So I just finished The Path of Daggers last night and I loved pretty much all of it. It's to a point where I really don't understand where the "slog" comes in.
Some people claim it started in A Crown of Swords while others say it starts here but I'm not seeing that in the slightest. Both books were paced well and had incredibly important events. The character work remains phenomenal and the world is constantly expanding in fun ways.
I pretty much loved books 7 and 8 as much as I did all the other books. So I guess I have to ask are these "slog" comments just from people that aren't invested in the characters? That's the only real explanation I can think of outside of course from the people who read them when they came out but even then I think books 7 and 8 are incredibly eventful.