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Posted By: The Master (Admin) Aug 30, 1998 - 06:49 pm

I (finally) read the Wheel of Time series. After hearing so much about it for so long, maybe my expectations were too high. I really liked the first two books, but the next four really bogged down IMHO. These were big books, but I felt like I could have tossed out half of the pages and still had the whole story. Crown of Swords picked up a little bit, but still was not up to par with the Eye of the World.

Posted By: Linda Gruber Aug 31, 1998 - 09:25 am

I adore the "Wheel of Time" series. I would not want one word cut. Not so much because they are so essential to the plot, but because I am so glad to have finally found books that take me more than one day to read. I have the whole collection in paperback, and I am dying for the next one. The trouble with collecting in paperback is it takes so long for the paperback version to be released after the hard bound version. I had "Crown of Swords" on my wish list for two years.

Posted By: Anonymous Oct 03, 1998 - 06:06 pm

I agree with Linda. The length of the books just gives Robert Jordan more space to flesh out his characters and his world. I also felt that the best book in the series was Lord of Chaos, which I believe was the longest. By the way Linda, I started by colecting the books in paper back, but now I'm trying to get them all in hard cover. They're worth the extra money.

Posted By: X Nov 12, 1998 - 07:10 am

I just read Path of Daggers. I had been waiting for months to read it, but now that I have I'm a bit disappointed. The book didn't lead up to a dramatic climax like the others did. (Esp. Lord of Chaos) It felt almost like it was only the first half of a book or that he trying to tie up a few loose ends before the finale.

Posted By: Kalel17 Apr 03, 1999 - 10:23 am

Robert Jordan is an excellent author. Yes, his books are long, but that just gives him the opportunity to create a real-life world. I would agree that Path of Daggers was somewhat of a disappointment but only when compared to the rest of the series. I just love all the mystery and foreshadowing.

Posted By: Anonymous Apr 15, 1999 - 09:50 am

I like Robert Jordan's books for the most part (I just finished Path of Daggers), but am I the only one who thinks that, by now, there are really only two types of characters in his stories? For the most part, it looks like all the men have one personality, and the women have another.

Posted By: Nightice May 05, 1999 - 09:07 am

THANK YOU, ANONYMOUS (April 15)!!! I absolutely and totally agree. Don't you people realize how annoying it is to have a generic male and a generic female? I admit the characters are not exactly alike, but still. It's really very superficial in a way. The men are oh so brave and chivalrous and macho; the women are so...womanly!!! Domestic, tidy...you name it. Living cliches.

Posted By: Snotolf May 12, 1999 - 11:40 pm

By the looks of it, i'd think wheel of time is a genuine "never-ending-story". I mean, is he gonna write episodes till the rainforrest vanishes?
I -luckily i might say- never started reading it, so I don't know mutch about it.
But one does not need to be an expert to see that the wheel of time is nothing but a fantasy soap. One would say he's writing about the Bold and the beautyfull's ancesters.

I doubt Robert Jordan will ever come up with an ending.

Posted By: Daisy May 13, 1999 - 12:07 pm

Ugh. I actually fear the ending. I think my expectations are high and I think that the type of ending will ultimately determine whether my years of reading book after book was worth it.

Any guesses as to how many books the series will end up being? I've heard he'll end it in 13 just for the symbolism of it. Or just for fun and grins.

Posted By: Lisseut May 17, 1999 - 11:49 pm

It started off well, but has quickly degenerated into formula fantasy. The characters are mostly generic, none of them are interesting and some of them, notably the (main) hero, are totally unlikable. There are so many inconsistencies and unrealistic (even for a fantasy) scenes it's just a bit ridiculous. For example, when Rand first meets Elayne. She's a princess and he's a shepherd who didn't even realise he lived in her kingdom yet they have no communication problems. Not to mention that she is chaperoned/protected only by her brother who doesn't do a very good job. If RAnd had been an assassin they would both have been done for.
The only promising character in the first book, Nynaeve, turns out to be a sappy romantic heroine who's only goal in the story (and therefore her life) is to marry a guy who's obssessive about regaining his old kingdom, currently a wasteland.

But having started the series I have to keep reading to find out what happens next...

Posted By: The Master May 18, 1999 - 08:53 am

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But having started the series I have to keep reading to find out what happens next...

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Posted By: Wolfbrother Oct 05, 1999 - 02:57 pm

I thought Jordan's The Wheel of Time is a very good series. Jordan is one person that knows how to write. I like how he made the series. I agree it's a long book, but Jordan knows how to make it work. I sort of agree with the Master, but I also liked the third book a lot, and instead of picking up by the seventh, he picked up by the sixth. I didn't like the fourth much because the way Jordan wrote it. He had a good potential for the book, but he had one problem. That was, and some may say it's to keep one on their toes, he wrote about a character and, right before he went on to another character, he had a big finish, then continued with another character. That's a good element, but my problem is leading up to the big finishes was tiring and boring. I finished the first three books in two weeks, then, The Shadow Rising took me a couple of weeks by itself. He did the same in Fires of Heaven. I think he could of found better stories for the characters in those two. But aside from that, I really liked The Wheel of Time. I have a mix of everyones feelings, esp. about my expectations of what his finish would be.

Posted By: rockslam Oct 06, 1999 - 09:54 am

What a bunch of spoilsports you all are!

Wow.

I love the concept of the dreamland where people can communicate and have effects on each other. I like the fact that they are living in an echo of another time, I think the stereotypes are VALID. There are characters that break the mold, but the fact is, most men are very jealous, short-sighted people. They have positives, too. Most men are risk-takers, and their egos are so ballooned that they refuse to follow set courses, etc.

The women in the story rule the world, which is basically a commentary on our own world. Men are emasculated, and considered crazy within both our own world and this fantasy. Unless you are a very feminine man, you are considered some type of monster.

My favorite character is not Rand, or Nynaeve, but Mat Cauthon! There are never enough scenes in the story for me with him in them.

I particularly liked the concept of threads in the tapestry, with some threads being Ta'Veren. Seems like another particularly good metaphor for our own existence. I don't think the story is plodding, I think it is just intricate.

'Nuff said.

kgb

Posted By: Wolfbrother Oct 06, 1999 - 02:51 pm

rockslam, don't get me wrong. I loved the series, I just didn't like the fourth and fifth books of it. My favorite character had to be Perrin. His actions with the wolves were amazing. Another thing I thought was funny was how Perrin always wished Rand was there when he talked to girls, and vica versa. I thought that was funny.

Posted By: Aeon Dec 10, 1999 - 08:33 am

I don't know why everyone seems upset about the length of the WOT, I for one like having a series to consitantly look forward to, I will agree that the Path of Daggers was weak, I believe it was merely filler for book 9, which unlike most of the previous books will benefit from being able to immediately jump into very important plot points. However my biggest gripe to Robert Jordan is leaving the readers in the air about Mat's fate, he's never even mentioned except passingly by Nynaeve wondering where he is. However Robert Jordan has made a consistantly good series so far and I have faith the next book will be wonderful, after all, theres no where to go but to a major event after the last book.

Posted By: Rubyscye Jan 09, 2000 - 07:21 pm

Jordan is doing what many authors probably don't do because they are afraid that their fans will leave...or they run out of ideas.. Jordan is going on and on with his series, finding new ways to place old ideas in different light. I'm not as far as most people, i only just finished Fires of Heaven, and i have to admit that this series, as with all series, it has its ups and its downs.
But, just like the Master and another said... i've started it and i might as well keep going...
i guess Jordan is doing what he needs to do... keep people reading, even if it is for different reasons...

Posted By: highland heart Feb 17, 2000 - 10:34 am

Newbie here. I hope you won't mind my adding to this thread.

I'm not a huge fantasy fan but have been a Tolkien fanatic for thirty years. A friend referred me to The Wheel of Time and one day I picked up Eye of the World. I liked it but not enough to follow up; thought it read like a kid's book, and didn't think the whole thing was well-planned out in that the title place, the Eye, wasn't even mentioned till towards the end. I did like the characters though, and since I tend to e a looooong writer myself *g*, I was happy to see that someone who wrote really long had a huge audience.

Anyhow (I seem to be writing long now!) I was looking for something to read some time later at the library and happened to pick up The Great Hunt and I was hooked. Sorry, but I don't think these characters are stereotypical at all. They are all different from one another-- Rand, Mat and Perrin utterly unalike, as are the female characters, Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve. I find myself really caring about these kids and what happens to them.

One of the things I like best about the whole series is the difference between saidar and saidin-- can't remember in which book this is really spelled out but it nearly gave me chills-- Jordan to me was describing the difference between male and female hormones; between male and female essence... Though occasionally he gets way too cute with the male-female business (as in Crown of Swords, IMO), I mostly agree with his viewpoint. ...

Shadow Rising and Lord of Chaos were my favorites so far; I was a bit disappointed in the last two, mainly Crown of Swords-- the excessive cuteness got to me, as i said, and also the ending stretched my suspension-of-disbelief almost to the breaking point. And I agree with whoever said Path of Daggers was too short-- liked it otherwise, but it was at least a couple of hundred pages shorter than the other books and felt like it.

Like everyone else I'm wondering where exactly Jordan is headed and if I'm going to read those last pages of the last book and go, Oh NOOOOOOO and I've wasted all this time....!! *g* ...

Btw, I read in an interview he plans eleven books. Three more loooooong sessions to go...

Thanks for the opportunity to participate.

highland heart

Posted By: Wolfbrother Feb 17, 2000 - 02:01 pm

Sorry, but I've seen "IMO" a few times reading. What exactly is that?

Posted By: Anonymous Feb 20, 2000 - 03:07 am

"In My Opinion", also used as IMHO, "In My Humble Opinion". Fairly common 'net slang in newsgroups, message boards, and chat rooms.

Posted By: Wolfbrother Feb 21, 2000 - 08:27 am

Oh, thanks.

Posted By: Shiaynn Apr 25, 2000 - 01:41 pm

After reading these reviews I feel so torn. I started reading the Wheel of time as it came out and loved it and still love it. I am only glad that his remarkable series has grown such a huge and I mean HUGE fandom. I an aspiring fantasy writer only hope to become as talented and skilled a writer. But as an author or one who'd like to be, I am glad even as good as his series are there are flaws. I, being female, don't find any offense to his characters especialy the females. I enjoy finding and discovering all the allegories he makes to Norse and Asian mythology.

His tale is long but worth every page. I admit Path of Daggers was a quick read and I think that has been his weakest book. I liked the first through fifth books best where there was less political intrigue. I am very afraid he will (and I think it is impossible by the way) to finish all his many sideplots and interesting details. But the world he has created actually mimics the occult in many instances, especially the four elements. I cannot but help compare it to LOTR.
While LOTR is not as long ARDA to me seems more magical and enchanting which Jordan is sacrificing for polt development. His plots are so intricate now, he needs to kep writing to try and unravel them. In fact I think Jordan himself is caught in hs own thread pattern! :)

Posted By: Wolfbrother Apr 26, 2000 - 02:39 pm

I pretty much agree. One of the bad things though, I feel, is that in this huge world he's created, he seems to forget that we the reader can't always remember things he briefly explained or talked about four books ago, and when he doesn't talk about a character for a while (such as Perrin throughout all of the fifth book), and he goes back and starts talking about things we learned before, we sometimes can't understand after reading it a few times. It's an excellently written book it just needs to be a little bit more explanatory and flow a bit better.

Posted By: Wolfbrother Apr 26, 2000 - 02:49 pm

Oh yeah, another bad thing in my opinion is the holidays, and I don't know if he was trying to be "cute" or anything by accidentally having Thanksgiving and All Souls Day part of WOTs world's holidays. I also the counting system, not as bad, but it still resembles our own, where it should all be totally original, or the same as ours (counting, not holidays; I think all holidays, if any, should be original). Again, excellent books, these might just be things that I think shouldn't have been.

Posted By: The Master Apr 27, 2000 - 07:00 pm

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I am very afraid he will (and I think it is impossible by the way) to finish all his many sideplots and interesting details.

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Posted By: Wolfbrother Apr 28, 2000 - 01:28 pm

Master: I haven't thought about any of the side plots being made into other books, but now that I think about it I think that would be a really good idea. Wouldn't it be neat to see it from everyone's perspective, like, a new series about the Forsaken, and how each one of them became who they are and what happens before Eye of the World. Another (or part of the last one) can be Lews Therin's rise and fall of being the Dragon. Oh well...I guess Jordan can do what he wants, but that's a neat idea.

Posted By: KingOfChaos Aug 27, 2000 - 03:12 am

I agree totally...the first few books were good in my opinion...but once you get into the later books there are TOO MANY STINKING CHARACTERS...I can't keep up with them all! Robert Jordan tries to stuff too many characters and plots into one book...hell, he could have one of his books split into three or four seperate novels if he wanted to.