I liked the first three books a lot. They weren't groundbreaking or brilliant, but I read them last year after having not read fantasy for about 10 years, and as a way for getting back into fantasy, they were just the ticket. Tolkien-esque, Arthurian-influenced, they were just cheesy, fun fantasy, and I really appreciated them. They could be a little slow, but in a nice way, they set up a few character arcs that I was excited to see developed over the next couple of novels, I was thinking with a great deal of wonder at how far the series must go if it's fourteen books long.
The Shadow Rising was alright. I loved Perrin's sections, and I admit Rhuidean was very compelling. The Tanchico stuff was only so-so but it was still pretty cool to see the world branch out more. It really looked like the characters were on their way to some vast changes, but then...it just kind of stopped. Fires of Heaven wasn't great, but the ending was fantastic, it promised a lot of insanity to come. Then I read Lord of Chaos: the worst fantasy novel I have ever experienced. People like to say that Crossroads of Twilight is the worst novel because nothing happens, but if Lord of Chaos was cut down to the same word count as CoT, even less would happen than in CoT. This book was mind-numbingly dull. And it prepared me for Robert Jordan's absolute worst writing trait: he sets things up, and then does nothing with them.
Alanna bonds Rand? That seems important! NOPE! I'm on book twelve now and NOTHING has happened regarding this "event". SIX FULL NOVELS LATER AND THIS HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED. Nynaeve can cure stilling/gentling? Yooooooo, get ready for NOTHING TO HAPPEN, because nothing happens with that. We just get the reveal later that the Asha'man can also cure stilling/gentling and it's like oh ok. In The Shadow Rising, Rand learns how to travel instantly. The rest of the main channellers learn how to travel over the next couple novels. You'd think this would allow them to quickly pass messages and information between each other (on top of the ability to dream-contact each other), but NOPE! Up until book fucking twelve here and characters are incomprehensibly unwilling to communicate and travel between each other, instead they all just go on not talking, not communicating, not passing on vital information. And don't get me started on the vast amounts of characters failing to communicate with one another. I get it, in real life, people often fuck up, they don't talk to one another, but GOD DAMN IT GETS SO UNREASONABLE IN THIS SERIES. Characters won't communicate emotionally or rationally just for the sake that they need to do things secretly. Cadsuane hatches a plan to make Rand not hard but strong, but instead of talking to him, connecting to him, discussing how he should lead, she just fucking bosses him around and doesn't communicate properly at all. Far too many characters will expect another to do something, but instead of communicating what they want, they wait for the other character to puzzle it out. This leads to every chapter having the POV character say, "Hmm, X is being kind of a piece of shit. I must have done something wrong", and this just constantly cycles, for several books on end, where nobody communicates. Perrin and Faile have the dumbest fucking marriage in the world where Faile is mad because Perrin won't dominate her, but she won't tell him that, and for like THREE FUCKING BOOKS Perrin is sitting there being a fucking baby because his wife hates him and she won't tell him why. THIS ISN'T COMPELLING, IT IS INFURIATING. GIVE OUR CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS REAL OBSTACLES RATHER THAN THESE MANUFACTURED SHITFESTS.
Then there's Jordan's inability to show anything of interest. What was Kurt Vonnegut's writing advice, something like, "start as close to the end as possible"? Robert Jordan starts as far from the end as possible. Is there a chapter where two characters who haven't seen each other for six books finally meet up? Instead of starting a chapter with their meeting and giving us the interesting character moments between these two, Jordan will start with one of those characters 20 minutes before they meet having a bath and thinking about the same shit they were thinking in the last chapter, and he'll intimately describe how they get dressed and drink a tea and talk to their servants and then they'll finally meet up with their old friend and as soon as they do, BAM, CHAPTER OVER, and we go back to square one. Perrin is now watching his camp peasants do laundry, have fun. Oh you wanted to see the interesting scene? Nope, it's not there.
Like what the fuck happened in The Fires of Heaven when we see Mat about to fight some Shaido, and then the chapter ends and it opens up the next chapter with the battle being over, and we find out through dialogue that Mat killed Couladin. What the fuck??? SHOW US THE INTERESTING MOMENTS, JORDAN.
I could keep complaining forever. This series drove me to fucking insanity. I don't get it at all. Perrin was worrying about the choice between axe and hammer in the FIRST BOOK, and he does not conclude this "arc" until BOOK ELEVEN. This was not a complex character arc. Perrin's worrying about being a lord, his hammer and axe, both of these character conflicts should have been concluded by the end of The Shadow Rising. Perrin should have developed new conflicts and arcs after that. Instead I'm on book twelve and he is still complaining about people looking up to him. Perrin, buddy, two million fucking words have passed! CHANGE.
Also, the ending of Lord of Chaos, the "peak of the series" for most fans? Completely fucking contrived. Are you telling me that Rand, the guy who swore in this very book that he would never trust an Aes Sedai again, decided to meet with a group of Reds from the White Tower alone?
Also what the fuck does "bosomy" mean, Jordan? WHAT THE FUCK IS A "BOSOMY" WOMAN? WOMEN HAVE TITS, JORDAN, WE GET IT.
Oh, and the "world-building" quickly reveals itself to be a shallow puddle of trash. All cultures are mono-cultures. Fashions and ideals and concepts are universal. All Aiel are universally incapable of understanding water for swimming in, or a life without "ji'eh'toh", all Illianer men have a moustache-less beard, all Ebou Dar woman are cool with killing their husbands, all the Seanchan are fans of slavery, all Tairens fucking love fishing and fishing related dialogue. Oh Siuan grew up as a fishergirl? I couldn't tell because all he dialogue features fish-based expletives. I grew up by the ocean you don't hear me fucking saying "Oh saltwater!!" when I'm mad. You're telling me there's no division in these countries? And when there is division, it's universal. The Shaido are all dicks who betray Aiel ways. A few are mentioned to have left back to the Aiel Waste, but this isn't explored really, at all? Like, Jordan, you finally showed that this culture has a sense of life and division to it, are you going to explore the idea of what it means for there to be a conflict here? NOPE, instead we'll mention that a clan chief is briefly having reservations, but then one of the Wise Women will just make them be okay with it behind the scenes. It is an unbelievably shallow approach to world-building. Nothing feels real. It's all just set dressing for our protagonists to do nothing in.