Flights of Fantasy discussion

So I have the first Wheel of Time book (Eye of the World) sitting on my desk. I've read the first two chapters and it's amazing so far, but I hesitate. I discovered by many people online that the last book in the series was horrible and ruined the entire series. Is this true? Is the last book so terrible that everything is ruined? I must know because I really want to read the series. I hate bad endings, but is it "that" bad? Please discuss--but no spoilers, please!! I just need to know if it's worth the fourteen or so books.

Sincerely,
a concerned reader,
Sandra

P.S. If you know of any books like the Wheel of Time series, feel free to add them to this convo. :)

I've heard it's actually the opposite -- that the first 3-4 books are great, the middle 4-5 books are slow and difficult, and the last few books pick back up. I personally haven't gotten past the middle of the series (and, frustratingly, forget where I left off...) so this is all hearsay, but that's what I've heard!

I think there will always be some anger when a series is taken over, but from what I have read about it, it was done in the most honest way possible with lots of input from family and notes that Jordan himself had left behind.

Hmm, I didn't think AMoL was THAT bad. I liked it, but I would have preferred that it had went another way.

The big problem with it was that so many different people wanted it to end different ways. You have the people that LOVED the ending, and those that hated it. Very few can tell you what you'll think of it since their responses are based on all the anticipation and building of the other books. Without that, there's no way to tell how you'll respond.

I've read the entire thing. The last book does not ruin the series. It does have a short denoument (sp?), which is a little disappointing, but the climax of the series is worth the build up.

The only hard part is reading books 7-10, as the plot slumps quite a bit at this point. But if you skipped them, it would be confusing and there is some good stuff there. Not sure what to suggest for that part except pick up some audio books and power through it.

About recommending books like Wheel of Time, it would be a huge list, with quite a bit of variety. I could make a semi-useful one if you gave a hint as to what particular parts of WoT you find interesting. For example, if it's the magic, I would not recommend Game of Thrones.

Sandra wrote: "So I have the first Wheel of Time book (Eye of the World) sitting on my desk. I've read the first two chapters and it's amazing so far, but I hesitate. I discovered by many people online that the l..."

Depends on what you mean by like "WoT."

If you mean scope - Have you read the Malazan series? It's finished as well.

I've never heard that AMOL was horrible and ruined the whole thing.. I thought it was awesome, a great end to a great series.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! It's really helpful! I think I'll read through the series now. I feel more confident that what I read about the last book is just hardcore fans being disappointed in the ending.

Emily - I ran into that trouble with the Sword of Truth series, the middle bits being slow. There was just something about hearing about trees and grass and rocks again and again that caused me to stop reading. ha ha

Luke - I think you're right about that. I'll just have to read it and decide for myself if the ending was good or bad. All in the reader's perspective.

David - I don't like plot slumps, but you're right-can't skip them. I'm not really into Game of Thrones, even though it's super popular. There's just something about mixing R-rated scenes into every other chapter that I find annoying. Don't care for it. And because it's a huge part of GoT I just don't care to read it. I like the world of Wheel of Time and how the characters feel alive within the first few pages of reading about them. I'm also a huge Shadowmarch and Lord of the Rings fan. I suppose magic, mysterious plotlines, mystical creatures, and anything related to that would be my interests in fantasy currently. I know there are great fantasy novels out there somewhere, but all book stores show are the popular books that I've either already read or don't like, and everything else gets pushed to the sidelines.

Dawn wrote: "I've never heard that AMOL was horrible and ruined the whole thing.. I thought it was awesome, a great end to a great series."

I'm glad to hear that! I probably stumbled upon some sort of hate forum for the last book when I originally decided to read WoT. ha ha. They really hated it and warned me against reading the series.

There are basically three groups:

The hardcore haters - They loved the series since the beginning and were frustrated with how it ended since it doesn't have a long wrap-up. Many also feel like the ending deserved more books or that there should be additional books. Part of it is just that they're upset that it's over.

The happy fans - They loved it from the beginning. But they approach the series like a roller-coaster, they don't try to figure out where it's going, or to change its course, they just enjoy the ride.

The newcomers - People like you and me that arrived to the series late. We don't typically feel really hard one way or the other since we didn't spend the years and years anticipating every release and studying the lore for years inbetween.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Sandra wrote: "So I have the first Wheel of Time book (Eye of the World) sitting on my desk. I've read the first two chapters and it's amazing so far, but I hesitate. I discovered by many people on..."

I haven't read that, no. But I'll add it to my book list.

I used to love this series when I was in my teens. I used to buy the books as soon as they were released and everything but after the first four books, there is a serious decline in quality. I stopped reading after buying book 10 and getting through the first couple hundred pages and realizing that even though I clearly remembered the major plot points from the early books (and still do, many years after having read them) I remembered basically nothing from the last five books I had read in the series. There were a bunch of characters that I had no idea who they were or why they were important to the plot, which had really moved away from the main characters and their original adventure. Also, male-female interactions are cringe-inducing. I´m still a little bitter about this whole thing.

I have heard that Sanderson did a great job wrapping up the series. I´m not really interested in checking it out, since it would probably require a re-read of the entire thing.

So yeah, the early books are awesome. I guess I could recommend reading the first three and just leaving it as an open-ended trilogy. The Shadow Rising (book 4) is great as well but it´s not such a good cut-off point as the end of book 3. Read beyond these at your own risk.

This suggestion is similar to recommending people watch only the first Matrix film - it´s clear that the very last scene is actually "a" beginning, but it can be perfectly left at that point and it makes good sense.

Luke wrote: "There are basically three groups:

The hardcore haters - They loved the series since the beginning and were frustrated with how it ended since it doesn't have a long wrap-up. Many also feel like th..."

For this series, I think I'm happy to be a newcomer. I definitely wouldn't want to wait for 14 (15?) novels over the years. Sounds like a painful experience.

Paolo wrote: "Also, male-female interactions are cringe-inducing."

So true, unfortunately.

Sandra wrote: "For this series, I think I'm happy to be a newcomer. I definitely wouldn't want to wait for 14 (15?) novels over the years. Sounds like a painful experience. "

Well, I can't really say much about that since I'm setting myself up for the same with the Stormlight Archive. But I don't care, it'll be worth it.

Paolo wrote: "I used to love this series when I was in my teens. I used to buy the books as soon as they were released and everything but after the first four books, there is a serious decline in quality. I stop..."

Hmm, I will definitely think about this. I may read on just to see how drawn-out it gets (I can handle a bit of drawn-out plot if it goes somewhere awesome later). I'm a little wary about the cringe-inducing interactions. I'm hoping it's not as bad as it seems.

Luke wrote: "Paolo wrote: "Also, male-female interactions are cringe-inducing."

So true, unfortunately.

Sandra wrote: "For this series, I think I'm happy to be a newcomer. I definitely wouldn't want to wait f..."

Yikes! I'm not looking at that series until it's finished--or almost finished. Ten books and it just started in 2010? Oh well. It is worth it in the end if the series is really good.

Sandra wrote: ". I know there are great fantasy novels out there somewhere, but all book stores show are the popular books that I've either already read or don't like, and everything else gets pushed to the sidelines. "

It sounds like you are familiar with the genre, to the point that most anything I'd recommend you've already read or tried to. But I'll make a short list anyway, take it for what it's worth:

Blood Song
The Crown Conspiracy
In the Night Garden
The Wise Man's Fear
The Gunslinger

You say Shadowmarch is pretty good? I've never read it, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I've added it to my (too long) list of things to read.

I guess now that you can read the whole thing it would be a little less confusing. I kept having one or two-year breaks between books as they were being released and it really hurt my ability to keep the plot straight in my head. But like I said, if a book is good (like the early books in this series), it will be memorable. If it's not, you forget.

DavidO wrote: "Sandra wrote: ". I know there are great fantasy novels out there somewhere, but all book stores show are the popular books that I've either already read or don't like, and everything else gets push..."

Thanks for the list! Now I'll have something to look for the next time I go to the bookstore.

Shadowmarch by Tad Williams is one of my favourite fantasy series'. There's a lot of mystery in the series, and a large deal to do with gods and power-crazed monarchs. I loved all four books. And my book list is way too long, as well.

Paolo wrote: "I guess now that you can read the whole thing it would be a little less confusing. I kept having one or two-year breaks between books as they were being released and it really hurt my ability to ke..."

Yeah, having to wait for years in-between was sure to hurt your enjoyment of the series, even if it is really good.

I'm like Luke, I was late to the party with Wheel of Time but read the entire series and loved how it ended. Now, be prepared to judge, I used Wikipedia and skipped one of the really bad middle books. Yes, I did it! And I'm a hard core book reader! Alas, it had to be done, and I don't feel my love of the series suffers for it. The lack of editing on the book was to blame ;)

Honestly, your taste sounds like this series would be right up your alley. I say go for it!

Read it! You will get very tired of all the "braid-tugging" that goes on, but this is such a masterfully epic story and some of the action scenes with Rand are jaw-dropping. I loved Books 1-4, 5-9 I kind of stuck around for favorite characters, Book 11 the ship got pointed in the right direction, and Books 12-14 are amazing again.

I think a common consensus is, you have to give Books 1-3 a try. By then, you'll be hooked and have no choice but to continue :)

Laurel wrote: "I'm like Luke, I was late to the party with Wheel of Time but read the entire series and loved how it ended. Now, be prepared to judge, I used Wikipedia and skipped one of the really bad middle bo..."

I'll leave the judging out. I may end up doing that, too. ha ha.

Heather wrote: "Read it! You will get very tired of all the "braid-tugging" that goes on, but this is such a masterfully epic story and some of the action scenes with Rand are jaw-dropping. I loved Books 1-4, 5-9 ..."

Braid-tugging?? Oh dear...I guess that's part of the "cringe worthy interactions" I've been hearing about.

I stick around for favourite characters, too, even if things start getting rough, so reading the whole series might be what I'll do. If it gets really drawn-out in the later books, I can always cheat and use Wiki to get ahead. I hope I get hooked enough not to do that, though.

Laurel wrote: "I'm like Luke, I was late to the party with Wheel of Time but read the entire series and loved how it ended. Now, be prepared to judge, I used Wikipedia and skipped one of the really bad middle bo..."

If it was book 10, I wouldn't judge. Or even most of 8.

What I'll say about the books that drag - they all have great parts and are worth plowing through. Heather's list of the good and bad is pretty accurate.

It looks like I put myself through the worst part of the series just to jump ship before it got good again. Goddammit.

Chris wrote: "What I'll say about the books that drag - they all have great parts and are worth plowing through. Heather's list of the good and bad is pretty accurate."

lol, in book 10 exactly 1 thing happens, and it happens on the last page. You could not even bother reading a summary of the book and just read the last page. I'm not sure what great parts of that book there are other than that page.

DavidO wrote: "I'm not sure what great parts of that book there are other than that page. ..."

I guess it was more like hanging out at home on a weekend and doing nothing. You spend all weekend not really accomplishing anything but you feel bad when it's over and fucking Monday comes. Heh...

So pointless, but comfortable.

I tried to get into the first one and couldn't.

Then, I had come to it primed by complaints about how grindingly tedious the series was, so I may have been looking for flaws.

I actually loved the first book. I loved the first 6 books. that's one reason I was so "bummed" (if I may use a dated word) about the rest of the series.

I just finished the last book yesterday.

I loved the first 4 books, I am glad I read them. Robert Jordan creates an interesting world, some really likable characters and uses a lot of tropes inventively and with humour.

But the middle books do drag. The series suffers from two many characters split up into too many plot lines. I remember one of the middle books had none of my favourite characters. Like Paolo, I struggle to remember the plot of a couple of the middle. I would seriously recommend people consider skipping over chapters written in the Point of view of characters you aren't that interested in.

For me I would ideally have read the first 4 books and then only the parts written about Rand and Mat and use the wiki to catch up on the rest.

Sanderson did a good enough job. The characters felt the same and the plot played out well but it wasn't very memorable. It felt to me he was restricted by having to tie up so many loose ends and bring closure to everyone's favourite characters that he couldn't have a lot of fun.

I think Jordan would have take 16 or more books but he was showing some signs of returning to form in books 10 and 11.

Alexi wrote: "I think Jordan would have take 16 or more books but he was showing some signs of returning to form in books 10 and 11. "

I assume you mean 9 and 11, since literally only one thing happens in book 10 and that's on the last page.