Wheel of Time S3

[Parmandur]

It’s interesting that the weight of evidence and repeated ‘rules’ of the setting that exist create these amazing moments when main characters turns those rules on their head. There are many examples but it is amazingly powerful and always done sensitively and powerfully.

Brandon Sanderson is known for his Laws of Magic, but it is pretty clear Jordan's influence on him is strong on that front.

 

[TheSword]

IMO, one of the issues with The Slog is the intercut narrarive: I think a book of all Perron POV chapters from books 7-11 would flow better, or omw of all of Mat's chapters. By being entirely intercut, each plot just moves that much slower...when they are all actually moving to a goal, Zeno's Paradox style.

For the record the slog is far less painful on audiobook. The narrators for the WOT audiobooks are great!

 

[Parmandur]

For the record the slog is far less painful on audiobook. The narrators for the WOT audiobooks are great!

I agree, having done both. I enjoy the whole Slog, as prose styling.

Still, Crossroads of Twilight could have been an email.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Yeah, that doesn't really pick up fully until book 11, unfortunately: but when it does, it does so with a vengence.

As @Demetrios1453 alides to, without spoilers...in Robert Jordan's original "I think I can do this in 3 novels outline, the end of the first projected novel ended up being the climax of The Dragon Revorn, while the projected end of book 2 ended up being that of Winter's Heart. So, technically, arc wise Winters Heart is the fairly decisive conclusion of Act II, and books 10-14 were what Jordan thought he could do in a third novel.

Outlines were not his strong suit.

When your wife is also your editor, persuading your editor that she really should keep the cuts to the minimum might result in some overly-long books...

 

[Parmandur]

When your wife is also your editor, persuading your editor that she really should keep the cuts to the minimum might result in some overly-long books...

Honestly, it is less that his books needed a trim, and more that he should have slowed down the publication rate to figure out the next steps rather than simply writing through them and publishing as he went. I do like the results, though, and unlike my College self after reading Crossroads of Twilight when it was new...looking back I don't think it was cynically milking the series, just not being the world's greatest planner.

Though Jordan's chronology was immaculate, even Gygaxian. Cycles of the moon and exact dates were meticulous until Sanderson took over, who is better at outlining but not as detail oriented as Jordan was.

 

[Maxperson]

Wow. Just watched all of episode 4 on a proper TV and not my phone. I feel like the series has just hit its first of what I like to call ‘moments of awesome’. Parts of the story where all the details come together into these epic climaxes of storytelling. WoT has many of them. It will be interesting to see how many of them work on the screen.

Yeah. So far this season has been very good. The only moment I've felt of of WTH(and it's minor, because they can and probably will fix it), is Matt not being at Rhuidean. The ter'angreal prophesies and ashandarei are very important to the story.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Yeah. So far this season has been very good. The only moment I've felt of of WTH(and it's minor, because they can and probably will fix it), is Matt not being at Rhuidean. The ter'angreal prophesies and ashandarei are very important to the story.

We know from Min's vision those will happen at some point, probably in Tanchico.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Honestly, it is less that his books needed a trim, and more that he should have slowed down the publication rate to figure out the next steps rather than simply writing through them and publishing as he went. I do like the results, though, and unlike my College self after reading Crossroads of Twilight when it was new...looking back I don't think it was cynically milking the series, just not being the world's greatest planner.

Though Jordan's chronology was immaculate, even Gygaxian. Cycles of the moon and exact dates were meticulous until Sanderson took over, who is better at outlining but not as detail oriented as Jordan was.

I don't think he was milking it either, just that they could have trimmed a bit of the fat...

 

[Parmandur]

I don't think he was milking it either, just that they could have trimmed a bit of the fat...

Less a trim and more a total reorganization, less length and more structural redesign.

But, the text is as it is, warts and all.

 

[Maxperson]

We know from Min's vision those will happen at some point, probably in Tanchico.

I wonder if they are going to merge the two ter'angreal in his story.