Wheel of Time from a newbie

[malek]

Finished first book few weeks ago, and dont know what all the fuss is about ?! I mean, it is decent, but there are tons of better fantasy stuff around. Few decent characters, much more that are so ordinary, and I dont care about at all, story is not "great" to say the least, book is not written especially well, and i was pi55ed about that "final" battle at the end of the book. If that wasn't deus-ex machina, then I don't know what is.

Still, world is wast, and there are plenty of things going around. Those characters I found interesting were REALLY interesting, and atmospher, and description of how main characters felt during the whole thing was amazing.

6-6.5/10 for me.

[Poobah]

In relation to my earlier point about things appearing different on re-reads I have to say that beyond the (still) fantastic prologue book 1 felt ALOT weaker than I remembered it. The start especially drags on forever, and all the crap with them wandering around in smaller groups derping off, and fuck tinkers. It's funny that EotW is consistently rated highly amongst fans but I can't help but feel now that maybe there's some rose-tinted nostalgia glasses being worn.

[Rhom]

That's exactly why I took them up, I thought they would fill a gap but I've ended up burning through them so I'll need to find something else as well!

You thought it'd take you five years to read them?!!? ;)

Finished first book few weeks ago, and dont know what all the fuss is about ?! I mean, it is decent, but there are tons of better fantasy stuff around. Few decent characters, much more that are so ordinary, and I dont care about at all, story is not "great" to say the least, book is not written especially well, and i was pi55ed about that "final" battle at the end of the book. If that wasn't deus-ex machina, then I don't know what is.

Still, world is wast, and there are plenty of things going around. Those characters I found interesting were REALLY interesting, and atmospher, and description of how main characters felt during the whole thing was amazing.

6-6.5/10 for me.

Its hard for me to even think of EotW as part of WoT at times. It sets up the rest of the series, and the amount of foreshadowing present in that book that doesn't even come into play until books that were written 15 years later is truly amazing; however, the tone of the book is entirely different than the series as a whole. The Great Hunt is an improvement, but the series really starts to hit its stride with The Dragon Reborn.

[Slick Mongoose]

I've never rated EotW as much more that a blatant Tolkein rip-off, at least to start with. I only noticed on a recent re-read that they even went as far as ordering fireworks for the party. There are a few good bits but The Great Hunt is where I start liking the series.

[BLU-RAY]

I really like EotW - probably my most-reread WoT book - but I basically read it up until Shadar Logoth and then skip ahead to Caemlyn. The stumbling-through-towns-and-the-wilderness is kinda tiresome.

[cseresz.reborn]

HouseLark,

Luckers Posted 2013-01-01., 09:41 PM

All we've been told is that 50% of the plot of tGS, TofM and aMoL was not in the notes, and that the last scene (a thousand words or so) was written by RJ. Even if it was noted, it may have been a simply singular line citing the event, and all the specifics left to Brandon.

[Dr. Tachyon]

On the drag in the middle books, people usually don't mind it so much when reading the books back to back. But each of them was the latest instalment at some point, one people had been eagerly awaiting for two years, and they were definitely big disappointments.

On the fuzz about the series, it probably wouldn't make much of an impression now but 20 years ago the Fantasy genre looked different. I think it's fair to say that there would be no ASOIAF without the Wheel of Time. You just couldn't publish such big multi-volume epics before. They only work because you can discuss them on the web, and that started roughly when the WoT came out.

[HouseLark]

OK, so I got through the rough patch (CoT did feel like the middle chapters of a book rather than a complete novel but it was OK) and I've now finished the first of the Sanderson novels.

My initial thoughts are that the story is still sound but some aspects of Sanderson's writing are really jarring and pull me out of Jordan's world just a little. The first thing is he frequently cuts out auxiliary verbs which Jordan never did. Now, characters will ask "you going somewhere?" instead of "are you going somewhere?". The second aspect that is really noticeable is character's use of contemporary US English diction. No one in the first 11 books used the phrases "I guess" or "I figured" or began sentences with "Sure, ...".

Those could just be minor irritants for me but while I understand that a new author will have a different writing style, I would have thought that he could remain try to the character's voices. More substantively, Talmanes and Gareth Bryne feel like new characters.

I'm sure lots of this has been discussed over and over down the years by long-standing WoT fans so please do forgive a newbie who has been avoiding forums so as not be spoiled if I'm just repeating old complaints.

While I'm on it though, Jordan should never have cleansed saidin; the ticking time-bomb of Rand's impending madness was a great part of the story.

[Jon Wolfwalker]

^^ My biggest gripe with Sanderson's handling was the "character's voices". Mat was off, wayyyy off. They say the biggest form of flattery is imitation, which I think he should have done with Mat, Talmanes, and even Uno was off. I don't see why he had to change the way they spoke to be more to his liking.

[Tears of Lys]

Anyway, I'm on Book Eight (PoD) and so far it's been pretty good. It's not wonderful literature (too many stylistic tics) but then I don't expect that from sci-fi or fantasy books, but the story is pretty compelling and most of the characters are interesting enough to become invested in.

:crying:

But we **should** expect it from sci-fi and fantasy books. Stylistic tics aren't necessary in mundane literature, nor should they be in scifi/fantasy.

[glabrain]

Crossroads of Twilight is an incredibly slow book. I can't even remember what happens in that book other than the whole book takes place over 1-2 days. After that it gets pretty good.

[HouseLark]

:crying:

But we **should** expect it from sci-fi and fantasy books. Stylistic tics aren't necessary in mundane literature, nor should they be in scifi/fantasy.

You're right, of course. I'm still waiting to read something within either the sci-fi or fantasy genres that compares with someone like Updike (recommendations welcome). On the other hand, wonderful prose isn't the be all and end all and sci-fi/fantasy writers do have the additional challenge of convincingly moving readers to a world that they don't know and can never know. I think GRRM has flurries of great writing within ASOIF and but overall I think he writes great stories rather than great prose.

^^ My biggest gripe with Sanderson's handling was the "character's voices". Mat was off, wayyyy off. They say the biggest form of flattery is imitation, which I think he should have done with Mat, Talmanes, and even Uno was off. I don't see why he had to change the way they spoke to be more to his liking.

Yes, I should have mentioned Mat. His personality is still there but the voice is very different and the way him and Thom interact is very odd compared to the first 11 books. I should say that I don't envy Sanderson the task he took on and at least fans of the series got an ending this way. I'm sure he hit the key plot points even if he didn't get there in the way that many would have liked.