Which books in the Wheel of Time series should I skip?

[BudAshes]

book 8 and 9 sucked for the most part. 10 got back to being pretty decent but im not really sure the series is ever going anywhere before robert jordan kicks the bucket.

 

[azazyel]

oh and if you want take look at the ratings he has on Amazon. Not one under 4 stars.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/br...dp%5Fbrlad%5Fentry/102-3681934-4628142

 

[KoolAidKid]

If I were you I would read book 6 now. I would read books 7+ only after the last book has been published. You probably won't want to read them more than once, so finishing the series with all of the characters/plot still fresh in your mind is a good idea.

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: azazyel

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: azazyel
Skip them all and pick up

Gardens of the Moon : Book One of The Malazan Book of the Fallen

I swear this series is the best I have ever read. I used to think the RR Martin was the top of the fantasy game until I read these. They are more intricate and well planned out then anything I have ever read before. The level this guy writes on is amazing. The first book is rather hard to get through though. It took me about 300 pages until I started to understand his style. Erickson even knows that people have trouble with it but everything in there is perfect.

What the auther had to say about it in an interview...

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give the younger Steven Erikson concerning his writing career?

SE: Find the secret potion that would de-complicate Gardens of the Moon. It must exist. Problem was/is, I don't see anything confusing in it. Wish I could, wish I did. The world was as full for me then as it is now -- and to write a history the way I wanted to, well, I still haven't got an answer. Poor young Steven Erikson -- sorry, mate, you're on your own.

http://www.sffworld.com/mul/165p1.html

/sorry for the off topic rant

Cool recommendation... almost prime'd it but I am a bit worried because I found George R R Martin to be mediocre, preferring WoT and Gene Wolfe at the least. Should I be trying a different Martin series? Is there some author whose books the above book resembles?

Not really, I just got into Fantasy a little over a year ago. I had a friend at work who is really into fantasy get me into them. I can't even go and talk to him anymore at work because we can honestly talk about this book for hours. It's just so huge and so in-depth but also very hard to put down. I reread all five of the books that are currently out (all about 1K pages and there will be 10 in all) in about 4 weeks. They were even better the second time. The dialog is amazing as well as the characters themselves. The story is also on an epic scale. To give you an idea after the first book some of the main characters split up and the following 2 books take place on the same timeline but on different continent. These book are also almost solely about war but it doesn't get boring like they did in RR Martin's books.

I'm ging to try those, thanks azazyel.

 

[azazyel]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick

I'm ging to try those, thanks azazyel.

Awesome, PM me if you have some questions or start to get bored. Since there are so many layers to this book I can give you tidbits that will keep you surprised and interested but wont be spoilers. Also remember, it may take 300 pages to get really into it since there are so many different races, gods, governments all at once. But when you get past the first 300 the next 4.5K will go by in a blur. And the 6th one is coming out in March

 

[Starbuck1975]

Skip them all and read Tolkien...save yourself a lot of braid ringing.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Starbuck1975
Skip them all and read Tolkien.

Someone doesn't know what they're talking about.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Someone doesn't know what they're talking about.

Someone read the first 4 WOT books and got the impression that they were Tolkien light, and eventually got bored with them.

 

[illusion88]

I'll wait until he finishes the series or dies before I pick up another WoT book. For now I have the new Sword of Truth Novels to keep me busy, then the Dark Tower Series.

 

[DAGTA]

Don't skip any. Winter's Heart and Crossroads of Twilight are the worst books but you should still read them if you want the full story.

The next book (probably in about three years) is set to finish the series, though there will probably be other prequels and side stories besides New Spring.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: illusion88
I'll wait until he finishes the series or dies before I pick up another WoT book. For now I have the new Sword of Truth Novels to keep me busy, then the Dark Tower Series.

The sword of truth books get as bad as WoT after like 7 or so. Dark Tower is amazing though.

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: azazyel

Originally posted by: Kelvrick

I'm ging to try those, thanks azazyel.

Awesome, PM me if you have some questions or start to get bored. Since there are so many layers to this book I can give you tidbits that will keep you surprised and interested but wont be spoilers. Also remember, it may take 300 pages to get really into it since there are so many different races, gods, governments all at once. But when you get past the first 300 the next 4.5K will go by in a blur. And the 6th one is coming out in March

I'll have to start em after tax season ends. Didn't get home till 1am last two days. But yea, sounds similar to what I went through with rr martin. The first book was really hard for me at the time I got it (jr high or something) and it took me till mid-highschool before I finally had enough patience and attention span to go through the book anyway.

 

[BlueFlamme]

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah

Originally posted by: illusion88
I'll wait until he finishes the series or dies before I pick up another WoT book. For now I have the new Sword of Truth Novels to keep me busy, then the Dark Tower Series.

The sword of truth books get as bad as WoT after like 7 or so. Dark Tower is amazing though.

To anyone who read WOT before SOT. Was there a feeling that Goodkind was copying large portions of Jordan? (i know i know, a lot of those themes are generic across fantasy/fiction, but when I was reading it and stuff like the Sisters of Light/Dark just made me instantly think, wow, ripped right off of Jordan's Aes Sedai).

EDIT: For time-reference, Jordan's 5th book was published one year prior to Wizard's First Rule being published.

 

[coomar]

if your going to skip, probably 7-10 can go, there is a very important plot point at the end of 9 but thats about it

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: BlueFlamme

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah

Originally posted by: illusion88
I'll wait until he finishes the series or dies before I pick up another WoT book. For now I have the new Sword of Truth Novels to keep me busy, then the Dark Tower Series.

The sword of truth books get as bad as WoT after like 7 or so. Dark Tower is amazing though.

To anyone who read WOT before SOT. Was there a feeling that Goodkind was copying large portions of Jordan? (i know i know, a lot of those themes are generic across fantasy/fiction, but when I was reading it and stuff like the Sisters of Light/Dark just made me instantly think, wow, ripped right off of Jordan's Aes Sedai).

EDIT: For time-reference, Jordan's 5th book was published one year prior to Wizard's First Rule being published.

Yes.
He did copy large portions of the books. But there were enough differences to make them both good in their own way.
Dark Tower series is great, but I'll never read them again. The ending was, in my opinion, awesome.
I am waiting for the second half of the fourth book, or the 5th book, in George RR Martin's series.
But for pure reading bliss nothing beats book 1 in the The Wheel of Time series. The Eye of the World was the best fantasy novel I have ever read.

 

[Bryophyte]

Dragging this thread back up to ask a question:

I put my hands on most of this series and was going to start reading it soon (have a couple books to finish first.) Do you recommend reading New Spring before Book 1 (Eye of the World)?

 

[Supermercado]

I've never read New Spring before, but I know vaguely what it's about. Based on that, I wouldn't read it before reading TEotW because it would take the mystery/suspense out of TEotW. I'd say to read it after establishing who the characters are, even though that's technically what New Spring does.

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: SuperCommando
I've never read New Spring before, but I know vaguely what it's about. Based on that, I wouldn't read it before reading TEotW because it would take the mystery/suspense out of TEotW. I'd say to read it after establishing who the characters are, even though that's technically what New Spring does.

Thanks


Does anyone else agree or disagree with this assessment?

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte

Originally posted by: SuperCommando
I've never read New Spring before, but I know vaguely what it's about. Based on that, I wouldn't read it before reading TEotW because it would take the mystery/suspense out of TEotW. I'd say to read it after establishing who the characters are, even though that's technically what New Spring does.

Thanks


Does anyone else agree or disagree with this assessment?

^