Quote:
Originally Posted by Fledchen
Those of you who like this series: why? What draws you into the story and keeps you going from book to book? I'm not much of an epic fantasy reader any more, but this series remains one of the more popular ones and I'd love to give it a chance if it's something I might enjoy.
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Why? Because you wind up caring about all of the main characters. Takes a bit longer for that to happen for some than others. There are... 8 sympathetic chars? One is more main than the others but you're following the story of 8 people minimum. Occasionally a few more
It was nothing to Jordan to do a couple chapters developing the doings of minor chars before bringing them back into contact with any of the mains, who are generally scattered all to hell and gone over the landscape, nowhere near each other half the time.. It's that degree of storyline development I really like. He wanted you to know why a minor char did what he did or said instead of .. it just passing. There were potential short stories everywhere
It's the character development, storyline development and world painting. Like I've said other places, I like it for the long, involved, neverending plot lines heh.. the exact things that some people dislike it for.
If I find a good read, I don't want it to end necessarily - I like a good ending but I don't need one to have enjoyed a book. If I've been excited or enjoyed some "understanding" from it, had that "can't put it down" feeling along the way..., then I'm good.
My relaxation time is all about the journey, not the destination. It's not boring to me, to read that kind of writing
The excellent character names, place names, different types of power from different previous ages, the different cultures, watching the character's personalities change over time or as new circumstances require them to discover something about themselves.. All go along with plot to make a great book, it's not just plot. They've all been using/reusing the same 5 or 6 basic plots for the last 40 years. Jordan just stretched it out, heh.. And there have been a few surprises on the trip.
You really shouldn't miss reading at least the first 4 or 5 books, same with the first 3-4 of Goodkind's Sword of Truth. It's good writing.