The wheel of time

[necromancer]

I think this series is one of the best ever written. But it also copied alot from Tolkien even though the world it is set in is so different.

[Scrasamax]

But unlike Tolkien, Jordan lacks the conviction to actually bring about the Final Battle.

Disgruntled that after book 4-5 nothing has really fundamentally changed to advance the story. It feels more like reading a RPG where the player is hitting all of the side quests, minigames, and trying to collect all of the whatsits

[Spark]

I agree with both of you - I loved the Wheel of Time series when I first began it - the world and characters were so rich and detailed, and I loved the philosophy/theology of ages repeating and reincarnation. While it borrows some from Tolkien (and a lot from the Bible), it was original enough to hold my intrest, and I had a great time with it. Then I realized at book 4 that it was book 4 out of 10...no, 11...wait, is it 12 now? I liked your analogy with the side quests, and yes, that's what it felt like. Eventually, the 5+ storylines and lack of any real plot movement discouraged me from keeping up, and I stopped around book 6. Shame, but I just couldn't do it. As soon as you have to force yourself to keep reading, it's no longer worth it.

[Scrasamax]

I've read all of the books to date that he has published and there does seem to be a trend to actually start resolving some of these dangling plot lines and such, and it looks like the final battle might be witihn our lifetimes. Unfortunately it's taken 11 books to get that far. I bought the first 7 or 8, but after that I just started checking them out at the library.

[Shadoweagle]

Heh, I've given up on WoT - I thought it was great, and I read all that had come out, then when I had to start waiting a couple years just to get my hands on the next book that came out, I'd forgotten everything that happened in the FIRST books! Rereading a bunch of 800 page books took up time!
Anyway, eventually I just stopped waiting for the next instalment. It was my favourite fantasy novel, but i'm an impatient person, and the slowness made me lose interest.

[valadaar]

Ditto!  Nothing really to add.  I don't mind long books - I've read through all of Tom Clancy's books - but too little changes in WoT.

[Strolen]

I am waiting for him to finish, if he ever does, and then I will start reading them again. It has been a long time waiting, I started reading for over 15 yrs ago for goodness sakes!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! That is great that he has more to write, but finish this story and start another one and save some of those ideas!