Wheel of Time

[maxpower]

Hey has anyone read the wheel of time series by Robert Jordan? I really like them but feel that they are getting a little drawn out. The first five were awsome but I have had a hard time with the last couple. What do you think?

Still the first five were awsome. My favorite character by far is Mat, I think he is cool. Who are your favorite characters and what was your favorite part of the series so far?

Warning this thread might contain spoilers

My favorite part of any of the books was when Mat had to throw a dagger at a piece of wood blindfolded. I thought it was great when he hit it and everyone was like "oh crap."

[Autumn]

I made a thread on this series quite some time ago, but it appears to have disappeared now; and I hadn't read all the books back then. However, I finished book 11 a few months ago and have a lot more to say about the series.

While I love the detailed places that Jordan creates, I do feel his descriptions are repetitive at times. But what's worse is the story has been unnecessarily dragged out, with the Forsaken behaving like a bunch of idiots with The Dark One surprisingly lacking in control - especially considering all the "power" he's made out to have.

The male Forsaken were my favourite characters in the book along with Mazarin Taim who is pretty awesome. His allegiance with the Shadow is quite apparent as he says "Let the Lord of Chaos rule" or something to that extent - you know, that phrase first said my Demandred. Also, Taim's power is close to Rand's strength which has stirred rumours Taim is one of the Forsaken in disguise, although I do not believe this. Taim is most likely a powerful Asha'man, and if I remember correctly stronger than Aginor in the One Power. The female Forsaken are fools. Lanfear was a bitch and got what she deserved, although I think Moridin should've done to her what he did to that idiot Forsaken who wasn't so strong with the One Power. Her name began with M. Moghedien or something like that. Moridin also needs to start showing all the remaining Forsaken his supreme authority. The others keep ****ing around and attempting to gain power over big cities, when they must see the most important objective is killing Rand, or one of his friends, which would be done much more easily if they just worked together.

Book 10 - Crossroads of Twilight was by far the worst in the series. Dedicating the first two thirds of the book to what the other characters were doing while Rand was cleansing the One Power at the end of Winter's Heart was disgraceful. It was a prime example of Robert Jordan dragging this series out far too much. And while we're on the topic of Rand cleansing the One Power, what was that half-hearted attempt by the Forsaken to stop him? Why split up? They should've just linked together and owned Rand while he was in a trance. It wasn't as if the "good" people would've easily stopped them, as they could've caught the most powerful user - that Seachan woman - by surprise and then recruited the backstabbing help of that Black Ajah woman, I'm talking about the one who killed Aginor. Furthermore, why didn't Moridin head down to do some work himself? He would've been a lot of help to the mission, but just like his action to save Rand in that ruined ancient city, Shadar Logath (if I remember the name rightly), his actions in the later books confuse me too. He claims to have a plan to defeat Rand. But so far it's just letting the Forsaken run around totally disorganized and letting Rand take hold of incredibly powerful artifacts, so it becomes even harder to take Rand down.

Out of the good characters, Robert Jordan could redeem himself by killing off all the female leads. The purpose they serve is far outweighed by their ability to annoy the reader. Or Robert Jordan could write in the final book all of them getting owned by the Forsaken. And by "owned" I mean brutally raped and then killed. Out of the good characters I would be glad if Perrin died. Mat used to be my favourite but even he's become an annoyance. His obsession with that Seachan princess is unnecessary. Would he try so hard to "win her over" if he wasn't told she'd be his wife? I don't think so. Logain is a faggot. Taim needs to teach him a lesson in the Asha'man camp, and then go on a recruiting drive to bring more Asha'man to the Shadow. Seriously, you know the Light will win. Possibly, Rand will die. Or Robert Jordan is going to be clever and let Galad die, which would fulfil the prophecy of the Dragon's blood being spilled on that mountain, since the two are related. I'd like it if Galad and Gawain died too.

Also, why doesn't Moridin set about making another sa'angreal (or whatever the name of the most powerful type is) - I mean on equal power to that of the Choedan Kal. Why had it become impossible? Maybe Robert Jordan bullshitted a reason for it, which doesn't come to mind right now.

And then there's Padan Fain. He's caused trouble for the Light and the Shadow. So why don't the Forsaken do something about him? Furthermore, Moridin seems rather friendly with Rand so it would be possible for them to form a temporary alliance to kill Padan Fain. And then when Fain is dead Moridin could negate their alliance and backstab Rand. Literally.

[DragonHeart]

I've been thinking about picking up these novels for years but the reviews I keep getting are all over the place, so I'm a little iffy about it. From the sounds of it Jordan's drawing out the series as long as possible to keep profiting off it, which I don't really agree with. Books/series should only be as long as it takes to tell the story, in my opinion.

If someone here who has read the series can give me an objective review about both the good and bad of the series, I'd really appreciate it.

~DragonHeart~

[Farrian_Rahl]

They are drawn out, especially towards the later books, but I've always had the canny ability to skip over redunant text. While the idiocy of the Forsaken is annoying at times (makes you wonder how they earned their infamous place in history... unless everyone was an absolute idiot in the past), and the fact that everything is drawn out, I dont really mind it all cause I find that once I really start to enjoy a series, it's over. So... I take the annoyance in stride, and keep on enjoying a decently good read.

[Psiko]

A few years ago I read the first three books in the series, and enjoyed them quite a bit. It took several failed attempts prior to that to make it past the first 50 pages in book one, but I finally decided to brave it and found myself pleased that I did so. While he is very wordy, his descriptions are wonderful. His world is immense and his characters seem to be fairly solid from what I remember. I can't remember exactly why I didn't continue, probably because I got sidetracked with some faster-reading books. His writing almost FORCES you to read every word carefully, which isn't always a bad thing. Books that read too fast leave you with only vague memories of the events and characters after one read. Books that read too slowly make you not want to read anymore because you get depressed by gaining only 30 pages in an hour. Both extremes are bad, and he tends to hit the latter extreme at times. Think of it as an RPG with beautiful graphics and music and story, but horrible gameplay and tedious side-quests that you are forced through. Overall it is worth playing, but it is bound to make you want to give up more than a few times along the way. Keep soldiering past those times and I think it'll be worth the time put into it.

[Farrian_Rahl]

Well put. Never really saw it that way.

im half way thro the book set

[DragonHeart]

It is with great sadness that I am here to report some news. At 2:45 p.m. this afternoon, a year and a half after being diagnosed with primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (cardiac amyloidosis), Robert Jordan has passed away.

His was the voice of one of the fantasy greats. He will be missed.

~DragonHeart~

[Tiger Lily]

He's dead? That's terrible. he never finished the twelfth book, ne?
My friend's an avid reader of them, and I've read one of the prequels, "New Spring", which I thought was very well written. It's horrible to hear that he's dead. I've been meaning to get the series off of her for some time ... I truly should. Although it's sad that it'll never be finished.
I don't believe he drew it out to profit it. I've heard a great deal about it, and it seems as if the storyline is simply too expansive to condense and still have the same effect, but as I said, I haven't actually read them yet, which means that I can't give you an accurate judgment. Although I think that the prequels may have been a bit of a spin-off.

[DragonHeart]

He knew his time was running out - median age for those with his diagnosis is just four years. He was working on the last book in the hopes of completing it before this happened. So there's a chance WoT may still be finished, though in draft/note form.

Either way, it's a sad day for the literary world.

~DragonHeart~

[stardragon]

OMG (hadn't read it before) he is dead??? My thoughts go to his family and friends.

I love those nbooks tho I have not yet become futher than book 4. At that time the new Terry goodkind acame ouit and that totally took my attention.

[maxpower]

This is really a sad day. I hope that his notes are complete enough that the finally book can be completed the way he would have done it. Mostly I hope that it is completed because I need an ending.

[Cell]

Even though I only really enjoyed his earlier novels, Mr Jordon will be missed. Although this does raise the question of who will be the one to actually finish his epic story...

Thats another way of saying that I have no idea.