As I stated last week, I am not going to be posting my review of the thirteenth The Wheel of Time book, Towers of Midnight, until this weekend (possibly Friday, but maybe not until Saturday or even Sunday). For those rare few (and new) souls that visit here who have not read my thoughts on the volumes in this series (plus a prequel), I have decided to link to all thirteen previous reviews of this oft-bloated series.
The first review I did, back in October 2009, was for the twelfth volume, The Gathering Storm. That review followed a hasty reading of the eleventh volume, Knife of Dreams, when I was offered a review copy and the difference in tone between that and my reflective reviews of the first nine volumes (read earlier this year for the first time since 2000), the tenth (read for the first time in 2006) and eleventh (read very rapidly in October 2009 and at a more leisurely pace this spring) is palpable. Needless to say, these aren't going to be the sort of commentaries that devout fans of the WoT series (the so-called WoTHeads) are going to enjoy. But enough of the babbling. Here are the links:
The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords
The Path of Daggers
Winter's Heart
Crossroads of Twilight
Knife of Dreams
The Gathering Storm
New Spring (prequel)
Based on these, how do you think I reacted to the just-released Towers of Twilight when I read it a couple of weeks ago?
The first review I did, back in October 2009, was for the twelfth volume, The Gathering Storm. That review followed a hasty reading of the eleventh volume, Knife of Dreams, when I was offered a review copy and the difference in tone between that and my reflective reviews of the first nine volumes (read earlier this year for the first time since 2000), the tenth (read for the first time in 2006) and eleventh (read very rapidly in October 2009 and at a more leisurely pace this spring) is palpable. Needless to say, these aren't going to be the sort of commentaries that devout fans of the WoT series (the so-called WoTHeads) are going to enjoy. But enough of the babbling. Here are the links:
The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords
The Path of Daggers
Winter's Heart
Crossroads of Twilight
Knife of Dreams
The Gathering Storm
New Spring (prequel)
Based on these, how do you think I reacted to the just-released Towers of Twilight when I read it a couple of weeks ago?
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4 comments:
Larry,
I have some similar literary tastes to you. I love Gene Wolfe. I love Borges and Ursula LeGuin. Ulysses is my favorite novel (by far); I also love Faulkner and David Mitchell. Like Tolkien and Thomas Covenant. Good writing is very important to me, but I like to get lost in a story as much as the next person.
I give you this ridiculous snapshot to ask you a ridiculous question: WoT for me: yes or no? I've never read a word. I've been put off by its size and reports of its quality variance, and life is short. But still... perhaps it beckons. So your advice: do I read it or not? Don't worry; I won't necessarily follow it. :)
-J
I'm really, really hoping that the the mistake on the book name at the end of the post was accidental, because that would be 1. awesome, and 2. say everything that needs to be said and spare you having to review it.
That. That hurt. I got indigestion just thinking of the idea of that many pages. and we know god approves because my verification word was 'bless'. jv
Jason,
When I started this series, I was barely 23 years old (1997). I hadn't read, outside of LotR and a couple other works, anything that would be labeled as "genre." WoT was an interesting change of pace at the time. Within three years, I was suffering from ennui and if I hadn't already read the first nine volumes or so by then, I wouldn't have bothered with the remainder. I would suggest trying something that isn't as bloated as WoT.
Anon,
Ha! I didn't realize I had such a Freudian slip there, but if the shoe fits...
Jeff,
God is indeed on your side. That or EM is just messing with my verification page!
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