No longer sure i want to continue reading

[KasperDK]

Hey everyone, im currently halfway done with Lord of Chaos, and im starting to become really friggin annoyed with Egwene, Elayne and Nyaeve, it seems all they do is sniffing at eachother, tugging braids, having difficulty deciding on what close to wear in the dreaming world, along with just being very very annoying to everyone around them, while still spamming sniffs at everyone in sight.

 

Ive come to the point where i allmost cant read it anymore, it just pisses me of so much, why do we hear so much more about their petty social problems than the battles of Perrin(whom i think havent even been mentioned yet in this book), mat and rand. It seems the book is more about girldrama than the battle betwen good and evil, and i really really love the story and i want to know how it ends so badly, but when a book has 300pages of pure punishment(girls sniffing etc.) im not sure i can continue. Please someone tell me this gets better in the coming books??!! :( :(

 

Regards

Kasper

[Azrayne]

From what I remember (and to be fair, my memory of books 7 - 11 is pretty faint), it keeps going on for another book or two, and only stops when they go their separate ways (although even separated, Nynaeve's behavior improves only a fraction, and Elayne's becomes even worse, Egwene is the only one who comes remotely close to becoming a rational, emotionally stable adult, and even she backslides occasionally).

 

Honestly, I'd recommend finishing LoC (it's worth it for the climax at the end of the book alone, easily some of the best few chapters in the entire series), then try Crown of Swords and see how you go. If you still find it drags, then skim over the catfighting and pointless subplots and find a good chapter summary to fill in the important details in those sections, then go back to reading everything in Knife of Dreams or Gathering Storm.

[KasperDK]

Exactly the answer i feared :( I might take ur suggestion, just hope i can find a decent summary somewhere i would really hate to miss important battles. But i would allmost hate more to read trough anohter 1000 pages of women being angry with everything and everone around them. But knife of dreams is where its getting good again you say? 

[Orderofolde]

Hey everyone, im currently halfway done with Lord of Chaos, and im starting to become really friggin annoyed with Egwene, Elayne and Nyaeve, it seems all they do is sniffing at eachother, tugging braids, having difficulty deciding on what close to wear in the dreaming world, along with just being very very annoying to everyone around them, while still spamming sniffs at everyone in sight.

 

Ive come to the point where i allmost cant read it anymore, it just pisses me of so much, why do we hear so much more about their petty social problems than the battles of Perrin(whom i think havent even been mentioned yet in this book), mat and rand. It seems the book is more about girldrama than the battle betwen good and evil, and i really really love the story and i want to know how it ends so badly, but when a book has 300pages of pure punishment(girls sniffing etc.) im not sure i can continue. Please someone tell me this gets better in the coming books??!! :( :(

 

Regards

Kasper

On one reread, I actually skipped all of the girls' chapters and did Rand, Perrin, and Mat's and had a pretty good read, didn't really miss much.  If it is THAT annoying to you, skip it.  Some of it like the sniffing and the clothes and baths and Elayne's moodiness is a bit overdone but tolerable.

[Elsalvador]

Be patient! It is worth it. Things DO drag a little but skipping through part of the story feels like cheating to me.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Eh, these questions are so hard to answer. People have different opinions of the characters. Some people say Egwene gets extremely bad and Nynaeve becomes totally awesome. Others think Egwene becomes totally awesome and Nynaeve is really bad. 

 

It depends on how you view it. There is a focus on what people consider to be less important aspects of the story, like Elayne and Faile story-lines when they would rather be hearing more about Mat or Rand. 

 

What I can say is that each of the women change in their respective ways. Whether you like it or not is up to you. 

 

I really wouldn't rely on too much advice. Read through the books. If you don't certain plotlines, skim them or look at the chapter summary (WoT Encyclopaedia has every chapter summarized). However, if you enjoy the story as a whole, don't stop reading. There is great story to be had, some of the best in the entire series you wouldn't want to miss out. 

[Ismail Elezi]

Egwene becomes awesome and Nynaeve becomes less anoying. Elayne on the other hand, tries desperately to outsurpass her last stupid decisions she made (and she does that every chapter). By the end of the books, I hated her.

The main problem though, is the quality of book decline (especially on book 9 and 10) until Sanderson comes on The Gathering Storm. Saying that, it is worthy to read the books, and by the end of it, you will want a re-read. 

[Verbal32]

Be patient! It is worth it. Things DO drag a little but skipping through part of the story feels like cheating to me.

 

Best advice, period.  Don't give up - when the series is over, you'll feel the good more than outweighs the bad.  Much more.

[mb]

There were similar threads in the past.

 

like another poster told, better or worse pretty much depends on the reader.

 

I generally try read all of any fiction I start.  Sometimes I skim through future scenes but generally return.

[Ea'V_FOTV_Fan]

There was more than one time during the years of waiting for the next book when I became extremely frustrated by the way some books dragged on. I recall more than once thinking the story was being milked just to make me buy the next one. If you're looking for lots of battles, you'll be frustrated often, since you'll need to get to the last two books to really get bloody, but trust me when I say it's worth it!

Considering that these books were written by a man, the strongest characters by far are the women. Not just Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene either. They end up fighting some pretty amazing battles, believe me!

[randsc]

Egwene remains dreadful until she gets even worse, Elayne stays about the same, and Nynaeve is fantastic.  She's fantastic even in the early books if you take her as the comic relief she was at that point intended to be.

[Azrayne]

If Nynaeve was intended as comic relief, then RJ fell short. She's about as funny as a puppy being hit by a car.

[Verbal32]

People have different opinions of the characters.

 

It depends on how you view it.

 

What I can say is that each of the women change in their respective ways. Whether you like it or not is up to you. 

 

I really wouldn't rely on too much advice.

 

These 5 sentences sum up this discussion perfectly.

[Sabio]

I like Nyn the most out of all the women in the books, since I felt she developed the most through out the series.  Most the other women I don't feel really developed much and pretty much stayed the same.  Avi got worse during her BFF stuff with Elayne.  But yeah I never saw Nyn as comic relief.

[randsc]

"Men always seemed to think violence could solve anything.  If she had had a stout stick, she would have thumped all three of them about the shoulders until they saw reason."

[randsc]

“I will not be angry with you,” she went on in a much milder tone, and that sounded addressed to herself as well….

“If you say so,” Lan said mildly.

Nynaeve quivered.  “Don’t you take that tone with me!” she shouted.  “I tell you, I’m not angry! Do you hear me?”

[randsc]

“I won’t shout at you,” Nynaeve shouted.

[Azrayne]

That's not funny, just annoying. Anyone who actually acted like that would quickly find themselves an outcast. Probably why I always struggled to picture Nynaeve as young and attractive in my head - no matter how many times she's described that way, she keeps reverting to a hunched over bitter spinster.

[Sabio]

I am with Az, I never took that stuff as to be funny, just sort of the annoying Nyn at the beginning.  I think had Rand more people like Nyn around him at the end he never would of gotten so dark.  She never tried to control or trick him, she went with his decisions yet was always trying to help him.  Unlike Egwene who took the totally wrong approach with him, the you can't and I won't let you do that tactic.

[Elsalvador]

For better or worse the series is one of the greatest epics in the genre and has defined numerous imitators in its wake. As I posted before: be patient, stick with it. Arduous though it may be, if you're the kind of reader who loves this type of book then it will all be worthwhile in the end -- the light at the end of the tunnel as t'were is that by Knife of Dreams it does really start to get going again and the last three books (albeit finished by a different author) are three of the best in the entire series.

[Ea'V_FOTV_Fan]

Women largely ran the world in this series. Given the blaming of men for breaking the world it should come as no surprise. Women's Circles, women controlling merchants councils, Aes Sedai, Far Madding, etc.

Nynaeve and the rest of the gals all had their issues, many of them comic. They never understood the men, and the men never understood them. Not that unlike the real world. Don't get caught up in the fact that some books feature one character more than another. It happens throughout the series but they all pretty much come together and make sense by the end. Since all the books are available now you won't have to suffer through reading one book that might be 'all' one character then wait years for the next. Read the whole series, then decide. Or not! Most on this board have read them all more than once and still have new opinions years later. That's what makes a great epic.

[seph]

I had trouble getting through some of the books. However the endings usually made it satisfying and kept me going.

[Egwene's_Warder]

I'd say it's definitely worth it to continue reading! Egwene, Nyn, and Elayne all change a lot through the books, for me I liked all three at first and towards the end started disliking Elayne but Egwene and Nyn become a lot more awesome in later books.

[bigdoug1971]

Egwene was a total waste of time for me.  I really didn't like Nyneave, but she is absolutely awesome by the end of the story.  Elayne actually becomes bearable by the end too. 

 

I will NOT spoil any of the books or storyline for anybody, but my friend, don't give up on the books just because you don't like a couple of the women in the story.  I'd hate to see you miss out on an awesome story just because you didn't like a character.  I was annoyed everytime I had to read any type of story arc about Egwene.  I also HATED Elayne and all the boring stuff about her politics and trying to gain the throne.  When the Last Battle comes, Elayne was well prepared and a force to reckon with.  Nyneave becomes unbelievable and is put in her place when she joins her "final" group she travels with.  She is more important to Rand than almost anyone else in the books. 

[Verbal32]

Egwene was a total waste of time for me.  I really didn't like Nyneave, but she is absolutely awesome by the end of the story.  Elayne actually becomes bearable by the end too. 

 

I will NOT spoil any of the books or storyline for anybody, but my friend, don't give up on the books just because you don't like a couple of the women in the story.  I'd hate to see you miss out on an awesome story just because you didn't like a character.  I was annoyed everytime I had to read any type of story arc about Egwene.  I also HATED Elayne and all the boring stuff about her politics and trying to gain the throne.  When the Last Battle comes, Elayne was well prepared and a force to reckon with.  Nyneave becomes unbelievable and is put in her place when she joins her "final" group she travels with.  She is more important to Rand than almost anyone else in the books. 

 

It's funny how wildly opinions differ from person to person.  I loved Egwene late - flaws and all.  Probably because she was my early favorite in the series, and I followed her rollercoaster of annoyance, lol.

 

Gawyn, though, he was a waste of time for me.