THE WHEEL OF TIME BOOKS RANKED! 

On this ranking system, I would say pretty much identical except for The Great Hunt, which i have always considered more of a B or C tier book in the series, that is mainly held up by all of the great world building in the precious book. Still good though, but one of the ones i least look forward to reading.

We have more or less the same list. My top three are 1. The Shadow rising (my favorite fantasy book of all time) 2. Fires of heaven 3. Knife of dreams Also spot on with reading new spring after Fires of heaven being the best spot. Really ties the aiel and Lan stuff together. Damn, I feel a reread on the horizon.

S - TDR, TSR, FoH, AMoL A - EotW, TGH, ToM B - NS, LoC, CoS, PoD, TGS C - WH D - CoT, KoD

I don't rank the books. I rank the storylines. The books are very uneven as far as I'm concerned, and they are very arbitrary as far as how they break up the story. I see it more as one long narrative, given to us in more or less linear chunks. S Tier: Egwene chapters and other White Tower storylines, Forsaken POV chapters. A Tier: Nynaeve/Elayne and Rand chapters, Black Tower chapters, Moiraine chapters and New Spring. B Tier: Everything not mentioned in other tiers. C Tier: Mat chapters. I dislike Mat, but sometimes interesting things happen in his vicinity. D Tier: Perrin chapters. I would like Perrin the person, I have no doubt, but Perrin the character is dull as dishwater.

S. the dragon reborn (I love how Matt and Perrin get to develop as Rand moves from them), the shadow rising the fires of heaven (I love how Rand and Avienda's relation comes to fruition, the breathtaking speed at which rand conquers new lands, the siege of cairhien and matt accidentally playing the hero, the conflict with rand and the maidens, also the whole circus arc for nyneave and elayne that was alot of fun) towers of midnight, a memory of light. A. Eye of the world the great hunt, crown of sword winters heart (love the part where rand comes to caemlyn in secret and gets bonded, more parts with matt (always good), great job at cleansing saidin, at this point the white tower still feels like it is doing something rather than just waiting for egwene to take over) knife of dreams B. Path of daggers, crossroad of twilight the gathering storm C. lord of chaos (aside from dumai's well and a few other scenes, this book mainly feels frustrating after all the progress in the previous books it feels we are just waiting, the way way nyneave and elayne get treated in salidar (though understandable) gives me a lot of irritation just as it does for them) D. New spring (no desire to reread this one) As an aside I have never felt the supposed slog of books 9 and 10, they are only 20 hours long in audio form, whereas lord of chaos is 40 hours, with only dumais wells to look to, that book felt like a real slog to get through instead.

Same

A bit late, but congratulations!

me right now! what a story!

@@nomchicky7515 Congratulations, Mate

Same

i dunno he dosent seem super passionate

Poopanator1000 wow, my thoughts exactly

I nearly agree, except that Winter's heart is one of my favourites and I preferred The Gathering Storm than Towers of Midnights ^^

Correct

@@themegastudThis is my list as well. The Dragon Reborn almost went down to C for me because it just felt very telegraphed. It just felt like there was an obvious nature to what was going on... but the story built up as if th reader was in the dark.

This is my list too

do the Cosmere yeaaah

Most of his works would be either S or A tier in my book. Compared to other authors, at least.

@@Chalken376 No argument mate.

I think he has already done Cosmere ranking. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nEJCL-MNUhs.html.

dude he just did ;)

Please let us know what you think I just finished it yesterday and I wasn't too impressed. It was enough to get me to buy book two but if it doesn't get better I have to say I'm going to probably move on.

@@knocks101prime8 It really turns into a different kind of style of book after the first couple

I just started it also, it's awesome

@@knocks101prime8 stick with it. Remember, there is a grand story arc that is happening and you can't judge the series as a whole on the performance of any one book. I know people who would put the entire series in S and A. To them it doesn't get any better. Just stick with it and you will see for yourself why it's considered arguably to be one of the greatest fantasy series of all time.

@@knocks101prime8 I would suggest at least read up to 3rd or 4th. If you don't like even then It's probably not for you.

Agreed, I just finished reading gathering storm and I just had shivers

I even think it's my favourite wot book. Even though Brandon didn't do a good job at mat, but I love Rand, Egwene and of course Verin makes the book even better. I think Amol and tsr are close to be my favourite too, but the gathering storm is slightly better in my opinion.

@@hierkonnteihrewerbungstehe5587 imho the book featured so many major threads that were resolved in a more than satisfactory manner

@@BiologicalRiley yes and I think it's the darkest wot book too and I'm a big grim dark fan soo

Dark Rand is perhaps my favorite character in fantasy history

Agreed , TSR is my favorite.

Same -- just started LoC and look! Here I am.

Wow, I can't believe I've found another Crown of Swords fan! I thought ACoS and even PoD were actually really good, just natural continuations of the series and some really interesting and satisfying things happen in them. Winter's Heart wasn't that bad either, it was really only CoT that hurt to finish.

How'd it go? Did you finish the series and did you like them?

Right with you for The Great Hunt. It is so much fun. Love that book.

Agreed. CoT is really C and Winter's Heart is a solid F.

Egwene’s acceptance?

Fain and the gholam I feel were Mats main archenemies, the way he took out both was awesome

I actually liked Fain's ending as well. Like you said, he showed up and just started _deleting_ people. When Mat got impaled I seriously thought that was the end. I thought the reveal that he was immune was actually epic, and loved that he was the one to actually finish off Fain.

Padan Fains death headcannon for me was the Wheel setting up the possibility of another dark one to balance the pattern just in case Rand killed The Dark One.

Late but completely agree

yessss i was looking for this comment. i would put it in s or at least top of the a tier

I've heard that he said mat was the hardest character to write in Jordans style.

I personally enjoyed the change.

Sanderson's word choice can also be jarring. Modern slang feels out of place in medieval fantasy.

@@brendanmckenna7613 I think he didn't understand Matt at all. Matt jokes in the face of danger because it's his coping mechanism; if he can make himself laugh then he isn't focused on being scared. While he may constantly talk like a man who doesn't want responsibility, he's highly responsible and follows through on everything he says he will do. Before the last three books Matt's jokes are more off the cuff chances to laugh as an attempt to lighten the mood. In the last 3 books his humor is almost forced to the point the becomes the butt of the joke.

Couldn't agree more!

even COT?

hellz ya, mat is both awesome and funny as hell especally after being that queen's plaything and his new affinity for lace.

Joakim Nybäck Mat is such a fantastic character. He outshines Rand after the sixth book...

Matt’s is pretty much s tier book 4 and onwards. Not much to say there.

I can just imagine you dissecting how Nicholas Cage would do in the WOT world.

Michael Feeney I have & love the ones Daniel uses in this video, although all of them may not be well done. I think the hardcover ones are Ugly!! Britain sell them with just the symbol of The Wheel Of Time in different colors but the print is too small for my bad eyesight. Good request.

I know this comment was two years ago but I saw on Wikipedia tonight that listening to the audio books takes over 19 days total listening time. That's pretty much 100 days of your life listening to WoT.

Politics and real world power, very realistic honestly.

*YANKS*

Rodrigo Santos same. I was super excited because I just finished book 3 like 15 minutes ago. When he said spoilers I noted out.

Mute the video and got to the end if you want the ranks

You could probably fill a list like that with Cosmere-magic alone... I mean; I still haven't read one where I didn't wish I could use the magic system. Forgery, AonDor, Surgebinding, Allomancy, Biochroma, and Sand mastery all sound awesome.

I'm pretty sure Jordan planned on it being one very thick book and when Sanderson sat down to work on it he realized (unlike some fantasy ppl cough cough game of thrones) that it wouldn't do justice to the source material to have it be so fast paced. So he decided along with Jordans wife to split the last book into a trilogy, which gave him the space to set the pace better and have events flow more naturally.

Sanderson was awful. Jordan's biggest flaw was how he handled the later books. To say that trio Sanderson excrete compares in any way to Jordan's opening is beyond absurd. Sanderson's writing is puerile, he destroyed multiple characterizations and he lacks genuine wit or subtlety. He does not have enough real life experience or knowledge to write political scenes plausibly or military scenes engagingly. He isn't smart enough to maintain the intelligence of characters. Look at how Sarene thinks in LoC, or the discussions between White sisters in KoD or CoT, and then compare it to the grade-school level debate Egwene observes and joins with Ferane. Egwene wins in negotiations for absolutely no reason. Jordan's writing was good enough to get us to overlook that most of her successes came through loopholes in laws he invented, but with Sanderson, it is clear she is only winning by authorial fiat. The Sitters had no reason to vote for Egwene's proposal in the Hall, and the Sea Folk had no reason to sign on to her training agreement, since it gave them nothing they did not already have, and required them to surrender a number of concessions they had already obtained from the Tower. You're supposed to come away from scenes like that being impressed at Egwene's ability in getting them to agree, not wondering why they agreed at all. When Jordan had a scene like that, it happened off camera, like Egwene blackmailing Sheriam, so we can't say for sure that there is no way Sheriam would have agreed. Sanderson lacks reading comprehension as well. Aviendha's tiresome conversation with Nakomi in the Waste was just a rehash of a soliloquy she gave in tFoH, when tending to Rand after the collapse of the watchtower. Throughout Jordan's books, there is a constant refrain about leaders not going to the front lines, that commanders should stay back and command. We see it with the Aiel, where the kids make an effigy to be the chief so they can have fun playing fighters. Mat's final chapter has him quote that old general's book about generals fighting. Gareth Bryne is quoted by Elayne saying that "an army is a general's sword...a general who uses another blade has mistaken his job." The book with that quote ends with Egwene taking over the harbor chain operation and getting captured, only surviving, because Elaida is much more merciful and reasonable than she. Then Brandon Sanderson takes over and suddenly Gareth Bryne is a blademaster who owns a heron-mark sword. We get moronic lines like "Wake up the night guard and have them put on their armor"! We get Bryne leaving his army to lead a small commando raid WHILE A BATTLE IS TAKING PLACE! I already thought he was an asshole for blowing off his unofficial step-daughter just because he wasn't having sex with her mom any more, but until Sanderson started writing him, I didn't think he was incompetent and corrupt as well! Jordan, the military veteran, wrote characters who survived a battle, merely relieved to have survived, thinking of victory as a compensation prize, and absolutely NO glory experienced by those forced to fight. Nynaeve's disgusted comment that war is men behaving like animals is not out of tune with what other characters experience when forced to fight a war. Elayne & Mat win victories that are entirely due to their brains and leadership and their attitude is simply "Fine, now what's the next job we have to do?" But Sanderson, unless he was trying to turn Egwene into a villain protagonist or an egomaniacal anti-hero, missed all that, and wrote Egwene's post-battle reaction to be reveling in the destruction and death she caused and the power she weilded. Just to make sure it wasn't a mistake, he had her celebrating her kills during Tarmon Gaidon! He even had her commit atrocities, without any indication that he was aware what she was doing when she uncollared damane and then burned their now-helpless sul'dam alive. Another point made in Jordan's books was that Egwene giving speeches that openly appealed to emotion & idealism would not work in the Hall, but that's the only kind of speech Sanderson has Egwene give. Sanderon's greatest strength as a writer, from what I understand, is in creativity, which makes him the wrong pick to continue a fantasy series where all the creative work is done. He is supposed to be clever in having characters utilize established magic in inventive new ways, but the scene where Takima is making a recon gateway for Gareth Bryne is just dumb if you know how gravity works.

@@Gunleaver cool!?!

@@Gbt31 Never!

@@Gunleaver I reject your reality, and replace it with my own.

@@jiiaga5017 Absent any arguments, points of discussion or reasons, that doesn't mean a whole lot, especially because I absolutely reject the idea of a mutable or personal reality as firmly as I do a Flat Earth or geocentric universe.

the audiobooks have spectacular narration, if that helps.

@@grahamtpeterson Yep how to lose weight , get the audiobooks but you make a rule you can only listen while exercising. Suddenly doing 2 hours of cardio a day looks awesome!

Fuck yeees

Winter Heart Did Had The Cleasing Of Saidin So That Not Really Filler For Me, But Crossroads Of Twilight Is Like Playing A RPG With Only Fetch Quests.

I never truly felt this sentiment. Maybe it's because I was young (around 12 years old) when I first read the series and didn't mind the sluggish parts. But while I never felt any of the books were truly bad, insomuch as many describe the middle books to be, I do have my favorites.

Book two is paced very differently to book one, I'd say.

I'm trying to get through the series because Daniel loves it so much he created a whole youtube channel based on WoT. I've just finished book 4 and I have to say it gets progressively better. TEoTW was really boring for me too and book 2 felt like a rehash of the first one in terms of character development but the plot is kinda better. Book 3 focuses on all the other characters BUT Rand so that means less whining about how he is "just a shepherd" which was the major turn off for me on the previews 2 and it is the first turning point in terms of characters evolving. Book four was the best book so far so I'd suggest you read up to that. tldr: It gets progressively better, keep on reading if you have the patience.

@@DYMLikeABaws I mean I understand where you're coming from my brother has read the series twice once as kid up to where it was at that time and once it was finished he started over as an adult and he loves the series just like Daniel he had told me to read this over ASOFAI which so far this series doesn't even come close to imo comparing both the first books. I just had such high hopes for this series and by chapter 15 of TEOTW I knew I would end up disappointed, it just felt like the story was going nowhere at all. Even the climatic final battle was almost written like another of Rands dream sequences which was not the payoff I expected leading up to that point.. The oger Loial and Perrin were the best parts of this book imo which is quite sad considering they are secondary characters to an extent.

@@knocks101prime8 So far, Jordan can't write action for shit (OMG I HATE how instead of describing the combat he just names some "sword stances" which are never explained and don't mean anything). All the "final battles" feel like Rand's dream sequences, although I think it's intentional. If you love Perrin I have good new for you, book 3 and book 4 focus mainly on him :)

@@DYMLikeABaws Yea I noticed all the battle scenes are just vaguely brushed over, I think the best one from book one was the beginning when he first sees Moraine use her powers. Other than that and maybe one or two more instances it's exactly as you said. Perrin was my favorite character through this and Loile, I probably would like Matt more but the dagger just messed that up but even after he never had a moment really make him stand out. Wisdom was cool too at times but I'm gong to stick with it and try to get through at least book 4..

Good thing to note...we all refer to the "slog" in the late middle of the books. When you read them for the first time, it may or may not actually be a slog. It is only REALLY a slog when you read for the 2nd time and beyond. You know what is going to happen, and you know how long it takes to get there. That's what makes it a slog.

@@jonhall152 I agree with this, they could be boring at times but still entertaining on a first read through

Alexander Johansson I wish Daniel would do a Book -by- Book of what Should be cut, loop holes closed up and what should be improved upon. That would be a great idea for a series of videos.