The Wheel of Time series - Printable Version

The Wheel of Time series - Printable Version

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The Wheel of Time series - MasPan - 2014-02-06

[COLOR="#cc8899"]Seeing as we lack a Literature/Books/etc subforum.

I'm curious if anyone else has read them, favorite characters, villains, etc. I'm about 3/4 through book 12 and

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. I mean, I'm glad that the pace of the books is picking up, especially after several books of nothing really happening, but it's rather frustrating that certain characters appear to be showing little/no positive development (if anything, the opposite is happening).

At least Mat's still awesome. And

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. I'm also a bit sad that

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went down so quickly - both of their deaths were extremely anti-climatic and happened way too quickly for my tastes. [/COLOR]

The Wheel of Time series - SaptaZapta - 2014-02-06

Sorry, I only read six books. I really liked it at the start, but by the end of book 6 it was apparent the series had succumbed to Zeno's Paradox*, while at the same time each book got bloated with lengthy pointless descriptions and repetitions (just how many braid tugs can one read about, really?). I wouldn't mind taking the scenic route if it were, well, scenic, but I no longer felt it was.

I did continue to buy the books, I think I have up to volume 10 or 11, telling myself that if the series were ever completed, I'd read the lot. With the years, though, my need to know "how it ends" has disappeared.

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* Zeno's Paradox: Consider an arrow fired at a tree. Before the arrow can reach the tree, it must pass the halfway point between archer and tree. Call that point A. After that, the arrow must pass the halfway point between A and the tree. Call that point B. After that, another halfway point, ad infinitum. No matter how close the arrow gets to its target, there is still a halfway point it needs to pass. An infinite number of points, which must thus take an infinite amount of time, so the arrow can never reach the tree.
(That's actually a mish-mash of several of Zeno's Paradoxes, but the general gist is preserved).

The Wheel of Time series - MasPan - 2014-02-06

SaptaZapta Wrote:Sorry, I only read six books. I really liked it at the start, but by the end of book 6 it was apparent the series had succumbed to Zeno's Paradox*, while at the same time each book got bloated with lengthy pointless descriptions and repetitions (just how many braid tugs can one read about, really?). I wouldn't mind taking the scenic route if it were, well, scenic, but I no longer felt it was.

I did continue to buy the books, I think I have up to volume 10 or 11, telling myself that if the series were ever completed, I'd read the lot. With the years, though, my need to know "how it ends" has disappeared.

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* Zeno's Paradox: Consider an arrow fired at a tree. Before the arrow can reach the tree, it must pass the halfway point between archer and tree. Call that point A. After that, the arrow must pass the halfway point between A and the tree. Call that point B. After that, another halfway point, ad infinitum. No matter how close the arrow gets to its target, there is still a halfway point it needs to pass. An infinite number of points, which must thus take an infinite amount of time, so the arrow can never reach the tree.
(That's actually a mish-mash of several of Zeno's Paradoxes, but the general gist is preserved).

Yeah. Books 6 through 9 or so were a slog through a mire of tedious descriptions and very, VERY little character growth. They lost a lot of the excitement and wonder of the first few books. It's gotten a lot better again by book 12, but that's a lot of reading to get to the payoff.

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has grown a LOT character-wise after

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The Wheel of Time series - Niernen - 2014-02-06

Never read them myslef.

SaptaZapta Wrote:Sorry, I only read six books. I really liked it at the start, but by the end of book 6 it was apparent the series had succumbed to Zeno's Paradox*, while at the same time each book got bloated with lengthy pointless descriptions and repetitions (just how many braid tugs can one read about, really?). I wouldn't mind taking the scenic route if it were, well, scenic, but I no longer felt it was.

I did continue to buy the books, I think I have up to volume 10 or 11, telling myself that if the series were ever completed, I'd read the lot. With the years, though, my need to know "how it ends" has disappeared.

Taken from wikipedia:

Quote:Originally planned as a six-book series, The Wheel of Time now spans fourteen volumes, in addition to a prequel novel and a companion book. The author died in 2007 while working on what was planned to be the final volume in the series, although he had prepared extensive notes so another author could complete the book according to his wishes. Fellow fantasy author and long-time Wheel of Time fan Brandon Sanderson was brought in to complete the final book, but during the writing process it was decided that the book would be far too large to be published in one volume, and would instead be published as three volumes: The Gathering Storm (2009), Towers of Midnight (2010) and A Memory of Light (2013).

Stretched things out quite a bit there.

The Wheel of Time series - MasPan - 2014-02-06

Yep. And about 1/3 of the stretch is descriptions of dresses.

The Wheel of Time series - Eyon - 2014-02-06

I really feel that the original writer was lengty in his descriptions but that did not bother me at all. I actually like it to have accurate descriptions.
Now the last books are written by someone else, and he has a lot more pace than the old writer. I think both are quite good!

I have read the entire series (3 times actually) and I can say that this is one of the only series with a satisfying end. Of course there is a lot which you wanna know, but when I laid down the book I had a happy feeling Smile

I can certainly say that this is an epic series which I recommend to everyone!
Ask me anything about it if you wanna know something Wink

EDIT:
My favourites:
Rand after a certain event in book 13 I believe, end 12? He becomes so much different and he is so awesome Tongue

Marts all round behavior is also quite epic, one of the best moments is when he defeats a swordmaster with a wooden stick Smile

The bad about it:
It is without a doubt: Females in the series are ENRAGING. I really felt quite angry now and them because they all act superior. I love the moments where those stupid thoughts/actings are crushed! When Mart gives on of the Aes Sedai an colossal asswhooping (literally) I laughed for about 10 minutes.
I am for equality, not superiority of male or female.

The Wheel of Time series - Polantaris - 2014-02-06

I remember you mentioned these in the IRC once. I was thinking about reading them after what I'm currently reading, however that might take some time. Hopefully this thread will be alive still by the time I can actually participate fully .-.

The Wheel of Time series - CarrionCrow - 2014-02-06

I have followed Wheel of Time for a crap load of years. I started reading them 15-20 years ago.
I think they could have done more with the ending, but all in all, it was decent.

As for characters, I have a few on top of my head:
Mat, Thom and Tuon. Great stuff right there.
Rand is an ass hat straight through and Perrin is so dull it hurts.
Nynaeve, the queen of spunk. Greatness.
Padan Fain is an interesting character, but he never gets to his full potential.
Oh, and I hate the entire Aiel. So stereotypical.

If you like what Brandon Sanderson did with the last three books, I can't begin to recommend his Stomslight archives series enough. It is not finished yet, but so far it surpasses Wheel of Time in awesome factor.

The Wheel of Time series - Eyon - 2014-02-06

CarrionCrow Wrote:I can't begin to recommend his Stomslight archives series enough. It is not finished yet, but so far it surpasses Wheel of Time in awesome factor.

Stomslight?
Never heard of. I might check it out Smile

I am a hufe fantasy book fan

The Wheel of Time series - CarrionCrow - 2014-02-06

Eyon Wrote:Stomslight?
Never heard of. I might check it out
I am a hufe fantasy book fan

Stormlight Archive. I truly enjoyed it, and I have read fantasy for 20 years or more.

The Wheel of Time series - Eyon - 2014-02-06

Going to order it Wink

Also you might wanna try the series : The Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks
Though it is sometimes a bit on the mature side it is definitely one of the best!

The Wheel of Time series - Retalion - 2014-02-08

I'm about a third into the second last book, and I have to say, even when at times, the series just plods on and on, I've enjoyed it as a whole.

For me, I started it from the beginning again last May, just because I always wow'ed at the number of pages in each one, and wanted to read the whole thing, and off I went. Personally, I like how the author(s) are able to masterfully switch perspectives from one character to another almost seamlessly.

I remember being where you were roughly a month ago, and all I have to say is, "keep reading. It gets better".

The Wheel of Time series - Raph589 - 2014-02-08

I stopped at book 4, but will definetely pick it up again once I have the time. It's a pretty good serie with a crapton of characters like I love them, but again nothing compares to A Song of Ice and Fire.

The Wheel of Time series - MasPan - 2014-02-09

Retalion Wrote:I'm about a third into the second last book, and I have to say, even when at times, the series just plods on and on, I've enjoyed it as a whole.

For me, I started it from the beginning again last May, just because I always wow'ed at the number of pages in each one, and wanted to read the whole thing, and off I went. Personally, I like how the author(s) are able to masterfully switch perspectives from one character to another almost seamlessly.

I remember being where you were roughly a month ago, and all I have to say is, "keep reading. It gets better".

I'm about 1/4 into book 13 now. pomegranate's getting good.

The Wheel of Time series - Evilince - 2014-02-11

I have read them, probably my favourite series. I was rather disappointed in the ending though.

The Wheel of Time series - MasPan - 2014-03-01

Evilince Wrote:I have read them, probably my favourite series. I was rather disappointed in the ending though.

[COLOR="#cc8899"]Finished the series about a week ago and I agree somewhat. Lots of loose ends and overall the ending was...

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Very good series and worth the 2 years it took me to read through them. Starting A Song of Ice and Fire now![/COLOR]

The Wheel of Time series - VerrKol - 2014-03-02

Oh hey this thread exists.

I actually found the pacing terrible for the last book since I was hundreds of pages in before the Last Battle actually began. I think the Sanderson did a respectable job finishing the series and resolving the frayed plot ends, but inevitably a few got missed or were just interpreted very differently than expected. Matt and Tuon continued to stand out and belong with some of my all time favorite characters.

I finished Sanderson's 4 Mistborn books recently and absolutely loved them. You can add them to the list after you finish A Song of Ice and Fire!

The Wheel of Time series - MasPan - 2014-03-02

VerrKol Wrote:Oh hey this thread exists.

I actually found the pacing terrible for the last book since I was hundreds of pages in before the Last Battle actually began. I think the Sanderson did a respectable job finishing the series and resolving the frayed plot ends, but inevitably a few got missed or were just interpreted very differently than expected. Matt and Tuon continued to stand out and belong with some of my all time favorite characters.

I finished Sanderson's 4 Mistborn books recently and absolutely loved them. You can add them to the list after you finish A Song of Ice and Fire!

[COLOR="#cc8899"]
Yeah, I was a bit surprised that

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[/COLOR]

The Wheel of Time series - Flonne - 2014-03-09

Eyon Wrote:Of course there is a lot which you wanna know, but when I laid down the book I had a happy feeling

I've reread this series from the start with every new book released since I started reading them about 17 years ago, and if you really comb through it, you will find answers to everything. Every time I reread it I find new things, in fact, I would say this series isn't actually at its best until the second or even third reading. I also read the "World of" book going into the backstories of everything but, honestly, almost all of that information is found in subtexts and/or subtle references made, especially ones made by the Forsaken. A lot of times they are just talking out how they are used to things being and indirectly reference extremely important events during the War of Power or the Age of Legends. I'm an extremely detail-oriented person, to the extent that I found most of the chapters going into ridiculous detail on inane topics such as "looking through a pile of garbage" to be almost softcore erotica.

Aside from the information that is available, rereading the entire series over and over also reveals a LOT about the laws of physics and basic rules of nature in their world. On my first reading, I assumed the Forsaken were basically the Dark One's ta'vern, which is sort of true, but at the same time, not.

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The Light's ta'vern work much differently, they are never discarded and CANNOT be discarded, even forcibly, as was shown with Birgitte. She was only scared because it had never happened, but even in an infinite cycle some slight deviations may happen that are unique that even an eternal being can't entirely forsee. Due to this, they are woven in as key threads MUCH less frequently; Jaim Farstrider was not woven in on this cycle, by the way, no new ta'vern were. That takes a ton of connecting the dots to get at but I can try and explain if someone is really interested beyond just me stating it, I'm just not really sure how I could do it without writing something even longer than this post due to the sheer number of references I would have to go over in order for it to make sense ;_;.

Another point I would like to add is, Min's power as a Doomseer is probably the BIGGEST reason why people should be reading this series multiple times, it gives answers to the most questions by far. And, if you didn't already catch on, the fact that she can do that means that THE PATTERN IS ALREADY FULLY WOVEN BEFORE EVENTS HAPPEN; that is the absolute biggest thing to take from this universe, EVERYTHING in this world is completely, 100% set in stone, and can not be changed no matter how hard you try, either for better or for worse. Her vision with Siuan that was a what if scenario was a misinterpretation; she mentioned the signs involved with it, and, me with my almost autistic desire to know everything about the world of my favorite series, I wrote down descriptions of every sign and how it reacted with every other sign that she described, and possibly even figured out what some meant that even she didn't know of by the series' end, such as one or two of them she got out of the people in Tuon's court during the Field of Merrilor that she didn't understand (one of which, Tuon almost killed the person on the spot for having just because it was the sign of a rival House), and noticed that she incorrectly associated the signs as "stay close to him or you will die" when in reality it was simply "you will die closely to him". She probably did this subconsciously because she didn't want Siuan to die, I assume.

The women in these books are...pretty strong figures, to say the least, and for someone like me, you would think that would automatically mean I would hate them, but I actually don't. Nynaeve actually shapes up to be quite a nice young lady by the end of the series, just took a bit of humbling from Egwene, a bit from Moghedien, a bit from various people, until finally she got the stick out of her ass. Elayne was kind of bitchy in the final books but, damn, she's pregnant, cut her some slack. Post war of power is DEFINITELY a Matriarchic society, and there ARE quite a few real assholes among them, but most of the main females were not bad people to me, even Cadsuane, who I actually like the most of all the women in the series. She and Sorilea made such a considerable impact when they worked together that without them I don't think the War could have ended in victory, but then, the same could be said for most of the characters, it all goes back to what I stated earlier in one of the spoilers, everything is simply a cog working toward the end.

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The only questions that remain to me are about Shara; they never had a huge presence, but I just can't equate them into the grand picture of this turn, I can't get a full timeline on them without any breaks, something is just missing there and it has irked me for years.

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