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taosaur · 10-10-2017, 03:18 AM

I'm about halfway through The Wheel of Time with no breaks so far (though I've been reading other things with my eyeballs). Since book two I can't say any of the others have bogged down on me. Others have said it got repetitive,

Spoiler:

but on the whole the story seems to be moving forward and the characters developing. Gender roles are certainly problematic, but not more than other 20th century fantasy, and treating every narrator as unreliable undercuts it somewhat. Gender-binding the magic system could be said to exacerbate the situation or partly justify it. All of the "Boys be like..." "Girls be like..." does get a little tiresome, regardless. Still, as a story of flawed characters stepping into larger-than-life roles and doing the best they can, it stays engaging.

10-10-2017, 03:18 AM	#2075
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	I'm about halfway through The Wheel of Time with no breaks so far (though I've been reading other things with my eyeballs). Since book two I can't say any of the others have bogged down on me. Others have said it got repetitive, Spoiler: and there was a bit of a freak-of-the-week quality to the Forsaken battles in the first 2-3 books but on the whole the story seems to be moving forward and the characters developing. Gender roles are certainly problematic, but not more than other 20th century fantasy, and treating every narrator as unreliable undercuts it somewhat. Gender-binding the magic system could be said to exacerbate the situation or partly justify it. All of the "Boys be like..." "Girls be like..." does get a little tiresome, regardless. Still, as a story of flawed characters stepping into larger-than-life roles and doing the best they can, it stays engaging.