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People who post on WOT messageboards do not comprise a reprsentative sample Betrayer of Hope Send a noteboard - 23/12/2009 07:01:48 PM
is one of the few explanations I can come up with. Like you, I'm sort of confused as to how anyone could honestly claim that this was a well written book, let alone "one of the best books of the series." If you look at the reviews on Amazon, those are a bit more negative, although generally still more positive than I would have expected. A few possibilities:

1) BS seems like a nice guy. He was given a virtually impossible task. For better or worse, he's going to be completing the series, so what's the point of harshly criticizing him?

2) A fair number of WOT fans do not speak English as their first language. Perhaps the obvious difference in writing ability and style between RJ and BS is less pronounced to them?

3) "Things happened" in TGS, and at this late stage in the series, plot advancement and resolution of mysteries is enough to make people happy.

As for me, I'm with you. I'm still looking forward to the final two books to see what happens, but I'm deeply saddened at the quality of writing in TGS. The bottom line is that this book was written at maybe a 6th or 7th grade level. I defy anyone to compare passages from TGS with the rest of the series and honestly claim that there has not been a jarring drop-off in the quality of the writing.
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Can't bring myself to re-read tGS - 23/12/2009 12:01:33 PM 1704 Views
I think pretty much alone, yes - 23/12/2009 01:39:52 PM 1078 Views
I have to agree...it was very enjoyable - 23/12/2009 01:48:39 PM 1011 Views
I dont know if it's my first favorite or second favorite *NM* - 23/12/2009 04:07:53 PM 422 Views
tGS is IMHO easily one of the top 5 books in the series. *NM* - 23/12/2009 04:28:34 PM 519 Views
No, tGS was a pile of crap. *NM* - 23/12/2009 02:52:40 PM 435 Views
There were parts that clearly needed some help... - 23/12/2009 05:23:22 PM 988 Views
Pretty good given the circumstances. I'm grateful. - 23/12/2009 06:49:46 PM 1077 Views
People who post on WOT messageboards do not comprise a reprsentative sample - 23/12/2009 07:01:48 PM 948 Views
Boo hoo hoo. *NM* - 24/12/2009 02:19:28 AM 397 Views
They could have just not finished the series. - 24/12/2009 06:16:49 AM 954 Views
Re: Can't bring myself to re-read tGS - 27/12/2009 09:00:53 PM 833 Views
Wow. I thought it was a LOT better than some previous books. - 27/12/2009 11:02:13 PM 947 Views
No, you're not. It was OK - I was more happy that the series seemed to be progressing - 29/12/2009 03:43:59 PM 765 Views
Except for the Mat parts, it was fairly good. - 30/12/2009 04:30:15 AM 802 Views
Yeah, CoT is one of the WoT books I don't even use as a reference. I try to forget it. *NM* - 30/12/2009 03:53:25 PM 414 Views
It's kind of sad - 31/12/2009 03:25:03 AM 823 Views
Re: Except for the Mat parts, it was fairly good. - 17/01/2010 10:49:29 PM 898 Views
I couldn't disagree more. - 17/01/2010 11:06:52 PM 829 Views
Not alone! - 19/01/2010 05:41:03 AM 775 Views

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