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It didn't necessarily have to be "dark", just a bit less two-dimensional. Tom Send a noteboard - 20/11/2015 10:00:59 PM

People aren't simplistic expressions of one idea. As a result, I think Jordan really only wrote about one, perhaps two people (Ishamael showed some depth). The fact that this is the case is abundantly clear in the atrocious story writing. Nynaeve pulls her braid. Someone else smooths her dress. No one has any real conflicts or acts with anything approaching the complexity of a real person.

And so yes, I know it's fantasy. But to be believable fantasy it has to have some points of contact with the real world that allow the reader to relate to someone. And for the reader to really relate, there has to be some depth, some conflict within as well as without the characters.

As for the obscurity of WoT, it's already fading. And let's not forget that Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is also a best-selling fantasy series. Just because something is flavor of the month doesn't mean it will last. To last, it has to remain popular. WoT went off the rails and had a sloppy, stitched-together ending because the writer died before he finished it. I don't blame Sanderson for it; he was doing the best with what he had. I never recommend fantasy books anymore to anyone, but my "fantasy fanatic" friends (that's a lot of "f"s) don't recommend Wheel of Time to anyone. Mistborn - absolutely. aSoIaF? Sometimes. WoT? Never. You have to be pretty deep in the Kool-Aid to recommend what turned out as a botched series to someone, knowing everything we know now.

Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
This message last edited by Tom on 20/11/2015 at 10:01:57 PM
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Demandred, Taim and Asmodean - 13/11/2015 05:22:36 PM 3148 Views
Holy...SHIT! - 13/11/2015 07:12:08 PM 1702 Views
Yup...shocked, but hardly surprised. - 13/11/2015 08:12:54 PM 1272 Views
Thank you so much for revealing it - 13/11/2015 08:57:32 PM 1381 Views
I agree... - 13/11/2015 09:03:21 PM 1217 Views
Re: Holy...SHIT! - 18/11/2015 05:21:26 PM 1069 Views
Re: Demandred, Taim and Asmodean - 13/11/2015 07:15:14 PM 1289 Views
There was bound to be changes of mind... - 13/11/2015 10:50:39 PM 1867 Views
Hmmm... - 13/11/2015 11:59:41 PM 1156 Views
I just can't believe he was that lazy/sloppy in editing LOC. - 14/11/2015 12:29:47 AM 1625 Views
I thought Shara was begging to be noticed as a last minute foe. - 14/11/2015 02:46:42 AM 1311 Views
So did a lot of people. But... - 14/11/2015 05:27:27 AM 1269 Views
I still tend to think Demandred in Shara was Sanderson's creation - 16/11/2015 09:07:28 PM 1460 Views
He has pretty much admitted as much publicly. - 17/11/2015 03:14:19 AM 1274 Views
Agreed. In fact.. - 17/11/2015 03:19:20 AM 1173 Views
Re: I still tend to think Demandred in Shara was Sanderson's creation - 17/11/2015 05:08:58 PM 1072 Views
One more comment on the timing - 21/11/2015 04:29:02 PM 1250 Views
I don't get the Nynaeve note - 14/11/2015 02:32:28 AM 1497 Views
There are a lot of inexplicable notes like this. - 14/11/2015 06:33:11 AM 1365 Views
Nynaeve was one of the few who met the original Balthamel and Aginor - 17/11/2015 08:46:43 PM 1094 Views
Re: Nynaeve was one of the few who met the original Balthamel and Aginor - 17/11/2015 09:33:34 PM 952 Views
It's interesting that stopping Taimandred coincided with the drop in series quality. - 16/11/2015 05:02:38 AM 1689 Views
Some of this could have been interesting - 16/11/2015 04:37:00 PM 1302 Views
It would take away from Verin though - 16/11/2015 05:05:41 PM 886 Views
That is a good point - 16/11/2015 08:52:37 PM 944 Views
For the record my suggestion was not that he was a mole - 17/11/2015 01:56:41 AM 1088 Views
that was clear in your post - 19/11/2015 05:36:02 PM 949 Views
Sanderson certainly did that - 20/11/2015 05:08:03 PM 1120 Views
I don't think I would have cared for that - 20/11/2015 06:05:19 PM 1059 Views
It didn't necessarily have to be "dark", just a bit less two-dimensional. - 20/11/2015 10:00:59 PM 1053 Views
I mostly agree - 21/11/2015 06:38:31 AM 941 Views
This I can agree with - 23/11/2015 04:12:19 PM 903 Views
I don't read a ton of fantasy anymore - 23/11/2015 04:29:47 PM 1238 Views

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