The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.
I started reading the series in 2003, and I think there were only seven books? Idk. I loved it all the way through.
Then Amazon bought the film rights and I've been waiting impatiently for an actual release date. Today is the day the announcement finally landed, and a trailer too.
November 19. I'm stoked.
I am kind of excited for this one. I've been watching the casting and like what I've seen so far. That being said, I've never finished the series. I've read the first 6 books twice, and am 50 pages from finishing "Crown of Swords" now (book 7).
Fingers crossed they dont screw it up/turn it into a cash grab though. That's always in the back of my head.
I had not heard of it, but it looks decent.
As far as screwing it up... while a lot can be said about Bezos, when it comes down to stuff like this he's a sci-fi/fantasy nut at heart and seems to put good people in charge of projects like this and seems to give them a fairly free hand. Part of me is convinced Prime Video doesn't really have much affect on people subscribing to Prime and none of the video projects are money-makers. Just an excuse for Bezos to get film projects he wants to see actually get made.
Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:That being said, I've never finished the series.
Robert Jordan didn't either...
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:I had not heard of it, but it looks decent.
It's a fairly big commitment to read the books. I burned myself out something fierce the first time I burned through it (the first 6 or so are pretty intense). This time I've been reading books in between and it's been a lot more enjoyable (plus I'm catching all the stuff I missed on my first rush through).
Definitely recommend the series though.
I'm kinda excited, although I bailed somewhere around book 11. I think some of the books in the middle there were a bit of a slog to get through.
It is a heavy read for sure. I recommend the audio books if one has access. When I was delivering parts I used my library card extensively.
Bill, the last few books were finished by Brandon Sanderson who is probably my favorite author. Done using something like 1500 pages of notes and writing by mr. Jordan before the cancer took him. the series just gets bigger and heavier until about book ten or eleven and things start to come together and resolve. Stick to it. It's worth the effort.
Speaking of effort, Winters Heart was a bit of a trudge for me. Important, but difficult.
Crud!
I thought this was about World of Tanks.
I will go away now.
I meet him once when I worked in a book store in Charleston. Loved the early books but I felt he was drawing it out too much so never finished. Still have them on my bookshelf.
Came here for Wide Open Throttle.
Am disappoint.
In reply to Stampie :
I've met more folks who had that take than not. Too many branches, too drawn out... I can understand. It all wraps up very nicely though, all those loose threads actually make something.
He was way too wordy started great then he just published for money. Sorry, kinda, not a fan. Too many hours involved to deal with the slouch.
Malazan, Book of the Fallen, is what you want to read and hope for a movie.
In reply to preach (fs) :
See, Tolkien was that way. I disagree thay Jordan was.
Interesting bit of information. Robert Jordan is my wife's uncle. We used to hang out at his house all the time. He was every bit as wordy in person as he was in his books. Nice guy. Interesting to talk to. We use to have some fun and rather bizarre conversations around the dinner table. Eccentric is a good way to put it. We still see Harriot, his wife, several times a year and my wife and half my kids go to Jordancon in Atlanta every year without fail. My wife is looking forward to the show. From the family grapevine, she thinks it's going to be pretty decent.
Personally, I read the first couple of the series, but I found them too involved for me. Too many plots. Too many characters to keep up with. I would forget who someone was by the time they entered the plot again and that takes all the fun out of reading.
I've been reading the books since about 1996, and I've read the series in its entirety at least 4 times. Many people feel it's too long but I absolutely love the rich description and incredibly in-depth plot lines of the books. I'll also say the the final chapter in the last book, all 80K words of it, belongs in some literary hall of fame (Robert wrote that part, not Brandon Sanderson).
I'm cautiously excited for the show. I think they've already made some mistakes in the casting but I'm just nitpicking (the guy for Lan is 3-" too short and needs longer hair, the actor for Perrin needs to work out a LOT more, Rosamund Pike is about half a foot too tall, etc). Bezos/Amazon has the money to do this right, so I'm crossing my fingers hard.
I've been reading more of Robert Jordan's stuff lately, including his old Conan books. It's interesting to see his writing style developing and crammed into a 70K word book instead of the 250K word monsters.
I really liked the first few books. By book say.....5 I got bored. I haven't read much of the newer ones. I will say I'm not usually into that level of fantasy novel. Dresden Files ? Absolutely but huge epics kinda bore me after awhile, I feel like you have to live eat and breath them to really get them. I usually check out once the author falls in love with their character and assume that everybody that meets them in the books feels the same. Terry Goodkind is an example of that.
I do hope they don't blow it like other series like Sword of Truth( another series that I liked the first few and got bored at the end. Horrible horrible ending there) or even Dresden.
Haven't read the books. Trailer looks right up my alley.
Glad this doesn't start till after Challenge; might try to check it out.
In reply to infinitenexus :
You're not alone in being a bit disappointed in the casting. I'm not worried about it. It's looking more like the series will be an interpretation rather than a faithful recreation. I'm ok with that. On occasion the screen adaptations are better than the books (LotR, NOT the Hobbit)
Im just excited to see what this will be like. Since starting this thread I've reread the first two books. And completely misplaced the rest until the last couple.
I have no idea about the book or story, but, whomever the character is that that actress (Rosamund Pike) is portraying in the thumbnail of the video....
...do NOT trust her!!!!
(she has a bit of a typecasting thing going on)
In reply to aircooled :
Not to spoil anything, but at least in the first book/season, almost none of the other main characters are sure if they should trust her. The organization she belongs to has a known history of being manipulative and controlling, like, on a global scale.
I read the first few books and enjoyed them but, lost momentum to keep going. I met Mr Jordan when I lived and worked in Charleston during college. Even had occasion to make a few deliveries to his house for my employer. I enjoyed the brief time we spent talking. I didn't actually get to read the books until later in my life thanks to the demands of college. I think it was in some ways an opportunity lost, or maybe not. Since I was not star struck, I just found him interesting of his own accord. I look forward to seeing the film adaptations most certainly. I have been waiting a long time for them.
For those of you that lost momentum in this series: try reading it with the assistance of a Wiki. There's a few out there. I recommend this one for characters, and this one for the chapter recaps of the books.
I started reading the series in 1996-1997 and have gone through it many times. As I awaited books in the later years, I discovered that the wikis online made a HUGE difference in remembering what was happening or who was who.
Thread necromancy...
Got to watch the first episode last night. My wife really enjoyed it, I'm not quite sure yet - mind you, I've read most of the books, whereas she hasn't so she's going in with fewer expectations. I'll reserve judgement until I've had a chance to watch more episodes.
Thought this was the World of Tanks thread. Sorry, wrong door.
My wife had a chance to see the Red Carpet showing in Atlanta. Unfortunately, she had knee replacement surgery instead. She wasn't very happy about that.
She has watched them and I think enjoyed them. I have not.
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