Hello everyone! A slow version of a bookclub. I am familiar with Fiction/Fantasy/SF to a certain extent. On cracking my head a bit, I can only come up with this as a fantasy series with tonnes of things to discuss. I have read up to Book 10 only but havent had the heart yet to pick up Book 11. So some of the things I mentioned here might have been resolved but somehow I doubt it.

Please note that this thread will be full of spoilers, so stop here if you don't want to hear any!

Here goes:-
Other than being (in)famous for its length (big fat ones up to Book 11 now), it is actually quite easy to get into. The storyline started simple enough with a shepherd DESTINED FOR GREAT POWER and APOCALYPSE APPROACHING. The magic system is comprehensive and believable, the worldbuilding is great. To begin, along with 2 other childhood friends, Rand al'Thor stumbled upon the beginning of the end of times. Guided by Moiraine and Lan, he discovered that he could be the Chosen One destined to remake the world. Many feared he heralds the next Breaking of the World, which previously depopulates many parts of the world with scale of disasters never seen before. His appearance was greeted with mixed feelings by different groups, many jostle to grab power even as the end approaches. Fear mounts as it appears that the seals to the Dark One are breaking one by one as well. The odds are not made any better with so much lost knowledge, diminished magic and a fractured world.

As he tries to figure out what was he supposed to do what he was destined for, he slowly goes mad as the male half of the magic he accessed was tainted during the Breaking of the World.

The sypnosis of mine does not do justice to the books. The story weaving is fantastic and I really don't know how did he juggle so many characters in the books. The plots within the plots all ongoing at the same time hence the huge cast. In the later books, each of the leads could end up on different continents and encounter totally different cultures/clans (Seanchan, Aiel, Aes Sedai etc)

The hooks (those that I can remember):
a) what Tarmon Gaidon will be. So far RJ has not written military battles yet, so who knows...
b) I want to know what will happen (and who is the hidden ones) too all the Forsakens. So far not all of them had appeared.
c) Will the seals break?
d) Will Rand and the Ashman go mad before then? He is going mad already
f) Gad, the identities of all those mysterious people who kept popping out of the woodwork. Who are they? Like the man in brown who saved Rand in a highpitched battle at the end of one of the books.
g) The fate of Mat and the dice in his head and the mysterious spearhead.
h) Will Moiraine come back?
i) Is the leader of the Black Tower really on his side?

My gripes :
a) I lost track due to the length of time between each book. But on the other hand, I can emphatize with RJ for the amount of work he poured in, so no bellyaching about it.
b) Will there be more respect for the women? They seem to be stomping on all the men, sniffing with disdain, always rearranging skirts, patronising others, serene but lose temper for no good reason therefore being incomprehensible to the men who loved them? To think his wife is the editor. The women can abruptly turn around and act way out of their personalities.

Memorable scene:
For some reason, there is one scene at the end of one of the earlier books that got stuck in my mind. The memory is vague but the afterimage is strong. He saw small images of Mat and Perrin's outlined in flames floating above him.

Wow. Amazon is fast.

Sorry snowcrash. didnt realise you have posted a review here until you requoted yourself. Mat and swearing? eh, sounds weird just by the mere mention of it.

Dang. I will have to reread. After many years, when I read one chapter, I got lost in both plot and world. wail- i dont have time. I tried the rereads a bit (thanks for the link!) but somehow it's not holding my interest.

So we are close to the end.

It's kinda in tune with the newly released Bk 12. Not much action here though. Either most people are bleh about WoT or forumers are not bookclub type

I read up to Bk10 too, now got too many books in front of me to think of doing re-reads. snowcrash recommended a good reread, link as above. Give it a go!

My WoT are all so ....yellow. Spotted like a jaundiced Dalmatian.

Dritzz? Isnt that really old too? Or did RA put out new series.

It's kinda more of Bk 12a.

This post has been edited by Persephone: Dec 26 2009, 05:51 PM