The Wheel of Time

I thought that Wo T actually worked a whole lot better on a re-read than when reading one book every other year. It flowed much better and the annoying parts went by much quicker when you didn't have a year to dwell on them.

So the prologue to TGS is out... as an ebook... for 2.99. Bah.

I thought the first book was ok, and the second one to a point, but it went downhill from their. The last scene I really liked was the climax of book five, when Rand finally went and kicked Ravin's ass, following Moiraine's death.

I, like many others, have long gotten tired of Jordan's overly wordy descriptions and apparent odd sexual fetishes. Also, about all the main cast now seem to be severely ethically compromised, to say the least. I'll probably wait until the series ends and then read the wikipedia summaries to find out what happened.

I would probably watch it if it was a TV series, and maybe if it came out on film. But its a waste of my time and an unbearable feat of endurance to try to read the whole damn thing now.

What? You didn't like The Dragon Reborn (book 3)? Huh, I felt that one was the peak of the first half of the series. But yeah, the battle in book 5 was pretty awesome.

Three and even four were still comparatively readable, but really, I felt the series peaked about the middle of book one (though there were still odd scenes that were better, the series as a whole has continued to go downhill).

Huh. I thought Book one was very mediocre and formulaic, too much of a LOTR homage. Book two and three started finding it's way though.

Yeah, I think that The Wheel Of Time isn't for anyone who thought that Book 1 was the best. If that's what you like, I'm sure that there are other series that would better-suit your tastes—there are plenty of fantasy books that focus on an adventuring party instead of a convoluted plot with 100+ major characters.

I don't think it was preference for the adventuring plot that made me prefer book one. More for the style of the writing, or maybe I just hadn't had time to get tired of it yet. Plus there were still some likable main characters at that point.

Besides, it wasn't just the first book that had the "small band of adventurers" style plot. It was still very much present through book three, and it was only at book four that the whole intricate political deceptions and massive armies and battles focus really took over.

The first three books are quite distinct in this respect from the rest of the series, and could probably have worked decently well as a stand-alone trilogy. But of course, it would have meant the climax of book five never got written, and I have to admit that's one of the few parts of the series I really like.

I want to read Wheel Of Time. I really do. It's just...

edited 24th Sep '09 4:53:05 PM by Wicked223

I've been with Wo T since 2006 (not such a long time I know but still) and I've always loved it. In my opinion, all the books are quite good but I have problems keeping up with what order things happen in.

I have to wonder, how many people thought that it was funny that Mat getting married was in the prophecies?

Eh. In this kind of story, "prophecy" is pretty much code for "stuff the author needs in the plot but can't figure out how to justify situationally".

It was something he planned from very early on though. It obviously wasn't something he just came up with.

First chapter of The Gathering Storm is now available in PDF form from Amazon.

My thoughts: looks good so far, but a bit too much exposition put in for my taste. However, the writing style seems very similar to Jordan's, and the characterization is exactly correct, so I'm looking forward to seeing how Sanderson did.

edited 22nd Oct '09 11:40:03 PM by Balesirion

I think Jordan had written a fair chunk of this book before he died, so Sanderson would have had little if any influence on this chapter. I do like that he's managed to bring the clothing descriptions down to just a paragraph each, and seems at least somewhat aware of Nynaeve's braid-tugging.

I also liked how The Wind actually matters this time.

I've heard some massive spoilers. The one that makes me the most excited:

Verin is Black Ajah, and apparently somehow manages to hand Egwene a list of all Black Sisters. By the end of the book the entire Black Ajah has been stilled and executed!

Actually, Sanderson wrote this whole chapter. He mentioned on his website a while back how much he enjoyed writing the beginning with the wind.

I saw the new book in a bookshop today, but it was the massive hardback edition. No idea when the paperback comes out, so I guess I'll have to wait for a few months.

Also, the American cover looks utterly shit◊.

I saw a softcover version in my local bookstore, and holy crap, it's huge! It's maybe 5 inches thick and is only part one of three! 0_0

What the heck is up with that cover? It's even worse than the one for Lord of Chaos!

At least it doesn't feature the parade of horses. WoT had some terrible covers.

edited 31st Oct '09 9:45:52 AM by Penguin 4 Senate

Yeah, Darrell K. Sweet really sucks. When the cover was announced on dragonmount.com, half the comments consisted of people finding inventive ways to make fun of it. The UK cover was really much better.

So, finished TGS:

CMOA #1: "You are a coward and a tyrant, and I would name you Darkfriend but I do not think the Dark One himself would have you!"

CMOA #2: Verin.

CMOA #3: While a sign of him being bugfuck crazy, Rand nuking Graendal's hideout with balefire was pretty awesome, too.

edited 2nd Nov '09 11:29:40 PM by Arilou

Word.

Sneaky Verin is sneaky.

Also,

CMOA 3 Rand B Fing Graendal. Quote- You make her think you're playing her game, and then you lean across the table and punch her in the face. I know people are going to complain about how they Never Found the Body, but it was worth it.

edited 3rd Nov '09 10:15:21 PM by Treblain

Book Twelve confirms Egwene as my favorite character. Now on to wondering about the "Towers of Midnight" ... Oh wow it just hit me; its the Tower of Ghenji (home of the Alefinn and Elfinn). And Verin still hold some mysteries (like the manuscript of Corin um the dreamer ) And some POV's were totally absent, but I think it worked out well. Hopefully we will still have Egwene's POV in the next book. I read the whole book in one night.