Wheel of Time Discussion - Spoilers(with book spoilers)

[Parmandur]

I liked the first book, but that wasn't enough to keep going. He, like Martin, needed an editor very badly. I stopped in book 4 or 5, as TO ME, it seemed nothing was happening at all. To me it was just the same scenes/story over and over. That said, I remember almost nothing from the books, so who knows, I could be wrong....

My point being, liking his prose wasn't enough for me, and for a lot of people that quit about where I did in the story.

I can see that: however, most I know who tried either bounced off Eye of the World hard or went the distance.

 

[Mercurius]

It wasn't simply that Jordan needed an editor, its that he originally planned WoT to be five books and when it took off, his publisher said, "More, please." So I think it is a combination of both factors: The publisher asking for more (and him reaping the financial rewards) and his generally long-winded style and obsessive attention to detail and minutia.

 

[Maxperson]

Wow, folks made a big deal of that?

It was the frequency, more than the act itself. We all have things we do when nervous or angry, but we don't do them any times. Nynaeve did tug the braid almost any time, and it got to the point where it detracted a bit from her anger at the situation. Especially when Jordan would add a qualifier to it like, "Naeneve tugged at her braid furiously." giving me the image her yanking on it repeatedly and hard, making her head move around.

Did it get annoying? A little bit. It wasn't a major deal, but it was noticeable.

 

[Parmandur]

It wasn't simply that Jordan needed an editor, its that he originally planned WoT to be five books and when it took off, his publisher said, "More, please." So I think it is a combination of both factors: The publisher asking for more (and him reaping the financial rewards) and his generally long-winded style and obsessive attention to detail and minutia.

I heard him speak at a book signing once: he spoke exactly like he wrote, and his anecdotal sharing was structured exactly like his novels: slow and languid with an eye to detail, but with a strong punchline.

Having met t George R. R. Martin and Terry Pratchett under similar circumstances, I can say that those three writers all speak exactly the same way they write, and I strongly suspect this pattern would hold for most good writers.

 

[Maxperson]

I heard him speak at a book signing once: he spoke exactly like he wrote, and his anecdotal sharing was structured exactly like his novels: slow and languid with an eye to detail, but with a strong punchline.

Having met t George R. R. Martin and Terry Pratchett under similar circumstances, I can say that those three writers all speak exactly the same way they write, and I strongly suspect this pattern would hold for most good writers.

I'm jealous! Not about Martin. His inability to finish a book in anything resembling a reasonable amount of time has completely turned me off to him. I'm jealous about Pratchett. If he talked how he wrote, he must have had a brilliant sense of humor.

 

[Mercurius]

I heard him speak at a book signing once: he spoke exactly like he wrote, and his anecdotal sharing was structured exactly like his novels: slow and languid with an eye to detail, but with a strong punchline.

Having met t George R. R. Martin and Terry Pratchett under similar circumstances, I can say that those three writers all speak exactly the same way they write, and I strongly suspect this pattern would hold for most good writers.

Interesting. I also saw Jordan, back in the mid-90s at Powell's books in Portland, OR. I vaguely remember his cane and somewhat Victorian style.

I find it interesting just how much an author's writing reflects their personality. I think that's partially why I couldn't get through Name of the Wind. It isn't that I dislike Rothfuss as a person (I don't know him), but when I see him in author panels he completely dominates the conversation, even to the point of not giving the other authors a chance to talk without chiming in with his two cents. Rothfuss evidently really likes being a celebrity (or maybe love-hates).

 

[Parmandur]

I'm jealous! Not about Martin. His inability to finish a book in anything resembling a reasonable amount of time has completely turned me off to him. I'm jealous about Pratchett. If he talked how he wrote, he must have had a brilliant sense of humor.

I mean, ironically it was a signing for A Feast of Crows, which was the shark jumping moment for me with the series and Martin as a writer. But still, it was interesting to me that he wrote the same way thst he spoke, precisely. Humorously enough, I was probably one of the first people to teach A Song of Ice & Fire in a classroom setting st the time as an undergraduate.

I got two books signed by Pratchett on different tours: "Thud" and I believe "Unseen Academicals". He was hilarious and brilliant in person.

 

[payn]

I mean, ironically it was a signing for A Feast of Crows, which was the shark jumping moment for me with the series and Martin as a writer. But still, it was interesting to me that he wrote the same way thst he spoke, precisely. Humorously enough, I was probably one of the first people to teach A Song of Ice & Fire in a classroom setting st the time as an undergraduate.

I got two books signed by Pratchett on different tours: "Thid" and I believe "Unseen Academicals". He was hilarious and brilliant in person.

I was a little slow, it was A Dance with Dragons that jumped the shark for me. Thats a cool story tho.

 

[Parmandur]

I was a little slow, it was A Dance with Dragons that jumped the shark for me. Thats a cool story tho.

Yeah, I think the act of teaching from the texts and discussing them with a bunch of other sharp undergraduates undermined the fun for me considerably as the analysis glasses went on.

 

[Mort]

I liked the first book, but that wasn't enough to keep going. He, like Martin, needed an editor very badly. I stopped in book 4 or 5, as TO ME, it seemed nothing was happening at all. To me it was just the same scenes/story over and over. That said, I remember almost nothing from the books, so who knows, I could be wrong....

My point being, liking his prose wasn't enough for me, and for a lot of people that quit about where I did in the story.

Jordan HAD an editor - his wife, and that was the problem.

She was by all accounts an excellent editor (acknowledged as the top editor at a fairly prestigious publishing house) - but she was just to close and couldn't edit as objectively as with a "regular" client.

Somewhere into the series she even acknowledged that while she was still the listed editor she basically let her husband do his own editing and while she might offer input she wouldn't force changes.