WINTER'S HEART (The Wheel of Time #9) by Robert Jordan ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A four-star steal riiiight at the end, but otherwise a very three-star quality installment. Nine down, five to go, and I hope there’s more pieces falling together than just shifting around some more.

First off, all but the ending: there’s more and more and more, but is it all necessary? Probably, I guess, since it’s here. But I’ve already given up hoping I’ll have a clue who each name is that’s not Rand, Nynaeve, Mat, etc. I have to peruse the WoT app and a well-made website of chapter summaries regularly. Kudos to anyone forging alone without them.

As impressive as the writing is to balance all these people, the lack of further character development for the main squad shows. Luckily, we’ve come to care about them after nine books anyway, and at least Nynaeve doesn’t straighten her skirts and pull her braid every page anymore. Still caught at least one “apoplexy” though. Kind of a fun Where’s Waldo at this point!

Now for the good: when it hits, it hits! Like that ending. It came in hot, maybe a bit sudden and could’ve landed hundreds of pages earlier, but it WAS epic and awesome. Good enough to spin right into #10. But damn Robert, why you gotta make us wait 700 pages for this shit!

I’m curious how I’ll feel at the end, so I want to mention my current favorite characters, something I should’ve done earlier. Mat Cauthon usually hypes me the most, and I find his dice rolling brain exciting. I do miss hearing more about Loial and Thom Merrilin. And pretty much any focus on the Chosen is about to be real good. These are the ones coming to mind now.

Status of the series: still, somehow, five left to go. This is clearly the epic of epics. Even during the rough parts, the dense and the unnecessary, it’s impossible not to see it. I think I’ve made a habit of saying things like this at the end of each installment’s review. And I stick by the habit, apoplexy and all.