Why do people hate the Wheel of Time?

[trashbird1240]

I told a friend today that I was going to pick up my copy of Towers of Midnight. Here's how the conversation went down:

 

Her: What's Towers of Midnight?

 

Me: It's the next Wheel of Time book

 

Her: There's more books? What the hell.

 

Me: I don't care if there's twenty more books, I would want to read all of them

 

Her: I just don't get it; why do they keep publishing them. They suck.

 

Considering that this is somebody that I otherwise really like, I was really surprised to hear her talking like that. I can think of plenty of books that I didn't like, but I wouldn't say that any of them "just totally suck." Beside that, why does anybody think these books suck?

 

What I like about the Wheel of Time (i.e. why I keep reading and wouldn't care if they dragged the series out for the rest of my natural life):

 

1. 
    
   
2. The characters: I never thought I would say this, but I really love the characters and I find myself relating to them. The book is built around those characters and not necessarily around events that happen to them. Even though new characters keep coming up, they are always really well done.
   
3. Robert Jordan's language: there is no "it came to pass" in the Wheel of Time. Reading Tolkien is like reading Shakespeare, it's beautiful and everything, but I don't think it really gets the job done (and people don't talk like that in real life, even in Shakespeare's time). Whereas the point with Shakespeare is IMHO to make beautiful language and express characters using mostly the skill of that language, novels have to use language that expresses the construction of the characters. Robert Jordan does this better than any other novelist I have read.
   
4. These books are for adults. Even though the characters are quite young, the issues they face and the situations they deal with are presented in a very mature fashion. Not only that, but the situations are believable (yes, in a fantasy novel!) for people their age. Does Harry Potter get laid? Anywhere in the series?
   
5. It's deep: yes, it's a fantasy novel and there's a certain levity that goes with that, but Robert Jordan deals gracefully with everything from intimate relations (an everyday subject) to free will versus determinism, the limitations of language; he deals with how folklore and history interweave, power structures in society, the place of art in society, and of course SEX! Show me another fantasy novel, or any kind of novel with mass appeal that deals with topics worthy of Rousseau and Wittgenstein. In the Wheel of Time it's all there, just as it's all there in real life. As I said above, I have not seen another author tackle more topics as well as Robert Jordan.
   

 

My question is what are these people expecting that they end up thinking the books suck? Crossroads of Twilight was kinda boring. Kinda. Star Wars prequel trilogy: that sucked. Nynaeve and Elayne join a circus: kinda hokey. A book full of wizards and stupid people who have to make the wizard explain everything to them, that wouldn't make sense unless you've read Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit: sucks. Women crossing their arms beneath their breasts: kinda repetitive. Dragons that talk? I'll let you decide.

[Durinax]

my one friend didnt like them because they wherent written from a womans pov, although she did like twilight which makes her taste excedingly bad

[Jillain Sanche]

WOT is like the War and Peace of the fantasy genre! What? Sanderson recently stated an estimation of about 2,000 characters.

 

Therefore, appreciation of this series requires a commitment to reading; it's not light reading. It might just be over the heads or focus level of some folks whom we otherwise like very much.

 

Okay, in the case of "Twilight," there is no question it is written at a reading level for youth, maybe about sixth or seventh graders? Very light reading.

I think Jordan does very well with the POVs of the female characters. But for someone to admit that WOT is too much for them, they would be embarrassed so they might sidestep the real issue.

We cannot beat our friends over their pointy little heads when they just can't get into the same literary tastes we enjoy.

 

I love Tolkien and Jordan. I rather suspect that Jordan loved Tolkien too. But they were not contemporaries. Tolkien served in WWI. Jordan served in Viet Nam. That's at least two generations apart. (Even Tolkien's son is in his late 80s now.) The language of fantasy has necessarily changed as times change. If you read Tolkien, your English will be improved. Yet of course Jordan is a master of fantasy, and he is every bit as descriptive as Tolkien.

 

Therein lies another point where there will be people who are afraid of reading both these authors. Some readers are not yet able to handle heavy descriptive narrative. They are spoiled perhaps by action movies, and they want action all the time. Crossroads moved several subplots forward and was a necessary transition in the development of the storyline. But for some readers, it required more focus than they could manage.

 

Conclusion: Don't let it get to you. Find something else you can discuss or do with your friend.

[username13]

From what I've heard some people either dislike the level of detail, or find some things anticlimatic from the buildup. Eg: fights that are over quickly and fearsome Forsaken not proving to be any sort of challenge. Also, once the climax of a book occurs the books end kinda suddenly

[goddessbec]

My bf is one of these so called 'haters' yet he loves fantasy. Geez, i cant even begin to name all the fantasy he reads and loves - i think his biggest love is katherine Kerr and the silver dagger books. But seriously, we have probably 200-300 fantasy books at home. He actually gave me book 5 because he had read up to book 5 but just couldnt get into it, so at least he tried. when im reading he constantly comes up behind me and asks how rand is, or the wolf dude, or the dude with the sword (perrin and lan)

 

he has said if i read all 17 of his katherine kerr books, he will give the wheel of time another go, and i think after i read TOM im going to hold him to this, as i really just need someone to talk about this... when i was younger i was dating a guy and hes the one that got me into the serious, me, him and his brother would have these major, hours long discussions about WOT and it was freakin awesome (and i dont feel like a nerd posting that here either woohoo!)

 

i tried to get my brother into it, hes a huge LOTR fan, but nope, he just wasnt interested (think he read half of the EOTW)

 

I can understand some of the descriptions that go on for pages and pages as off putting but seriously, RJ has created such a visual world, its like watching a movie in ya head instead of just reading a book. some people just dont know what they are missing out on

[trashbird1240]

I can understand some of the descriptions that go on for pages and pages as off putting but seriously, RJ has created such a visual world, its like watching a movie in ya head instead of just reading a book. some people just dont know what they are missing out on

 

I can understand people not liking how he describes furniture, rugs, clothing, etc. The problem is that those things matter -- a lot. If you don't think those things matter, you haven't read enough history. He makes them matter.

[nogoodatnames]

It's just a matter of taste. You could give a hundred people the greatest novel ever written, an some of them will hate it.

 

An example for me would be Stranger in a strange land, lots of people consider that to be a Sci-fi must read. I found it a complete bore. One of the only books I've never finished.

[Shard]

While it is true that everyone has different tastes. I've seen that the prevailing reason is that Jordan is "milking" the series over the years. Though I do appreciate opinions that are more then "Just sucks" just google up some reviews and you'll see.

[Jblaylock]

I think it is foolish for someone to state that a story is "bad" or "it sucks" or whatever. The fact is, it is a creative work that is totaly subjective to personal opinion. In my opinion, if a person tries to lable a work of art as "bad" by definition, this person is a childish idiot and their opinion is not worth the time it took to listen to it.

[Lynchgrinch]

I KNOW!!

 

I never ever ever ever ever ever ever will understand how people can not like Wheel of Time. Fair enough if fantasy aint your thing you're probably never gonna pick up a book called " The Dragon Reborn" or anything like that.

 

But tbh WoT reads so well it's almost like modern day times...back 200 years ago...minus gunpowder (oops illuminators) and plus a bit of magic...

 

But it's not like wizzards and dragons or anything, WoT is something far mor REAL than that.

 

As for people who actualy like the fantasy genre yet still criticise RJ.

 

THERE WILL BE DEATH AND FIRE.

 

I realy don't understand it.

[Mr Ares]

The reasons people don't like the series are plentiful. Some of them can be summed up as them holding the opposite opinion to the opening poster, that is to say:

1. Badly drawn characters, particularly the women, as many of them are seen as unrealistic, unpleasant and identical, virtually everyone is juvenile in their relationships, not talking to other people is taken to ridiculous extremes, and virtually everyone is, at best, two dimensional.

2. Robert Jordan's language, which is seen as needlessly bloated, insisting on pages of pointless description that does nothing to further the story, and isn't always clear, and leaves little to the imagination.

3. The books are not for adults, with juvenile interactions between the cast, overly simple (good v evil, Dark Lord, not enough by way of shades of grey, etc.), a coyness about subjects such as sex (it taking place off screen, often implied rather than outright stated).

4. It's not deep, the themes not being hugely profound, it saying little to nothing of relevance or importance, no real comment on the human condition.

 

In addition to these is the matter of the pacing, with many people feeling frustrated at a story seeming to take a very long time to go nowhere in particular, crawling forward inch by painful inch when they want him to get to the bloody story. This is seen as the principle problem with CoT, for example - while things do happen, they end up taking up far more space than they should. We do not need half a chapter of Elayne taking a bath. Also, people dislike the frequent use of stock mannerisms, said Mr Ares, pulling on his brain, sniffing at those wool headed fool men, and putting his hands on his hips while folding his arms beneath his breasts. Some dislike the spanking, which is felt to be excessive, and indicative of a certain preference of RJ's, likewise the frequent female nudity (ceremonies clad in the Light). Understand, of course, that these opinions are not my own. I'm just a fan who's read quite a lot of criticism of the series. For all its faults, WoT is a series that I think very highly of.

 

Jillain Sanche, I think you do many people a disservice when you accuse those who find RJ's style overly wordy as being perhaps spoilt by action films. For one thing, it isn't hard to find people who are well read offering this criticism. It would seem the greater problem is that RJ tells these people things that they feel they don't need to know (how much lace someone is wearing, for example), in too much detail, at far ggreater length than is really warranted. Again and again. It is a style that, as I mentioned above, many feel leaves too little to the imagination. Whereas authors with a more minimalist style (such as Hemingway) might be content to leave things undescribed, or give you a few pointers, RJ will tell you everything. This can be seen as authorial hand holding, and overly juvenile, simplistic, with the author having the much easier job of just telling you everything rather than trying to write both very well and very simply (deceptively difficult to do, from what I can gather).

 

As for this: "Show me another fantasy novel, or any kind of novel with mass appeal that deals with topics worthy of Rousseau and Wittgenstein." I would offer the response: Prince of Nothing. A fantasy trilogy with well drawn characters, many philosophical themes, with good use of language and that is most definitely for adults. Others might also put forward George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire or Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Many people feel these books have the qualities you acsribe to WoT - more so than WoT does.

[TalonSpiritCat]

I am the only one in my gamer/writer groups who likes WOT.

 

This is what I have heard in the last few weeks -- they come for gaming and I have been rereading the series in prep for ToM.

 

 

"I read the first few....they were too slow."

"I stopped in Book 2 with those Seanchan. They enslaved people so I couldn't read more." (Seriously -- he stopped reading cause he disapproves of slavery! It's a book!)

"I'm waiting for the series to be done before I start...don't want to wait so long for new material."

"Isn't that series done yet? Too slow, too boring...it's like reading the Bible." (I might let my partner live despite his lack of taste though it's up for debate. I'll make him eat with sursa...that will show him!)

 

 

 

 

Heathens.

 

 

And we just added a new D&Der and he likes WOT! Yay!

[Lynchgrinch]

The reasons people don't like the series are plentiful. Some of them can be summed up as them holding the opposite opinion to the opening poster, that is to say:

1. Badly drawn characters, particularly the women, as many of them are seen as unrealistic, unpleasant and identical, virtually everyone is juvenile in their relationships, not talking to other people is taken to ridiculous extremes, and virtually everyone is, at best, two dimensional.

2. Robert Jordan's language, which is seen as needlessly bloated, insisting on pages of pointless description that does nothing to further the story, and isn't always clear, and leaves little to the imagination.

3. The books are not for adults, with juvenile interactions between the cast, overly simple (good v evil, Dark Lord, not enough by way of shades of grey, etc.), a coyness about subjects such as sex (it taking place off screen, often implied rather than outright stated).

4. It's not deep, the themes not being hugely profound, it saying little to nothing of relevance or importance, no real comment on the human condition.

 

In addition to these is the matter of the pacing, with many people feeling frustrated at a story seeming to take a very long time to go nowhere in particular, crawling forward inch by painful inch when they want him to get to the bloody story. This is seen as the principle problem with CoT, for example - while things do happen, they end up taking up far more space than they should. We do not need half a chapter of Elayne taking a bath. Also, people dislike the frequent use of stock mannerisms, said Mr Ares, pulling on his brain, sniffing at those wool headed fool men, and putting his hands on his hips while folding his arms beneath his breasts. Some dislike the spanking, which is felt to be excessive, and indicative of a certain preference of RJ's, likewise the frequent female nudity (ceremonies clad in the Light). Understand, of course, that these opinions are not my own. I'm just a fan who's read quite a lot of criticism of the series. For all its faults, WoT is a series that I think very highly of.

 

Jillain Sanche, I think you do many people a disservice when you accuse those who find RJ's style overly wordy as being perhaps spoilt by action films. For one thing, it isn't hard to find people who are well read offering this criticism. It would seem the greater problem is that RJ tells these people things that they feel they don't need to know (how much lace someone is wearing, for example), in too much detail, at far ggreater length than is really warranted. Again and again. It is a style that, as I mentioned above, many feel leaves too little to the imagination. Whereas authors with a more minimalist style (such as Hemingway) might be content to leave things undescribed, or give you a few pointers, RJ will tell you everything. This can be seen as authorial hand holding, and overly juvenile, simplistic, with the author having the much easier job of just telling you everything rather than trying to write both very well and very simply (deceptively difficult to do, from what I can gather).

 

As for this: "Show me another fantasy novel, or any kind of novel with mass appeal that deals with topics worthy of Rousseau and Wittgenstein." I would offer the response: Prince of Nothing. A fantasy trilogy with well drawn characters, many philosophical themes, with good use of language and that is most definitely for adults. Others might also put forward George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire or Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Many people feel these books have the qualities you acsribe to WoT - more so than WoT does.

 

 

Sorry, but WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON A WHEEL OF TIME FANSITE?

 

It seems like you don't even like the books at all, just sayin'.

[trashbird1240]

Thanks for all the great replies.

 

While it is true that everyone has different tastes. I've seen that the prevailing reason is that Jordan is "milking" the series over the years.

 

One of my friends said that: I thought it was weird. Authors really don't make that much money. I think if RJ wanted more money, he would have finished the series and pushed it to film.

 

I think it is foolish for someone to state that a story is "bad" or "it sucks" or whatever.

 

I wouldn't read Harry Potter just to tell somebody it sucks. I certainly don't think Lord of the Rings sucks, but I didn't really like it.

 

But it's not like wizzards and dragons or anything, WoT is something far mor REAL than that.

 

This is one of the things that I forgot to put in my original list: the Wheel of Time is self-contained. If you don't know what a wizard is, you can still know what an Aes Sedai is. I seriously laugh when I hear people comparing the Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings. Hello? There are no dwarves, elves or wizards in the Wheel of Time. I actually saw a review (not a customer, but a trained critic) calling Aes Sedai "female wizards." They're not wizards! They have a skill. Does Gandalf require skill? Not the way I read it.

 

The reasons people don't like the series are plentiful. Some of them can be summed up as them holding the opposite opinion to the opening poster, that is to say:

1. Badly drawn characters, particularly the women, as many of them are seen as unrealistic, unpleasant and identical, virtually everyone is juvenile in their relationships, not talking to other people is taken to ridiculous extremes, and virtually everyone is, at best, two dimensional.

2. Robert Jordan's language, which is seen as needlessly bloated, insisting on pages of pointless description that does nothing to further the story, and isn't always clear, and leaves little to the imagination.

3. The books are not for adults, with juvenile interactions between the cast, overly simple (good v evil, Dark Lord, not enough by way of shades of grey, etc.), a coyness about subjects such as sex (it taking place off screen, often implied rather than outright stated).

4. It's not deep, the themes not being hugely profound, it saying little to nothing of relevance or importance, no real comment on the human condition.

 

I thought of all these, but I think that if people really think that, they weren't paying attention. I started reading The Wheel of Time when I was 29, and I think anybody who thinks his coverage is not mature in nature, is still young enough to think they are more mature than most other people. The "needlessly bloated" language, as I said, is all about really important stuff.

 

Who thinks which relationships are portrayed with coyness or unrealistically? I feel absolutely the opposite.

And sex offscreen is just fine for me. What would the alternative look like?

 

Some dislike the spanking, which is felt to be excessive, and indicative of a certain preference of RJ's, likewise the frequent female nudity (ceremonies clad in the Light).

 

The spanking, denigration, humiliation --- especially with Galina and Egwene --- totally links in to the cultural pain of the Aiel, something they can't escape, and the temporary nature of pain experienced within a lifetime. Am I the only person who had this interpretation?

 

As for nudity: most books, in my opinion, don't have enough. This series has enough boobs and explosions that it should please everyone.

 

As for this: "Show me another fantasy novel, or any kind of novel with mass appeal that deals with topics worthy of Rousseau and Wittgenstein." I would offer the response: Prince of Nothing. A fantasy trilogy with well drawn characters, many philosophical themes, with good use of language and that is most definitely for adults. Others might also put forward George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire or Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Many people feel these books have the qualities you acsribe to WoT - more so than WoT does.

 

A Game of Thrones is at my house, waiting for me to finish Towers of Midnight. I'll look into the others --- thanks!

[waffle]

Why do people hate the Wheel of Time?

 

Because they are fools!

 

But seriously, I can see how some people would dislike the pace, or how some people think that some parts are boring as hell. Elayne´s succession. Geez.

 

 

Perhaps the somewhat lighter tone of the series (compared to other series) is a bit of a turn-off too for some. Personally though, I have read Black Company, A song of Ice and Fire, Malazan and while i did enjoy them greatly, i did not feel the acute need for an immediate re-read (or any re-read for that matter). Because let´s be honest, they can be quite depressing. How the Chain of Dogs turned out in Malazan for example. I wanted to stab the book. And Whiskeyjack! Gah!

 

It might be a bit shallow, but to hell with. It´s got humor, action, a cool world and characters for every taste. I´ll continue to love and not care what anyone else thinks.

[Corlock]

My personal opinion is that a lot of people who complain about WoT, complained mostly about the pacing that took place in the series from books I want to say 6-11. Every book you were expecting at least some of the major plotlines that had been going on to be resolved, and yet they kept stringing on from book to book. In addition, if you were reading these books as they came out and had the years and years of waiting between books, I can understand the frustration. I had little of that frustration, as when I picked up the series, by the time I got to PoD, WH was coming out. So, I didn't have as much waiting to do between those books. I think a lot of the pacing complaints will dissappear once the series is finished, and you can immediately pick up the next book and continue the story. Especially, once you can see the importance of all those scenes that didn't seem important at the time in the earlier books.

 

Jordan absolutely loves to foreshadow, and almost every scene contains something within it that will become important later on and can't be skipped over, which is why they survived the editing process. The problem is, that without knowing the ending of the series, or being able to talk to the writer in a way where he'll actually give answers other than RAFO, it's almost impossible to see that importance. So, yes, things seem bloated and overly described, but given that Jordan has created his world such that the amount of embroidery on your dress can often be a measurement of one's political standing, along with the material it is made of, such details become important. This also gives one an insight into a particular character's personality. Do they flaunt their station, trying to appear even higher within their cultures hierarchy, or are they more humble about their position, displaying less embroidery than they are entitled to, or exactly the right amount? That's the real problem with Jordan, everything is important, even if it doesn't appear to be.

[st122]

Just like a good red wine these books require patience. The thing is some people can appreciate a fine red wine, while those that drink it for the alcohol miss the quality. And like all things it might not be someones taste, and with that I cannot argue.

 

People have also become use to having everything the moment they want it. They want the ending NOW! But for me it is not the end but the journey. That journey will make the end something sad (as it comes to an end) but also wonderful.

 

I started reading the books this year, as a result those long ardous scene are not that bad. Being able to immediatly pick up the threads again the books just flow one into the other, making this not a 13 book story but one long amazing story.

[A2597]

one of my coworkers describes them as "12 books full of spanking...they suck"

 

Sure..if you want to pull 50 pages of material out of 9000 pages, and ignore the battles, characters, etc...

[Tiinker]

Which friend is this! Im gonna have to Chuck Norris her ass..

[Dead Guy]

Sorry, but WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON A WHEEL OF TIME FANSITE?

 

It seems like you don't even like the books at all, just sayin'.

 

Ok, you don't get how people can have different tastes than you... Can you comprehend that someone might like something for what it is but still be able to see it's flaws? That's likely why the poster you're caps-screaming at is on these boards. Or maybe he doesn't even hold to those opinions himself, but knows why others have the opinions they do.

 

It's ok people, you can dislike parts of something and still be a fan. I have full understanding for people who quit reading this series, and it's not because they are stupid or otherwise "unable to appreciate" the greatness of it. I still like it, but I don't like several chapters in almost every single book, because they are simply mind-numbingly boring and irrelevant (Chapter upon chapter of Salidar gaaah, chapter upon chapter about Elayne in Caemlyn, Egwene on a neverending journey to the White Tower, Perrin planning to rescue Faile for at least an entire book, brooding on the same thing every single POV from him? Hell, even some of the chapters in Ebou Dar searching for the bowl were going nowhere slow.) Usually, if you divide each book into two parts, splitting it in the middle, the middle of those two parts are often slow-paced uninteresting transports to very exciting passages. This was much less true in the first few books, but staretd to show in the fires of heaven or thereabouts, in my opinion. I also don't like the fact that there are characters whose name I can't even be arsed to remember because they are so out there in the periphery. I'm still glued to my copy of Towers of Midnight, which I took a 30 minute car drive to get today, instead of waiting three days for delivery.

[Lynchgrinch]

Sorry, but WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON A WHEEL OF TIME FANSITE?

 

It seems like you don't even like the books at all, just sayin'.

 

Ok, you don't get how people can have different tastes than you... Can you comprehend that someone might like something for what it is but still be able to see it's flaws? That's likely why the poster you're caps-screaming at is on these boards. Or maybe he doesn't even hold to those opinions himself, but knows why others have the opinions they do.

 

It's ok people, you can dislike parts of something and still be a fan. I have full understanding for people who quit reading this series, and it's not because they are stupid or otherwise "unable to appreciate" the greatness of it. I still like it, but I don't like several chapters in almost every single book, because they are simply mind-numbingly boring and irrelevant (Chapter upon chapter of Salidar gaaah, chapter upon chapter about Elayne in Caemlyn, Egwene on a neverending journey to the White Tower, Perrin planning to rescue Faile for at least an entire book, brooding on the same thing every single POV from him? Hell, even some of the chapters in Ebou Dar searching for the bowl were going nowhere slow.) Usually, if you divide each book into two parts, splitting it in the middle, the middle of those two parts are often slow-paced uninteresting transports to very exciting passages. This was much less true in the first few books, but staretd to show in the fires of heaven or thereabouts, in my opinion. I also don't like the fact that there are characters whose name I can't even be arsed to remember because they are so out there in the periphery. I'm still glued to my copy of Towers of Midnight, which I took a 30 minute car drive to get today, instead of waiting three days for delivery.

 

 

Fair enough, i can agree with that, kinda...

 

I just think that the origonal poster(who i was screaming at) pointed out way to many flaws. It seems like the ammounto "flaws" he pointed out outwayed all possible good points.

 

I suppose you have to be a certain type of person to be total and completly devoted to WoT. I'm not merely a fan, i'd call myself THE FAN if it wasnt for people like...Jason, Luckers and Jenn...LUCKY SODS.

 

Thats how passionate i am about the series, to me luckers etc are just lucky and better than me with publicity and know more people, I CAN'T COMPREHEND SOMEONE BEING A BIGGER FAN THAN ME.

 

It just would not make sence.

 

In saying all that, it's in no way a stab at the people mentioned who have done so much for the WoT community...they have nothing but my utmost respect.

[Thor]

I HATE THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT.

 

ehem.

 

people have different taste, let them be :D

[Bob T Dwarf]

See, I don't HATE the Wheel of Time series, I'm just very disappointed in it. It is needlessly bloated. Every story line drags on far too long. Many chapters are nothing but a collection of stock phrases that repeat and repeat and repeat ad nauseum throughout the series. There is no dead horse that Jordan would not haul out of the dust by its scraggly tail and flog again.

 

Other than Mr. Ares excellent post above ( can't believe I actually agree with him about anything, but I do on this one ), the best descriptions of the series I've ever read - and both come from posts on this site by other, much more talented folks than me, are:

 

"Too much faffing about with frocks";

"Too many adjectives and not enough verbs."

 

Nonetheless, the underlying story is great. You've just got to work far too hard to get the meat off the bones.

[nojnomad]

I have to say that many people who don't like this series dislike it for all of the reasons that I have found lacking in other series.

I love the whole picture painted style while others wish only to have a boiled plotline.

I love the fact that there are 15-20 main characters and 60-120 ancillary character that creep in and out of the story line while others wish only to follow one - three main character(s) along a straight story line that will entertain them without thought on their part.

I love the time that we get to spend learning the back stories, motivations and internal dialog of even some of the ancillary characters while others wish only for enough of these details in the main character to move the plotline ahead.

 

The biggest complaints I have from normal sci-fi and fantasy books is that they spend too little time developing the characters sacrificing to move the plot line ahead for a 400 page book. Even the beloved J.R.R. series have whole story lines that I would love to have explored but he chose to end his in three books and only later came back and wrote one prequel. I would have cut off an ear to read the back story and further adventures of the Ents...

 

(guess all of this makes me a geek - I do wear glasses...)

[nojnomad]

oh and I agree with trashbird1240 about the level of the audience that it was intended for.

I would not have been able to appreciate this series even as a young adult and have read many other who started the series very young and have indicated that a reread of the material meant much different things to them when they returned to the books many years later.

This series is not intended for children to be reading and it is a mature (if still tactful) handling of mature topics that are not appropriate for children such as sex and death.