WoT, book 12 -- by Brandon Sanderson

[Nebuchadnezzar]

It worked but I always thought having Rand break the seals to cleanse the taint and partially unleash the Dark One would have worked as well, if not better.

[Saban]

i used to have that world guide when i was like 14, i wish i still had the fucking thing.

[Zindan]

Originally Posted by Chinaman889

Made perfect sense to me - and throughout the series after Rand picked up both wounds, RJ basically hinted how Saidin was going to be cleansed every time Rand made mention about the two wounds throbbing opposingly to each other.

Well, it didn't make sense to me to have Rand cleanse saidin in that way, since that makes saidin seem to have a limited quantity...rather than being an unlimited source of power.

[Heylel Teomim]

Quantifying an infinite quantity isn't impossible in fantasy fiction. It's just heroic

I thought it was pretty epic how he used mashadar like a filter to cleanse the taint. In fact the ending of Winter's Heart is the only thing I've enjoyed in those books since the Asha'man mulched that army in Lord of Chaos. Even the Sammael fight wasn't nearly as cool.

You know I just realized, I don't even know if I bothered to *read* Path of Daggers. I think I just found a summary of it. I also haven't bothered to pick up the most recent two, since I heard they didn't go anywhere off of the really great ending in Winter's Heart.

- H

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Knife of Dreams was actually quite good, cleaned up a few of the plot arcs.

[Seventh]

^ Agreed.

There used to be a compendium of sorts, basically a 1-10 cliff notes for those of us that have read the damn thing more than once and don't want to reread it to remember what the fuck is going on with the 2,000 story arcs at the end of book 11. If someone can dig up a link to it, I'd be most appreciative.

[Korioni]

Reading the entire series is beyond tedious, for sure, but when it comes down to it, Robert Jordan has still created many of my favorite characters in very satisfying ways with more development on each of those characters than I could have wished for. /shrug. It's a hard story to read, but that doesn't mean the entire thing isn't still great.

[Kevincheese]

Honestly I think the last two were much better than Winter's Heart. WH dragged on and on =/

[Saban]

Originally Posted by Korioni

Reading the entire series is beyond tedious, for sure, but when it comes down to it, Robert Jordan has still created many of my favorite characters in very satisfying ways with more development on each of those characters than I could have wished for. /shrug. It's a hard story to read, but that doesn't mean the entire thing isn't still great.

Rand is still probably my most favorite fictional character in any novel. Followed by Tyrion.

[Jovec]

The entire series would definitely benefit from a rewrite/remake - it has so much potential. Jordan just isn't a great writer and bit off more than he could chew. His pacing is terrible with the various story arcs, often skipping key characters for nearly the entire book. Some of the friction is contrived because they (longtime childhood friends) don't communicate even though they can instantly travel, meet in the dream world, and in some cases speak in the dreams of others. The threat levels progress too fast, with, for example, Trollocs going from serious adversaries to hardly a mention in the last 4-5 books. Overall though it's still very enjoyable.

[Heylel Teomim]

He's a good author. I blame most of the series' problems on the editing. Jordan's editor on all but the early books was his wife, and she certainly had no eye for what needed to be cut.

Honestly, with a proper editor to keep him on schedule and focused on telling the real story instead of constantly adding extra subplots, Jordan probably could have finished in at most 10 books, perhaps even 8, and been done before his disease killed him.

- H

[Deris]

Originally Posted by Heylel Teomim

He's a good author. I blame most of the series' problems on the editing. Jordan's editor on all but the early books was his wife, and she certainly had no eye for what needed to be cut.

Honestly, with a proper editor to keep him on schedule and focused on telling the real story instead of constantly adding extra subplots, Jordan probably could have finished in at most 10 books, perhaps even 8, and been done before his disease killed him.

- H

Derail, but Wife as Editor... Editor does bad job dragging out books to 12... Jordan receives more cash for 12 books than 8... Wife knows he's terminal... Wife extends books to 12 to milk cash cow when RJ kicks bucket..

[ShroudedMist]

Pretty much everything that Jovec said.

This series started off great but it got beyond tedious to the point I stopped reading the books around book 6 maybe 7. All that braid tugging BULLSHIT that went on for pages was so damned boring to read. Over time it seemed like it got more and more about the women and just bored me to tears. I also felt like he was intentionally dragging things out too and simply couldn't be bothered to pick up the next book in the series.

[Draegan]

I read this series a few times over, back when book 7 or 8 came out. I think I read half of 9 and never got 10. I plan on reading the whole series strait through when the last books is put out and I'll never have to read the fucking series ever again.

[Heylel Teomim]

Originally Posted by Deris

Derail, but Wife as Editor... Editor does bad job dragging out books to 12... Jordan receives more cash for 12 books than 8... Wife knows he's terminal... Wife extends books to 12 to milk cash cow when RJ kicks bucket..

What's more, I strongly suspect that most of the hair tugging woman shit is there because Jordan is so clearly basing his interpretation of women on his wife. Being as she was editing the books, and he was channeling her personality into basically every female character, I find it unlikely that any of that would be material she would suggest he trim down or cut.

- H