New Spring - Wheel of Time

[trenchteam]

3rd book Storm of Swords is kickass the 2nd half. Best of all three books by far! Anticipating Feast of Crows next month

 

[Denial]

Reading Storm of (s)Words myself right now...

Spoilers:


I was actually kind of disappointed in Clash of Kings. I thought it really dragged. I rarely, rarely, read ahead in books, but I found myself skipping ahead of some chapters when it was from the viewpoint of the people I don't really care about, like Theon or Catelyn, to more interesting characters like Jon or Bran. Of course, I went back and read the ones I skipped afterwards, but I really needed something to keep my interest in reading up. I experienced this to some degree with the Sansa chapters in A Game of Thrones, since she's just such a doltish character there, but I never actually did skip her chapters, and she's supposed to be that way.

Furthermore, the book doesn't really resolve anything. I guess if your expectations are standard fantasy, the ending is unexpected, but by the time I had made it through the ten-thousandth backstab, near/attempted rape, or otherwise unexpected-but-always-nasty thing... it didn't really surprise me that the little prick Joffrey ended up keeping the throne. The whole book ends up being about a stalemate, aside from Jon and Daenerys chapters.

Storm of Swords is keeping my interest better so far, but I can't help feeling like Clash was just too drawn out.

 

[darkbane]

It's true that CoK is kinda drawn out, but SoS does make up for it. Also, it's nothing compared to the original topic, WoT, where you'd have to skip whole books to get to the interesting parts *grin*

 

[trenchteam]

^^ SoS does make up for alot of it.

 

[Aazealh]

R.I.P. Robert Jordan

His blog is down at the moment, but here are some links announcing the news:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/09/17/obit.jordan.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- Author Robert Jordan, whose "Wheel of Time" series of fantasy novels sold millions of copies, has died of a rare blood disease, his aide said Monday. He was 58.

Jordan, whose real name was James Oliver Rigney Jr., died Sunday at the Medical University of South Carolina of complications from primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, his personal assistant, Maria Simons, said. The disease attacks the body's major organs; in Jordan's case, it caused the walls of his heart to thicken.

He wrote a trilogy of historical novels set in Charleston under the pen name Reagan O'Neal in the early 1980s. Then he turned his attention to fantasy and the first volume in his Wheel of Time epic, "The Eye of the World," was published in 1990 under the name Robert Jordan.

Book 11, "Knife of Dreams," came out in 2005; there was also a prequel, "New Spring: The Novel," in 2004. The other titles in the series include "The Great Hunt," "Lord of Chaos" and "The Path of Daggers." Jordan was working on a 12th volume at the time of his death, Simons said.

http://slashdot.org/articles/07/09/17/0243230.shtml

"James Oliver Rigney Jr, author of the long-running fantasy series The Wheel of Time and better known to millions of fans by the pen name Robert Jordan, died on 16 Sept 2007 from cardiac amyloidosis. Jordan announced he had been diagnosed with the disease in March 2006 and vowed to beat the odds, but determination and gumption sometimes just aren't enough in the face of a disease with a median survival time of just over two years. Jordan was in the process of writing the twelfth and final book in the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, but the book was not slated for release until 2009 and is still incomplete. While there is hope that the book will still be finished from Jordan's notes, this is devastating news to all of us who have been reading the series since 1990."

Apparently he had already shared all the main plot elements with his entourage and the series might still be concluded, but it won't be the same for his fans I guess. Whether people liked his work or not, this is a sad time for fantasy literature, especially after David Gemmel's death last year.

 

[Walter]

Re: R.I.P. Robert Jordan

Apparently he had already shared all the main plot elements with his entourage and the series might still be concluded, but it won't be the same for his fans I guess. Whether people liked his work or not, this is a sad time for fantasy literature, especially after David Gemmel's death last year.

There's still hope. Children of Hurin, Tolkien's post-mortem novel was well received, and is still selling well on Amazon.

Godspeed, Robert Jordan. You had a grand concept.

 

[Rhombaad]

Re: R.I.P. Robert Jordan

That sucks. I've never read any of his novels, but several of my friends are big fans of his Wheel of Time series. Hopefully, his final book can/will be completed like "Children of Hurin", like Walter said.

 

[Mage]

Re: R.I.P. Robert Jordan

Too bad...I don't know if I would've finished the series off anyways, though. I was such an avid fan but gave up after book 9 (which I apparently stated 2+ yrs ago in this same thread).

I'm sure the publishers are going to try to get the final book released simply because the rest of the books were so lucrative.

 

[Uriel]

Re: R.I.P. Robert Jordan

*sigh*

One downside of the internet, especially forums: you see saddening news everywhere over and over again.

Jordan was exceptional -- he was a tough Two Rivers man and he'll be sorely missed.

 

[prawnstyle]

heard the news yesterday.... .... His books really opened my eyes to epic fantasy...they will always have a special place for me...his characters did have personality and warmth, unlike some other series