Hello, I thought I’d paste my review here.
I’ve read and finished Book 1 - 9 in this past month. I’ve managed to borrow all the books from my library so I could read them in order. This is what I think. I was really shocked at how thick (and heavy) the books were. I really expected to like the books after the glowing reviews I read, but after I read them, I was wondering how some people can actually say that they’re good. My opinions about how WoT are bad, are totally uninfluenced as I’ve read nothing but people saying that the books are good. I endured till book 9 because I wanted to finish the series to give a more balanced opinion.
First, I totally Hated book 1. The pacing was too slow for me. There are hundreds of pages about them running, travelling here and there, getting into “mini-adventures”, but not many important things happening that could contribute to their fight in the end. I only liked the part where Perrin got the eyes. Then the climax where they were at the eye of the world was too short. Blah. A travelogue masquarding as a storybook.
Book 2 was ok. The parts about Mat were the best, and I liked his staff fighting with the 2 boys. Why didn’t RJ put more staff fighting in the later books? The Rand subplot wasn’t very good. It was more travelling, getting lost, and seeing a mysterious female. And the stupid men weren’t suspicious of her. Doh. No wonder so many people died at that time, their mums didn’t tell them not to talk to strangers. It only got interesting when the SeanChan came in, and when Engwene was made a damane. The rest of the book was rolling pretty smoothly after that, where the action really started. Although I still think RJ’s pacing is quite draggy and slow, if not downright bad, but I’ve got used to it to continue reading.
Book 3 is where RJ had Rand running off, therefore seperating all these people into several groups again. sigh And the baddie he killed in the end is the baddie’s minion, contary to what everyone thought. It’s so obvious he changed his plans because he wanted to keep writing.
Book 4, 5, 6, 7 were quite consistent with new plotlines and different quests, although I was very very po’ed at the end of book 7, because they spent one whole book looking for the damn bowl and he didn’t show them using it. Argh!
Book 8, the only major thing happening was them using the bowl. Then it’s one more big travelogue again. Thanks so much. rolls eyes
Book 9, the pace picked up again, but again, RJ didn’t fail to surprise by making Mat, who didn’t appear in the last book, Prepare to leave Ebou Dar and didn’t show him leaving. And the Perrin/Falie thread was shoved off into the preview. Thanks again. And the rebel Aes Sedai have been marching for 3 books already, and they haven’t even started the battle yet. A major and useful quest is completed in this book, and I’m surprised that they apparently suceeded when most of the characters are portrayed as useless.
Oh, does he have to keep on repeating several things? Like, Don’t trust Aes Sedai, I hate Aes Sedai, Nynaeve pulling braids, Faile being jealous, sniffs, crossing arms below breasts, yadda yadda. Just say it once or trice and get on with the story, sheesh.
Another thing I have some issues with are that the characters aren’t that likeable. Maybe because I can’t identify with them as we get very little info from their pov, because most of the info is repeated, like “I hate Aes Sadai, Don’t trust [insert name/group here]”. The men think women are b*tches, the women think men are tools and fools, everyone don’t trust each other. That about sums everyone in the books up, yes?
RJ needs to work on character development. The characters don’t seem very real as he doesn’t let readers into the psyche of the characters often. Even when the reader gets to know what a person is thinking, it is often written in the 3rd person pov. After 9 books I still don’t really know anything about, say Rand, except for the necessary things like he’s the dragon reborn, and he doesn’t trust Aes Sadai rolls eyes etc. That’s not what makes a character come alive. What are his likes and dislikes? What is he feeling? What is he thinking? What did he do during his childhood, except stealing apples and getting switched by Nynaeve? The length of 9 books doesn’t justify what little we know about the main character.
The world that Robert Jordan created has breadth but no depth. Yes, there are lots of cultures and different people, but how much do you know of them excately? They aren’t fleshed out nicely. Again, the length of the 9 books doesn’t justify that.
Summing up, I think plotwise, he’s done a good job, but his execution of the story(leaving out some threads in some books, unacceptable!, presentation(travelogues, putting in tons of unimportant stuff that doesn’t add to the story or culture - am surprised he didn’t give us the details of when the characters go to the privy) and pacing(too slowwww) sucks.
I will continue reading the series until they complete, partly because I’m interested enough in the story, and well I’ve nothing better to do anyway. Let’s just hope he didn’t plan for 50 books, which seems pretty possible by the rate he’s going…
I picked up Robert Jordan’s first book a few years ago, but I couldn’t get past the first few pages because I thought it was too cliche-ish and boring. But then last year, I was in the book store, and this lady there struck up a conversation with me, telling me that Jordan’s series was awesome. So I decided I’d try again. I read the first few pages this time around before I got bored/side-tracked. He spent too much time describing the scene of carnage before we even got to meet the first character. Hmmm. Perhaps I should just give up while the gettin’s good and sell or donate my copy to a local used bookstore. But still, I’m fascinated at how he manages to drag out stuff so. It sounds like he’s mastered the concept of the shaggy dog story.