The Wheel Of Time

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

really? damn
i really wanna see what happens when ... the events at the end of book9 become public knowledge

Terminator

Buying it tommorrow. I've waited two years for this.

Next up - A Feast For Crows (April) - should be even better !!!

Woden

interestingly enough i briefly looked at the wheel of time series today, just out of interest of the new big red hardback one i saw knocking about, i decided to buy a ian m. banks book instead, to give him a try, is anyone familiar with his works? is he meant to be any good,i'm gonna start reading what i hope is his first sci fi book tonight.

my personal recommendation (for what it's worth) for a sci fi book is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card i thought it was bloody brilliant and went on the read the rest of the series (not as good but good) and the first two spin off books (quite good) which are available in paperback. now decided i want a thread to discuss it. its quality.

Terminator

I've read a couple of his books. None of them were particularly impressive. The Business was dire. It was like a trashy airport book. Didn't finish it.

Lots of people like him though.

Morn

Well if Mr. E. Feist does make a habit of going around giving his money away to complete strangers he'll probably need to make a habit of milking his books... (j/k!)

Mark

Where did you see book 10 ? could you send on details of shop and price if you get a chance,

Well this is going to piss you off but Im total **** for directions. It was on the way into City Centre in Dublin somewhere, its called Something Something and Bookstore. Pity too because the place pwns, you can get some new books for dirt cheap prices (I got Otherland book 4 Hardcover for 6 euro instead of 28:)).
Sorry but I cant remember where it is exactly . As for Wheel of Time, Im fairly sure they had book 6-10 (Keep in mind I was there in about the 29th of Dec now so they may be sold out)

Saruman

Im on book 5 at the moment.. have up to book 8 at home then i will get the rest of them.. Its very good!! Especially the first few. I notice one thing but i dont think its a problem.. its just he has a tendancy to remind you of every detail... fair enough for those who read them as they came out.. waiting a year between a book they will need reminding.. where as im reading them one after the other at the moment... other than that.,. its great!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

wait a while saruman... the quality does start to drop..

I still like the series.. but I have owned book 10 of twot for about 2 weeks or so now, and I'm still barely 200 pages in...

it is not a very good book

compared to others in the series anyway

DapperGent

Originally posted by Mordeth
I still like the series.. but I have owned book 10 of twot for about 2 weeks or so now, and I'm still barely 200 pages in...

it is not a very good book

compared to others in the series anyway

A-****ing-greed. It's like wading through sludge. I got about 4 chapters in and I've dropped it until I get some more will power.

100 page ****ing prologue was bad enough the final straw for me was the bit where they were packing up the circus and he spent 3 pages describing the animals, performers and wagons, that he had already described in two (or three!) books already.

He keeps introducing new characters when he clearly hasn't a clue what to do with the too many he already has.

It's the strangest kind of writers block I've ever seen he hasn't a clue what to do so does nothing but takes 700 pages to do it.

So depressing.

Terminator

I'm on page 100 and something and still no sign of any significant minor characters - nevermind major ones !!!

Robert Jordan has clearly had a stroke.

j. p harristarr

if anyone thinking about buying book 10 in cork, it's 29euro in waterstones, 25 in easons and 17.50 in reads(just next to black tie)!!!!!!!

Scruff

i only saw that this book was finally out when i saw the book charts in Ireland On Sunday yesterday and even before i checked this thread to see if any of the rest of ye had read it and what yer thoughts of it were, i was already of thinking of giving it a miss.
Now i think i'll definitely give it a miss until its at least out in paper back and even then i don't know if i can bring myself to buy it.

Think i'll just have to give this series up as a dead duck. Started great, started to wane a bit after 6 or 7, was firmly going down hill by 8.

Feel a bit let down by the whole thing after investing so much time and money in the series so far.

cassius

I agree,i thought it was amazing at first but i just borrowed the latest one and i'm not even gonna bother finishin it.........its all over the place and i'm sick of reading the same poxy "face cut from stone" type descriptions.I'd say if they cut out the repetition u could lose 2 or 3 books off the series.
bah!

The_Scary_Man

This book is a complete wind up. I reckon about two days passes from the start of the book to the finish and these are the TWO DAYS PREVIOUS TO THE FINISH OF THE LAST ONE!

As was already mentioned above the constant use of the same phrases really gets my goat, if I hear any more about horses getting skittish because they picked up on the humour of their rider I will track this mother f*cker down and cut him, cut him real bad!

Thanx 4 The Fish

Every write has that, Feist does it, Gemmell, that bird who writes about the Forensic Detective, even Tolkien was prone to it.

The_Scary_Man

Yes they do but not to the extent that Jordan does it. All writers develop a style of writing and some cultivate a different style for each book/set of books that they write but this is just too much for me.

I realise that to a certain degree he has to write the book in such a way that someone who never read any of the other books can pick it up and follow the story but FFS I have read the previous NINE and I know that people get bothered by Perrin's eyes , I know that people question Mats uncanny luck, I know all the other sh1t so why do I need it laid out to me again over and over again in this book?

Perhaps its the fact that the book is just so frustrating to read that the faults are then multiplied but I think taht he has literally "lost the plot" and is struggling to tie up all the loose ends.

This is without doubt the worst book of the series and I don't hold much hope for the next one either.

Gringo

Yeah o read book ten there awhile ago and it sucked1 book nine i thought was great was dying for this book but its terible the next one better be better if not i think the guy is gonna get some seriously angry letters from fans

ChiGung

Guys Jordan is winging it - he's built up such a big fan base it's a money thing now. Once you get hooked into it you keep buying the books...

Personally I think the series was in decline from Book 4 on.
But he is not comparable to Tolkien - the quality of writing isn't comparable it's not even on the same planet.

well i bought the last book, and its crap. I'm not buying any more since he's gotten so bad. The storyline is in shreds, and he's not even keeping the main characters in line anymore. It seems he's not too interested in the main characters anymore, and is content to introduce new people. This series has gone beyond a joke. I'm washing my hands of this author.

davej

If, like me, you have forgotten half of the plots and characters but want to read the new book, you might find this site useful:

http://hem.passagen.se/wotcomp/?noframe

It summarises the previous 9 books chapter by chapter..

This site gives a brief overview of the characters:

http://hemsidor.torget.se/users/d/dredd/


davej

Terminator

Thats excellent

Mythago

All I can add really is forget this series! I remember back around book 6 or season the questions on the web about Jordan where generally askin "how young is he?, He's not gonna die before he finishes!?". But after book 8, 9 & DEFINITELY after 10 people have lost interest.... and he has definitely lost the plot!!

If you're new to the series stop at book 4, the series starts to trail off at this point before it eventually drops of a cliff in 10! (Although I only made it 3/4's way thru 10 because I really don't think there is a story anywhere in there)

Trebor

i would like to add that i enjoyed the books but am getting bored of the length and the endless minor characters.

read an interview with him and he said he knew how the story was going to end 15 mins after thinking of it and that not all the plot threads would be cleared up.

still going to buy the rest of them as i can't stand not knowing what happens next but i have learned my leason no more seris until they are complete.

Boro

I too was one of the RJ faithful - I loved all the books up to book 6, after that it was just a case of "keep reading, they have to imrove some time". I think i will probably wait until book 10 is released in paperback.

Meanwhile, if anyone wants chance an uncompleted series, then I highly recommend Steven Erickson. The series is titled A Tale of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. The first book is "Gardens of the Moon". There are four so far with the fifth coming later this year.

The series is absolutely excellent so far, the characters are entirely believeable, the world huge and full of amazingly detailed locations. The guy is an anthropologist and an archaelogist and he brings that level of detail to the books. He is an amazing writer, his use of language is far and above most authors currently writing. Some of the scenes he creates just have to be read to be believed (the chain of dogs, kalam vs the claw - if you have read them, i think you understand me).

I have read all the authors mentioned in this thread bar Robin Hobb and many many more besides. I consider this guy to be the best fantasy author i have ever read.

As a bonus, the series was considered too complicated for the american audience and so wasnt released in USA

Fence

Originally posted by Boro
I too was one of the RJ faithful - I loved all the books up to book 6, after that it was just a case of "keep reading, they have to imrove some time". I think i will probably wait until book 10 is released in paperback.

Me too. Used to discuse all the different plot points, what would happen to who and all that sorta stuff, but after book 9, when nothing much happened, and then book 10 when nothing hapened at all I am kinda annoyed.

I know I will continue to read the books, and I loved the first 4 or 5, but OMG will some editor please stand up to RJ and say enough is enough!

Cya
Fence

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i still haven't read book ten...

i kinda want to as well.. but I'm so afraid of the boredom

DapperGent

Seriously Mordy don't bother.

It's so depressing.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

so i've heard

i can prob skip straight to book 11 when it's out and just not bother with ten..

but I think I do hate myself enough to put myself through CoT... I'm a sick sick bastard

hostyle

hrm, good new for my wallet / credit card then. I read the first book when it came out and thought it was average - so i never bothered since ... until last month my gf found it in one of my boxes of books and was hooked. I was considering starting the series again, so I've been buying them for her, and shes on book four now. How should I break the news ? :P

Stephen Erikson has me hooked ... and Im hoping Zindell can come up with something a little less dated when the second book of The Lightstone comes out (his sci-fi was much better) ... erm, i guess thats gone a little off topic ...

Trebor

btw

i heard that Robert Jordon would like the books to be made it to a series which could explain the drawn out books as he seems to describe every thing in each locatin/scene which could be more for converting to TV than for the readers.