Any C-D readers into Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series? (novel, comic)

[philwithbeard]

I saw the latest Wheel of Time book discounted at my local bookstore. I got a copy of the 1st book; but I question if I can deal with 13 or 14 thick books by this author.

Robert Jordan's (James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) writing style may not be my cup of tea. Too many characters, too many place names, point of view jumping sometimes with in a single scene, and so on.

Are these books considered more for teenagers? Post-adolescents? What? Seriously, not even a PG-13 rating for the book I read.

And yes, I know about the Wheel of Time forum site; too fan based for any opinion I am looking for.

TIA

[Mark S.]

I read several of them over ten years ago. I really liked the first 4 books in the series. After that, there were definite moments of goodness, but lots and lots of pages of just not much happening. Kind of reminded me of the old Truman Capote comment: “That’s not writing. That’s typing.” I actually haven’t read the last 2 or 3 in the series. It was taking so long for them to come out that I gave up and decided I’d just read them all again straight through once the whole thing was done.

If you like Fantasy, you should read them. Just keep your expectations realistic.

The Bad

Prose is not Jordan’s strong point. His writing is very, very thick. He never met an adjective he didn’t like — so much in fact that he invites all their friends and cousins into every paragraph. His descriptions are repetitive to the point of being annoying. “Stone-faced Lan” gets almost comical after a while.

This isn’t deeply character driven storytelling. Sure it isn’t Dostoyevsky, but it isn’t even George R.R. Martin. The characters are fairly simple and don’t have much depth, but enjoy them for what they are. It’s heroic Fantasy in the tradition of Treasure Island and Alexander Dumas. If you like that, you’ll like this.

The Good
I think the biggest thing that grabbed me about the series was the world. It isn’t typical medieval Fantasy. Culturally, it’s more like the 1700s, only without gunpowder. Image 18th century Europe without guns.

And the magic is fun. The One Power is actually one of the better magic systems in modern Fantasy. It’s more of a mystic science than outright magic, and the feminist theme of it makes for some interesting facets to the world.

Conclusion

I wish I could’ve edited this series from the beginning. It’s a great first draft of a story in need of a severe edit. And it ought to be about half as long.

[Mark S.]

P.S.

I should add. My wife has read all of the books that are out. She says that since Sanderson took over, the series is much improved. Things are actually happening in the series again, as opposed to 500 pages of traveling and talking in every 800 page book.

[philwithbeard]

Mark:

Thanks for the reply.

Could you ask your wife a question?
Can someone read the 1st book, then jump to the last three (Gathering Storm, Tower of Midnight, and then the to be released Memory of Light?) without loosing too much? Or is it a case of needing a lot of "Cliff Notes" Internet research to catch up on added characters and interplay?

TIA

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

Could you ask your wife a question?
Can someone read the 1st book, then jump to the last three (Gathering Storm, Tower of Midnight, and then the to be released Memory of Light?) without loosing too much? Or is it a case of needing a lot of "Cliff Notes" Internet research to catch up on added characters and interplay?

You'd be lost. Despite the fluff, there is lots of background info throughout the series -- especially in Book 4 -- that if you don't read, you'll be completely lost in the latter books.

[bellhead]

I read the entire series in 2004, it took me about 6 months, and then reread it last summer in anticipation of the 3rd to final novel to come out in order to refamiliarize myself with everything that goes on. There are plots, sub plots, adventures, fights, etc. It's truly an epic series and one of the greatest in fantasy story telling.

The bad news is yes Jordan does drone on for pages and pages, you however need to read everything because he'll throw something in the middle of a paragraph which might effect a major plotline and not reference it again. The only negative is editing, each book could have been 500 pages instead of 800.

The good news is everything else, it's a long series, depth of characters, time scope, battles, etc...

I would highly recommend it to anybody but I realize it's not everybody's cup of tea.

[philwithbeard]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

You'd be lost. Despite the fluff, there is lots of background info throughout the series -- especially in Book 4 -- that if you don't read, you'll be completely lost in the latter books.

**GROAN....**

Ah, Popsicle... I was hoping for another answer.

Thanks for the frank responses Mark and Bellhead.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

**GROAN....**

Ah, Popsicle... I was hoping for another answer.

Thanks for the frank responses Mark and Bellhead.

Do what I do: Give it 100 pages, and if you're still not interested, read something else.

I take it you've read the first book? Here is my recollection of what you've got in front of you:

The Great Hunt
Much of this book is slowed down by a long subplot with Rand going off on a sort of side adventure. It could have EASILY been 1/4 as long, but it is still important because the characters involved become major players later. I found the ending a tad silly, but still fun.

The Dragon Reborn
Rand is barely in this book. The other characters dominate the story, but that's okay, because at this point they're much more interesting than Rand.

The Shadow Rising
Probably my favorite in the series. You learn a lot about the Aiel, their history, and how it all ties in to the central conflict, which is lots of fun. This part of the story also makes the series almost more science fiction than Fantasy. And one of the characters goes back to the Two Rivers, which is also a lot of fun. If you like epic Fantasy because of the depth of the world-building, you really get it in this book.

The Fires of Heaven and The Lord of Chaos
These are the 2 books where I lost interest. Don't get me wrong. There are some great parts in the story. But these two books, which together totalled almost 2,000 pages, could have easily been edited into one 500 page book.

And that's as far as I read. Once the entire series is finally out, I intend to re-read them all from the beginning.

[Giesela]

I think I read up to vol 7? 8? before I gave up the books were so damn repetitive. A billion pages to move the plot along a couple on inches. He repeats the same stuff over and over - blast those AES sedai they are so stubborn.......
I couldn't take it even spacing the books out.

So now I'm reading the last book on its own. I figure I can find a synopsis page or something that will give me the events in the other books that were significant.

I like the books. I kind of wish someone would publish an abridged set with say, 60 of the repetitive stuff taken out.

[bellhead]

Giesela, go to the wiki, I did that for the 2nd to last book and read everything in there and it helped a great deal.