I just finished listening to the last book in the “Wheel of Time” series. It has taken me a long time to get through all the 14 books. They were long books, even in audio form. On average each book took me a little over a month to finish. So, you can see that even at one a month that is more than a year of just listening to this series (and I listened to other things along the way as well to break up the listen).
This will be a spoiler free review of the series.
It was ok overall. I had heard about these books for a while, and it took me a while to decide to finally “pick up” the first one. I like fantasy to some degree. I like epic fantasy to some degree. Robert Jordan, and eventually Brandon Sanderson, did a fine job creating a world that one could fall into.
This story had some very well written characters and you cheered for them along the way. It had some good bad guys that you booed along the way. The world hat Robert Jordan created for these characters was big and a lot happened, but at the same time it seemed that not much happened.
I enjoyed the first few books quite a bit. There was a lot going on and a lot of character building at the same time. I got to know the characters, and I found myself liking something’s about them and not liking things about them as well. That is important to me since that is very much real life. In everyone you meet and get to know you find goods and bads about them. The world was also building and I liked that I was learning a little bit about each area that would later play bigger roles in the story. Mr. Jordan gave just the right amount of detail for these worlds to help me picture them, but not too much that I was getting overly boarded with them (well at first).
Then came the middle books. I can honestly say that I don’t remember much from books 4-11 specifically. It all kind of mushed together, and ended up being way too long. There was too much “other stuff” that did matter in world building, but didn’t help the story seem to flow. I found myself just wanting the book I was listening to to end so I could get to the next book, but then that book would start and I again would be a few hours into it and think, “when will this one be over?”. That isn’t what I want from a book or a series. These books were just too slow for me. I like a story that keeps me engaged and involved, and I just didn’t get that from many of these books.
The last few books, which were written by Brandon Sanderson after Robert Jordan passed away using his notes, got back on track, and I was reengaged by what I was listening to. I enjoyed it when, in the final book, the final battle finally took place. It is something that gets mentioned in every single book, and I kind of expected it to last over more than one book. But I am not a writer.
Can I say that others should read this series? Well, if you are really into long series, that are fantasy, and have some big world building to it, then yes. But if you are like me I think I would pass.
So, why did I keep listening you may ask? Well, by book 7 or 8 I was like, “Well the next one must be better right?” And so I would get it. And then I was at book 10 and thought, well, by now I have invested way too much time to give up now and so I just need to finish it. So, I did. I don’t think I am better off having finished it, but I can say that I have.
Have any of you out there read this series? Did you like it? Did you not like it? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE) Is there another series you think I should give a try?