The Path of Daggers

The Path of Daggers is a fantasy novel by the American writer Robert Jordan, published in 1998. It is the eighth book of his series The Wheel of Time.

Elayne Trakand, Nynaeve al'Meara, Aviendha and their coalition of channelers use the ter'angreal known as the Bowl of the Winds to reverse the unnatural heat that the Dark One has introduced into the climate, and then escape a Seanchan invasion by travelling to Andor with the Kin who have not yet been taken by it. Once they are in Andor, an Aes Sedai travelling with them is murdered and the group works out that one of its own members belongs to the Black Ajah. On reaching Caemlyn, Elayne begins her claim to the throne.

Perrin Aybara moves into Ghealdan to stop Masema Dagar, who has named himself the Prophet of the Dragon, and on the way he unknowingly rescues the deposed Queen Morgase of Andor from the Prophet's men and then secures the ground he has taken.

The book is the shortest of the main Wheel of Time novels, with a prologue and thirty-one chapters, and its title comes from a Seanchan saying: on the heights, all paths are paved with daggers. It was released to the top position on the New York Times hardcover fiction list, the first book of the series to reach that place.