! I remember in the first volume thinking I would always hate Nynaeve due to seeming to be so full of herself. Now….She's my favorite female character. It may have to do a bit with the fact that becoming an Aes Sedai didn't really seem to get to her head the same way it did to Egwene.
The Wheel of Time (Spoiler Warning)
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! I remember in the first volume thinking I would always hate Nynaeve due to seeming to be so full of herself. Now….She's my favorite female character. It may have to do a bit with the fact that becoming an Aes Sedai didn't really seem to get to her head the same way it did to Egwene.
She started out as that annoying nanny that was pestering the kids. Then she became her own woman with hopes and dreams and faults. Only natural your opinion would change.
My favorites if I had to pick a top 3 are Perrin, Thom, Min and Avienda. (Yes, I know that's 4… Perrin had a couple volumes where he sucked.) Rand and Matt are good too, but not quiiite top 3 material for me.
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Yeah. Perrin was my best friend's favorite character. I certainly enjoyed Min and Avienda. They would probably be my favorite female characters right behind Nynaeve. Egwene always seemed to switch between her annoying me and me liking her as well as Elayne to a lesser degree. I'd say out of the original three guys, I liked Mat the best if I had to pick. I only got to book 6 or 7 though, so I don't know how things progressed from there.
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I only got to book 6 or 7 though, so I don't know how things progressed from there.
Not much. The pace slowed down IMMENSELY around that point. Stuff kept happening, but only a handful of events of major note happen between books 6 and 10, its mostly politic there. Mostly because they stop being standalone adventures and just become a mess of divided armies plotting. The pace fixes itself again and started wrapping stuff up at volume 11, and Brandon Sanderson started really fixing it with 12. But 6-10 were pretty dragged out. You might even get by with just a wikipedia summary, honestly.
But, with the final book coming, now might be a good time to pick it up again.
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Not sure if I'll reread since that's going through a lot again, but it's been about 3-4 years since I last picked it up. Still, I definitely want to see how the series goes and ends since I was pretty invested in it for a while.
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Not sure if I'll reread since that's going through a lot again, but it's been about 3-4 years since I last picked it up. Still, I definitely want to see how the series goes and ends since I was pretty invested in it for a while.
I caught up with the series when it was still on book 7, and then had a couple years between volumes Every time I came back to a new one, I generally remembered all the characters and plot things pretty quickly, it was good about recapping.
It's hard to forget 10,000 pages of material. Even if you've lost the small details and side characters, you recall the important stuff pretty quickly.
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My favorites were Rand before the Dragonmount incident(I actually did like how that played out but didn't like his personality after it), Min, and Aviendha.
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It took so damn long to reveal
! the ass that killed Asmodean. I don't know why that bothered me so much, but I felt it should have been revealed much sooner. Was there any point in withholding this bit of information? (err besides spoiling the particular characters before they were revealed). Oh I also despise how they killed off a character that might have produced really important information in the first book.
Oh I hate this serie with a passion just because I started reading it when book 6 was released…I can't imagine the irritation that others must have felt when book 1 came out.
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It took so damn long to reveal
! the ass that killed Asmodean. I don't know why that bothered me so much, but I felt it should have been revealed much sooner. Was there any point in withholding this bit of information? (err besides spoiling the particular characters before they were revealed).
Apparently to Jordan it was blatantly obvious and he didn't realize holding that information back would irritate people. It was one of the first things Brandon Sanderson looked up in the notes when he was given the job of writing the last books.
I assume its finally revealed in Towers of Midnight? I haven't gotten to that one yet. If there's characters to be revealed… then that's probably the reason.
It just ties into his entire world scope getting to big and the pace slowing to a crawl between books 6-10. The entirety of those 5 volumes could probably have been done in 2 books with editing and cutting of some excesses.
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Opps sorry for not putting it in spoilers Robby (it has been so long ago…I forgot it was a pretty big spoiler). Yep, I remember Jordan saying it was "blatantly obvious" (durr). Dude, did he think it was obvious like Tobi's identity?
It is indeed revealed in Towers of Midnight, but what I mean by "revealing characters" is that the character had yet to make him/herself prominent past the book he/she was introduced after
! asmodean died…forgot which book it was . He/She is around prior to book 13, but the reveal is…underwhelming and could have easily been done earlier. This is a typical problem with Jordan in general, he has a terrible habit of stretching things out, sticking cliffhangers in places and leave them hanging forever (for about several thousand pages later), introducing several minor characters and having them vanish, but then return WAAAY later (many of whom I have forgotten), so on so on.
Books 6-10 was like swimming in an Olympic size pool of mud. It was disorienting, daunting, messy, and slow. Ugh, where were Jordan's editors when these books were written?
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These books are amazing and great and awesome reads, BUT they need to be condensed down somehow.
The first few books are good and all but then he starts making each character have more and more depth, and thus in order to tell what each of those 10 people are all doing during that one day it takes an entire book.
! I mean hell one book ends with Rand cleansing the source, and the next book we spend at least half the book showing what the rest of the people where doing while Rand was sitting there cleansing the source.
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The First Three books are amazing and great and awesome reads
Fixed.
Robert Jordan was excellent at creating a very vivid, living world with compelling characters (and elaborate backstories), but he overdid it once he started describing EVERYTHING in every scenery (especially in the dreaded "lost in the forest" scenarios). I think Jordan's works should be used for writing practice: one would have a field day in practicing how to edit content (taking out scenes, cutting out descriptions, unessential characters (or combining some together to produce a more interesting one), utilizing "off screen" moments, etc…)
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Fixed.
Robert Jordan was excellent at creating a very vivid, living world with compelling characters (and elaborate backstories), but he overdid it once he started describing EVERYTHING in every scenery (especially in the dreaded "lost in the forest" scenarios). I think Jordan's works should be used for writing practice: one would have a field day in practicing how to edit content (taking out scenes, cutting out descriptions, unessential characters (or combining some together to produce a more interesting one), utilizing "off screen" moments, etc…)
If you continued reading you would have seen that i said the first 3.
When I said amazing regarding all of them I mean as a whole. If you have read all of the books out so far you would have such a great understanding of the world and its characters and everything going on and so much more. His describing isn't horrible, its his describing something described before that is horrible. So many times we are being shown a character when we say go into a room that we have met 50 times before and yet he feels the need to describe her look, her clothes, accent, ect for an entire page. That is not needed after we have met said person before, unless there is a change, in which you describe that.
But think on wheel of time books.
! I used the example earlier of Rand cleansing the source. I mean in the book that it actually happened it was like 1-2 chapters of Rand sitting there while others fought forsaken. Then the next book the first half was spent showing what Perrin, Mat, Elayne, ect. Like 6 different story lines of characters and how they were feeling and doing during htis time of HUGE Saidin/Saidar being felt. Now reading it, it was a tad annoying thinking come on, this is the past, lets move one already. But when thinking back on just the EVENT of Rand cleansing the source we can all in that same second of thinking also think of what every other character was doing at that same time.
But again as you said first three books where the best. Because they had actual story lines. They had a consistent plotline that was being followed and completed at the end. Most of the further books dont' really have a sense of conclusion. It feels like it could have ended a few times and when they do end it doesn't feel special at all. Its like you could put a few books together and they would be more complete but they just ended up being more pages than he could put in one book so he decided to cut stuff out or end it early. yet he doesn't cut stuff out, he just puts that cut out stuff into the next book, which brings me back to what I was saying before in how he spends future books talking about stuff that happened DURING events in the prior books.
Otherwise his books are like the lord of there rings and the samurilian put together. Or one piece manga and the sbs put together. He is very thourough, just not very well organized. not sure if its his fault or his editors.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@RobbyBevard:
Anyone read any of Brandon Sanderson's other work? I'm probably going to pick up some of his books after Wheel finishes.
Sanderson's got some great work.
I loved the Mistborn books.
And my favorite book of all time at the moment is "The Way of Kings"
Its a first book in a planned 10 book series that he just started. Its like 1,000 pages long. Highly suggest that book above all other books.
Speaking of other great books, I'm a big fan of the "the name of the wind" and "the wise mans fear" Those are also great books.
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Folks, I realize most of the books have been out for a while (26 years for the first one!) and the discussion just randomly jumpstarted today out of nowhere, but… we've apparently got people jumping in who are only in the middle (and i at least personally haven't read the latest book yet even though its been out for 2 years) Use SPOILER TAGS, at least for the major significant stuff.
Hint: If the entirety of the next book was spent talking about what Rand did at the end of the previous book, it's probably big enough a thing to tag.
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If you continued reading you would have seen that i said the first 3.
When I said amazing regarding all of them I mean as a whole. If you have read all of the books out so far you would have such a great understanding of the world and its characters and everything going on and so much more. His describing isn't horrible…..
Oh by no means, his descriptive prowess is remarkable (especially when describing food) and definitively surpasses most authors I have read. He is able to create vivid scenarios for his readers when describing new scenarios, characters, so on. But like you said, most of the descriptions are hardly integral (especially if they are redundant). There is a limit when descriptions go from enhancing the story to making it a drag to read. Jordan definitely crossed that line in his latter books (notably 6-10). Due to the massive amounts of descriptions, events, and so on, these books became a real chore to follow.
Overall, the story and development are wonderful. But since a large amount of books were a pain to read, I really don't consider his writing "good". Regardless, his world and characters are certainly top notch in spite of some plot holes (which will inevitably manifest when writing such a grand serie).
The first Three books are definitely better because they felt more focused, and not "dragged out" (like the wonderful "Lost in the woods" book which was number 9,10 or something. I forgot). So I wholeheartedly agree with you there.
PS. Has it really been 26 years? Jesus Christ…I really pity those readers that started with the first book.
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Any chance that anyone has read The Eye of the World comics that have been coming out so far? From the few panels I've seen it looks like it's good quality.
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I read the comic they made for the short prequel book, it was okay. It's nice to have something visual to compare to the things you've been trying to imagine thru descriptions in the story.
Speaking of other great books, I'm a big fan of the "the name of the wind" and "the wise mans fear" Those are also great books.
Gah, you've reminded me now just how much I'm dying to read the next book when it come out. I haven't had as much fun reading a book series as I did when I read those earlier this year.
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My reread continues apace, I'm on book 7 now, a Crown of Swords. (Well, book 8 if you count the prequel New Spring) Don't think I'll make it to Towers of Midnight by January as I'd hoped, but… making it through.
I hadn't realized just how little happens after the halfway point though. The series just drags to such a crawl. The entirety of book 6 nothing happened. There was character stuff and setup at all camps, and the plot moved forward a little, and hte last 2 or 3 chapters had some significant stuff happen... but overall the entire book was just... nothing happening. And I know its going to be the same for the next 5. I only remember a handful of significant events between now and then.
Wasn't as bad the first time through because I was caught up in the momentum of it all. But this time... yeesh. Other stuff s going to happen, but yeeesh the pace. I'm 200 pages into A crown of swords and its still mostly dealing the day after the end of the previous book... or the day BEFORE that for most of the lengthy prologue! And I know Crossroads of Twilight is going to be abysmal about that, spending 600 pages on the half hour the previous book ended on...
Ah well, I'm through Lords of Chaos, and that was the longest of them, and past the halfway mark. Just gotta keep going.
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Bumping this again to remind everyone that A Memory of Light comes out on the 8th. I was blazing through my re-read, then I got sidetracked by other stuff and then remembered about it out of nowhere, so I'm currently only on book ten with two days before the final one comes out. :(
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I pre-ordered my copy last JULY!
I haven't quite paced my re-read in time either. I started in July when I saw the book was available and that the end was finally coming out, and I'm halfway through Gathering Storm right now. Sadly, I had held off for a couple years reading Gathering Storm because I was kind of waiting for all three to come out… but then got bored and read for the first time back in May... and having forgotten some characters in the course of 7 years is what prompted me to do a full re-read... If I'd just started with the first book then I'd be caught up now!
On the bright side for me... I haven't read Towers of Midnight at all, and I'll be getting to that next week instead. So, for me, the final two books will be like one reeeeeally big one, (closer to the actual intention!) and back to back at that.
Avoiding spoilers will suck, as I've already gotten a couple on ToM, but... yeah. Looking forward to the last one. At least it won't be as bad as Harry Potter or GoT spoilers... since nobody cares about this series and yells out crazy spoilers just to troll.
I haven't been waiting as long as the people who started 23 years ago... but I have been reading it for 14 years. Hoo boy whatta long ride.
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So now that I finished ASOIAF, I'm currently reading the LOTR trilogy (about time, I know). Text-wise, they're not nearly as long though and I'll soon be looking for the NEXT fantasy series. And I've been hearing good things about this series for a while.
So, without spoilers, what's the premise of the series, how good is this series, how many books are there, what's the general history relating to its release and, just out of curiosity's sake, how do the books by the new author compare to the original author?
I could easily wiki all this but I figure first-hand account by fans would be more informative and I won't risk getting spoiled.
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@Thousand:
So, without spoilers, what's the premise of the series,
How to summarize. Uhm… That's impossible.
The rise and fall of civilization after a cataclysmic apocalypse that broke the world, and split the two sides of magic (male and female) by utterly tainting the male half, to cause men with magic power to go mad.
Three thousand years later, with some fate and prophecies in tow, a bunch of people trying to prevent a second much worse destruction as the Dark Lord and his servants try to destroy all of creation.. (actual personification of destruction sort of dark lord... not just a guy.) by looking for and depending on a man who can use magic... who has to conquer and unite the world... but will inevitably go mad.
Wars, politics, romance, and lots of swords and sorcery. Trollocs, ogiers and dragons, wolves, dream worlds, villainous villains and epic quests and armies and foreign cultures and fated chosen ones. (No elves though.)
The usual fantasy stuff only done VERY VERY well.
Its world building that might actually top Tolkien's, if only for the sake that there were more books to develop the world in.
how good is this series,
Very. The world building and cultures are fantastic, the magic system interesting, the characters are all pretty interesting and memorable… It slogs some around the middle couple books just because it gets so BIG and starts hitting so many characters and plotlines... but it reigns it back and on my reread it wasn't nearly so bad without the multi-year gaps between volumes.
how many books are there, what's the general history relating to its release and, just out of curiosity's sake, how do the books by the new author compare to the original author?
15 books counting the prequel (which should NOT be read first, it spoils a lot of stuff thats supposed to be learned later) and the FINAL book comes out in 2 days. So, 11,000 pages, or 4 million+ words. It WILL take you at least a year to read. It's LONG.
But probably worth it.
You can probably read just the first book and see if its your thing or not. Either it has you by the halfway mark on that or it doesn't… and it ends at something of a stopping point... though I can't REALLY imagine stopping there. It starts a little slow in the first book, but it has you pretty quick.
The new author is quite good and he had VERY detailed notes and already written stuff to go from. (Jordan knew he was dying and had over a year to get notes and final writings done.) There's a subtle difference in the writing style, but the story continues unhindered, and actually at a better pace and clip than it did before.
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@RobbyBevard:
You can probably read just the first book and see if its your thing or not. Either it has you by the halfway mark on that or it doesn't… and it ends at something of a stopping point... though I can't REALLY imagine stopping there. It starts a little slow in the first book, but it has you pretty quick.
Quick word of caution here as well: much like One Piece, Jordan envisioned the series as much shorter, so the first three books move at a very quick clip until the end of the third, when you can tell he went, "oh…oh no, what have I done?" In a sense, the first book is very very different in style from, say, the ninth.
My only other word of caution is that--knowing your usual dislikes, TLC--some of the characters are incredibly grating and one-note. At least by the point I had left off with the series, Jordan was still having a terrible time with writing sympathetic female characters (with some exceptions), and some characters are incredibly resistant to doing the things it becomes very clear they need to do.
All that said, now that I know the series is finally wrapping up, I'll be picking it up again over the next few weeks after having missed the last five books. Once went on a bender and read the first seven in the course of a week, so curious to see how it goes this time.
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All that said, now that I know the series is finally wrapping up, I'll be picking it up again over the next few weeks after having missed the last five books. Once went on a bender and read the first seven in the course of a week, so curious to see how it goes this time.
…how the hell did you read one of those a day?
That seems... physically impossible.
(though I know other people that say they start one and don't put it down till it's done, but...)
Anyway, books 7-10 are the slog (but not as bad in one go as they were over 7 years) but the pace picks back up in 11 (the last one Jordan wrote). -
Oh, I didn't know you guys had a thread for this. Also didn't know the last book was coming out so soon. But I can understand how one can read the books in a day. I just found out about the series like last summer, and managed to get through the first 8 or so in like a week off of pure excitement. Kind of slowed down and got bored after that. Jordan really does start slogging through those last couple of books. I'm only on number 11 right now, but listening to it in audio book format during work. The prologue itself was 3 HOURS. The guy really does go out of his way to detail the world, which, I supose, is something I can respect. Just gets annoying after a while.
I'll probably rush and read through the last couple to catch up now. I really liked the first Mistborn book, so I'm looking forward to see what Brandon Sanderson has managed to do with the series. I've heard good things. Hopefully, I'll even get to read some of his other books after finishing this up. There's just so many other novels out there to read, lol.
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I'll probably rush and read through the last couple to catch up now. I really liked the first Mistborn book, so I'm looking forward to see what Brandon Sanderson has managed to do with the series. I've heard good things. Hopefully, I'll even get to read some of his other books after finishing this up. There's just so many other novels out there to read, lol.
I got the mistborn trilogy for christmas… looking forward to that... bu I knew darn well i wouldn't be touching it until February or March... whenever I manage to get through WOT.
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@RobbyBevard:
…how the hell did you read one of those a day?
That seems... physically impossible.
I don't speed-read in the classic sense, I just read very…efficiently. There are moments where my brain will go into idle mode and I'll realize I've read a few hundred pages in a handful of hours, and I'll have the jist, but I probably would be hard-pressed to recall every detail. But I focus in on the sections I really enjoy.
And I get a little obsessive on some things. I started Les Miserables on an hour-long ride in the evening and didn't put the book down until I was two-thirds done sometime that night...well, probably closer to the next morning.
Crown of Swords and Winter's Heart weren't too bad in terms of pace–mainly for the finale in the first one--but Path of Daggers was agonizing and Crossroads of Twilight is where I gave up on the series ever ending. But hey, whaddaya know?
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Oh, shit!
A Memory Of Light comes out in a couple days?!
Fuck, gotta finish my reread, I had no idea it was so soon. It felt like it was still going to be forever! -
@RobbyBevard:
How to summarize. Uhm… That's impossible.
The rise and fall of civilization after a cataclysmic apocalypse that broke the world, and split the two sides of magic (male and female) by utterly tainting the male half, to cause men with magic power to go mad.
Three thousand years later, with some fate and prophecies in tow, a bunch of people trying to prevent a second much worse destruction as the Dark Lord and his servants try to destroy all of creation.. (actual personification of destruction sort of dark lord... not just a guy.) by looking for and depending on a man who can use magic... who has to conquer and unite the world... but will inevitably go mad.
Wars, politics, romance, and lots of swords and sorcery. Trollocs, ogiers and dragons, wolves, dream worlds, villainous villains and epic quests and armies and foreign cultures and fated chosen ones. (No elves though.)
The usual fantasy stuff only done VERY VERY well.
Its world building that might actually top Tolkien's, if only for the sake that there were more books to develop the world in.
Very. The world building and cultures are fantastic, the magic system interesting, the characters are all pretty interesting and memorable... It slogs some around the middle couple books just because it gets so BIG and starts hitting so many characters and plotlines... but it reigns it back and on my reread it wasn't nearly so bad without the multi-year gaps between volumes.
15 books counting the prequel (which should NOT be read first, it spoils a lot of stuff thats supposed to be learned later) and the FINAL book comes out in 2 days. So, 11,000 pages, or 4 million+ words. It WILL take you at least a year to read. It's LONG.
But probably worth it.
You can probably read just the first book and see if its your thing or not. Either it has you by the halfway mark on that or it doesn't... and it ends at something of a stopping point... though I can't REALLY imagine stopping there. It starts a little slow in the first book, but it has you pretty quick.
The new author is quite good and he had VERY detailed notes and already written stuff to go from. (Jordan knew he was dying and had over a year to get notes and final writings done.) There's a subtle difference in the writing style, but the story continues unhindered, and actually at a better pace and clip than it did before.
Well I finished ASOIAF in three months and those books were really big and dense in text. Maybe it won't take me as long? Regardless, if the books are as enjoyable as I'm expecting they are, I won't care as I'll be enjoying every second of it. I'm a huge sucker for exploring worlds. i'm one of the few who liked the pointless meandering in Feast for Crows or Mereen just because of the intricate world building.
Quick word of caution here as well: much like One Piece, Jordan envisioned the series as much shorter, so the first three books move at a very quick clip until the end of the third, when you can tell he went, "oh…oh no, what have I done?" In a sense, the first book is very very different in style from, say, the ninth.
My only other word of caution is that--knowing your usual dislikes, TLC--some of the characters are incredibly grating and one-note. At least by the point I had left off with the series, Jordan was still having a terrible time with writing sympathetic female characters (with some exceptions), and some characters are incredibly resistant to doing the things it becomes very clear they need to do.
All that said, now that I know the series is finally wrapping up, I'll be picking it up again over the next few weeks after having missed the last five books. Once went on a bender and read the first seven in the course of a week, so curious to see how it goes this time.
Like I said, I love exploring worlds so slow pacing doesn't bother me. As for characters, well a series this long is bound to have a bunch of hits and misses in terms of characters. It's not like every character can be awesome, ASOIAF had its share of frustrating characters as well. No way is that gonna make or break a series for me. I'm a big boy, I can handle the bad with the good especially when it comes to reading books (I've been reading complicated books since I was eight though they were mostly encyclopedias lol).
I'm very VERY intrigued by this series, it seems exactly the type of genre I love the most done really well. Definitely on my to buy list. Only bothersome thing is it's gonna be expensive to buy all of them. Sixteen books total? Geez. Maybe I can find a special book set that lowers the overall price to buy them all.
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@Thousand:
Well I finished ASOIAF in three months and those books were really big and dense in text.
WOT books are just as thick and dense, and theres 15 of them instead of 5. So, it'll take a bit longer! But at least it'll be finished when you get to it!
I think the fact that practically everyone here is reading the series for a second or third time in anticipation of the last book says something of the quality of it all.
And I'll note again separately, do NOT start with the prequel book New Spring. It was written around the time of the 8th book and takes a lot of "surprise reveal" and gradual world building info for granted. It's worth reading at some point, but it should not be the first book.
Also beware, at some point, they re-released the first book in two halves (to be less daunting for younger readers I guess), you'll want to avoid that release.
Eye of the World is the first book and its place to start.
@Thousand:
I'm very VERY intrigued by this series, it seems exactly the type of genre I love the most done really well. Definitely on my to buy list. Only bothersome thing is it's gonna be expensive to buy all of them. Sixteen books total? Geez. Maybe I can find a special book set that lowers the overall price to buy them all.
15 books.
Just get em one at a time in paperback, 6-10 bucks. (Or whatever your currency is.) Or two at a time, so you have the next one ready when you finish the current. Even if you totally get into it, you aren't going to read it overnight, there's no need to get it all at once.
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One of the branch libraries has the first five books in.
Soul-crushing unemployment, you came at the perfect time.
Hahahahahahaha…oh, my heart...
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This was also the next series I planned on reading so I'll be with Lion-chan. I read ASOIAF, I read four books of Discworld, I may as well jump into this too (I've read sci-fi up the ass, but the Big Fantasy books not really). I've heard some of the big fantasy series are kind of shit if you're not a nerdy genre enthusiast who will give it plenty of leash, but I've heard The Wheel of Time holds up pretty well for world building and one of the best magic systems.
So yeah I'll hit up The Eye of the World in the coming days, once I've finished this other book.
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@RobbyBevard:
WOT books are just as thick and dense, and theres 15 of them instead of 5. So, it'll take a bit longer! But at least it'll be finished when you get to it!
I think the fact that practically everyone here is reading the series for a second or third time in anticipation of the last book says something of the quality of it all.
And I'll note again separately, do NOT start with the prequel book New Spring. It was written around the time of the 8th book and takes a lot of "surprise reveal" and gradual world building info for granted. It's worth reading at some point, but it should not be the first book.
Also beware, at some point, they re-released the first book in two halves (to be less daunting for younger readers I guess), you'll want to avoid that release.
Eye of the World is the first book and its place to start.
Well…I have quite the journey ahead of me. And I thought ASOIAF was daunting to read. Still had fun every page so this should be no exception especially when this world looks much more fun with all its magic and stuff. Will definitely read in the near future.
@RobbyBevard:
15 books.
Just get em one at a time in paperback, 6-10 bucks. (Or whatever your currency is.) Or two at a time, so you have the next one ready when you finish the current. Even if you totally get into it, you aren't going to read it overnight, there's no need to get it all at once.
Oh, fifteen counting the last unreleased one? Okay.
But won't that be more expensive in the long run? If I can get at least a chunk of them in a box set, it might be more ideal.
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@Thousand:
Oh, fifteen counting the last unreleased one? Okay.
Since it comes out TOMORROW, for all intents and purposes its not unreleased.
But won't that be more expensive in the long run? If I can get at least a chunk of them in a box set, it might be more ideal.
I think the first 3 are packed as a set that you can get cheap on amazon… but ultimately its not going to make much difference. Pretty sure there isn't any deluxe set of the whole thing. It is available on Kindle, but since your overseas I have no idea. Might find em on ebay as well.
Also, if you're okay with used copies, you can find them for 1 cent plus shipping on Amazon.
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Finished New Spring this morning. I agree with those who said it's actually not a good idea to read it first. It would be equivalent to reading Strong World: Chapter Zero before reading One Piece; it might be interesting in its own way, but it's not going to be nearly as enjoyable until you understand how many cameos of other important characters you're getting. Add in the fact that it flat-out reveals one or two of the major twists of the first half of the series, and I'd wait until at least after the fifth book, if I've got the timeline correct. That said, it did a nice job of fleshing out the backstories of two of the series' better characters, though the information wasn't necessary.
As my first dip back into the waters of The Wheel of Time, I'm remembering both why I initially loved this series and why I found it so frustrating. In terms of world-building, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a better effort. The complexities of life in the White Tower would be enough to fill up many a fantasy series, but it's only one admittedly important part of a much much larger world. The world is actually interesting enough that he could throw in a bunch of crap characters and it would still be a decent series, so it's all the more of a bonus that some of the characters are pretty amazing.
That said, I'd forgotten how frustrating the series can be when it comes to the interactions between men and women. In brief, the most powerful woman in the world can still be subject to the worst aspects of Victorian morality: "I will slay those twenty-five trolls over there and OH LIGHT DID THAT MAN SEE MY KNEE WHEN MY DRESS HIKED UP." Add in the fact that old, dignified women often act like teenaged girls around each other and…yee...
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Well just got this in the mail today and Giant spoilers ahead.
! >>>>> Actually no didn't read anything so no spoilers. Think just read the last 2 words or something and all I saw was "It was an End" or something like that. Very fitting last words imo without even reading book yet. Every other book started with "It was a beginning" in the intro.
Have to be careful now about spoilers. No wiki page for me anymore, probably not even stop in this topic to see if anyone responded to my post or what anyone else has to say.
Also what came in mail today was the Bartimaeus Trilogy. Heard that's a good series so giving it a try.
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Well just got this in the mail today and Giant spoilers ahead.
Don't even joke. I'll FLAY anyone who does.
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@The:
This was also the next series I planned on reading so I'll be with Lion-chan. I read ASOIAF, I read four books of Discworld, I may as well jump into this too (I've read sci-fi up the ass, but the Big Fantasy books not really). I've heard some of the big fantasy series are kind of shit if you're not a nerdy genre enthusiast who will give it plenty of leash, but I've heard The Wheel of Time holds up pretty well for world building and one of the best magic systems..
The Wheel of Time has a pretty good magic system, and world building. Despite your dislike of fantasy, I'd recommend Mistborn as well once you're finished. It's by the author who took over the Wheel of Time for the last 3(I think…) books. The world-building isn't bad, but man... the magic system in that is awesome. It's one of the only books I've ever read where the magic system is something akin to a Nen (HxH) complexity. Oh, and read more Discworld.
@Thousand:
Oh, fifteen counting the last unreleased one? Okay.
But won't that be more expensive in the long run? If I can get at least a chunk of them in a box set, it might be more ideal.
I don't know if e-books are your thing or not, but that's how I read them all. They have them on the nook store pretty cheap. Something like 6 dollars a book I believe, and if you're into… err criminal activities, then there's plenty of torrents for said e-books.
As my first dip back into the waters of The Wheel of Time, I'm remembering both why I initially loved this series and why I found it so frustrating. In terms of world-building, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a better effort. The complexities of life in the White Tower would be enough to fill up many a fantasy series, but it's only one admittedly important part of a much much larger world. The world is actually interesting enough that he could throw in a bunch of crap characters and it would still be a decent series, so it's all the more of a bonus that some of the characters are pretty amazing.
That said, I'd forgotten how frustrating the series can be when it comes to the interactions between men and women. In brief, the most powerful woman in the world can still be subject to the worst aspects of Victorian morality: "I will slay those twenty-five trolls over there and OH LIGHT DID THAT MAN SEE MY KNEE WHEN MY DRESS HIKED UP." Add in the fact that old, dignified women often act like teenaged girls around each other and…yee...
Uhh! This! So much of this! Robert Jordan is a great writer and all, but some of his female characters are just flat out annoying. Braid pulling, Victorian morality, and just an overall hate indcing sense of entitlement. Which, incidentally, leads me to disagree about about the White Tower. Yes, life was complex, but that's only because everyone there is like every high school Queen Bee girl gone to ten. I suppose some women are like that, manipulative and backstabbing behind each others backs, but it's quite annoying. In fact, his whole world is hate inducingingly manipulative, liars, and entitled. I understand we're dealing with queens, kings, and powerful magical women here but… sometimes a lot of things could be solved if people just spoke clearly or used sense. Can become really, really frustrating after a while.
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sometimes a lot of things could be solved if people just spoke clearly or used sense. Can become really, really frustrating after a while.
That's a major ongoing theme in the series though. The ongoing thing about aes sedai telling the truth but skirting around it is pretty regularly a thing, it leads to everyone mistrusting them.
And in general, liars tend to suffer, even when they're the heroes. People that tell the truth and open up get nicely rewarded.
And yes, Jordan wrote some great female characters, but he definitely had some sexism in him too. Some of the speeches and all of the spankings were generally uncalled for.
(And of course "arms folded beneath her breasts" is said so often I assume he had it on macro… its such an overused line that everyone knows its a thing the first time you mention it even before knowing its a thing.)
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@RobbyBevard:
That's a major ongoing theme in the series though. The ongoing thing about aes sedai telling the truth but skirting around it is pretty regularly a thing, it leads to everyone mistrusting them.
And in general, liars tend to suffer, even when they're the heroes. People that tell the truth and open up get nicely rewarded.
And yes, Jordan wrote some great female characters, but he definitely had some sexism in him too. Some of the speeches and all of the spankings were generally uncalled for.
(And of course "arms folded beneath her breasts" is said so often I assume he had it on macro… its such an overused line that everyone knows its a thing the first time you mention it even before knowing its a thing.)
Yeah, I know it's a theme, and I accept that as a part of the whole Robert Jordan package, doesn't make it any less annoying though. Especially when you have any scenes involving Matt and the girl trio. Sometimes it seems Robert would think of what a normal person, utilizing common sense, would do… and then proceed to do the opposite. Although, that frustration was probably meant felt it made me dislike the girl trio for the rest of the series.
As for Aes Sedai... I just generally hate pretty much all of them. I still have a few books to finish though, so some may be redeemed.
Oh, and yeah, he definitely has some sexist tendencies, lol. But, to be fair, it seems like it might also be a mark of the time period (and the time he was raised) that women act the way they do. I found his take on what he seems to think are the "strong and independent" women of Ebou Dar (I believe that was the country) the funniest.
(Let me know if there's any spoiler material in there... tried to word it so there wasn't.)
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@The:
This was also the next series I planned on reading so I'll be with Lion-chan. I read ASOIAF, I read four books of Discworld, I may as well jump into this too (I've read sci-fi up the ass, but the Big Fantasy books not really). I've heard some of the big fantasy series are kind of shit if you're not a nerdy genre enthusiast who will give it plenty of leash, but I've heard The Wheel of Time holds up pretty well for world building and one of the best magic systems.
So yeah I'll hit up The Eye of the World in the coming days, once I've finished this other book.
You'll be ahead of me for quite a while. I have to read the LotR trilogy (and I'm not going through them half as fast as I did in ASOIAF, I'm liking the world building but goddamn does the pacing suck, I never get the drive to read more than a chapter a day), maybe the Hobbit as well as some Discworld books that have been on the shelf for months now.
I don't know if e-books are your thing or not, but that's how I read them all. They have them on the nook store pretty cheap. Something like 6 dollars a book I believe, and if you're into… err criminal activities, then there's plenty of torrents for said e-books.
I came close to downloading some of the ASOIAF books but I bit the bullet and bought them instead. Call me old-fashioned but I just can't read a book without feeling the paper under my fingertips.
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It's neat seeing your guys' thoughts, having more of an idea what I'm getting into.
The Wheel of Time has a pretty good magic system, and world building. Despite your dislike of fantasy, I'd recommend Mistborn as well once you're finished. It's by the author who took over the Wheel of Time for the last 3(I think…) books. The world-building isn't bad, but man... the magic system in that is awesome. It's one of the only books I've ever read where the magic system is something akin to a Nen (HxH) complexity. Oh, and read more Discworld.
I actually like fantasy stuff and sometimes get into heavy moods (like now) where it's tooootally what I want to read. But I feel like I might be wasting my time if it's not something considered, oh, "above par", if you know what I mean? Like if I wind up hating it and it's generally considered not that great a series, it's my own fault where if it's something highly regarded and I don't like it, well that's more taste-building I guess! But I had a better chance of liking it maybe possibly!
At the moment, I have to use recommendations to decide what I want to read because I'm so new to fantasy literature and I'll probably never have the knowledge-base of it i have with sci-fi. I don't have time to read alllll kinds of it, I just wanna read the big ones and then I can expand from there as time goes by. And besides since I'm a sci-fi at heart and we are a warring faction of taste I have to fight u because that's what 80s nerd jokes taught me.
Also I think Mistborn is another series I've been rec'd, it sounds very familiar. Glad to hear it has a cool magic system too since those are rad. Seeing you guys mention some flaws of Wheel of Time outright also help knowing what I'm getting into, but I'm excited for this.
I START READING THE EYE OF THE WORLD TODAY I hope I like it because the cover is kind of cool…
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@The:
It's neat seeing your guys' thoughts, having more of an idea what I'm getting into.
I actually like fantasy stuff and sometimes get into heavy moods (like now) where it's tooootally what I want to read. But I feel like I might be wasting my time if it's not something considered, oh, "above par", if you know what I mean? Like if I wind up hating it and it's generally considered not that great a series, it's my own fault where if it's something highly regarded and I don't like it, well that's more taste-building I guess! But I had a better chance of liking it maybe possibly!
At the moment, I have to use recommendations to decide what I want to read because I'm so new to fantasy literature and I'll probably never have the knowledge-base of it i have with sci-fi. I don't have time to read alllll kinds of it, I just wanna read the big ones and then I can expand from there as time goes by. And besides since I'm a sci-fi at heart and we are a warring faction of taste I have to fight u because that's what 80s nerd jokes taught me.
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l31d24Cw4w1qzezj5o1_500.jpg
Also I think Mistborn is another series I've been rec'd, it sounds very familiar. Glad to hear it has a cool magic system too since those are rad. Seeing you guys mention some flaws of Wheel of Time outright also help knowing what I'm getting into, but I'm excited for this.
I START READING THE EYE OF THE WORLD TODAY I hope I like it because the cover is kind of cool…
Ugh, lucky. I got a ton of books to read before I get around to it.
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Which, incidentally, leads me to disagree about about the White Tower. Yes, life was complex, but that's only because everyone there is like every high school Queen Bee girl gone to ten.
Was talking about the complexity of the White Tower less in terms of politics/character interactions than as an independent unit with its own rules and traditions. In its own way, it's a little created world on the scale of Hogwarts (division into groups, strange entrance rituals, etc.), which makes it impressive that's it's only one of the many created worlds in the series.
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Annnd just finished my re-read of The Gathering Storm. (And hey, I did it in 8 days!) I don't know that I'll ever be up for the 7 month grind that the complete series re-read was again, (certainly not for another decade) but… was still good. And complex. and lots of characters and things I'd forgotten over the last several years.
Now onto Towers of Midnight which i haven't read before (but have some mild spoilers on...) and then onto the final one! New material ahoy!
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Gah Hinscher. I've been so good at avoiding spoilers. What you mentioned is pretty much what I expected and hoped for but still…
I got my very pretty copy of "A Memory of Light" yesterday and finished my reread then too. 100 pages into the last book now. Which has so far only been material that had already been released in one form or another. But soon...
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I'd forgotten how annoying Mat is in the early books. I mean, talk about from humble beginnings…
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I'm almost finished with the first book haha. It's taken me a while because it's very very boring in places.
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I'm almost finished with the first book haha. It's taken me a while because it's very very boring in places.
If you think the FIRST book gets very very boring in places….just wait until you get past book 6. Honestly I think books 1 and 2 were the most exciting in the entire serie so get ready to buckle up for the rest of them.
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I'm almost finished with the first book haha. It's taken me a while because it's very very boring in places.
Yeah, the first 200 pages of the first book are all pretty slow "here's a small town!" setup stuff… but they do introduce all the main characters.
It gets better.
If you think the FIRST book gets very very boring in places….just wait until you get past book 6. Honestly I think books 1 and 2 were the most exciting in the entire serie so get ready to buckle up for the rest of them.
after 2 days I'm already halfway through book 13…. And I have to say books 11-13 are pretty great... and I'm hoping the last one is as well. 8-10 is the slog... but they're still some people's favorites!
I might just get through 13 this weekend and onto the finale!