What are you reading ?

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I've never read past the fourth book, so I don't truly have an opinion on the entire series, simply the ones I've read up to now.

Was going to say: "well, I wasn't very fond of the first book either" and "it'll improve", but as you already know the next couple, I'd say: nah. I found the first book too bland and derivative (and I hadn't even read the Lord of the Rings at that point) but fell in love with the Wheel of Time universe once it found its own footing. I also always liked the long-winded descriptions.

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
How can you not like the greatest Fantasy series ever written?

Ok, we all have different taste and Jordan spends a lot of time on meaningless things sometimes, so his books can be a bit slow, but if you look at the overall story, lore and world building, nothing else comes even close.

I read the first 3 books and liked them. But I stopped reading half way through book 4, when a lot of new things appeared, which to me they seemed completely unrelated to what was until then the main story.

Seems like I'm not the only one.

pibbuR who don't mind things being slow, but admits he's a bit spoiled by LOTR, so much that he doesn't read much fantasy.

PS. There is a problem with book series where it's not clear from the beginning when the series will end. Methink s. DS.

I was in the mood to finally start reading books again and settled on reading "THE SWORD OF TRUTH" series by Terry Goodkind, It's lengthy so it will take a while.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
I was in the mood to finally start reading books again and settled on reading "THE SWORD OF TRUTH" series by Terry Goodkind, It's lengthy so it will take a while.

I read those and I really had to force myself through. Some of the most generic, bland fantasy I've ever read, the writing style is that of a 10 year old and his moral preaching in the later books gets quite tiring.

YMMV.

Yeah different tastes and all that but thanks for your opinion.

I'll probably try to finish the Wheel of Time series as well.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
The same goes for The Lord of the Rings, both book and movie, I've heard friends who couldn't get past the beginning because it was too slow, or too this or that. It changes after a few hundred pages, but they didn't reach that point. No spark, no ignition.

I could never finish the first book of The Dark Tower, even though I read a lot of SK's books including It and The Stand, which aren't small.

Reading should be a pleasant occupation so I don't think it's worth forcing it.

True that I've read many books people praise or hate but it's all about your enjoyment not theirs. I agree about the Lord of the Rings I can't force myself to finish them.

No spark, no ignition is correct.

Yeah, Goodkind has got to be near the bottom of the pile of shit fantasy writers. And that's a heavy old heap.

Well then I prefer reading shit over caviar like Tolkien's LoTR then.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Well then I prefer reading shit over caviar like Tolkien's LoTR then.

Bon appétit.

Originally Posted by Ripper
Bon appétit.

Yum now were did I put all those power fantasy harem novels.

There even better then anything Tolkien wrote.

I never found Hobbit or Lord of the Rings tedious, heck I've even read through the Silmarillion on multiple occasions, and was never bored. I've currently found my footing for this current novel, almost four hundred pages in now and it's not so hum-drum anymore!!

Originally Posted by Carnifex
As for what I don't care for in the book, it just seems extremely bland, at least the first hundred pages. It does pick up after that, yet getting to that point is….painful.

And oh my, how many other series would I put ahead of this one….quite a few! Different tastes indeed, and I've never read past the fourth book, so I don't truly have an opinion on the entire series, simply the ones I've read up to now.

Well, if you read up until book four and still did not enjoy it, I guess the series is probably just not for you. Things go very slowly sometimes, but it all fits together in a brilliant way, something like LOTR is so much simpler and easier to follow, that is probably why it has more appeal with more people.

Originally Posted by pibbuR
I read the first 3 books and liked them. But I stopped reading half way through book 4, when a lot of new things appeared, which to me they seemed completely unrelated to what was until then the main story.

Seems like I'm not the only one.

pibbuR who don't mind things being slow, but admits he's a bit spoiled by LOTR, so much that he doesn't read much fantasy.

PS. There is a problem with book series where it's not clear from the beginning when the series will end. Methink s. DS.

I think you're missing out Pibbur, it is slow sometimes, but the overall story and lore is just unsurpassed. He has created the most detailed and brilliant Fantasy world there is. I cannot even imagine how much though he spent to make everything fit together. You have to remember that you are still in the beginning of the series when you read book 4, so there is a lot of time for new plots to appear and resolve, the scope of everything is just huuuuge. I think there could probably have been a few more books, and that it all ends to quickly ( and with too many super hero like stuffs ) in the last few books…. but they are written by another author and I have to say Sanderson did a good job given the circumstances.

For those with less patience, there will soon be the option to watch the series instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fus4Xb_TLg

There is no way in hell the series can make the books justice, but I just hope it won't suck, I have never been so excited about a TV-series ever before.

I fully agree with Gothic here, but like with anything, if you are not, go read something else. The rest of our lives isn't long enough to spent on books you don't really like

Yeah, I think people sometimes get the wrong idea about my distaste for most fantasy fiction - I think they imagine it's some sniffy prejudice against the genre. But I've mentioned before, it's nothing like that - there's loads of books in other genres I like (sci-fi and crime being big ones), and I obviously really like fantasy, as an idea. But I just can't get behind the writing in the majority of the big name sagas I've tried. The worst of it really does strike me as being like high school fan fiction.

I found the first two or three of Goodkind's novels to be passable. The next few were forgettable. Then Ayn Rand ate his brain.

The first hundred pages of The Eye of the World are self-conscious Tolkein pastiche, setting up a familiar narrative so that the remainder of the series can deviate from it. As you go, it becomes its own thing. But if you made it through The Shadow Rising and still didn't like it, you can stop.

If you want a seriously dark subversion of the epic fantasy genre, read R. Scott Bakker.

Bakker writes extremely well! I've read some of his fantasy works, and know he's dipped into sci-fi as well, which I've not had the chance to try as of yet. He's just another one of those Canadian blokes that actually seems to write for adults, not children. The Prince of Nothing series is well worth reading, sadly my local library doesn't have the books so I might have to buy them at some point, next time I feel like doing a serious re-read.

I did get through the Eye of the World, and other than those first eighty or so pages, it's decent read. I just find the pacing seriously off in a few places, and yet that happens with many novels, so it's not a big deal. Once upon a time, I owned the first four books, which I also had signed, yet somehow in moving I've lost two of the books, so I'll have to lay hands on book two in some fashion.

As for today, the Lies of Lock Lamora came in for my kindle, so that's what I'm currently reading. It's already off to a smashing start, I do so enjoy a nice riveting tales about thieves!

Originally Posted by Redglyph
The same goes for The Lord of the Rings, both book and movie, I've heard friends who couldn't get past the beginning because it was too slow, or too this or that. It changes after a few hundred pages, but they didn't reach that point. No spark, no ignition.

It's like a huge Saga, or, rather, the end of tales eons old … and LOTR ois mostly a "road movie", as we would say nowadays. Surely it isn't for people who want action.

Its strengths lie elsewhere. And very few people in this age of action can grasp that nowadays.

Originally Posted by Myrthos
I fully agree with Gothic here, but like with anything, if you are not, go read something else. The rest of our lives isn't long enough to spent on books you don't really like

An author friend of mine rule is if you arent hooked by 100 minus your age pages into a book, drop it and go elsewhere, time is too short.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
It's like a huge Saga, or, rather, the end of tales eons old … and LOTR ois mostly a "road movie", as we would say nowadays. Surely it isn't for people who want action.

Its strengths lie elsewhere. And very few people in this age of action can grasp that nowadays.

There are parts of action, but the author wasn't afraid to take the time for the anticipation to build up.

I'm wondering how this is appreciated by newer generations who are used to get everything almost instantaneously. Maybe it's a style that will get lost because it won't be popular anymore.