The Wheel of Time

[maxonennis]

Wheel of Time has so many characters it can get bogged down, and for about 3-4 books in the middle it's all politics, then after that it's all setting up for the end game, which takes forever because of the number of characters (ex: the first few books were about a year each character time, but I think the last was maybe 2-3 months, cause there were 5 times as many perspectives to cover). In spite of this, it is awesome. A lot of people complain about him ripping off other books (Lord of the Rings, Dune, and tons of others I couldn't even name), but the thing is, he does it well. Sure the Fades are basically suped-up ringwraiths, and the Aiel are totally Fremen, but it all works, and has it's own stuff that makes it all come together (or if it's not original, it's masterfully put together). I'm a bit apprehensive about the next book, but I'll be reading it for sure: my main concern is just how it could end to my satisfaction in only one book (it can't, but we'll see how close it gets).

You don’t know a whole lot about the history of fantasy, do you? At the time Jordan had started writing the Eye of the World, there was only one fantasy genre read by adults: Tolkien-eque. The only other genre of fantasy was fairy tales, and it was reserved for children. He purposely opened the novel to feel like tLotR to get readers hooked. The problem is that now, twenty plus years later (he started writing it in 1984), every novel does. At the time he wrote tEotW it was fresh and innovative for the fantasy genre, easily the most original fantasy novel since tLotR. Now it doesn’t feel as unique, and half of that is because so many other writers have copied Jordan’s ideas (Goodkind). What most people who don’t read past the first three books don’t realize, is that tWoT goes in a completely different direction than tLotR, Dune, or Starwars.

Also, anyone who had read any more than the first few chapters knows that there are a number of huge differences between Fades and ringwraiths. Your Ael/Freemen theory is also completely unfounded. Ael is a society that who's rule is in favor of females rather than males. The Freemen were male dominated societies who were basically carbon copied Middle Easterns from a Western's point of view in the seventies. The other differences are too numerous to write out, I won't waste my time.

[Fizban]

You don’t know a whole lot about the history of fantasy, do you? At the time Jordan had started writing the Eye of the World, there was only one fantasy genre read by adults: Tolkien-eque. The only other genre of fantasy was fairy tales, and it was reserved for children. He purposely opened the novel to feel like tLotR to get readers hooked. The problem is that now, twenty plus years later (he started writing it in 1984), every novel does. At the time he wrote tEotW it was fresh and innovative for the fantasy genre, easily the most original fantasy novel since tLotR. Now it doesn’t feel as unique, and half of that is because so many other writers have copied Jordan’s ideas (Goodkind). What most people who don’t read past the first three books don’t realize, is that tWoT goes in a completely different direction than tLotR, Dune, or Starwars.

Also, anyone who had read any more than the first few chapters knows that there are a number of huge differences between Fades and ringwraiths. Your Ael/Freemen theory is also completely unfounded. Ael is a society that who's rule is in favor of females rather than males. The Freemen were male dominated societies who were basically carbon copied Middle Easterns from a Western's point of view in the seventies. The other differences are too numerous to write out, I won't waste my time.

You're quite right, I don't know anything about the history of fantasy writing. I've pretty much based my entire arguments against the arguments of a WoT hater from another board, which seemed to cover everything I could think of. That actually makes a lot of sense if the only other big fantasy was Tolkien, to start out similar to pull people in, though antagonizers won't accept that as good enough.

As for Aiel/Fremen, considering that I took the argument from someone else, it must be founded enough to be plausible. They both live in the desert, they're both incredible fighters because the harsh desert living makes them disciplined and tough, they both are eventually led out of the desert by an outsider to conquer the wet nations. Really all you need for most people is "tough desert dwelling people" and if they've read Dune first, they'll think Aiel. In fact, the base idea is so similar, that if Jordan did in fact base the Aiel on middle eastern peoples, I would suspect their involvement in Dune as well. Obviously I haven't looked up the author's notes or even publishing dates, but that's what it looks like to the lazy outsider.

[capnnerefir]

I just found out that the new WoT book, The Gathering Storm, is now available for purchase. *readsreadasreadsreadsreads*

[freded21]

Hey I have a question one of friends suggested these books to me and I was wondering if I should but the first book I have read Lord of the Rings and I enjoyed it but I'm the kind of person that does not like to buy things I like to rent. None of the librarys within reasonable distance have them and I was wondering if I should buy the first book(its avalible form BanesandNoble.com in Ebook format). So do you guys suggest them.


EDIT: I guess what im asking is if these are books I can read more than once and still enjoy.

[FelCandy]

i own all these books and ive read them sooo many times, they do get bogged down with characters and politics but you learn to love them all anyway, you dont care about it hehe

[freded21]

Alright cool.
I went and bought the first one and I'm already on page 148 but I'm tired and have to go to bed.

*2 hours later*

O.K. I'm on page 237 but now I really do have to go to bed.

[FelCandy]

freded21: you can find used copies for not so much, i'm sure they sell on amazon inexpensively (IE 1cent... http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... ition=used" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

[capnnerefir]

Well, while I cannot actually endorse this method, I figure it's not illegal to tell you that there may be certain websites where you can download PDFs or .lit files of certain aforementioned books for free.

[fdragon010]

I've always loved fantasy, I read everything from the most hated (on this site) Harry Potter to Dragonlance to freaking Redwall, but the Wheel of Time is in a class all its own. It's one of the few book series I can call truly epic. I have not read them in a while, but I need to read them again. I moved recently and a few might be packed in boxes, so I need to dig them out.

One of the best series out there, in my opinion.

[freded21]

Hey quick question: I'm in the middle of book 9 and I'm really liking the book but I was wondering if the books written by Brandon Sanderson are as good as the others.