Wheel of Time - is it finished or is it finished?

[brownjenkins]

i'll read them all but may wait for the rest of the installments first (which is about one every two years)

[Anglorfin]

THere were obviously some down points in the boooks. Personally I still have faith in him largely because of book 9, Winter's Heart. I thought that book captured a lot of the energy and intrigue that the earlier ones in the series had. But it is still a longshot to assume that all the other books to be scheduled (and those that haven't been yet) will measure up to the beginning of the series.

Personally, I'd put 4 and 5 at the top of my favorite books in the series. It was when the whole world really started to change and come to life as a result of many historic discoveries and 'character revelations'.

But yeah, I am not going to read now until I know the series is 100% finished. The anticipation isn't worth it anymore because I fly through the books so I'm putting it on the back burner for a while.

[Mark of Cenla]

I am relieved to see that others agree with me about how the plot has bogged down in details that really do not advance the story. I thought it was just me. I became hooked on the story, and I want to see how it turns out. I am reading the 10th book now, and I am really not enjoying it much. I suppose I will buy the new ones when they come back, read the whole thing from start to finish, and be done with it. Peace.

[Eoca]

That's too bad about you not enjoying Crossraods of Twilight!! I've been delaying starting since I got the paperback at Christmas (there were more 'gaurenteed' reads), but I was really hoping that it would bring plotlines back together. How did it turn out?

I was really surprized with book nine's lack of intricacy, although I probably shouldn't have been! I really enjoyed it (I think, it's been a while...), but even though amazing monumental things hapened, they happened really really slowly, with lots of empty stuff between them.

I don't really have a problem with the women characters as a group, but reading about your less favourite characters can be a pain. Like chapters narrated by somone who you aren't that keen on when all you want is to hear from Mat to come back, light blast him!

In terms of the series being 'done', I hope not, since I enjoyed the first bunch of books so much. But people are dishartened. (For instance, my Grandma has stoped hoping he 'hurries himeslf up, some of us won't be around forever you know' since she doen't care much about the characters anymore, the way the books have been recently!)

[brownjenkins]

i actually put down crossroads of twilight about one third of the way in the first time because i was so sick of it... then returned to it a few months later... as i said earlier, there are good parts... just a bit too few and far between for my tastes

[Dwarven Sen]

I've read all but the new prequel that's out, because i borrowed the others off my friend, who's in a different country from me. and if i buy the prequel to read, i'll have to buy all the others. I've even read one of the short stories about Lan.

i love Shienar, that's my place.

[Katie of the Golden Wood]

This is going to sound horrible and sexist, but for the record, I'm female.

There isn't one female character in Wheel of Time I like, and I think thats where its gone wrong recently. I loved sections on Mat, Perrin, and Rand...they all hae depth and personality. The snotty women walk around and bog the men down. Crossroads of Twilight concentrated on the women, and those were the chapters I would up skimming. I wish some of the characters act like real women do. Personally, not many of my friends walk around with their noses in the air sniffing at men. If Jordan brings the series back the the three ta'veren, where it should be, the last two books should be great.

Katie

[brownjenkins]

i agree with you on that katie... it's one thing to have some of the women act that way... quite another to have them all that way... there was a bit more variety in the beginning, but even characters like min are slowly moving towards the female stereotype he likes to portray

[Forkbeard]

Originally posted by brownjenkins
i agree with you on that katie... it's one thing to have some of the women act that way... quite another to have them all that way... there was a bit more variety in the beginning, but even characters like min are slowly moving towards the female stereotype he likes to portray

Has anyone noticed that the women are always crossing their arms under their breasts and are consistently upset at the men?

And the "men" don't talk to each other? How much shorter would these books have been if the men said: Hey, I had this weird dream last night.....You too!!??!! Wow, you think that...." or if the women would talk to the men instead of crossing their arms under their breasts. Most of the problems in the books would be resolved and we'd have a trilogy instead of 12 books.

[Katie of the Golden Wood]

It has been horribly drawn out. Earlier in the series, I could have defended it, saying it was hard for them to communicate because of distance, but

Traveling solved all that! Rand can pop open a gateway and check up on Mat and Perrin every once and a while, and then maybe he's realize he's got a solution to the Seanchan problem with Tuon right there

Oh well. And the women just need someone to slap them. The only good one left is Birgette.

Katie

[Mrs Maggot]

I've only just finished reading the very 1st book as I had it recommended to me, and I have to say that while I thought it was interesting and had a lot of potential, i also found it way too long. Usually I like really long books, but in this case i thought that Jordan could have cut out so much waffle and I found a lot of the characters were pointless or the scenes were repetitive. Can someone tell me if it gets any better?

[brownjenkins]

sorry... it gets worse... the first four or five books are around 80% great / 20% waffle... after that it gets closer to 50/50... the last one about 20/80

[elendili]

I agree with the general feeling that the sparks gone out of the series and that the female characters are quite weak.

There are some good points like MAt and Tuon and i like Min and Cadsuane she's my fav character at the moment esp when shes tellinh rand off

I think the series will get better when Moiraine is freed from the Aefflin she could hold her own quite well

Hopefully the prequel will inject some interest back into the series esp. if its the time of the dragon so you can see mierin aka lanfear and the other forsaken before they turned to the dark side so to speak

[brownjenkins]

i hope it improves when that happens too... the current prequel is a reworking of a shorter story published in a collection of short stories... it covers morraine and lan's adventures before finding rand... i have not read it, but i believe cadsuane plays a somewhat major role in it too

[Falagar]

I've currently just started book 7, and I agree with most about the women. Except from Min and, for some reason, Berelain.

[Grey_Wolf]

It ain't finished.

NEXT BOOK: Book 11.

KNIFE OF DREAMS

Reported to be coming in 2005.

[old scholar]

there are rumours that say that there are only two remainig books in th series and that the author has promised to finish the series before finishing the prequels

[Daisy Baggins]

I've read on a Wheel of Time message board that he started out planning something like a 3-5 books. As he wrote, 3-5 became more and more. I've heard that he's supposed to finish by book thirteen, but he has so many characters and loose ends that I doubt that he can wrap it up so quickly.

I'm on book nine. I have to agree that Jordan puts in all sorts of details that bog the story down. I'll read and read and wonder when something is going to happen. I know I can't skip over parts because out of nowhere he'll put in something that's really important or interesting. He seems to just like to natter on about inconsequential things like how everyone is dressed or mention twenty characters that have no point in the story. And I don't think that he'll change. At times, I get frustrated and think that I won't finish the books, but I eventually go back to them.

[Beren3000]

I've recently watched an interview with Robert Jordan where he talked about the prequels and the rest of the series.

Of course the first prequel is about Lan and Moiraine.
He said the second prequel is about:

How Tam joined the Illianer army and earned his heron-marked sword and eventually found Rand and adopted him

And the third would be about:

How Lan and Moiraine came to the Two Rivers just in time before the Trolloc attack on Winternight

He also said, IIRC, that he wants to finish the prequels before the main sequence books (he's actually working on both the prequels and the books but he says he'd like everyone to have read the prequels before finishing the books). As to how many books they're gonna be, he said he wanted them to be 12 but finds it difficult so most probably it'll be 13 books.

For the full interview, click here