Anyone?! Robert Jordan's final book comes out this fall. I hope his wife and the other author follow through and don't ruin it.

Its not his final book. Brandon Sanderson has been touting it as 750,000 words in its unfinished form. So a usual Robert Jordan book will be around 250,000 words. Hes putting it out in 3 volumes over the next 3 years. Hopefully we will learn what happens at Tarmon Gaidon, where Moraine is, how the Lion Crown will survive (since its the key to TG), and how Rand will do against Shaitan.

I reread the entire 11 books in the last 2 months to get keyed up for the new one coming out in November.

Which book is your favorite? Which character is your favorite? What storylines bore you to tears and which you find exciting?

Which book is my fav--Crown of Swords/Lord of Chaos

Which Character is my favorite?--Lord Matrim Cauthon

What storylines bore me to tears?--Usually Elayne/Nynaeve storylines bore me to tears.....but not always...Bowl of the Winds was a good sequence...and the Rahad.

TM

Big fan of Robert Jordan

http://www.dragonmount.com/

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/

Should help.

TM

What?! Crap! One of Jordans last blogs was the dang series would be finished, no matter how big the book. Argh!! I really hope it's not screwed up now!

I'll yank my books when it gets a bit closer.

I like Perrin, get tired of Nynaeve. Enjoyed the first 7 books, but found the last 4 dragging and overlong.

Thanks for the info, TM, I'm gonna toss that over to the book seller friend who told me just this year, and send him an email kick in the butt!

The Brandon Sanderson site has a interview he did with Dragonmount on how exactly it went down. Like you I found the last 4 to be extremely slow and boring. Seems like they didnt flow as well as the first 7.

Perrin is cool, I like how his character has changed from when you first read about him. Sometimes I want to reach through the books and bonk him on the head, but overall hes a good solid character. Elyas and his love for Faile is great. Faile seems to be a take charge, no bs kinda lady.



How bout you Smiless....favorites?

TM

When I first picked up this series in 1995 or so, I was very impressed. It grinds some common fantasy grist (pre-adults set on epic quest to save the world and find their place within it), but throws in some spice of its own with richly fleshed out characters exhibiting fear of change, distrust of other's motivations, and the like. All nicely set against a backstory of prophecy and lost knowledge which, for me, rose to a peak in "The Shadow Rising" with the meshing of the Aiel and Tinkers, and hints regarding the Lost Song of the Tree of Life.

Exciting stuff only tainted slightly by the repetitive inclusion of foot stamping, braid tugging, "I'll never understand women like Perrin/Matt/Rand", and other well intentioned but annoying adolescent characteristics.

Unfortunately coming back to the series in 2005, I find that the Wheel of Time stopped being a series somewhere around book 6 and became a franchise, and an under-capitalized one at that. Why stop with a video game and inspirational music, while leaving untapped a market for silver foxhead medallions, Tarabonner man-veils, red Tarien conical hats, and blue silk velvet cloaks with hooded cowls chased with silver threading with a border of beaded lilies in yellows and reds edged in lace trim?

I thought the point of this series was to fight the Dark One: instead having just finished Book 10, I find that the point is to fight through lengthy descriptions of what Aes Sedai X is wearing (while busy shivering with frosty indignation). Is Aes Sedai X a Darkfriend? You've got me, it's been 600 pages since I saw her last and she's just going to sip some more mint tea, flash her eyes dangerously, and vanish for another 300 anyhow.

I'd ask where did the Tor's editors go, except paid by the word it's obvious that they've gone to the Bahamas where Jordan is rumored to have built a replica White Tower with his royalties.

I'm making it worse than it is, but only slightly. After "Winter's Heart", I find great empathy for Perrin's men running low on food and tramping through a seemingly endless forest of mud and snow. In "Crossroads of Twilight", I share Egwene's frustration as I wait 8 pages for Sheriam to announce Egwene to the Hall. And as Tuon reminds me, women really love shopping for pages and pages. If not for the comic inclusion of weevils in everyone's food I might not make it to Book 11.

This brings up the real problem with the later books: the masses of secondary characters, the weight of flowery prose and pointless minutia cracks the delicate suspension of disbelief and degrades the primary characters' integrity. Am I really supposed to believe that the entire Aes Sedai rebel camp lacks the single nail that would suffice to fix Egwene's stool once and for all? If the Power can reheat bitter mulled wine, why can't it heat a rock sufficiently to warm a tent? If using the Power is so trivial as to be expended in lighting and extinguishing lamps, why does no one think to use it to sort weevils out of grain?

This is a shame. A tale that started so strongly deserves a strong ending. The New York Times can make the insufferable claim that Jordan has "come to dominate Tolkien's world", but that'd be in terms of raw page count. JRR told a tight, compelling and enduring tale.

So for me personally the first and second book will be my all time favorites from Robert Jordan just for the fact they were the best well written books he has in the collection. A great writer who was on a role all the way to the sixth book.


Check out Guy Kay's "Tigana" or Joan Vinge's "The Snow Queen" for some quality reading while you wait for WOT to finish itself up by 2010 or so.



I must add that Robert Jordan is one of the many great authors responsible for getting me interested in writing fiction. My imagination may not be as grand as Jordan's, but at least I can say that I gave it a shot.

Here is the link - The Sacred Woods of Silvernarion - NOVEL** - http://mingle2.com/topic/show/195574

What other series/authors do you guys read with anticipation of their upcoming books? Any?

Sword of Trush? (sadly its hit Jordan-esque writing where the first 2-3 were great and the others just dragged. Hopelessly addicted to what happens with Richard Rahl)

Ever read the Runelord series by David Farland. The first 5 are great, a great new and fresh idea for the concept of "Rune Lords"

RA Salvatore--Writer of the Drizzts series has a new series coming out, Started with Highwayman. Great if you enjoyed the Dark Elf books.

George RR Martins new book will hopefully come out soon. This is the only author I know that is not afraid to kill off well developed characters. Morbid, but refreshing.


TM

At the moment I am working on the following books:

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman - Bones of the Dragon

I like these authors for their characters are full of personalities.

***

R.A. Salvatore - Saga of the First King -The Ancients is keeping me busy.

I learned alot from this author especially on how to write battle sequences between two opponents. He can keep you on your toes on how to describe such activities in a chapter.

******

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Children of Hurin

This book was actually edited by his son Christopher Tolkien.

It is not a light read for JRR was a linguist who studied languages that actually at one time existed on Earth and changed them a bit here and there to create the Elvin language. The whole history about elves with JRR is so vast and complicated that one can only read small parts of it at one time and take notes to understand. Nevertheless one can actually believe that such a world did exist at one time.

I would agree with you about Salvatore and his battle sequences. The fight scenes with Jilseponie and Elbryan were great, very rich.

Is Saga of the First King new, or an offshoot of something else?

TM

The first book to the series is "Highwayman" then comes the "Ancients"

It is not brand new. It was published on March 2008.

Ok, Ive read Highwayman and The Ancient, Ill have to run down and get this one. Enjoyed the Highwayman, Jury is still out on The Ancient.

Ever read any of George RR Martin?

TM

I had the opportunity to read one book "A Game of Thrones".

He is a dark cynical writer in my opinion. He has a very good writing style that goes in a class of its own. If I have the time I should get more books to read on him. I am sure he has a huge collection of books written already.

You are correct, hes pretty dark.

A Game of Thrones
A Storm of Swords
A Clash of Kings
A Feast for Crows

He has tremendous character building abilities in his first couple of books, but he tends to lean towards the darker side of humanity. Like I said earlier, he builds up characters to the point that you can relate to then, and then BOOM they are gone. While Dark, I find that amazingly unknown to most authors.

Eddings was my first "Series" that I ever got interested in. Amazing depth to his world and a great story writer. His characters are very likable and energetic. He cradles his characters in love, It would almost be an abomination to kill them.

Terry Brooks was the next series I really got interested in. He kills off some of his characters (Garet Jax), but it wasnt a stretch to see it. Not as good of a writer as Eddings, but a pleasurable read.

Salvatore kills Elbryan, but I guess his point is to develop Jilseponie more, and Elbryans death (while tragic) is understandable with his opponent being so powerful.

Who knows, Maybe the way Jordans books have been going he will kill off Rand before TG and the Dark One will win!

TM

Has anyone read Steven Ericksons series about the Malazion?

Farland - read through book 4 but have through 6. Enjoyed what I've read so far.

Glen Cooks - Shadow Company books were good though kinda odd after the first 3.

Donaldson - I've enjoyed ALL his books, not just the Covenant series

Goodkind - liked them but enjoyed the first and last 3 best. Liked how he ripped the world apart.

Enjoy Sara Douglas, Kate Elliot, Jennifer Fallon, Elizabeth Haydon, Mercedes Lackey, Stephen Lawhead, Robert Holdstock, and many others.

Started Terry Brooks years ago and wasn't really impressed but may flip back into it

Has anyone read Steven Ericksons series about the Malazion?

Farland - read through book 4 but have through 6. Enjoyed what I've read so far.

Glen Cooks - Shadow Company books were good though kinda odd after the first 3.

Donaldson - I've enjoyed ALL his books, not just the Covenant series

Goodkind - liked them but enjoyed the first and last 3 best. Liked how he ripped the world apart.

Enjoy Sara Douglas, Kate Elliot, Jennifer Fallon, Elizabeth Haydon, Mercedes Lackey, Stephen Lawhead, Robert Holdstock, and many others.

Started Terry Brooks years ago and wasn't really impressed but may flip back into it

Elizabeth Haydon...I LOVE this series. I wasnt sure when I picked up the first book, but after reading it I love the story she presents. I literally couldnt put the books down until I had finished.

Have always heard good things about Mercedes Lackey, Ill have to check it out.

Sword of Truth......Zedd is a great character, his whole character sparks a smile everytime he spouts some of his great lines.

Also heard about Shadow Company....how many books is it and other than your overview, is it worth the time invested?

TM

Mercedes Lackey is fairly light reading, IMO. Kinda like Anne McCaffreys Pern series. However she does touch on some darker aspects like rape.

Glen Cook - 10 books, the first three are the best. It kinda gets strange after that but I still liked it though I did wonder sometimes what the point was.

The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose are first set
Bleak Seasons, She is the Darkness is second set
Water Sleeps, Soldiers Live is third set
Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, Silver Spike is fourth set.

Mine are omnibuses so the above is how they are set up.

I've enjoyed the Wheel of Time series.

Some of my favorite fantasy novels-

Stephen R Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant(Haven't read Fatal Revenant yet)

Sword Of Truth series
Robert Silverberg's Majipoor series

Watership Down- Richard Adams
Shardik- Richard Adams
The Unexpected Dragon Trilogy- Mary Brown
Little, Big- John Crowley

The Wheel of Time series started out as a really good series and then kinda fizzled out after The Path of Daggers. It just took to darn long for another book to come out and I moved on to other stories and adventures. Maybe someday I'll finish up the series but no plans to restart from the begining in the near future.

Just finishing a tantilizing read, The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks.
The Way of Shadows, Book I. Shadows Edge, Book II. Beyond the Shadows, Book III.

Destinies of a small group of Children from the slums are changed and their lives become intertwined for survival. An Immortal Assasin, A Reluctant Leader to His Kingdom, The Leader of The Underground Intelligence and One that knows the time and Manner of her own Death.

Thanks for this Site