[brian.clay]

I first read Eye of the World way back in 1991; this has been a very long trip. I still rush out to the bookstore the day the new ones hit the shelves and as soon as I finish reading it I am eagerly awaiting the next one.

Over the years I have turned many friends and family on to the series and after Fires of Heaven many started screaming and whining about too many plot threads, too many characters, too many books, and he will never finish it.

For me Jordan has earned my trust and I trust him to finish the story he started and finish it in the way that he intended. I reserve the right to criticize the volume of the work when he has finished, until then I will just wait for each book to come out and see how the story advances. While many who have become frustrated with Jordan will say that I am being naïve, or duped into the vast money hungry scheme of Robert Jordan, that is their right to say.

Now I am going to dip my toe into the “Jordan betrayed me” world not to add my voice to the choir but to point out some of the problems that Jordan has created.

Somewhere along the way Jordan stopped putting effort into framing his books. I think that this is why many of the recent books have been attacked so much. There is no clear beginning and in many cases no clear ending. While they all have some kind of cliff hanger to leave us slobbering for the next book that really doesn’t mean that the book as a solid ending.

The Wheel of Time has elements of many books that have come before it, is truly unlike any other writing project. It is a massive effort and it requires a huge commitment from not just Jordan but from the readers too. In this day of instant gratification people want the gist of the story/plot/characters wrapped up in a neat little bow. I sometimes wonder if Jordan is writing more for an audience of readers that are from a time before TV, readers that would sit in the living room reading aloud to the family.

Something that drives me crazy are the people that attack the recent books by saying “He could have written the last four books into one book and it would have been better.” or even better than that is the “I could have written the last four books in one book”. Jordan’s style is to spend time with his characters and show use the world they are interacting with. He uses a lot of words to relay this information; he also spends time on adjusting the dialog for each character. While I am sure any one with a passing understanding of the English language could take the gist of the last four books and write it out into a single double spaced page, but that would not be a story and certainly not the story that Jordan is telling.

I am not attempting to change anyone’s mind or feelings on the Wheel of Time books. I am simply rambling on about some of my thoughts on the matter.

Oh and a little trick I picked up right before Lord of Chaos, I reread the entire series before the new book comes out. I have actually got it worked out so that I can measure the distance to the official release and will have finished the last book a few days before the new book comes out. I find that doing this pulls the story together better than if I just read the new one, it adds to the enjoyment.

[Final07]

I agree with everything you just said brian....though I've not lived long enough to read Jordan when the WoT first came out. :p KoD is the first book of the WoT that I had to wait for, and I'm finding it very trying. I'm just reading a lot of other books and rereading a bit of the WoT............ :eek: I know. WoT is still a great series to read.....not the best I will admit, but still a great story. :)

[Evil Agent]

I have been known to dip my feet into the 'Jordan betrayed me' world, but only after I had caught up with the series.

For the first 8 books I was more enrapped in the series than almost any other series I've ever read. Especially between books 2-6. There was something about the mythology, and Rand/Lews Therin, and the Forsaken, and the Age of Legends that just thrilled me down to the core!

After catching up, and waiting for books 9 and 10, the excitement faded. Yes the last couple books have less structure, and gone are the amazing climactic scenes (except for maybe in book 9, with the Forsaken at the end) but I don't even think that's the real problem, The problem may be, simply, waiting and waiting and then getting what is ultimately just a small step forward in the series with each book. I'm pretty excited that it's down to the 2nd last one now, and I'm hoping that Jordan can somehow bring back the excitement for me. I need more Rand, when Rand started taking long absences from the story, I think Jordan made his first and biggest mistake.

[brian.clay]

I am going to be super arrogant and make a big presumption. While Rand is THE Dragon, I think from Jordan’s perspective the other characters are just as important to the fate of Rand-land. So I think that he feels the need to spend as much time with each of them.

I remember when he started leaving characters out for an entire book, it drove me crazy, granted it was most because it was Perrin and he is my favorite character. I have gotten used to it now and I don’t take it as a personal affront when a beloved character doesn’t take center stage.

[Matrim]

First of all, credit goes to you for reading the Wheel of Time for so much time and still not feel bitterly dissapointed by it. I started reading it in 2001 and I have only had to wait for CoT so I don't think I can blame only the delays between the books. Apart from the lack of clear beginning and ending, last few books resolved way too few plot threads compared to the first five or six. I can't remember many plotines that spanned into few consecutive books in EotW - LoC. Most of the times the resolution of the plotline happened in the same book as its introduction. In the last volumes and especially in Crossroads of Twilight the characters spend way too much time talking or thinking what are they going to do as opposed to actually doing something. And desribing the same things for umpteenth time doesn't help advance the plot. :)

Possible Spoilers!


If The Dragon reborn was written in the same way as Crossroads of Twilight, Mat would probably still be wondering how to leave Tar Valon, Rand would still be travelling to Tear, thinking of a plan for action, Nynaeve and co would still be searching in vain for the Black Ajah in the Tower, Moirane and Perrin would probably be stopping in every other town to buy food which activity would of course be described in great detail.


And I still think the last four books might have been just two. The Perrin plotline is so painfully stetched that I am wondering how it stays in one piece :), the Elayne plotline does not deserve so many pages and so on. Compare the number of important events in the earlier books and those in the latter ones and you will see what I mean. There are way too many characters (does anyone remember even the names of all the Aes Sedai?), too many unresolved sub-plots, too long descriptions. Jordan badly needs an editor who is not his wife. I still love the series, I critisize it much because it pains me to see something that was so great take a sharp turn for the worse.

[pennywise86]

His wife is his editor?

[Matrim]

His wife is his editor?

Yes. I suspect she is his co-writer too, helps him with all the desription of dresses and stuff. :)

[clockwirk]

I hear a lot of Jordan fans saying that you can't judge a series until it's finished and while I agree with that saying, I can't imagine a situation where Jordan finishes it and I am not disappointed with the series as a whole. Even if Jordan wrote the most mind blowing, loose end-tying ending ever, it wouldn't change my opinion that the whole thing seriously boggs down in books 7-10.

[Final07]

I think that the ending will be mindblowing, Jordan can take the ending so many ways. While everyone may think the WoT is predictable, I think that there will be an ending that will be very unexpected... ;) I agree with a lot Mat said, the Elyane storyline is just straight boring. Perrin's storyline was one of the most interesting(around books 3-4), but now his storyline is unbearable...Not to metion the increasing absence of Rand. :mad: I miss him a lot, but his character is starting to get very annoying. The only books that are really bad IMO are books eight and ten. Maybe even seven, but if so, barely. But books seven and eight had their moments. But ten was just horrible, I couldn't even read the whole prolouge, I just skimmed the book and read Mat's part. :cool: