The Wheel Of Time

j. p harristarr

Does anyone else read this series of books? looking forward to book 10 out in january. it has to be the best fantasy series ever written. it can't be compared with lord of the rings cause they are completely different. any opinions, verdicts on the series? care to venture a guess at how many more books are in the series?

scipio_major

My personal opinion is that Jordan never really planned the series to begin with. He was just starting an epic without knowing how to end it. That said they are enjoyable reads if a little fustrating.

According to the man himself (at least when I last checked) there are going to be a total of 13 books.

Fade to Credits
Scipio_major

saik

yeah i've read as far as book 9, good so far, only worry is it wont finish. about book 10... you can find the prologue and chapter 1 of book 10 on the net, if you look hard enough.

Scruff

i agree with scipio_major there.
last few book have just been meandering and loosing the plot altogether as far as i'm concerned.

As for the being the best fantasy ever written......you've obviously never read George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Thats the best imo. so good i'm reading it again at the moment cause i can't wait for the next book in the series to come out.

Theres a big thread from a while back in the Literature section discussing The Wheel Of Time series.

davej

I've read the first 9 books and I found that it was quite difficult to remember what all the minor characters names were and what they had done in the previous books. Personally I found that they started to get a bit repetitive after a while. Having said that they did make good "fantasy fodder". Also I think that Jordan has borrowed too heavily from the genre.

Try reading Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials trilogy..

davej

The_Scary_Man

I remember reading the first few WoT books and thinking they were excellent. They were the first real sci-fi/fantasy novels that I had read and I was blown away.
Now though having read up to book nine I am starting to dread them coming out, IMO nothing has happened in the last few books and they seem to become more stretched and more repetitive with every new book. I know I will buy it though just to see what happens.
What I am thankful for though is how these books really got me into a genre that I now read all the time.
I suppose what I am trying to say is that they are great books to get you into sci-fi/fantasy but if you really want something to get your teeth into try The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons or if you are really looking for an immersing experience try The Book of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe - a tough read at the beginning but well worth the effort - outstanding!

j. p harristarr

not a member too long so i don't know bout other stuff on this subject. found prologue and chapter 1. haven't read them yet though. i think raymond e. fiest is a brilliant author too. his books i think are more realistic then jordan and the fact that they span generations of a family make them even better. i started with david eddings to get into fantasy but i wouldn't read him any more. written for 12 - 13 age group i think.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

I think tWot is a good series, but defo not the best Jordan seems to be wandering all around the place with his books, and the last two haven't been anywhere near the standards of "the eye of the world" or "lord of chaos"

try reading tad williams - memory, sorrow and thorn.. imo the best fantasy series ever written

c0y0te

I personally stopped reading the series around book five or six as far as I can recall.

I thought it was quite promising up to then, but Jorden seemed to loose track of things and the plot went all over the place at that stage. It always seemed to me that he was then determined to create a 10 book series, just to hit some record or other.. rather than having a story worthy of 10 books.

c0y0te

Terminator

With each book the number of filler-characters increases worryingly and as a result the pacing has slowed to a crawl with less and less happening in each installment.

This next book will make or break it for many fans of the series. Jordan definitely needs to throw some people off the train at the next stop.

Arithon

Nynaeve pulls her hair.
Egwene pulls her hair.
Mat groans at his luck and fondles another girl.
Rand gets just a little bit stranger...

I was impressed with the series once, but that was many years ago! I've still got my copy of Crossroads of Twilight ordered from Amazon, but it's more from morbid curiosity (and partly that if I've got nine of the books, I might as well bloody get them all). It really started to get strange at about book 6 - before that things weren't that bad.

Personal viewpoint of course, there is still a large and interesting world there, I'm just less happy with the lead characters as they have become...

Concerning

Jordan definitely needs to throw some people off the train at the next stop.

yup he could learn a few things from George R. R. Martin alright - there is a person who knows how to kill large swathes of characters in style!

Ah well - my personal recommendation is the Wars of Light and Shadows series by Janny Wurts - but it will only be of interest if you don't mind large words and many-many-many-layered storylines. At least here we have an author who has planned everything out beforehand.

This page contains a great description of how she planned the series and why she writes it (with very minor spoilers).

Thanx 4 The Fish

Originally posted by Arithon


Concerning yup he could learn a few things from George R. R. Martin alright - there is a person who knows how to kill large swathes of characters in style!

Damn straight the auld (

bring em all to a party, kill them off and sew a wolfs head onto the King trick

) never fails

When is the next of the series released ?

Think it is called "A FEAST FOR CROWS" but can't find a correct release date...

Arithon

amazon.co.uk says April 7, 2003. I don't know if we can trust that information though... however it seems to be all to go on at the moment, as the publisher's website has nuffink.

(btw for the WoT fans, chapter 1 is available on on Tor's site).

Waylander

I used to read this series but got p*ssed off having to wait for the next book in the series to come out. I eventually gave up on it. Might restart it again sometime when he has fionished the whole series.

The_Bullman

Originally posted by Scruff
As for the being the best fantasy ever written......you've obviously never read George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Thats the best imo. so good i'm reading it again at the moment cause i can't wait for the next book in the series to come out.

I just finished reading these a few months back. my problem was that i just assumed that it was a trilogy, and it was going to end with the third book. when i finished it i was so confused until amazon.com told me that there was another coming out. Thankfully, there is another one on the way next year, and personally i cant wait.

WhiteWashMan

i suspect tht the last two books have been more concerned with lining up threads in the story for a big finish. sort of tying up the plot which has become quiet huge, and bringing it together into a few managable strands which will tie together over the next two books.
i think its been done very well.
people just like to complain because the characters are getting less stage time as the cast grows.
but i think you will see people drawn back and hopefully there will be lots of blasting and killing and slimey monsters and naked female mud-wrestling etc etc etc

MarVeL

I started reading this a while ago when I was in college and enjoyed the first three or four. After that I kind of started to look for an ending. Bought the next three and still no end in site and kind of lost interest. At this stage reading further would require sitting down and rereading the first six or seven before moving on and I don't have the time (I might have to cut reading Lord of the rings down to only twice a year ;-) ).

If it does now have an end in site maybe it would be worthwhile though.

growler

hardly the best ever written , but not a bad yarn , I've become a bit p1ssed off with Jordan also , meandering around in no apparent order , not sure if I have the patience to wait another 5 years for him to finish it off , especially when my short term memory is errr unreliable :-)

I think a lot of fantasy authors are milking it a bit now , the last few from Feist have been a bit thin on plotlines , though the stuff from Robin Hobb is excellent IMO and the dark materials was a breath of fresh air !

Arithon

I think a lot of fantasy authors are milking it a bit now , the last few from Feist have been a bit thin on plotlines , though the stuff from Robin Hobb is excellent IMO and the dark materials was a breath of fresh air ! [/B]

Looking forward to what Robin Hobb produces for the third installment of her latest series! The second book seemed more like manoeuvering and scene-setting than anything else, for the most part!

Though I think that very few fantasy authors are 'milking it', I believe that most fantasy writers have a reason for writing fantasy which only slightly has the "make money" bit as one of the goals.

I have heard it suggested before that Feist could be 'milking' his series, but before you agree with that, please have a look at a description of Raymond Feist from a person who actually has knowledge of the person himself, as quoted originally on the Janny Wurts chat forum by Janny Wurts -

An acquaintance of mine used to be a member of the Philly SF
society, and I got to know him through his running of
convention artshows. I was single, we went out to dinner,
maybe twice. In the course of that, he had a heart attack,
or some sort of heart problem, and we discussed stuff over
one of those dinners. About dreams. About living them. About
giving up the lie, of giving up doing the ordinary pablum of
what was in front of us, and reaching for real substantive
happiness.

After that talk, this gentleman decided to apply for a much
more exciting job in California, rather than staying in dull
gray Northeastern US where he had lived all his uneventful
life.

He sent out resumes, became a hot candidate, and the company
in LA flew him west to interview for the job of his
dreaming. In the elevator after the interview, this
gentleman had a coronary.

He wound up in ICU in an LA hospital, and when finally he
was able to call me, he told me what had happened.

LA is two hours from San Diego - where Ray lives. I called
Ray, told him of this acquaintance and explained that when
he was out of the hospital, he could not fly for a long
period due to recuperation. I asked Ray to maybe visit, or
if he had a friend near there who might make contact, or
something to cheer this man up, who as gravely ill in a
strange city, and most likely on limited funds facing a long
stay in a cheap motel.

Next I knew, Ray had gone to LA, brought this man HOME to
stay. This acquaintance of mine lived in Ray's den for at
least a month, watching baseball - comfortable, recovering,
until he could fly home.

Next chapter, this gentleman DID move west and take the job.
Sadly, he did not live long afterwards. When he died, the
estate contacted Ray with the discovery that Ray had loaned
a CONSIDERABLE sum to this man to enable his move and
resettling in California. No pittance, people. A lot of
money.

Ray never asked the estate to repay. Never told me he had
done this loan. It was private, quiet, offered just because
someone needed help, and he heard about it and gave. His
reply to the estate was to excuse the "debt" - that all he
had done was help someone reaching for happiness.

I could add more stories like these - and for all those I
know, there are going to be many more, since Ray does not
talk about them. I can say, I am in awe of what he did. That
he extended himself for a perfect stranger, who had need. An
ACQUAINTANCE of mine - not even a close friend - he did this
just because that is who he is.

A nice gentleman reached for a dream and got to taste it
before he died. That is an awesome gift, and a tribute to
the heart of Raymond E Feist.

In conclusion - think what you like. The above is one truth,
about who Ray is, what he is about.

Just so you know - that is one PERSONAL fact that is known about Ray Feist, above and beyond his writing.

funny how it started as a trilogy, and now theres 10 books. Its gotten too boring..

and the best fantasy atm for me is definetly Raymond E Feists world........

Thanx 4 The Fish

Have read three of the four Robin Hobb Ki & Vandien Series (Megan Lindholm is the name used) and it is quite good, have bought the Tawny Man but haven't read it yet, am waiting for the next couple before I start into that series though, I hate having to wait around for the next book in a series, something that I think I have gotten from the wheel of time, next book is out soon allegedly... am waiting for the last in a song of ice and fire too.

Terminator

Finally its available !!

Its currently Number 1 on amazon.com

Just had a read of the reviews on amazon.co.uk and it doesn't look good. Apparently its a retread of Winters Heart, ie., set a couple of days before the last chapter and then a couple of days after.

Nothing new happens. Here we go again. :mad:

Thanx 4 The Fish

I am just dying for it to finish now, hopefully Matt and Perrin will feature a bit more in this book.

Beruthiel

Don't give any of the story line away lads, I just finished book 4 last night! once you start the book you just can't put it down 'till you're finished!

ya, at this stage, mat and perrin have become the more interesting characters. I'll continue to buy the books, but i'm no longer waiting anxiously for the release of these ones........

Mark

Thats it I HAVE to start reading these. I cant find the first one anywhere and I refuse to start reading in non-numerical order so Ill have to wait. But by God I didnt relise there was so many! I was in a bookstore and I glanced "Wheel of Time" but it was book 6, then I saw book 7,then 9 and 10!
How many is there set to be for gods sake and is the expense of purchasing the series worth it?

Terminator

Its an excellent series and well worth your time and money. Just make sure you read them in the right order.

The last few books have not advanced the plot much thats all.

the first few books are great, but it just drags on and on. I mean he's a good writer, but it's starting to get bit long in the tooth....

if you have the time/money, then go ahead and get the series.... they're worth it. It's was extremely annoying if you were reading from day one, but u might be extremely happy with it, since theres only another 3-4 books left. maybe.

(I put in the "maybe", since this series started out as a trilogy)

Thanx 4 The Fish

Originally posted by Mark
Thats it I HAVE to start reading these. I cant find the first one anywhere and I refuse to start reading in non-numerical order so Ill have to wait. But by God I didnt relise there was so many! I was in a bookstore and I glanced "Wheel of Time" but it was book 6, then I saw book 7,then 9 and 10!
How many is there set to be for gods sake and is the expense of purchasing the series worth it?

Where did you see book 10 ? could you send on details of shop and price if you get a chance,

Thanks.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i saw it on sunday (5th) in easons and waterstones in dublin, off grafton st. i had heard it was out then but hadn't hoped to actually see it!

i bought it then, but still haven't found the time to actually read it fully, i'm onn page 100 and not much has happened yet.. but judging from what friends of mine have said about it... the end is defo. in sight.

the book spparently picks up the pace and you get a definite feel that the end of the series is coming,

*bounce*
wh00t!

Arithon

I'm about two-thirds through the book now - and enjoying it. It took the first half of the book to bring all the characters' POV up to the events which occurred at the end of book 9! Kinda funny, that

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

really? damn
i really wanna see what happens when ... the events at the end of book9 become public knowledge

Terminator

Buying it tommorrow. I've waited two years for this.

Next up - A Feast For Crows (April) - should be even better !!!

Woden

interestingly enough i briefly looked at the wheel of time series today, just out of interest of the new big red hardback one i saw knocking about, i decided to buy a ian m. banks book instead, to give him a try, is anyone familiar with his works? is he meant to be any good,i'm gonna start reading what i hope is his first sci fi book tonight.

my personal recommendation (for what it's worth) for a sci fi book is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card i thought it was bloody brilliant and went on the read the rest of the series (not as good but good) and the first two spin off books (quite good) which are available in paperback. now decided i want a thread to discuss it. its quality.

Terminator

I've read a couple of his books. None of them were particularly impressive. The Business was dire. It was like a trashy airport book. Didn't finish it.

Lots of people like him though.

Morn

Well if Mr. E. Feist does make a habit of going around giving his money away to complete strangers he'll probably need to make a habit of milking his books... (j/k!)

Mark

Where did you see book 10 ? could you send on details of shop and price if you get a chance,

Well this is going to piss you off but Im total **** for directions. It was on the way into City Centre in Dublin somewhere, its called Something Something and Bookstore. Pity too because the place pwns, you can get some new books for dirt cheap prices (I got Otherland book 4 Hardcover for 6 euro instead of 28:)).
Sorry but I cant remember where it is exactly . As for Wheel of Time, Im fairly sure they had book 6-10 (Keep in mind I was there in about the 29th of Dec now so they may be sold out)

Saruman

Im on book 5 at the moment.. have up to book 8 at home then i will get the rest of them.. Its very good!! Especially the first few. I notice one thing but i dont think its a problem.. its just he has a tendancy to remind you of every detail... fair enough for those who read them as they came out.. waiting a year between a book they will need reminding.. where as im reading them one after the other at the moment... other than that.,. its great!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

wait a while saruman... the quality does start to drop..

I still like the series.. but I have owned book 10 of twot for about 2 weeks or so now, and I'm still barely 200 pages in...

it is not a very good book

compared to others in the series anyway

DapperGent

Originally posted by Mordeth
I still like the series.. but I have owned book 10 of twot for about 2 weeks or so now, and I'm still barely 200 pages in...

it is not a very good book

compared to others in the series anyway

A-****ing-greed. It's like wading through sludge. I got about 4 chapters in and I've dropped it until I get some more will power.

100 page ****ing prologue was bad enough the final straw for me was the bit where they were packing up the circus and he spent 3 pages describing the animals, performers and wagons, that he had already described in two (or three!) books already.

He keeps introducing new characters when he clearly hasn't a clue what to do with the too many he already has.

It's the strangest kind of writers block I've ever seen he hasn't a clue what to do so does nothing but takes 700 pages to do it.

So depressing.

Terminator

I'm on page 100 and something and still no sign of any significant minor characters - nevermind major ones !!!

Robert Jordan has clearly had a stroke.

j. p harristarr

if anyone thinking about buying book 10 in cork, it's 29euro in waterstones, 25 in easons and 17.50 in reads(just next to black tie)!!!!!!!

Scruff

i only saw that this book was finally out when i saw the book charts in Ireland On Sunday yesterday and even before i checked this thread to see if any of the rest of ye had read it and what yer thoughts of it were, i was already of thinking of giving it a miss.
Now i think i'll definitely give it a miss until its at least out in paper back and even then i don't know if i can bring myself to buy it.

Think i'll just have to give this series up as a dead duck. Started great, started to wane a bit after 6 or 7, was firmly going down hill by 8.

Feel a bit let down by the whole thing after investing so much time and money in the series so far.

cassius

I agree,i thought it was amazing at first but i just borrowed the latest one and i'm not even gonna bother finishin it.........its all over the place and i'm sick of reading the same poxy "face cut from stone" type descriptions.I'd say if they cut out the repetition u could lose 2 or 3 books off the series.
bah!

The_Scary_Man

This book is a complete wind up. I reckon about two days passes from the start of the book to the finish and these are the TWO DAYS PREVIOUS TO THE FINISH OF THE LAST ONE!

As was already mentioned above the constant use of the same phrases really gets my goat, if I hear any more about horses getting skittish because they picked up on the humour of their rider I will track this mother f*cker down and cut him, cut him real bad!

Thanx 4 The Fish

Every write has that, Feist does it, Gemmell, that bird who writes about the Forensic Detective, even Tolkien was prone to it.

The_Scary_Man

Yes they do but not to the extent that Jordan does it. All writers develop a style of writing and some cultivate a different style for each book/set of books that they write but this is just too much for me.

I realise that to a certain degree he has to write the book in such a way that someone who never read any of the other books can pick it up and follow the story but FFS I have read the previous NINE and I know that people get bothered by Perrin's eyes , I know that people question Mats uncanny luck, I know all the other sh1t so why do I need it laid out to me again over and over again in this book?

Perhaps its the fact that the book is just so frustrating to read that the faults are then multiplied but I think taht he has literally "lost the plot" and is struggling to tie up all the loose ends.

This is without doubt the worst book of the series and I don't hold much hope for the next one either.

Gringo

Yeah o read book ten there awhile ago and it sucked1 book nine i thought was great was dying for this book but its terible the next one better be better if not i think the guy is gonna get some seriously angry letters from fans

ChiGung

Guys Jordan is winging it - he's built up such a big fan base it's a money thing now. Once you get hooked into it you keep buying the books...

Personally I think the series was in decline from Book 4 on.
But he is not comparable to Tolkien - the quality of writing isn't comparable it's not even on the same planet.

well i bought the last book, and its crap. I'm not buying any more since he's gotten so bad. The storyline is in shreds, and he's not even keeping the main characters in line anymore. It seems he's not too interested in the main characters anymore, and is content to introduce new people. This series has gone beyond a joke. I'm washing my hands of this author.

davej

If, like me, you have forgotten half of the plots and characters but want to read the new book, you might find this site useful:

http://hem.passagen.se/wotcomp/?noframe

It summarises the previous 9 books chapter by chapter..

This site gives a brief overview of the characters:

http://hemsidor.torget.se/users/d/dredd/


davej