# Wheel of Time VS Sword of Truth (1 Viewer)



## Tiamat (Mar 23, 2008)

What's this big debate about these two fantasy series?  The Wheel of Time gurus swear that Sword of Truth is a cheap ripoff of the series, and same for the Sword of Truth gurus.  It's craziness.  Robert Jordan (WOT) and Terry Goodkind (SOT) write in entirely different styles and the books are just so bloody different I don't see how anyone can call them similar except for the genre.

And on a personal note, I've read as much as I could take of both series and both authors have a strong start and then it dwindled.  I thought Wheel of Time spiralled downhill faster and I stopped reading mid-way through the second book.  The Sword of Truth held me until book 9, but started to die around book 7.

Has anyone else read either (or both) of these?  What do you think?


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## Non Serviam (Mar 23, 2008)

Tiamat10 said:


> Has anyone else read either (or both) of these?  What do you think?



Started both of them, couldn't get into either.

I found both cycles to be horribly derivative tripe, to be honest.  I mean, there are fantasy authors like Clive Barker and China Mieville and Gene Wolfe, so I see no reason to read dreck.


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## Dr. Malone (Mar 23, 2008)

I love Wheel of Time.  It's the only fantasy book I've ever found that is interesting.  I haven't read the last book yet, simply because by the time it came out I couldn't remember what had been going on in the book before that, but I have the whole series.  I think it's much better than Barker's stuff, but I'm really just familiar with his horror work.


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## Normski (Mar 23, 2008)

I kinda agree. Both series started out very strong but in the last 3 or so books became to use a technical term - pants!

The serii (?) have both lost their ways and in my opinion, (which ain't worth a hill of beans), it feels like both authors are writing because their contracts with the publisher say they must. Perhaps 6+ books is too far to take a story.

I try to liken it to real life (I know it's high fantasy, but bear with me). Arguably the most "interesting" character in real life could be Alexander the Great. Could we write 12 books on the meanderings of his life - No takers?

Alright - the fantasy angle. That would cut the number of books by say 2/3 - would that be reasonable? so could we write 8 books, each about 1000 pages, on his life and times. Still unlikely that it would hold our imaginations much past book 2 or 3.

Aren't they both Tolkein rip-offs anyway? (flame retardant suit on - check)


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## Non Serviam (Mar 23, 2008)

Oh, Clive Barker can write beautiful prose when he has a mind to.  "Storms stalked the land on legs of lightning"... "darkness loved lovers, even if the world no longer did"... "After that evening the cold's nip became a bite, and the bite a gnaw, until by late November the temperatures were low enough to keep even the most ardent tom-cat at the fire."

The man's no genius, but he's more than a hack--a poet in prose.


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## Vee (Mar 23, 2008)

Have heard of Terry Goodkind, never read one of his? books though.  Like with the critics of Eddings, I find the critics of Jordan overlook a) the intense character development and the largely populated world and b) the very deliberate philosophical underpinnings that are designed to have you gauge things from a differing perspective to your own.


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## Ilasir Maroa (Mar 23, 2008)

I've read 11 of the WOT books, and several SOT(if that isn't a ridiculous title, I don't know what is.)

I wouldn't call either high class, but they kept me reading for a pretty long time.

In response to Vee's comment on critics, I've read some great reviews on both, and by "great" I mean downright nasty.  I agree when I'm reading the reviews, but that doesn't mean I can't overlook the flaws if I have nothing better to read.  I do think both suffer somewhat from series rot.  WOT is too long of a series and SOT tries to get away with a scale that's too large for the amount of effort put into each story.  RJ's prose can suck quite badly, and sometimes he relies too much on gimmicks for characterization.  If a certain character mentions fish one more time... :evil:  As to world development, I've seen better, but that's not as easy to manage in a longer series.  I'd say that SOT is a bit more corny, but the first few books have decent plots.

As to the debate, I thought WOT was a newer series, at least if you start at the first book.


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## Tiamat (Mar 24, 2008)

SOT is definitely corny, but then Goodkind takes it down an even worse road.  He starts _preaching_ at his reader.  In the beginning I enjoyed the characterization and I could get past the ridiculous things that were going on.  Plus he writes moderately...uh...okay, so it was easy to get through.  But then as he goes on, he starts preaching.  The Wizards' Rules were kind of a quirky (and obvious) way to introduce the book's themes, but then they transformed into the fantasy equivalent of Bible beating.  

After I read the second book, I checked out Goodkind's webpage.  It was normal.  Author interviews, news on upcoming books, all that happy stuff.  But then I checked it again after I read the 9th book, and holy crap, there's this whole section of the site devoted to Goodkind's _philosophy_.  A fantasy author gone Nietzsche.  I can't think of anything worse.

Robert Jordon's books on the other hand are just so incredibly detailed, and his prose is so terrible that I didn't get any imagery out of it.  I just skipped over it to find action.  He may have something going there, but he's such a terrible writer that I could never pay attention long enough to find out.


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## Shortbanshee (Mar 26, 2008)

I have read both series.

I read all the WOT hoping that the later ones would be as good as the first one and to follow matt and perrins stories, they were the only characters i really liked.

On the other hand SOT kept me intrested the whole way through even if book 7 somewhat annoyed me. And yes the wizards rules were kind of predictable but it kind of gave it something else. Zedd however wasn't given nearly enough of the story and Rands little flaws that kept poping up kept me intrested in him as well.

sorry almost sounds rantish


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## Sekaya (Mar 29, 2008)

I definitely liked SOT better than WOT. I know quite a few of my friends rave on about WOT, but I got to page 100 in the first book and just gave up. It was just too draggy for me to even bother to try and understand. 

SOT, while it definitely has its corny bits, entertained me and only had a few slow parts in each book. I knew hitting them usually gaurenteed some major action soon, so I wasn't really bothered by it. I've read the whole series and have to say, while it started going downhill further into the series, how he tied up the whole series was nice.


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## Tiamat (Mar 29, 2008)

Heh, thanks for making me curious enough to want to read the last two books.


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## DavidGil (Mar 29, 2008)

I have the first SoT book and the first three WoT.

SoT, I never gave a chance. The first few pages or so were mainly describing plants and just didn't hold my interest. I know it's relevant to the character of Richard but I still felt it was still a bit... too much.


WoT, I made it quite far into the first book however. I should have carried on reading but upon hearing the tales of how most of the later books are filled with a lot of 'braid tugging' and descriptions taking up much of the space, I've decided to pass on it. It doesn't really help reviews saying hardly anything happens in the later books even if it is necessary in the context of showing the world, politics etc.


Regardless that's my thoughts. Malone, there's others out there that are good. Trust me.


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## eggo (Mar 29, 2008)

The main difference is that in the Wheel of Time nothing ever happens and in the Sword of Truth series things happen, you may not be interested.

I stopped reading Jordan around book four when he decided to write 600 pages of dialog and 100 pages of action.

Goodkind on the other hand is a pretty good writer who has had something interesting to say in every one of his books and mixes it well with action. Preachy at times true, but at least he's honest about what he writes.


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## DEIfan4life (Sep 16, 2008)

Well....Just heard that Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" will not be finished....book 12 and the 2 prequals will not be done....Jordan died 1 yr ago.....


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## Tiamat (Sep 16, 2008)

Yes, but they've called in a guest writer to finish off book 12 for him.  I don't know about the prequels.



> Brandon Sanderson, author of the fantasy “Mistborn” series, will finish Robert Jordan’s final novel.


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## WriterDude (Sep 16, 2008)

I love fantasy, but have never even heard about SOT. I did start Wheel of Time and foolishly bought the first two books at the same time thinking they would be good, but I stopped about halfway through the first. I compare it to the Lord of the Rings movies (and to some degree, the book). Very well made, but incredible boring and way to long for it's own good.


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## seigfried007 (Sep 17, 2008)

Started WoT and couldn't get into it at all. I've read better so why bother?

Malone, have you ever heard of Robin Hobb? All the fantasy but very little of the things that make me sick (most shocking: no elves).


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## Coiled Flame (Sep 22, 2008)

I've read the whole WoT series, up to book 11, multiple times, and the only one that didn't hold my interest was 10.

SOT, on the other hand, was ok. I made it through the first five books, and partway through the sixth, and just got really bored. The main problem was, I just didn't get how everything happened, especially the end of Stone of Tears. I had to re-read the whole second book just to get that.

It is a decent series, but to me just seems like a WoT copy.


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## Xejon (Oct 26, 2008)

I've never read Wheel of Time.  I tried to get into it once, but I didn't get very far.  On the other hand, I've read the entire Sword of Truth series.  The first five books of the series were pretty good, but after that the story basically became a vehicle for Goodkind to push his Objectivist philosophy.  In fact, one of the "Wizards' Rules" was ripped _verbatim_ from Rand.  I was quite disgusted with him, but I finished the series anyway because I loved Zedd.

On the subject of Robin Hobb, she is a great fantasy writer.


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## Gabriel Gray (Oct 26, 2008)

I've read WoT twice so far (11 + prequel). Firstly i love the books, the world is fantastic and the storyline fascinating. But i completely sympathise with people starting to read it, i got through half the book and then gave up for a month. After finishing that i waited another 2 months until reading book 2, then it got interesting and i read them all. I must admit, book 7 ( i think) was the worst of the 11(12), with the whole looking for the weather thing. Too much looking not enough fighting.


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## Intel (Oct 26, 2008)

I loved the first few books of the wheel of time. They're one of the few fantasy titles I've been able to get into. I found it so engaging. Remember when Rand was trying to break out of the 'Ways' and the black wind was approaching? I almost cried in fright. I'm a lightweight anyway, I never read horror stuff, but the 'ways' was damn scary.

-From wiki
'With Jordan's death on 16 September 2007, the conclusion of the series was in question. On 7 December of that year, the publisher, Tor Books, announced that fantasy author Brandon Sanderson would finish _A Memory of Light_, using notes, written chapters, and audio recordings of the story provided by Robert Jordan before his passing. 

Sanderson has said on his website he has begun writing the final book in the series. He also stated that he wants to finish the series in the final book as planned, but later acknowledged that the book may be up to half again his originally-planned length, and publishing in one volume may not be practical.'


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## Gabriel Gray (Oct 26, 2008)

Ah The Ways seemed so scary and mysterious, but now is just a way for them to travel (not that rand or the others seem to need it now with rediscovered travelling).

Favorite character is Perrin, i want more wolves to be involved in the 12th book. Not too sure what is meant by publishing in one volume might not be practical. You mean he is going to do the final book but only half, then do another half? Or just half the length.

WEATHER STORYLINE = BORING


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