Current Events > Currently re-reading Wheel of Time, just got to book 5 (spoils thru book 4)

(+) Yeah! (+)

When I was much younger I had read up until Jordan's last book, but when he died I was skeptical that the series would be properly finished, so I never finished it. Now I'm giving it a shot again (especially after having read Sanderson's original work), and really enjoying it. I mean, it's chock-full of common Tokien-esque fantasy tropes of the time; like, the "Dark One", orc-like bad guys (Trollocs), lethal black-robed agents of the dark (Myrdraal), simple farmer becoming a 'chosen one' type, etc etc. But it's like, Jordan has produced the best-quality version of those tropes, so I don't mind it at all.

Right now, I especially am enjoying the Forsaken characters and their role in the story. Again, very trope-y to have some elite group of evil magic-users that are the "mini bosses" of the story... But the way that they are weaved into the pattern (lol) of the story is really cool. Like for example, in book 4, how one of the Forsaken just kinda steps into the story as an unnamed woman and compels Nynaeve and Elayne to tell her everything they've been doing, and then blocks their memory.

That episode/scene is then not referenced for several chapters until a pivotal moment where Nynaeve is suddenly able to remember it again, and it's like, Holy shit, that was Modeghien! (Who up until that point, unless I'm misremembering, had not been introduced to the reader yet)

And of course, the 'reveal' at the end of the book, where Rand is able to trick Lanfear and sever Asmodean from the Dark One's influence -- again, just a really cool scene that raises the stakes of the story and makes you want to know what kind of crazy shit Rand is going to get into by learning from one of the Forsaken.

Just goes to show... You don't always need to be flouting common convention in a given genre "Game of Thrones" style in order to be compelling. With enough narrative/writing skill and a unique perspective, you can make most any type of plot device work

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Tangentially, I watched the trailer for the Wheel of Time Amazon prime TV show adaptation, and I'm ... whelmed? I mean, it certainly has potential, and I can vibe with the casting for the most part, but it does come across as trite and/or trying to fill the void of GoT... I'm worried that the budget/audience won't be able to reach the proper scope of the series.

I mean, it does start out relatively quaint in the Two Rivers, and the plot is overall more character-driven than "world"-driven like, say, LoTR (I would say it's halfway between LotR and GoT in that respect) but there's some proper high fantasy epic shit going on throughout the series as well.

Even so... I do remind myself that even the production value of GoT season 1 was limited by its budget in ways that later seasons were not, so I will hold out hope that it turns out good! In the meantime I'll probably tune into the TV adaptation of one of my other favorite childhood series (Foundation) ...

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I will say that 19 year old me found the last three books by Sanderson to be a satisfying conclusion. I don't have the best recollection of the actual books, but I remember going to sleep at 6 AM on a Saturday very satisfied after having finished A Memory of Light.

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ThePieReborn posted...

I will say that 19 year old me found the last three books by Sanderson to be a satisfying conclusion. I don't have the best recollection of the actual books, but I remember going to sleep at 6 AM on a Saturday very satisfied after having finished A Memory of Light.

Nice! Yeah, from reading general sentiment online, I get the sense that the ending was at the very least a suitable conclusion, which is heartening to see.

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