I think his villains are more neutral evil than any other alignment. While I understand that he may be making a point that only the Dark One is truly evil and that humans can't even come close, the sad fact is that there are evil men and women in the real world, and his inability to show or bring that level of inhumane depravity to his villains keeps them in the "stock villain" category, which unfortunately relegates the entire series to a lower status.
He said he struggled to write Padan Fain because he was so evil. Some of his evil chapters are pretty chilling - especially his Semirhage chapter in LoC. I pretty much agree that he can't write evil, or maybe he lost his touch. Brandon did quite a good job with Semi in the latest book though.
Wheel of Time board admin
Fan of Lanfear
Fan of Lanfear
little things that irk you
30/03/2010 06:16:19 PM
- 1807 Views
All the GOOD GUYS smoke
30/03/2010 08:24:42 PM
- 1177 Views

Culturally it's probably an accurate description. It is 16th/17th century
30/03/2010 08:47:19 PM
- 929 Views
Men vs. Women
30/03/2010 09:00:50 PM
- 1094 Views
I agree - IRL I often notice that it's less "men" vs "women", and moreso personality clashes.
31/03/2010 02:45:16 PM
- 788 Views
Sword Forms
30/03/2010 09:37:02 PM
- 870 Views
I love Sword forms.
30/03/2010 10:06:03 PM
- 879 Views
Re: I love Sword forms.
30/03/2010 10:13:06 PM
- 923 Views
I'm of the opinion that blademasters are not the match of a powerful warrior
31/03/2010 03:34:49 PM
- 875 Views
RJ's spelling and pronunciation of names.
31/03/2010 12:31:44 AM
- 2475 Views
yeah, the fact that the different languages are there is totally fine and enjoyable....
31/03/2010 04:45:28 PM
- 808 Views
Re: little things that irk you
31/03/2010 01:16:51 AM
- 940 Views
Re: little things that irk you
31/03/2010 02:51:12 AM
- 789 Views
WORD! is it really so amazing when channelers 'invent' something new?
31/03/2010 04:46:43 PM
- 1018 Views
Re: WORD! is it really so amazing when channelers 'invent' something new?
31/03/2010 09:00:50 PM
- 790 Views
RJ should show more evil things...
31/03/2010 12:41:25 PM
- 949 Views
I think he doesn't know how to write what an evil character would look or sound like
31/03/2010 03:27:36 PM
- 866 Views
Yip - he pretty much confirms that
01/04/2010 03:35:32 PM
- 778 Views
You'd need to be crazy or weak to write Fain easily
02/04/2010 05:33:32 AM
- 811 Views
Re: little things that irk you *NM*
31/03/2010 02:25:38 PM
- 509 Views
Yes
01/04/2010 03:25:48 PM
- 862 Views
I've always wondered why RJ didn't try to develop this theme ...
01/04/2010 06:10:23 PM
- 851 Views
It's less of a theme and more like a case of mental derangement
01/04/2010 09:04:58 PM
- 783 Views
it's even more frustrating that it started to be used for a while
08/04/2010 11:51:42 AM
- 811 Views
Attempting to pronounce the dang names. I like the names, but they're so hard to pronounce. *NM*
08/04/2010 03:44:39 AM
- 821 Views
Dealing with being irked--an exercise in fighting fire with fire...
06/05/2010 01:58:04 AM
- 677 Views