Customer Reviews

The Wheel of Time, Boxed Set II, Books 4-6: The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Years ago I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. I was delighted to find the Jordan series to be even better and longer. I just completed the last book and have started reading the first again. On rereading, it reveals more depth than I had seen the first time through. If you want to lose yourself in an exciting world that never was, read these books. My only regret is that there aren't more of them.

The wheel of time books are simply; spellbinding. The imagination and innovation in this epic saga rival Stephen Donaldsons' 'Thomas Covenant the unbeliever.' The grand scale can't be compared it stands alone in fantasy literature. Tolkein has for so many years been the yard stick by which others fantasy writers are measured, I believe there is now another yard stick. When a book makes you feel alive, vibrant and intoxicated it must be good. All of the books in the wheel of time series have had this effect on me. My heartfelt thanks go to Robert for giving me this gift. My only request is Robert hurry to write Book 9. If anyone can help me with an expected date I would be eternally grateful.

I couldn't put the books down.I read all the hardcover version and it was hard to do anything other than read them.These three books are written well with good plot developments.Definitely for all Fantasy lovers.

I enjoyed all his books, I have read all published books to date (Books 1-11) I say keep reading, even though sometimes Jordan rambles on, and such, even what some say is a Average/Poor book from his. It still is head and shoulders about all written Series save a hand full on equal par. HOWEVER, I DO HAVE VERY BAD NEWS, BUT ALSO GREAT NEW FOR WHEEL OF TIME READERS, AT LEAST WITH REGARDS TO HIS FINAL BOOK #12. Please read the following passage all readers need to know both bits of information.

Robert Jordan (this is his publishing name, not his real)....his real name is JAMES OLIVER RIGNEY, JR. Here is a link so you can read it all([...]). James Rigney (aka Robert Jordan) passed away in September of 2007 (last fall)....however there is still good news for all the readers. The whole staff and editors have the notes and spoken ideas Jordan left while in the hospital the last few days before he passed on. The Book will be named A Memory of Light! The family and editors have hired a Fantasy writer to finish the Series and last book. This Writer (Brandon Sanderson) was a personal friend, and was mentored by Jordan too over the years. He will also have Robert Jordan's wife... Harriet.. helping (she edited and helped on all the books with him). They say on their web-site that they are shooting for Late Fall or Early winter (Sept-Nov) in 2009 to have the last book in the Wheel of Time Series on the shelf. This will be called as I said Memory of Light and will be book 12 and will finish the Wheel of Time. This is what they our saying at least, and they know the book might be BIG, and very hard to get all plots and everything in place...... so the Last Battle can be fought....but they will do it, so they say. I really enjoyed all the books, and I know with all the help from his wife (who knows a man better then his wife) this will be worthy of Robert Jordan's Memory and Life.

Ross Hill (who is just a simple man that RJ helped change with getting me to read a lot and that helped me Graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Management)

A world-filling story about the eternal struggle of good versus evil. The main characters all have a clear personality, with their own thoughts and visions about their world, and they each develop separately. A beautiful display of storytelling quality.

I found the books to tell a story well-blanced between characters and general storyline, where the views and notions of each character give the reader a good overview of the direction of the series as a whole.

On the downside: although characters and storyline do develop, they do not really progress. For instance, after six books, Nynaeve still jerks her braid to stop herself from pouting, and Rand finds himself in the same predicament, only on a larger scale. It is stretched out too far. Further, the world in which the book plays seems almost too conveniently limited by the Spine and the Blight. That could also have been done a bit more elaborate.

It also surprised me that since the breaking of the world, 3000 years ago, basic culture has not developed. What was lost in the breaking is only now starting to be rediscovered, and slowly at that.

As to the comparison with The Lord of the Rings, It definitively has similarities, as, I think, any fantasy work of this magnitude will have. However, Jordan has a very distinct style that nowhere gives me the feeling that I'm reading a Tolkien book. The Wheel of Time deserves a place of its own.

All considering, it is definitively one of the best series I've read. It was every bit worth my time. When I started, I read almost full-time for two weeks, finishing the first three books, ca. 2000 pages. I just couldn't stop!

I have read every volume of this apparently unending tome and loved every moment of it. The only series I have read that is comparable is Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Donaldson, however, knows how to finish what he starts.

Jordan owes it to his readers to reach closure. One book every two years is way too long for a saga to go on. Will I have to reread prior books to maintain the continuity? However, his story and characters are so compelling that each book, with a brief synopsis of the prior one, can stand on its own well. So in short, it needs to end because I can't take the wait anymore! Will the Dragon ultimately go mad and break the world and become the fantasy genre's greatest anti-hero, supplanting Thomas Covenant? Or will I go senile before Robert Jordan ends this series???

I ordered all the sets of the Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" series; they came in the smallest size paperback, which is impossible, considering how long the books are, to manage in my hands (with disability); without an explanation of what the names for paperback books mean, trade vs.mass vs. paperback, it is hard to know what you will end up with; service would be improved with explanations of the lingo used in the publishing industry; books were in good shape and arrived on time, but I sent them all back as the size was impossible to manage with my limitations; I've read all the series and wanted the collection; this was the only way to get an affordable copy of the books outside of using the Kindle

See my review on boxed set #3 for my brief series thoughts. Jordan is a good author, and has me hooked on a few of his characters. Perrin and his developement, in particular, has become my favorite. Features of the series nonwithstanding, I always like boxed sets for the ease of storage and organization, as well as the slight discount. On top of that I order two new boxed sets at once, and with the free shipping from amazon on orders over $25, it almost always turns out to be less expensive than buying used and paying shipping. This makes it an excellent value in my opinion, especially for print junkies like myself.

I heard of the Wheel from a friend in Australia. They said I had to get it so I bought all their paperbacks at one time, up to book 7 and sat all through summer vacation reading. Turned off the TV, resented sleeping because it took me away from a world I was absorbed with. I have read the Lord of the Rings triology and Hobbit. But this is different as its mostly a mankind thing with magic and evil, winning and losing. Even the wheel has its own beginnings that are found out slowly through the books and fits into this jigsaw puzzle here and there to finally form a solid picture that is still going on. After I read the first seven, I waited til two more books came out and bought them at the same time because I didnt think I could wait like before. I savored them and still I became so curious it was distracting. The characters have real lives, you watch them grow, evolve and suffer and love as they learn who and how they fit into the Wheel of Time. The magic powers, the bravery, the confrontations and wars, the many kinds of social groups who all contain their own reasons for what they do are totally amazing. If you want an extraordinary series to get lost in, this is it!!! You wont regret it if your a fantasy fiction reader.
GM

I think that a simple five star ratting system is no match for the extravagant writtings of Robert Jordan. He is the most gifted author in this day and age. He has an exellent use of characters, he introduces a single character in a book as an unimportant character and then brings the character back,with importance, in a different book.Most of all I would like to disagree with Cynarion from Melbourne,Australia in complaining about the complexness of Robert Jordan's writting. I think that Cynarion was the one haveing problems keeping with the intertwineing story lines, because I am a fifteen year old male and I have no problem understanding and keeping with the complex story lines behind Robert Jordan books!