Posted by Ash on December 27, 2000 at 00:10:42:
In Reply to: Jordan vs Tolkien posted by Ekirhal on December 26, 2000 at 19:20:20:
Ya know, There's lots of opinions here so I figured one more wouldn't hurt. As far as I'm concerned, don't read either of em...Tolkien is good, as is Jordan, but pick up some Tad Williams, or Salvatore, or L.E. Modisett Jr., or George R. R. Martin. Too many people get caught up in the whole "Tolkien invented fantasy" crap, they forget a few things...1) No he didn't...go re-read The Oddessy at some point. 2) The books were written decently enough, but Tolkien was much more of a fantasizer than a writer...good concepts, not the best of execution. 3) His writing as a whole tends to get bogged down on the smallest little details...to the detriment of the story as a whole. For those Tolkien addicts out there, re-read the LoTR again, objectively mind you, and see how rushed the last book feels. He was either running out of patience, or ideas...and I seriously doubt it was ideas. now, Robert Jordan...Here's the main problem with jordan. His books, and in the process his person, became idolized very quickly. What got lost in the whole deal was this...fantasy writing isn't truly his love. He does it rather well, but he's a military history buff. He did some stuff on the Civil War that is incredible. That's why in his books (IMNSHO) his battle scenes are so much better than the plot scenes. So, to conclude this ramble... both are good, Both are definitely worth taking the time to read, but in both cases, there are much better authors out there. Ash