just wanted to let u know that u have singlehandedly put the wheel of time brainworms in me and I'm this close to downloading all the books to read....
well. every time somebody sends me one of these asks I’m very flattered but I do feel compelled to point out that commitment isn’t really a problem because the books are very well paced, but that the series is flawed and that it takes until the third and fourth books for the series to really come into its own and shed its lotr influences - powering through those first two books happens to be the hardest part of the task although I do look back on those books very fondly in hindsight. and I do think they’re written with remarkable sensitivity versus say, asoiaf, despite wheel of time also being authored by a Cis White Straight Guy, and I was incredibly, incredibly enamoured with robert jordan’s experimentation with genre, third person limited POV, his critical examination of imperialism and the Chosen One archetype, and the nuanced explorations of the fluidity of culture that go hand in hand with its suffocating influences on the characters. I think it’s a lot easier to adjust to the voice and tone of the books if you keep in mind that jordan at least partly intended to write a comedy. the books come with their own flaws, which is why everybody who’s read the books tends to joke that they would never recommend the series to anybody else even if they really enjoyed it - they can get Kinky and not always in appropriate settings, with floundering stances on imperialism towards the back half of the series because of jordan’s desire to shunt certain narratives to a sequel series, and some outdated (but well-meaning) attempts to recreate battle-of-the-sexes dialogue that often wanders into gender essentialist territory. but that’s mostly the extent of my criticism and do think the books can be fun, if you ever decide to read them.
