Wheel of Time

scoops

scoops

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Dec 6, 2005
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bmunroe.roestudios.com
Anyone here a fan?

I'm waiting for Knife of Dreams to be released in mass market paperback before I buy it. ($30 is too much to spend on a novel). I'm reading a chronology of everything that's happened in the world though, including stuff from the Age of Legends (and before!)
 
I first read The Eye of the World back in 1991 when I was just a wee lad. It's been disappointing how much Jordan has stretched out this story to the point where I have to reread things just to be sure I knew what was going on. I thought the previous three books before Knife of Dreams was plodding and overladen with filler details that killed the series momentum, but I'm in it until the end. I've put too much effort into this not to see it through.

BTW, Basil, Knife of Dreams was a definite improvement over some of the other later volumes, and it hopefully signals a trend of getting back on track to the Last Battle.
 
I agree. It's gone on for too long. I thought Crossroads at Twilight was pretty good, especially nearer the end.

I find there are a few too many elements in the world to keep track of. But, as you said, I'm in it 'til the end (which I believe is supposed to come with book 12).

I've started the series at least three times, but this time, I'm just reading the chronology to bring me up to speed.

Did you read New Spring?
 
Yeah, I read New Spring. I was angry when he pulled that since, y'know, all of his readers had been waiting for sequels, not a prologue.

With all the waiting I've done on this massive series, I'm afraid that George R.R. Martin will be pulling the same with his Song of Fire and Ice series. I know that epic fantasy adventure stories don't need to be hemmed in by the trilogy format, but this is getting out of hand among some authors.
 
Agreed.

It might be preferable to do something more like Terry Pratchett or Piers Anthony and set several stories in one world, but not necessarily to link them strongly as sequels. It would still be possible to have one overarching story. Like what C.S. Lewis did with Narnia.

Have you read Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams? That's what I'm reading right now. It's a trilogy, but the last book was way too long, so they split it into two parts (so it's really a quadrilogy).
 
I love the series, but I agree with you both. It's too stinking long. Scribe is right, the last book was much better. I think you could've condensed the previous three into one book and then combine some of the earlier ones. I thought Anne McAffrey's Dragon books were well done even though there are several of them. Jordan is trying to keep up with too many characters at once. I find myself wanting to skim the sections that deal with characters that I've always considered side characters. I'm also tired of Rand's split personality. He's the focus of the entire story and for the last how many books he hasn't grown or evolved. Matt is my favorite character.

I personally think that they could do things more like the comic book world and the Star Wars universe. Have a good storyline that culminates through several books, introduce side characters, but don't focus on them. Then you can have the spin-off books that let us know what happened in other parts of that world and with those side characters.

Oh and Scribe, I read the first book of the Fire and Ice series and even though it was pretty good, I hated the fact it didn't have one side that was the "good guys" except for the lord of the Northern Lands that got killed off the first book. Those stories made you like the bad guys and made some of the good ones look horrible, even though they're supposed to be the protagonists. I know that having characters without flaws makes for flat characters, but they are all too messed up. I thought most of them should be killed off. Except the wolves. They rocked.
 
Mat is such an awesome character, but Jordan stopped developing him halfway through the series so he could flesh out others, now he's doing better. I like Perrin as well, he's turned out pretty cool. Lan is one bad mamma-jamma. I like seeing him in action. I do hope Jordan gets his act together and gets on with the final battle. Unfortunately, he's boxed himself in. It'll be nearly impossible to continue the series after that. He can do prequels, but the characters will probably be done.
 
I did read Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Basil, and I did enjoy it. Williams took a lot of familiar elements from history and fairy tales and combined them in pretty well written epic fantasy. When I saw him a book signing back in 2001 (at the Borders bookstore in the World Trade Center mall no less) he talked about a possible sequel to that trilogy that would take place hundreds of years later in the same world, only now it would be an industrialized place where the stories of Simon and Miriamele would be regarded as fanciful legend. Odd concept, but it sounded exciting...however, he's done nothing with it thus far.

As for Song of Fire and Ice, Jonas, I can understand the lack of possible empathy for the characters, but in the last few books, the children of Eddard Stark (the Northern Lord in the first book) become more compelling and sympathetic characters. Plus, I read it more like I'm reading a history of the War of the Roses (which R.R.Martin admits he used as inspiration for the seedy, medieval world), so it was almost eerie in how real I found it. If it wasn't for the inhuman invaders from the north, a couple of instances of magic and a dragon or two, I'd almost swear the story could have been set in Europe circa the 14th Century.

Y'know, what really worries me is if something happens to Jordan before he finishes the Series. I felt that way with Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and when he was hit by that van I think I nearly fainted myself. Damn you Jordan!!! Finish the series!!!!!!
 
I have no idea what yall are talking about. lol
But have any of you read any books by Dean Koontz?
Specifically Seize the Night or False Memory ?
Those are two great books.

I read StN a while ago, and I only picked up FM this morning to read like a chapter, but in about a half hour I had already read over 100 pages, and I still cant put it down...
 
I think he means Koontz (considering his prolific nature).

I'm not a fan of Koontz myself. I read him somewhat in High School, and I suppose his book "Lightning" was my favorite at the time. Otherwise, my friend and I came up with the Dean Koontz "Formula" (he may have changed a lot, but at the time it held true):

Hero + Heroine + X + Horrible Evil = Happy ending for Hero and Heroine
(X = either a dog, child or old/crippled man, or any combination of the three)

He also did two books that I can remember under a pseudonym. Both books had nearly identical plot frameworks.

Heroine with amnesia that hides an important secret + Hero + Russian ex-KGB psychos = Happy Ending for Hero and Heroine.

Again things may have changed since then, but I imagine he can still be pretty formulaic. Who cares though...I'm working as a technical writer and he's laughing all the way to the bank *sigh*.
 
Jordan better not die before he finishes the series. Although at this rate, I think I might. Maybe my great-grandkids will see the final book....
 
Well Scribe I think the formula has changed a little. The dog's still always there though. Heh...

My dad has 3 of his books, and I just read them after him. But after exams, I get to read my 3 Tom Clancy books that I just got: Splinter Cell, The Hunt For Red October, and Rainbow Six.
yay.
 
The Splinter Cell book was actually written by David Michaels, but you should check out some of the books that put him on the map like Patriot Games and the sequel, Clear and Present Danger.
 
Yea I know it's written by him but the "Created by Tom Clancy" thing is there so thats why I said that...
Anyway I've heard about those books but I haven't read them. Maybe next time I go to the States I'll probably check it out :eek:ptimist:
 
I started reading the Wheel of Time series, but quit for some reason. Probably because my reading interests wandered off into the DiscWorld XD (DOES ANYONE ELSE HERE LOVE DEATH?? if you do, you'll know why i'm speaking in all caps ^_^)

One series that really suprised me was the DragonLance Chronicles I-III by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. That series was excellent, although I can't really remember why I loved the series so much except that it had an amazingly enthralling sense of adventure ^_^ And the Kender. You have to love them (or else be exremely annoyed). I actually own those books, which says a lot, because I usually don't bother to buy books unless I really really enjoy them (seriously, the library is far to valuable as a free resource to pass up).
 
Truth to tell, except for a few series I'm reading now, I'm kinda tired of the overwhelming flood of "Sword and Sorcery" garbage that's being cranked out by the publishers these days (especially with Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia being such big film hits). It's tough to find one that is truly unique. Mostly they resort to looking like just another version of medieval Europe with modern slang peppered about, bombastic ideas with a framework of poor plotting and dialogue, and the pointless scenes of violence divided by equally pointless scenes of exposition.

I liked The Wheel of Time because it takes old ideas of good versus evil and tweaks it with a truly suffering hero hated and feared by most people and fanatically worshipped by others. Whereas in some other books the chaos of war seems to be located almost entirely around the main characters, you do get a sense of a world pretty much on the verge of collapse. The only unfortunate thing is that the world has been on the verge of collapse for over a dozen books now!!!

Oh, Meggo, I did read the first three books of the Dragonlance, and the later books are somewhat better. I'm not a big fan of Weis and Hickman (beyond the Death Gate Cycle, which was fun). They tend to be more "tell, don't show" with their writing. As a writer you won't be any more irritated than reading the Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles where the authors put margin notes throughout the text detailing their painfully amateurish attempts at writing the first books of the Dragonlance series. It's pure agony.

Another recommendation I have is The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker which I'm reading right now. It's very alien fantasy that remains quite familiar. The series possesses unusual protagonists witnessing a Holy War that few realize is actually a cover for a coming apocalypse. Bakker's use of language is quite complex and interesting, and he manages to bring depth to his world's history without overloading readers by resorting to overt exposition.
 
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