Robert Jordan & Wheel of time series

[sirbruce]

By the time I knew a lot of people who were reading and recommending the series, there were already something like five books out, and more on the way. And the people who didn't like it all said the same thing: they're too long, nothing much happens, it just drags on without resolution. So I didn't bother.

As to Brandon's explanation of how one book became two and then three... well, I don't doubt it, and perhaps that was not what was originally planned, but I'm sure the people at Tor and owners of bookstores everywhere are going *KA-CHING!* at the prospect.

[deltop]

I love long fantasy series. The more books the better

However even I got tired after book 9. I've yet to read books 10 and 11. But after reading Brandon Sanderson's novels I'm planing on reading through the entire series at least twice in preparation for the last 3.

His first novel Elantris and the 3 volume Mistborn series come highly recommenced by me. Personally I think he's more than capable of finishing off The Wheel of Time and will do a great job.

[sirbruce]

Xanth is up to 32 books now, with 2 more already in the works? I swear Anthony has a computer program that writes the books for him...

[Melissa]

I've got a soft spot for fantasy romance (not the extremely soppy stuff that makes you want to reach for a bucket) - would i like the Wheel in Time series??

Another series I keep hearing about is George R.R Martin (Song of Fire and Ice) series but have been warned that it is quite dark and depressing at times.

[wayspooled]

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.

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.

[wayspooled]

Originally Posted by Melissa

I've got a soft spot for fantasy romance (not the extremely soppy stuff that makes you want to reach for a bucket) - would i like the Wheel in Time series??

Another series I keep hearing about is George R.R Martin (Song of Fire and Ice) series but have been warned that it is quite dark and depressing at times.

Probably, if you stick with it a few books, you'll see 5 or 6 different romances going on - but the books are not romances. The romances are important but not crucial to any... hmm.. well it's true that romance isn't critical to the growth of most of the characters. Jordan seemed to have some sense of humor about his romances in WoT too.

Now, Mr. Martin... Unfortunately you can't really get attached to anybody in that story. heh.. Brilliant writing, I like his writing as much as Jordans, not quite as good at char dev but better at tighter plots.. But.. ya can't trust him to keep a character you like alive or .. whole... I've read the first 3 books and I'm not going to read another one until I know he's finished the series heh...

[Krystian Galaj]

You must have a good memory for names. I stopped reading Wheel of Time when I couldn't tell which character was which, and what it did last time I read about it.

[Sporadic]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why bother to link us to the article and then spam us with the entire article?

Because my day isn't complete unless I get at least one negative post from you about something I post.

[wayspooled]

Originally Posted by Krystian Galaj

You must have a good memory for names. I stopped reading Wheel of Time when I couldn't tell which character was which, and what it did last time I read about it.

Yeah, I hear that

The books were coming out about a year apart and each time one did, I'd reread from the beginning. At book 6 I started rereading the previous book only. But see, I didn't do it because I had to. I did it because I enjoyed them and found something new each time.

There is plenty of backstory (and all the characters involved) which isn't necessary to tell a tale, particularly books 4-7, but doesn't take away from it. It's a complex world though, 15 countries (heh in the present age, plenty others mentioned in historical context) with 15 sets of rulers on the continent, a world bad guy/henchmen organization, world good(?) guy/henchmen org, neutral parties, not 1 but 8 strong main characters (and you'd need them if you realized how long it would take Rand to visit all 15 of those countries hehehe.., a desert waste with it's ruling tribes.. and then as all this power struggle is taking place - they get invaded by these people from another continent... Multiple types of magic developed in different ages to be discovered, Male and female power distinctly different. A few bits of romance, some humor.

Now that he's unexpectedly gone, I think there's a bunch of us fans that are happy to have all this "not absolutely necessary" prose. I can count on one finger the number of authors I think better at creating a new, believable, engaging fantasy world.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I read about half of them but they just got too slow for me and it felt like the story got away from him so I just stopped.

Originally Posted by Krystian Galaj

You must have a good memory for names. I stopped reading Wheel of Time when I couldn't tell which character was which, and what it did last time I read about it.

Glad I'm not alone in these views ....

[Dave Berk]

Originally Posted by wayspooled

not quite as good at char dev but better at tighter plots..

I agree with everything you said apart from that. Mr. Martin characterization ability is amazing, IMHO. Take Littlefinger for exmaple, I've never hated a character more in my life...


The WOT series OTOH had amazing potential but in the end went nowhere. Mr Jordan writng is equal to none, same for his worldbuilding abilty. Yet as the series proceeded I found I could skip pages ahead without missing anything... (apart from longwinded description of braid tugging). And I don't want to start about his characterization of women...

[Fathermole]

Jordan is way to long winded and there's so many better fantasy writers out there . He's just not for me . Read the 1st four books of WoT they just didn't do anything for me . A lot of people like his style .So try one and decide for yourself .

[tirsales]

Long winded .. yeah, I could subscribe to this. Important parts of the story tend to be tolled in two sentences, and then he describe a freaking dress over several pages (and a book is not complete until at least a dozen mentions of bossoms and how good they look in (insert dress here)).
Apart from this I really loath his naming ... I mean "Trolloc"? Can there be something less imaginative? (And no, thats not the only thing. Nearly all of his names, races, etc are stolen).
Many of the characters or politics act plain stupid, most of the plot is predictable, etc

No. I read the first 9 books (really didnt like the latter ones) and I wont continue with book 10 or 11.