they were like the tinker's thier relatives a people so stuck in following thier rules that it made them behave in extremly stupid ways. Like the knights in the old church stories. The Aiel are the lawful stupid paladins of that world. The reason Sanderson's were better is Jordan has always tended to wander off into the weeds in his long stories and generate fantastic story arcs that go nowhere, I almost gave up on the series about book 5. Book 4 and book 5 could have been mostly left out with little harm to the story, book 6 and book 7 were an attempt to reel in all the plot lines. I think Even Sanderson had difficulty getting them mostly reeled in at the end. It just left too many things wide open. But his books were every bit as good as the first two. After that Jordon got lost in his own mind and we the reader just followed it all over the place.
Wheel of Time - No Spoilers
Gradine
The Elephant in the Room (she/her)
I read the first seven books way back as a preteen when that's all there was, and never picked it up again when my brother got the 8th book and told me it wasn't worth it. Been re-reading the books very slowly with my partner, we just finished The Great Hunt (book 2). Some observations (about books and show)
*The plot structure of both books can so far be described as 90% setup and 10% everything is happening all at once.
*Gotta love that early installment weirdness in the first book. Remember that talking Trolloc? Or The Green Man?
*I feel sorry for the dude who got cast as Mat because for such a beloved character from the books he gets basically nothing to do in the first few books (well he does do the one thing, in the second book, which was certainly a thing!)
*The books are incredibly funny. Nobody really talks about that, and it's the one thing I missed most from the show. Don't get me wrong, the show has a few good zingers (mostly from Rand, of all people!) Some notable highlights from the first two books:
*Perrin spends most of the first book trying to rein in Egwene and then has to deal with flirty tinkers, and regularly thinks I wish Rand was here, he's so much better with girls; eventually Rand has to deal with a flirty farmgirl and thinks I wish Perrin was here, he's so much better with girls
*No seriously sir, there were like a hundred wolves. At least. And fifty men! Or more!
*Rand's numerous bungled attempts at escape in the beginning of book 2. Especially the part from Moiraine's perspective
*Rand is, in general, a complete idiot in these books, and usually in ways that are highly amusing
*There's also a lot of good situational humor that comes from the switching perspectives and the way storylines tend to collide at the ends of the books. "Wait, was that....?"
*Even these early books have a lot of repetition. Like, I don't mind a bit of clunky recapping in a new book, that's bound to happen. But there are a lot of character moments that are just... repeated in the same book, often chapters apart. Rand is not going to be Aes Sedai's puppet! Rand questioning his father. Rand is not going to be the Aes Sedai's puppet! Rand thinking about how very pretty that weird and not at all suspicious lady they met in an alternate dimension is. Rand is not going to be the Aes Sedai's puppet! And that's just Rand's repetive stuff. I could go on but it makes too angry *tugs braids angrily
*Also the romance writing is pretty atrocious. I remember really liking Min as a teen reading this books (aka missed gender queer hint #4235 of my childhood) but that scene at the end of book 2 with her and Rand and Egwene... woof.
*That said, I have better hopes for her in the show, considering she went from "I am your destiny Rand al'Thor!!!" to "I would really rather not get involved in any of this, thank you."
*We watched the first season twice, once before we read the first book and once after we finished it. We ended up liking the show even better the second time through.
*That said, the show wasn't at all perfect. For a start it did Thom dirty. Never mind cutting his time with the boys short, that stuff's going to happen in adaptation. But the one time we see him sing and it's a funeral dirge? And where are his moustaches! The man is famous for his moustaches!
*The "who could the Dragon be??" stuff was also not particularly necessary.
*Perrin's wife. Just an astoundingly terrible decision there.
*Rand telling that lady that if he were into men he could do a lot better than Mat was hilarious, zero notes.
*The "man you meet in northharbor" is also a hilarious joke, very good show.
*The whole thing with what Egwene does with Nyneave at the end was very strange. At the very least it seems like that should've gone the other way around, from what I remember of where they eventually specialize.
*Overall though we both liked the show very much and I've never really understood most of the complaints.
*The plot structure of both books can so far be described as 90% setup and 10% everything is happening all at once.
*Gotta love that early installment weirdness in the first book. Remember that talking Trolloc? Or The Green Man?
*I feel sorry for the dude who got cast as Mat because for such a beloved character from the books he gets basically nothing to do in the first few books (well he does do the one thing, in the second book, which was certainly a thing!)
*The books are incredibly funny. Nobody really talks about that, and it's the one thing I missed most from the show. Don't get me wrong, the show has a few good zingers (mostly from Rand, of all people!) Some notable highlights from the first two books:
*Perrin spends most of the first book trying to rein in Egwene and then has to deal with flirty tinkers, and regularly thinks I wish Rand was here, he's so much better with girls; eventually Rand has to deal with a flirty farmgirl and thinks I wish Perrin was here, he's so much better with girls
*No seriously sir, there were like a hundred wolves. At least. And fifty men! Or more!
*Rand's numerous bungled attempts at escape in the beginning of book 2. Especially the part from Moiraine's perspective
*Rand is, in general, a complete idiot in these books, and usually in ways that are highly amusing
*There's also a lot of good situational humor that comes from the switching perspectives and the way storylines tend to collide at the ends of the books. "Wait, was that....?"
*Even these early books have a lot of repetition. Like, I don't mind a bit of clunky recapping in a new book, that's bound to happen. But there are a lot of character moments that are just... repeated in the same book, often chapters apart. Rand is not going to be Aes Sedai's puppet! Rand questioning his father. Rand is not going to be the Aes Sedai's puppet! Rand thinking about how very pretty that weird and not at all suspicious lady they met in an alternate dimension is. Rand is not going to be the Aes Sedai's puppet! And that's just Rand's repetive stuff. I could go on but it makes too angry *tugs braids angrily
*Also the romance writing is pretty atrocious. I remember really liking Min as a teen reading this books (aka missed gender queer hint #4235 of my childhood) but that scene at the end of book 2 with her and Rand and Egwene... woof.
*That said, I have better hopes for her in the show, considering she went from "I am your destiny Rand al'Thor!!!" to "I would really rather not get involved in any of this, thank you."
*We watched the first season twice, once before we read the first book and once after we finished it. We ended up liking the show even better the second time through.
*That said, the show wasn't at all perfect. For a start it did Thom dirty. Never mind cutting his time with the boys short, that stuff's going to happen in adaptation. But the one time we see him sing and it's a funeral dirge? And where are his moustaches! The man is famous for his moustaches!
*The "who could the Dragon be??" stuff was also not particularly necessary.
*Perrin's wife. Just an astoundingly terrible decision there.
*Rand telling that lady that if he were into men he could do a lot better than Mat was hilarious, zero notes.
*The "man you meet in northharbor" is also a hilarious joke, very good show.
*The whole thing with what Egwene does with Nyneave at the end was very strange. At the very least it seems like that should've gone the other way around, from what I remember of where they eventually specialize.
*Overall though we both liked the show very much and I've never really understood most of the complaints.
yeah Matt is probably the most ignored story in the main characters, well over 10 no real main character in the book. His story had so much more intrigue and depth up through the 3rd or 4th book, up to that point I thought is was going to keep drizzling out and bloom into something really cool, instead he got mostly forgotten in Jordan's normal confusing briarthorn of story arcs and just became fluff in the story.
TheSword
Legend
I’m won’t lie, I’m an Uber-fan. Each time a new book came out I’d go back and re-read the series.
I didn’t enjoy the meandering path. There was a lot of world building there. Lots of different cultures. It felt like a real lived in world full of peoples. Unlike say, Lord of the Rings.
I’ve mentioned it before but there are some moments in the books what are just epic. Absolute moments of awesomeness. Some of that comes from the build up and the effort going in to setting things up.
No spoilers but Egwene and the Adam, the Rhuidean finale, Battle of Emond’s field, Dumai Wells, Egwyne with Vora’s Rod. and and many many others that are so powerful. It’s the only book series where I have been so caught up in the story that some of those moments bring tears to my eyes.
Interesting as well, even though it isn’t as brutal as Game of Thrones there is still a lot of risk and jeopardy in the series.
While the characters definitely have moments when they can be annoying, every character comes into their own. Egwyne can be really annoying at some points but her character arc is frankly amazing when it comes to fruition.
Just writing this is making me want to re-read. The sad thing is the series probably won’t be able to do it justice.
I didn’t enjoy the meandering path. There was a lot of world building there. Lots of different cultures. It felt like a real lived in world full of peoples. Unlike say, Lord of the Rings.
I’ve mentioned it before but there are some moments in the books what are just epic. Absolute moments of awesomeness. Some of that comes from the build up and the effort going in to setting things up.
No spoilers but Egwene and the Adam, the Rhuidean finale, Battle of Emond’s field, Dumai Wells, Egwyne with Vora’s Rod. and and many many others that are so powerful. It’s the only book series where I have been so caught up in the story that some of those moments bring tears to my eyes.
Interesting as well, even though it isn’t as brutal as Game of Thrones there is still a lot of risk and jeopardy in the series.
While the characters definitely have moments when they can be annoying, every character comes into their own. Egwyne can be really annoying at some points but her character arc is frankly amazing when it comes to fruition.
Just writing this is making me want to re-read. The sad thing is the series probably won’t be able to do it justice.
Adeptus7
Villager
I think that Green Man is exlained later as relict from the Age of Wonders. Green Men were some kind of constructs.
MGibster
Legend
I always picture Thom as the mustache clad older Dick Van Dyke.
Zardnaar
Legend
If you want to chug cognac that's fine by me.
What's the difference between NZ and a pottle of yoghurt? Yogurt has more culture.
You lot like pumpkin spice, British like mushy peas and curry sauce with chips. And we get called barbarians.
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