Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time

[Alwyn]

I'm stuck. I haven't been able to find anything decent to read lately. I have been considering Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, but reviews are mixed and I don't know if I want to get invested in it. So I figured I'd ask here and get the opions. What do you think? Is it good? Is it interesting? Does the plot hold together? Are hte character likeable? Is it well written? Or is it a blister that marrs the once proud genre of fantasy? (or somewhere in between blister and glory )

Just some opinions and advice would be great thanks.

(Any other good fantasy book suggestions would be appreciated too thanks again.)

[Colder Hands]

i greatly enjoyed the first book. the second i noticed a repatative trend, the third i got worried, and the fourth i gave up on. i don't want to go into spoiler details. so i will keep this short. i would read book 1, and then go from there. then just stop once you get tired of the series. thats what i did, and i can say i enjoyed the reads up to the point i stopped. it moves pretty well, and you don't have to apply a lot of deep thought. its like going to se an action movie. entertaining but not much substance

[Daeric]

Your going to hear alot of negative comments about the series here.

The general opinion is that the books are excellent until book 5 and start slipping down hill from there (Myself I think it was around book 7/8 that it became really noticable) Likeable characters from the beginning WILL become despised *Spoiler(I used to love Perrion, but the intro of Faile ruined it for me) end spoiler*

At times it seems that RJ just lost control and started adding character after character which were non-essential and went too much indepth into pointless details. CoT is a big book that can easily skipped and instead reading online summaries of the book will get you as much info you need from it that reading it will do.

KoD imo was a vast improvement, it did feel slightly rushed at times, and didn't need some of the scenes in it that it did, but still it felt like it was getting back to RJ at his best.

Some of the comments do seem negative, but there is good points. One RJ does excellently is creating a world that is broad indepth and to begin with the characters well had characteristics which were likable (thats not say that all the characters change for the worse as the series continues)

But the best advice I can give is get book 1 out of the libary, if you don't like that don't even bother reading the rest as tbh it does require compelete and utter dedication to stick with the series, or failing that morbid curiosity to see how it pans out.

Edit: Couldn't get the spoiler to black out, yeah I suck.

[Stego]

I like it quite a bit, but it's an incredible investment at this point.

I have a list of my 25 favorite works here. I'd reccomend any of those books incredibly highly.

[Asa]

Worldbuilding: This is the one thing that WoT suceeds in. It's very easy to get immersed into the world.

Plot: WoT is a lot like a video game. You have the epic quest of "Kill the Dark One.", but are too weak to kill him at the start. So you go around the world, leveling up and getting powerful items, completing minor quests that lead up to the big one. Throughout the first books lots of characters make appearances and you think "ooo, plotline!" and then they just dissapear for another 3 books. Robert Jordan isn't very good at juggling plotlines.

Characters: The characters are pretty well developed, but the problem is they're annoying as hell. Robert Jordan seems to think females and males are alien species, and his juvenille characters get really, really annoying after awhile. They have annoying habbits, (After book #1 every female seems to constantly smoothe their skirts and tug on their damned braids) and bicker childlishly.

Prose: You kinda' need to get used to Robert Jordan's prose. He has an inability to summarize, and most things are way too descriptive. It's not too bad once you're used to it, but at the start of every book I go "God damn learn to summarize." Because of his inability to summarize at all, not a whole lot happens in the books.

Over all, I found the first 5 books to be worth reading (In a simplistic, light entertainment sort of way) but as CH said: they don't have a lot of substance. If you're out of shit to read, then you might as well read the first 5 WoT (Goes steadily down hill after that, to the point where the 3 page descriptions will make you want to commit self-suicide).

[commando penguin]

I just started reading WoT about a week ago and i just started book 3 (i think its book 3 anyway). At the moment im enjoying the series, however it is not without its flaws. Unlike ASOIAF, you dont really have to think very much or pay any great attention while your reading which is a plus for me since most of the time when im reading it im either recovering from a big nite out or thinking about something else. Id advise you to get book 1 out front the library (or just download it) and see how it goes.

will make you want to commit self-suicide

self-suicide?

[daniaone]

I have read all of the books to date but was VERY bored through the last five books and skipped much. I like the books Jordan wrote under the name of Goodkind a little more but the same thing happened in the last few books.

It will keep you busy for a little while though.

I am so afraid the same thing is going to happen to ASOIAF but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[Asa]

self-suicide?

It's a ritual that only Egwene and Nynaeve can inflict upon someone. It's a lot like suicide, only that your soul and entire being wants to end the suffering.

[Knight of the Wineskin]

Mr. Search button is your friend. Using search has been shown to cure cancer, increase libido, and increase breast size in women or penis size in men. Honestly.

[Myrddin]

To the original poster, wait until book 12 (last one) comes out and then ask the question again. If RJ can pull off a fantastic ending, the tedious books (7,8,10) can be excused.

Some of us are too invested in the series to stop now. If I were you, I'd wait to see if the pay off is worth 108,000 pages of story telling.

[Werthead]

I actually saw somewhere that Books 1-10 of The Wheel of Time come to more than 3 million words. It's a bloody long series.

I have noticed something vaguely consistent though: people seem to feel the series started going downhill after they had to wait for the next book to come out. For example, a lot of people seem to have read the first 5 books at once, then waited for 6 to come out and disliked it, or whatever. So you may find the momentum from the excellent books at the start of the series propel you through the duller parts at the end of the series.

For my money Books 1-6 are great (although some bits of 5 are a bit tiresome), 7 is not as well written but has a reasonably fast-paced storyline (several sub plots have a beginning, middle and end in this book which is amazing), 8 is pretty bad, 9 is deathly dull, 10 is one of the worst fantasy novels published in the last decade and 11 perks back up to around the quality of Book 7 or so. The worldbuilding is excellent and Jordan's sense of history in the books is extremely well-portrayed, including his own take on the 'unreliable narrator' motif (although to state the obvious he is not as good as this as, say, Gene Wolfe). The gender differences are a bit laboured but just about acceptable. His love of corporal punishment among the Aes Sedai is a bit stranger though.

What is good is the emotional charges he manages to lay in the first half of the series. He makes the characters likable. Occasionally stupid and idiotic, but likable nonetheless. Some events in Book 4 and Book 6 play on this very well. However, by the end of Book 11 there are very few characters that you still find yourself rooting for and arguably the most well-drawn protagonist in the entire series dies in Book 7, making subsequent books less interesting.

But Jordan is much, much better than say Goodkind, Eddings, Brooks, Feist or Salvatore. With a decent editor, Wheel of Time could have been a truly interesting and impressive work. As it stands now, it is merely an example of what happens if you have a lack of discipline in your writing.

[Guest rhaenys]

I actually think WoT is still worth the time. It is long, but the books read pretty fast due to their simplicity and repetitiveness. There are also clues to little mini-mysteries, as there are in ASOIAF. There is much, much prophecy.

Also, the metaphysical world that RJ has created is much more in depth than other fantasy series. If ASOIAF were Jordan, we would know why the seasons were off, and how the magic worked. I can see how some (like Martin) would say that fantasy is better when this stuff isn't center stage, but I like Jordan's explanations of the phenomena in the world (e.g. the multiverse).

What truly surprises me is that people say the books stop being good at book five. Really? Book 4 is my personal favorite, but everyone else I know absolutely loves six, LOC. After that, they do go downhill, but every book but one has some redeeming moments.

Lastly, you really have to read through book three, TDR, before you can really say whether you like the series or not - I actually did not like the first or second that much. Actually, TGH is my most hated pre-POD book. That's right, I hate it more than book seven.

And when you're done, you can tell me the answer to that Asmodean thing. You'll know what I mean when you get there.

I'm trying to remember who died in book seven...

EDIT: DO NOT BUY THE PAPERBACK - they notoriously self-destruct with a rapidity that is almost as troubling as the cover art.

[niamh]

The answer is NO, to all of the above.

It took me 8 books to realize I was being strung along, and, frankly, would have been better off donating the money straight away and sparing myself the brain damage.

Suggestion: David Gemmell.

[Jon Targaryen]

Book one was pretty weak for me until the battle at the end which Jordan seems to always do pretty well. If you like action, Jordan can really pull it out a the end. Two, three and four were good, especially four for the elements of prophecy and the development of a supporting character. Five was tiresome but I'm back on book six and it is good again. I'm anticipating a huge downturn pretty soon though from what others have said.

[Werthead]

Actually, I'd say the downward curve in WoT is pretty gradual to start with. There are a few moments in Book 5, but it's arguably not until you're about a quarter of the way through Book 8 that suddenly the light dawns and you find yourself going

The death I was referring to was

SPOILER: A Crown of Swords

Pedron Niall. He was pretty grounded. He knew what was going down, he realised the Seanchan were back and was gathering an army to defend against them, he kept Morgase away from Asunawa's depredations and he was a kick-ass general to boot. He also comfortably occupied the middle area between the good guys and bad guys. Too many characters in the series are plain good or plain evil but Niall was a well-rounded character with shades of grey.

Gemmell at his best (Wolf in Shadow) is a pretty good author. Gemmell at his worst (too many to count) is painful to read. I particularly find his Drenai books massively overrated and the supposedly amazing Legend did little for me.

[niamh]

I never thought Legend was his best, myself. It's a first book. Other than that, it's a matter of taste, and I'm aware he doesn't please everyone. He's original, has great philosophy, and never did black and white stuff. The master of shades of grey and anti-heroes. Plus it's a very easy read all the time. Though I vote his best as the Rigante series and the Lion of Macedon series.

It's my suggestion nonetheless, and I love him. That's me

[Nyarlathotep]

Hum, I've been putting off reading WoT since 1998 or so, though I suppose that I'll probably wind up forcing myself to read the damn thing when/if Robert Jordan gets around to finish it. Hell, I've even got all 11+1 novels sitting on my shelf, just waiting to be read.

I fear I might give in to the pressure prematurely.

[sToNED_CAT]

Gemmel makes me sleep. Honestly. I've started reading some book from him - don't even remember the exact name - it was about one guy who realizes he's berserk and goes with one chick to defend some fortress against some wannabe Mongolian/Hun barbarians. OMG what a boring novel it was! It was the only one book when I slumbered during reading. I was just crawling through the pages describing the battle and boom! I woke up on the morning. I have some other books from him at home, so I may give him another try, but I am defiitely not euthusiastic about him.

To the original post - WOT really goes downhill after few books, but I still liked the first half of it (was the second fantasy thing I read after Feist). My WOT books order from best to worst - 5,4,2,6,1,11,7,3,9,8,10. I think it jumped the shark when Rand grew too powerfull for other Forsaken after 5... Six was already quite static when compared to first 5 but it had still decent plot. After six it's really crap (although also number 3 was not very good). Plus all WOT womans became the most annoying characters I've encountered in fantasy book.

[Asa]

To the original post - WOT really goes downhill after few books, but I still liked the first half of it (was the second fantasy thing I read after Feist). My WOT books order from best to worst - 5,4,2,6,1,11,7,3,9,8,10. I think it jumped the shark when Rand grew too powerfull for other Forsaken after 5... Six was already quite static when compared to first 5 but it had still decent plot. After six it's really crap (although also number 3 was not very good). Plus all WOT womans became the most annoying characters I've encountered in fantasy book.

.....You liked 11 more than 3.....?

[Jaxom 1974]

These WoT threads are like a Wheel of Time...