SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
Recommendations and Lost Books
>
Wheel of Time or Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn?
date
newest »
newest »
Out of the two, I preferred WoT. While Jordan tends to repeat himself MSaT I read the first two and gave up on them. I just couldn't get into the story at all.
Either way, it's all about taste. No two people will tell you the same.
I'm a WoT person too. I stopped out around ten, and still have to finish! Darn college and my own writing got in the way.
I finished WOT and the ending was worth every minute of slogging though the middle books:) I don't know the other series though.
I'm only on book 4 of WOT, and I haven't read MSaT yet, but I have read 4 other books by Tad Williams ( Tailchaser's Song and 3 of 4 books of the Shadowmarch series) and I definitely prefer Tad Williams overall (I even named my cat Fritti after Fritti Tailchaser from Tailchaser's Song); I like Williams's description of monsters better, and I can aalready see repitition from Jordan just 4 books in. That being said, I do still like both authors a lot. Don't know if that helps all that much, but that's my 2 cents :)
Loved Tailchaser's Song! That's why I had given MSaT a chance. What I didn't like about MSaT was that it seemed that all they were doing was go from one place to another. Fight. Than continue their trip. Fight. Go further, fight again. :/
At least, that's what I remember of it. It's been over 15 years so...
It's possible even I won't love MSaT (I own it but just haven't gotten to it); it seems that many fantasy authors have a mix of books people love and hate, whether it's Robert Jordan, Tad Williams, or George R. R. Martin, and even J. K Rowling. Everyone just has to read and decide for themselves :)
They both have their pluses and minuses but if you commit to reading MS&T, you are committing to read 3 books with a combined total of 2500 pages whereas WoT is an order of magnitude bigger - 12,000 pages plus over at least 14 books.
I loved both. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn is masterfully constructed, an epic fantasy at its best with a lot of characters and a great ending. As for The Wheel of Time, originally I got bored with it and quit reading around volume 9, I thought it was repetitive and I believed Jordan didn't know where he was going. But when the series was finished by Brandon Sanderson, I reread it all and I'm very glad that I did, it provided me with a much more coherent reading experience and even though admittedly there are weaker volumes (9-10 especially if I remember well), overall the story is logical and well thought out.Wheel of Time is extremely long, much longer than Memory, Sorrow and Thorn though.
G.G. wrote: "
What I didn't like about MSaT was that it seemed that all they were doing was go from one place to another. Fight. Than continue thei..."
Hmm. And what about the very long introduction in the beginning? There is lots of worldbuilding and description in these books, not just fighting.
As I said, it's been over 15 years, probably closer to twenty. All I remember is the part of the book I restarted three times before I decided it wasn't for me and I should move on.
Looks like WoT is what I'm going with. Thank you for all the input, everyone. I'll be sure to keep you posted on my journey through this read. I'm going to try and stay away from any wikis or forums related to WoT, but is there any suggestions on how to keep track of characters, creatures, and locations without getting spoiled?
The books (the editions I iwn, anywqy) have glossaries at the end of people, places and things central to the story. :)
I am re-reading Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, which I read years ago and really liked.One problem with the series is the opening, which is rather cliché for Fantasy fiction, but it gets better and at the end, I really like the lead character.
I read the first four of WoT. Since it is really only one plot and repeated four times, I got bored with it. Another problem is the length of the books. I get bored reading them, it just takes too long to get to the interesting parts. Also, I really dislike the lead character.
Have you finished WoT yet? You'd probably be done with MSaT by now.It's not too late for me to make a difference. Williams had a clear goal and message in writing his story. Jordan was milking a cash cow until its udders were chapped and bleeding, and then he died. Sanderson was able to breathe a little life back into the story with the first two volumes of his CPR, but the last book reads like sports writing for a chess match. There is still time to quit WoT before your soul is crushed by disappointment and pick up MSaT.
S. K. wrote: "Have you finished WoT yet? You'd probably be done with MSaT by now.It's not too late for me to make a difference. Williams had a clear goal and message in writing his story. Jordan was milking a ..."
Haha, I'm only on book 6...
I'm looking to take a break after this one or the next, then gonna read MSaT, then go back and try to finish WoT.
TAD TAD TAD I love getting lost in his worlds.I thought Otherland was immensely compelling, and read it twice.
Your mileage may vary.
Casey wrote: Haha, I'm only on book 6...I'm looking to take a break after this one or the next, then gonna read MSaT, then go back and try to finish WoT
I'm on book 11 and it's taken me 4 years to get there. WoT is a series that I've found I need to take breaks from. I always have another book or two going just to fill in the gaps when I can't take any more....but honestly it's such a great series, that it's not scaring me away and I want to keep plowing through them to see how it all shakes out.
Another update. Never took a break from WoT. Just about done with Winter's Heart and surprisingly I'm not too worn out on the series. It's interesting how the characters develop in WoT in that I like how some of the characters I enjoyed at the beginning of the series are now annoying or not that likable now and some of the characters that I thought were annoying or not likable I enjoy now. It is a long read though and I am anxious to get through the next book which most people seem to agree is the worst in the series. I have found that even the "bad" books in WoT are not thaaat bad, there are just some slow parts and frustrations with certain characters that make you want to scream at them and slap them silly (I'm looking at you, Perrin).
The next one is all about the characters and nothing about the plot but hang in there Casey because the best is yet to come:) And I agree that Perrin is an idiot most of the time.
I'm about to take the plunge into another epic fantasy story. I've narrowed it down between these two but I am planning on reading both WoT and MSaT, my only question is which one should I start with? I was leaning towards MSaT because it is the shorter series, although I'm pretty sure they are longer individually, but for some reason I'm drawn to WoT more. Is it because it is the more popular series between the two or is it better? Like I mentioned earlier, I am going to read both, I would just like some advice here from people that know better than I.
Thanks.