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Sanderson saves the Wheel of Time

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
I stopped reading the books around book 9 and took to listening to them on CD. They seemed to lose focus and I didn't enjoy reading them. Just started book 12, the first one completed by Sanderson, and so far I have to say it is a big improvement. Well done.
 
Never read any of them, I've heard mixed things about Sanderson taking it over. Then again, I really don't like Sanderson so that might be the reason why I'll never touch the WoT series. What did he do to make it better?
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
Never read any of them, I've heard mixed things about Sanderson taking it over. Then again, I really don't like Sanderson so that might be the reason why I'll never touch the WoT series. What did he do to make it better?

He cut a lot of the fat from the book. Jordan, from books 5 through 10, laid the description on thick. It got to the point that I could skip a page and not miss a thing.
 

Mindfire

Istar
He cut a lot of the fat from the book. Jordan, from books 5 through 10, laid the description on thick. It got to the point that I could skip a page and not miss a thing.

I will read the Wheel of Time when they make abridged (fat trimmed) versions of the non-Sanderson books.
 
He cut a lot of the fat from the book. Jordan, from books 5 through 10, laid the description on thick. It got to the point that I could skip a page and not miss a thing.

I've read some Sanderson and he suffers from fattening his books too. Does this mean Jordan really was that bad?
 

Sheriff Woody

Troubadour
I've never actually read any Wheel of Time books, apart from the Prologue of Eye of the World, but it's definitely near the top of my lengthy to-read list.

Not sure if I want to go all the way, though. At a dozen+ installments, it's quite the commitment.
 

Kaellpae

Inkling
I'll always be a fan of the series. I admit that they get a little dry in the middle, but I like all the little details, except for the girls' point of view. A female reader might say the same about the male point of view in the series, but I don't need to know about every little frill on each dress that Nynaeve or Elayne sees. I don't like Egwene as a person, but she's an intriguing character especially in the later books.

Sanderson saving the series though? The last three books was supposed to be one book when Jordan was writing the series. I know with Jordan's passing they'll want to milk the series for what they can, but Sanderson has made 3 books out of what Jordan considered to be one book. I enjoy both author's writing and Sanderson picked up a bit of action, but they e both got their faults and both have added good things for the series.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
Yeah and Jordan said the whole series would only be six books long when he started it. Sanderson went off of Jordan's notes and outlines. There's no way Jordan would have finished that series in one final book unless they went ahead and published a 3000 page book. Sanderson actually moves all the action forward instead of stalling it like Jordan did in the last few he wrote.
 

Kaellpae

Inkling
I don't think I would have liked the series ad much if it was only 6 books, but like I said, I like all the details. Really makes me feel like I'm in the world.
 

myrddin173

Maester
Yeah and Jordan said the whole series would only be six books long when he started it. Sanderson went off of Jordan's notes and outlines. There's no way Jordan would have finished that series in one final book unless they went ahead and published a 3000 page book. Sanderson actually moves all the action forward instead of stalling it like Jordan did in the last few he wrote.

Actually at the very beginning it was going to be a trilogy with first book ending where the current third one does. As for the splitting of the last book into three, Jordan had said it was going to be one book no matter how long it was. Then he died and his Editor-wife and Sanderson quite rightly decided there was no way to fit everything into one book.

As for "milking it for all they can" I don't think that is what they are doing. There are notes and outlines for a number of outrigger novels the take place after the last one that will probably never be written unless his wife changes her mind.

I am also like Kaellpae, the Wheel of Time is one of my favorite series because of all the detail and I am opposed to them being "abridged." I'm opposed to the entire concept of abridging books, the writer wrote the book the way it was for a reason and people should respect that

Reading an entire series like this is like climbing a mountain. Being able to say "I've read the Wheel of Time in its entirety" feels great. It would be cheapened if someone installed an escalator on the side of that mountain because there would be a lot of people saying they had read the series when really they took the "easy" way. Which thankfully will probably never happen.
 

Mindfire

Istar
Actually at the very beginning it was going to be a trilogy with first book ending where the current third one does. As for the splitting of the last book into three, Jordan had said it was going to be one book no matter how long it was. Then he died and his Editor-wife and Sanderson quite rightly decided there was no way to fit everything into one book.

As for "milking it for all they can" I don't think that is what they are doing. There are notes and outlines for a number of outrigger novels the take place after the last one that will probably never be written unless his wife changes her mind.

I am also like Kaellpae, the Wheel of Time is one of my favorite series because of all the detail and I am opposed to them being "abridged." I'm opposed to the entire concept of abridging books, the writer wrote the book the way it was for a reason and people should respect that

Reading an entire series like this is like climbing a mountain. Being able to say "I've read the Wheel of Time in its entirety" feels great. It would be cheapened if someone installed an escalator on the side of that mountain because there would be a lot of people saying they had read the series when really they took the "easy" way. Which thankfully will probably never happen.

Sure, if I want to brag about climbing a mountain, I'll climb it. But if I only want to enjoy looking at it, I'll take the ski lift or rent a helicopter. What you're saying is that because you choose to climb, I have absolutely no right to my ski lift or helicopter ride, which is absurd. And besides, reading a book isn't about "achieving" anything. It's about enjoyment. And I can enjoy books just fine without sitting through 5 pages describing a dress or blade of grass. For the same reason, I'll probably never read many "classics". Sure I could brag to my friends about reading them, but for the most part they seem dry and dull and I'm unlikely to enjoy the experience.

Fortunately, there IS such a thing as an abridged wheel of time. I found a websites that summarizes the chapters of each book. I think I might just read the summaries of the books Jordan wrote, or maybe just the most overwrought ones, and then read the Sanderson books.
 
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myrddin173

Maester
Sure, if I want to brag about climbing a mountain, I'll climb it. But if I only want to enjoy looking at it, I'll take the ski lift or rent a helicopter. What you're saying is that because you choose to climb, I have absolutely no right to my ski lift or helicopter ride, which is absurd. And besides, reading a book isn't about "achieving" anything. It's about enjoyment. And I can enjoy books just fine without sitting through 5 pages describing a dress or blade of grass. For the same reason, I'll probably never read many "classics". Sure I could brag to my friends about reading them, but for the most part they seem dry and dull and I'm unlikely to enjoy the experience.

Fortunately, there IS such a thing as an abridged wheel of time. I found a websites that summarizes the chapters of each book. I think I might just read the summaries of the books Jordan wrote, or maybe just the most overwrought ones, and then read the Sanderson books.

I am sorry. Looking over my post it seems rather antagonistic, which I did not intend, but I get a little passionate when it comes to the things I love. In my opinion summaries do not convey the little intricacies that make the Wheel of Time what it is. Yah they might be overly descriptive and long winded but that is what makes them Wheel of Time books, it is one of their defining characteristics. Now I don't have anything against summaries as I don't view that as being an abridgement. (When I said there would be no abridged Wheel of Time I meant there would be no formally published abridged Wheel of Time.) As for achieving vs. enjoyment I don't think they are immiscible but rather that they go hand in hand. Last summer my dad and I hiked up Mount Greylock (in Massachusetts) and enjoyed almost every minute of it, but I still felt a sense of accomplishment. It is the same with a good book, I am proud of every book I finish but that is just who I am.

My recommendation is if you don't enjoy reading something then don't read it. Personally I don't really see a difference between Sanderson's Wheel of Time and Jordan's. The Wheel of Time is not for everyone, and I think you should find your thing rather than reading something you are not enjoying.

About the climbing the mountain/helicopter ride. I didn't mention those in my first post because people who use them don't claim to have "climbed the mountain". I feel that there are some out there who would read an abridged Wheel of Time and claim to have "read the entire series" when in reality they did not. Not everyone would but there would be some.

I apologize again if this seems also seems antagonistic, and I hope we can get along.
 
Agreed to original post of the thread.

I loved the books, but forcing to read 100 pages of backstory at the beginning of each book to get set-up from different characters' POV really started to grind my gears after a while. I take it back. I love the story. I think I'd really like an anime that did the books (especially if it would eliminate half the internal nit-picking between genders). But I don't care for the writing style of Jordan himself. To be fair, I don't have a problem reading it, 'cuz I just skim until I get to something I'm interested in.

Anyway, the big criticism with the later Jordan books though, is that it was a terrible game of waiting! To allude to crassness, it changed the color of the reader's genitalia...I guess that's not an allusion but just plain crass. Whatever.

We would read an entire book and maybe ONE thing would happen that pushed the characters closer to the end. Half of it was inconsequential!

Especially when he started
bringing back Forsaken from the dead! What was the point of that? Other than the gender-bending one that could use the male magicks but was female so no one suspected her of being devious----------MORE GENDER ROLES BS FROM JORDAN
.

...breathe, breathe, breathe...

But Sanderson was able to achieve the same style of Jordan, AND, because of the desire to FINISH the series, started giving us what we wanted at a mile a minute. Every chapter had consequence! Stuff started happening again! Not to say the obvious, but the Wheel of Time started moving! HOORAY!
 
About the climbing the mountain/helicopter ride. I didn't mention those in my first post because people who use them don't claim to have "climbed the mountain". I feel that there are some out there who would read an abridged Wheel of Time and claim to have "read the entire series" when in reality they did not. Not everyone would but there would be some.

I apologize again if this seems also seems antagonistic, and I hope we can get along.

To be deliberately antagonistic, but not towards you, towards people that brag about that: Who cares? I mean, if people brag to me about doing anything I'm probably going to tune them out and bragging about reading is basically saying, "Hey guys, I have a lot of time on my hands and I fill it doing something that requires only basic literacy and no real talent."

I'd say instead of the mountain/ski-lift analogy, it's more like walking on the conveyor belts at the airport versus walking next to the conveyor belts at the airport.
 
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