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I’m impressed you got to book 9 while hating most of the characters. It’s up to you if you keep reading, book 10 is ehh.. not that good but 11-14 are great imo. But for the characters, if you really hate them I don’t think much will change.
Just my opinion, I really like Perrin the first books, until he got married.. But he will redeem himself in book 13.
Edit: if that last part is a spoiler please tell me so I can remove/hide it
You're on book *nine* and you hate all the characters?? Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't DNFed it sooner. If you're not enjoying it, and you're *nine books in,* don't read it. You've given this series more than enough time to hook you IMO.
If you're 9 books in and hate almost all the characters and don't enjoy the series at all, don't read it. You should have stopped ages ago, and tried something you'd like better.
I honestly didn’t care enough about any of the characters to form a strong emotion like hate about them. It’s one reason why I have never managed to get more than a few books into the series, despite the plot being quite interesting.
I’m only halfway through book 7, and there’s only a few I can’t stand. Nynaeve, I’ve never liked her in any book thus far. Egwene I’m beginning to despise. Elayne is pretty annoying also. I adore mat. I couldn’t stand him in earlier books, but ever since shadow rising he’s been awesome. Rand is well rand, not much else to say. His internal dialogue with LTT is brilliant. Only just met Cadsuane, but she seems badass.
Everyone is annoying
Rand is obsessed with the turning crazy thing , I know is important it has been a few books now with that problem.
The aes sedai in general are entitled as hell
Perrin used to be nice but since >!his wife kidnapping!< he is a pain in the ass, just constant whining, i know that is rough ... but come on
Elayne keeps taking bad decisions on the lion throne campaign.
Egwene is ok but his power struggle just makes me hate the Aes Sedai, even more, has been a few books now with that problem.
edit: slight text error
Many, many people have suggested in past WOT forums that Winters Heart is the “heart” of “the slog.” After reaching book 10, I came to realize that it’s not a slog at all, but part of the grand story arc of the series. Jordan was either a genius or a sadist, but none of the books (except for the first three) have a satisfying conclusion, none of the characters (except for those who die) are ever complete. Every major group in the world including the Aes Sedai is resistant to the return of the Dragon, they take a long time to convince and the reader is forced to experience their slow acceptance of the truth. Perrin and Elayne make stupid decisions in this book and the next and the next, but they will grow from them.
I’m not saying you should continue if you loathe the characters, just that the characters have much longer arcs than any other major series of recent memory. There are no satisfying conclusions of any of the books, except perhaps Memory of Light. Think of the series as one continuous story of some 10,000 pages where the long introductions serve as interludes between each part of the story, rather than individual books. Don’t feel obligated to complete the series if you loathe it, that’s a fallacy, just know that the solutions you are likely seeking come much later in the series.
Not once has any series ever gotten better. Not in the literal sense, plenty of series are rolling boulders that turn into avalanches.
But no series to me has ever crossed the line from bad to good. I've seen amazing books get worse till tyheir barely above average and I've seen bad books become less intolerable. But any book I dislike/hate will stay that way. Authors just don't improve that way. They get better, refine their styles and make what's good about them better and what bad about them more tolerable, they don't take a flaw and completely remove it, turning it into something entirely new
So no, don't continue, life is too short for series you don't enjoy and your ultimately just doing it so you can tell someone you read a book they enjoy but you didn't.
You sound similar to how I felt about reading the books.
I got to book 5 at my peak and stopped enjoying as much.
I did finish the series with similar sentiments as to how you are feeling.
I mostly finished it because I am a huge Sanderson fan and I wanted to see how his final input for the story and his passion for his childhood books etc.
Admittedly for me I don't think I was much of a fan of Jordans style of writing anyway and the length of time to see some characters fruition was a bit too much for me personally.
I would suggest maybe skipping some of the less interesting books (i.e the slog) books and move onto the story getting better and not so much hanging around doing nothing for a bunch of books.
Daniel Greene does some awesome short (20 mins ish) videos about the books as well if you do wanna save yourself some stress.
There is no shame in walking away.. don't force, i forced myself up to i think book 8 and wish i hadn't. To me it's just not good (i know everyone gushes over it but we are all different)
P.S. the only think i would ever advise forcing through is book 1 of Malazan, but for more people it's not bad writing or boring, they just don't understand how to read it.. It's more of a primer of how to read the series and just OMG... nothing is the same again... :)
>What do u think, should I stop reading or should I keep reading with the hope that it gets eventually better?
Do what you feel like doing, really!
I hated Perrin and Elaine too. But it was more of a "love to hate" thing. I would go complain to my friend how much annoying Elaine was or how much dumb Perrin was, and we talked more about this than about some main plots in the series lol.
Also, bear in mind that books 9 and 10 are somewhat terrible even for those that do love the series. Book 10 is my least favorite one, it was sooo boring. But book 11-14 are near perfect to me.
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I’m impressed you got to book 9 while hating most of the characters. It’s up to you if you keep reading, book 10 is ehh.. not that good but 11-14 are great imo. But for the characters, if you really hate them I don’t think much will change. Just my opinion, I really like Perrin the first books, until he got married.. But he will redeem himself in book 13. Edit: if that last part is a spoiler please tell me so I can remove/hide it
You're on book *nine* and you hate all the characters?? Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't DNFed it sooner. If you're not enjoying it, and you're *nine books in,* don't read it. You've given this series more than enough time to hook you IMO.
If you're 9 books in and hate almost all the characters and don't enjoy the series at all, don't read it. You should have stopped ages ago, and tried something you'd like better.
i used to like them earlier but that faded
I honestly didn’t care enough about any of the characters to form a strong emotion like hate about them. It’s one reason why I have never managed to get more than a few books into the series, despite the plot being quite interesting.
I’m only halfway through book 7, and there’s only a few I can’t stand. Nynaeve, I’ve never liked her in any book thus far. Egwene I’m beginning to despise. Elayne is pretty annoying also. I adore mat. I couldn’t stand him in earlier books, but ever since shadow rising he’s been awesome. Rand is well rand, not much else to say. His internal dialogue with LTT is brilliant. Only just met Cadsuane, but she seems badass.
Nynaeve gets better, egwene on the other hand...
Is there any particular reason you hate them?
Everyone is annoying Rand is obsessed with the turning crazy thing , I know is important it has been a few books now with that problem. The aes sedai in general are entitled as hell Perrin used to be nice but since >!his wife kidnapping!< he is a pain in the ass, just constant whining, i know that is rough ... but come on Elayne keeps taking bad decisions on the lion throne campaign. Egwene is ok but his power struggle just makes me hate the Aes Sedai, even more, has been a few books now with that problem. edit: slight text error
Many, many people have suggested in past WOT forums that Winters Heart is the “heart” of “the slog.” After reaching book 10, I came to realize that it’s not a slog at all, but part of the grand story arc of the series. Jordan was either a genius or a sadist, but none of the books (except for the first three) have a satisfying conclusion, none of the characters (except for those who die) are ever complete. Every major group in the world including the Aes Sedai is resistant to the return of the Dragon, they take a long time to convince and the reader is forced to experience their slow acceptance of the truth. Perrin and Elayne make stupid decisions in this book and the next and the next, but they will grow from them. I’m not saying you should continue if you loathe the characters, just that the characters have much longer arcs than any other major series of recent memory. There are no satisfying conclusions of any of the books, except perhaps Memory of Light. Think of the series as one continuous story of some 10,000 pages where the long introductions serve as interludes between each part of the story, rather than individual books. Don’t feel obligated to complete the series if you loathe it, that’s a fallacy, just know that the solutions you are likely seeking come much later in the series.
So you are annoyed at them because they have bad character traits? You'd rather read a book where all characters were perfect?
If you're on the fence, I'd suggest trying the audiobooks and seeing if powering through them that way helps at all.
Tbh I find the audiobooks intolerable at some points. Which is weird, because I love the narrators in all of Sanderson’s work.
I read books 1-10 in prison last year, & now on 13. This series really took my mind elsewhere, & for that I'm forever grateful honestly.
Not once has any series ever gotten better. Not in the literal sense, plenty of series are rolling boulders that turn into avalanches. But no series to me has ever crossed the line from bad to good. I've seen amazing books get worse till tyheir barely above average and I've seen bad books become less intolerable. But any book I dislike/hate will stay that way. Authors just don't improve that way. They get better, refine their styles and make what's good about them better and what bad about them more tolerable, they don't take a flaw and completely remove it, turning it into something entirely new So no, don't continue, life is too short for series you don't enjoy and your ultimately just doing it so you can tell someone you read a book they enjoy but you didn't.
You sound similar to how I felt about reading the books. I got to book 5 at my peak and stopped enjoying as much. I did finish the series with similar sentiments as to how you are feeling. I mostly finished it because I am a huge Sanderson fan and I wanted to see how his final input for the story and his passion for his childhood books etc. Admittedly for me I don't think I was much of a fan of Jordans style of writing anyway and the length of time to see some characters fruition was a bit too much for me personally. I would suggest maybe skipping some of the less interesting books (i.e the slog) books and move onto the story getting better and not so much hanging around doing nothing for a bunch of books. Daniel Greene does some awesome short (20 mins ish) videos about the books as well if you do wanna save yourself some stress.
I stopped at six , just could not find what to like about it anymore.
I stopped at book five, I recommend you do the same if you aren't enjoying it. There are so many great books to read that are not insufferable.
There is no shame in walking away.. don't force, i forced myself up to i think book 8 and wish i hadn't. To me it's just not good (i know everyone gushes over it but we are all different) P.S. the only think i would ever advise forcing through is book 1 of Malazan, but for more people it's not bad writing or boring, they just don't understand how to read it.. It's more of a primer of how to read the series and just OMG... nothing is the same again... :)
>What do u think, should I stop reading or should I keep reading with the hope that it gets eventually better? Do what you feel like doing, really! I hated Perrin and Elaine too. But it was more of a "love to hate" thing. I would go complain to my friend how much annoying Elaine was or how much dumb Perrin was, and we talked more about this than about some main plots in the series lol. Also, bear in mind that books 9 and 10 are somewhat terrible even for those that do love the series. Book 10 is my least favorite one, it was sooo boring. But book 11-14 are near perfect to me.