A literature professor claimed the difference between “plot” novels and “real literature” is that plot novels cease to be enjoyable once the reader knows how the story goes, while real literature retains and even deepens in its significance and impact upon successive readings, after the reader knows “how it ends.”
Rhythm of War Reread Reflections
They are good stories, but between my changing tastes, and the increasing salience of Cosmere trivia, I do not enjoy them as much as I once did, and that’s a sad fact to recognize.
Towers of Midnight Review
If you ask me my favorite Wheel of Time book, though, my answer is immediate and certain: book thirteen, Towers of Midnight.
The Gathering Storm Review
As I’ve mentioned a few times before, Brandon Sanderson was tapped to finish Wheel of Time after Jordan passed away before he could finish it. I can think of few tasks more difficult or daunting than stepping in to finish another author’s masterpiece.
Knife of Dreams Review
It's a fitting last outing for Jordan, highlighting his distinguishing skills: ability to manage a large cast, embrace multiple perspectives, advance intertwining plot threads, bring secondary and tertiary characters to life, provide a sense of foreboding balanced with a glimmer of hope.
Crossroads of Twilight Review
Long series aren’t for everyone, but if you’ve made it this far, I think it’s fair for an author to take advantage of the scope of the form to tell a story in a spanning way that shorter forms couldn’t support.
Lengths and Forms
Working within those forms is part of managing reader expectations, which is a key component of making a story appeal to a given reader, but the expectations we have around form and length of stories are not derived from some optimization method synchronized with humanity’s ability to interact with literature.
Reading Series
I wonder if perhaps this whole debate is somewhat missing the real point, which is obfuscated by the forms in which we happen to package stories.
Winter’s Heart Review
Nine books into Wheel of Time, a series famous for its length and detail, I found myself thinking the series could really be longer.
Lord of Chaos Review
Mainly, this is another book about Rand, and Jordan again manages to convey both the sense that Rand is going mad, and how each step and action he takes is reasonable and logical for itself.
IGC Publishing 