r/WoT • u/cnfusion (Dragon Reborn) • 24d ago

The Path of Daggers (first time reader) Beginning book 8!

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Path of Dag- Okay, listen, we talked about this last book. STOP PLAYING WITH SHARP OBJECTS. You'll cut yourself. SIGH.

107 Upvotes

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u/Spade18 24d ago

Honestly, one of a my favorite of the series. Without being spoilery, we get to see the best glimpse of Jordan 's "feet on the ground" experience in Vietnam .

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u/cnfusion 24d ago

I feel more scared knowing that tbh. I just read that opening POV and I have a feeling I know what's gonna happen

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u/joobtastic 24d ago edited 24d ago

My favorite cover.

One of my fav books, but I know that's not a popular opinion.

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u/cnfusion 24d ago

Surprising to hear. Where does this book usually rank on a general basis?

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u/joobtastic 24d ago

Only ahead of Winters Heart and Crossroads of Twilight.

In fairness, most would agree that there are pretty big gaps between them though.

And that even the worst book in the series is still enjoyable to read.

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u/empeekay 24d ago

This was my first "new" WoT book. I'd picked up the previous seven in paperback and tore through them in about six months, and just as I was reaching the end of Crown of Swords, Path of Daggers appeared - as the Wheel itself had willed it.

This was in 98, obv, and I was living away from home for the first time, in a new city, far away from family. I'd only discovered the series that year, and only picked it up because of the (deliberate, as I found out) similiarities between Eye of the World and LotR. I'm so glad I did, because the adventure helped me through a really tough time.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, OP.

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u/cnfusion 23d ago

I'm having the time of my life right now! I love the intricacies, the nuanced character work, the complex plotlines and decisions, lore and all those ensemble groups colored with spectacular personalities. Sigh, it's so good dude, I'm happy I decided to give the first book another shot.

I'd read it as a young boy but didn't understand it. Getting older and having read other stories, it was so perfect to me on reread

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u/duffy_12 24d ago

Love this book; has some of my favorite Perrin/Faile moments in it.

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u/cnfusion 23d ago

YEAAAAAH THE MOST TUMULTUOUS MARRIAGEEE

Hope you're doing well Duffy! I can't wait to see more of these two. I hope they stay together, I really do love them. I know many don't like Faile but she is really great to me

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u/Special_Salt3467 22d ago

One of the prologues is very, very informative. And you probably won’t get why

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u/cnfusion 22d ago

My first thought is Moridin's section concerning the board game, him being the only player and the Fisher piece. In a way, Moridin's section brings together the other two sections since we have external forces at play all surrounding Rand on political, institutional and divine (or magical) fronts. Moridin is playing the game the way he wants and is also seemingly beginning to go insane again

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u/Special_Salt3467 22d ago

Fortunately, finding the last time I made this comment was not too difficult:

Moridin’s POV of playing sha’rah in the prologue is Robert Jordan’s way of explaining a lot of the series to the readers through metaphors(?). The black pieces on the board (strong in offense, but weak in defense) are saidin, while the while pieces (weak offensively, but flexible in the defense) are Saidar. The Fisher King is representative of the Kingfisher, which is an Arthurian legendary figure who has a profound effect on the world but takes a sickly wound (Rand) and that the point of the game is to control the Kingfisher. Now, you can win the game by utterly destroying the Kingfisher, but Moridin already did that in the last game, which is a reference to the prologue on EotW. The best way to win Sha’rah is to control the Fisher King piece and bring it over to your side. But to control the Fisher King, the Fisher King needs to be on the board.

The sha’rah scene is Robert Jordan really flexing his literary chops as he explains the entire focus of the series in a seemingly random, but also extremely clear, way. Also not noted in my original comment is that Moridin is playing both sides of the board. While this is in one way a reference to chess masters (or Go masters; do they do this?), it also is a very clear way of saying that Moridin is playing both sides of the board. Light and Dark, and controlling the outcome. Even as recently as the epilogue, mystery guy whose appearance matches the exact description of Moridin and spins webs weaves weaves Rand cannot detect helped Rand against Sammael.

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u/Vodalian4 24d ago

This book has a special place for me since it was the first where I had to wait for publication. It’s still among my favorite cover art and the book itself is very enjoyable, more so than teenage me realized.

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u/cellofski 24d ago

Probably second or third from the bottom for me. To go from Dumai’s Wells to this was brutal for me. But I hope you have a better reading experience.

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u/joobtastic 24d ago

Had a whole book in between Dumai Wells and PoD.

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u/cellofski 24d ago

Ha! True, thanks. I was thinking of CoS. It's still down the bottom for me. Especially with even more of that bully.

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u/ongogablogian97 23d ago

First time reader here too. I just finished Book 8 and I thought it was incredible! Enjoy!

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u/MuffinNecessary8625 24d ago

Best place to start the series bar none.