Wheel of Time...
I started reading Robert Jordan's classic along with a bunch of friends from home at the age of about 16 (i'm 23 now). On reflection, we were quite a literary bunch, doing the usual teenage things of meeting up to smoke lots of illicit substances in public places, but usually with our heads buried in the next WoT epic. We raced through the books, and it was with great excitement when we finally received news of book twelves release. When we heard of it's release, I was adamant that I would read all eleven books again, plus the prequel, so as to refresh my memory. The boys couldn't be arsed, and mostly just read book eleven. I ended up stalling at book 10, with Book 12 looking at me meaningfully from my bookcase. I have a feeling none of this would have happened if Robert Jordan hadn't croaked it (may he rest in peace), as i'm not completely convinced that Sanderson would've done it justice. Ah well. I'm starting to suspect i'll never know how it ends... flunking my GCSE's will have all been for nothing.
(Ragathi wants to know where his evil twin is on, Sat 26 Jun 2010, 13:23, 9 replies)

I used to manage a bookshop
& you could always spot the Wheel of Time/fantasy bods as they came into the shop. There was one girl who came in every month end & asked the same question. The dialogue would always go: "When's the next wheel of time book out?" "Well, it's february now", *type type* "End of next year."
As I recall, the bloody thing was delayed too. I left before the übergeekgirl got her book.
....every chuffing month.
( Tab Hunter Make this useless process end and so, begin again, Sat 26 Jun 2010, 15:34, closed)

Sanderson has done a good job with the series
Although the writing is a bit suspect in places, as he's blending his own style with that of Jordan's. Ah well, have to wait for book 13 to come out to see exactly how different his writing style is, as apparently book 13 is more his style, and book 14 is more Jordan again.

I still need to go back and read it all again in preparation for book 13. However, by the time thats all done, book 14 will be out by then. Woo.
(Ghost Atreides enjoying incontestable health benefits on, Sat 26 Jun 2010, 17:21, closed)

"Literary"
"Wheel of Time"
(Spleep Shit, or get off the internet., Sat 26 Jun 2010, 17:49, closed)

Point.
(Ragathi wants to know where his evil twin is on, Sat 26 Jun 2010, 19:31, closed)

I was Wheel of Time Mad.
Loved it, thought it was the height of Fantasy writing.

Then I read the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb,

Suddenly seeing how WoT ended wasn't very important... maybe I'll read the last book one day, probably won't bother.
( Anal_Volley_Net, Sat 26 Jun 2010, 18:22, closed)

I've been recommended Robin Hobb once or twice, but just haven't got round to picking one up yet, I gather it's worth the read! Have you tried any of Alistair Reynolds works?
(Ragathi wants to know where his evil twin is on, Sat 26 Jun 2010, 19:33, closed)

Yes
They're great fun. And the handy thing is that the first 50 pages of the first book (Revelation Space) are nicely indicative of the whole lot, so you can find out if you like it while standing in the bookshop.
( Fronds are waving gently on, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 0:16, closed)

That's one of the very few series I just plain gave up on...

Can't even remember at which point I lost interest. It seemed that every book followed the same format; a large amount of well-written, considered plot progression, ultimately rendered pointless at the end of the book when the two main protagonists simply teleport somewhere and duke it out. Every time.

Why didn't they do that at the start?
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Sun 27 Jun 2010, 12:44, closed)

Well written
I was similar to the OP until about book 8, when I realised that RJ had developed an unfortunate habit of going on for pages about some minor protagonist's fucking buttons, and all I wanted was for the main man to make people's heads explode and to learn some new sword animal.
I never got to book 12, and feel a better man for it. RJ helped crystallise the concept that the time spent compulsively consuming crap could most likely be better occupied doing nearly anything else.
Incidentally, for mythical/heroic fantasy you can't go past the Winter of the World series by Michael Scott Rohan.
(nuffnuff, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 2:41, closed)