This is going to be an unpopular opinion. I've put off reading this series for a long time because it didn't sound enticing to me. And especially since I heard some people compare it to Tolkien or name it “the best fantasy story”. I was skeptical; and after finally finishing book 1, I was right - I don't like it. I don't hate it, but I don't quite like it (not-quite-3 stars). As a side note, I did watch the first couple of episodes of the oh-so-popular TV series, but I didn't like that either.
First off, I would praise the writing and the coherency of prose. The book introduces a staggering number of important characters, supporting characters, side characters, and once-off characters. But I didn't find myself losing track. It's almost like the writing itself kind of hints to the reader which characters you should hold in your long term memory. Or maybe the prose just makes it easy to recall who a character is. This part was done really well, even with the chapters frequently switching to a different plot arc.
Now comes the primary reason why I don't like it - generally-speaking, this is less epic adventure and more political drama slash court intrigue. It's almost medieval fiction, except set in a completely different world, with a smattering of mystical and supernatural elements thrown in. Maybe it's just the first volume and winter hasn't arrived yet. I hope volume 2 picks it up a bit. As it is, I would say it's comparable to Tolkien's works only on the details of the setting, but not the story.
Also of note is that this book targets a mature audience. There's a fair bit of brutality, oppression, and perversion going on throughout the book. The writer has no problems killing off characters whom you thought might become rather central. In a way, I'm kind of enjoying myself trying to predict who will die and who won't, and predicting who gets a chapter with their name on it. At least he hasn't killed off my favourite ones yet - but he also hasn't killed off the ones that annoy me. Oh well.
I do look forward to seeing more of what “winter is coming” means, especially with regards to “the Others”, as this feels like the most promising part of the story to me.
In conclusion, this book is very obviously just part 1, as almost nothing concludes here. Every single major plot arc is still ongoing and nowhere near finishing - like a TV-series soap drama, small wonder it so succeeded on TV.
Well, I finally read the book after watching that Hollywood blockbuster years ago. I must say... I didn't realise how different they were. Sure, the gist of it was there, but it's quite different.
I liked the prose in the book - it shows the thought patterns of Robert Neville, as well as his psychological state. It tries to portray what happens to a person's mind when left all alone for so long, and I think it's a fair portrayal. This is something the movie absolutely failed to capture - it's hard to capture the emotions and the pain.
You have to realise that this book was written in the 1950s, about the 1970s, twenty years into the future. The rational explanations and the use of science to explain the situation actually felt quite plausible. The vampires themselves were actually not as important as in the movie, Robert Neville was on the centre stage - the vampires were just part of the situation he's in. It's definitely not a zombie/vampire tale like the movie seems to imply it is.
And I finally understood what the phrase “I Am Legend” meant.
When I was still schooling, I tried to read all of the Hardy Boys books. I didn't come close to finishing the whole series, and by now I had already forgot most of the content of those that I had read. But I do recall how much I loved reading each and every one of them.
I congratulate everyone who has the perseverance to continue on while envying those who had the force of will to just forget about how this epic story is supposed to end. Here we are at book 8 and like book 7, very little of the main plot actually happens. Most of the book are again devoted to describing in excruciating detail of how the main characters tend to act and think, with very little variation, mostly accomplishing nothing except introduce filler and making characters feel one-dimensional. Of course, there's now also a bit of slavery coming in so expect to see a lot of boxing and switching in addition to the breasts of book 7. Yes, I'm ranting, but I'm still reading. I don't know what Jordan was hoping to do when writing this book. The focus on the main characters appears to be more on Egwene this time, but there's a bit of the others. His style is still there and when the main plot moves an inch, you can tell that his superb writing skills are still there. It's just that, strangely, he indulges in the over-description of very trivial events, very trivial one-off characters, and very trivial dialogues. If you can still stomach the incredibly wordy descriptions, there's still bits of gems here and there.