For "tke316"-- Re "Robert Jordan" & the "Wheel of Time"

[Theodora]

...I noted this as an interest of yours in your bio on this site, and....oh gulp...never having HEARD of this author, I've just been doing a little search on amazon.com where I've "discovered" that he's the author of 11 books in a VERY popular series. Separately, doing a search on his name in "google.com" I found that "Robert Jordan" is a pseudonym for "James Oliver Rigney, Jr" and that he's also used other pseudonymns for other books. The publisher's review for the latest of these 11 titles in the Wheel of Time series, i.e. Knife of Dreams describes this as an "epic fantasy" and compares it (favorably) to the works of the likes of Tolkien. An interesting (brief) biography is posted at http://www.dragoncon.org/people/jordanr.html which includes this little tidbit from the author's past:

With a brother 12 years his senior, Robert began his education at an early age, and his future interest in fantastic literature was inevitable. "When my parents couldn't get a baby-sitter, they'd get my brother," he recalls. "He would read to me, not kids' books, but things he was interested in, like Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Mark Twain, so I was exposed to a lot of great fiction."

I thought it interesting too that a person with an extensive military career and a degree in physics should now be the author of such a series of fantasy works.

In any case...if you feel like sharing....I was wondering:

1) If you've read all of the Wheel of Time series (and any of his other books) and --whether or not that's true, why would you recommend the series?

2) Do you have to read all of the series in order to enjoy the latest book?

3) How does this author's fantasy world tally with your Christian beliefs? (He says that the King James Bible has been the book which has most influenced him..per an interview published on the amazon.com site.)

As I said---I was just wondering about the above. In my "defense" for ignorance about this author, all of his books have been published during a time when I was more than a little "busy"/overwhelmed with chronic illness and with having two teen-age sons, the older of whom managed to always be in some sort of "scrape," it seems! Not much time/energy/inclination for reading then...let alone for fantasy books, though it might have been a good "escape" for me if I had!

Grace and peace---

Theodora

[tke316]

1) If you've read all of the Wheel of Time series (and any of his other books) and --whether or not that's true, why would you recommend the series?

I first saw the Wheel of Time series in a book store in an airport, I think it was Orlando. I mentioned it to my daughter (now 19), "Hmmm, this looks interesting." She has read about a million fantasy novels, but at that time she didn't latch onto Robert Jordan's.

I guess I did recommend them to all three of my children and I think they are better people for starting to read them.

I and my three children read many of the same books. I just wish I could keep up with my oldeste daughter, but then, she doesn't work 40 hours a week. I think she's slowed down on the novels since starting a 4 year college.

I've bought very few novels new (Only the last one from another series, Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, last book, The One Tree), so when I next ran across The Eye of the World used I bought it.

I started reading the series. My son (now 17) started reading the series. My younger daughter (now 13) read the The Eye of the World (book 1) and has started The Great Hunt (book 2). I slowly made my way through the first 6. I discovered that I was going so slowly I was fogetting how the various characters came into the story, so I started over. I've read The Eye of the World twice now, and parts of it at least 3 times. I'm about half way through The Great Hunt again.

At this point my son has read all but the last book. My older daughter has read through book 4, I think. My wife hears us talking about it all the time. She probably has the story figured out without ever reading.

The guy my 19 year old "really likes" has read all the books and now, like me, he is reading them over again.

2) Do you have to read all of the series in order to enjoy the latest book?

Yes. You should start at the beginning. He give some hints in the subsequent books about how the characters got to where they are but it would be weird to read them out of order.

3) How does this author's fantasy world tally with your Christian beliefs? (He says that the King James Bible has been the book which has most influenced him..per an interview published on the amazon.com site.)

The ultimate evil and his minions bear a lot of resemblence to Satan and his devils. The ultimate good in the books is called the Creator.

Somewhere on a dedication page in one of the first books Robert Jordan says something about "when the Creator of this world walked across the water to me." This is a horrible paraphrase from my poor memory and it may be more interpretation than what he actually wrote.

[Theodora]

How WONDERFUL that you found something that you and your children could enjoy together!!!!

Thanks for your further information about your experience with this series.

Hope you and your family have a good weekend!

Theodora

--

1) If you've read all of the Wheel of Time series (and any of his other books) and --whether or not that's true, why would you recommend the series?

I first saw the Wheel of Time series in a book store in an airport, I think it was Orlando. I mentioned it to my daughter (now 19), "Hmmm, this looks interesting." She has read about a million fantasy novels, but at that time she didn't latch onto Robert Jordan's.

I guess I did recommend them to all three of my children and I think they are better people for starting to read them.

I and my three children read many of the same books. I just wish I could keep up with my oldeste daughter, but then, she doesn't work 40 hours a week. I think she's slowed down on the novels since starting a 4 year college.

I've bought very few novels new (Only the last one from another series, Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, last book, The One Tree), so when I next ran across The Eye of the World used I bought it.

I started reading the series. My son (now 17) started reading the series. My younger daughter (now 13) read the The Eye of the World (book 1) and has started The Great Hunt (book 2). I slowly made my way through the first 6. I discovered that I was going so slowly I was fogetting how the various characters came into the story, so I started over. I've read The Eye of the World twice now, and parts of it at least 3 times. I'm about half way through The Great Hunt again.

At this point my son has read all but the last book. My older daughter has read through book 4, I think. My wife hears us talking about it all the time. She probably has the story figured out without ever reading.

The guy my 19 year old "really likes" has read all the books and now, like me, he is reading them over again.

2) Do you have to read all of the series in order to enjoy the latest book?

Yes. You should start at the beginning. He give some hints in the subsequent books about how the characters got to where they are but it would be weird to read them out of order.

3) How does this author's fantasy world tally with your Christian beliefs? (He says that the King James Bible has been the book which has most influenced him..per an interview published on the amazon.com site.)

The ultimate evil and his minions bear a lot of resemblence to Satan and his devils. The ultimate good in the books is called the Creator.

Somewhere on a dedication page in one of the first books Robert Jordan says something about "when the Creator of this world walked across the water to me." This is a horrible paraphrase from my poor memory and it may be more interpretation than what he actually wrote.