Page 1 of 59 Wheel of Time, The by Robert Jordan
Submitted by Anonymous 
(Mar 09, 2009)Well I have just gotten finished with the third book in this series and I have to say I am not impressed. The thought of turning another page seems insulting at this point. I was hoping that Rand's search for callandor would prove worth the read, but it's just a bunch of fluff with most of the conflict occuring in this dream world which Egwene seems so intent on mastering. Every battle ends in a state of confusion and there is little if any resolution about when and if Rand and the dark one will ever have a battle that does not suck. Needless to say, I am done with this series!
Submitted by Anonymous 
(Mar 09, 2009)Overall, WoT is a great series. It feels truly epic and much of this is thanks to the detail and the sheer amount of different (cliché) characters that appear in the books. Among these there are also some more interesting with original twists.
About the first two books, I found them kind of primitive and the world a bit "bland" but what kept me reading was an immediate emotional bond you develop to the main characters. I started reading them in my younger teens and at this age it's extremely easy to empathize with the kind of characters and story that kicks off the series. Young people leaving home, the pain of realizing life can never go back to what it was, lost childhood memories, all this in a harsh, rather primitive and melancholic spring-winter setting.
Book three was a major improvement and this is where new cultures, colour and taste as well as many of the most interesting characters of the series, aside from the main characters, are added. Book three to five build up a very solid world, and also make book 1 and 2 make more sense in a way. The series turns political already at the end of book three I would say, but all this adds to the depth and the epic feeling. The coming books are dominated by high politics and an unnaturally long summer which makes the world slowly die and adds an apocalyptic feel, suited for building up expectation for the final battle, which culminates in book 6 and 7.
The two main problems for me, or negative aspects about the series, is how the plot and certain characters obviously intended for big deeds are given huge space in earlier books, like Pedron Niall and Jaichim Carridin, taking up several prologues and even having their own chapters, but never really adding anything to the story or the plot. By book eight, they are put out of the story in very crude ways without ever accomplishing anything in the hundreds of pages they were involved in.
Another problem is how Jordan towards the later books falls in love with himself a bit too much.
Early on, when the Aiel enter the series, they bring a new distinctive culture with new concepts about pride, honor, punishment, humiliation and society. This is all unique and the cultural clashes are some of the most interesting parts of the series, but at the end of the eighth book, what was aiel-unique concepts have then for long been applied to just about everything in the world and Jordan repeated himself several times.
Those books, 6-10, seem to evolve entirely around proud women getting spanked by their subordinates or having to subdue to someone. Wether it's an Aes Sedai or forsaken I think some kind of spanking, forceful undressing, humiliation, sexual humiliation is mentioned in every chapter. Everyone just must have a whipping in Jordan's world, at least the female characters.
Another obvious trend is how the books become more and more sexualized, and focused on female sexuality from the authors point of view. In the early books, the word "rape" doesn't exist but by book six and onwards, rape becomes more standard, as well as the regular mentionings of whippings in just about EVERY chapter.
In the prologue to the ninth book, Jordan manages to put in "mothers milk", "menstruation", "woman proud in her nudity who's breast certaintly don't look like she ever had kids" as well as a darkfriend rape reference and several spanking or humiliation references. Also there's a short journey into the mind of a woman who for the first time in her life finds the natural submission to the "male strength" pleasurable and tells her friend about this.
Jordan seems so obsessed with the humiliation element of the series that you start to wonder if it's just some perverse idea of his. In my oppinion he even slaughters a few important characters this way by just having them undressed and spanked when they are on top. The first raise of eyebrows this would create when the Aiel entered the series and started undressing and spanking just about everyone is taken away and it just becomes an old mans strange fantasies, to me at least.
The only positive thing about Jordan's obsession with sexuality in the later books is he actually for the first time makes a few subtle gay references. Until this point homosexuality didn't even exist as a biological variation in the world of WoT. He says outright by book eight that lesbian relations exist and he also makes some new comments about "men who most women and even some men would find attractive", which definitely adds depth to the series which is otherwise so totally dominated by an ultra-extreme take on heterosexuality. A very strong move imo because a universe which is strictly heterosexual becomes boring and just these few references and comments manages to stir the extremely rigid nature of Jordan's world a bit. If he can open himself to this possibility, then the story might not be as stagnated as one could think, that's what I thought. Very refreshing.
Okay, despite Jordan's sexual adventures and some plot flaws, the series kept me reading and I will read the final book as well. It's too epic and overall nice to read despite the childish elements which can become tiresome at times.
I recommend it to people who have lots of spare time and likes slow progress, who wants to experience the feeling of a massive saga. It's great as brain candy for depressed people and escapists but maybe not the most attractive series for people with fast lives who wants instant action and something that doesn't sink too deep under their skin, which Jordan's books will do if you actually read through to the later books in the series.
Submitted by Charles Clark 
(Oct 23, 2008) One of the best fantasy series out there. I have reread all the books in the series. I have to have read the first book in the series at least 20 times. I reread the series because I enjoy it so much. RJ is one of the best fantasy writers out there! That much being said I will start the review.
In a way TWOT series seems realistic in a sense. Take for example the magic system. RJ gives sound theories and explanations behind this. He is the first writer I have ever read who accomplished this (in the fantasy genere) and it makes sense to me anyway when I read about it. I also like how he explains in detail (at least in The World of Robert Jordans The Wheel of Time) how shadowspawn were created and gives a huge and very detailed history behind the series. I also love how he writes about his characters including the famous battle of the sexes. There is a lot of humor involved with the characters and I really enjoy that. I dont necessarily believe that this is realistic but it is entertaining and that is why I read fantasy and other fictional books is for the entertainment.
I will say a few more things and then I will end the review. I will not name names but I know that some people gave up on the series at about book 8 or even earlier books because the pace of the series gets too slow. I guess that is bound to happen when you have a series that is right now 11 books long. When you have a series as long as this one you are bound to get at least one book that may not seem as good as some of the other novels. I do not recomend skipping over any parts of the books because you never know when you may miss something good.
Lastly concerning the future of TWOT: I know that RJ has passed away and I sure miss him, but I have a little faith that BS will do a good job with AMOL.
So for anybody that is just starting this series or is even familiar with it already I hope that you can come to enjoy it as much as myself and a lot of other readers!
Submitted by dutchman 
(Jul 08, 2008)About a year ago, I picked up Eye of the World from the bookstore and decided to read through the series since it had come so highly recommended. Once I had finished that, I grabbed the Great Hunt. I then proceeded to put them away and never read them again.
Why? Mainly because the series in itself smelt very much like what I have come to expect out of typical fantasy stories.
Before I point out what I didn't like, let me first say what I did like.
- The world is very nicely fleshed out.
- The attention to detail is excellent.
- The differences in cultures make for compelling reading.
But...
For starters the characters completely irked me in all the wrong ways, mainly because their personalities had been cut straight out of any cookie-cut cliche character you could find. In a lot of ways, it felt like I was reading the Belgarion by David Eddings only with a few extra hundred pages tacked on. Rand came across as a stubborn spoilt child who showed no inclination to change his ways, Mat came across as the pivotal mischievous comic relief and Perrin came across as the no-nonsense straight man.
Meanwhile the women grated on my nerves with their immature ways and often times ridiculous and unrealistic actions (the love at first sight card is used plenty here), not least of whom Morraine made me think of a less subtle Bene Gesserit from the Dune books.
Not only this but it was the portrayal of the good-vs.-evil concept that irritated me the most. Good characterisation will give you pause for thought and make you juggle who you like in a story, but here the good guys had incredible powers and loads of allies, while the bad guys all are psychotic loners who lasted no more than maybe a chapter or ten (out of an 800pge book) at best.
Then there was the absolutely unnecessarily long plotline. A plot that adheres to a good-vs.evil plot does not need to be 800 pages long per book. It creates too much in the timeline to remember and too many sub-plots that never develop or contribute anything more than a passing characters minor contribution.
A final piece of irritant for me was the way the books never seemed to develop anything of substance. Feeling like it was a textbook 'Lord of the Rings' knockoff meant that the characters just moved from one place to another just so the author could show off the scenery.
I wish I could say that I endured on and read more, but after the second book, I lost interest.
Would only recommend to die-hard fantasy fans and even that's with some trepidation.
Submitted by Anonymous
(Jul 08, 2008)when I first started, I was 14 and i really loved the first few books, but after maybe book 5 things just seemed to never end. One of the major reasons why I found this book incredibly annoying is the portrayal of women. I don't know what type of women RJ hangs out with, but NOT ALL WOMEN ARE ANNOYING, SELF CENTERED AND MAN HATING!. Reading his books makes me sad that I am a girl. Another would be the insane amount of characters the wheel of time has. How in earth do you expect people to remember all those characters especially if they appear at least twice in one volume and come back 3 volumes later. The plot of the book isn't anything I find extraordinary and prolonging the series just isn't cutting out, I think the series would have been great if it stayed like a trilogy or something. There is just so many things in the book that I found unnecessary and just a waste of time.
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