Winter’s Heart is a very appropriate title for the ninth Wheel of Time novel, as it’s a very wintery novel. I’ll admit, by this point, I’m feeling much less invested than I once was in the series, but I also feel like the setting and writing style is cosy and familiar, and this is further reinforced by the fact that winter has set in the Wheel of Time universe. Something about reading novels with that brisk, chilly, wintery feeling to them is very appealing, especially if I’m reading them as we move into autumn and winter in reality, so I applaud Robert Jordan for getting that atmosphere just right.
Besides that, it was another book where there’s aren’t all that many major events Perrin sets of to rescue Faile after she got kidnapped in the last book – but the plotline is still unresolved at the end. Perrin continues to be grumpy and angry all the time, while we’re told that he is a man who doesn’t usually get angry – and of course, he’s getting worse in that regard now that Faile has been kidnapped.
Mat’s storyline was probably the one that I found the most interesting, as he had to keep his head down while living among Seanchan. Generally, as much as he’s quite lecherous character, I also find him the most believable – he’s just trying to get by and doesn’t want to be caught up in the big, world-changing events. His relationship with Tylin is still horribly uncomfortable in a way that I hope was intentional (although knowing some of the weird stuff Robert Jordan writes, maybe not), but that actually makes me pity him and like him more.
Towards the end, things got quite interesting with Rand as Shadar Logoth returns after previously only making much of an appearance in the first book. What happens with that actually felt like it was moving the overall story forward in a way that hasn’t happened much in a while, so that was pretty cool. They also explore his growing relationship with Min, Elayne, and Aviendha – which is interesting, for sure, even if it is kind of eye-rollingly silly at times too.
It’s a shame to think about how enthusiastic I was about the series when I first started it. I still enjoy reading them and want to find out what’s going to happen, but now it’s just kind of like comfortable reading that keeps my occupied without really blowing my socks off. The wind is going out of my sails and I think the overall plot has been spread a little too thin. Having said that, I’m not actively bored or frustrated by the series, so I am happy to go on. It’s just a shame it didn’t turn out to be a series of pure classics like I ininitially thought.
Rating: 6.2/10
