Wheel of Time, where to start?

[Kaodi]

I remember after reading A New Spring, I thought " Wow... Now, I can actually remember what it was like to really enjoy reading The Wheel of Time... " .

 

[Grymar]

I've read them all, some enjoyably and some not. I got the feeling that the first book was meant to be a stand-alone with a built in explanation if RJ wanted to write more. Frankly, the same with the Great Hunt.

The late books, 7-10, are tedious. Especially anything with Perrin.

And I'll agree that his writing of women and the relationships between men and women, is nothing short of atrocious.

But there are moments when Rand or Matt make the series worth the pain.

My gut feeling is that RJ isn't going to make it to finish book 12.

 

[Pants]

Let me add a little to that. When you are finished with these four, go here next:

Gardens of the Moon
Deadhouse Gates
Memories of Ice
House of Chains
Midnight Tides
The Bonehunters

Then read:

The Darkness That Comes Before
The Warrior Prophet
The Thousandfold Thought

Then:
The Lies of Locke Lamora

 

[iwatt]

I have no complaint over the number of books, but rather the pacing of the books.

I'm a Jordan fan. But I have to agre with this statement.

Book 1 is a standalone/potential series opener. It used to be that fantasy authors couldn't assume they would get a series to play with, so his first book seems to end but is easily expandable into a series.

Book 2 is entertaining, beacause it's basically all about a quest. If you edit out the parts with the powerpuff girls (Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve) it actually works well.

Book 3 is one I like very much, particulaly because of the development of Mat's character. It still suffers of powerpuff syndrome

Book 4 I like, since you start getting the impression of this massive world and all the big power players around. But here is were we start getting into too many plots and characters.

Book 5 is fun, but the character bloat continues.

Book 6 is IMO slaved by the very cool last battle.

Book 7 and 9 start grinding to a halt, and here's were I can agree with the complaints of most people in this thread. Book 9 ends with an awesome development, and leaves you wondering what the repercussion would be.

Book 10 is the second Highlander movie of this series. It should never have been made, and if possible it should be erased from all our memories. You can actually not read this book and won't miss a bit. After the ending of book 9, it's doubly disapointing. About the only salvageable thing of this book is that at least some of the charcater's begin to evolve (Mat most noticeably).

The we get to Book 11. Clearly edited by someone else, the pacing is much improved and there's a lot of those cool scenes that RJ knows how to deliver and describe so well. A lot more of the character's evolve in it as well.

All in all, I'd say it's worth the read.

 

[Zaukrie]

To back up my point, my wife just brought my Jordan books, among others, to Half Price Books, and they'll be recycling all the Jordan books.

 

[kingpaul]

I have no complaint over the number of books, but rather the pacing of the books.

Here's another "me too" for this statement. The most recent books were rather slow in development. I enjoyed the books up to about 6 with no problem. Then things started slowing down. I'd like to see this series end, but its more important that Jordan get better. I don't wish him to work himself, literally, to death to complete the series.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Book 10 is the second Highlander movie of this series. It should never have been made, and if possible it should be erased from all our memories. You can actually not read this book and won't miss a bit.

I have a vague memory of a friend of mine telling me she actually did this by mistake... missed out book ten, didn't realise 'til partway through book eleven, and went back to shoehorn book ten back in to the sequence...

-Hyp.

 

[iwatt]

I have a vague memory of a friend of mine telling me she actually did this by mistake... missed out book ten, didn't realise 'til partway through book eleven, and went back to shoehorn book ten back in to the sequence...

-Hyp.

Fate had tried to save her, but her stubborness put her through an unecessary pain.

 

[ToddSchumacher]

When the latest book came out, I went ahead and re-read the series. i found Path of Daggers through Crossroads weren't quite as bad as i remembered them the first time around. Knife of Dreams I found really good. Clearly back on form. I can't wait for the Last book. Curious to see how he ends it.

 

[Starman]

Book 6 is IMO slaved by the very cool last battle.

I am a huge WoT fan who has definitely been let down big time by the last few books. I still contend, though, that the Battle of Dumai's Wells is one of the best written battles in fantasy fiction.

"Kneel or you will be knelt."

I still get chills thinking about that scene.