by 22 years ago I first picked up The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan and read it rapidly, instantly engaged by the quick pace and broad scope of a then-young Robert Jordan’s writing. Of course I had no idea that it would be more than 2 decades before I could read the conclusion to the series. If I had, I probably would have stopped there and just waited, which is what we ended up doing anyway, especially after Jordan passed on at a relatively early age (in 2007, I believe).
So, my thoughts. IMO, Wheel of Time is ranks with the very best of sci-fi/fantasy series that I have read. Certainly the breadth of its scope is unmatched and the intricacy of the plots and sub-plots is textbook: mostly quite good, with a few examples of what not to do as well.
At least one friend is squeamish about reading the “impure” books finished by Brandon Sanderson, a position I find silly, in a word. Sanderson is a better writer than Jordan was, no disrespect intended. While I found the changes in Rand’s character a bit disconcerting, in general I found Sanderson’s writing to provide more intimate insights into the characters than Jordan’s, which was at times formulaic and wooden.
I can’t really rank the books objectively, but I will say this: The first 6 were written at a very high level and, despite the superficial treatment of most of the characters, they all delivered fine stories with a concluding punch. Books 7-9 were looser, with vaguer endings, and generally declining in quality with each release. Book 10 was nearly pedantic and dull. As important as the Seanchan were to the concluding story arc, they were also the least interesting part of the series, in part because of the over-the-top dictatorial nature of their society. Yawn.
The Seanchan nobility exemplifies something that I did not like in WoT, namely the fact that few of Jordan’s characters were ever anything but certain of their own rightness. Any number of characters were convinced they were the Creator’s gift to the world and, even though Jordan poked fun at their certitude from the perspective of other characters, it grated on me after a while. Elayne, Nynaeve, Tuon, Suian, the line of cock-sure know-it-alls goes on and on.
Taking Elayne Trakand as an example, perhaps I should find her air of entitlement to rule Andor as an object lesson in how the ruling elite truly view the world. If so, a good slapping around of the Kennedys, Bushes, and Clintons is in order. For example, a penniless and powerless Elayne is affronted when Rand, the de facto ruler of Andor, offers to put her on her mother’s throne – because it’s hers by right. Later, when Perrin defends a small portion of Andor and gains the allegiance of the people there, Elayne thinks she has the right to prosecute him for doing what she couldn’t, again because of her divine right. This sort of entitlement ranks with the reverse mentality of today’s socialists and is not the stuff of greatness.
Monica asked a couple of questions when I’d finished. First, who was my favorite character? This was a tough one, in part because Jordan did not always dig deep enough into his characters to make the reader love them. Certainly not to the level of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, as one example. His sketches were often shallow and narrow, perhaps of necessity given the sheer number of characters he had to work with.
I am tempted to take the easy way out and say that Rand was my favorite, in part because he was the Dragon, the uber-hero of the story, and the one who should have been the focus of the series. But readers of the WoT know that his story line became less dominant as the series moved along. Rand’s captivity by and ultimate escape from the Aes Sedais Red Ajah represented the high point of the first half of the series, but after that he seemed to fade into the background for some reason.
I would have to say that my fave character in the WoT was Egwene, the girl Amyrlin who won over the hard-as-nails Aiel and totally schooled the snobbish, insular Aes Sedai with her sheer competence and will power. Her story line of civil disobedience when a captive rebel Amyrlin held by the Tower Aes Sedai was an amazing expression of her indomitable will. This story line concluded with her kicking ass and taking names when the Seanchan did a Pearl Harbor number on the White Tower, cementing her rule and proving that she earned her place as Amyrlin. Egwene was also the most human of Jordan’s female characters, falling in love with Gawyn and going out in a blaze of glory when he is killed.
My least favorite character? Another tough question. Is that the most despised character? Most evil? Or most annoying? Certainly the entire Whitecloak hierarchy could qualify, representing as they do the worst of history’s legalistic, holier-than-thou religious Inquisitionists.
Mazrim Taim could also qualify for turning traitor against Rand and the side of the light. Unfortunately, we are not given information about what happened to Taim. Was he turned against his will? Or was he simply greedy for power? We will never know.
For least favorite character, though, I’m going to go with Nynaeve, who, although she was a genuinely good and worthy person and the heroine of Rand’s Saidin-cleansing effort, is the prototype for Jordan’s irritating habit of repeating a character’s stock reaction to any and every sort of personal distress. Literally one more braid-pulling and I might have cursed aloud, so annoying was the cardboard cutout of Nynaeve. Perhaps Sanderson recognized this and de-emphasized her in the concluding volumes in which she is barely heard from.
In conclusion, I’m glad that I took the extra time to re-read all of 11 of the books I’d been through in the past before starting Sanderson’s concluding 3 volumes. Book 11, Jordan’s final solo effort, and Sanderson’s books 12-14 are all very solid. Although a bit dry at times in the long, detailed battle scenes, they lead inexorably to a satisfactory and reasonably tidy conclusion that both ties up the loose ends and leaves the reader to wonder what might have happened in a future WoT world if Jordan had not fallen ill.
The Wheel of Time is inevitably compared to The Lord of the Rings, to which it bears a resemblance. Jordan is not the writer Tolkein was and that’s not a bad thing, just different. I personally enjoyed WoT more because it was easier to read and, at its best, presented a more intriguing and engaging story line with many more possibilities.
One could also compare WoT with Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series and find similarities, particularly in the military confrontation aspect of both series. SoT is more of a personal, philosophical battle as compared to WoT’s grander scale, but both are engaging, recommended reads.
