Customer Reviews

The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(39)

 

 

While I truly enjoy the WoT books, I have to say this was a "Show me the money" book by TOR. The information in the book was primarlily a rehash of things readers discover or can infer through reading the series. In other words, for those that have read the complete series up to the date of this book there was not a whole lot of new information. For those that are just starting the WoT series, this book could spoil a lot of the suprises. I also have to admit that I thought the art was terrible and question wheter the artist even read the series.

On the plus side, the Guide provides a handy reference for hard core WoT fans. It also provides a number of maps that the books have lacked.

I would suggest buying this only after you have completed reading the series up to book 8 and have read the short story in "Legends." This is a good reference book to have if your re-reading the series or just trying to pass the time until the next book is out.

I must say, being a fan of Robert Jordan, that the information in this book was invaluable as well as enlightening. It contained more detailed information on such things as the Age of Legends than was in the actual series, and gave background on many otherwise bleak details. However, I would not recommend buying this book for the art it contains, of which I had high expectations and was fairly disappointed in. Granted that the artists idea of such creatures as mydraal and ogier, for example, will conflict with my own ideas. I do regret to say that the actual quality of the art was lacking. It looked to have been done quite quickly and with haste. Overall, however, the book was very well done and deserves 5+ stars for its content, and 3 stars for the artwork. It is definitely something to buy if you can just get past the art.

This 'guide' has less detail than I expected of a writer who can write entire chapters describing every piece of clothing in a character's personal wardrobe (both small clothes and accessories included).

The artwork in this series is very strage, and this is more of Tor's fault than Mr. Jordan's. Some books in the series make you think the setting is around the time period of the Old West in America, while others seem more akin to Elizabethan England complete with hose and surcoats. These time periods are not exactly mutually inclusive. The artwork in this book falls to new lows - there is a picture of Moiraine that completely ruined my image of her.

Also, minor inaccuracies occur much too often for my taste. Only someone who has an eye for detail can really pick these out from the general presentation, but they do exist.

Understandably, since Ms. Teresa Patterson was actually responsible for writing much of the text, it can be forgiven. However, similiar to what happened to the creators of the 'Wheel of Time' computer game, she indicates on the Tor website that she 'was sometimes forced to make up material herself when Jordan refused to answer specific inquiries'. Strange. Apparently, Mr. Jordan wanted the book to reflect the historical inaccuracies that a historian in Randland might be exposed to. There is a clear difference between a book in a series, and a guidebook. A guidebook should generally offer a detailed look at information the characters might not (nor ever) be made aware of.

A guidebook should be written from the point of view of the fictional setting for exactly that reason. It is my belief, that when you purchase a guidebook, you do so for reasons of clarity. This might indicate that misinformation is also present in the actual series, which complicates the problem of what is accurate and what is not.

Finally, and most damning (in my humble opinion), there is no detailed guide for the extensive list of minor characters that are now present in the series. Though this guide was published well in advance of the most current book in the saga, a list and description for each may have been helpful.

Unfortunately, taking this book for what it is, it clearly does not hold even a match flame against the Tolkien estate guidebooks. If one recalls the 'Lord of the Rings' guidebooks, they offer answers to many questions held by readers. The result is that the reader of the LoTR guidebooks is confident that the information given reflects a well developed fictional world.

The 'Wheel of Time Guidebook' is simply too inaccurate to give a helpful description of the world Rand and his companions live in.

Reading the reviews displayed here, I have seen a lot of critiscism for this Guide. I'm not sure why, as I found it to meet up with my expectations. The artwork I ignored completely; simply because I think all artwork about books is dissapointing. What I didn't ignore was the content! This is not a book about the events taking place in the Wheel of Time, it's a history book about the world of the Wheel of Time. It's a book that could have been written about the world, in the world. It features biographies on the Chosen/Forsaken, the history of the Age of Legends, and explanation of their society, explanations of the Aiel, the Seanchen and others. This is not part of the Wheel of Time, it stands aside from it. Personnaly I found it to be a captivating read, and a MUST BUY. It reveals nothing about what is going to happen in the series, and only fills in other gaps. Don't be put off this book because of its artwork; if so, why did you EVER pick up the Eye of the World?

This book is very informative, especially good for those who want to know a bit more about WoT. I would recommend that you read the entire series before reading this book, as it does contain some spoilers.

This has to be the worst case of reader exploitation I havecome across. This book, supposedly a guide to the WOT world simplyrehashes what has already appeared in the first 7 books and contributes precious little that is new. On the plus side, at long last we finally get to see maps of the entire World; Seanchan in slightly better detail, Shara is a largely blank slate and the Isle of the Fisherfolk is not much better. There also appears an Isle of Madmen to the south which makes me fear additional complications to come. I suppose one should be grateful for these maps, despite their paucity of detail, considering that none of the series books contains anything but the same wretched map of the immediate world and pathetic city maps. If at all the book has any new information, it lies in the biographical sketches of the Forsaken, outlining their background and motivation. But the motivations themselves frequently seem to contradict the delineation of the characters in the series, especially Asmodean, and are totally out of sync with the Aes Sedai concept. Shallow is the word that describes these sketches in fact, as also the brief histories of the Seanchan and the other peoples. Bad proof reading is compounded by some of the worst illustrations I have even seen. The artist has obviously not read the books, so blatant are the contradictions. Look at the pciture of Lanfear and tell me if this is the most beautiful woman ever! Or the caricatures (I can't call these illustrations) of Galad, Lan or Aviendha for instance and match them with their characters. And would you believe that Min, who plays such a key role in the series, is not even mentioned anywhere! Some Guide indeed. Or perhaps we should be grateful there is no illustration of Min at least. This "book" is nothing but a bare faced attemnpt by the publisher to (get) money from fans who are hooked onto the series. Do not fall for it. I think TOR and RJ owe an apology and a refund to anyone who bought this (book). I am giving it 1 star because the system does not permit anything less. END

I would expect from R. Jordan who in truth is an excellent writter and whose work and world reaches in authenticity and brilliancy that of J.R.R. Tolkien, to demand a much higher capability and talent from the person chosen to illustrate this wonderful book. I was trully disappointed by the drawings and I am obliged to say that I personally have a couple of friends who could illustrate this book with much higher accuracy and drawing ability. All the pictures, except the covers of the 7 books, are failures. The Dragharr is alien-like, Aviendha who is supposed to be of wild and amazing beauty is rather ugly and most of all, Lanfear who by the words of R. Jordan is one of the most beautiful women if not the most beautiful, of all ages, is like a cheap comic figure. On the other hand this guide proves to be valuable for the "Wheel of Time" fan and its contents are summarising the whole world and its known history in the best way. I wish that in the future R. Jordan will choose another artist to re- draw the characters. Only then, his fans will be able to forget the present failed ones...

For all of the Jordan fans who are having trouble waiting for the '98 release of 'The Path of Daggers' (Book 8 in The Wheel of Time), this book may have been thought to be something that would hold you're attention. Put simply, it won't. If you're a big Jordan fan, you'll have to buy it, simply to say that you have the complete collection, but it will be a case of reading it once and then storing it on the shelf for ever more, for there is little that hasn't either been mentioned before or alluded to. Highlights of the book are the maps from the previous seven novels reproduced in large scale on glossy art paper, and the seven double page spreads of Darrell Sweet's artwork from the novels. I kid you not, after seeing the rest of the artwork in this book, you will never complain about Darrell's covers again - in fact, you will most likely wish that they had asked him to do all the artwork for the book. On the text side, the section on the Second Dragon and the rise of Artur Hawkwing is the highlight of the book, for there is little else that won't leave you feeling cheated, as in some instances, the author's have even omitted things already revealed in the books. They have even ignored the opportunity in include the short piece 'The Strike at Shayol Ghul' in this book, instead leaving it available to the few who visit the Publisher's web site. It would seem what the publishers have done is basically taken whatever background notes Jordan has been writing as he creates, try to update then to allow for some of the things that have been revealed, make it sound like this is some unknown historian from Rand Al'Thor's time that is writing it (and incidently, at the time this historian wrote this book, Illian was still under the control of the Forsaken Sammael), and jammed it all in a quick book designed to do little more than cash in on the series popularity. About the only really interesting clue I found in the book (relating to the yet unreleased Book 8) is the quote at the very start of the chapter on the Seanchan, which to my mind alludes to the title of the new book fairly implicitly. On the whole, I WOULD recommend this book to anyone who asked, but I'd qualify that by telling them not to get their hopes up or to expect any surprise revelations

Unless you read the series more than once, this book will help put the WoT world into perspective for you. It will help you distinguish and understand the different nations. Personally I learned a great deal about Seanchan, and now I understand their part in the prophecies better.

You'll learn a great deal about Hawkwing, and the Age of Legends. I also learned how different Aes Sedai (sadly) are from their origins.

Negative points: You learn almost nothing concerning the characters. The art is horrible - Lanfear was anything but beautiful. And Faile - is it me or does she look like Cher! This book could have, AND SHOULD HAVE, been a lot smaller and shorter than it is. I have a nasty suspicion that Tor milked it for everything possible.

Still - read it. You'll find yourself saying, "Ah, NOW it makes sense."

Many choose to critisize this book saying the text is general, the typos are many, and the information is the same that you find in the series. As to the typos: it's a first edition! expect typos; that's why people buy first editions. Also, if the text got anymore specific, can you imagine how long this book would be? Some of the information is new and can't be found in the regular series, but most can. Of course! This book wasn't written to give us spoilers; it's a compilation of all the odd facts presented in the books and a useful reference. If a person buys it expecting otherwise they'll be disappointed, but for what it is, it's great! I will conceed that many of the pictures are inaccurate, but no more so than those of the book jackets, and as far as I'm concerned a few (not very many) do seem to be accurate. Overall, it is a good reference and did answer some questions I had about the series. I knew what I was buying beforehand, and it lived up to my expectations.