The Wheel of Time

LuFins Dad · wrote on 19 Jul 2020, 23:20

Never read them. Always meant to, heard good things, but there was always something else that caught my attention. Well, with the TV show coming and my having an extra audible credit, I figured it was time. So I just finished the first book and I have to say that I am less than impressed. It was okay, and there were certainly good parts, but nowhere near as good as what I was led to expect. The journey part of the book became waaaay too long, repetitive, and boring. 42 hours of the journey, then they run the climax and finale in an hour.

So before I invest more hours into this, does it improve?

George K · wrote on 19 Jul 2020, 23:23

Thanks for the ~~warning~~ heads-up. I've been thinking about this one. Based on what you say, I'll pass.

Doctor Phibes · wrote on 20 Jul 2020, 00:33

The first 6 or 7 are really, really good. At least, I liked them. After that, he started to lose control of the story - too many threads, too many characters. It's very Tolkien influenced, so if you don't like LOTR (I used to be fanatical about it), don't bother.

I read the first 7 in the 90's when I was stuck in a bed-and-breakfast place with work for 4 months, with absolutely nothing to do - this was before the days of broadband. They were perfect for that situation. I loved the majority of the books, but never actually managed to finish the last one.

Aqua Letifer · wrote on 20 Jul 2020, 01:10

I agree about the first 6-7. That's really the meat of it IMO.

George K · wrote on 20 Jul 2020, 01:23

Does the story actually end after the first book?

I mean that in the sense that, "OK, I read this book, and I'm satisfied with the conclusion. Yeah, I'll look forward to further adventures, but I'm satisfied if I'm done with this one."

I remember reading the "We Are Bob" books and at the end of the first book ... what the living hell? You didn't finish the book, you just ended on a cliffhanger. I hated that.

Spoiler so Phibes doesn't see it.

:::

I felt the same way about The Gap series. Yeah, it's a pretty good tale, but it never ends until the final book, and that ending is rushed.

:::

Aqua Letifer · wrote on 20 Jul 2020, 01:26

In my opinion, it's 80% resolved by the end of each book, 20% setup for the next one.

LuFins Dad · wrote on 20 Jul 2020, 01:50

Is #2 better than #1? #1 was close to being okay,
even with Troy McClure narrating, but I don’t know that I want to dedicate another 50 hours to it if it isn’t a little better.

Doctor Phibes · wrote on 20 Jul 2020, 01:56

They're not really cliffhanger books, but there is a long, long main story.

It's a long time ago but I seem to think I wasn't mad keen on the first book, I thought they improved.

LuFins Dad · wrote on 30 Jul 2020, 14:12

Went ahead and got the second book based on Aqua and Phibes generally positive reviews. It’s much better. I am still only halfway through, but it is much better so far.

LuFins Dad · 6 Aug 2020, 23:55

Ok, through book 2 it was much better. Book 3 is off to a good start.

George K · wrote on 6 Aug 2020, 23:55

@LuFins-Dad said in The Wheel of Time:

Ok, through book 2 it was much better. Book 3 is off to a good start.

Thanks for the update.

I'm about halfway through my re-read of "Dune" and, frankly, I'm finding it a bit tiresome. Perhaps it's because I'm already familiar with the characters, the "Dune Universe" etc. I found that all so amazing back in 1980 (or so). Now, not so much.

Thinking about giving up on it.

LuFins Dad · 7 Aug 2020, 00:13

Have you read the stuff written by Herbert’s son and Kevin Anderson? I came to like some of those better than the original Dune books. Dune was great. Dune Messiah was okay, but by the time you got to Children and God Emperor, it was all downhill. But the Butlerian Jihad and The Machine Crusade were decent reads and laid a nice foundation for Dune.

George K · 7 Aug 2020, 01:45

@LuFins-Dad said in The Wheel of Time:

Have you read the stuff written by Herbert’s son and Kevin Anderson? I came to like some of those better than the original Dune books. Dune was great. Dune Messiah was okay, but by the time you got to Children and God Emperor, it was all downhill. But the Butlerian Jihad and The Machine Crusade were decent reads and laid a nice foundation for Dune.

No, I haven't. I really got fed up with the Dune sequels. The whole messianic stuff grated on me and I gave up (though I don't remember on which book).

If the prequels are good, I might give them a shot.

What I loved about "Dune" was the world-building - a whole society and universe totally invented, unlike anything I'd read before. I should explore those.

Aqua Letifer · wrote on 7 Aug 2020, 01:45

@George-K said in The Wheel of Time:

What I loved about "Dune" was the world-building - a whole society and universe totally invented, unlike anything I'd read before. I should explore those.

William Gibson's really good at that, too. I'm also fairly certain he did an X-files episode or two.

LuFins Dad · 26 Aug 2020, 01:51

@George-K Get the books. I am up to The Shadow Rising and am engrossed. I think you will like it, just bear with the first book...

George K · 26 Aug 2020, 02:22

@LuFins-Dad said in The Wheel of Time:

@George-K Get the books. I am up to The Shadow Rising and am engrossed. I think you will like it, just bear with the first book...

Thanks LuFins-Dad!

What with the crappy weather (too hot!), I'm way behind on my audio reading. The "Full Cast" recording of Dune is wearing thin, and I'm up to the part where Paul Muad'dib is in the desert with his mother, and she's going to teach the "weirding ways" to Stilgar.

It was at this point that I remember I got bored with the first book. This is where it all started to get a bit to messianic for my taste.

I think I'll give up after another hour or so, unless it really engrosses me again, though I'm not optimistic (see my "Have you ever given up on a book" comments).

If WoT is that good, I'm willing to give it a shot, with the understanding that the first book is a "meh."

Thanks for the update.

LuFins Dad · wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 02:22

@George-K What pushed me over the edge to try it is the Amazon Prime series. I will probably watch it, but didn’t want my opinion shaped by the series.

LuFins Dad · wrote on 20 Jan 2021, 14:30

@Aqua-Letifer @Doctor-Phibes Okay, just finished Knife of Dreams. I can only assume that Jordan received his diagnosis sometime in the middle of writing this book? There were like 10 long running storylines that were resolved very quickly and suddenly. In some cases, it felt like they were even abandoned just so he could get to the final story.

LuFins Dad · wrote on 20 Jan 2021, 15:16

By the way, this series was definitely better as an audio book than on the written page. As I was cleaning out my office, I found that I had a copy of Wheel of Time that I had started years ago but abandoned due to all of the strange spellings. I always hated when fantasy authors just add a whole bunch of letters and apostrophes to make names and places sound more exotic...

George K · 21 Nov 2021, 22:05

Premiered this weekend. I guess they dropped the first three episodes.

Anyone see it yet?

Reviews, for what it's worth, are mixed.

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The Wheel of Time