Wheel of Time series

Rayfer · July 04, 2013, 03:53:40 PM

Just finished the 14th and final book in this long running fantasy series that started back in 1990. I was satisfied with the ending. Anyone else think otherwise?

bayonetbrant · July 04, 2013, 04:12:37 PM

I gave up in the middle of book 4. I was unsatisfied with how long it was taking to get there!

Heck, even Eddings got there faster, and that was with a second series as a sequel to the first :-\

bob48 · July 04, 2013, 04:59:32 PM

Nope, I bogged down with it as well. I read the Terry Brooks 'Shannara' series instead. Very enjoyable.

Rayfer · July 04, 2013, 06:29:07 PM

You might want to reconsider and start over now that it is done and over with. Quite a accomplishment of depth and scope of story.

Martok · July 05, 2013, 01:00:37 PM

I'm just waiting til the last book comes out in paperback. Then I'll purchase the last three books (written by Sanderson) and go back and (re)read them all.

Quote from: Rayfer on July 04, 2013, 06:29:07 PM
You might want to reconsider and start over now that it is done and over with. Quite a accomplishment of depth and scope of story.

Yes, but books 7-10 are still a major slog. I don't blame those who gave up after Fires of Heaven.

TheCommandTent · July 05, 2013, 06:28:56 PM

I finished the first three and am not sure if I want to continue with the series....

Arctic Blast · July 05, 2013, 08:53:08 PM

Quote from: TheCommandTent on July 05, 2013, 06:28:56 PM
I finished the first three and am not sure if I want to continue with the series....

I made it through 4 and pretty much reached the end of my interest.

Con · July 05, 2013, 09:23:40 PM

I finished it thought the last three did a nice job of getting me back interested in it. The wait between caused me to forget major and minor plot points and way too many characters to follow almost made me give up. However the wheel of time wiki was a good way for me to catch up without having to reread the first 7+ books

Con

Martok · July 06, 2013, 02:44:46 AM

Quote from: TheCommandTent on July 05, 2013, 06:28:56 PM
I finished the first three and am not sure if I want to continue with the series....

If that's the case, then it may indeed be best to stop where you are.

It pains me to say that (since I remain a fan, despite the series' admitted weaknesses), but I don't think I'd be doing you any favors by advising you try to force yourself to continue. If you struggled through The Great Hunt and/or The Dragon Reborn, then honestly, odds are the rest of the series isn't going to grab you either.

Slogging through the first book is one thing, but if you're not hooked after the second & third books, I doubt you will be at this point. :-\

TheCommandTent · July 06, 2013, 07:24:55 AM

Quote from: Martok on July 06, 2013, 02:44:46 AM
Quote from: TheCommandTent on July 05, 2013, 06:28:56 PM
I finished the first three and am not sure if I want to continue with the series....
If that's the case, then it may indeed be best to stop where you are.

It pains me to say that (since I remain a fan, despite the series' admitted weaknesses), but I don't think I'd be doing you any favors by advising you try to force yourself to continue. If you struggled through The Great Hunt and/or The Dragon Reborn, then honestly, odds are the rest of the series isn't going to grab you either.

Slogging through the first book is one thing, but if you're not hooked after the second & third books, I doubt you will be at this point. :-\

Well see here is my problem. The first book was really slow and I almost didn't start the second but someone around here said it was alot better and it was. I enjoyed the second book alot and even liked the third as well but not as much. Plus my reading pile is so huge by the time I got to the fourth I would forget the first three :) Perhaps this is series to put on hold until I have much more time to read.

MetalDog · July 06, 2013, 10:36:59 AM

If by, "...have much more time to read," you mean, when you die, then yes, you should certainly do that. I don't remember how many books I got fooled into reading. The last one had Winter in the title. I won't waste anyones time with a rehashed rant about wordiness, but, I would rather have all the trees back that they killed to make every one of Jordan's books.

For those of you who enjoyed it, I liked quite a bit of the story and plotlines. It's why I stuck it out as long as I did. To have seen it finish with alacrity would have definitely made it one of the joys to read in my lifetime. But fourteen books?!?!?!!!!! Most people would say eight was excessive, but if he could have held it to that, we might be kow towing to a new entry to the, "Masters of the Genre."

JasonPratt · July 29, 2013, 08:09:27 AM

I gave up after Winter's Heart when I heard from fellow fans that Crossroads of Twilight was even worse, but once the final book was finally released (and I had heard from friends that all four books after CoT dramatically improved) I rebought everything on Kindle early this year (except for Book 14 which wasn't released yet) and have been working through since then. Just finished Book 8: as with previous rereads I was entirely happy through Book 5, a little disappointed with Book 6 (as the slog started to affect even me), and while I continue to like Books 7 and 8 more than I expect to after my first disappointed reads the taint of the slog is wearing me down again.

Fortunately, I only have two more of the slog books to go, and I'm on a 10%/day readthrough schedule now (which I wisely implemented once the sloggier books started) so I'll be finished with them around August 20 (next month).

Unfortunately, I have two more of the slog books to go. ;)

Martok · July 29, 2013, 11:08:16 AM

Yeah, Winter's Heart and Crossroads of Twilight are definitely the series' low point -- even Crown of Swords and Path of Daggers doesn't drag as bad. If you can make it through those, the rest of the series is a snap.

And while I've not yet read the final three books, I can at least vouch for the fact that Knife of Dreams (the last WoT novel written by Jordan himself) is indeed a major improvement. It does a 180 on the pacing (especially compared to the previous four books) -- in fact, it probably reads more quickly than *any* of the previous books (including 2-6).