Anyone reading/read the Wheel of Time series?

[Alessan]

Superb book… and the second book is great (although not as good as the first one). And the third is, well, pretty good (notice the trend?).

I actually think that the series is improving from volume to volume, but then, I’m a big fan of Stephen R. Donaldson and Guy Gavriel Kay, so I like my fantasy dark, intense and mature.

Back on topic, is the first half of the first WoT book representative of the rest of the series? I really didn’t care for the part I read, but if it’s just Jordan getting his feet under him or a slow start before picking up steam, maybe I’ll go back and re-try him.

Jordan starts slow in all of his books, in the good ones (meaning books 1-5) it picks up about half-way through and leads you to an exciting, multi-threaded climax. In the other books it’s just 800 pages of exposition.

Some lines which I insist on reading before I pick this series up again:

Rand: “Listen up - I’m Rand Al’Thor, the motherfucking Dragon Reborn. I’m the king, the boss, the head honcho. I’m the guy who’s supposed to defeat the bad guys - me, and not any of you assholes. So if one more crotchety old hag treats me like a six-year-old, she’s gonna find herself Severed so fast it’ll make her head spin. An then I’ll spin her head.”

Old Aes Sedai/Wise Woman/Reverend Mother Clone: “Now listen here, you young whippersnapper-”

ZAAAAP

Rand: “Damn, that felt good. And that annoying voice in my head is gone!”
Perrin: “Faile, honey, sit down. We have to talk about our relationship. We have issues, and if we don’t settle them, then we’re over.”

Mat: “Nynaeve? Elayne? Bite me.”

Nynaeve: “Uh, guys? I made a mistake, and I’m sorry. I’ve been learning from my experiences, and I’m determined to be a better person”. (Ha! As if!)

Siuan Sanche: “You know, you’re right - when I was Amirlyn I was calm, self assured and in total control. Now I’m an immature, whiney bitch. How the hell did that happen?”

Everybody: “You know, maybe we should set aside our petty, childlike squabbles and start acting together to defeat Shaitan? There are readers out there who have started rooting for the bad guys, because they at least have their act together. We, on the other hand, couldn’t organize a picnic without spitting into each other’s drinks.”

17,000 Unecessary Subplots: “Aaaargh…ack. Ack. Ack.” :::[die horribly]:::

Ahh, to dream.

[passerby]

I just started reading the latest book too. As an experiment, I’m trying to read it on my Palmpilot. I stumbled on the series quite by chance in the sci-fi section of the local library, and then I lost many nights sleep devouring them. And I agree with the others, first few books great, last couple (7 & 8) draaag.

Y’all know about the usenet newsgroups right? rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan and alt.fan.robert-jordan. I haven’t checked them for a couple of years now, but they’re (or were) quite good for die-hard fans.

My problem is trying to remember all the characters between books, and so many of them have similar names, and I don’t even know how to pronounce most of them.

And to answer the question in the OP, my favorite characters are Matt and Aviendha. Matt has all the luck (I have none) and is independent (so am I), and Aviendha because, well, I feel she’d be wild in bed On the other hand, Perrin (sorry kelli) and Nynaeve just get on my nerves.

[Dark_Lord_Davidson]

I loved all of them except 8, which sucked.

Seems like Rand is getting ridiculously emotionless and cold…hope RJ has Cadsuane work some of her magic in the next book.

Perrin used to be my favorite…but now he’s whipped, and focuses only on Faile. I hope that bitch dies.

I never really liked Mat. He’s a man-whore, and it seems like every little thing that goes wrong annoys him to no end, which annoys ME to no end. Pah.

[SPOILER]

Moirane was awesome, can’t wait till she comes back.

Nynaeve is annoying, as is Elayne, and Egwene. Min and Aviendha are the only two women worth their bosoms.

Domon with Egeanin? Hilarious. I love it.

I hate this new trend of there suddenly being a plethora of ultra-powerful channelers, like that sea-folk whore. What’s up with that?
I wish we could see more of Tam al’Thor, he’s awesome.

Lan’s a favorite of mine, of course.

I wish he would straighten out the freakin Sun Throne plot, and stick Elayne’s hindquarters on the Lion Throne where she belongs.

Eagerly awaiting book 10…

[kellibelli]

Well, at the end of book 8, my preferences have shifted…

After the most gripping stuff I ever read (the battle of the two Rivers) Perrin turned into a big pussywhipped spaz!
I DONT like Faile at all.

Min rocks! She is the only feminine one of the women despite her propensity for mens clothes. She seems devoted to Rand, and the others could learn form her! (But where IS she??)

Rand is a bonehead.

Morgase needs a good hard - you know!

Mat is the sweetest character! The way he tore through Ebou Dar screaming for Olver… :sniff:

Sadly there is no sign of him so far in book 8, and Ionly have about a hundred pages left.

My only real complaint is the the MILLIONS of women characters! The sea folk, the wise ones, the OTHER wise ones, the Seanchan, the black ajah, the rebel aes sedai, the other aes sedai,the forsaken, the aiel… Whe the hell are all these people?
Its too much. When I reread the series this summer, I plan to write a detailed summary of the characters - every one of them, so I can tell who the hell is who!

The plethora of names is so bad, its really limiting my enjoymeny of the books - #8 especially. They even name the stupid horses!

I look forward to book 9, then I reread the series, and hopefully book 10 will be ready!

[slortar]

I’d just like to chime in that after reading Heart of Winter it FINALLY feels like things are back on track. Great, great addition to the series.

[archmichael]

I HAVE to chime in and recommend, “A Song of Fire and Ice” by George R.R. Martin. I hate to hijack the thread away from the WoT, but I am so fed up with Robert Jordan and his meandering plotline.

I finished “A Storm of Swords” Book 3 of the Fire and Ice saga, and it blew me away. I can’t even make allusions to what happens because I don’t want to ruin it for people. After that I tried to get back into WoT. I couldn’t. It seems so immature. Cheers to Alessan for the characterizations. They were spot on. Jesus, I have never read so many powerful female groups getting into pissing matches with each other.

Scary note: Find a picture of Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin. I am still not completely sure that they are two separate people. Both have penchants for dark glasses, hats and facial hair. I hate to think that I am praising one guy, bad-mouthing another, and they are one and the same.

[Sterra]

Wheel of time, me? Nope no never heard of it:)

Winters heart really is the best book in the series IMHO.

[Smeghead]

*Originally posted by kellibelli *
**My only real complaint is the the MILLIONS of women characters! The sea folk, the wise ones, the OTHER wise ones, the Seanchan, the black ajah, the rebel aes sedai, the other aes sedai,the forsaken, the aiel… Whe the hell are all these people?
Its too much. When I reread the series this summer, I plan to write a detailed summary of the characters - every one of them, so I can tell who the hell is who!

The plethora of names is so bad, its really limiting my enjoymeny of the books - #8 especially. They even name the stupid horses!
**

I can sympathize, truly. I know exactly what you’re going through, and I think everyone who’s ever read the books had the character summary idea. But trust me. Move on to book 9. He drops everything that made the last few books unpleasant. Everything. It gets back on track with a vengeance!!

[Kaz]

I havn’t read book 9 yet, but I have read up to 8, and loved them, though I totally noticed the trend of the plot slowing way down, espically in books 7 and 8. But if things go as they sound in the thread here, it picks up, so I definalty cannot wait.

Another fantasy series that me and my father (he’s the one that got me into WoT, we read 'em together) read Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series. It’s crazy how similer it is to the WoT series though. In Goodkind’s the main character’s name is Richard, he has a big sword that gives him special powers, that he’s really good with, there is a group of “magical” women who are all very powerful and very respected, and he is romantically involved with the head woman of this…etc etc they are so similer that I get the two series mixed up, and the fact that Goodkind puts out two books in the time that Jordan puts out one doesn’t help matters…

[Yookeroo]

*Originally posted by Alessan *

Everybody: “You know, maybe we should set aside our petty, childlike squabbles and start acting together to defeat Shaitan? There are readers out there who have started rooting for the bad guys, because they at least have their act together. We, on the other hand, couldn’t organize a picnic without spitting into each other’s drinks.” **

The bad guys have their act together?

17,000 Unecessary Subplots: “Aaaargh…ack. Ack. Ack.” :::[die horribly]:::

**

Amen.

[Tazma]

[rant]

My nickname for the series is “The Whiner Chronicles”.

OK, so I’ve read books one through eight; to me, each of them equally tortuous.

The thing that bothers me about most of the characters in the series is how ungracious and angry they are, all of the time.

They (especially the women characters) are always glaring, brooding, haranguing, unhappy with their companions and mentors, and rarely have a kind word to say to anyone. Or even a smile.

The series is a tiresome read, the plots and subplots are hard to follow. [sub]'Specially Tower politics.[/sub]

There is very little sunshine in the WoT universe, and I can’t really say that I care about what happens to any of its denizens. [sub]Dig those golden eyes on Perrin, tho.[/sub]

[/rant]

If I missed something and the characters do have some redeeming qualities, please enlighten me.

[Helena]

I’ve only read the first book and that was a LONG time ago. I did notice a rather glaring editing error where the same scene happened twice (bidding farewell to a nice farmer who had given them a ride on his wagon and gave them scarves). Does anyone know if this was fixed in later editions? I also noticed one lay/lie mixup. Just a little sloppy.