These Wheels of Time books

[Matt]

I have never read them... what are they about?

I am avoiding the other thread about wheels of time to avoid any spoilers per se'.

Matt

[Josh]

They are a cross between Dune/LOTR/StarWars

They blatantly rip off elements from all three as well as ancient mythology and package it altogether in a fresh idea which despite being terribly derivative of other people's work is still VERY good reading.

In another time... or some such there's a Middle Earth like world. Three boys from a remote tiny village end up being the answer to this prophecy and thus the most important people in the world.

There's the Aes Sedai, a group of people with very Jedi like powers. All Aes Sedai are female, because men who try to use their power go insane.

There's the various kingdoms of the world, fractured and corrupt

There's the Dark One... who is basically the equivalent of Sauron. He has creatures called Trollocs... which are basically Orcs.

There's "The Chosen" who are Aes Sedai gone bad and who serve the Dark One.

So basically the story follows these three boys as they grow and develope and eventually become something more.

Hard to say more than that without spoiling it.

[Matt]

so I should definitely read it?

[Arctic]

sure, if you like neverending stories. i haven't really gotten into this series much myself because the series is so damn long (up to book 11 and no end in sight). i prefer smaller series of at most six or so books.

i have read some of the first one, and it *is* good reading. i'm just not prepared to commit to reading all the others, especially if they're of varying quality as i hear they are.

[Josh]

Originally posted by Matt UGA
so I should definitely read it?


Well before I read book 10 I would have said yes. The writing is good and you get wrapped up in them. But now I have read book 10 and I would say NO.

Why?

1. Jordan raises hundreds of questions in every book, and has come out and said he will probably never answer most of them

2. The series is LONG and he is stretching it out longer to make more money off of people.

So basically you're reading a linear story with NO END. That sucks. That really really sucks.

[Wiggum]

I'm a huge fantasy fan and I gotta say, if you make it all the way to book 10, here's to ya. I got through the first four or five, and enjoyed them, but buy the time the seventh rolled around, I tried, and I failed. It's the amazing stalling story.
People keep buying 'em, he's gonna keep on writing 'em.

[masterthes]

With the exception of Book 9, after book 6 the story really started to slow, not that Crown of Swords wasn't bad, but it was a major let down after Lord of Chaos, and I'm not even going to comment about Path of Daggers (leaving out Mat entirely would have been punishment enough, but nooooo...). Like I said, in Book 9 he did redeem himself and so far Crossroads of Twilight isn't that bad (I'm on the Perrin chapters now btw). I say give at least the first half of the series a shot Matt and then go from there.

[Bladicus]

Robert Jordan originally planned a 6 book series then it got bumped to 12 due to the MASSIVE and I Mean MASSIVE paycheck rumored to be 15 20 mil a book if not more. He has the story complete and it will be finished and published hopefully before he dies do to his terminal cancer. If he does pass on before its done they will be published in his name by his children intact and unedited.

[masterthes]

I thought if he dies, he wanted all his notes and things destroyed.

[Bladicus]

He is contractually required to finish the series even upon death. If his notes and stories were destroyrd his family and heirs are liable for breech of contract and required to pay in full all fees paid out since mid 90's (well over 100 mil) mark as it stood last year.

[Arctic]

sources?

latest thing i can find on this is an outdated WOT newsgroup faq:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/sf/robert-jordan-faq/

it seems to say there's nothing wrong with Jordan. :confused

[Josh]

I realized something last night....

I will never read another Wheel of Time Book.

That's how much Book 10 pissed me off.

[Ranthium]

Seems a little late in the game to finally decide that. :lol

[masterthes]

I'm 3 chapters away from finishing the book, and it's not all that bad really. Slightly better than PoD. It helped that I knew ahead of time that the plot wouldn't advance that much, so I wouldn't be too disappointed. I wonder how long before 11 comes out?

[Arctic]

I wonder how long before 11 comes out?

well according to silklantern.com (http://www.silklantern.com/viewtopic.php?topic=3833&forum=7&16) and the Post and Courier staff (http://www.charleston.net/stories/020903/art_09jordan.shtml)(great but long article):

from silklantern.com
Post and Courier staff writer Bill Thompson reports that "The 11th book, thus far untitled, is due out in late 2004, or perhaps early 2005. Meanwhile, Jordan is at work expanding an earlier tale." This earlier tale is A New Spring, the story of the bonding of Lan and Moiraine, which was published in shorter form in Robert Silverberg's Legends anthology. About A New Spring, Jordan says, "It's in progress now. I hope to have it finished in a few more months."

In addition, Jordan says, "I have just had an option offered from a production company called Manetheren Films, which was spawned for the purpose of producing the books as a miniseries or a series of miniseries on some place like HBO or the SciFi Channel. We'll see how it goes. It won't be the first time that someone has bought an option. NBC bought an option, then all the people involved in buying it went elsewhere. But the check cleared."

UPDATE 17-Feb-2003: Wheel of Time fan site dragonmount.com reports that the company Jordan mentioned, Manetheren Films, has changed its name to Forsaken, Inc. According to the report,

Eben McGarr and his E.M. Partnership have formed Forsaken Films with the

express intent to Produce or Co-Produce fantasy related genre entertainment. Forsaken Films has signed an exclusive option to produce the first novel of author Robert Jordan’s best selling fantasy series, The Wheel of Time.
The first in the series of Television and Feature Film product to be produced from this Franchise deal will be based on Jordan's best selling novel, The Eye of the World (Tor).

Forsaken has teamed with industry professionals Dzynz Inc. and their film division Filmz by Dzynz to Co-Produce all product.

[masterthes]

Thank you madame bookworm

[Arctic]

all in a day's work, master boobtuberator.

[Josh]

Indeed, thanks Arctic.

The fact that the company keeps changing its name to different WOT related titles though, makes me suspicious of them.

Sounds like a bunch of fanboys without any money or connections to make things happen :(

[fafhrd]

I've read books 1-8 twice over, and I've read 9 and 10 once each. Personally, I believe that the series just gets better and better with each book. And I believe that the 10th Book, Crossroads of Twilight, actually IS a very good book- it sets up what probably will be Tarmon Gai'don, or The Final Battle. Politically, it really moves the plot forwards, especially in terms of what Rand actually does in the books (I really don't want to spoil it for you folks...). What happens with Egwene at the end of the book also leads me to believe that the Tar Valon situation will be cleared up in the next book as well.

Robert Jordan never said that the series would be anything but long, and I prefer it that way. Sure, the action sometimes slows down, but the politics and the character development never does. Some folks just want to see the nonstop action of Perrin in the Two Rivers and the wars Rand had against the Shaido, but you can't always get that, 24/7. I will concede that books 8 and 9 could probably have been put together, but I'm not going to quibble.

And as for The Wheel of Time being a ripoff of anything, before someone says that it's a ripoff of Star Wars don't forget that George Lucas himself ripped off Kurosawa, and Tolkien had a ton of mythological tales to work with for Lord of the Rings (which he admitted were some of his inspirations). There's an old saying that "there were only 20 original works of literature created, and everyone has been copying them ever since". I guess it rings true.

Fafhrd

[Josh]

I don't mind politics... enjoy it actually, if it is good. This is just stupid red tape. I mean the Aes Sedai are poised to attack Tar Valon... and they stop to have weeks of meetings instead of doing anything. Very annoying. Bad politics. Silly politics. Politics for the sake of red tape :\ It's like reading about someone's brave fight for their library card.

[fafhrd]

Originally posted by FilmHobbit
I don't mind politics... enjoy it actually, if it is good. This is just stupid red tape. I mean the Aes Sedai are poised to attack Tar Valon... and they stop to have weeks of meetings instead of doing anything. Very annoying. Bad politics. Silly politics. Politics for the sake of red tape :\ It's like reading about someone's brave fight for their library card.

No, it makes sense- after thousands of years of dominating the world, scheming at every corner, and now faced with the problems of Rand, the Forsaken, the Seanchan, and the breaking of Tar Valon, they're all scrambling to pick up the pieces. And all they know how to do best is scheme, and pull strings from afar. It's what they're trained to do; it's what they're bred to do (well, unless you're Cadsuane or Moiraine). If the Aes Sedai created Da'es Daemar, don't you expect them to play it constantly?

Oh, and actually, they didn't stop to have meetings. They stopped because they don't have enough troops to storm Tar Valon yet- they were hoping to gather more troops as they marched towards Tar Valon and besieged it. Plus, Egwene and the others all want to avoid bloodshed if they can- keep in mind, the Last Battle IS coming, and a bloody civil war between the Aes Sedai doesn't help anyone.

Fafhrd

[Devilslad]

Robert Jordan never said that the series would be anything but long


Long is fine if it has a point. I didnt hate CoT as much as I thought I did after some time away from it, but for pete's sake why do we need a whole chapter on a bath and clothing selection? I really dont care how the clothing was put together.

Devilslad

[Josh]

I agree Devil.