Path of Daggers and Winter's Heart were the biggest slogs for me, they were just so pointless and should have been edited down to 1 book at the most.
Books Wheel of Time
- Thread starter Count Duckula
- Start date
Which books are your favorite. Number 1,2,3,4,5 ?
Jordan really lost the impetus from 8 until his untimely death, never looked into it but always wondered if he knew he was dying, or if he was getting more sick with something.
Things gain a lot more momentum when Brandon Sanderson takes over writing duties using the notes Jordan left behind.
Ok I finally got going again and have just finished Knife of Dreams (11)
9 and 10 were indeed even worse and the only credit I can give them is that they went some way to setting things up for 11 (and presumably onwards) and the change of pace in 11 and actual meaningful events happening after nothing for two books made 11 a really enjoyable read.
Sorry I did see this at the time but I’d like to refrain until I have finished the series before answering
I’m about to start Sanderson’s work now so very excited for that although can anyone tell me whether it’s worth reading 12.5 in order or as it’s a prequel can it be enjoyed after 14? I’m wondering if it will enriches the final 3 if I do read it.
New Spring? Can be read anytime after book 10.Ok I finally got going again and have just finished Knife of Dreams (11)
9 and 10 were indeed even worse and the only credit I can give them is that they went some way to setting things up for 11 (and presumably onwards) and the change of pace in 11 and actual meaningful events happening after nothing for two books made 11 a really enjoyable read.
Sorry I did see this at the time but I’d like to refrain until I have finished the series before answering
I’m about to start Sanderson’s work now so very excited for that although can anyone tell me whether it’s worth reading 12.5 in order or as it’s a prequel can it be enjoyed after 14? I’m wondering if it will enriches the final 3 if I do read it.
Does it add anything if I read it before 12-14? Or can I read it after and enjoy all four just as much?
Just more context to Moiraine and Lan's relationship - how they met, the circumstances surrounding Lan getting bonded, and the path that they got set on
Ah that sounds good actually. Lan is one of the more interesting characters for me at least with the snippets of his backstory and Nyaneve has just started rounding up his old countrymen so maybe adds some context to that (although I’d prefer if you didn’t confirm!)
The prequel is best read after the 7th book or so, cause it introduces some characters that are important in the main books. I read it after book 11, so before starting Sanderson’s book. I enjoyed it a lot, definitely more than books 8-11. If you like Moiraine and Lan, it is a must read.Ok I finally got going again and have just finished Knife of Dreams (11)
9 and 10 were indeed even worse and the only credit I can give them is that they went some way to setting things up for 11 (and presumably onwards) and the change of pace in 11 and actual meaningful events happening after nothing for two books made 11 a really enjoyable read.
Sorry I did see this at the time but I’d like to refrain until I have finished the series before answering
I’m about to start Sanderson’s work now so very excited for that although can anyone tell me whether it’s worth reading 12.5 in order or as it’s a prequel can it be enjoyed after 14? I’m wondering if it will enriches the final 3 if I do read it.
I’ve just finished 11 so at the same point you were. 8-10 were really tough to get through but I really enjoyed 11.
Yep, I would say read it now. It is also fairly short compared to the main books, and you get better understanding on the characters of Moiraine and Lan and their motives.
I do not think it serves any purpose reading it after the main series.
I have read Brandon Sanderson did an amazing job. Was he any worse than RJ’s 10 and 11?
I would have books 12 and 14 in top 5 of Wheel of Time books, heck 12 is my second favorite after book 5.
13 is almost RJ’s 8-11 bad as in almost entirely pointless though.
Why you have this username but haven’t finished the series?
I did a re-read of the full series last year and Sanderson definitely did a good job, although this time through there were definitely moments that I would love to read in RJs style.
Is it possible to read just 5, 12, 14?
I cannot get my head around starting such a long line of books with well reported not so good ones inbetween.
I have read the first two so maybe not totally clueless when skipping.
Nope, you won’t understand much if you just read those 3.
I think most of Wheel of Time books are from very good to great. I would say that 5 and 12 are some of the best fantasy books ever written, with 1, 4, 12 also being great, and 2, 3, 6 and to some degree 7 also very good. 8, 9, 10, 11 are a bit shot though, and 13 was almost pointless.
So 9 out of 14 are really good books. I guess a workaround would be to read those books, but probably just read a summarization of 8-11, maybe that is what I’ll do if I’ll ever decide to rewrite them.
Cheers.
You can probably skim read the not so good books. The way there are structured makes it very easy to do so. I skim read them before the tv show came out to refamiiarise. Shouldn’t have bothered as the tv show just does its own thing.
Even though he's heavily inspired by Jordan, I'm just gonna say it. Brandon is a superior writer in every way. He does his best with what he's given for the most part. Its not perfect but I'd say he probably has the best books post 1-5 especially given what he had to work with.
He's kinda hamstrung by some OP characters and one of the EF 3 kinda gets shafted by this but his books are among the best in the series.
Brandon is generally so organised and such a strong planner he doesn't get lost the way guys like RJ and GRRM do.
I'm actually hoping that if GRRM doesn't get his finger out and finish the books that they bring Sanderson in.
I'd love that but not sure Brandon could mimic the style and he's openly said he wouldn't be interested cause ASOIF is too explicit for his style. Something to do with him being a Mormon.
I wonder if he could write the last books without them being too explicit, especially since they should be heading more into a war phase.
I think he'd do well with the combat but there would need to be a huge toning down of other stuff. He has some great ideas in WoT with portals and canons and stuff Jordan would never think of which was cool. He's very good at using existing stuff in unique ways.
Found the reddit thread where he spoke about finishing Thrones, reading it again seems he just doesn't like it. Quite harsh on it.
Fair enough, bit of a shame.
But in all honesty I don't see GRRM ever letting anyone else finish things off for him, his ego is too big and even though I don't think he will write them to a conclusion I also don't think he would ever acknowledge that publicly.
For sure. I don't think we'll ever see the end of asoif sadly. Even if we get wow we won't get a dream of spring.
Sanderson is mormon and often doesn't write explicit or sexual scenes, or scenes as violent as the audience would expect from asoiaf.
Edit: I've basically echoed someone earlier, should have scrolled further up
No way. I also like Sanderson, but he is so extremely different from GRRM that bringing him to finish the series would make no sense and ruin it. GRRM is all about characters, dialogue, politics, scheming, and strategy, and it has very good writing. The characters are very complex and quite multi-dimensional. The magic while important plays a small role.
Sanderson, like Jordan, is more about the big story, the magic, and the battles. The characters for the most part are not that deep, and frankly, quite one-dimensional. There are some exceptions, Kelsier in Mistborn, or Dalinar in Stormlight, which also happens to be some of his best characters, but their depth is nowhere near the level of some of GRRM's characters. The writing is also relatively simple, the dialogues also simple, and the worlds do not have the massive backstory of those of Martin (not even of those of Jordan). The political scheming is so juvenile.
I do not think there is anyone close to Martin that would be able to do justice to ASOIAF, but the closest I can think of are Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck as a combo. If not them, then Joe Abercrombie could be a good choice, and while he is a Martin-lite, his characters are much more cynical than those of Martin. Then there are the likes of Mark Lawrence, R. Scott Bakker who could also be interesting choices. All of them are character-focused, low in magic.
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Joe Abercrombie was one I was thinking of last night actually, there's another one who's name escapes me at the minute who wrote some grim dark type books who could be an interesting choice, think his first name was Anthony, but I need to try and search it out.
I wonder as a complete left-field option if Robin Hobb could have written these books, not sure if she was quite right but some of the stuff in the Farseer triology was quite dark and they were arguably based on a similar ish period of time. Long time since I read them so the memory may be clouded, and don't think she has the experience of writing battles.
Anthony Ryan?
His first book was top notch but looks like it was a one off. He screwed his trilogy.
Hobb is great but almost as old as Martin. And while she writes good characters, especially female ones, they’re mostly nice, unlike Martin’s.
Don't want to derail the thread, but i keep reading/hearing this. These two couldn't be further apart, and simply because they both do "grimdark" doesn't make them a good fit for each other. On one hand, you have a meticulous plotter who works with thoroughly detailed outlines in Abercrombie while, on the other, you have an all-in pantser writer (he calls himself a "gardener") who likes to watch his characters grow through numerous tribulations in George Martin.
The way i see it, Martin's "problem", as a "gardener", is threefold: a) His plots are so ridiculously spread out, that it seems a Herculean task to tie everything up and bring it to a close with a nice, big finale in Kingslanding. b) The big meta mystery which is supposed to be a catalyst and set things in motion is long solved. c) Let's be honest, the ending of the show was the one (or very close) Martin himself had in mind. And it was universally panned.
Abercrombie's strength lies in the fact that his novels are "tight". You know that every word uttered by the characters is there for a reason, and everything is in its right place. The beauty in Martin's text is that, at its best and unlike JA, feels "organic". But it does a world of good to trim your garden now and then. ASOIAF is now at a point Abercrombie would have never allowed it to reach. And people shit on the WoT middle books, but Robert Jordan (after doing the mistake) actually sat his arse down and tried to wrap it up, so that Sanderson could provide the series with an ending.
Finally finished it!
I read books 4 onwards via audiobook and last night I was picking it up a couple of hours into The Last Battle and ended up listening right through until 3am to finish it because I was so hooked.
I actually usually find battles a bit boring but it was just superb, the amount of twists and turns. It was kinda helped by the fact I was on the verge of sleep for a lot of it and almost semi-lucid yet managed to not drop off completely.
My main criticism of the series as a whole is the major lack of jeopardy but that was blown out of the water in that chapter.
I read books 4 onwards via audiobook and last night I was picking it up a couple of hours into The Last Battle and ended up listening right through until 3am to finish it because I was so hooked.
I actually usually find battles a bit boring but it was just superb, the amount of twists and turns. It was kinda helped by the fact I was on the verge of sleep for a lot of it and almost semi-lucid yet managed to not drop off completely.
My main criticism of the series as a whole is the major lack of jeopardy but that was blown out of the water in that chapter.
The big chapter in the last Battle is amazing. I think I also stayed until early morning or so to finish it.
Egwene moment had me in tears.
Same. Read it through the night.
Yeah that was tough, I think Suane Sanche was the first shock for me because as mentioned in my previous post there was no real jeopardy in the series up until that point. Then Gawyn shortly after, then seemingly Galad, then Lan although his would be death was bad ass. Then suddenly Elayne is about to be raped and murdered and her babies cut out (which still fit with Min’s prophecy). It was just brutal.
Egwane’s death was easily predicted though as she seemed hell bent on becoming a martyr and being remembered as one of the great Amyrlin and as soon as Gawyn died it was inevitable.
The ending was interesting, specifically Rand having control of the world without access to the one/true power
Egwane’s death was easily predicted though as she seemed hell bent on becoming a martyr and being remembered as one of the great Amyrlin and as soon as Gawyn died it was inevitable.
The ending was interesting, specifically Rand having control of the world without access to the one/true power