who in this bitch reads robert jordan? -- The Wheel of Time thread

I'm trying to figure out why the first two LOTR movies worked for me (I think the third one starts to become what the Hobbit movies would be...) and maybe it's simply just that Jackson had the budget and skills to go for actual grandeur and menace.

Starts to wilt halfway through two towers for me as jackson began to exercise his editorial brilliance with ever more confidence

The guy in charge of this started out in that mode alas

lmao at the sexposition being one of GoT's strengths, though

haha ok fair enough

what's funny is i'll definitely keep watching this as long as it goes despite my frustrations--deju vu all over again.

I enjoyed this. Even if it did feel like Merlin With a Budget.

I think I kinda liked this because of the slightly trying too hard, good budget but not quite BIG budget, also ran vibe. Watching it felt like no specific other show, but put me in the mind of all of the cheesy, really not all that great sci-fi/fantasy shows that would get aired on the early non-premium cable channels that I would absolutely eat up for lack of better options in the genre.

I don't if that makes sense, it just felt comfortable in an odd sort of way, even as I knew it wasn't great.

I know what you’re saying. I rather enjoyed the shannara show in a similar way to what you’re describing

Shannara was better than this. It embraced its cheesiness where this tries to pretend it isn't there.

I mean, I'm also going to keep watching it, especially to see how the diversions from the series play out. What surprises me is that my wife, who has no familiarity with the source material, likes it more than I do (though she doesn't love it).

I think thats been the way across the board tbh

Its been labelled as a reaction from nerdy bookreaders but is in fairness more of a clamour of "wait you changed it to that instead wtf that makes no sense"

put me in the mind of all of the cheesy, really not all that great sci-fi/fantasy shows that would get aired on the early non-premium cable channels that I would absolutely eat up for lack of better options in the genre

yes this is totally the feel of a lot of it! but unlike those shows it just seems to lack any real life to it or sense that anyone is having any fun at all. the actors are uniformly bad (imo--though possibly not entirely their fault) which is unfortunate since we are probably stuck with them but there is a *chance* this could go from bad to passably mediocre in future seasons.

still have not watched this aiside from first ep - combination of work and maybe fears that will be ultra disappointed

question though re above
- From the Gizmodo article: Tossing aside the novels’ obstinate adherence to the gender binary is a welcome and inclusive update.

Not to repeat myself from a million years ago but the better path to take here is to portray a world (one not unlike our own!) that is suffering from its obstinate adherence to a gender binary! -

My understanding was that the only major change was on the reincarnation aspect of souls so that Egwene for example could be a reincarnation of Dragon - not hat they changed the saidin/saidar separation (aside from automatic overall stat that men would generally be stronger in power than women. Is that correct or was there a larger switch?

In other news, while catching up on my Expanse related news saw that Shohreh Aghdashloo in very loose talks re joining WOT https://screenrant.com/expanse-shohreh-aghdashloo-wheel-time-season-2-role/

Your understanding is correct

Id say theres probably several large switches of plot and character from series one vs the equivalent period/events in the book, and dozens of more minor changes in knock on effects tbh

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2021 season is nominated in the ILX TV poll, with voting ending this weekend:

ILX's Best Television of 2021 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 31, 2022

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!

Long fantasy series are very difficult to manage. As strong as I think The Malazan Book of the Fallen was, the tenth and final book was a disappointment. Jordan completely lost control of his narrative before he died. I couldn't even finish the ones he wrote.

xp who the fuck nominated this

nevermind the trollocs

oh yes

worst thing about this show is that now i'm almost done with book 4

you can stop at #6

then just read a wikipedia summary

Was wondering whether it was worth reading the entire series

I've just finished 3

it is, I know I'm repeating myself but the availability of the books rather than waiting years between each means that even the relative trudge from 7-11 (disputed) is worth yr time and it's not like there's no payoff- it delivers

I never read past book 7 or 8 back in the day. No idea if I’ll finish them this time.

checking in on readers' progress

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.

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.

in fairness have ye not men/women?

pretty awful ime

women be channeling, amirite

never not at it

women tug at their braids and men fight tiger style or w/e

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

lol true, true

As a kid, I never picked up on the weird s&m/spanking/humiliation stuff tbh

im not sure that's necessarily there that much vs being a trope about yr boarding school experience or w/e

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.

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.

lol if you're struggling now I'd get out while the going's good

secret of good fantasy games and books is that the travelling around is better than the intrigue, the battles and the good vs evil

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.

It's not the worst stuff ever, just not enormously exciting.

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

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.

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

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.

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.”

Annnnd first peak of season two

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua4SU8oKjx8

Anyone know if we're likely to see season 2 this year?

No, next.

started in on s1

i have no idea what to expect