Instruct: Classify a given review into positive or negative sentiment.
Query: Ponderous and slow

The series starts with a bang, but deserves to have died an honorable death at the end of volume 3, at which point it becomes very clear that rather than bringing things to a logical conclusion, the author decided to milk as much money from his readers as possible. Whole volumes have now been written in which the plot does not advance one step. I quit reading about two-thirds of the way through volume 5 and any reader with half a brain or with something better to do (like watch the grass grow) has done likewise. Perhaps the most over-rated series in the genre. Doesn't hold a candle to J. R. R. Tolkien