Reasons why you SHOULD read WoT (no spoilers).

[kenpat]

Yeah, I always feel that The Gunslinger of the Dark Tower series is different to the rest of the books, and the weakest of the lot. Two and three are some of the best books I've read, however!

Like yourself with WoT, I've got the first three sitting on my shelves just never started them. I think the last SK book I read was The Stand or Cujo and that's going back a few years.

 

[HoopyFrood]

And in the same vein of this thread YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ THE DARK TOWER BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME!

Really.

Especially book three. Damn.

 

[ratsy]

Hoopy, I have read the first two slinger books but the second threw me off. I just couldnt get the characters and the story just felt wrong to me. Is the third really that good? I am a huge King fan.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Yeah, the Dark Tower really isn't like any other epic series, and really is literally about getting to the Tower and what happens along the way, so...argh, there's stuff I want to say but can't! Anyway, book 2 is largely about getting all the characters together so book 3 calms down in that respect, but revs right up in terms of plot. I love the first half to book 3 to death, it's awesome (and that's not to say the rest of it isn't great, but I especially love what happens in the first half).

Er...anyway, feel free to pop over to the King section if you want to chat more about it!

 

[HoopyFrood]

OK, 28 pages into the story. Now, I hate description, generally. I don't see why we need to know the name of roads or where the mayor lived and all the tiny bits. But damn, when there's news of strangers around suddenly I find I've been so pulled into the village that I'm as genuinely interested as the characters.

Plus a couple of moments have actually made me laugh out loud. Floured dogs and Rand accidentally shouting just as everyone goes silent

 

[ratsy]

Oh how I envy you. I am about 60 pages from being done the series. I feel a little crazy after being part of their world for over a year now almost nonstop. When I am done, I'm sure I will wander aimlessly for a few hours bumping into walls.

 

[Erin99]

Oh, Hoopy, I envy you too! (Only just noticed this; been at my folks' for the week.) All the incredible moments to come throughout the series if you stick with it... Actually, now that I think about it, you're one of those who I think will REALLY be wowed(!!!) at the OMG moments if I can somehow convince you to get past book one (I've failed with everyone else so far )... Oh, the highlights in book two, and three, and four!!! Oooh yeah... book four... heh. So many whoa scenes...

If you can bring yourself to read book two, I promise it will be worth it for most people. Really picks up plot and depth, and in later books the main MC, Rand, changes a lot, and so do the rest. And the intricate plots in the series... Especially the later books... Wow. Just... wow.

I don't think there's many "epic-sounding" speeches in the series, iirc, anyway. There's some in book one, but I don't remember major roll-eyes speech moments throughout the series.

Anyway, in return I shall dig out the Dark Tower series when I have more money. (Money is a long way off right now, though.)

 

[Erin99]

And Ratsy, I don't even want to contemplate what I'll be like when I've finished the series. I keep having moments of panic when I think about leaving the world and characters for good... I think I'll need to see if there's such a thing as WoT rehabilitation clinics.

I'm halfway through book 7, and still amazed how quickly I've got through them and how they've sucked me in like no other series. And to think of how neutral I was at the end of book 1!!! I am forever grateful to Seph for bugging me to pick up book 2.

One day someone here might do the same, then they can tell everyone how awesome book 2+ is! That might get those who couldn't get past 1 to give it another go...

 

[ratsy]

Leisha, if you think there are Whoa moments where you are now...just wait. I am going to need a vacation after this last one.

 

[Erin99]

WHAT?! You can't be telling me that there are better moments than I've seen!!! Not... possible... Does not compute...

I am in awe of Jordan's skill!

 

[ratsy]

I am actually surprised how many people would stop after the first one. I have read it twice. Once as a teenager and again a couple years ago. I loved it both times but hey, each to their own. I am a sucker for a good author and have read a lot of books. Jordan is one of the best. I doubt I will ever read another series as epic as this one. I am with you on the rehab though. Its easy to get addicted to the land and characters. As i read the last book I have the signed print of the cover spanning in the wall. I have went full WOT nerd.

Good thing I was cool when my beautiful wife met me

 

[HoopyFrood]

Welp, it should be everything I dislike, but somehow I'm 100 pages in already so it must be doing something right

 

[kenpat]

Well, that's tGS finished, oh Leisha you have so many more OMG moments to look forward to.
I had to finish it last night, just couldn't stop. Pleased to say that my concerns re short POV changes were addressed. It was good to see some storylines reaching conclusions.
I have real life duties today so I don't want to start ToM till I'm back home and can settle in for a long session.
Keep going HoopyFrood, there is something special about WoT.

 

[Erin99]

Keep going HoopyFrood, there is something special about WoT.

Hear! Hear!!!!! Everyone, pay attention to this quote. It's the best line EVER!


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So. Yeah, I hope more people choose to try book two. I can't complain about those who have given up after book one, though, because I was so-so about it until a year or so of my partner nagging me to read book two. But in book two I was blown away, and more so in book three... and so on. I just love how Jordan's done everything.

I think Jordan's problem, though, is that he's too subtle at times. Seph had to explain to me things I'd missed in book one, and why there was actually lots of tension and conflict building that I'd missed - and how certain powers were got.

And after book one, Jordan finally decided to open out the world and let us see how un-Tolkien it is.

Again, at the end of book three, I hadn't realised how OMG that end scene is. Seph explained to me what it actually meant, and how everything I'd thought had become turned on its head, and suddenly I got a rush and was like, WHOA!!! And things suddenly got even more dramatic...

I am quite happy to hold my hands up and say how I'm a complete WoT nerd. I love it! And I'm sooooo happy to see there are others here who've been reading and loving it! I thought this forum seemed very negatively biased against him, and it made me sad. Not any more! One day someone will have to start a thread to discuss all the awesome OMG-moments in the series. I can just imagine some poor soul reading spoilers in it, though, and not feeling the same drama we felt at reading the surprises in store.

Hoopy - keep going! It's SO worth it. And keep remembering: this is NOT the best book by far. In fact, it's my least fav of all the seven I've read.

 

[biodroid]

I am still not convinced, those "slow" books with braid tugging and no plot advancement is still bugging me to attempt to try read the series.

 

[Erin99]

Hmmm. I hear so much about braid tugging, yet does anyone actually know what that's about?! For those who don't, it's one character who does it. That's all. And in later books it's there as humour, because you know said character does it when she's annoyed and that she knows everyone sniggers when she does it.

Hope I'm making sense. I'm quite tired today, and words are hard to make coherent!

So yeah. I see the tugging as one character's flaw, that's all. Like I said elsewhere in here, I bite my nails and bottom lip... We each have mannerisms that we do when stressed, angry, or nervous.

And I'm on book seven and haven't considered any book "slow", if that helps. Something's always happening to somebody, and if you're genuinely interested in what's happening to everyone, you'll find it all interesting. I love seeing how all the characters have grown. It's shown me how vastly different characters can get throughout a series, which I hope to emulate in my own writing. (Yes, Rand stays quite... plain in book one and two - but rest assured, he doesn't stay that way. He changes the most throughout the series, I think.) Also, a page or so back, someone mentioned how they'd got to the "slow" book and was more forgiving of it than others, since he didn't have to wait years between books. Even Jordan admitted the book was the one he wished he could change and make more like his old style. However, I think if you get that far into the series, you obviously love it and won't give up because of one book near the end that wandered a little too far off track.

As for "no plot advancement" - again, I feel very different. Since book two, the plot has ALWAYS advanced with each book. There's baddies to chase, rivals to go to war with, nations to conquer, adversities to overcome, advanced magic that characters can't fight against, inner conflicts, madness, society to battle, "The Game of Houses", etc... And then there's lots of prophecies and foretelling to decipher, which is soooo fun!

And that's not to mention one of the most beautiful things about the series, that of Jordan's world-building. I'm really left hoping to see glimpses of the Age of Legends, hoping that somehow life will go back that way. Little world-building asides here and there really leave a reader longing to find out more while feeling wistful for a time that has passed and likely shall never be again. I lap up every mention of harbours in mountains, and giant statues that once meant something which were buried and forgotten about, and Ogier-built cities that have long since vanished. And if any of that makes you curious, you'll LOVE the series. In each book you find out that little bit more...

Anyway. Of course, not every series is everyone's cup of tea, so I suppose the only way is to give it a try and see - giving book two a shot before you make up your mind, because only then will you truly be able to see what the WoT is about. If you're not hooked at the end of book two, I'd probably say that it's not your thing (though you'd be missing out on soooo much awesomeness!).

 

[biodroid]

Leisha, according to the reviewers trend the slow books only start from book 6 or 7 to about 10 depending on the readers opinion. Basically Brandon Sanderson kinda saves the series and ends it on a plus. I have always wanted to read these books but my friend even says it bogs down a lot that he is only going to finish the series because the series is finished.

 

[Erin99]

Well, I am on book seven, and I'm not complaining about the pace...

There were always plot threads moving, from various characters in various places, and book six had the most awesome ending. And there were threats galore throughout the books and lots of learning for the main characters. I think by the end your friend will be blown away by what happens. That's what I'm thinking it will be like. I can imagine Jordan doing a big world-changing ending, and I've some theories about how that would work...

And I'm a firm believer that Jordan would have finished the series well if given the chance, especially because he recognised that book... was it ten or eleven(?)... should have been rewritten. In fact, a lot of the ending of the series *is* Jordan's writing. He wrote the ending to the series before he finished the first book! And he always knew where his plot threads were going, even if he misjudged one of them and had to drag it out longer tahn necessary (I haven't reached that part yet, but I am prepared for it and will accept that it *does* and and will pick up pace in another book). The only negative is that I think Jordan underestimated the length of the ending. He said he could end the series in one book before his death, when Branderson took three. But, I've read that Jordan wanted the series to end in twelve books because it was like twelve numbers on a clock; a wheel of time.

Which would have been fitting.

 

[ratsy]

Braid tugging aside...(this does stop as the female characters become stronger and actually in the second half of the series the female characters are some of the best) This series works so well even with the slow paced books. If you read them as a whole they work well. I see how kenpat was taken aback by Sandersons quick POV changes because Jordan for books 8-10 had up to 200 pages at a time with one POV. I am not as big a fan of those huge chunks and they do make the story feel slower and the plot advancement drags.

But as I always say, on a whole read them one after another and you will not be disappointed.

I have 25 pages left and was reading before I left for work this AM. I cannot wait to finish this....soooo good. I am almost drooling thinking of it.

 

[HoopyFrood]

232 and considering all the parallels with Tolkien I am expecting a fiery beast, perhaps called a...Calrog or similar () to pop up in this dead city. But the characters are really keeping me involved. I especially like Moiraine and her awesome powers. Also want to see Egwene (who I will always pronounce as Egg-ween -- I do this with names all the time, once it's in there, it's stuck!) progressing too. Definitely liking the greater concentration of women characters than other epic fantasies.