The Greatest Fantasy Epic.
This is my list.
What’s yours?
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Wheel of Time Tier List
The Greatest Fantasy Epic.
This is my list.
What’s yours?
Ape Out Shirt $21.68 |
UFOs Are A Psyop Shirt $21.68 |
Ape Out Shirt $21.68 |
I don't believe for a minute anyone has ever finished this series. 14 books and they're all shit, how?
I've un ironically read the series cover to cover 6 times.
Mad respect, I want to reread eventually. Maybe after I finish Cosmere
for some reason i enjoyed crossroads of twilight more than a couple of the other "slog" books.
Really, What was it you enjoyed about CoT as opposed to the others?
best 3 books are The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn and the Shadow Rising.
Lord of Chaos edges out Fire of Heaven because of Dumai's Wells.
A lot of the Bowl of the Winds wasn't great but Mat did some heavy lifting to make it better.
Eye of the World has a lot of later ret conned new bookisms.
The Sanderson stuff was tragic, but Towers of Midnight was easily the best of the 3.
Winter's Heart, and the book before that, suffers from Faile and Perrin bloat.
For me the Dragon Reborn suffered from a lack of Rand, otherwise it would be higher. I remember feeling bogged down by the powerpuff girls too much in Lord of Chaos. The Avhienda/Rand dynamic really worked for me in a way that elevated FoH up my list. I agree with you on EotW. Rand segments in Winters heart kept that book floating. Hard disagree on Sanderson, he finished the series excellently, A Memory of Light being his magnum opus.
>A Memory of Light being his magnum opus
I could not take the last battle seriously at all. Very disjointed. Demandred acting like a complete moron. I just didn't like it. And the Seanchan subplot basically never got resolved - which was on purpose, granted.
Lack of Rand I can see why that would put Dragon Reborn lower on your list. I really enjoy Mat and Perrin in that book, Mat especially during and after the cleansing when he was such a waste in books 1 and 2. I love the collision he has with Nynaeve and Egwene and Elayne when he's sneaking into the Stone. I like Perrin and Faile in that book, too. Although I think Perrin is at his best in book 4 with the 2 rivers subplot and Isam.
Damandred being a complete moron? Tell me more. The last battle was insanely cathartic, and I appreciated nearly all of aMoL being a war epic from beginning to end. The only miss was the sword battle between Rand and Morison, I felt it should have been given a little more page time, granted there were already like 4 sword duels. I liked that the Seanchan plot was never resolved, it fits the WoT world, a little grimy, not wrapped with a perfect bow. It would have been too Sanderson esque if everything had been wrapped up perfectly. Mats collision with the Powerpuff girls in the Tear really frustrated me when I read it. They strung him w/ the power in a really cruel way, that always bothered me. I agree with you on Perrin and book 4. Speaking of Perrin I found Adam’s arc to be an interesting descent, and was surprised by the route Jordan took with him. Mat didn’t start to really click with me until book 4.
Really fun series. Payoff was satisfying
>I could not take the last battle seriously at all.
Filtered. Last battle is KINO
Forgot list.
These lists are really making me think I should read Great Hunt again. Eye of the World ahead of knife of dreams? Do tell. Knife of Dreams was pure Jordan excellence. I don’t usually see Shadow Rising so low on people’s lists, what didn’t work for you?
Tried the first one and couldn't get into it. Dropped it after that cursed city full of treasure. Seemed generic as frick. What's the big deal?
It shifts subgenres after book 3, although I enjoy the quest fantasy of the 1st 3 books. The first book is admittedly the most “generic” of all of them, don’t fault ya there.
The first book is absolutely paint by numbers mid 80's fantasy generic. It really hits stride in book 2 ans stays strong until it gets a little lost somewhere between books 6-8, is fully lost books 9-11, then Sanderson comes and finishes, which makes you appreciate Jordan's prose all the more.
Just started TEOTW one thing I'm liking is it's showing Rand's mental stuff pretty early like when he dreams of Ba'alzammon. I think that's what makes him a compelling main character and sets him apart from other fantasy MCs. I like Moiraine, Lan, Matt, and Perrin so far.
This was my problem when I first read years ago it just felt like it had done everything every other major fantasy post-Tolkien did wrapped up into one package but I'm enjoying the slow unfurling of everything, it's like watching a painter paint adding in detail everywhere.
I hear the series is even better on a reread due to being able to see the whole tapestry being woven from the very beginning.
Being halfway through my first reread I would agree with this. There's so much I'm enjoying more on reread that I missed the first time I read it. After sitting on it for a while I really dislike what Sanderson did with some characters. I'm not sure I like aMoL.
I’m starting crown of swords right now. I’m scared of the slog bros, 9 chapters in and nothing has happened
In my opinion the slog is mostly a boogeyman(except for book 10). There’s some truth to it, but it’s blown wildly out of proportion.
The bloat is like 90% of book 10, that's it really
I started the series with The Shadow Rising when i was a kid and only read further, so basically I've read all the books except the first 3, should i read them?
Yes, though if you do be prepared for a subgenre shift. The first three are quest fantasy, but they are however essential to the overall story. They work as good enough stand alone a if your not intent on rereading the whole series.
Don't have a list.
I've read Eye of the World and the Great Hunt, and I'm feeling pretty meh on the series so far. I know a lot of Wheel of Time fans say to read until the Dragon Reborn or even book 4 (can't remember the name of it right now) but I have also heard if I'm not into it by this point then I won't be into it if I read more.
So I don't know. I'll probably read book 3 and make my decision if I'll continue then.
It takes time. Book four is when I think Wheel of Time really comes into itself.
This, book 4 is when wheel of time really becomes the wheel of time.
See, this is the part that frustrates me. Those are not short books, and if I have to read minimum three full ones before it starts getting good, that is a lot of investment.
Does it at least get better in book three? More than meh? I'll still read it, but if I still feel meh, then I don't really see why I should continue.
I think this heavily depends on your taste. If you don't like it enough to continue, don't force yourself. WoT is a huge investment, and if you don't like it now you probably won't like when it slows down again after book 7.
Don’t force it indeed. Feel free to take a break, maybe at some point in the future you’ll feel inspired to pick them up again and you’ll be in a headspace where you’ll enjoy it more.
The novels switch subgenres after book 3. The first 3 are quest fantasy, 4 and onward are epic fantasy. The world, characters and politics get dug into a lot deeper from book 4 onward. The novels cease centering around get from point A to point B.
>The first 3 are quest fantasy, 4 and onward are epic fantasy.
whats the difference?
NTA, but he put it pretty clearly. The scope pretty clearly dilates after Book 3 to include the fates of nations and the actual litigation of the prophecy as opposed to a more granular perspective of character concerns and journeys and the rumors of a chosen one but such that its still kept vague.
You're very much let in to Robert Jordan's idea of how a chosen one would more or less take over the world after Book 4. And its far from a contracted process.
The Great Hunt and The Shadow Rising are the only good ones. Crossroads of Twilight almost makes it into so bad, it's good territory.
never read it before but im thinking of reading it in french for practise ? Is it worth it bros or it's just slop ? At least il learn some middle-old french words along the way
Here's mine going off of memory.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes Fires of Heaven more than Lord of Chaos. Towers of Midnight better than A Memory of Light? Do tell
Fires of Heaven is a pretty consistently good book without standing out like the top tiers there, but I think I remember it also just being really long. Lord of Chaos I think is the actual start of the books with little progress and a big climax. It just does its climax way better than the others after it with Rand being in the box and Dumai's Wells and drags a bit less, as do each of 7-10 than the one proceeding it by just a bit.
While The Gathering Storm was very good, I think Sanderson got a much stronger hold of how to write WoT by Towers of Midnight and on top of it it's kind of the highlight of Perrin's entire story with him consolidating large factions under him and completing his dream training. Perrin had me sort of won over since his time later on in Book 4 and this one is where he just cuts loose and does a lot of awesome stuff in the Dream world and the hammer scene is just awesome too. So yeah, I rate it quite highly.
TSR is on top because it was a paradigm shift for the series and the climax is the best in the series. Knife of Dreams comes in third for finally being the climax of all of the arcs Jordan was building up to.
I personally rate The Great Hunt a lot lower than some people because Rand who should've accepted who he was by then just whines way too much throughout nearly the whole book. Remove that and it'd probably go up a full tier.
A Memory of Light is great and a satisfactory final battle for certain, but there's some clumsy bits here and there that I think could have been better. While I don't dislike the discourse between Rand and the Dark One, I think it could've been portrayed a lot better and the way Fain gets killed off gets is a weird anti-climax. There's a few other things too, but there's a lot of fantastic moments as well. I think it's interesting to think about what parts Sanderson had to include because Jordan wrote them and what he added himself.
I kind of wish Thom had a bigger role later on the series, but he kind of never tops his role in The Eyes of the World.
I've been listening to the audiobook off and on and I'm on book 4. And while the concept is amazing, and it is very comfy, it is not the grand epic I hoped it would be. I wish he focused more on the philosophical implications he is hinting at rather than just anime boss fights. And unironically, I think the Aes Sedai chapters in the Tower are by far the best thing about the series. I like the idea of the "We must help the chosen one" plotline far more than just following the chosen one. Such a unique angle to take in an epic fantasy.