I never read past book 7 or 8 back in the day. No idea if I’ll finish them this time.
― ian, Thursday, 27 January 2022 16:04 (two years ago) link
checking in on readers' progress
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Saturday, 19 February 2022 00:41 (two years ago) link
mid book 5; starting to feel like a slog. i know (or remember) LoC was good but jfc the "men are like THIS and women are like THIS" really ramps up here. as well as endless scenes of traveling city to city.
― ian, Sunday, 20 February 2022 18:07 (two years ago) link
I'm at almost the same spot. I finished book 4 last month, and I'm either stopping there or taking a very long break. I wanted to destroy my copy by the end. It was so fucking long, and yeah, the "UGH men! UGH women!" stuff was starting to dominate.
The first three books were enjoyable and felt like a fairly complete trilogy.
― jmm, Sunday, 20 February 2022 18:22 (two years ago) link
in fairness have ye not men/women?
pretty awful ime
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Sunday, 20 February 2022 18:37 (two years ago) link
women be channeling, amirite
― mookieproof, Sunday, 20 February 2022 18:42 (two years ago) link
never not at it
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Sunday, 20 February 2022 18:53 (two years ago) link
women tug at their braids and men fight tiger style or w/e
― ian, Sunday, 20 February 2022 19:00 (two years ago) link
A perhaps relevant tweet or two
The SOUND OF DISGUST I made at realizing this prologue kicks off with Elaida uggfghhhhhhhh #TarValonOrBust #WheelOfTime pic.twitter.com/lf8IhYPXzE— Preeti Chhibber (@runwithskizzers) February 21, 2022
lol Jordan really was like "Oh you waited a year for your favs to come back, HOPE YOU LIKE READING ABOUT LADY ALTEIMA" #TarValonOrBust— Preeti Chhibber (@runwithskizzers) February 21, 2022
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 21 February 2022 16:46 (two years ago) link
lol true, true
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Monday, 21 February 2022 16:49 (two years ago) link
As a kid, I never picked up on the weird s&m/spanking/humiliation stuff tbh
― ian, Monday, 21 February 2022 18:37 (two years ago) link
im not sure that's necessarily there that much vs being a trope about yr boarding school experience or w/e
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Monday, 21 February 2022 19:35 (two years ago) link
Urgh. Not started book 4 yet but book 3 seemed to be endless characters travelling without much actual plot advancement so thrilled to learn there's more to come.
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 11:34 (two years ago) link
lol if you're struggling now I'd get out while the going's good
― Number None, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 11:36 (two years ago) link
secret of good fantasy games and books is that the travelling around is better than the intrigue, the battles and the good vs evil
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 12:23 (two years ago) link
It can be, but it depends on how well those aspects work together. In Tolkien, there’s a real sense of circumstances dictating where the characters have to go, and the geographical obstacles alone have a dramatic effect. He's also faster at moving his characters around than he’s given credit for. With Jordan on the other hand, it seems like he spends the first quarter of each volume establishing some new reasons to send his characters across the map somewhere. Then the traveling itself is a slow plod, or boat ride, or shortcut involving The Ways or something like that, and it’s hard not to feel that he’s just drawing it out because he wants to publish an 800-page volume.
― jmm, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 14:24 (two years ago) link
It's not the worst stuff ever, just not enormously exciting.
― jmm, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 14:29 (two years ago) link
def agree that its going to depend on a number of factors
for instance im v likely influenced by my own reading style of skipping paragraphs if nothing looks like happening
now this does mean i spend a lot of time later on presuming i should remember more names and events than i do bit this is v normal for me irl also so it helps me immersenif anything
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 14:33 (two years ago) link
Had to take a break after Winter's Heart, might pick back up again later this year when my "new to read" pile dwindles a little more.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 15:28 (two years ago) link
While we all wait for whatever's next, a just-started thread on the costumes. (Natania's a good sort, she does these things for a variety of shows and movies and things.)
1 - Wheel, you know what time it is: it's #threadtalk. And, judging by my pun, you might have guessed we're talking #TheWheelOfTime series costuming.What could be more appropriate than a world where magic *is* quite literally, thread. 🧵🪄Let us go forth & adventure! pic.twitter.com/HYimEvXKSM— Natania Barron (@NataniaBarron) March 15, 2022
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 23:15 (two years ago) link
Finished book 4 last week. First half was a real slog but picked up a bit in the second. Would echo all the eye rolling at Men! Women! though.
Just finished book 3 of The Witcher which was a breeze in comparison.
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 10:36 (two years ago) link
A little update
https://gizmodo.com/wheel-of-time-ayoola-smart-amazon-season-2-1848833256
During the show’s virtual JordanCon panel, the yearly celebration of Jordan’s many books, showrunner Rafe Judkins announced that Ayoola Smart would be joining the cast in a recurring role. She’ll be playing Aviendha, a character that Judkins called his personal favorite from the many in Jordan’s novels. Introduced in the third book, 1991's The Dragon Reborn, Aviendha is a Wise One, one of the three matriarchal leaders of the Aiel. Throughout the novels, she eventually becomes a main love interest of Rand al’Thor, played in the show by Joshua Stradowski. Judkins made the video in Morocco near where a fight scene involving Smart was being filmed, and he had nothing but praise for her portrayal of the character. “Start Googling her now!” Judkins teased. “This woman is gonna make you excited to see more of the world of the Aiel.”
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 23 April 2022 19:28 (two years ago) link
Annnnd first peak of season two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua4SU8oKjx8
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 7 October 2022 22:06 (one year ago) link
Anyone know if we're likely to see season 2 this year?
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 22 November 2022 09:01 (one year ago) link
No, next.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 22 November 2022 14:14 (one year ago) link
started in on s1
i have no idea what to expect
― mark s, Sunday, 15 January 2023 19:41 (one year ago) link
lotta bathing iirc
― G. D’Arcy Cheesewright (silby), Sunday, 15 January 2023 19:48 (one year ago) link
gosh
― mark s, Sunday, 15 January 2023 19:51 (one year ago) link
anyone considering starting the tv series or awaiting season 2 for any reason other than rubbernecking the disaster should really be turning their attention to shadow and bone instead
streets ahead ito production quality, cast are all better than competent (and are imo the most attractive ensemble ever put on screen) and suprisingly little of the plot or individual lines jar (which shouldnt be such a high bar but this is a fantasy adaptation we are talking about here)
seriously though watch it just for the cast being so hot its actually outrageous
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Monday, 1 May 2023 22:23 (one year ago) link
I liked shadow and bone a lot.
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Monday, 1 May 2023 22:51 (one year ago) link
Shadow and Boning
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Monday, 1 May 2023 23:12 (one year ago) link
Returns Sep 1st
'The Wheel of Time' season 2 is almost here! Check in with Moiraine and meet some new faces in these first-look photos. https://t.co/tat4YDhYtR— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) May 24, 2023
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 24 May 2023 13:54 (eleven months ago) link
ok i’m two hours into shadow and bone and i like it and cannot dispute deems’s statements but
a) she and him should live in a yurt and have two kids by now, not wonder if holding hands was for realsies at age 10. b) cannot tell what the magyars are saying or if i’m even supposed to understand what theyre saying. c) don’t care about the criminals or their storylines or whether they live or die, honestly. d) the really badass criminal dude is so cool i’m almost rooting for him, but inevitably he’s gonna catch cheekbones criminal and torture him before the latter breaks free and slaughters everyone
― mookieproof, Thursday, 8 June 2023 03:42 (eleven months ago) link
And we got first full trailer for the new season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-1OT1jxuQo
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 19 July 2023 17:47 (nine months ago) link
And we're back tomorrow!
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 August 2023 14:49 (eight months ago) link
jeez there's a whole bunch of them
― mookieproof, Friday, 1 September 2023 05:16 (eight months ago) link
I tried to read Lord of Chaos this summer, wound up deliberately spoiling myself on the ending to free myself of the need to finish it.
These books are not for me.
― jmm, Friday, 1 September 2023 14:47 (eight months ago) link
and that’s one of the better ones!
― 龜, Friday, 1 September 2023 15:06 (eight months ago) link
This is a series that most readers agree is not very good, but it remains very popular. It's kind of baffling.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 1 September 2023 20:26 (eight months ago) link
most reader are, i think, frustrated but may not agree that it is not very good tbh
― close encounters of the third knid (darraghmac), Friday, 1 September 2023 21:26 (eight months ago) link
It's not very good.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 1 September 2023 21:31 (eight months ago) link
Had no idea they'd recast Mat. Reading about it seems to explain some of the changes in the later episodes of season one
― groovypanda, Saturday, 2 September 2023 19:52 (eight months ago) link
not complaining, but didn't padan fain pretty explicitly kill loial/uno/etc. whilst stealing the horn at the end of last season? like staring at perrin and speechifying while twisting the knife?
anyway, having watched the first two new ones, it's decent. rand looks like less of a dork, at least. liandrin having a secret soft side is good stuff, and it's pretty much a race to see if her face can get wider faster than christopher pike's hair gets taller.
as for the series, i think the first several books are actually pretty good? like yes, dude was a grating writer with grating tics that he made no attempt to rein in, but the story was solid before he disappeared up his own ass and started writing 700pp books that covered 48 hours.
as to why it's popular (and i have no idea whether it is or not, having been out of bookstores for 20 years), i figure it's the logical result of the series-ization of fantasy. you can be patricia mckillip and periodically write small new things that get no attention, or you can extend your existing properties forever like brandon sanderson. there's probably a limit somewhere, as with the marvel universe, but i think fantasy fans would be the very last people to turn down More. and the wheel of time is Endlessly More
― mookieproof, Sunday, 3 September 2023 01:36 (eight months ago) link
I thought the first three books were good, they're a decent B/B+.
It starts to lose me with the fourth book, which is weird because lots of people say that it's the best (source: /r/Fantasy). Lord of Chaos is the first one that I couldn't even finish - I got so tired of the repetitive scenes, shapeless plot, the constant introduction of new named characters with indistinguishable personalities. He must have doubled the length of the character list just in this book alone.
― jmm, Sunday, 3 September 2023 02:03 (eight months ago) link
Sniff, tug on braid.The books were great when I was 13; I tried to re-read them in the last few years and I think I got halfway through #4. They're a good example of how far world-building and likeable/hateable characters can get you when your ability to pace and plot a story is a complete fucking mess.
I'm still gonna watch this show.
― ian, Sunday, 3 September 2023 15:15 (eight months ago) link
Re Loial, yeah that definitely happened as I rewatched the season one finale before the first new one xpsThought they might address it along the lines of "it takes more than a knife thrust to kill a sturdy ogre" but no, not mentioned at all.
― groovypanda, Sunday, 3 September 2023 15:26 (eight months ago) link
i liked The Great Hunt a lot. tho it was frustrating because i wanted Rand to get it on with that hot evil chick.― ryan (ryan), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 05:38 (nineteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
all things come to those who wait
― TWELVE Michelob stars?!? (seandalai), Sunday, 3 September 2023 22:57 (eight months ago) link
for reasons I don't fully understand I picked up the books at book 3 and will see how far I get (currently finishing book 4) - last time (a long time ago) I got to 6 or 7 before I stopped caring
― TWELVE Michelob stars?!? (seandalai), Sunday, 3 September 2023 22:59 (eight months ago) link
Who killed Asmodean?
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 17:38 (eight months ago) link
mickey spillane knows
― close encounters of the third knid (darraghmac), Tuesday, 5 September 2023 18:02 (eight months ago) link