Wheel of Time

[file cabinet]

Before I left on my flight I picked up the 2nd book in the Wheel of Time.. I read the Eye of the World(the first book) a really long time ago.. anyway.. I've read more than half of the 2nd book, it's pretty good.. I think I've seen Wheel of Time references on the forum... what do you think of it?

[cloakable]

Oh, man, that series is frakin HUGE! I've read some of it (books 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10), but man, to buy the current set, you need to have a serious love of books, and some serious money. But the books are good, though.

[SensEye]

The first few books of that series are pretty good, but I found starting around #4 or #5 or the author seems to start going in circles and not advancing the plot very much. I think it is up to book #9 or #10 now with no end in sight. Methinks the author is just milking a cash cow with it these days.

PS> Get them from the library, there is no way they are worth paying for.

[Boozer]

I'm not sure how, but I made it to Path of Daggers (#8?). But I'm with SensEye, I got tired of it before that, only managed to read 8 because I borrowed it from a friend and am stubborn about that kind of stuff. Once it got away from the 3 core characters I started losing interest, couldn't keep all those side characters apart. It does kind of seem like he's milking it, either that or like so much bad anime, he's built it up so much and now there's no way to resolve it without blowing up the planet.

[Daoloth]

I myself never partook of them, mainly because my friends who do read them always complain of their length and occaisional stupidity. The female characters are often a target for the harshest of critisims. Despite all this, they still, often in the same breath, beseech me to try them. I thusly view WoT in the same way I view hard drugs. ;) Perhaps worth one's trouble, but so addictive and dangerous and expensive that the wise will pass them up.

[Almaviva]

I look at the time when I read the WoT series very fondly. If the books don't grab you by the second in the series, they probably never do. If they do, the climax of Lord of Chaos is *awesome*, and then they aren't as good after that.

The best thing about the series is also what most people who dislike it hate about the books. That there is just an incredible amount of detail and number of characters and sub-threads. And a very very slow pace, where someone will start on a journey and won't arrive for a couple books or so. Not reading much of anything about a very major character for a whole book is not uncommon.

[file cabinet]

is the dune series better than the WoT series? I tried picking up the WoT book after not reading it for a week and it was too boring.. is Dune any better? I liked the two 4hr+ movies put out by sci-fi.. the spice must flow

[Boozer]

is the dune series better than the WoT series? I tried picking up the WoT book after not reading it for a week and it was too boring.. is Dune any better? I liked the two 4hr+ movies put out by sci-fi.. the spice must flow
YES

[Dunearhp]

is the dune series better than the WoT series? I tried picking up the WoT book after not reading it for a week and it was too boring.. is Dune any better? I liked the two 4hr+ movies put out by sci-fi.. the spice must flow

Read the ones by Frank Herbert. They're awsome.
Be dubious of the ones by Brian Herbert, while they fill out the back story a lot there is a point at which the entire universe starts to lose it's feeling of depth. Every time I see a new one in the stores I think of a cash cow.
MOO!

[Dunearhp]

I am up to the 4th book in the Wheel of Time. I am still enjoying it but I do agree that some of the female characters irritate me a little.

[file cabinet]

in the second book one of the female characters irritated me.. good thing I probably won't be finishing it...

[Boozer]

is the dune series better than the WoT series? I tried picking up the WoT book after not reading it for a week and it was too boring.. is Dune any better? I liked the two 4hr+ movies put out by sci-fi.. the spice must flow

Read the ones by Frank Herbert. They're awsome.
Be dubious of the ones by Brian Herbert, while they fill out the back story a lot there is a point at which the entire universe starts to lose it's feeling of depth. Every time I see a new one in the stores I think of a cash cow.
MOO!

good point D. I personally don't even consider the other ones real dune books so I forgot about them. Yeah Frank Herbert only.

[Almaviva]

I thought the first Dune book was awesome. The second and third were just pretty good, and really weird. I gave up after that.

[Boozer]

The 2nd and 3rd are the weakest IMO. I actually did the same thing (stopped at 3) for a while, until a friend convinced me otherwise. The 4th-6th are much better. I'd give them another shot. A word of warning though, the series spans many many years so don't expect linear continuity.

[Werdna]

I really liked reading WoT, but once the 8th book or so came out i couldn't remember most of the story any longer and i didn't feel like reading them all a third time. They are captivating though.
My sister always reads them. She does very little else. I don't know how many times, she stopped counting efter 11 or 12.

The dune books are far superior in my opinion, much more intelligent and philosophical. Is the God Emperor of Dune INTP? Lots of people say they can't read that book because it is too strange. I loved it.
I've read the Brian Herbert books, but they are really nothing in comparison.

[Warrior413]

I've read all the Wheel of Time books and pretty much forgot what it was all about... but I do remember liking them.

[lauriep]

is the dune series better than the WoT series? I tried picking up the WoT book after not reading it for a week and it was too boring.. is Dune any better? I liked the two 4hr+ movies put out by sci-fi.. the spice must flow

Read the ones by Frank Herbert. They're awsome.
Be dubious of the ones by Brian Herbert, while they fill out the back story a lot there is a point at which the entire universe starts to lose it's feeling of depth. Every time I see a new one in the stores I think of a cash cow.
MOO!

good point D. I personally don't even consider the other ones real dune books so I forgot about them. Yeah Frank Herbert only.

The Brian Herbert books just don't seem to have the same depth or feeling to them. I've read some of the newer ones, not that horrible but definitely don't compare with the originals.

[codeElemental]

I remember loving the WoT series back in high school, but at that point only 6 of them had been written, so I've quietly been collecting the hardbacks from the bargain bin over the years with the intention of reading them when he finally gets done (which he claims will happen at book 12). I remember nothing other than that I liked each book better than the former up through 5 or so. I don't expect I'll be quite as enthused when I sit down and try them again though....

As for Dune, I remember loving the first one years ago, and liking the second, though it seemed to be getting a little too odd for me at the time. I'm actually re-reading the first one now, and am still quite liking it, so it definitely gets a recommendation.

[Arcades]

The problem I have with the series is that I have to find out when the next book comes out. Then I have to re-read the entire thing because there are so manny sub-plots and minor players that if you start reading other works then you cannot keep it all strait. Though I will state that even after re-reading the entire thing 4 or 5 times now the first 5 or 6 books are great works. The rest are simply a never ending storie that you have to be up to date to follow, though still good.

On that note the next should come out in the next 5 months or so if they follow the same time frame as the last 4.

[SensEye]

Newsflash:


James Oliver Rigney Jr, author of the long-running fantasy series The Wheel of Time and better known to millions of fans by the pen name Robert Jordan, died on 16 Sept 2007 from cardiac amyloidosis. Jordan announced he had been diagnosed with the disease in March 2006 and vowed to beat the odds, but determination and gumption sometimes just aren't enough in the face of a disease with a median survival time of just over two years. Jordan was in the process of writing the twelfth and final book in the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, but the book was not slated for release until 2009 and is still incomplete.

Possibly not the most appropriate remark, but I saw this on slashdot and laughed my ass off:


"In the spirit of the man, friends and family of the deceased have requested that his eulogy be tedious and poorly written."

I admit, I slogged through most of this series. I was planning to see how it ended even though I had totally lost interest in the meantime. I wasn't aware the end was anywhere in sight (i.e. that book 12 was to be the final one).

[sandwich]

RIP Robert Jordan

He made some great characters, but I lost track of them by book five.

[lexiphanic]

So... now that Robert Jordan is dead, who else is going to try and plow through all (11 released) books?

[Rhu]

I think I'd rather attempt to perform neurosurgury on myself with a plastic spork.

Out of curiosity, though, I'd like to know how many pages of description you could compile entirely of women ogling mens' shoulders. I'd wager it to be in the 30-40 page range.

[cafe]

I think I'd rather attempt to perform neurosurgury on myself with a plastic spork.

Out of curiosity, though, I'd like to know how many pages of description you could compile entirely of women ogling mens' shoulders. I'd wager it to be in the 30-40 page range.
It'd be right up there with women crossing their arms under their breasts, I'm pretty sure.

[Rhu]

It'd be right up there with women crossing their arms under their breasts, I'm pretty sure.
There's also the long descriptions of which way fingers are pointing when hands rest on hips. I realize that it's an important literary commentary both on the use body language and the prevalance of verbal diarrhea; as such, I applaud it.

I also learned that the myrdraal were sort of reptilian in movement an posture. After some time, I stopped picturing nazgul and started imagining them with scales.

Oh. And men using magic is greasy. Really, really greasy. You'd never grab a hold of a pig if it was covered in magic.


He really could have cut a whole lot of extraneous description out if he practiced more word invention or created some sort of shorthand. "She did that thing again" would have sufficed. There's a point where painting the same picture over and over transcends motif and becomes something disturbing.

[cafe]

There's also the long descriptions of which way fingers are pointing when hands rest on hips. I realize that it's an important literary commentary both on the use body language and the prevalance of verbal diarrhea; as such, I applaud it.

I also learned that the myrdraal were sort of reptilian in movement an posture. After some time, I stopped picturing nazgul and started imagining them with scales.

Oh. And men using magic is greasy. Really, really greasy. You'd never grab a hold of a pig if it was covered in magic.


He really could have cut a whole lot of extraneous description out if he practiced more word invention or created some sort of shorthand. "She did that thing again" would have sufficed. There's a point where painting the same picture over and over transcends motif and becomes something disturbing.
Yes. It disturbs me so much that I want to tug on my braid. I would, too, except I put my hair in a bun this morning. Drat!

[Dom]

I'm not sure how, but I made it to Path of Daggers (#8?). But I'm with SensEye, I got tired of it before that, only managed to read 8 because I borrowed it from a friend and am stubborn about that kind of stuff. Once it got away from the 3 core characters I started losing interest, couldn't keep all those side characters apart. It does kind of seem like he's milking it, either that or like so much bad anime, he's built it up so much and now there's no way to resolve it without blowing up the planet.

Sadly you stopped too soon, book 9 and 10 pick up again!! Major events in them both and alliances and darn it now he's dead...

He always said 12 to 14 books to finish and at the end of book 11 it was looking more likely...

Darn it why is he DEAD?? I don't recall giving permission for that one... goes off to check the records.....

[Dom]

I admit, I slogged through most of this series. I was planning to see how it ended even though I had totally lost interest in the meantime. I wasn't aware the end was anywhere in sight (i.e. that book 12 was to be the final one).

He said 12 to 14, everyone assumed it would eb 12 when he got diagnoised... there is a lot to cover in one book if he was going to finish it in one go.

I mean lets see:

Tai Giamon, must be fought,
the bore filled,
Taim sorted,
Morraine returned from the tower of g
Melkier restored,
Mannetheren restored,
The tower made whole,
Elayne secure lion and sun throne,
not to mention so many other little threads...
And who the hell is Cadsuane? i just can't sus it out....

i think i'm blowning out my moustache in irritation....

[lexiphanic]

There's also the long descriptions of which way fingers are pointing when hands rest on hips. I realize that it's an important literary commentary both on the use body language and the prevalance of verbal diarrhea; as such, I applaud it.

I also learned that the myrdraal were sort of reptilian in movement an posture. After some time, I stopped picturing nazgul and started imagining them with scales.

Oh. And men using magic is greasy. Really, really greasy. You'd never grab a hold of a pig if it was covered in magic.


He really could have cut a whole lot of extraneous description out if he practiced more word invention or created some sort of shorthand. "She did that thing again" would have sufficed. There's a point where painting the same picture over and over transcends motif and becomes something disturbing.

Re-reading the entire series, I can go much faster when I can pick out a re-hash of things we've already seen in every previous book, and just skip it entirely. Makes things much more lively. Also, I think that he was too aware of how much time he was taking between books.

Luckily, I like to visualize bosoms..

[SensEye]

He said 12 to 14, everyone assumed it would eb 12 when he got diagnoised... there is a lot to cover in one book if he was going to finish it in one go.

I mean lets see:

Tai Giamon, must be fought,
the bore filled,
Taim sorted,
Morraine returned from the tower of g
Melkier restored,
Mannetheren restored,
The tower made whole,
Elayne secure lion and sun throne,
not to mention so many other little threads...
And who the hell is Cadsuane? i just can't sus it out....

i think i'm blowning out my moustache in irritation....
The tragedy is, Jordan could have been moving these plot threads along and kept the series interesting. Instead he pissed around moving one group from point A to B, doing nothing, then moving to point C, with all that tedious bs about braid pulling and skirt smoothing along the way.