Robert Jordan's wheel of time, general observations

[jack]

I have, after a certain amount of introspection, been re-reading Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I think it gets an undeserved amount of negative press. It seems like it is a number of really good things, mixed with a number of mediocre things, some of which are sometimes really aggravating. So I, and other people, are extremely annoyed that (i) it goes ON and ON and ON and (ii) some of that length is people puttering around making gender stereotype generalisations or screwing up the fate of the world by having fits of pique and not talking to each other. But that shouldn't detract from the good things.

Good things #1. Good characters.

Many (or most) of the characters are a bit two-dimensional but they're also very memorable. By book 6, many of the one-line Aes Sedai characters have started to blur into one another. But in the first book alone, I can name, without trying, about 30 individual very memorable characters, and the same for the next few (combined), which I think is really impressive, considering there are some films which were fun but where I can't name any of the characters.

Good things #2. Plot threads set up over the whole series.

It doesn't always get this right, but several times it's done just perfectly: something introduced with a passing mention, without seeming to singled out for attention, and then several books later several such things fall into place and you're like "Aha! Wow, he really planned most of this from the start."

Good things #3. Many traditional fantasy tropes done very very well.

Farmboy-turned-chosen-one sometimes gives me chills with how ruthless-ruler he's had to become. Really, really creepy moments. Lovable people being awesome. Occasionally laugh-out-loud funny (so far only N's interlude with finding a boat in book 4/5, but still, good).

Good things #4. Interesting cosmology backing it up.

I kill you with BALEFIRE because of PHILOSOPHY!

Comments

[naath]

I like a lot of it, although sometimes the GET TO THE POINT ALREADYness bugs me. But then I do normally like long series because you get to know the world a lot better with more time to look at it.

I find quite a bit of it funny. Although not always LOL funny.

Have you got through it all (so far)? Would you like to borrow Gathering Storm?

[lnr]

I've got the next one on pre-order. But I find it telling that Jack's list of bad things is longer than the list of good things. Though of course size isn't everything.

[jack]

list of bad things is longer than the list of good things

:) Indeed, I noticed. I'm not sure whether to read anything into it or not. It's partly just random, whatever happened to come into my head, and partly it's easier for me to rant about bad stuff than to analyse good stuff, and partly, some books can carry through to greatness on the back of two or three excellent aspects, even ignoring a very large number of distinctly sub-par things -- some books have only ONE good thing about them, but it's so awesome I like it anyway.

[naath]

It's true there are bad things; but I want to know what happens, dammit :-)

[jack]

Thank you! I've just read, um, Lord of Chaos, so not yet; I might wait until the whole thing is actually published before starting to read the last book, or I might go on; but either way, thank you very much, when I get there I might very well do.

[naath]

Heh, that might make sense.