David Eddings > Robert Jordan ?

I just read Eye Of The World / Wheel Of Time I and I don't get the hype that this fantasy series receives at all. A lot of it seems to be heavily borrowed from Eddings' Belgariad saga (which is my favorite fantasy series). Yes, Jordan has a much more sophisticated writing style and I guess a bigger vocabulary. But the pace, his plotting, his story-writing ability kinda sucked in the first book. Does it get better with the next couple of books?

I think anyone is better than Jordan. Jordan is probably the worst writer of our time.

If you've only read eye of the world you can't form a valid opinion, it picks up in the 3+ book.

Dont listen to >>3

It only gets worse after Book 3.

I started reading something by Eddings once, and I couldn't get over the fact that it felt like I was reading something written for children. Young children. I couldn't finish it, it was shittily written and otright boring. I can't remember the title, but I hope it was one of his worse novels.

I like Jordan, although his writing has some serious flaws. Sometimes it's nice to shit down with a brick thick fantasy novel and just forget about all the "omg shit sux read some real literature" crap, and I find Jordan pefect for that. I just wish he wasn't so obsessed with describing what kind of dress x character happens to be wearing.

The best books are in the middle of the series, and it gets almost unbearable by book 10. Book 11 was better, but I dopn't remeber it particularly well, so I can't say how much better.

At least Jordan only has the one series. What's the crack about Eddings? He's written the same series four different times?

WoT sucks. It's true. The first few books are decent, but it really gets terrible as the series progresses.

However, I regret to say that Belgariad sucks even more. It's terrible from the very beginning.

op and this thread are fail

   "Rope-skipping, hopscotch. That old woman in black who sat down next to me on my bench, on my rack of joy (a nymphet was groping under me for a lost marble), and asked if I had a stomachache, the insolent hag. Ah, leave me alone in my pubescent park, in my mossy garden. Let them play around me forever. Never grow up."

-- the paragraph that made me buy a copy of Lolita.

>>6
No. Two series twice. And they're great high fantasy.

And George R. R. Martin is better than both of them combined, then multiplied by two.  End of thread.

Jordan = Wheel of Monotony.

>>11

then multiplied by infinity and squared by awesome

>>1
in my experience the WOT books get slower and slower ... or at least more boring as you go along the series (although i didn't read the last 1 - 3)
go buy malazan book of the fallen by steven erikson or martins song of ice and fire .. both infinitely superior, although i personally like erikson even better

>>11
>>13
truth

Lord... Why are you ppl dissing both Jordan and Eddings?... For that matter, if you hate both of them, WHAT DO YOU LIKE? I have read all by Jordan, all by Eddings, and all by George RR Martin. As far as I'm concerned the books by Jordan and the books by Martin are equal and both qualify for best series ever. Also, Eddings is excellent intermeadiate level high fantasy, it is written for slightly younger ppl, but the story is still good and the paseing is better than anything either Jordan or Martin has pulled off yet!

>>15
Give yourself another decade and you'll understand.

Don't worry, I used to be a rabid RJ fan too. I'm better now.

"Also, Eddings is excellent intermeadiate level high fantasy, it is written for slightly younger ppl, but the story is still good and the paseing is better than anything either Jordan or Martin has pulled off yet"

I hate you and wish for you to die a thousand deaths. Hopefully that would also have the added benefit of you not posting here again.

i'd say eddings is excellent beginner level fantasy, i put eddings books in general on par with harry potter.

>>18
Except that Harry Potter isn't mind-bogglingly boring.

>>19
>>Except that Harry Potter is mind-bogglingly boring.

Jordan isn't particularly good, but at least it's vaguely readable, unlike Eddings.

New person here, glad to see Eddings, though I don't know this Jordan.

I'm a book away from finishing series two of Eddings'. True that I find the first more interesting than his Malloreon, but I do want to see the story to the end.

Now, about the other series I have been reading... they have different feels. There is Melanie Rawn, with Dragon Prince's Sunrunners. It's not about chasing a moving target and you get the same imperial feel because the main characters are royalty. Their bloodline of Sunrunners can "travel" through light in an astral projection kind of sense, to spy on others or silently communicate... as long as the sun / moon won't set and leave their bodies as empty carcasses, which is part of the tension of using their cool power. They also control the elements. The story revolves around a strong young prince, a new mystery race and an evil competing king. Warning: Books are 500 pages / about 3 books each series arc.

The other series is Xanth, by Anthony Piers. It's a hidden parallel land different from our "Mundania" where puns come to life and magic is all around people, who are each born with unique magic talents. Mundanes and Xanth dwellers are normally blocked from crossing their dividing rift. Warning: may be childish for your tastes...small books total ~30. Check wikipedia for Xanth.

Anyway, all 3 authors these have extended my language skills and the simple common sense of societies free of modern tech.

And all of these fails because the protagonist, be that Rand or (bel)Garion, is a whiny emo who can't accept his fate and ends up bossed around by women.

Sword of truth, ladies and gentlemen, there we have a series with a protagonist who doesn't just sit around with his hands in his pocket and let women do the real thinking.

Thank you >>25 SoT needed to be in the mix. Terry Goodking has the ability to seamlessly mix the BRUTAL reality of human nature with whimsical fantasy and humor. George R.R. Martin comes close in that respect but has a problem with maintaining the story's focus and pace. Eddings is the lite beer of the fantasy world; It serves it's purpose but no real meatiness. And Jordan is the incredibly sophisticated import that take three decades to brew, Full of incredibly rich subtlety but it comes with a nasty headache

Okay you half-fucks, Robert Jordan and Eddings both, blew my fucking mind. I've read all the greatest series', pretty much every series on this thread. And Eddings and Robert Jordan are on a new fucking lead. I see your point 26, Terry does have a brutal but sophisticated writing style, but again, not on the same level. Eddings is for a younger audience then WoT, but I fell in love with the way RJ really brings to life everything, and everything is so indepth. Seriously, don't listen to all these people, they sad fucks. Trust me, the king of reading. Reading is my life, and I plan to write  a book some day, using every style they used in there books. Eddings has a great storyline, but WoT is just a better series.

WoT can be great if you force yourself to read the whole thing.  Some people don't like the fact that there are five million characters and subplots and that Jordan takes six books to do what could have been done in a chapter.  I love the series but its not for everyone.

Total thread "necro", but I'm bored and cruising around the internet in search of something new to read. I've read ASoIaF, WoT The Belgariad/The Mallorean, and the Elenium/The Tamuli to name just a few that seem relevant. I re-read WoT prior to the launch of the fourteenth and final installment co-written by Brandon Sanderson. I hadn't read the first eleven books since I was a teenager, and I read the twelfth and thirteenth books as they were released. Anyway, I think a *little* of what originally drew me to WoT was lost during my second reading of the series, however, the bulk of the wonder and enjoyment is still there. RJ did a great job with these books, even though by the end of the series there were a few loose ends yet to be tied up.
I am an avid reader, and I get tired of reading about how "terrible" an author RJ was, how he "rips off" everyone's ideas, and how he's a "sexist". If you can't deal with a little spanking, some braid tugging, some smoothing of skirts (<3 Nynaeve), or Rand's brothel then you need to give your head a shake.
I felt that RJ balanced the issue of sexism quite well; he humiliated men on an equally regular basis throughout the series  -- perhaps to an even greater degree. Sure, the odd girl might get spanked (Egwene, Aviendha, Semirhage, Faile... I'm sure I missed some), but at the end of the day the ENTIRE SERIES is run by WOMEN. The ultimate protagonist, Rand al'Thor, might be a dude, but let's face it, he wouldn't have lasted ten chapters without the guidance, however unwillingly at times, of Moiraine, Cadsuane, his harem of sexual partners, and a plethora of other female characters.
Getting back on topic, you can't really do a comparison between RJ and DE. They're both so very different. DE is an author who gets to the point quickly with well-written paragraphs. RJ takes his time getting to the same point, but is an equally skilled author. The beauty of RJ is his description of EVERYTHING. People either really like it, or really hate it. So deal with it and stop bashing the guy!

>>25
I have a feeling you've only read the first books of the series you're talking about.

>>25
I also love Terry Goodkind, it is such good writing and I like to read it and get so excited I feel my thing rise up in me.

ok look I have read a lot of those authors, and read MOST of them to completion. in my OPINION, I believe that Robert Jordan though great with his original idea and his characters, lost his thread by book four, Sanderson was a much needed boost to the WoT series due to his ability to get the story moving at more than two days per book. David Eddings is a great introduction to fantasy. albeit humorous his story is fairly simple.Terry Goodkind I slowly grew annoyed with the way Richard evolves into a preacher. and I was annoyed on how easy it was to defeat the dream walker. I loved his first book but by the sixth book I stopped. Terry Brooks I hated the way his characters were spineless through out the ENTIRE series. Tolkien I hated how dry he was. David McKiernan ripped off LoR even down to the whole Moria scene. and worst of all was the TC by Stephen Donaldson, ever read it? I hated it. guy rapes this girl, and later his daughter. spend the entire book to read a battle that was only a paragraph long.
this was and is my opinion, I apologize for the length.-montechello

I marathoned them all a year ago and enjoyed my ride. But man, books 7-10 were pretty unbearably slow. Just silly.

>>14
(although i didn't read the last 1 - 3)
You goofed up, I thought Sanderson's were maybe the best in the series. Totally fixed the pacing issues.

>>30
Don't spoil his illusion anon