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The Wheel of Time

TMSTKSBK

TMSTKSBK

Lord
The Wheel of Time

Yo.

I've been reading "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan for the past couple of weeks. (Book 6, no spoilers!) I'm an insane fantasy/sci-fi fan, and I have to say...



I LOVE IT.

Not only is the *story* great -- as epic as LOTR, methinks -- the way the characters are presented -- each has struggles, they aren't black or white -- really makes the series seem more realistic than, say, LOTR, with everyone being either evil or good. The people have levels of evil, and many of them aren't *evil*, just misguided. I also like the way the books switch viewpoints, so you pick the brain of each character as it moves along.

So I covered from book 2 to book 6 in the past 5 days (3500 pages?). I haven't gotten much sleep. I'm going to finish book 6 tonight, and start on 7 tomorrow, probably.

Anyone else like this series?

(P.S. -- Happy 21st to me!)
 
Kiwi

Kiwi

Knight
Ah, ok. I just assuming anything dealing with "time" is sci-fi :p. We have the LOTR books here at my house and I only read the very first one for a school thing but other than that I could barely keep with it. :p

Of course like most people I saw the 3 movies but I was never a "OMG LOTR" person like everyone else. ^^
 
TMSTKSBK

TMSTKSBK

Lord
If you can't keep up with LOTR, WoT isn't for you...it's complicated as crap :confused:...

My hardback LotR set is one of my prized possessions :p
 
Kiwi

Kiwi

Knight
Right... I looked it up on Amazon and there's quite a # of books. And a review saying that once you get past #5 it starts to go downhill. It'll be interesting to see if you feel that way too :p
 
T

Thistle

Wanderer
I had mixed feelings about the Wheel of Time series.

I'm working on the Dream of Eagles series by Jack Whyte right now but when I finish it I'll be starting in on Raymond E. Feist's Conclave of Shadows series. *woohoo*

Then I'll have to dig into my collection for something to re-read until the fall when George R. R. Martin's latest book comes out in paperback.
 
M

Marlberg

Wanderer
TM

Heard of it of course. Read about 7 books before I got tired of it and put it down. Really struggled through 4 and 5 then 6 was pretty much a letdown. But you are right The book has very little to do with Archetypes and philisophical striving. Has more of a inner struggle of man and man against nature than Deity vs Deity character to it.

My problem with it and it is MY problem with it:) is I am a stickler for attention to detail and I must find a way to suspend my disbelief, and unfortunately Robert Jordan tends to be a wordy bastard.

Just as you are letting yourself slide into a characters skin he changes skins on you to a second primary character, then a third and fourth etc. and finally when you have TOTALLY forgotten about whats going on or have ceased to care what is going on with the first character he springs up out of the earth in a totally unrealistic place making you say Huh what where the hell did HE come from!

One thing he does right though is making the scenery, backdrops, imagery, and mood right. He goes into a little too much detail on the background sometimes using words that make you see the vista, but then making you Fail to see the significance of a character within that vista.

Scale of 1 to 10? give him an A for effort and a 7 overall

I liked Tolkein for many of the reasons I did not much care for Jordan. Tolkein built a world and populated it and made the reader care about its inhabitants and kept in touch with them at the proper moments that both advanced the story and mesmerized the reader.

Jordan built his world in lavish detail and populated his world with characters that faded into the glory of the backdrop.

My $.02
 
TMSTKSBK

TMSTKSBK

Lord
Meh.
Tolkein isn't exactly pure as the driven snow when it comes to verbosity...;)

I think that his grand story is pretty well represented. I AM a little irritated at the "jumpiness" of the books, like you pointed out -- you get used to a sub-plot and *boom* you're in another. Your observations about the detail is pretty on-point, too.

But I think my main point of "liking" is that there *isn't* a really truly clear GOOD and BAD. It's much more realistic than LotR (for instance), where the only instances anything like the WoT characters are Gollum, Boromir, and Saruman. The rest are *very* clearly either **good** or **bad**. Not so in WoT -- characters have internal struggles, and may not be evil, so much as misguided. Although there are, definitely, characters that you would identify as being stereotypically evil, even those characters are not simply, blatantly evil in all cases, and the same for the good. It's a lot like the yin/yang that the series revolves around -- some good in bad, some bad in good.
 
M

Marlberg

Wanderer
TMSTKSBK said:
Meh.
Tolkein isn't exactly pure as the driven snow when it comes to verbosity...;)

I think that his grand story is pretty well represented. I AM a little irritated at the "jumpiness" of the books, like you pointed out -- you get used to a sub-plot and *boom* you're in another. Your observations about the detail is pretty on-point, too.

But I think my main point of "liking" is that there *isn't* a really truly clear GOOD and BAD. It's much more realistic than LotR (for instance), where the only instances anything like the WoT characters are Gollum, Boromir, and Saruman. The rest are *very* clearly either **good** or **bad**. Not so in WoT -- characters have internal struggles, and may not be evil, so much as misguided. Although there are, definitely, characters that you would identify as being stereotypically evil, even those characters are not simply, blatantly evil in all cases, and the same for the good. It's a lot like the yin/yang that the series revolves around -- some good in bad, some bad in good.
Click to expand...

Agreed! Fundamentally Jordan is a sound writer. Unfortunately for me I saw the WoT series as pretty much a Wonderful 5 star resteraunt with naught but garnish on the plates. hehe
 
A

A_Li_N

Knight
Just like to point out that if you are on book 6, you are half way through :)

I read the first one and enjoyed it very much. I have all of them on my computer in webpage format for my private viewing when I'm away from the computer (if I could ever get it to work again). I just never have the time/patience to read more.
List of my collection online:
# Prequel: The Strike at Shayol Ghul (v6.0)
# Prequel: New Spring (v6.0)
# Prologue: Earlier—Ravens (v3.0)
#
# Book One: The Eye of The World (v6.0)
# Book Two: The Great Hunt (v6.0)
# Book Three: The Dragon Reborn (v6.0)
# Book Four: The Shadow Rising (v6.0)
# Book Five: The Fires of Heaven (v6.0)
# Book Six: Lord of Chaos (v6.0)
# Book Seven: A Crown of Swords (v6.0)
# Book Eight: The Path of Daggers (v6.0)
# Book Nine: Winter’s Heart (v6.0)
# Book Ten: Crossroads of Twilight (v6.0)
 
R

RavonTUS

Sorceror
Greetings,

I started out in the middle of the series quite by accident, with "Lord of Chaos". I couldn't stand it, too wordy. Later I picked up "The Great Hunt", not realizing it was part of the series and was able to following it a little better. Next, I jumped to "Crossroad of Twilight" before realizing there are 11 books in this series. AGH!

Since I drive 3 hours a day to work & back, this collection on audio CD has keep me entertain over the last few months. I have managed to back up to the begin and follow the flow of the series, so it is making better since now.

I would agree that Robert Jordan tends to repeat himself allot. How many times do you need to be told that Ran is the Dragon Re-born? I think he could cut the size of his book by a third sometimes.

He definitely does not draw the scenery as sweet as Homer's I & O, LOTR or Mystic Warrior series does. His tone is rough and forced.

I do like all the characters and how involved you become with each one. Instead of Sam being the hero of LOTR, you have Matt & Perrin and a host of other self-serving heroes. Over all maybe I would rate it a 7. Not bad, read if you have the time for 11+ books.

On a personal note, this would make a great background story for someone’s shard. Maybe we should send a copy to EA, so they would have some original idea to incorporate in to OSI.

-Ravon
 
R

Rhexis

Knight
I have every intention to eventually pick up this series. Eventually. But myeah..Ive heard good things..and I do need to expand on my list of authors whom I read.

Ps- Happy 21st ;3
 
siran

siran

Sorceror
I have enjoyed the WoT series for quite some time and have read it aloud to my children. The general opinion here is that after book 5 or 6 it begins to deteriorate and I agree with that opinion. Robert Jordan begins to supply ever more irrelevant detail, introduce myriads of characters, and jump around so much that you start feeling overwhelmed and lost in following the plot. I would rate book 1 on a scale of 1-10 as being about 7.5, books 2-6 as being around 9.5, and then books 7 and up as being around 5.0 or lower.

In comparison, I rate Tolkien's LotR as being a 10.0. Tolkien was a pioneer of the genre, and a master of literature. Those books deserve being made classics.

Better than Jordan's WoT in my opinion is George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, beginning with A Game of Thrones. He is a superb writer and does an excellent job of handling a huge setting with many characters without losing focus on the plot. His books are more on an adult level, which meant I had to censor while reading aloud to my children, but it does give it a more realistic flavor.
 
D

David

Moderate
I LOVE this series! I have read it through in a couple of months last year and have just this week been caught up in it again. I was discussing the story with a friend and picked up Eye of the World to point out something and it sucked me in. That night I started at the beginning. ;)

I agree with Malberg but only to a point. I do think this is the only book I have read that survives being compared to Lord of the Rings. And I have to say it kinda reaches a low point around book 7 and 8. But books 10 and then 11 are the best in the whole series! (Knife of Dreams is Awesome!) I cannot wait to read book 12.

A_Li_N said:
# Prequel: The Strike at Shayol Ghul
Click to expand...
HUH? Goes to Amazon.com.....
 
X

XuriDabur

Sorceror
Here's hoping RJ survives the illness he was recently diagnosed with (some heart muscle disease with a life expectancy of four years or so) long enough to finish book 12.... :(

It's a bit harsh to say it like that, I know - and I really hope he can recover from it fully (if possible) - but I've been reading this series for over 10 years now, and not getting to reading book 12 (the conclusion) would be a bummer. :p

Quote from wikipedia concerning his illness:
On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement [1] in a firm and optimistic tone that he has been diagnosed with primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, and that, with treatment, his median life expectancy is four years, though he says he intends to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intends to have a long and fully creative life, working for another 30 years. He began chemotherapy treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in early April 2006 [2].
Click to expand...
 
K

Killamus

Knight
I loved the first few books, (Currently on 6) and yeah, it jumps around a tad. 6 wasn't the best... But its better then the LotR seires. I couldn't even read it, I disliked it that much. Well written, but not my forte.
 
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