[cerveza_fiesta]

Motherfucker.

They killed asmodean. I was just starting to like that guy.

who could have done it???

I'm guessing Rand.



Anyway...started book six and it fucking rules right off the bat. Mat is totally the man now. In charge of the band of the red hand. I can already see the large pile of empty cans of whoopass they're about to leave in their wake.


I also am going to remain blissfully ignorant of the dire warnings about books 7-10 cause this one is great.

Really starting to like this series a lot now. The lore, especially the new stuff I'm finding out about male Aes Sedai and Aiel is pretty damn cool imo.

[Terez]

I have actually been hiding from the forum for a while because all the WoT-hating was upsetting me, and I'm too busy to deal with that. It doesn't bother me that some people don't like the books - it bothers me that people on other fantasy forums are so aggressive in their hatred, and their arguments for why they hate it don't make any sense to me. It's like they're concentrating on small details that have little to do with the overall structure and intricacy of the books that makes them so awesome. So I had subscribed to this thread, but not to the other one, and I just got a PM notification of this post. Thanks, CF - you made my day.

cerveza_fiesta, on 08 October 2009 - 07:05 PM, said:

Motherfucker.

They killed asmodean. I was just starting to like that guy.

who could have done it???

I'm guessing Rand.

RJ has only ruled out two suspects that aren't ruled out by evidence in the books - Fain and Rand.

CF said:

Anyway...started book six and it fucking rules right off the bat. Mat is totally the man now. In charge of the band of the red hand. I can already see the large pile of empty cans of whoopass they're about to leave in their wake.

You will love this book, I think.

CF said:

I also am going to remain blissfully ignorant of the dire warnings about books 7-10 cause this one is great.

The pace does slow down somewhat in these books, but not all that drastically, in my opinion. It was a much bigger deal to people who had to wait 3-4 years for each book. But you can read right through them, so it shouldn't faze you too much. There are awesome action moments in all four books, in my opinion, but he goes less towards action and more toward conspiracy-building in these books. He picks back up with the action sharply in Knife of Dreams (11), and so far, it looks like The Gathering Storm (12) will be even better for action-packed goodness.

CF said:

Really starting to like this series a lot now. The lore, especially the new stuff I'm finding out about male Aes Sedai and Aiel is pretty damn cool imo.

Yay! If you have time, read up on some of the character and culture parallels - there are tons of them, some of them obvious, some much less so, but still undeniable.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I'll give it to RJ, he did have some cool ideas. You can't take that away from him, regardless of your opinion of how well those ideas were executed.

[Macros]

But I have to know who killed asmodean!!!!

[Cougar]

@CF if you can get through Crossroads of Dogshite you're on the home stretch. It's very slow and the whole action of the book only covers about the time it takes to make a cup of tea. It's just very, very detailed and drawn out.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Terez said:

I have actually been hiding from the forum for a while because all the WoT-hating was upsetting me, and I'm too busy to deal with that. It doesn't bother me that some people don't like the books - it bothers me that people on other fantasy forums are so aggressive in their hatred, and their arguments for why they hate it don't make any sense to me. It's like they're concentrating on small details that have little to do with the overall structure and intricacy of the books that makes them so awesome. So I had subscribed to this thread, but not to the other one, and I just got a PM notification of this post. Thanks, CF - you made my day.

Glad to do it. I really don't hate on personal taste stuff like literature too badly. Its like hating on brussel sprouts. I would rather wash my mouth with gasoline personally, but there's always going to be somebody who likes it.

Terez said:

RJ has only ruled out two suspects that aren't ruled out by evidence in the books - Fain and Rand.

Yeah, I didn't really think it was rand. I knew that was a topic of debate so I just said teh most contraversial character I could think of. In truth, I'd guess one of the forsaken. Nobody else would really have the motivation that I can think of. The only other one I can realistically imagine is Aviendha. You gotta think she suspected something, spending so much time around Rand and Asmodean.

Terez said:

The pace does slow down somewhat in these books, but not all that drastically, in my opinion. It was a much bigger deal to people who had to wait 3-4 years for each book. But you can read right through them, so it shouldn't faze you too much. There are awesome action moments in all four books, in my opinion, but he goes less towards action and more toward conspiracy-building in these books. He picks back up with the action sharply in Knife of Dreams (11), and so far, it looks like The Gathering Storm (12) will be even better for action-packed goodness.

Cougar said:

@CF if you can get through Crossroads of Dogshite you're on the home stretch. It's very slow and the whole action of the book only covers about the time it takes to make a cup of tea. It's just very, very detailed and drawn out.

Thanks for the ups, but I'm not really concerned at all. I'm going to read em anyway, no sense getting a hate on beforehand. Not right away though. Even 2 WoT books in a row...5 and 6....which are both very good...is getting a bit much to handle. I can only handle so much braid tugging and dress descriptions before I want to claw out my eyes regardless of plot / lore quality. I'll probably spread the rest out over the time it takes whassisname to finish the volumes 1 thru 5 of the final book.


Oh yeah, I forgot the best part of book six...the part at the beginning where demandred is in mount doom talking to the dark one, and he walks by the teeth stalactite thingies that descend from the ceiling to chomp anybody who pisses off the dark one. Fucking awesome. I read that whole scene over like 3 times to make sure I got all the details. I really liked the description of how the teeth brushed everybody's (even the forsaken's) heads except for the giant fade, for whom they gave several inches clearance. Kind of a dun dun duuuuuuuuuuun moment. Either that fade is a projection of the dark one himself or its just so evil that even the dark one gives him props. Cool either way. I bet that fade is going to unleash some serious ruination before the end.

[Terez]

cerveza_fiesta, on 09 October 2009 - 01:09 PM, said:

In truth, I'd guess one of the forsaken. Nobody else would really have the motivation that I can think of. The only other one I can realistically imagine is Aviendha. You gotta think she suspected something, spending so much time around Rand and Asmodean.

I'm a member of the 'we don't give a shit who killed him' faction, but the only person I ever argue for is Aviendha. She's a ninja, taking care of her man (possibly on orders from the Wise Ones - a lot of evidence for that). One of the Forsaken killing him is just boring. Anyway, I somehow talked Tamyrlin at Theoryland into it, I think. Or he talked himself into it cause he hates the Graendaldidit faction. Anyway, he started an Aviendhadidit faction, but no one will join it. There are only like 5 people in it...

CF said:

Thanks for the ups, but I'm not really concerned at all. I'm going to read em anyway, no sense getting a hate on beforehand. Not right away though. Even 2 WoT books in a row...5 and 6....which are both very good...is getting a bit much to handle. I can only handle so much braid tugging and dress descriptions before I want to claw out my eyes regardless of plot / lore quality. I'll probably spread the rest out over the time it takes whassisname to finish the volumes 1 thru 5 of the final book.

I am beginning to think that you guys just don't have proper skimming abilities. Some people really get into descriptions like that, because the more they can visualize, the more real it seems to them. I don't get into it at all. I can tell you pretty much anything that happened in the books, and where it happened, anything you don't remember just ask (even if you ever meet me in person) and I can pretty much demonstrate that, but I have no fucking clue what kind of dress Nynaeve was wearing when she captured Moghedien, for instance. When I'm reading, my eyes just skim over that sort of thing and get to what's important.

Also, the braid-tugging is just one of those weird things that people do, like that guy that can't sit still and bounces his leg noisily. People really do make constant adjustments to clothing, and women are especially bad at it (I'm thinking of this women from a piano forum that I go to who makes videos, and the first minute or so is always her adjusting her hair and clothes). It's important - subtle signs of someone being nervous because just saying 'she was nervous' is boring. No one wants to read that. But still, my eyes skim over these things, gleaning the important details and not really dwelling on any of it. I do the same thing when SE describes blood and gore in fine detail.

CF said:

Oh yeah, I forgot the best part of book six...

You obviously haven't gotten to the best part yet (and the fade has nothing to do with it - he's something for later in the series really). Well, there are three things that happen in Lord of Chaos that kick particular ass, but one of them is definitely more action-oriented and by far the fan favorite (actually, it's at the top of the list of favorite scenes in the whole series right now). But one of my personal favorite things about Lord of Chaos is the development of the Lews Therin phenomenon. This hasn't been settled yet, so no spoilers or anything, but I'm one of the people who thinks it's not quite what it seems. I've read the Rand chapters in Lord of Chaos over and over and over for that reason, and the ones in The Fires of Heaven too (where it really begins).

[HoosierDaddy]

Dumais Wells is grossly overrated (I think there are better scenes in the series). Just my opinion.

Also, we clearly now know the answer to Brad Pitt's question in Se7en: "What's in the box? What's in the booooooxxxxxx?"

This post has been edited by HoosierDaddy: 09 October 2009 - 08:42 PM

[Terez]

Dumai's Wells seems to be more popular among the fanboys than the fangirls, but it does kick ass for several reasons (it's the aftermath that's a bit torturous, in Perrin's pov). Anyway, I go for Lews Therin, because that's the kind of thing that I get into. Testosterone-loaded moments are nice but not as interesting to me.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Right now I'm pretty interested to see what Mat, Rand and Bashere have in store for Sammael in Illian. There is some pretty heavy foreshadowing being laid down right now about how they are going to royally whip his ass back to mount doom.

Mofo is going DOWN.

Maybe.

I'm also liking the play between the forsaken for the honor of being the right-hand-man to the dark one. Pretty cool. Somehow, despite what they think, I bet being right-hand-man to the dark one isn't all that great.

[Macros]

the teddybears picnic that they didn't invite him to is going to be a bit of a let down for you I think

[fidge]

Does anyone know any stores in Eastern Canada that have The Gathering Storm for sale yet?

[Terez]

Good luck - it doesn't come out till next Tuesday. Someone from rafo.com managed to find a bookstore that accidentally had it on the shelves early, but that's just a fluke.

[Werthead]

So far several people have nabbed copies released accidentally early in the UK, USA and the Netherlands. I'm going to try my luck tomorrow. With so many books slipping out, it's possible Tor and then hopefully Orbit will lift their embargos and let the books flood forth. We're still a week from official release.

The book has had a mixed reaction so far:

Spoiler

Several of the fansites are saying the book's great, very fast-moving, faster than KoD and more like Books 1-3, with one major storyline resolved, several minor ones tied up and one major storyline advanced significantly. However, one independent source - Pat from the Fantasy Hotlist - is saying the book is very slower, slower-paced than KoD and back to the PoD/WH/CoT lack of development. He compared it directly to TTH, saying it was hundreds of pages of talk and then a good climax at the end but nothing more. Someone on Dragonomount then responded and said they disagreed and said a lot more happens than that.

Interesting to see what my take is when I get hold of the damned thing.

[Stalker]

gah, it has been too long since I read through the series.
I have books one and two with me to reread but haven't had a chance to get around to them yet.

Though I feel like I would be lost if I went and picked up The Gathering Storm at this point, having not read the series since Crossroads of Twilight (if that is the title of prior book).

[HoosierDaddy]

It's the book prior to Knife of Dreams, which was the latest release prior to The Gathering Storm.

I'll check it out from the library. While WoT will always be the series that got me into epic fantasy, and thus a must read, it is no longer an automatic purchase considering my limited funds, and that First Lords Fury (Alera VI) is coming out soon as well.

This post has been edited by HoosierDaddy: 20 October 2009 - 03:13 AM

[Stalker]

Ok, I did read Knife of Dreams too, so I've gone through the series but it has been a while.


And hardcore yes to First Lords Fury- they have started putting up the first couple chapters on Butcher's website. I had to read them.

[Terez]

Werthead, on 20 October 2009 - 02:10 AM, said:

So far several people have nabbed copies released accidentally early in the UK, USA and the Netherlands. I'm going to try my luck tomorrow. With so many books slipping out, it's possible Tor and then hopefully Orbit will lift their embargos and let the books flood forth.

haha, yeah right. I tried my luck yesterday before I posted, actually, but I didn't try very hard, as I don't think it's likely I'll have any luck. I will probably try again today, hitting up the big chain stores that I didn't bother with yesterday (since they're the least likely to slip up), and one other local bookstore that I didn't get to. If I find some, I will pick one up for you and overnight it. Is scalping illegal in this case? I wouldn't scalp you, but I bet I could make some money at Theoryland.

[Werthead]

Ha, I'm good. I'm hoping Orbit relent and send me a review copy early since copies are slipping out anyway.

Be warned that some very big spoilerific accounts of the book are now slipping out as well. I read one thing happens in the book that means very definitely that it can't be described as being a book in which nothing happens

[HoosierDaddy]

I'm guessing it has something to do with

Spoiler

Matt, Thom, and Moraine

But that's just an unbelievably likely... guess.