• Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
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    11 months ago

    I disagree. A lot of epic tales grab you in the opening. In fact that’s a bit of a cornerstone of writing, grab them early. If there’s nothing for me to like in the first two hours of something, why should I assume it’s going to get better?

    • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      Fair enough. Don’t read the Wheel of Time then (or any Epic Fantasy, if we’re being honest) :)

      • Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        I haven’t read those books, but is there really nothing interesting in them in the first few chapters? No breaks from the norm, nothing to grab you and keep you invested? Tbf epic fantasy, yeah, not my genre but it seems so foreign to me, having it be THAT slow of a burn.

        • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          The first book (about 900 pages if I recall) is largely an homage to Tolkien with the slow meandering journey punctuated only by a few action sequences. There’s a few incredible beats (surprise, Wheel of Time is my favorite literature and I’ve read the 14-book series 6-7 times), but the author quickly shows his notorious slow pacing. It is a true joke that he can spend an entire page explaining the braid in someone’s hair and exactly how they pull at it when they’re angry.

          But a lot of epic fantasy is notoriously slow with world-building.