Series Review: Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time"

Author: James Oliver Rigney (pen name: Robert Jordan)
Series title: Wheel of Time
Included novels (12):
The Eye of the World (1990)
The Great Hunt (1990)
The Dragon Reborn (1991)
The Shadow Rising (1992)
The Fires of Heaven (1993)
Lord of Chaos (1994)
A Crown of Swords (1996)
The Path of Daggers (1998)
Winter's Heart (2000)
Crossroads of Twilight (2003)
Prequel: A New Spring (2004)
Knife of Dreams (2005)
A Memory of Light (expected 2009)

Website / Wiki: http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/A_beginning
FLR Rating: **** (4 stars of 5)

Review:
After J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings trilogy defined Fantasy, this may be the series most often considered to embody all that is right (and wrong) with fantasy literature. It's overwhelmingly long (nearly 10,000 pages to date), repetitive, has far too many characters (both major and minor), and has pacing issues. And yet, it's a darn good read.

In 1992, a close friend of mine handed me the first four books in the series. By the time I finished them, the fifth book had come out, and I was hooked for the better part of two decades. Books six through nine tend to drag a little as we follow four distincly separate groups, but the series speeds up again as it nears completion.

Jordan draws from everywhere to build out a complex world, although he suffered from a tendency to pigeonhole entire nations with the same personality traits. You can find references to King Arthur, Norse mythology, Japanese samurai culture, the obligatory Christ figure, and much more.

The Basics:
The Dark One (there's always a Dark One, isn't there?) has begun to break free from his centuries-long imprisonment at Shayol Ghul. Will the Aes Sedai-- an all-female Pariah Elite sorceress group that's part witches' coven, part Bene Gesserit-- be able to find the Chosen One (there's always a Chosen One too!)in time? And will young Rand Al'Thor prove to be that one, called 'The Dragon'? Oh, and one problem-- women with the gift can perform magic ('channelling'), but when the handful of men with the gift do so, they start to go mad.

Like Tolkein, we're given an easy breakdown in terms of who's good (any humans that aren't Darkfriends) and who's bad (Orc-like Trollocs, The Dark One himself, and his followers.) Jordan, however, blissfully stays away from the generic Elf and Dwarf races, instead adding the Ogier, a rare and peaceful race of treehugging giants. The agents of the Dark One have infiltrated everywhere, including royal families, the Aes Sedai, and even the Children of the Light, a Knights Templar-like army for God.

The Characters:
WoT has the largest cast of any current fantasy novel series, and each of the major characters is well-thought-out, complex and interesting. Some my favorites include Rand himself; badass Aragorn-like warrior Lan Mandragoran; the Aiel, a band of desert warriors some have compared to Frank Herbert's Fremen; Loial, the young (90 years old) runaway Ogier; Nynaeve, the village Wisdom, with off-the-scale magical powers (but only when she's pissed off); trickster Mat Cauthon; Min Farshaw, seer of visions of the future; and a few others. Jordan relies on repetitive personality traits a little too often; Nynaeve tugs at her braid when angry so often that it's become a drinking game!

The Author:
Robert Jordan passed away in 2007, but Brandon Sanderson has been contracted to complete the final book. Notes have also been provided by Jordan for a number of other prequels.

I'd love to hear your comments!