Blood of the Fold
Temple of the Winds
Honestly, the only reason I made it this far is because I read these books in my youth, and they bring back nostalgic memories. Just like in my youth, though, I simply couldn’t go on part Temple of the Winds. Even Blood of the Fold was looking shabby compared to watching paint dry. The story telling goes downhill in a big way as the coincidences and neat moralizing take their toll. The author’s only recourse seems to be conjuring a line of ever more powerful badguys who refuse to think and neatly fall into the traps that are set for them.
One thing that really stuck out at me, was the moral outrage that was brought against Jagang. What the heck?!!! A world without prophecy – that’s the dangerous future that is worth slaughtering tons of people and dissolving the legitimate governments of a continent? My level of incredulity had long since been reached, but that was the cherry on the icing.
Anyhow, read Wizard’s First Rule and possibly Stone of Tears. After that, for the love of god, stop.
Wizard’s First Rule
Not so bad as fantasy goes. The book has a lot of overt moralizing instead of letting the reader decide for herself who is good and who is evil. Still, a rousing good tale without many of the internal contradictions that happen in other stories. As typical of fantasy, though, there isn’t much besides the story here; if you came looking for insight, read science fiction.
A Crown of Swords
A Path of Daggers
Winter’s Heart
Crossroads of Twilight
Knife of Dreams
I can’t even bring myself to write separate entries for each of the books. It is very clear that Jordan runs out of steam, especially towards book 9 and beyond. More and more of the secrets in the world are simply revealed, although there seems to be no purpose to doing so. The plot gets really thin in places, and quite unbelievable. Additionally, the forsaken behave in a manner that is totally unbelievable (Someone, please send a Gholam to kill Rand. Or anyone not near Mat.). I’ll admit, I know I didn’t read the prequel, but after this marathon, I can’t quite bring myself to read even one more book. Perhaps in 20 years or so once I’ve forgotten how bad the writing is, I’ll be able to bring myself to finish the series. Or not.
The Shadow Rising
Easily my favorite book of the series. The action moves rapidly and doesn’t get bogged down like it does later on in the series. Also, most of the main characters are still green enough that their ignorance and blundering about is still believable, perhaps even a bit endearing.
The Great Hunt
I sat down and read the entire series in one multi-day go. I find that by book 4, the women got to be really, really tedious and annoying. The one thing that really bothered me about this book, though is the cover. I mean, come on! Trollocs are not people in animal shaped helmets. It’s really bad when the same author does the cover of book 5 with the Trollocs depicted properly that time.
The Eye of the World
First book in the Wheel of Time series. I used to read these books quite a bit. It brings back memories, reading them again.
