Knife of Dreams brings back the satisfaction of decisions producing consequences. After so much delay, even a character committing to a course of action feels energizing. Jordan does more than accelerate the plot: he restores the sense that these people can change their circumstances rather than simply endure another chapter of them.
Mat's scenes have a particularly good balance of tactical intelligence and reluctant self-knowledge. He can deny responsibility in his own head while demonstrating it to everyone around him. Nynaeve, meanwhile, makes loyalty feel active. Her refusal to reduce people to their usefulness gives the late-series political scale a much-needed human measure.
Not every longstanding thread becomes equally convincing just because it moves. But there is a generosity to the attention paid here, including to characters who could easily disappear behind the main conflict. As Jordan's final completed Wheel of Time novel, it is moving for reasons outside the text; inside the text, it earns admiration through renewed narrative purpose.
— Cory Lane