Posted by Jones on December 26, 2000 at 20:25:28:
In Reply to: Jordan vs Tolkien posted by Ekirhal on December 26, 2000 at 19:20:20:
> I decided to start reading the Wheel of Time series tonight... > I'll give you a moment to stop laughing... > There. I chose Wheel of Time over The Hobbit (another book I haven't read yet). Any thoughts on this? Should I have started with Tolkien first or does it matter? One thing I've always thought about the Wheel of time is that the characters were all very much the same. Jordan can't go more than one chapter without his acerting that women rule the whole thing and men don't know what they are doing, etc etc etc. All the female characters are basically the same, especially any directly associated with Rand al'Thor in that they are all strong-willed who do whatever they want, all love him (especially his love interests), and are usually outspoken enough to think that all the men in the book are idiots (woolheads, take your pick). Unfortunatly, I feel Jordan has created so many characters now, that he must devote a few chapters to each set in every book, enough that the story doesn't seem to continue at all, and now is at the point of dragging entirely. Tolkien on the other hand is the originator of modern fantasy, and no one can possibly come close to touching him in that aspect. His books follow the classic tales of heroes in their structure, and are just great reads. If you haven't, your reading list should be anything Tolkien, followed by Jordan. Jordan could never write anything that could come close to the Simarillion in it's magnitude.
> Ekirhal *curtsey* *giggle*