07-05-2005, 02:57 PM | #101 |
Elentári
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On the extraneous detail, I think he kinda set out to write a looong story as part of his mission. I agree, the books are a bit of a drag. But I'll the thing that saves them is the numerous characters. The story would be boring if you had to read about the same 3 people the whole time. The only thing that keeps me reading on when I get tired of his style is the hope that the next chapter is on one of the guys I like - or I keep reading till I get to that character again to see what happened.
I haven't read New Springs yet, don't think I will, but I can't wait for the story to finish. I wish Jordan would get on with it! BTW, who's your favourite character(s)? Mine's Egwene & Perrin. |
07-06-2005, 12:59 PM | #102 |
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My favorite character is Rand. He's the one who is supposed to save the world in the end. I know that he gets rather weird at times, but I think it was the fact that saidin hadn't been cleansed. It was rather like Frodo being corrupted by the ring.
When I mentioned too many characters, I didn't mean the major or even the minor ones. I meant the people he mentions once for no apparent reason. He also often gives endless details about what people are wearing which has no bearing on the story. Often he'll go on and on about stuff that just bogs down the story and just when I'm about to give up, he'll throw in something that's really good and interesting. |
07-06-2005, 04:05 PM | #103 | |
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07-07-2005, 12:59 PM | #104 |
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I've never felt (even slightly) the Jordan was a Tolkien ripoff.
Personally, I find the Wheel of Time novels have always strongly reminded me of Frank Herbert's writing.
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07-07-2005, 01:07 PM | #105 |
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Does anyone have a clue when the next "Wheel of Time" book will be coming out?
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07-07-2005, 03:02 PM | #106 | |
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Thought the next Jordan-book was due october this year, but may very well be wrong.
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07-08-2005, 11:20 AM | #107 | ||
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07-08-2005, 06:52 PM | #108 |
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Dune isn't really fantasy, though. It's sci-fi with some fantastical elements.
And I really don't think the Wheel of Time (or Dune) is very similar to Tolkien at all. Tolkien's style and setting are both very distinct, and Jordan doesn't come anything close in either category. |
07-09-2005, 07:12 AM | #109 | |
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07-09-2005, 09:14 PM | #110 |
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There's only so many themes in science fiction or fantasy, so it's impossible not to see some similarities. The Aiel don't make me think of the Freemen, but it's a long time since I've read Dune. I think that Jordan has created a distinct world of his own. It doesn't remind me of the Lord of the Rings. I'm rereading the first book-The Eye of the World. This book doesn't have so many extraneous facts, and he doesn't seem to just ramble on. Jordan seems to have been much more disciplined when he wrote it than he was with the later books. I'm not an expert on the Wheel of Time, but I've read that originally he intended to write three books. Now, I think he's on book eleven. At times, he just seems to get carried away with trivia which has no relavance to the story and go on and on and on. Sometimes I want to scream - just get on with it.
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07-17-2005, 07:16 AM | #111 |
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That's just how I feel - the screeming part. And yet I've read all 10 and I'm rather impatiently waiting for the last 2. we're all hopeless.
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07-17-2005, 08:09 AM | #112 |
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I'm reading the 4th book now,starting in it anyway, and the only thing that rteminds me of lord of the rings are the names, and names of places, like mount doom has found a place in WOT as well.
But the writing style isn't similar to that of Tolkien, in fact, only some parts of the storyline remind me of LOTR. The thing that confuses me the most is when Jordan gets to political. |
07-17-2005, 08:34 AM | #113 | |
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07-18-2005, 01:56 PM | #114 |
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I just started book 4 and I heard that after that, there is nothing but politics that he wrote
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07-18-2005, 02:11 PM | #115 | |
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07-18-2005, 03:43 PM | #116 | ||
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07-18-2005, 03:47 PM | #117 |
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This is the part where I wonder, is it still worth reading
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07-21-2005, 01:35 AM | #118 | |
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He writes about politics, while not knowing the first thing about how politics work. He writes about (fictional) history, while not having a clear grasp on the principles that underlie it. He writes about Evil Overlords, but doesn't seem to comprehend what being Evil actually implies. He writes about women in a way that causes me to suspect he's had few (or poor) experiences with real females (to be honest, he can come across as quite mysoginistic). He writes about Fate and Destiny and all this herioc claptrap, but even he doesn't have any idea how it's supposed to play out in the end. And the same could be said for a number of other subjects - I'll spare you the details. As a writer, Jordan's reach exceeds his grasp. He throws in everything 'cool' that he can possibly think of, mashes it together (not in the good way), and churns out one novel after another without any particular purpose but killing trees and raking in cash. He suffers from what I suppose you could call hollywoodism - the novel (the published medium) begins to supercede the story (the Art if you will) of the book. It's mass-production in entertainment - clumps rather than a single finely-crafted masterpiece.
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07-21-2005, 05:30 PM | #119 |
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I couldn't have said it better myself
But please don't spare methe details. The only thing you forgot to mention is that he took to many ideas from other books or tales. (you can relate olmost anything to another book or tales) in particular the names are all from the tale of king artur. |
07-22-2005, 12:35 PM | #120 | |||
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As regards your point about women in WoT, I must confess, sometimes I have wondered the same thing about Robert Jordan's personal life. I think you're right on as regards them.
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