I wonder if LJ has already zapped the spam? Because I see a link for that comment up there, and I got the notification, but I can't expand it to kill it myself. Hrm.
Anyway, back on topic: You aren't the only person who felt that way about TDR, and your perception as a reader defines what the story is for you, so I'm not going to say "you should feel differently about it." But based on what I've seen in this re-read, I view TDR differently. Jordan had (and still has, as of where I've gotten) a core story; in fact, the desire to see a conclusion to that is a large part of what's brought me back to the series, now that the conclusion is in sight. It's just gotten buried under a mountain of fractal complication. And I can't pinpoint precisely where Jordan decided to allow that complication to happen, but TDR is where it became clear to the reader: although the author was still aiming for a specific end-point, the distance to that finish line was anybody's guess (the author's included). The result of that is that it became too easy to let new tendrils grow off the main vine, until the thing turned into kudzu.
There's nothing particularly magical about the trilogy approach; it's just one that western literature really likes. I firmly believe one could, in theory, write an excellent epic of five or ten or twelve books, or even more than that. The reason theory fails in practice is that excellence depends in part on structure, and the bigger the structure is, the harder it is to hold onto. When I finish this analysis (about a year from now), I'll have some closing thoughts, but I can guarantee right now that one of them will be, pick a structure and bloody well stick to it. Both Jordan and Martin have been screwed over by letting the story grow in ways that mean it will no longer fit into the frame originally provided for it.
no subject
Anyway, back on topic: You aren't the only person who felt that way about TDR, and your perception as a reader defines what the story is for you, so I'm not going to say "you should feel differently about it." But based on what I've seen in this re-read, I view TDR differently. Jordan had (and still has, as of where I've gotten) a core story; in fact, the desire to see a conclusion to that is a large part of what's brought me back to the series, now that the conclusion is in sight. It's just gotten buried under a mountain of fractal complication. And I can't pinpoint precisely where Jordan decided to allow that complication to happen, but TDR is where it became clear to the reader: although the author was still aiming for a specific end-point, the distance to that finish line was anybody's guess (the author's included). The result of that is that it became too easy to let new tendrils grow off the main vine, until the thing turned into kudzu.
There's nothing particularly magical about the trilogy approach; it's just one that western literature really likes. I firmly believe one could, in theory, write an excellent epic of five or ten or twelve books, or even more than that. The reason theory fails in practice is that excellence depends in part on structure, and the bigger the structure is, the harder it is to hold onto. When I finish this analysis (about a year from now), I'll have some closing thoughts, but I can guarantee right now that one of them will be, pick a structure and bloody well stick to it. Both Jordan and Martin have been screwed over by letting the story grow in ways that mean it will no longer fit into the frame originally provided for it.