Story arcs that take forever to conclude make *some* parts of the series boring - Edit 1
Before modification by Lanfear at 05/10/2009 08:01:44 PM
Don't get me wrong, I love the Wheel of Time as much as anyone else. Nonetheless, there have been a few story arcs that I've found to be rather long winded.
1. Length of story: 6 books. Perrin's mission to Masema and subsequent rescue of Faile. This took forever and could have been accomplished in a much better, and faster way. On the other hand, I loved the Perrin chapters when he was defending Emond's Field. In my opinion, Perrin's defense of Emond's Field marked the high point in Perrin's story within the series. My interest in Perrin has waned slowly since book 7 when he leaves Rand and because RJ dragged out the story of Faile's rescue for so long, I really was turned off to Perrin.
2. Length of story: 7 books. Moiraine's death and rescue. Moiraine is my favorite character in the series, so I'm biased here. I am tired of hearing for 7 books, starting in LoC and still ongoing in tGS, that Min was wrong about Moiraine. Just rescue her. Have some mercy on me and rescue Moiraine! Don't remind me for 7 books. It just makes me mad that with each new book Moiraine is still captive and RJ likes to reopen that wound by reminding us over and over again. I want Moiraine rescued already.
3. Length of story: 7 books. Who killed Asmodean. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, with regards to "who killed Asmodean" that RJ is not a very good author. It's perfectly fine if RJ wants to leave something that nobody ever will know. I'm not challenging an author's prerogative to do that. What I am saying is that RJ was mistaken in his belief that he had left enough clues to figure out who killed Asmodean. I personally think it was Graendal. However, RJ did NOT leave enough clues to definitively figure it out one way or the other. I've read all the evidence and theories about who it could have been for the past 15 years and the truth is there isn't enough evidence there to know for sure. The evidence leans in Graendal's favor, but other candidates cannot be excluded. RJ's problem here is not so much that he didn't leave enough clues as to who could have done it. RJ's mistake was he did not leave enough clues to exclude other possible candidates. In that regard RJ was a poor author.
4. Length of story: 8 to 10 books. Where is Demandred. (I forget when Demandred first appears on screen because it has been so long). So here's the thing. Demandred has been free from the bore and prison for a long, long time. Yet, from the looks of things, he has only managed to just recently secure one nation under his control (Murandy). What took him so long and why did he pick such a weak nation to take over? If not for Egwene and the Band of the Red Hand would King Roedran have even been able to consolidate power in Murandy? Things just don't add up. Suppose Demandred does have Murandy under his control, but that's all he has. Then Demandred is a weak fool. It took him 8 to 10 books to get one measly nation under his power while his contemporaries took stronger nations much quicker (e.g. Sammael - Illian; Be'lal - Tear; Rahvin - Andor; Mesaana - Tar Valon; Semirhage - Seanchan, Tarabon, Amador, and Altara; Graendal - Arad Doman). Of course, most of Demandred's contemporaries are dead...so maybe he's not a fool in that respect, but I find it hard to believe that all this time Demandred has been working and just barely (recently) got control of Murandy. Why did it take him so long?
My only conclusion is that Demandred has been doing much more than just getting Murandy, but if so, what? and where? The notable lack of information on Demandred's doings has been a notable source of frustration for me. I'd like to know what he's been up to and instead I get practically nothing for the last 20 years from RJ. I'd love to discuss Demandred more, but I cannot because there is nothing to discuss. He simply does not get enough screen time and that makes his story boring because I can discuss him in less than a half hour and then there's nothing left to talk about. Damer Flinn and the Aes Sedai kicked Demandred at the cleansing!
1. Length of story: 6 books. Perrin's mission to Masema and subsequent rescue of Faile. This took forever and could have been accomplished in a much better, and faster way. On the other hand, I loved the Perrin chapters when he was defending Emond's Field. In my opinion, Perrin's defense of Emond's Field marked the high point in Perrin's story within the series. My interest in Perrin has waned slowly since book 7 when he leaves Rand and because RJ dragged out the story of Faile's rescue for so long, I really was turned off to Perrin.
2. Length of story: 7 books. Moiraine's death and rescue. Moiraine is my favorite character in the series, so I'm biased here. I am tired of hearing for 7 books, starting in LoC and still ongoing in tGS, that Min was wrong about Moiraine. Just rescue her. Have some mercy on me and rescue Moiraine! Don't remind me for 7 books. It just makes me mad that with each new book Moiraine is still captive and RJ likes to reopen that wound by reminding us over and over again. I want Moiraine rescued already.
3. Length of story: 7 books. Who killed Asmodean. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, with regards to "who killed Asmodean" that RJ is not a very good author. It's perfectly fine if RJ wants to leave something that nobody ever will know. I'm not challenging an author's prerogative to do that. What I am saying is that RJ was mistaken in his belief that he had left enough clues to figure out who killed Asmodean. I personally think it was Graendal. However, RJ did NOT leave enough clues to definitively figure it out one way or the other. I've read all the evidence and theories about who it could have been for the past 15 years and the truth is there isn't enough evidence there to know for sure. The evidence leans in Graendal's favor, but other candidates cannot be excluded. RJ's problem here is not so much that he didn't leave enough clues as to who could have done it. RJ's mistake was he did not leave enough clues to exclude other possible candidates. In that regard RJ was a poor author.
4. Length of story: 8 to 10 books. Where is Demandred. (I forget when Demandred first appears on screen because it has been so long). So here's the thing. Demandred has been free from the bore and prison for a long, long time. Yet, from the looks of things, he has only managed to just recently secure one nation under his control (Murandy). What took him so long and why did he pick such a weak nation to take over? If not for Egwene and the Band of the Red Hand would King Roedran have even been able to consolidate power in Murandy? Things just don't add up. Suppose Demandred does have Murandy under his control, but that's all he has. Then Demandred is a weak fool. It took him 8 to 10 books to get one measly nation under his power while his contemporaries took stronger nations much quicker (e.g. Sammael - Illian; Be'lal - Tear; Rahvin - Andor; Mesaana - Tar Valon; Semirhage - Seanchan, Tarabon, Amador, and Altara; Graendal - Arad Doman). Of course, most of Demandred's contemporaries are dead...so maybe he's not a fool in that respect, but I find it hard to believe that all this time Demandred has been working and just barely (recently) got control of Murandy. Why did it take him so long?
My only conclusion is that Demandred has been doing much more than just getting Murandy, but if so, what? and where? The notable lack of information on Demandred's doings has been a notable source of frustration for me. I'd like to know what he's been up to and instead I get practically nothing for the last 20 years from RJ. I'd love to discuss Demandred more, but I cannot because there is nothing to discuss. He simply does not get enough screen time and that makes his story boring because I can discuss him in less than a half hour and then there's nothing left to talk about. Damer Flinn and the Aes Sedai kicked Demandred at the cleansing!