What's the general concensus on Wheel of Time?
I ask only because I've enjoyed every book I've ever read (to varying degrees) but I hated Wheel of Time; I couldn't even finish. I think I got past book 10 but it was so bad I had to stop. And fantasy is my favourite genre.
I want to know what people here think of it cuz I feel alone in hating it. I only read it because people kept raving about it. I think I made it to book 12 but I was sick of it somewhere between 4 and 7; it's been too long to remember what the individual plots were.
The only thing I can say that I liked about it was the magic. I thought the magic system and the way it was used was great. The idea that the bad guy poisoned the male half of the magic was interesting and the way they fought was good too.
The scene at the end of one of the books, where Rand has been captured by the Aes Sedai and he breaks free and completely submits them all was very awesome. That was the highlight of the series for me.
But IMO, everything else is done badly. The characters are boring and stupid. They do really dumb things and make terrible decisions that are unacceptable. The women are so terrible it's jarring whenever one is present. They all raise their noses with contempt and sniff derisively. They all fold their arms under their breasts. Come on.
The plot is OK but very little significant happens and when it does, it doesn't change much. Like the scene I mentioned above where Rand defeats the Aes Sedai. You want him to stand up for himself and he finally does but then in the next book he's barely any better than he was in previous books.
In relation to the plot, since all the main characters are from that same town where the pattern of the world is so tightly woven, they basically become unstoppable. That's the explanation given, from within the series, as to why they are all so powerful. They are literally walking deus ex machinas. All drama is lost because of this.
Like when Mat died early on and Rand balefired him back to life. Or when Mat uses his luck to solve anything and everything. Jordan tries to create drama but his characters are so powerful I was never worried anything was going to happen to them.
I think by the time I got to book 12, only one person of any significance had died. I think he was one of the lords who initially backed Rand. I believe he died in that attack that cost Rand his hand. But honestly, he wasn't really that important. Why can't he kill anyone off?
And that also leads to where I stopped reading. I think it was in book 12 where Rand looses his hand. That scene was so bad I think it made me stop the series.
He's going to a meeting with his entourage, everyone knows it's a trap and they say it and so what does Rand do? Does he take hold of his magic before they go into the trap? (Because he knows from past experiences that taking hold of it under stress doesn't always work). No. He waits until he gets into the trap, that he knew about, before scrambling for his magic and gets his hand blown off because he couldn't get it in time.
And then Jordan tries to make it seem like a handicap that he lost his hand but he's so powerful in magic that you find it hard to care.
Sorry for the rant, but what does everyone else think of this?
