Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time

[williamjm]

Doing a re-read of TEoTW, I actually think that that was when the characters were at their most sympathetic. Egwene was stubborn, but she wasn't a complete mule yet; Perrin hadn't been infected with Failism; even Nynaeve didn't seem that bad. It took a serious drop in sympathy in TGH, though.

I don't remember Nynaeve being annoying in tEotW, unfortunately this changed in later books. On the other hand, I didn't like Mat at all in the first book, but later in the series he's possibly the best character.

[dornish prince]

overall, i love it. there are slow spots (you may call them entire novels ), but i feel that its been totally worth it; so far. some of the characters irritate me, but hey, its not like i like every person in any other series i've read either. starting with knife of dreams, it's once again gathering steam and i don't see it letting up until the end; which supposedly is the next book; i think.

[Werthead]

On his latest blog entry Robert Jordan seems to suggest that he can finish AMoL within the next year (health permitting) and that:

SPOILER: post-WoT

he might do a story (short story or novel, unclear) set ten years after the Last Battle featuring Mat and Tuon.

[RaceBannon42]

On his latest blog entry Robert Jordan seems to suggest that he can finish AMoL within the next year (health permitting) and that:

That would be great. I hope he has enough time left to finish what he wants to. I saw him a couple of weeks at Mike Ford's memorial service, and you could see he was ill.

[Sword of the Morning]

Well, I'm not sure about the reality versus his plans.

His light chains is down to about 11 or 12 (he says it is as close to single digits as you can get without actually being so) but normal is 1-3.

He is taking the experimental drug Revlimid which is usually used for multiple myeloma. The light chains are dropping and this is excellent news but for this to be considered a TRUE remission, he must CONTINUE dropping or at least have the light chains remain the same value.

ANY increase even a little is a bad sign as this indicates he is depositing amyloid again even in the face of the Revlimid.

In other words, he is still not out of the woods yet and many more months remain before we can be sure that the disease can safely be called "in remission." Hence he is unwilling to open that bottle of champagne until his light changes drop again (a third time in a row) to single digits.

That having being said, even a remission is not a cure and he still needs to be monitored for the rest of his life. This is not including the fact that the congestive heart failure and neuropathy he has suffered is permanent and he will likely need to be on diuretics and heart medications for life and be VERY careful about a low salt diet.

All in all, I'm happy he's doing well. It's interesting that he let a bit of a minor spoiler slip that one of his planned "outrigger' novels will be about Mat and Tuon (this seems to suggest after all that Mat and Tuon will survive the last book!). I'll be thrilled if he thinks he can wrap up a Memory of Light in the next year but I get the feeling between buying a Harley, skydiving, learning dancing lessons, and playing golf AFTER recovering from a bone marrow transplant and multiple CHF exacerbations that finishing Wheel of Timie in only a year may be a bit optimistic on his part. :)

Dennis

[Oorag]

I don't remember Nynaeve being annoying in tEotW, unfortunately this changed in later books.

She was. I thought it was pretty cartoonish how annoying she was. I think in her opening introduction it mentions that she broke an old man's arm with a club after he called her "child." If this was the act of some sort of sociopath, that'd be fine, but the book apparently thought that this made her amusingly spirited. Whatever.

[dornish prince]

ahhh...now i'm in my cups. so, everyone is going to try and convince me that these books suck?

give me a break. the best argument you could make would be that this series should have already been over.

oops, i've apparently not read enough posts, please excuse.

[Werthead]

Comedy

[Werthead]

This story is actually pretty impressive.

Interesting things to note: Tor Books plans to release A Memory of Light in 2009. Tor have discussed with Jordan what will happen if he doesn't make it. The current plan is indeed to have Harriet finish the book and Jordan is making detailed notes in case of that eventuality. However, he is confident he'll be around to do it himself.

[Tears of Lys]

I just bought "The Dragon Reborn" so I'd have it handy when I finish "The Great Hunt".

I still haven't made up my mind whether this series is any good or not. I'm mildly interested in it, but am . Also today I bought "Lies of Locke Lamora." I'm afraid to start it for fear I'll never finish WoT. ETA: At least what's there of WoT.

All this to kill time until DwD comes out.

[Ned Sand]

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.

I'm fully invested. I liked books 1-6 of tWoT fine. It dilated after that. He's headed for what? 14 or so volumes? now. My advice -- wait until he's dead. That way, you don't have to deal with the delays and can read straight through.

While you're eagerly awaiting A Dance with Dragons, I'll suggest The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. Set in the 18th century, in England and around the globe, it is a fantastic tale of kings, vagabonds, churches, intrigue, riches, wars, and, yes, the invention of Calculus by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. If you don't think historical fiction about mathematicians can be exciting, then you've never knocked back a Kastel in Stadsherberg 't Goude Hooft on Dagelijkse Groenmarkt in den Haag.

It was originally published in three volumes (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World), but each contained multiple "books" like LotR did and I understand that the paperbacks are divided differently. Best of all, the series is done. You can read the whole thing with no waiting.

Neal's historical research and the richness of his writing is stunning. It'll stand back to back on your shelf with ASoFaI as staunchly as Robert and Ned ever stood together.

[Tears of Lys]

At about 3/4's of the way through "The Great Hunt," I finally started acquiring a taste for "Wheel of Time." I had been mildly interested prior to that, but not so much so that I stayed up late to finish. Can't say I don't give a series a fair chance

I think it was the traveling between possible worlds that started capturing my imagination. Still can't figure out where the damn Seanchan came from, with their weird animals. And if they're supposed to be the blood of Artur Hawkwing, how come Artur Hawkwing's shade was fighting them? Didn't seem like his sort at all!

Jordan's women characters seem to be more fully realized than his men - unusually so for a male author.

Now I'm moving on to "The Dragon Reborn."

[Werthead]

Hmm. I think the backstory is explained in The Great Hunt, but not very clearly. The gist of it is that Artur Hawkwing ruled the entire continent where Rand and co. live, and near the end of his life, when he was in his eighties, he sent one of his sons, Luthair, with a huge fleet west across the Aryth Ocean to conquer new lands there. This they did, but Hawkwing died before any news got to him about the success of their endeavour. Then Hawkwing's empire collapsed in the War of the Hundred Years and all contact across the ocean was lost. In the meantime Luthair and his descendents conquered the Seanchan continent and forged an empire there.

So the Seanchan Empire is descended from Hawkwing's empire, but they were never the same, homegenous political entity. And a lot of the practices of the Seanchan, such as slavery and the different tiers of it that exist, are things Hawkwing himself would be virulently opposed to. The weird animals come from portal stone worlds. They were brought into Seanchan by channellers thousands of years ago, tamed and were responsible for wiping out most Shadowspawn in Seanchan. Luthair's armies learned to use them during their invasion.

[Tears of Lys]

Interesting! Makes more sense now. Thanks, Wert.