Well, after four years and the passing away of Robert Jordan, the new Wheel of Time book came out a few weeks ago. Anybody reading it?
Please don’t post any spoilers, I just ordered it yesterday…
After several years of off again, on again reading, I’m about halfway through book 6. I’ve got a way to go before I’m ready for the last one. Actually, I heard the “last” book is actually gonna be 2 or 3 books.
Where would y’all rank this series with Lord of the Rings? I’ve read LOTR every year for about 10 years now. I’ve been looking for another series to try out.
In some ways there’s a lot of the “mythology” and general story line of LOTR and a lot of other fantasy books I’ve read. I’d say WOT is definitely more sprawling, with more characters and story lines to follow. I think in general the character development is good…at least it keeps me coming back. The story seems to be more slow moving, but there are plenty of action moments. I found it to be a great time killer after my heart attack, when all I could do was sit on the couch and read for hours at a time. Highly recommended flor winter reading beside the wood stove…oh, wait, you’re in TX…OK, by the air conditioner! 
I’m actually reading “The Gathering Storm” right now.
So far, so good. Much better than books 6-11, which were just painfully dull and empty.
The writing style changed with the author, but characters and story lines remain. Oh, and he doesn’t describe clothing on each person for 5 pages like Jordan did 
Science Fiction and Fantasy is my thing when it comes to reading, but for some reason I’ve never found the time for this series. I’m well aware of it - several friends in the past raved about it and I worked in a bookstore during college. Maybe it was the size of each volume, or just the number of them - anything more than 6 six books and you’ve probably lost me. I also have a lot less time to read nowdays, with a young family. I can barely get BYO finished before the next issue arrives.
Maybe someday, it will make it into the rotation…
I bought it specifically because it was 12+ volumes of around 1K pages each. I figured that I wouldn’t have to wonder about what to read for a long time!
I do love my SF reading (that’s ‘speculative fiction’, folks, and includes fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history / historical fiction), but I was never able to relly get into Jordan. Different strokes, I suppose.
Now, George R.R. Martin and SM Stirling, on the other hand, have a way of keeping me waiting with great anticipation for YEARS for the next installment.
(currently listening to Pournelle/Niven’s Lucifer’s Hammer in the car while commuting)
Wheel of Time books 1-5 are so engaging, it’s unbelievable. Once I started reading, it was almost as addicting as homebrewing.
Books 6-11… the best use for them is in bathroom… when you’re out of toilet paper. That’s my opinion, at least.
12 - so far so good, as I said before.
I started reading the WoT back in about 2000. They were so engaging. The characters were deep, the story fresh, and the world was fleshed out and brought to life in a way that many SF/Fantasy authors fail to do. Then Robert Jordan, God rest his soul, realized that his books were all best sellers and that with every passing volume the size of his bank account grew by exponential numbers. It was 'round about book 6, Lord of Chaos, that he started spending colossal amounts of time describing the events of characters that did not have any relevance to the story. Then around book 7 and 8 he started spending several pages describing the inlay on someones boot, or the floral pattern on someone’s shawl, or they way someone mouth was set just so–as if he had forgotten that we, the constant reader, had an ability to visualize what people looked like, how they were dressed, and what their expressions would be given a certain situation. That all culminated in book 10, the Crossroad of Twilight, the entirety of which is spent describing the clothes, facial expressions, and general attitudes of characters we did not care about and had little or no bearing on the story. Not to mention that not a goddamn thing happens ( I would strongly recommend reading a summary of book 10 on wikipedia or some such, because the time you will spend agonizing over the 850 page volume could be spent doing something much more engrossing and worth while…like home brewing!) I’m in book 11 now and so far things have taken a turn for the better. I hope it carries through into the final volume. Mr. Jordan left Sanderson a mess, with plots and sub-plots (and sub-sub-plots), and I hope he’s up to the challenge. I would hate to have wasted 10 years of my life for a lousy ending.
Read The Song of Ice and Fire. Now those books are phenomenal.
I’ve been looking for another book series to read and this sounds like a good one. Perhaps I should start with books 1-5 and call it a day. Like many other series, the first books in the series are the best such as the “Mission Earth” series and the Patrick O’Brien “Master and Commander” series. Both of those turned into painfully, mind-numbing boring books.
If you’re going to read the series, I would say buckle down and read it all. There will be times when you wonder why you’re doing it…but persevere. This thing is going to end and when it does, you’ll be glad you read it. I may complain about the books a lot ( I think I had a smart alec think to say every couple of pages during book 10) but I’ll be glad to say I completed it.
For a fun thing though, I saw this on Amazon.
The Wheel of Time drinking game:
Are you reading about a character that has no bearing on the story? Take a drink
Do you know what color the embroidery is on a character’s shirt? Take a drink
Did someone twitch their shawl? Take 2 drinks
Although this may be a bad idea. You’d be permanently pissed and never make it though any book beyond book 7!
If you are looking for a good series, DO NOT pass up Lonesome Dove. This is the series that actually got me reading. Seriously.
I just got done with “Wild Fire”, by Nelson DeMille. Pretty good read, and right now I am halfway thorough Tsar, by Ted Bell. I’ve got 3 more lined up after that. Been on a roll lately. I hit the discount stores, and snag the overstocks for 2 & 3 bucks. Beats 25-30 at Boarders.
I’ve read the first two Lonesome Dove books. Are there more? That miniseries is my favorite of all time.
Lonesome Dove, Comanche Moon, Dead Man’s Walk, and Streets of Laredo. In that order IIRC.
If you like Fantasy and humor/satire, read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels.
You’ll wet yourself with laughter as well as interesting storylines.
I’ve got the entire Louis L’Amour paperback series I inherited from my dad. I think they are called the Frontier series. Must be about 75 of them. I need to get started :
David Eddings ‘The Belgariad’ and ‘The Malloreon’ are a great series. I consider it one series because they have the same characters and same general story arc. Each one has 5 books in the series - the first time I read them, I burned through all ten in a row and was left wanting more and relieved it was over. I think that’s what may have turned me sour on series that have more than 6 books, unless each book can stand by itself (like Piers Anthony’s Xanth series).
I’ll have to re-visit The Belgariad soon, my wife has read all 10 at least twice since I introduced them to her. I haven’t re-read them in about 15 years.
Great choice! Even though the Belgariad is 20+ years old, it’s still a great choice. I re-read it a few years ago. it was interesting to see how differently I felt about some of the characters now compared to when I was a teenager.
Here are a few more great sf series I’ve read and enjoyed the hell out of:
Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Saga (the first book is Magician: Apprentice
Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders (starts with Ship of Magic) and Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice)
Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars series (Red Mars starts it off)
Jacqueline Carey’s Legacy series, which starts with Kushiel’s Dart
There’s a good six months of reading in that list, if not more. Enjoy!
I absolutely loved Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars series, and not because we share the same last name :D At times through the second and third books, it gets a little tedious and the plot moves slow but worthwhile when you reach the end. It seems to be a trend with some of his stuff (Antarctica, Icehenge, The Years of Rice and Salt) - he seems to get bogged down and the plot slows somewhere in the last third to last quarter of the story - IMO anyway.