# Wheel of Time vs. Song of Ice and Fire **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-time-vs-song-of-ice-and-fire/643025 "2012-12-05T02:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Harad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Harad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harad)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-time-vs-song-of-ice-and-fire/643025/21 "2013-04-01T17:28:49Z")
LOTR is of course one of the best. Since it was an (the?) early epic, it is a touchstone for all other epics. When I started reading WOT I was concerned that it was too derivative of LOTR. After all there was the beginning plot of Eye of the World which was a journey to “safety” of a band of Two River people (hobbits) accompanied by an Aes Sedai and Warder (Gandalf and Aragorn). They encountered Trollocs (trolls) and were trapped by the enemy. They had to decide to take the very dangerous path to Moria (Shadar Logoth) where they almost lost Gandalf (Matt). However, I eventually found that the story and characters had enough differences to justify my interest. Its been a while since I read the middle books, but regardless, the ending of the series is quite good and thus its worth reading the whole series. As some have stated ASOIAF is a different thing mostly. I would not compare the styles at all although swords and sorcery are common themes. The incorporation of the real world War of the Roses or Mafia-like Sopranos gives it a different spin. In the latter case we dont know what the ending is so we cant judge the whole enterprise. So far, so good. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-time-vs-song-of-ice-and-fire/643025/22 "2013-04-01T21:40:31Z")
> [@](#): > > When I started reading WOT I was concerned that it was too derivative of LOTR. Now read Joseph Campbell’s [_Hero With a Thousand Faces_](http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Faces-Collected-Joseph-Campbell/dp/1577315936/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364852305&sr=8-1&keywords=joseph+campbell+hero+with+a+thousand+faces). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-time-vs-song-of-ice-and-fire/643025/23 "2013-04-01T21:47:33Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > You may want to hold off on any pronouncements on what WOT does and doesn’t mean until you’ve slogged thru books 6-10 and tried to integrate them into your worldview. Fortunately the decent writing picks up again about book 11. “Just get through the first 10 books, and then it totally picks up” is a pretty awesome but not particularly compelling endorsement. To answer the OP, I only read the first WoT time book and enjoyed it in a “well, this is pretty generic yet non-offensive fantasy schlock” kind of way. The first Martin book, though, pulls you in by the short and curlies and never lets go. I don’t think there’s any real comparison. ---
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-time-vs-song-of-ice-and-fire/643025/24 "2013-04-02T21:46:34Z")
Read most of the first WoT, got bored, gave up. And seriously, someone recommended you read through six doorstops before the plot picks up? GRRM is a right bastard and I hate him but I also respect him more than nearly any other living author because you Do Not Know what will happen next. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-time-vs-song-of-ice-and-fire/643025.md?page=1)