The Fantasy Genre in Books and on Screen

I have read a few decent fantasy series and a few that were okay. There are two series that held great promise that I gave up on partway through.

The first was the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. It was a very long time ago, perhaps even 30 years when I picked up the first volume of what I thought was a trilogy. The first three books were quite absorbing, but when I got to the end of them, I realized that I wasn't really at the end, for there would be more.

I read a few more volumes and gave up when I felt the author was simply playing a joke on us, for the narrative was advancing so very slowly that it seemed like he was toying with the readers. Although I did read [I think] two more of the series, they had lost the edge in my opinion, and I quit.

Many years later, the same thing occurred with the famous Game of Thrones fantasy series by George RR Martin, which was really called A Song of Ice and Fire in the original literary form. I had the very same feeling as with Wheel that I was being duped, so I stopped reading partway through the fourth book (I think it was).

In retrospect, it doesn't seem as though Thrones/Ice and Fire went on as interminably as Wheel of Time, so perhaps I was premature in my judgment, but I felt as though we were heading down the same very very long path. I see now that there have only been six volumes although it is possible that more may be coming. It is a little unclear to me.

Game of Thrones was a hit tv series that went on through 8 seasons. We began the first video of the first season. It was rather bawdy, so we quit. Millions didn't quit and became totally absorbed. Perhaps, I should reconsider some day.

Back to Wheel of Time, there have been a total of 14 books. The last 3 were written by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan passed away, but 3 of the 14 books, were prologues written after the eighth book and before the actual sequence was continued.

To finally get to the point, Sue and I have just completed the first season of Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime. I read the books so long ago that I have little recollection of the events although I do remember the characters. I imagine that the tv series has taken liberties as is usually the case. We liked the first season well enough, even Sue who never reasd any of the series and who can be difficult to please when it comes to tv. 

I have written all this to let you know that it may be worth trying unless the fantasy genre really puts you off. You will know after and episode or two if it is for you.

All that being the case, what I am really keen about is to see what Prime does with Tolkien, Middle Earth, hobbits and Lord of the Rings, which is due to be released late in 2022.