interesting to see how your feelings have evolved since finishing the series. That's what makes these books so great. It take a while for everything to sink in. If you ever do re read them, you'll most likely find your feelings changing again! Great list and fun video!

[@Hadrian1616]

Shai'tan has disliked this video on sheer principal of its existence.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Darkfriends gonna hate.

[@MazBreh]

Hell yes Mike. Would love more tier list videos. Maybe a Tier list of the books you last (or this) year. Or a tier list out of the different series you've read so far. Keep up the amazing content. You should have waaay more subs than you have. My favorite booktuber and it's not even close.

[@finnhollowbread2317]

I love Jack Torrance in the door behind you 😂

[@simonedwards9450]

Love this list. Your opinions are fantastic as always. Love your vids. Here is my list: Eye of the world - S The great hunt - S The dragon reborn - A The shadow rising - S The fires of heaven - A Lord of chaos - S A crown of swords - A The path of daggers - D Winters heart - C Crossroads of twilight - B New spring - A Knife of dreams - A The gathering storm - S Towers of midnight - A Memory of light - A

[@Turniptaker]

It was great reading along with you through wheel of time, and great video! Not sure if it’s something you’d like to do in the future, but a spoiler free dark tower Tier list would be really cool, I’ll be starting it soon.

[@oswin5775]

I'm doing my first reread. I love picking up on all the things I missed the first time!

[@landon_woods-of-yore]

I really enjoyed this video. I'm currently doing a reread of the Wheel.

[@Michael_L_Morrison]

It's hard to rank them, so I'm going to take the easy road out. LOL. I'll just say that since Eye of the World was my first fantasy book ever, it holds a special place in my heart. I devoured those books when I started reading them (think late 90s). I wasn't too bogged down by the slog the second time around, even though there are moments that are sloggish. And If I had to place one above the rest as a favorite, it has to lie somewhere in range of books 3 to 7. Thanks, appreciate your rankings!

[@danielvanrooyen9602]

I am up to Shadow rising and yeah it is insane how much happens in that book. Starting Fires of Heaven next week.

[@user-xi6bf1iu1c]

Done with it??

[@StormyFN7]

I’m almost finished with shadow rising

[@MoviesNStuff]

Have you finished it?

[@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS]

BTW I am lobbying to finish Song of Ice and Fire for Martin ;). Loved your list here. And my fav vid you've done mos def. I agree with your tier list but but i would put Eye of the World as my favorite!!!

[@g2024_]

Love the tier titles 👍

[@benbutler9282]

Will be interested in your redo after the re-read. Don’t rush the reread Mike, but reread show lesser lights in vivid detail and “might “ alter the list. Well done brother have loved your content

[@hinge1492]

The lead up and battle of Dumais Wells are just so good that Lord of Chaos forces its way into the cream of the crop for me. And other than Sanderson's characterization of Mat, his books are so much better paced and (imo) written than Jordan's that the last three books rank higher for me.

[@mrpolskija]

#1 A Memory of light - I had waited so long for it and when I finally got it I was in ecstasy! So much action, zero BS it was all meat. After that, I really couldn't do a list like this. I have a tendency to relisten Wheel of time pretty often and when I do, I do it within maybe 2-3 months and most of the things that happen are a bit blurry on which book it may have happened. I loathe Crossroads of Twilight though.

[@jaiskoglind5762]

Just finished Winter's Heart and here's my ranking thus far: S - The Shadow Rising A - A Crown of Swords, Winter's Heart, The Great Hunt, The Fires of Heaven, & The Dragon Reborn B - Lord of Chaos & The Eye of the World C - None (yet) D - The Path of Daggers

[@vaporiiz]

The Great Hunt should be here in the mail today! Can't wait!

[@PaulRamen]

Interesting that your posters show my two biggest inspirations of all time : the beatles and kubrick :]

[@jeremydanchuk1897]

I have to admit that I like Fires of Heaven way more than you did

[@bluerectangle5794]

Yeah, me too. I liked it even more than Shadow Rising.

[@jfoxmummer11]

I liked it more than Shadow Rising as well.

[@kristiandonchev2641]

I didnt like Nynaeve`s chapters that much , but everything around The Dragon Reborn lifted it up in my top 5.

[@cwbuxton]

@@kristiandonchev2641 yeah I totally agree.

[@jn2292]

TFoh is the first WOT book I read. It was on sale at a long dead book store chain and I picked it up remembering people had recommended it. It was a great book and better than most of the books after book 6.

[@frankieasra]

Hitting the thumbs up 'coz you put The Great Hunt at the very top. Same, Mike. Same! :D TGH FTW! Brilliant book. Really carries the weight of the series.

[@Spartacus-hc9xt]

I actually agree on the great hunt. I’m not done with the series yet (on the crossroads of twilight) but the great hunt is my favorite so far.

[@elizabethday1175]

Thank you for helping me through the wheel of time with your reviews!! I finished it this week! I'm really struggling to read anything else. Do you have any recommendations for something good fun but still fantasy to help get over the emotional drain of aMoL?

[@mikesbookreviews]

I went into Faithful & the Fallen by John Gwynne the very next day and loved it.

[@muppet1011]

Would love to see you rank the Dresden Files like this. Thanks for doing this spoiler free.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I plan to do it after Battle Ground comes out.

[@muppet1011]

Mike's Book Reviews awesome. Keep up the good work.

[@deBebbler]

The last way I would characterize Lord Of Chaos would be a 'drag'. Not saying you are wrong, just that I'm surprised to hear it.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I loved the ending. But it took awhile for it to get there for me.

[@locolima279]

Woot! Didn't miss the countdown music today! It is bliss!

[@mikesbookreviews]

I so wish KZbin would let me change it.

[@locolima279]

@@mikesbookreviews I don't. I really do love it.

[@whyonthefall5373]

Finished Dragon Reborn a few days ago, and this has been quite insightful. I have to say, I am very surprised at just how much has happened, how far the characters have developed, and just how many inns they've visited. The magic system is intruiging to me, and, I wouldn't be me without shoehorning in a reference to the Elric saga: all I'm saying is, "Lord of Chaos", a horn that calls dead Champions back to life, a Sword that is Not a Sword. Anyway, can't wait to read more

[@aaronjenkins6048]

For me, the slog really only included CoT. ACoS and PoD were pretty slow, but it never bothered me greatly. I really enjoyed WH

[@dipinbk8852]

Can path of daggers be skipped then?

[@M0i100]

I agree that you don't notice the writing change too much when starting the first Sanderson book, I personally thought it transitioned very smoothly. However, once you start a reread, it definitely does not read like a Sanderson book.

[@Mahalleinir]

To me the slog is books 8 and 9. Always been fond of book 10. Good tier list Mike but expected AMoL to be higher. Perfext placing for New Spring btw

[@MrTofy1974]

I'm on book 4 right now (Shadow Rsing)...I thought New Spring and Eye of the World are my favorite so far in that order...it's taking me longer than I thought to read this series...it would have been interesting to see the different endings if Jordan we're still around

[@eyenuh300]

Surprised to see gathering storm so high, I thought you were pretty hard on it in your review. I’m glad to see it so high though, it is my personal favorite.

[@SaintJimmy36]

That poster/ sticker/ whatever of The Shining is both awesome and terrifying

[@gaberodriguez4023]

Will you do a tier-ranking of all the Darrell K Sweet covers?

[@MichaelSmith-zx5lw]

They are all shit

[@mikesbookreviews]

It's a bit late of a response, but I just made that video a couple weeks ago.

[@miguelbranquinho7235]

@@MichaelSmith-zx5lw They are all S

[@neosharkey7401]

Your tier list legitimately made me laugh.

[@yves2016]

I mostly agree with you except that I love Fires of heaven. I think I'm the only wheelie that would have that in my top 3.

[@Newt5996]

We seem to have similar tastes, though I seem to like Winter’s Heart and The Fires of Heaven more than you. I think you may like Lord if Chaos more I’m reread as when I went through the series I initially stopped at Winter’s Heart and then reread the entire series before finishing.

[@bhargavapothakamuri4218]

Please tell me where can I purchase the books with cover art you have used for WoT books?

[@ssssaa2]

Digital copies I think.

[@fatedhydra8074]

Only real objection I have is the memory of light. After the death of Mr. Jordan. And with how long the series was the idea of a satisfactory ending seemed to be a pipe dream. And the fact the Sanderson stuck the landing so well tying in stuff from so many books...it was remarkable to me. So it would be higher to me. Otherwise pretty well agree with you.

[@TheRidiculousSublime]

Love the ranking system 😂

[@boli2746]

Pin this video, and look back in a [insert time frame] when you get around to rereading the series. My opinion on certain books certainly shifted myself after a reread. :) I know for certain EotW will rise up the rankings; not because of the content change - more because it brings a certain sense of completeness and awe at just what RJ was up to and you missed completely! Oh... and I actually like PoD; the main plot doesn't move much, true... but you get much more invested in the side plots and intrigue much more on a reread; especially once you do not have the expectation turned up to 11 as you know how things end. The first time you read it it is like running the London marathon.You are not not sure why you agreed to it at first, hyped you are doing it when you are in the crowd and seeing all the landmarks... but then you hit the wall and stagger half dead across the finish line and for a good half of the entire race all you can think about is the end. The second or even third time you read it it is more like a pub crawl across the city; done in your own time and enjoying all the different places and people you get to see. Sure you'll hit all the same landmarks and walk the same distance but the experience is very different.

[@terrelljohnson5811]

I would have put Memory of Light and Gathering Storm at the top as well, everything else I would leave the same especially Path of Daggers I hated that book and struggled through it and it was the shortest book to read by RJ by far.

[@matthewlogangreen483]

I clicked on this because I wanted to see if it gets better than the first book because I don't think it lives up to the hype so far. Good to know and I will definitely keep reading the series. You pretty much spoiled something significant for me though when you started talking about writing differences between Jordan and Sanderson and that spiral notebook you mentioned.. Oh well, I should just not look up stuff about series I'm still reading 🤣

[@ryanmcgowan21]

The crazy “storytelling format” in the Shadow rising is why I’ve been mid way through the book for three years lol

[@DavidScotton]

I agree with you that A Crown of Swords is solid, I have never considered it part of the slog. And TGH has maybe the best final act of any book in the series, plus the flicker flicker flicker scene, which makes it a top tier WOT book.

[@zn12914]

I always think that book 4 is where the series truly becomes The Wheel of Time

[@DukeusMostchillius]

I once heard a spoiler about a loss of a loved character in The Fires of Heaven and everytime i hear about books after TFoH, it widdles down the list of who didnt die..thankfully i am nearing the second half of TFoH and i can almost finally enjoy "spoiler free" videos

[@elisegjestad4714]

Hey, someone finally agrees with me on both the Great Hunt and the Path of Daggers!

[@sandramartin3880]

I have read a ton of books and this first volume was very , very hard to read and I have the box set , gonna be hard to start volume two

[@t.hussain921]

Can you please do an Abercrombie tier list? Also looking forward to your Malazan tier list 😁

[@mikesbookreviews]

I already did a First Law rankings. It would seem redundant. I don’t imagine I’ll do these frequently, but once every few months or when I finish a long series. I’ll do one for Dresden.

[@JARHuygebaert]

TOP FIVE: The Gathering Storm, Shadow Rising, Great Hunt, Fires of Heaven, Towers of Midnight

[@mikesbookreviews]

TGS has only gotten better for me as the past couple months have went by.

[@totesmagotes213]

Swap ToM for AMoL and change up the order a bit and those are my top 5 too.

[@BellusGelu]

cool am also one off the odd once that got both ToM and TGS in my top 5 :) or more like top 3 (i think i got a weakness for B Sanderson or something)

[@andrewhanson405]

Interesting list we got some differences, but WoT readers always have different takes and rankings on series order. I never felt like The Fires of Heaven was a slog, I loved traveling through the Aiel waste towards Cairhien with Rands band and in hindsight I thank God RJ gave me a break from Perrin with this one. It's my favorite WoT book from beginning to end. I personally think Towers of Midnight was one of the worst in the series outside of Matt, Rand and Nynaeve and the latter two barley had any page time. I agree with you that A Crown of Swords is the most underrated title in the series. 1.) The Fires of Heaven 2.) A Memory of Light 3.) Knife of Dreams 4.) Great Hunt 5.) A Gathering Storm 6.) Crown of Swords 7.) Shadow Rising 8.) Lord of Chaos 9.) Dragon Reborn 10.) Eye of the World 11.) Winter's Heart 12.) New Spring 13.) Towers of Midnight 14.) Path of Daggers 15.)Crossroads of Twilight

[@an831]

I have asked this before. I am nervous about starting it and not enjoying it. I am dieing for a high fantasy book. But everyone seems to say it drags to much. So why is it worth reading.

[@zenunderground9893]

Was looking intently at your bookshelves to see if I saw Tad Williams' series 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' (also known as 'To Green Angel Tower') trilogy. Maybe it's there? It's the best Fantasy series I've ever read. Truly takes Tolkien's mythology into a more Biblical foundation, as compared to only mythology. It represents all the tribes from Heathens, Pagans, many more, and of "Christians" (Aedonites), who follow The Father (Aedon), and are saved by His Son (Usires Aedon). Where I truly found knowledge in these books, Aedonites use the symbol and hands gesture of The Tree, just like how Christians use the Cross, as Usires Aedon was crucified on The Tree! To bring salvation! What is astounding is nearly a year after beginning to read these books, the concept of Aedonites using the Tree as protection/prayer, I've come across true Scripture Gospel teaching ministers, in just recent Weeks from over a decade(s) old, and currently, preaching of a literal Tree that Jesus was crucified on. During my reading of the books, I Asked in silence, why are they using a tree over a cross? And in the Spirit of "ask and you will receive", all the right ministers and pastors have shown up in video recommendations. The whole series resonates in that exact same manner. Much " Fantasy", unlike so much Science-Fiction, is telling Lost History and the Future, of our World cycles of "Good and Evil" on "Earth". I've read about Robert Jordan, at least his initial intentions, doing this as well, but I'm uncertain. Many of these popular fantasy books (vast amounts of movies, shows, videogames) come from Freemasonary beliefs and knowledge, most like 3rd Degree, as it turns into Scientology absurdity above that.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I own book 1, yes. Still haven’t started.

[@svendragon8139]

I always skip managerie chapters on re-reads now and you don't really miss much while not wasting time

[@donaldcreech7782]

I liked The Phantom Menace! And I also liked Path of Daggers

[@scottaguirre1145]

Memory of Light is the best ending we deserved. And what truly happens to Egwene haunts me every day. Instant S tier.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I’ll allow it.

[@Anonymos185]

Maybe don't mention that something terrible happens to Egwene in a (NO SPOILER) video, ya freakin woolhead?

[@TheDarkMessiah]

@@Anonymos185 Calm down, don't go tugging your braid, now...

[@scottaguirre1145]

@@Anonymos185 I didn't say what happens to Egwene did I? You made this into a bigger deal than it is you twat. I gave an opinion why this book is a higher tier for me. Wanna fight about it, really?

[@Anonymos185]

@@scottaguirre1145 "what happens to Egwene haunts me everyday" Doesn't take a genius to put two and two together, does it? I would have thought the playful use of the word "woolhead" would have made the tongue-in-cheek clear in my comment, but apparently it doesn't take much for you to take it personally. If YOU didn't wanna fight about, you wouldn't have replied

[@Killer-ml1sd]

I just finished book 8 and book 6 was my favorite book 4 was a close 2nd

[@insouciantFox]

Before I read AMoL, I never thought a book could be too meaty. After, oof. I felt like I had had Thanksgiving twice jn one day. Which is why I don’t like it so much. The Burning White by Brent Weeks also suffers a bit from this (though nowhere near as greatly). Though it might be because I tried to read the whole series in one week. Would not recommend.

[@MajesticDemonLord]

I honestly never finished book 5, the bit where they wander around in the desert *and nothing happens for nearly 200 pages* - I couldn't finish it... But with the Amazon series, I might try again.

[@jf6822]

The Great Hunt 4 life! Best book in series. I have spoken

[@jadetaylor6093]

Knife of Dreams is the best book of the series, followed closely by Lord of Chaos. Dragon Reborn, Shadow Rising, Winter's Heart, Towers of Midnight and of course A Memory of Light are also all near to par. The rest of the books span from also being very good (such as The Gathering Storm, The Path of Daggers, The Great Hunt and A Crown of Swords) to less exciting affairs (The Fires of Heaven, The Eye of the World), and finally, to being a book just about how cute Mat and Tuon are, but not anything else (Crossroads of Twilight).

[@thesmuli83]

Great 18k followers.

[@Ulmo90]

I agree, A crown of swords is a great book and should be appreciated more

[@smurphftw2008]

It's boring shite.

[@neilthomas6042]

Like the covers better than the others.

[@karnege101]

Im pretty much agreeing with every point your making in this video

[@jellevanbreugel325]

Upon reread, the slog consists only of the first half of CoT..... Fight me! Good list, Mike!

[@boxbo7926]

There are a couple chapters in POD, but I agree!

[@benbutler9282]

Too true

[@Sam-jx8tv]

I'm half way through path of daggers and so far it's not as hard to get through on reread. Might be because I know where it's all going.

[@smurphftw2008]

Path Of Daggers is pure unreadable garbage. I would rather get raped in the asshole with a knife than read it again.

[@chrissleeping65]

For me my ranking goes like this S- TGH, TSR, TGS, AMOL A- TDR, TFOH, LOC, KOD, TOM B- TEOTW, ACOS C- WH, NS D- TPOD, COT

[@AN-jz3kf]

It's a series I'm glad I finished, but man I wouldn't wanna read all that again. We need a brief version that's like 8 or 9 books tops. I feel there's enough fluff and description (of non-importance to plot or really even worldbuilding) that could be cut for this.

[@timjackson4387]

That surprises me. Lord of Chaos is actually my favorite. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@RyanNovaktheFirst]

Dumai Wells is one of the greatest scenes in written fantasy.

[@TunezCottage]

I mean I can totally imagine Joe Abercrombie taking over for GRRM if he should ascend *knock on wood*. I hope George lives a much longer and healthy life. The man is a fountain for subtle, and genius storytelling. It'd be a darn shame not to see him get the opportunity to wrap up the stories he's been battling with for so many years.

[@BaldBookTuber]

Interested to see what about this list is going to bother me. Mike specifically said on the Discord this would be a problem for me. :)

[@mikesbookreviews]

Aren't you on Path of Daggers right now? Ohhhhhh boy.

[@joesahagun2037]

You have Towers of Midnight and The Gathering Storm backwards. I forgive you though, entertaining content as always. Edit: maybe I should watch the whole video before opening my mouth. You corrected yourself and I'm an idiot. Lol

[@ceekayy79]

I completely agreed that 5 and 6 were more sloggy than 7.

[@breaker6683]

The Fires of Heaven is one of my favourite books in the series and I actually really enjoy the menagerie scenes.

[@boxbo7926]

I love all three of those! Maybe I’m just boring lol

[@AdityaSingh-kx7eu]

Hello mike I have liked this video even though it hasn’t premiered please don’t make me regret it put winters heart in D

[@mikesbookreviews]

Ha ha we shall see

[@tariqulislamakash5749]

I wanna start WOT so bad but I got a big tbr list :( :( :(

[@vipset87]

i was expecting book 7 to suck sooo much too. i enjoyed it. path of daggers on the other hand... EDIT: I WILL FINISH IT BEFORE 2021! (2 days. 4 chapters. but its taken me 6-7 months to get thru)

[@danielsan2349]

From what i've read so far: 1. Dragon Reborn 2. Great Hunt 3. Eye of the World 4. Shadow Rising I know TSR is popular but it really didn't resonate with me as much, not a huge fan of the Aiel sections and there are quite a few...

[@locutusdborg126]

God, that'.s a smart comment

[@DoubleRainbowXD]

I did like the review! But I have to say this: ranking of the books being spoiler free? If you have not read the books, you would not care about the ranking as much. And not exactly saying why you rank the book so high or low takes some of the energy away..for me at least. i was surprised about Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos, both are among my favorites. Completely agree about The Great Hunt!

[@mauriciovillagran1004]

In my opinion, I did not like Fires of Heaven so much because the narration became very slow, that such a character made me detestable at times, some characters that in my opinion ended up wasting the author and especially because I have a trauma with that book, because thanks to my stupid curiosity, I spoiled the end of the book and also incidentally a plot that occurred in the eighth book. But despite that, I'm still going to continue the saga because it was just those and nothing else. Apart from that that does not change that the experience with this book and saga is incredible. but anyway in my opinion I did not like this book very much. but yes, the climax there was quite excellent in my opinion (although I knew it). As for lord of chaos, I read the prologue that I thought was wonderful and I feel that this one in particular promises a lot for what it gives, I hope it does not disappoint me like the other one.

[@mauriciovillagran1004]

Sorry for the long comment but I had to vent to someone. By the way I agree that the great hunt is an excellent book, but it would also put the reborn dragon in first place along with the one I mentioned and the rise of the shadow (the fourth book is my favorite so far). I listened to the ranking without volume, so I was careful not to spoil myself this time. I apologize for misspelled English, I am Spanish on the learning path.

[@elisadandadeoliveiramuch3015]

I feel like Brandon Sanderson does a little bit of that, makes he stories sometimes slightly too long. Don't get me wrong, I love his writing, but on Mistborn for example, nothing happens for like two thirds of the e book and then all happens in the very end.

[@elisadandadeoliveiramuch3015]

I am still not done with the series, but I was reading one after another up until book 4, then I had to read some other book in between each, so I could progress better

[@haterzrmymotivators3]

Path of Daggers was my least favorite too! Thought I was alone in that.

[@kristiandonchev2641]

Small spoiler: For me , only The Dragon was interesting there ,but I wonder if I am the only one that loved the moment with the return of one beatiful sa'angreal

[@slifer9990]

I can't rank them lol. Only thing I can say for sure is that book 10 is boring as hell haha. The slog started for me at the prologue if that book and ended on like chapter 24

[@michael305m3]

Fires of heaven was my favorite WoT book

[@mikesbookreviews]

Awesome!

[@evanmiller4502]

I'm only 8 books in rn but I would say that so far book 6 is easily the best one for me

[@israelmaney2176]

For me, POD and WH gets better on rereads. COT just stays the same awful book. It will be interesting to see how you view them after rereading the series.

[@anthonypacifico5334]

I think a lot of people have blinder’s on when it comes to this series. Partly because of nostalgia and it being most people first long high fantasy series. How can a series with 3 horrible books and 2 meh books in a row end up in most people’s top 3 boggles the mind.

[@BowserTiny]

Least favorite: crossroads of twilight. Starts off decent then becomes Nothing Happens: The Book

[@takeittotheskies]

Honestly every time I reread, I dread Winter's Heart. PoD was rough, CoT was a better, but dear god Winter's Heart is actually a chore to read.

[@Anonymos185]

At least WH had the amazing ending, nearly on the level of Dumais Wells. CoT had literally nothing but people talking about their ongoing conflicts with nothing happening

[@xyr3s]

i am sad that memory of light didn't make it into cream of the crop lol. i too do wish more major characters should have died. but all in all memory of light is my all time favorite wot book ^_^

[@christopherrousseau1173]

You skipped Gathering Storm.. then remembered it

[@Snitch55]

It's definetely a good series, but i don't consider it to be elite quality, because of the slog and in general there are a lot of stuff that bothered me as a reader. Half of the main carachters are unlikable people,stubborn or plain stupid. No, correcting myself - almost all of them are childishly stubborn to the point where i get so angry that i want to throw the books. Terrific job by B.S. by the way - the last books were quite enjoyble with great set pieces. As most things, everything boils down to self prefrence, there isn't a best of the best fantasy series - you like some you love some and some are just not your cup of tea.

[@djsuth7727]

You wouldn't want to see my rankings for the series .... so many wool headed fools burning ;)

[@redman0901]

with my 2nd read through almost done, I will say I enjoyed the series the first time around and If I had my own channel I would review the series as a whole, but for new readers, once faile comes into perrin's life, you can skip all of perrin until the last 3 books, you can skip elaynes takeover of caemyln, there was another one too, shit I forget it, but you can skip whole chapters in those middle books without losing much, you want to read most everything from rand and matt, even most of the white tower split is inconsequential. Jordan could have easily made this a 7-9 book series. The man's attention to detail might be unrivaled, but half the story is fluff and stuff and most of the women in the series are unbearable to read, especially naeve, people give her a pass about how she treats not only men but women, as if she had a tough life, so people would give her crap about being young for her job, it's not like people abused her, or she had abusive parents, she has no leg to stand on for being such a royal c--t to everyone. Jordan's hypocrisy in this series might be unrivaled as well, where what I think he tries to add humor, just turns into an eye roll for the reader and his constant reminder of characters and who they are is mind numbing at best, as an example, someone will do something stupid, and someone else who has done something stupid, says how stupid it was, in literally the next sentence and I'm not sure if that is suppose to be humorous, but it's painful to read. Another example of repitition is vanin, in one book I think he mentioned at least 6 times he was a horse thief and how good he was at it, yes we know that, it's a different matter if you haven't talked about the character in a few books to give a little reminder, but I just read 2 chapters ago that vanin is a horse thief, we know that. already written too much, could literally right a book on everything wrong with this series. But it's a great first read, I ate it up the first time I read it, but now I'm on last books and honestly, just can't wait till I'm done with them and move on to something hopefully more interesting.

[@redman0901]

another thing that bothered me in the first 8 books or so, is the rand, matt, perrin and how the other 2 would understand women better than the one was in a current situation, humor like only works if it's placed in the right areas and not often, but literally you can go back and read those first books and it's littered with comments about how they don't understand women, which can be funny if done right, but he murdered the funny right out of it, with it being mentioned every 2 chapters.

[@THX-bz8bi]

When was jordan a hypocrite?

[@nicholasbenjamin3826]

Dear Mike, you set your premiere the same time as Canadian songstress Rachel Hardy. This was a problem for me. I watched her first because 19-year-old kids are way cuter than you. The last five or so were pretty close to where I'd put them, but I'm going to have to rewatch from the beginning to see the rest.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I don't know what any of these things are but it sounds like you made the correct decision.

[@nicholasbenjamin3826]

I like the WH climax not because I thought it was particularly well written, but because I'd been reading the series for a quarter of my life at that point. With all the various prophecies/foreshadowing/etc. there was a very very very long list of things that needed to happen before TG, and it just kept getting longer. Starting in the prologue you know a certain person has to do something to fix a thing. This thing happened at the end of WH, and seemed to show that Jordan was about to hit his form again, start checking things off the list, and we'd be done before he died (he hadn't been diagnosed yet, but many many fans thought he'd hit 95 before he finished). Then 26 months later we get fucking Crossroads of Twilight. In hindsight it was getting Perrin and Egwene ready for a sprint towards TG, but at the time it felt like the dude was just adding things to the list so he could get get me to by more damn books. And if you do any fantasy TV stuff you might want to check out Rachel Hardy's channel. Woman covers songs from those TV shows, and frequently does them better than the TV show did. Today's was from Vikings, which I refuse to watch because tattoos only make sense in Norway if you have artificial light, but the woman can sing.

[@geoffreystraw5268]

Harry Potter was written after the dragon reborn. So you mean JK copies Jordan.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Thanks for clearing that up.