Wheel of Time

Jason

So, who else has been reading these for the past decade? And who else is getting pretty impatient waiting for book 12 to come out? It's supposed to finish the whole series, but I can't see that happening, and I've always thought that with the theme of the number 13 running so heavily through the books that Robert Jordan would write... yup... 13 books. I was a bit disappointed around books 7-9, but the last two have been incredible.

Any takers?

kenjura

I just found the whole series boring. The metaphors are transparent, and the character development slow and obvious. He's trying to have every single character, no matter how minor, undergo the entire "Hero's Journey" simultaneously. It's just not good literature.

Imagine if, in addition to Sam, Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandalf, every other character from Gimli to Tom Bombadil underwent their entire coming of age/hero's journey over the course of the book. Some of those characters (like, say, Legolas) clearly had other interesting things going on in their lives, both past and future. What elf could possibly be defined by the events of a year? Hell, the story was incredible with only 2-4 main characters undergoing the actual journey through conflict to destiny.

I'm not saying it's bad, just...mediocre. It's what Harry Potter would be if it didn't have that undefinable something that makes it so charming. That, and Harry Potter gets excused from a lot of criticism because it's for children, or at least young adults.

If you disagree, that's cool, but I recommend reading some Robin Hobb and George R. R. Martin to get a feel for true fantasy mastery.

HungryJoe

I've been waiting for a chance to say this where it might have some relevance, and you opened the door when you brought up Harry Potter.

Does anyone know (without looking it up) what Louis Armstrong was taking about when he recorded "Muggles"?

kingmojo

I am currently working my way through "Knife of Dreams". The pace of action has definitely increased from a few books ago. I wonder if his illness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jordan) has motivated him to get the series done. I hope so because it was real work getting through a few of the books. I pushed through them only because I already had so much time invested in the series. This one is grabbing me a little more, although I am only a quarter of the way through it now. I would also recommend John Marco's Tyrants and Kings trilogy or Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series if you find yourself waiting for the next in this series.