For example, in previous books, one of the most enjoyable aspects was watching the characters deal with entering new phases of their lives. Reading about Rand's first encounters with court politics, or Egwene adapting to life as a Wise One apprentice, kept the story engaging. In A Path of Daggers, however, Perrin continues to struggle with being a lord. Egwene continues to try to consolidate her power as Amyrlin. Rand continues to harden himself while avoiding insanity. Elayne continues her trek home to Caemlyn.

Nor are there any introductions of major new plot elements as was found in previous books. There are no new enemies on the scale of the Seanchan, no new cultures like the Sea Folk, no ter'angreal that can change the balance of power. This lack was disappointing when such introductions usually keep the story fresh.

I don't want to leave the impression that A Path of Daggers is a bad book or boring. It's a piece of excellent writing that is part of an excellent series. However, this particular piece of The Wheel of Time, taken by itself, seems to drag on. It seems like Jordan could have focused on progressing certain plot lines faster to give more of a sense of progress. Fortunately, several things happen at the very end of the book that suggest that the ninth book will again be refreshing and different.

I would suggest that readers with enough patience wait for the ninth book to come out, then read it back-to-back with A Path of Daggers. This will probably hide any of the book's shortcomings and lead to a more pleasurable reading experience.