The Shrine

The series has been finished for a little while now, and I want to read it this year.

Last year I did Asimov, this year it's Robert Jordan.

I'm a few chapters in, it's more charming than I remember it being. It's definitely not a book for everyone, it's less focused than other books; given that it's about 100 pages of exposition before the story actually begins. But it's also an easy read, because Robert Jordan's writing is very enjoyable, and everything is both pleasant and interesting.

I've read the first 8 or 9 books twice but it goes pretty off the rails and with the amount of characters. On the other hand, Robert Jordan knew how it was going to end the entire time so it never falls into the trap of turning into utter shit. I really want to finish it because I hear the ending is well done.

The first book is SO GOOD and the main characters rarely cease to be interesting. The problem is the dozens of other characters that get introduced. Often with entire chapters from their point of view. It's a fantastic writing style that would have been even more fantastic if it hadn't meandered around.

Since Robert Jordan passed away, Brandon Sanderson had to finish the series for him. He apparently did so well adapting Robert Jordan's writing style that people can't discern who wrote what.

I'll be very impressed if you make your way through the entire series in a year since it's fourteen books with a page count of 10-12 thousand depending on hard cover/soft

The first 6 books are a re-read for me too. I remember the first and second books very fondly, and the third one had some very interesting portions as well with the vision quest stuff.

The one downside about reading on ebook is that it's less convenient to flip to the map pages, so I just keep it handy on browser.

I'm through the first 10 chapters, today, and so far the book is every bit as good as I remember it being; probably better.

Yeah when I tried to get through the series again a few years ago I did it on audiobook and the series was better than how I remembered. A very impressive feat since that really never happens - nostalgia almost always seems to beat reality.

Robert Jordan had this sweet outro to one of the audiobooks where he talked about how the first thing he would do when the books were officially released would be to obtain a copy of the audiobook so he experience the books in a new way. He also sounded like he really respected the two readers who (I assume) did the entire series. A man and woman switch between the male and female points of views. They're not my favorite audiobook readers, but they're arguably perfect for the series.

Eye of the World down. Next onto The Great Hunt. Going to start it tonight, but I'll probably do it mostly next weekend.

I read "Eye of the World" a few years ago and planned to read the rest but never got to them. I enjoyed it. I wasn't blown away or anything but it was entertaining. There were lots of hints at a much large story arc, ancient civilizations, etc. I'll have to pick them up again, I think I'll re-read Eye of the World to get back into it first.

ManaMan wrote:ancient civilizations

Been meaning to get back to this thread to make this comment.. Without giving anything away one of the things Robert Jordan apparently had the most fascination with in life/writing this series was the idea of old stories changing. Basically the idea of centuries/millenia of the game "Telephone" where a true story built with facts eventually morphs over time into an inaccurate myth/legend. You can see a bit of this in The Eye of the World with him having a storyteller character nearly right off the bat. You can also see him making a point about this in later books when powerful characters do something and you can almost immediately see people innocently retelling the story inaccurately.

It's a common thing that when the main characters hear tales of these supposedly super powerful, super important people that when they eventually meet them it's basically established that in the end they're all just people getting by. It's probably one of the things he's trying to get across by the constant change in narrator, as well.

He does a lot of homage stuff too. Arthurian Legends, Tolkien, and a variety of religious elements ranging from Germanic, to Christianity, to even Hinduism/Buddhism. The Wheel of Time, that whole idea is reminiscent of Indo-Aryan cyclical time concepts; which I was just recently reading about back in January with Graham Hancock's Magicians of the Gods.

Anyway, I haven't moved far in Dragon Reborn because Fire Wmblem Fates has taken up my free time. Next week I should be back on it though.

I read through Book 7. The first five books astonished me with how amazing they are; but then he bogged down a bit in court politics and drama; I lost touch with it after that.

I've heard most people feel it loses its way in the middle but finds it again by the end of the series with astonishing verve, and that it's still very much worth finishing.

I finally did Dragon Reborn, but I discovered that it wasn't this book I liked, but rather the following book The Shadow Rising. In fact, back when I read them as a kid, Dragon Reborn was my least favourite, despite the fact that this is where Matt really comes alive. I still liked it, but clearly weaker than the first two books, and from memory, weaker than the next two. I think I actually only read the first 5 before, I thought it was the first 6.

I made it to Winter's Heart, whichever book that is. It got so convoluted and stopped holding my interest. I'm glad to know the series is finally finished and would like to one day try to finish it out.