Tell me about it. I was so psyched to see how that played out, but all I was getting was the other characters going about their business, then pausing to look at the horizon and say, “What’s that? Oh, it must be Rand doing something epic.” Then they go back to whatever it was they were doing.
The Amazon.com reviews of book 10 didn’t exactly fill me with confidence, either.
Just get on with the damn story already! I can’t skip the book because I’m anal retentive like that, but I really hope the audiobook makes it a bit more palatable.
I was crushed when Moiraine fell through the ter’angreal. I read a few more (ok, five) in case she fell out again but my heart just wasn’t in it anymore and the first time I had to wait for a book to come out, I moved on and by the time it was released, I couldn’t remember the various plot threads. I don’t really have anything to say, I just wanted to pout again.
I think your best bet is to read each book as it comes, personally. When you find them frustrating, put them aside and read chapter summaries, then come back to what sound interesting chapters in the book.
It’s worth remembering that the action is faster-paced in the early books because they cover longer spans of time.
[ul][li]Books 1 and 2 cover about one year; book 1 starts at what should be early Spring, book 2 ends in the late autumn of the same year.[/li][li]Books 3 to 6 cover about a year, starting in winter and ending early the next year.[/li][li]Books 7 to 14 inclusive cover less than half a year.[/ul]If you don’t like The Eye of the World don’t bother with the rest.[/li]
My big problem with the mid-period books is that he lets the insanity of two of the lead men drag on too long; they weren’t resolved until after RJ died and Brandon Sanderson took over.
Then, hardly anything happens in Book 10; although it has some payoff later it’s too long. There’s a distinct lack of editorial oversight in the middle books.
On top of that, there’s the unsanity of Nynaeve. (Anyone who can go from “maybe I was wrong to insist on going overland” to “I knew we should have gone by boat” in the space of less than a day (iirc) has serious mental problems.)
Max, good idea, but there are certain chapters in books 6 - 10 that should be read, not jusy the summaries…like someone mentioned…the last 2 chapters of book 9. Maybe it should be “Reed the prologue, first 2 chapters, last 2 chapters and epilogue along with the internet summaries”. Or even better then the summaries, the TOR website has their “re-reads” of all the books and that give a 1-2 paragraph summary of each chapter. use them to decide what chapter to read of books 6-10
Just to muddy the waters a bit, NAF, I actually enjoyed books 6 - 10. Yes, they could have been edited down–quite a lot, actually–and there are scenes that seem useless, but these books did move the plot forward, and they revealed insights into character motivations that Jordan clearly thought were important to the story.
I’m not going to say that reading these books is completely necessary to the experience–if you need something fast-paced and tight (like Sanderson’s Mistborn series, for example), just read the the good ones and read summaries of the rest, like everyone said above. The series is worth a read, however you go about it. IMHO, though, the middle tomes have been maligned somewhat unfairly because the first books are so great, and the next few are so not, that expectations were too high. Also, it’s always fashionable to jump on the hatin’ bandwagon once everyone starts the grumbling.
Again, just my opinion. Fact is, I can read just about anything and get something useful out of it, so I’m probably not the best person to be giving advice.
Also, I’m STOKED about the last book. Can’t wait to see how it all plays out. Here’s to hoping Jordan doesn’t just rehash Christian mythos for the umpteen-millionth time.
I re-“read” the whole series via audiobook back before the first Sanderson volume was published, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed them all, including the “bad” ones toward the end. I think part of the disappointment is caused by the fact that we were waiting for YEARS for the next one to emerge, only to find that none of the events for which we were breathlessly awaiting happened. Again. Going through them all at once, without the anticipation and raised expectations, made them much more enjoyable.
