Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time
I started re-reading The Eye of the World, the first novel in the epic Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan. He finished 11 books before sadly passing away in September, 2007, and left detailed notes for the 12th (and final) book. Brandon Sanderson along with the help of RJ's wife, Harriet, will finish the series.
It's been unusually difficult for me to try to immerse myself in a new fantasy series lately (Wizard's First Rule was a bust...you can only renew books here once and you only get one more week!), so I thought I'd revisit the WOT series since I actually own the books and can read them at my leisure, and because the new book will most likely be published by the time I finish the first 11 books again. These are 800 page books, at least! Takes awhile to read, and I just don't have the time to spend reading all day like I did when I was a teenager. I find that re-reading this series brings back a warm fuzzy feeling. I don't remember half of what happens in the story, because it's so long and detailed. But I think it brings back the time in my life when I first read the series, a happier, simpler time. And for awhile I can escape to that place, much like I escape to these fantasy worlds.
So the point of this topic is to find out who has read or may be reading the Wheel of Time series. I honestly think it's the best series I've read, thus far. Jordan's characters are so well-developed that they're my favorite in any fantasy novel I've read. What do you think about these novels, if you've read them?
It's been unusually difficult for me to try to immerse myself in a new fantasy series lately (Wizard's First Rule was a bust...you can only renew books here once and you only get one more week!), so I thought I'd revisit the WOT series since I actually own the books and can read them at my leisure, and because the new book will most likely be published by the time I finish the first 11 books again. These are 800 page books, at least! Takes awhile to read, and I just don't have the time to spend reading all day like I did when I was a teenager. I find that re-reading this series brings back a warm fuzzy feeling. I don't remember half of what happens in the story, because it's so long and detailed. But I think it brings back the time in my life when I first read the series, a happier, simpler time. And for awhile I can escape to that place, much like I escape to these fantasy worlds.
So the point of this topic is to find out who has read or may be reading the Wheel of Time series. I honestly think it's the best series I've read, thus far. Jordan's characters are so well-developed that they're my favorite in any fantasy novel I've read. What do you think about these novels, if you've read them?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Robert McKay - Admin on -
I've read the first couple in the series, maybe up to the third and I've liked them a lot so far. I tried reading Eye of the World about 3 times before I actually managed to get into it. Something about it kept putting me off at first. Now that I've actually read it I have no idea what made me put it down to begin with. I don't remember a lot of detail about what I've read, but I do know that when I get back into it it will take a lot for it to measure up to Jacqueline Carey. She's on a whole new level from anything else I've read. I'm reading Brisingr right now and it isn't even close. It's still good and quite a lot of fun, but I miss my whoring spy :) Anyway, I think I'm going to finish Carey's series before I get back to WoT and that will probably take a while as they are rather huge and slow reads for me.
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Permalink Reply by Catherine on -
WOT is VERY detailed, which can be difficult to handle. What got me hooked were the characters...it made all the intricate details all the more exciting so I didn't get lost while reading the novels. Definitely give it another shot when you have a chance!
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Permalink Reply by Teppesh on -
Ah, Wheel of Time. I have something of a love/hate relationship with these books. Books 1-3 were incredible works of fantasy. Books 5-11 were thousands of pages full of, to quote Faulkner, "Sound and fury, and signifying nothing." Basically, the guy fired his editor and got mired in so many minuscule plot threads that everything became hopelessly tangled up. Also, his cast of female protagonists all basically devolved into a caricature of RJ's wife who spent their time sniffing, crossing their arms under their breasts, and trying on dresses in the dream world, all while fantasizing about that totes hot three-way they were so going to have with Rand.
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Permalink Reply by Catherine on
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Well, I enjoy them. I'll enter my little sacred grove and read them in peace by myself :)
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Permalink Reply by Faith McKay on
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I haven't read them, but I keep meaning to pick them up.
I can't believe the library only lets you renew for 1 week. Way harsh!
Have you been to half price books? The one in the u-district has a nice fantasy/sci fi section on the second floor. Really, it's pretty awesome. I got Robert a signed, hard cover, Terry Brooks novel for $4.00 once. (I don't think they knew it was signed because it wasn't in the signed section, I just opened it up and there was the signature)
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Permalink Reply by Catherine on
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I LOVE Half-Price Books! We have them in Ohio, too, and I spent way to much money there in the past. So much that I couldn't bring all the books with me. I think the u-district is the closest one to us. Maybe I'll start buying then selling back once I've finished them.
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Permalink Reply by Catherine on
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Once again, the reading has come to a complete halt. I just don't have the time for it when I work 7 days a week for 15+ hours a day. Huge reality check for me, the life of the struggling self-employed :-( I was really excited to get back into the novels so I'd be ready for the release of A Memory of Light. Guess that won't happen! This is why I haven't been able to be more active around here. I'm so disappointed :-(
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Permalink Reply by Matthew G McMillan on -
I agree with Teppish. I loved the first three. You can tell that after that, Jordan fell in love with his world and couldn't let go. Because of this, you have some great moments in the following books, but book two was his pinnacle and he never but a solid book together after three. He would go on and on and on with no real direction in the story. I stopped reading the series with ten and have no interest in going back. I've lost most of my love for Fantasy series these days. No one seems to care about the actual story, characters, and the writing itself - seems like a big show at how long the story can be. George R. R. Martin is my pick for the moment. But while we own the fourth book, I'm wating for the whole thing to be completed before I continue to read after book three.
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Um, holy moly. Memory of Light to be split into three volumes. Press release here. Brandon Sanderson talks about it here. I believe this just happened today.
Hmm. Thoughts?
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Permalink Reply by Alaskan_Ohmsford on -
Not terribly shocked... its been that way all along ... a triology ... no six books.. oh no! we can't possibly finish it in less than 8... I think I'll wait until it's really truly over before I revisit the series..
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Permalink Reply by Catherine on
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Um...totally insane, but it sounds okay to me! I don't mind waiting and spending much more time immersed in this world. The rest of the books took over two years to read, and it was two years of lunch breaks where I could escape and enjoy reading every day. And a movie for Eye of the World? This will be the first series I've read that has been turned into a movie, so I look forward to it.
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