Kaito
10-02-2009, 05:17 AM
The series is well defined and uses expansive descriptions to place the setting.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.org:
The Wheel of Time (abbreviated by fans to WoT) is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the late American author James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under the pen name Robert Jordan. Originally planned as a six-book series, it now consists of eleven published novels, with one more book to come, which will be published in three volumes. There is also a prequel novel and a companion book available. Rigney began writing the first volume, The Eye of the World, in 1984 and it was published in February 1990.[1] He died while working on the final volume, which will be completed by fellow fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. The final book is to be split up into three volumes, the first to be published October 27 2009. The other two books are tentatively scheduled for, November 2010 and November 2011.[2]
The series draws on elements of both European and Asian mythology, most notably the cyclical nature of time found in Hinduism and Buddhism and the concepts of balance, duality and a respect for nature found in Daoism. It was also partly inspired by Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.[3]
The Wheel of Time is notable for its length, its detailed imaginary world, its well-developed magic system and a large cast of characters. The eighth through eleventh books each reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. As of August 12, 2008 the series has sold over 44 million copies worldwide[4] and has spawned a computer game, roleplaying game and a soundtrack album. The television and film rights to the series have been optioned several times, most recently by Universal Studios.
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At the dawn of time, a deity known as the Creator forged the universe and the Wheel of Time, which spins the lives of men and women as its threads. The Wheel has seven spokes, each representing an age, and it is rotated by the One Power, which flows from the True Source. The One Power is divided into male and female halves, saidin and saidar, which work in opposition and in unison to drive the Wheel. Those humans who can use this power are known as channelers; the principal organization of such channelers in the books is called the Aes Sedai or 'Servants of All' in the Old Tongue.
The Creator imprisoned its antithesis, Shai'tan, at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel. However, in a time called the Age of Legends, an Aes Sedai experiment inadvertently breached the Dark One's prison, allowing his influence to seep back into the world. He rallied the powerful, the corrupt and the ambitious to his cause and these servants began an effort to free the Dark One fully from his prison, so he might remake time and reality in his own image. In response to this threat, the Wheel spun out the Dragon, a channeler of immense power, to be a champion for the Light. In the Age of Legends the Dragon was a man named Lews Therin Telamon, who eventually rose to command the Aes Sedai and their allies in the struggle against the Dark One's forces. After a grueling ten-year war, which began a century after the Dark One's prison was breached, Telamon led his forces to victory in a daring assault on the site of the earthly link to the Dark One's prison, and was able to seal it off. However, at this moment of victory the Dark One tainted saidin, driving male channelers of the One Power insane. The male channelers devastated the world with the One Power, unleashing earthquakes and tidal waves that reshaped the planet. Their leader, Lews Therin, killed his friends, his family, and finally himself in his insanity. Eventually, the last male channeler was killed or cut off from the One Power, leaving the human race all but destroyed and only women able to wield the One Power safely. The Aes Sedai reconstituted and guided humanity out of this dark time. Mankind now lived under the shadow of a prophecy that the Dark One would break free from his prison and the Dragon would be reborn to face him once more, raining destruction upon the world in the process of saving it from the Dark One.
Over the next three and a half thousand years, the human race returns to a level of technology roughly comparable to that of the Medieval era (although cultural institutions and traditions seem closer to the 19th Century), with the difference that women enjoy full equality with men in most societies, and are superior in some. This is put down to the power and influence of the female-only Aes Sedai spilling over into everyday life. Several major wars have ravaged the main continent since the defeat of the Dark One, such as the Trolloc Wars, when the surviving servants of the Dark One tried to destroy civilization once more but were defeated by an alliance of nations led by the Aes Sedai; and the War of the Hundred Years, a devastating civil war that followed the fall of a continent-spanning empire ruled by the High King, Artur Hawkwing. These wars have prevented the human race from regaining the power and high technology of the Age of Legends, and also left humanity divided. Even the prestige of the Aes Sedai has fallen, with their shrinking numbers and the emergence of organizations such as the Children of the Light, a militant order who hold that all who dabble with the One Power are servants of the Shadow. The nations of the modern era are able to unite against the warrior-clans of the Aiel, who cross into the western kingdoms on a mission of vengeance after they suffered a grievous insult, but are too divided to work effectively together in other areas.
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My synopsis:
The series is incredibly comprehensive. If a fantasy series requires it's own encyclopedia to keep you in the loop then it is indeed a mighty set of literature. The first few books move at what some might call an overly descriptive crawl but after the 2nd book things begin to move at a break neck action filled pace with lots of descriptive battles. Unfortunately towards the 7th book the series begins to move at a glacial pace due to the sheer number of stories and their need to be told to advance the story with any understanding. The best way to describe it is as such; If you have ever played Suikoden and know what it's like to leave that game for any length of time before you return to it you will have no idea what is going on(The same applies to this series). This series is for the avid fantasy and battle fanatic and most certainly the avid reader.
Breakdown:
Total Pages: 9658
Total Chapt: 528
Total Words: 3,430,682
Excerpted from Wikipedia.org:
The Wheel of Time (abbreviated by fans to WoT) is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the late American author James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under the pen name Robert Jordan. Originally planned as a six-book series, it now consists of eleven published novels, with one more book to come, which will be published in three volumes. There is also a prequel novel and a companion book available. Rigney began writing the first volume, The Eye of the World, in 1984 and it was published in February 1990.[1] He died while working on the final volume, which will be completed by fellow fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. The final book is to be split up into three volumes, the first to be published October 27 2009. The other two books are tentatively scheduled for, November 2010 and November 2011.[2]
The series draws on elements of both European and Asian mythology, most notably the cyclical nature of time found in Hinduism and Buddhism and the concepts of balance, duality and a respect for nature found in Daoism. It was also partly inspired by Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.[3]
The Wheel of Time is notable for its length, its detailed imaginary world, its well-developed magic system and a large cast of characters. The eighth through eleventh books each reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. As of August 12, 2008 the series has sold over 44 million copies worldwide[4] and has spawned a computer game, roleplaying game and a soundtrack album. The television and film rights to the series have been optioned several times, most recently by Universal Studios.
------------------ [dp merge] -----------------------
At the dawn of time, a deity known as the Creator forged the universe and the Wheel of Time, which spins the lives of men and women as its threads. The Wheel has seven spokes, each representing an age, and it is rotated by the One Power, which flows from the True Source. The One Power is divided into male and female halves, saidin and saidar, which work in opposition and in unison to drive the Wheel. Those humans who can use this power are known as channelers; the principal organization of such channelers in the books is called the Aes Sedai or 'Servants of All' in the Old Tongue.
The Creator imprisoned its antithesis, Shai'tan, at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel. However, in a time called the Age of Legends, an Aes Sedai experiment inadvertently breached the Dark One's prison, allowing his influence to seep back into the world. He rallied the powerful, the corrupt and the ambitious to his cause and these servants began an effort to free the Dark One fully from his prison, so he might remake time and reality in his own image. In response to this threat, the Wheel spun out the Dragon, a channeler of immense power, to be a champion for the Light. In the Age of Legends the Dragon was a man named Lews Therin Telamon, who eventually rose to command the Aes Sedai and their allies in the struggle against the Dark One's forces. After a grueling ten-year war, which began a century after the Dark One's prison was breached, Telamon led his forces to victory in a daring assault on the site of the earthly link to the Dark One's prison, and was able to seal it off. However, at this moment of victory the Dark One tainted saidin, driving male channelers of the One Power insane. The male channelers devastated the world with the One Power, unleashing earthquakes and tidal waves that reshaped the planet. Their leader, Lews Therin, killed his friends, his family, and finally himself in his insanity. Eventually, the last male channeler was killed or cut off from the One Power, leaving the human race all but destroyed and only women able to wield the One Power safely. The Aes Sedai reconstituted and guided humanity out of this dark time. Mankind now lived under the shadow of a prophecy that the Dark One would break free from his prison and the Dragon would be reborn to face him once more, raining destruction upon the world in the process of saving it from the Dark One.
Over the next three and a half thousand years, the human race returns to a level of technology roughly comparable to that of the Medieval era (although cultural institutions and traditions seem closer to the 19th Century), with the difference that women enjoy full equality with men in most societies, and are superior in some. This is put down to the power and influence of the female-only Aes Sedai spilling over into everyday life. Several major wars have ravaged the main continent since the defeat of the Dark One, such as the Trolloc Wars, when the surviving servants of the Dark One tried to destroy civilization once more but were defeated by an alliance of nations led by the Aes Sedai; and the War of the Hundred Years, a devastating civil war that followed the fall of a continent-spanning empire ruled by the High King, Artur Hawkwing. These wars have prevented the human race from regaining the power and high technology of the Age of Legends, and also left humanity divided. Even the prestige of the Aes Sedai has fallen, with their shrinking numbers and the emergence of organizations such as the Children of the Light, a militant order who hold that all who dabble with the One Power are servants of the Shadow. The nations of the modern era are able to unite against the warrior-clans of the Aiel, who cross into the western kingdoms on a mission of vengeance after they suffered a grievous insult, but are too divided to work effectively together in other areas.
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My synopsis:
The series is incredibly comprehensive. If a fantasy series requires it's own encyclopedia to keep you in the loop then it is indeed a mighty set of literature. The first few books move at what some might call an overly descriptive crawl but after the 2nd book things begin to move at a break neck action filled pace with lots of descriptive battles. Unfortunately towards the 7th book the series begins to move at a glacial pace due to the sheer number of stories and their need to be told to advance the story with any understanding. The best way to describe it is as such; If you have ever played Suikoden and know what it's like to leave that game for any length of time before you return to it you will have no idea what is going on(The same applies to this series). This series is for the avid fantasy and battle fanatic and most certainly the avid reader.
Breakdown:
Total Pages: 9658
Total Chapt: 528
Total Words: 3,430,682