You don't know Epic till you've tried to tackle these... (Wheel of Time Series - Robert Jordan in general)

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	Wheel of Time Series - Robert Jordan in general
Date:	11/02/09 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cast of characters...

Disadvantages: Very heavy going, series lasts twelve novels and often they can be a bit of a chore to work through

The late Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time series is the author's most seminal work and continues through I think it is twelve novels in all; the last to be released sometime soon. Personally I have only reached book 9 and part of the reason I have not continued past this is because, at times, the later books feel like so much hard work.

The series begins with a cataclysmic series of events that pre-empts the breaking of the world. A group of dark demonic War-lords are locked away behind a succession of seals but at a severe cost; a mighty warrior known as The Dragon is driven insane, leading him to kill all his family and then himself, and the ancient magic that flows through all life is forever tainted so that no male may wield it's power safely without similar results. Three and a half thousand years pass and then The Dragon is finally reborn. A time has come when the seals have begun to weaken and once more, Dark forces roam the earth lead by their evil leader, Shai'tan, who has yet to break free. Can this new Dragon reborn risk madness and channel his power to the betterment of mankind? It is an important question but one that has a very lengthy answer...

It is not the first time that a man has been born with the ability to channel the ancient powers, but in the past these men have been controlled and neutrallised by their female counter-parts known as Aes Sedai. Moiraine, and her Warder Lan, are convinced that in the sleepy village of Edmond's Field they have found The True Dragon in Rand Al'Thor but there are others in her sect who are less certain as well as Dark Sisters who are working for the enemy. Rand is forced to flee and follow his true path, leaving behind all he has known before. With each book that follows, Rand Al'Thor gathers his strength and fullfills prophecy in order to better prepare himself for the final battle where he must face down The Dark One himself and win or all of humanity will be lost...

The Wheel Of Time refers to the notion that life is a cycle that is ever repeating and is a familiar concept to fans of sci-fi and fantasy. In Battlestar Galactica, to give a most recent example, the enemy Cylons often quote " All of this has happened before, all of this will happen again..." The idea behind this series is that Rand must repeat the events put in motion by the original Dragon but without this time losing his mind. Along the way, many of his friends find their own Destinies interceeding and this leads the way for an epic series that seemingly at times was fated to go on forever. Of course, with Jordan's death, the end is now in sight whether it is how he planned it or not but I find it quite hard personally to sum up the enthusiasm to complete the journey I began back in the early eighties when the first book was published.

The strongest aspect for me of this series are the characters. As you follow their progress and chart their Fate, you cannot help but feel a part of their lives. Without exception, all of the main characters are highly believeable, less than perfect and just as prone to make errors of judgement as anyone else. The weakest aspect of the series for me is that, at least with the later novels, the books become quite weighty volumes which would be fine if they were chock full of action and adventure but very often much of the books feel like filler with everything slowly, and I do mean slowly, building to a cresendo right at the book's climax. I know this is how many books work but, here, verey often very little of relevance seems to happen between. This would be fine if the novels were shorter but they are not. Each successive novel gets larger and larger and the plot more and more complicated. Though long series' often work, I am a big fan of Terry Goodkind's Sword Of Truth series and George.R.R.Martin's Game Of Thrones, they need to stay fresh or else there is the danger that readers will become bored. In my opinion you would ned to be pretty stalwart and obsessive to keep going for all of these twelve volumes.

But in fact it is more than twelve for there is a companion book and a prequel also available....

Reading this series is a bit of a mission in itself. One day I will complete the series and find out what happens in the final days but, for now, I feel the need to continue too daunting and have for the last three or four years. There is no doubt that Jordan was a great writing talent and will be solely missed but, with The Wheel Of Time novels, there was always a notion that Jordan might have over-reached himself. And that is a shame becay=use it would've been nicer if he had left behind a stronger legacy....

Summary: You are gonna need some serious time to read all these...