Wheel of Time: Worth it or not?

The Wheel of Time is easily my favorite series, I totally think it's worth it. I didn't really have any issue with any of the middle-ish books, nor those two sub plots that other readers seem to really despise. Book 10 is the one I've seen most people agree as being the worst book of them all, but I enjoyed reading that as well. And yes, it can have some... silly moments, which seem to crop up most during the middle-ish books in the series. Be warned for that.

I genuinely like a large amount of the characters (Rand, Mat, Perrin and Moiraine the most, but even most of the male and female supporting characters I like) so I wouldn't say they're unlikable, although I hate a lot of characters too (Mainly the ones that constantly have a "Better than you" persona like most Aes Sedai, most Wise ones and all Seanchan).

And yes, the series has plenty of Awesome Moments. I don't find it clichéd at all, I think it makes good use of tropes and deconstruction. I've only read the first eleven books however, so I haven't read the ones Brandon Sanderson has worked on.

I haven't read the ones Brandon Sanderson has worked on.

Remedy this.

Now.

Care to elaborate on the silly moments? As I've said, I don't know what they meant with this.

And yeah, the Brandon Sanderson sound like they're the best of the whole series.

Cygan: Can you please hide the spoilers in your posts? It's too late for me, but there's no reason to leave them there anyway.

Treblain: Thanks for the detailed info, and for reminding me the dress descriptions. I just remembered, I've heard it has sometimes a whole freaking page describing a dress. Tragic. That's definitely something I should include in the OP.

Everybody, thanks a lot for the input. If there's anything to add, you know... do it. I can't say I've made a decision yet, but it's very unlikely that this thread alone could change it anyway.

I've been trying to get a hold of book 12 for quite a while, finished book 11 sometime last year and never got round to getting book 12 due to Hype Aversion. People won't stop gushing about how much better the new author is and it's really put me off, because I LIKE Robert Jordan's writing. A whole page describing a dress IS an exaggeration, although I've had people furiously trying to convince me other wise. As for silly things, someone already mentioned the spanking, the bathing, the dressing. And bondage. Those can be off putting for some readers, although I don't find it to be a big deal and don't care either way about it.

I wouldnt say that TGS and To M are better written than Robert Jordan's books. I would definitely say that they are better than some of them, but not all of them.

And the descriptions are way more exaggerated than they really are. There's a lot, but not whole pages describing dresses.

Reading the Wo T is like this:

Are you the kind of person who would still eat the world's greatest pie if it had fireants on it?

If so, read the series.

edited 21st Feb '11 4:03:39 PM by Carbonpillow

Hidden.

Mmm... fireants.

^^^The horrible burning pain gives it that special zing!

Wait... We're still talking about pie, right?

edited 22nd Feb '11 9:43:17 AM by Metalhead467

I've tried to get into the WOT cycle three times now, which is more attempts than I've ever given a book or series I didn't like right off the bat.

I keep hoping I'm wrong, that I'm about to discover something wonderful. That I'm about to read some books I've always needed, but never knew I needed them until I read them. But alas.

Warning: link containing many serious spoilers! These are the best reviews of the books I've ever come across: http://punkadiddle.blogspot.com/2010/06/robert-jordan-wheel-of-time-1990-2005.html Warning: link containing many serious spoilers!

His thoughts and impressions match my own, for as far as I've been able to read.

edited 28th Mar '11 12:24:42 AM by MildGuy

^

So The Wheel Of Time is like Touhou?

eh. All I knew is that I tried the first book, got 200 pages into it and both times realized that I could've been reading anything else, but instead I was reading this.

I've heard the "it gets better later" statement, but fuck if I'm going to read three dictionary-length books just to comprehend the good parts.

(Though, I've recently realized I'm not a huge fantasy fan, so take that as you will)

Read up to 11 and will probably pick up the new ones at some point, but too buisy right now. Probably will want to read the others again first. I think that the plot/characters could have been a lot less convoluted and still have been as awesome and I hate how oftain Four Lines, All Waiting occures in the latter books, but I still like the overall plot.

Something I would sudjest is reading The Dresden Files or Codex Alera by Jim Butcher (current favorate author). If you like the Loads And Loads Of Characters, Thirty Xanatos Pileup, Long Runner, etc. tropes, then The Dresden Files gives you all that in a much more strait forward and awesome way. Even the Badass Normals and Arthur Dents get a couple of Crowning Moments in each book. To top it off, Word of God is that there will be 20 books in the series and ended with an apocalyptic trilogy because "Who doesn't love apocalyptic trilogies?" And don't get me started on the shout outs. Did I mention that All Myths Are True and Gods Need Prayer Badly in this series?

(Yes, I am here to pimp this series/author and not talk about Wheel of Time, but I would recommend The Dresden Files over Wheel of Time because it has a lot of the same tropes and uses them better IMO.)

edited 21st Mar '11 10:41:47 AM by Belian

But the Dresden Files is urban/noir fantasy, not epic or high fantasy like Wo T. The two series really cannot be compared. I agree that books 7-10ish of Wo T really suffer from the fact Jordan married his editor, but overall I think it is well worth reading. Its outright more fun to read than any of its direct comparison series (M Bot F, A So Ia F).

There's also the fact that he was dying while writing the later books.

I managed to get The Gathering Storm last week and after reading it, I must say I'm pleased with Brandon Sanderson's work on it. In my opinion, It stays true to the series' style.

What I'm really worried about now, is the idea of movies being made of it. While I'd love to see a good Wheel of Time movie made that expanded the series fan base, a bad movie would just increase the hatedom and attract negative attention to the series which I'd be loathe to see (I can accept that it's not everyone's cup of tea, however I'd hate for a bad movie to be made that just expands the hatedom to people who haven't even read the books).

M Bot F? What's that?

Also, thanks for the link Mild Guy. (Though I only skimmed the first one a bit, since the reviewer isn't afraid of spoiling things.)

I assume M Bot F refers to Malazan Book of the Fallen.

As for Wheel of Time, it's currently on my vague list of things I should probably read sometime.

I quit during the middle of the fourth book, because they were getting too long even for me, and the books kept breaking apart half-way through. Should I coutinue?

If you had trouble with the length of the fourth book, I don't think so. The series is heavy on Four Lines, All Waiting, Loads And Loads Of Characters, Continuity Porn, and even a bit of Thirty Xanatos Pileup—things haven't really even gotten started yet where you are.

^^^^ Sorry, I should've marked it with a spoiler warning. Wasn't thinking. I've corrected that now.

@Cygan Angel:

The problem I have with a criticism like this is that the critic equates failure to enjoy a piece with an inability to "see" the work fully, or with a lack of "proper" perspective, a disability or an inferior perspective the True Fan naturally does not suffer from. It can also insinuate that non-fans are just denying the awesomeness that's plain to see out of spite, or bitterness, or willful ignorance, or perhaps even a sinister political agenda.

In short: "You just don't, like, get it maaannn."

It's smug and insulting.

And, sure, people could have many reasons to dislike or hate something. They might really have problems reading deeply or with great attention. Maybe they're just lazy, I dunno.

But that's not going to cover everyone who doesn't like Wo T or any other book. They can get it. They can see perfectly well there's storytellin' going on there, with story and story-related activities ensuing all over their face. But whether it's great story telling or not is a purely subjective observation, and this guy you quoted seems to imply that, no, it's scientifically, objectively factual that Wo T is a pinnacle of storytelling and everyone who sees it otherwise must surely be blind, the poor fools.

Ha.

Anyways, sorry for the thread jack. I'll stop now.

I do think I should finish the second book before I talk more about the series.

It was one of the comments on the page linked.

^ I know, I was reacting to what you quoted, not anything you said. Sorry if I made it sound as if I was picking a fight with you. As a fan of stuff myself, it's an argument I hate, yet at the same time I've thought and felt that way before about people who don't like what I've liked before. It's a habit I'd like to kick, yet forums really aren't the best place to exorcise personal demons I suppose. I knew I shouldn't've typed that up late at night.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna check out Eye of the World after I read some of Brandon Sanderson's stuff.