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Brad
Member Ascendant

since 1999-08-20

Posts 5705
Jejudo, South Korea

0 posted 2002-12-29 06:05 PM

I tried reading some of this. I stopped. Does it begin to make sense at some point? Look at the first paragraph:

quote:
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages some and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose above the Aryth Ocean. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

Uh, I read this and think, "Is this an attempt to badly paraphrase Churchil?"

Titia Geertman
Member Ascendant

since 2001-05-07

Posts 5182
Netherlands

1 posted 2002-12-29 06:30 PM

LOL Brad, I read it and......well there it stopped

But that could be due to being a Dutchie I suppose

Titia

Like scattered leaves...my words will flow

Ron

Administrator

Member Rara Avis

since 1999-05-19

Posts 8669
Michigan, US

2 posted 2002-12-29 08:40 PM

The idea of time repeating itself in cycles didn't start with Jordan, but then it didn't start with Churchill either. Jordan carried it farther than most, dealing not with years or centuries, but with epochs that approach infinity. It even makes a simplistic kind of sense. If time is infinite, it's inevitable that anything that has happened will happen again, perhaps down to the tiniest detail. If so, it becomes easy to think of infinite time as a Circle, with no beginnings and no ends.

And, yea, Brad, the story eventually makes sense. In my opinion, it never gets very good, but it does make sense. In spite of that opinion, though, I still recommend the book to anyone interested in fictional techniques. Jordan takes subplots to a new level of intricacy, with a mastery I've seen in no other writer. Worth the read.

Brad
Member Ascendant

since 1999-08-20

Posts 5705
Jejudo, South Korea

3 posted 2002-12-31 05:08 AM

I don't have any problems with eternal recurrance, I just wish the writing was better.

quote:
East the wind blew above the cold gray-green ocean swells, toward Tarbon, where ships already unloaded or waiting their turns to enter the harbor of Tanchico tossed at anchor for miles along the low coastline.

Also, he uses one or two word sentences for no apparent reason except, you know, it's important stuff that has to be emphasized:

quote:
Of course, her composure masked steel. Sharp steel.

Now, what do you think I would do with this stuff if he posted in CA?

But I suppose I should skim and look for those subplots.

Denise

Moderator

Member Seraphic

since 1999-08-22

Posts 22648

4 posted 2002-12-31 01:03 PM

Brad, I have a hard enough time discovering plot, subplots, deeper meanings, etc., in material that is written well. I don't have a chance at all in that area with something that can't hold my interest past two sentences. I wish you well in your endeavor!

Christopher

Moderator

Member Rara Avis

since 1999-08-02

Posts 8296
Purgatorial Incarceration

5 posted 2002-12-31 04:47 PM

Brad - you skim, you lost.

His writing definitely gets better as the series progresses, though it never approaches "phenomenal." Contrary to Ron, I thought the series very good... but admit to being a sucker for any fantasy series an author can actually manage to keep together and make interesting. There are failings here and there (most notably - in my op - the case of developing some rather thin, extremely similar characters later on), but still well worthwhile.

Kosetsu
Member

since 2001-03-10

Posts 450
Alabama, USA

6 posted 2002-12-31 11:08 PM

I loved the first few of Jordan's books, but later on they tended to bore me....he takes a bit too long to progress the storyline sometimes...not to mention that Rand al'Thor doesn't really change much. He's constantly whining about something...I really found the other characters far more interesting, whereas the entire plot is supposed to revolve around him and his eventual ascension into The Dragon Reborn.

-Adam

Child of the Stars

Senior Member

since 2000-09-07

Posts 1658
Ann Arbor, MI

7 posted 2002-12-31 11:24 PM

Ahh yes...a few of my friends accept WoT as their own little reality..they're especially into all of the roleplay associated with it. I read the first book, but didn't really get into it much, mostly because of Jordan's style...and it just seemed so -long-! (Uh, Carly, it -was- long.) Oh well. Maybe I'll give the rest of the series a try sometime, just for kicks..

A ruddy drop of manly blood
The surging sea outweighs;
The world uncertain comes and goes,
The lover rooted stays.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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