The Wheel of Time

[Migey]

After being starved for something to read, i heard that an author who im fond of, Brandon Sanderson, had been chosen to finish a 12 book series. Because i had nothing to read and i remembered that id heared that the series was good, i picked up The Eye of the World. I am now about halfway through A Shadow Rising, and loving it. So i just wanted to make this discussion thread for the whole series. What do you think? is it well written? Does it move too slowly? good plot? Whats good and bad. Which characters where good and which were not. Etc.

Although please try to avoid specific spoilers. you can mention something, a name or something, but please try not to spoil too much. Give warnings, like this onbe

SPOILER BELOW (note, there really is going to be one here)

You get it.

Anyway, one thing i thought would have made the third book a bit better would have been if Egwene had spent it with the Seanchans. I also think that the Seanchans, after being a massive potential threat in the second book, seem to have faded a bit, although im sure that in the future books, such will not be the case.

[aidan]

Hmm... don't think we've had this thread before.

[Migey]

Yes i know we have. But not too recently, and not about the series as a whole... well. not TOO recently.

[undergroundnoob]

After being starved for something to read, i heard that an author who im fond of, Brandon Sanderson, had been chosen to finish a 12 book series. Because i had nothing to read and i remembered that id heared that the series was good, i picked up The Eye of the World. I am now about halfway through A Shadow Rising, and loving it. So i just wanted to make this discussion thread for the whole series. What do you think? is it well written? Does it move too slowly? good plot? Whats good and bad. Which characters where good and which were not. Etc.

Although please try to avoid specific spoilers. you can mention something, a name or something, but please try not to spoil too much. Give warnings, like this onbe

SPOILER BELOW (note, there really is going to be one here)

You get it.

Anyway, one thing i thought would have made the third book a bit better would have been if Egwene had spent it with the Seanchans. I also think that the Seanchans, after being a massive potential threat in the second book, seem to have faded a bit, although im sure that in the future books, such will not be the case.

I enjoyed it up through book six, Lord of Chaos. The following four books, 7-10, were not as enjoyable. Number 10 is particularly bad, maybe the worst book I've ever read, but I think the author heard reader complaints and stepped it up a notch in 11, which is pretty good. The most recent one with Sanderson was excellent.

[Maithanet]

I don't know if you are going to get a very good discussion of the book through The Shadow Rising. Lots of people on the board have read all of WoT, and some of them are quite passionate about it. If you do a search for Wheel of Time, you are going to get plenty of discussion about the series, and book 12 in particular, which came out in November.

The general consensus on the series is that Jordan has a great story to tell, and that the first 5 books are quite good. The flaws of WoT are mostly with frustrating gender relations and pacing, both of which start to come up seriously in books 6-7 and become even worse in books 8-10. Books 11 and 12 are better, and lots of people, myself included, are optimistic about the Sanderson's ability to bring the series to a satisfying conclusion.

I would be very careful about wading through WoT threads here, as you are going to get spoilered in a huge way, very quickly. If you are plowing through the series, I'd say keep plowing. Hopefully you won't have as big a problem with the book 8-10 stretch that a lot of people do. Some people love that part.

[murphy]

(snippys)

Anyway, one thing i thought would have made the third book a bit better would have been if Egwene had spent it with the Seanchans. I also think that the Seanchans, after being a massive potential threat in the second book, seem to have faded a bit, although im sure that in the future books, such will not be the case.

Poor Egwene. She was really suffering under the Seanchans and it really wouldn't have been fair to leave her there. She says herself she was just about ready to give in and be a good pet.

[Dreadwolf]

Number 10 is particularly bad, maybe the worst book I've ever read,

I hope you mean within the WoT series.

Anyway I may be am one of the rare exceptions along the common-spread dissapointment.

I practically enjoyed any single book, eagerly waited for each next-installment and I was really happy when (IIRC in mid November) I bought #12 (Jordan&Sanderson - tGS) in Mumbai airport. I have finnished it in a fortnight - which is 5-6 times slowly than my ussual pace for english is not my native. (It is still not translated/ published in my county). And I am greatfull to Sanderson but I was still somehow sad when finished for I must wait another couple of years for the last but one.

Re: Egwene/ Seanchans - it was very impressing to me. That particular kind of violance for breaking a human's will I would always assosiate with Primal Fear & Terror.

[Humble Asskicker]

Migey,

Read it until you stop enjoying it and it bogs down for you. Then don't feel bad about skimming through it until it gets interesting again. It's part of The Wheel of Time experience.

Do that and you'll really like the books. There's nothing else to be said, really.

This thread will grow to at least eight pages, but trust me when I say it will be redundant from page 2 on.

[Shryke]

I doubt it will grow much.

Frankly, you're so far behind there's nothing we could really discuss without spoilering the shit out of the whole series.

[fionwe1987]

I am now about halfway through A Shadow Rising, and loving it.

Well, you're at the beginning of the high phase of the series, and I think even those who like the latter part of the series will agree that book 4 is where WoT really came to its own.

This is the first book where the characters are not on some adventure trip reacting to evil plots by the Shadow. They start becoming proactive, and politics matters more than safety while running on the road.

This book has the WoT equivalent of the Red Wedding, so I'd play close attention to that event when it comes.

As for the Seanchan, you're right. They aren't going anywhere. They remain one of the series best elements.

[TheLoneliestMonk]

These books(and the dead kennedys) pretty much defined my time in High School. They really do slow down from Jordan's epic ambition. Also, some detail gets redundant. I think I stopped about halfway through 10. While I had been dissappointed with the series for a few books before I made it to 10, I'd dead sure I'll reread the whole thing when it's done if even 1 person says sanderson's closing is satisfying.

[Rhom]

This book has the WoT equivalent of the Red Wedding, so I'd play close attention to that event when it comes.

Hrmmm... a Red Wedding type climax in TSR? I'm trying to think of what you could be referring to. I would have leaned towards the ending of LoC for the closest thing to a Red Wedding type moment of awesomeness.

[Tears of Lys]

Migey,

Read it until you stop enjoying it and it bogs down for you. Then don't feel bad about skimming through it until it gets interesting again. It's part of The Wheel of Time experience.

Do that and you'll really like the books. There's nothing else to be said, really.

This is one of the best pieces of advice on the Intrawebs. If only I had read it earlier...

Hrmmm... a Red Wedding type climax in TSR? I'm trying to think of what you could be referring to. I would have leaned towards the ending of LoC for the closest thing to a Red Wedding type moment of awesomeness.

The Red Wedding made me throw the book against the wall. I don't recall doing that during WoT - er, at least not in exactly the same state of mind, anyway.

Edited because I can't spell.

[fionwe1987]

Hrmmm... a Red Wedding type climax in TSR? I'm trying to think of what you could be referring to. I would have leaned towards the ending of LoC for the closest thing to a Red Wedding type moment of awesomeness.

Well, it isn't the same in every way. Just the surprise, and the fallout of the event.

Spoiler

Siuan's ouster. It was a major WTF moment, and its ramifications won't end till WoT ends, I suspect.

[murphy]

Well, it isn't the same in every way. Just the surprise, and the fallout of the event.

Spoiler

Siuan's ouster. It was a major WTF moment, and its ramifications won't end till WoT ends, I suspect.

I had to stop and think about that for a minute. Then I realized that most of the action took place off-screen, so to speak, while GRRM described it in bloody detail.

You hear about it, but don't see it.

[fionwe1987]

I had to stop and think about that for a minute. Then I realized that most of the action took place off-screen, so to speak, while GRRM described it in bloody detail.

You hear about it, but don't see it.

Read it again. The most critical part is on screen. The rest is pointless anyway.

[Shryke]

I think it's a good job of POV writing. We see the event through the eyes of 1 or 2 people. It works well imo.

It's also a good illustration of Jordan not belaboring the point and having tons upon tons of chapters on the event. There's only a few scenes to set it up and 1 chapter for it to happen, but the whole thing works really well still.

[alguien]

Well, it isn't the same in every way. Just the surprise, and the fallout of the event.

Spoiler

Siuan's ouster. It was a major WTF moment, and its ramifications won't end till WoT ends, I suspect.

So you're really comparing ______'s ouster with the Red Wedding? Seriously?

For real? :stunned:

[fionwe1987]

So you're really comparing

Spoiler

Suian's ouster

with the Red Wedding? Seriously?

For real? :stunned:

Very much so. Why the hell not? It was a far more political move, and was even more surprising to me than the Red Wedding.

Of the latter, we had some hints. But since:

Spoiler

But without knowing Alviarin was Black Ajah, there was no way we could suspect that there was any way Siuan would be deposed. Face trouble in the Hall, yes, but the ouster itself was damn shocking. And the fallout was much bigger. A three thousand year old seat of power broken, with both halves manipulated by a Forsaken and a highly placed Black Sister, the first instance of two openly declared Amyrlins, etc. What's not to like?

Also, could you spoiler tag to the event. Some people in the thread haven't read it yet.

[Liadin]

Surprising and relevant plot twist doesn't mean Red Wedding. The shock and horror of the Red Wedding comes from the fact that characters we loved are dead, that the North's political strength has been broken, etc. While the event mentioned here is important, no main characters died.... plus, it's typical for older characters in fantasy to leave their positions for one reason or another (death, incapacitated, disappeared, a coup) to make room for younger leaders from among the main characters. That's all that happened here. It's a political shake-up, but nothing happens that can't be made up for, and it's not all that unpredictable. Not Red Wedding level twist by any means.

As far as WoT, the first few books were great, but with #5, IMO, the decline began. The later books are some of the worst--yes, Dreadwolf, the worst period--books I've ever read, and I say that having skipped #9-10 (I was able to move on to #11 without problems though, as so little happened in those two that the highly entertaining Amazon reviews were able to fill me in). The most recent addition is somewhat better, but the jury's still out on the series as a whole.