Why are the prologues so darn long?

[urrutiap]

Recently a couple of days ago the paperback of Knife of Dreams came in the mail and I started reading it.  Beginning of the book which is the prologue is pretty decent where its 95 pages of whatever just went on.

 

Why are prologues in the last half of the book series so darn long anyway? Robert Jordan had a habit of torturing his fans to suffer through many pages of a prologue for the heck of it?

[DojoToad]

Probably for the benefit of new readers that might be picking up a book mid-series to give them the benefit of some background.  Can't say I enjoyed them overmuch...

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

The prologues are like the "cold starts" in a show (I think they are called), where you have a vignette outside of the main narrative to illuminate a different part of the world-building or story. 

 

In terms of the Wheel of Time, 95 pages is just a brief detour, it goes with the territory. 

[Dedicated]

  On 11/26/2024 at 1:45 PM, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

The prologues are like the "cold starts" in a show (I think they are called), where you have a vignette outside of the main narrative to illuminate a different part of the world-building or story. 

 

In terms of the Wheel of Time, 95 pages is just a brief detour, it goes with the territory. 

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exactly this. there are a lot of sub=plots and as the story grows there are more moving parts. As such the prologues get longer with each book until it gets to around 70% of the series. 

[Samt]

I enjoy the prologues.  To enjoy the WoT you have to be willing to go with the flow and not worry about getting back to any particular story line right away.  If you only want to hear about the main characters and their plotlines, the prologues can feel like a drag.  

[Dedicated]

  On 12/6/2024 at 9:05 PM, Samt said:

...the prologues can feel like a drag.  

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Absolutely true on your first read through. The second, third etc, they are much more enjoyable. 

[The_MHael]

Starting with book 9, TOR would release/sell the prologue as standalone ebooks prior to the release of the book.  Although almost all his prologues are lengthy, the last 5 are extra-so. 

[Bodewhin]

Coming into the books as a newbie, I actually enjoyed the prologue setup in the WOT - some were more interesting than others to be sure (I definitely had my favorites) but like someone else on this topic mentioned - they read like cold opens. 

 

I feel like it worked really well in setting up scenes and situations that were important or noteworthy in context but wouldn't have worked as stand-alone chapters wedged in the middle of the book. I always treated the prologues like chapters though. I never expected to finish the long ones in one reading.