Moe_Syzlak
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Below you will find my mostly spoiler free thoughts on the series as a whole as well as my mini reviews from the book reviews thread.
I’m not a big fantasy reader or fan. I never played Dungeons and Dragons growing up and really had little to no interest in those sorts of stories until I saw the Fellowship of the Ring movie. I would, however, describe Star Wars as more fantasy than sci-fi and I did grow up with those movies a big part of my life. I say this to give context. I have since read the LotR books (and the Hobbit) and watched and enjoyed the Game of Thrones series (though I haven’t read the books). The Wheel of Time is a good to great fantasy series, in my opinion, but my issues with it revolve around many of the same issues I have with the genre in general.
As with much fantasy like LotR or Star Wars, it succeeds in creating a fully realized world that you want to explore. It also has characters that are archetypes; they exist mostly as types of characters rather than true characters that grow in anything more than the simplest ways (although I’d argue that some WoT characters grow more than LotR or OT SW characters). Further, the stories are simple; they are good vs. evil. That’s all great for a simple, short story. It works in that setting as a way for audiences to understand the characters and the story quickly and easily. But as the story evolves, it starts to feel TOO simple. Characters don’t have much emotional connection or motivation other than fighting “evil.” Characters don’t grow; the “battling evil” motivation starts to feel hollow and you want to understand the motivation of that evil antagonist. The ultimate antagonist--the Dark One or Dark Lord in this case--is an abstraction rather than any tangible threat. The characters that are on the evil side do so for simple or even non-existent reasons. They want power or feel that evil’s victory is inevitable. That starts to ring hollow when you’re talking about a 12,000 page epic.
For the protagonists, why do the characters do what they do? What is their motivation? All we’re ever really given is that it’s prophecy--fated to happen--and good vs. evil. Mat is somewhat of an exception but he too seems to accept that what he does is simply because he’s ta’veren, someone for whom fate bends around (by the way, the ta’veren concept is a clever way to explain the fact that so many young people from a small farming village are these epic heroes).
This is not to say there isn’t any character development. The saga does a good job of introducing smaller, accretive character development moments for the main characters. And the world feels fully realized. Many call Jordan’s penchant for description too much, but I think it’s his strongest attribute. By describing every room, every outfit, every character, and every emotion, he makes this very fantastic world feel genuine. There are over 2000 named characters in the series. Even very minor characters are often given names and descriptions. This may seem tedious and unnecessary to some and I wouldn’t argue. But for me, perhaps due to reading the books quickly, it made it feel like the world was more real; as if Jordan were describing things he’s actually experiencing. And his prose is very good. He’s not a master, but I didn’t find things getting repetitive.
Finally, there’s the issue of magic. It’s core to fantasy. But it can be a crutch. Too often we see story points conveniently explained by expanding the role of magic in the story universe. I feel this is a major reason for Star Wars' decline in storytelling quality after Empire and it’s a true detriment as this series goes on. New magic skills keep surfacing for the characters all the time at exactly the moment needed to take the story in a certain direction. A new talent in the One Power or angreal (magic focusing device) is discovered at convenient story points just as we saw with new Force powers in Star Wars or a new capability of the suits of Batman or Ironman. It starts to feel really lazy and, as I said, a crutch, to be able to get the characters into and out of tense situations.
Unfortunately, the limitations of theme and depth prevent me from fully endorsing the series. Still, it’s probably the best of the genre I’ve encountered, though I’m admittedly not that experienced (LotR, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Marvel and other superhero movies). But I tend to want more depth from longer stories. These heroes are more nuanced than most. You’ll find more conflicted characters here than you will with the OT Star Wars characters for example. But it’s also 12k pages. In my opinion, it should’ve developed more. But I was enthralled throughout. It may not be a masterpiece, but it’s definitely worth reading.
In the end it’s fantasy and I probably shouldn’t expect too much. I haven’t read a lot of fantasy but it does seem like this sort of lack of depth is par for the course for the genre. It was an entertaining read and likely worthy of its reputation as one of the best fantasy series. But it’s definitely hindered by lack of depth. In a series where so much of the world is painstakingly (and sometimes painfully) drawn, it’s too bad that the characters don’t have that same attention to detail.
I’m not a big fantasy reader or fan. I never played Dungeons and Dragons growing up and really had little to no interest in those sorts of stories until I saw the Fellowship of the Ring movie. I would, however, describe Star Wars as more fantasy than sci-fi and I did grow up with those movies a big part of my life. I say this to give context. I have since read the LotR books (and the Hobbit) and watched and enjoyed the Game of Thrones series (though I haven’t read the books). The Wheel of Time is a good to great fantasy series, in my opinion, but my issues with it revolve around many of the same issues I have with the genre in general.
As with much fantasy like LotR or Star Wars, it succeeds in creating a fully realized world that you want to explore. It also has characters that are archetypes; they exist mostly as types of characters rather than true characters that grow in anything more than the simplest ways (although I’d argue that some WoT characters grow more than LotR or OT SW characters). Further, the stories are simple; they are good vs. evil. That’s all great for a simple, short story. It works in that setting as a way for audiences to understand the characters and the story quickly and easily. But as the story evolves, it starts to feel TOO simple. Characters don’t have much emotional connection or motivation other than fighting “evil.” Characters don’t grow; the “battling evil” motivation starts to feel hollow and you want to understand the motivation of that evil antagonist. The ultimate antagonist--the Dark One or Dark Lord in this case--is an abstraction rather than any tangible threat. The characters that are on the evil side do so for simple or even non-existent reasons. They want power or feel that evil’s victory is inevitable. That starts to ring hollow when you’re talking about a 12,000 page epic.
For the protagonists, why do the characters do what they do? What is their motivation? All we’re ever really given is that it’s prophecy--fated to happen--and good vs. evil. Mat is somewhat of an exception but he too seems to accept that what he does is simply because he’s ta’veren, someone for whom fate bends around (by the way, the ta’veren concept is a clever way to explain the fact that so many young people from a small farming village are these epic heroes).
This is not to say there isn’t any character development. The saga does a good job of introducing smaller, accretive character development moments for the main characters. And the world feels fully realized. Many call Jordan’s penchant for description too much, but I think it’s his strongest attribute. By describing every room, every outfit, every character, and every emotion, he makes this very fantastic world feel genuine. There are over 2000 named characters in the series. Even very minor characters are often given names and descriptions. This may seem tedious and unnecessary to some and I wouldn’t argue. But for me, perhaps due to reading the books quickly, it made it feel like the world was more real; as if Jordan were describing things he’s actually experiencing. And his prose is very good. He’s not a master, but I didn’t find things getting repetitive.
Finally, there’s the issue of magic. It’s core to fantasy. But it can be a crutch. Too often we see story points conveniently explained by expanding the role of magic in the story universe. I feel this is a major reason for Star Wars' decline in storytelling quality after Empire and it’s a true detriment as this series goes on. New magic skills keep surfacing for the characters all the time at exactly the moment needed to take the story in a certain direction. A new talent in the One Power or angreal (magic focusing device) is discovered at convenient story points just as we saw with new Force powers in Star Wars or a new capability of the suits of Batman or Ironman. It starts to feel really lazy and, as I said, a crutch, to be able to get the characters into and out of tense situations.
Unfortunately, the limitations of theme and depth prevent me from fully endorsing the series. Still, it’s probably the best of the genre I’ve encountered, though I’m admittedly not that experienced (LotR, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Marvel and other superhero movies). But I tend to want more depth from longer stories. These heroes are more nuanced than most. You’ll find more conflicted characters here than you will with the OT Star Wars characters for example. But it’s also 12k pages. In my opinion, it should’ve developed more. But I was enthralled throughout. It may not be a masterpiece, but it’s definitely worth reading.
In the end it’s fantasy and I probably shouldn’t expect too much. I haven’t read a lot of fantasy but it does seem like this sort of lack of depth is par for the course for the genre. It was an entertaining read and likely worthy of its reputation as one of the best fantasy series. But it’s definitely hindered by lack of depth. In a series where so much of the world is painstakingly (and sometimes painfully) drawn, it’s too bad that the characters don’t have that same attention to detail.