Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Robert Jordan & The Wheel of Time

First post, here we go:

For as long as I can remember, I've been an avid reader.  Whether it be thrillers, philosophy or autobiographies, I've always read whatever I can get my hands on.  More than any other genre, however, I've always been taken with high fantasy novels—epics, sword-and-sorcery or anything of the like.  Nevertheless, with the end of school and the beginning of truly joining the workforce, I've lost touch with my literary side.  There just aren't enough hours in the day for me to accomplish everything that needs to be done.

Around six months ago, I started a new job and much to my dismay, the employer doesn't mind half of the workplace walking around with headphones in their ears throughout the day.  I instantly knew this was my chance to regain what I had lost.  After my first day of work I went straight home and began researching which audiobook I would begin listening to first.  After much deliberation, one series clearly outshone all of the others:  The Wheel of Time.

I had always been turned off to this series due to its sheer size—nothing makes reading a novel more laborious than trudging through page after page, or for this series, book after book of fillers.  Nothing irks me more than little to no plot advancement after having read 500+ pages.

Needless to say, the first three books were absolutely amazing!  Between the Aes-Sedai and their warders, Mat and his dagger, Perrin and his wolves and of course, Rand being the Dragon Reborn, I was instantly thrown into an exciting and fascinating world full of surpries, twists and turns.  However, as all good things come to an end, books four and five began the slow crawl toward book ten, which was by far my least favorite.  While still in evidence, the action seen throughout the initial books was soon replaced with political intrigue and the coming to power of the main character and his friends.

That being the case, there were several brief respites throughout the series—need I say Dumai's fucking Wells?  And these were the moments that I continued reading the series for, the moments where Jordan would assault my arms with goosebumps and send chills down my spine.  When the series is epic, it is purely that:  the epitome of epic.  However, it was actually making it to those rare moments that was the hard part.

I've just started book thirteen, and I must say, the opening with Loial hit me as hard as, if not harder than the events of Dumai's Wells.  I'm hoping the rest of the book holds true to the first few pages.  This excites me, but also saddens me at the same time.  As much as I look forward to finishing the series, I always hate coming to the end of such a journey.  While I always get the sense of closure that I desire, I'm also met with a sense loss and longing for more, where often times, there is none.  All of you readers out there know the feeling I'm referring to.

Nonetheless, I have about a week's time left with the series and I intend to enjoy it in the utmost.

Any other fans care to share their thoughts on the series?

5 comments:

  1. Nice blog, please post some book recommendations

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  2. I don't know the series but I'll definitely will have to check it after reading this.

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  3. I will have to check the series out sometime after I finally get my long-awaited Ipad. I hope I can buy their ebooks!

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  4. I love this series! I am currently on knife of dreams, definitely one of the top book series i have ever read.

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  5. Books 12 and 13 were a huge change of pace, this may be due to Brian taking over for Jordan after his death. You won't be disappointed in the book, only the fact that there is no 2011 release.

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