The Wheel of Time

[Shakan'Dar]

Anybody read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan? It's one of the best fantasy series' that I've read. Took him a while to get book 11 out though, so now I'm rereading the entire series before I read the new book. Up to book 7.

Anyway, a little about it, The Wheel of Time represents the Ages. It has 5 spokes, each spoke is an age. The story is centered on the Third Age, the age where the Last Battle occurs between the Creator's champion, The Dragon Reborn, and the Dark One. Basically, this battle happens over and over. Each age has happened already and will continue to happen, only slightly different. Basically someone is always reborn as the same basic person. The sense of magic is pretty cool, in that it is called the One Power, and only females can use it without going insane, because the Dark One tainted the male half when he was imprisoned long ago. He's beginning to escape, evil growing, yada yada ya. read the series.

[The Man]

I used to be hugely into this series like four year ago. I still think it's alright; Jordan manages to create some rather interesting races, and the political aspects of the series are intriguing. However, there isn't really much variety among his female characters, and there's a pretty huge slowdown in events from books seven to ten, where the only really massive event happens at the very end of book nine. While I appreciate Jordan's attention to detail, his penchant for description really reaches absurd levels in a lot of later entries in the series.

I'd say that George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series basically pulls off successfully everything Robert Jordan is trying to do in this series, although magic and theology both play far less significant roles.

[YopY]

I've read it up to book 3, lost interest halfway through. i might continue it after I finish A Feast For Crows though.

[Shakan'Dar]

Yeah, I'd say the main reason that Robert Jordan's books drag so much, is that when something important has to be done, nobody in his books trusts anybody else. Either that or a major char. gets kidnapped and they have to spend 5 chapters bloody running after the kidnappers.

[The Man]

Or, in the case of Faile, five books. Well, not quite, but close enough.

I'd say the paragraphs of prose spent describing the hem of each Aes Sedai's dress doesn't do much for brevity either though

[Shakan'Dar]

Although I do enjoy his descriptions of how their serenity collapses in distressing situations. And the descriptions of authority figures quelling all resistance. Sorilea is a very amusing character.

[The Man]

The politics are one of the most intriguing parts of the series, I agree. It'd be even more effective if he were able to give female characters more to distinguish them than their physical appearances, though - which, again, is one of the main reasons I prefer Martin.

[YopY]

You just have the prosaic hots for Brienne .

[The Man]

If she didn't have her face horribly disfigured by now then I might have actually considered her

[Walker]

I read some of them and randomly stopped in the middle of a book. I should get around to finishing the series. Hopefully I’ll be done by the time the next book comes out.

[The Man]

Which, if all goes well, will be the last of the main series. But I don't know how he's going to finish up the plot in a single book, unless it's a 1,400-page monster.

[Beeble]

He did say that it might be a 1400 page monster...

I've read the series a couple of time and is currently rereading it. The first few books are really, really good, among the best i've read, but after book 6 or 7 it goes really downhill. As said before, to few things is spread out over too long time. Hopefully the last book will be good..

[The Man]

I just hope he lives to finish the series. I'm rather worried about that disease he's contracted.

[Beeble]

Yeah, it would be **** if he died before he could finish the work. And i did read somewere that he's gonna finish the prequel before finishing the last book. And if he indeed completes the prequel, but dies before he can finish the last book, i'll be pissed xD

[The Man]

Weird, I'd read the opposite, that he was putting off the rest of the prequels until after he finished the last book. Indecisive maybe? Whatever. Hopefully this provides him with an incentive to hurry up and not waste paragraphs on Aes Sedai dresses anymore

[Beeble]

Well, hopefully he'll finish the last book first, the first part of the prequel was quite unintresting...And yes, he could cut down on the detailed description of everything.

[The Man]

The first part of the prequel wasn't great but it was a hell of a lot better than ****ing Crossroads

[Beeble]

Yeah, you're right about that..To be honest, i had a hard time getting through every book after Lord of Chaos. You can skip big parts of the books after that and you won't miss a thing.

[The Man]

Agreed. Knife of Dreams was the first one after Lord of Chaos that didn't have any slow parts, although at least Winter's Heart wasn't terrible for those.

[Shakan'Dar]

I find that Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne have the most interesting parts. Mat's are only good when he's actually commanding in battles. Perrin's are very tedious. I also enjoy the chapters that show the Black Tower's progress.