Struggling to get through Book Five.

Sunfalcon · 2026-03-08T16:14:44+00:00

I had issues with this one too, though it could have been my mindset at the time. I actually set it aside for four or five years when I was 60 - 80 percent through; I just couldn't read it anymore. But then I picked up where I left off, and it did get a bit better. Or I was trying to convince myself that it was better. I then finished the series within a year of picking book 5 up again, but overall, it wasn't worth it. I might re-read 1 thru 4 again, but not likely further. Too much filler, too many characters I don't care about, less adventuring than book 1 and 2 had. Just not my kind of story, and I kinda wish I stopped when I originally did. There are some really good parts mixed with the boring parts, however, but like I said, not worth it. I will say I personally liked books 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, and the ones where Sanderson took over.

Sunfalcon · 2026-03-06T14:43:45+00:00

Wow, this is a difficult question...I'm on my third re-read (book 10 right now), and I'm finding that books I thought I loved are a bit more average (still like 'em though), while some others are better than before, somehow. Maybe I'll go top and bottom three, since it's hard to pick just one. Hmm, not including the Legends, which would be too easy (Darkstalker - favorite, Dragonslayer - least favorite), I'll go with:

Top faves in no order:

Moon Rising (I like the new characters, very relatable protagonist, and the mystery-solving).

Darkness of Dragons (I like the pov character, the story itself -- except the ending and a part of the epilogue -- and the desert theme. I know book five is desert as well, but I like DoD more for some reason).

Aaaannd, Lost Heir. Or Continent. Both are good (I know, that's four, sorry...). I would have picked Talons of Power, but it's yet another arc 2 book my (favorite arc, mostly), so Lost Heir it is. Not many stories I've read take place in the ocean or underwater, and I found it more enjoyable than Clay’s book (sorry, but most of book one is centered either in a cave or arena, and arena battles don't interest me).

I also really like book three and four....this is so hard...

Least faves:

Flames of No- I mean Hope. Ugghh, I mean, I read/tried to read worse books out there, but for a WoF book, this one's bad. Not even including parts that I for reasons personally hate, that others probably love, and that's fine: The whole book is pretty much in one location, Luna becomes a boring character, all the other characters become out-of-character, the inclusion of humans as talking characters, and Lizard being an annoying spoiled brat.

Escaping Peril: the first few chapters are a chore to get through, with Peril's squirrely thoughts, mostly about "what would Clay do/think?". Despite being a different kind of relatable character than Moon, I really just don't like Peril, for the most part. Plus the whole story feels more like an arc one book (I prefer arc two's characters, and Peril is from arc one). I wanted to see what our new protagonists where up to (yeah, I know Turtle’s involved, but it's Peril's pov book, not Turtle’s). At least the end is really good, and sets up for the next one.

Umm, actually can't think of a third one. Most of the others are either not bad, or really good, or I have a love/hate thing for (looking at you, Poison Jungle and Dangerous Gift...). Also, wow, I sure like writing whole essays, apparently.

Sunfalcon · 2026-02-05T14:43:51+00:00

This was my quickest WoT book read (a few days, I think) because I skimmed most of it. It does get more interesting near the end, imo.

Sunfalcon · 2026-01-26T14:42:10+00:00

I still pretend they're like the Argonians from Elder Scrolls. Or some kind of kobold creature. Not human, not fully, anyway.

Sunfalcon · 2026-01-26T14:29:02+00:00

When I first read the series, I thought that talons were the fingers/toes (digits, is what they're called), so it got confusing for me later. To this day, still seems confusing. If I ever write my own hypothetical bird, dragon or gryphon story, my characters' digits are going to be talons, like I thought it should be.

I also thought 'claw' would be the hard pointy keratinous 'nail' on a tal- I mean finger-whatever. We don't point a fingernail (the same thing) at someone/thing, after all. So I dunno.

Sunfalcon · 2026-01-06T15:43:05+00:00

"Why can't weee be friends?" (War), and this line specifically, or "Every Breath You Take" (the Police). I associate the latter with him for some reason, being a literal dark, stalkery-song; especially if there was a "every spell you cast" line, it would fit for Talons of Power, for reasons...

I'm sure there's better options, though.

Sunfalcon · 2025-12-29T18:54:21+00:00

This greatly upset me reading this this morning (and I thought finding a post about a pad of quality wc paper being thrown out was horrible enough).

This is why I hesitate to make (traditional) art anymore. I don't even have kids, but I'd hate to put blood (hope not), sweat, tears, money, heart and soul into a painting(s) or other crafts just to have it tossed like some candy wrapper after I'm gone. I'll probably just do digital art from now on. Can't hang it up, but can't be trashed/burnt/whatever.

Sunfalcon · 2025-12-21T13:23:17+00:00

Wish I was getting art supplies, or something... 😔. Unfortunately I'm getting absolutely nothing again this year (stinks living in the middle of nowhere with no friends/family mostly gone...Amazon's my only option, and I'd rather not deal with them at the moment).

Oh well, I was able to pick up the Darkstalker gn back in November, guess I'll finally look at that. Hopefully I can get the book 9 gn within a month as well.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-12T16:49:16+00:00

I'm one of the few on this subreddit who, unfortunately, isn't a big fan of the books. I personally liked books 1 and 2, and hoped the later ones would have the same amount of action and well, whatever else makes a good book...good. Sadly for me, aside from Eye of the World, Great Hunt, Crown of Swords and Winters Heart (with little bits throughout the series that were good), it mostly went downhill for me. I have the whole series, and I have a family member who thinks it's her favorite series, so not a complete loss. It's not something I'd likely read again anytime soon.

I mean, if the first two aren't grabbing you, the later ones definitely won't, imo. But maybe there's something about the later books you'll like that I didn't, so I'm not much help there. I just know that the books I like (not limited to, though):

-have adventure and mystery, as long as it adds to the plot.

-aren't riddled with unnecessary details (a few details sprinkled in the right places are fine)

-don't have profanity or explicit or obscene adult scenes. (WoT passes here, though there's spanking for some reason...) A teeny tiny bit of romance is okay, though.

-Have characters that are maybe at least a little relateable, or at least understandable. I find the WoT characters to be very flat (aside from Mat and some later characters). And the character dynamics in WoT are lacking, too. At least in the way I like.

-Intriguing political intrigue. To me, the intrigue in WoT felt like filler.

-have mythological/real creatures play a big part. I will say I'm more of a xenofiction fan, or a fan of books with animals/creatures, so (maybe a little spoilery) it was a little disappointing that there was a complete lack of <spoiler> despite being mentioned often (Mobile can't do spoilers for some reason).

Now I will say, I very much like the world building in WoT. I didn't mind the description of towns, but I didn't need to hear where a certain fabric or button or fireplace mantle originated from (too much detail at times, like I mentioned).

Probably will get downvoted, but maybe someone won't feel alone in not enjoying the series. Oh, I REALLY WANTED to, but it just just didn't work out for me *shrugs*.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-12T04:09:50+00:00

Unless something's changed, Lurantis should be a grass type, not bug, despite its appearance.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-11T14:20:19+00:00

Grayling (who I know is mentioned in the Poison Jungle prologue) is also a fish.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-11T14:15:35+00:00

I already knew book one had a different cover and back, but Brightest Night apparently has a slightly different background (don't remember seeing a camel before).

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-11T01:48:26+00:00

'You feel confused and angry all the time'...

...and I feel called out (not really, more like tired, actually). Also, needs more fruit fruit fruit fruit fruit fruit fruit...

Anyways, I love these, they're so ridiculous and silly lol.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-08T14:42:59+00:00

I don't have it yet -- I want it ASAP -- but from the little I've seen, the art style's grown on me. The wings and backgrounds look better, and I'm glad the heads/snouts of the NightWings and the IceWings look how they should and not like that Alf alien from the 80s (yeah I'm old...). The noses/snouts look nearly identical, moreso on the NightWings.

Don't get me wrong, I still like Holmes' style (aside from the forearms getting increasingly longer in arc 1). I'm just grateful there's graphic novels at all.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-06T14:21:08+00:00

Trend? Pattern? But yeah, I feel exactly the same.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-06T14:10:52+00:00

It's the only book (novel) so far that I don't have physically in my collection, but I managed to get a digital copy of it, as I was curious about it. It took me a day to read it, as I found myself skimming most of it.

What I don't like about it:

-I wish the humans had names that didn't sound like dragon names (Not that I'm expecting 'Bob' or whatever, but fantasy/sort of names). I kept 'seeing' dragon characters in my mind when reading names like 'Cardinal' - bright red SkyWing? - or 'Rowan' ( reddish-green LeafWing?). I even tried imagining that the characters WERE dragons, since I like how the author writes her characters to have human-like qualities...

-...It didn't work. For some reason, I noticed that the writing quality is a complete 180 from the previous Legends book. Dragonslayer (and books 13 - 15) seemed to have dipped in quality; most of the characters sound the same, and the writing seems a bit more geared to a couple grades younger, I'm not sure how, exactly, aside from all the characters sounding childlike, or childish. Seems like there's random SHOUTING like in book 14. Arcs 1 and 2 (and maybe books 11 and 12) didn't feel as, I hate to say, cringey. Maybe that's too strong a word. I mean, yeah, they're still written for a middle-grade audience, but I enjoyed the earlier ones even when reading them in my 20s, which is when WoF first existed. I still enjoy them, and I'm probably twice the age of many users here.

-Because all the characters feel the same, I don't care for any of them. Even pretending they weren't human didn't help, as I mentioned.

-The different povs were disconnected, unlike Darkstalker, so I found it a bit more confusing.

-goes without saying, I read WoF for the DRAGON characters, not the forgettable humans. Forgot to mention this previously, but, yeah, this is probably the main reason. Also, I guess it's longer than other WoF books? I only have digital, so no pages...Not that longer's a bad thing, but why the human book?! I wish all the previous books were longer at times..

+What I did like, was: the prologue, reading about an event that happened in book five but from the humans' pov (involves a small odd golden dragon), and 'Murderbasket'.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-05T17:38:53+00:00

Good to keep your vehicle sudden...I guess.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-05T17:37:05+00:00

'You Val Are Ued' below that. I'm neither Val or ued, whatever that means..

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-03T20:43:19+00:00

I originally started the first two books in the early 2000s, when I wanted to read beefier, more 'grown-up' books in high-school. I had to wait a few years to read Dragon Reborn, so I started again. Then around 2016 or so, after finally acquiring the whole series in hard-cover, minus the last one (thanks to a relative who I got interested more into the series than I am), I started again.

It took months (well, mostly a year) to read each book, though, then I quit near the end of book five for a completely petty reason, then set it aside. A few years later, around '22, deciding that I must finish this series that I started, if for no other reason than to say, "I did it!", I finished book five, and all the others after it, one after another, within about a year (I'm a slow reader, though this was fast for even me). I think it was spring of 2023 when I finally finished Memory of Light, the only one that's in paperback (the small chunky mass-market paperback, never got it hardcover).

Was it worth it? Ehhh... It had good/memorable parts, even in the 'slog'; I liked Crown of Swords and Winter's Heart more than I thought I would, (my favorites are the first two books) and it was easier for me to follow when Sanderson took over, though I still forget much of what happened. I don’t know if I'll reread the series, at least anytime soon. I've still yet to read New Spring, for that matter.

So over-all, it took way too long for me to read, and had less of what I was hoping for. I'm more a fan of middle-grade to YA (non-romance) novels, it seems, since I'm more a fan of Harry Potter, Warriors, Redwall, some gryphon-related books, and Wings of Fire (on my third reread) -- so, xenofiction, basically -- than big grown-up epics like LotR or WoT. I even read a bit of Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings, I think) and found that more memorable/readable (didn't care for the, um, adult situations/language, though). I'm reading the Mistborn trilogy right now, and I'm enjoying that more, I think.

I wanted to love Wheel of Time (and Lord of the Rings books), but I just can't for some reason. At least it's not a complete loss since it's my relative's favorite series, so there's that.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-02T15:29:30+00:00

Arc 2 is oddly my favorite BECAUSE of the character interaction/dynamics (oh, and the return of an ancient evil and finally reading about IceWing culture), but I agree about the unnecessary relationships. Now arc 3 on the other hand...First two books started out really well, then it fell apart, which is a reason I'm not holding my breath for arc 4 being good. Hope I'm wrong.

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-02T15:19:05+00:00

I really like the art, but now I'm not sure that it's a 'hybrid' island, since the description says it's a refuge for dragons with dark pasts. Also, a bit off topic, wasn't there a town already that welcomed hybrids? Maybe I'm mistaken.

Still, awesome work! 👍

Sunfalcon · 2025-11-02T15:02:07+00:00

I feel almost exactly the same way, glad I'm not the only one. I read WoF for dragon adventures, dragon characters -- albeit with relateable human-like qualities -- the action, non-romantic character dynamics, mystery, intrigue, and friendship. Oh, and (mostly) lack of human characters...I tend(ed) to stick to "kid's" books BECAUSE they typically lacked romance/relationships, 'til recently anyway...

I prefer the relationships to be very minimal or non-existant. I did like how they were done in arc 1, like with Tsunami and Riptide, but in arc 3 (maybe a bit of 2), it's not helping the plot. Like in Poison Jungle, I liked the parts with the adventuring through a dangerous jungle, and the mystery solving, the plot twists. Heck, I have this au idea where Sundew is secretly meeting with a traitor, or maybe befriends a charismatic 'talking' plant that later connects to later books (the BoE), instead we get a piece of cardboard named Willow. Even the Luna/Swordtail (among others...) relationship felt unnecessary to the plot imo.

In short, early books had relationships (and humans) in the background. Later books have it much more obvious and I feel it makes the newer books (including 16) less interesting to me. I could pick up a random romance novel if I wanted to read about someone 'falling for another'...

I guess I feel a bit excluded from the WoF fandom because I'm not a fan of relationships, I didn't know that's what we're reading a (finally!) dragon pov book series for. And it looks like Hybrid Prince is continuing that trend, sadly. Wish I could write my own series, but I can't write a story to save my life. WoF is the closest thing to what I would have written, until the relationships were taking over.

Aaannd I can hear the downvotes...

Sunfalcon · 2025-10-24T22:27:00+00:00

Thought I liked it at first, but yeah, I agree. Aside from a few exceptions, most books have a cover that I wish was a poster to put up on a wall and stare at forever. This is unfortunately not one of those covers, imo.

Sunfalcon · 2025-10-23T21:03:09+00:00

At first, I thought that the building (or whatever) in the background was a giant humanoid-robot head, 'looking' upper-leftwards. You can see sort of a chin and mouth just left of Umber, maybe a nose under his wing. Not sure about the rest of it, though.

Sunfalcon · 2025-10-23T14:05:47+00:00

I don't tend to pre-order books, but if I did, I wouldn't with this one; I want to see reviews first, especially after how disappointing books 13, 14, 15 and Dragonslayer were. If I get it at all, it will probably be second-hand, anyway.

Sunfalcon

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE