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
- 1870 Views
All the GOOD GUYS smoke
30/03/2010 08:24:42 PM
- 1261 Views

Culturally it's probably an accurate description. It is 16th/17th century
30/03/2010 08:47:19 PM
- 994 Views
Men vs. Women
30/03/2010 09:00:50 PM
- 1153 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
- 855 Views
Sword Forms
30/03/2010 09:37:02 PM
- 929 Views
I love Sword forms.
30/03/2010 10:06:03 PM
- 938 Views
Re: I love Sword forms.
30/03/2010 10:13:06 PM
- 991 Views
I'm of the opinion that blademasters are not the match of a powerful warrior
31/03/2010 03:34:49 PM
- 932 Views
RJ's spelling and pronunciation of names.
31/03/2010 12:31:44 AM
- 2538 Views
yeah, the fact that the different languages are there is totally fine and enjoyable....
31/03/2010 04:45:28 PM
- 876 Views
Re: little things that irk you
31/03/2010 01:16:51 AM
- 1005 Views
Re: little things that irk you
31/03/2010 02:51:12 AM
- 868 Views
WORD! is it really so amazing when channelers 'invent' something new?
31/03/2010 04:46:43 PM
- 1077 Views
Re: WORD! is it really so amazing when channelers 'invent' something new?
31/03/2010 09:00:50 PM
- 855 Views
RJ should show more evil things...
31/03/2010 12:41:25 PM
- 1013 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
- 924 Views
Yip - he pretty much confirms that
01/04/2010 03:35:32 PM
- 868 Views
You'd need to be crazy or weak to write Fain easily
02/04/2010 05:33:32 AM
- 879 Views
Re: little things that irk you *NM*
31/03/2010 02:25:38 PM
- 536 Views
Yes
01/04/2010 03:25:48 PM
- 920 Views
I've always wondered why RJ didn't try to develop this theme ...
01/04/2010 06:10:23 PM
- 910 Views
It's less of a theme and more like a case of mental derangement
01/04/2010 09:04:58 PM
- 846 Views
it's even more frustrating that it started to be used for a while
08/04/2010 11:51:42 AM
- 874 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
- 864 Views
Dealing with being irked--an exercise in fighting fire with fire...
06/05/2010 01:58:04 AM
- 739 Views