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Just finished Eye of the World, and it sucked. Very generic, world isn't that interesting, bland characters, not enough enticing mystery, and is generally boring till the last 15% of the book. I just read Pillars of the Earth right before it, and it really highlights just how boring and uninteresting it is compared to PotE; realize how bad things are when you actually read a good book. Maybe the story gets better but how did it get popular in the first place? Who the hell read book one and thought "yeah, can't wait for book 2 now"

I started reading Wheel of Time in about 1999 (when the 8th book was just released) and it was my favourite series at the time. Here is what I think the strengths and weaknesses of it is: Pros: Worldbuilding. I disagree a lot here, tbh I don't think fantasy worldbuilding has ever been done better and it's the main thing I like about WoT. The magic is logical, the cultures do not perfectly map onto Earth cultures, there is nothing that seems impossible by the rules of the world (in contrast to say The Wall in Song of Ice and Fire), and with the languages that is a conceit that basically all fantasy writers pull to make things easier (even in the Lord of the Rings every single character form hobbits to orcs is able to speak the same language). Plot. You seem to have missed a lot of subtitles here (which is very surprising because Jordan is not subtle at all). All the important plot points make sense and motivations and reasons explained. For example the 3 boys left the village not because they wanted to but because they knew if they stayed they'd get everyone in the village killed. When Nyaneve chased them she thought she'd be back in a few weeks at most. Mixed: Structure. When Jordan started writing this _everything_ was a Lord of the Rings clone. He chose to copy that structure for the beginning but never intended to end it that way. Realism. Yeah the main characters, and even the secondaries really, have plot armour. This was a time before George R. R. Martin, it was standard for those times. I prefer things a bit darker these days myself (Malazan is now my favourite series) but I don't blame Jordan for this. Cons: Characterisation (braid pulling, etc). Yes, it is very basic and is endlessly repetitive. It gives insight into what the characters are feeling at all times, but the story doesn't need that. There is way too much description that should have been cut. Pacing. The worst thing that happened to WoT was Jordan marrying his editor, and that's saying something considering his death. The first 5 books covered an enormous amount of ground, it's an epic story so it has to be lengthy. IMO the slog started to creep in even in book 6. Jordan just gets increasingly lost in his characters and writes and writes and writes and major plot points get further and further spaced out. I truly think it would be to the publisher's advantage to revise this series down to 12 books and rerelease it like that. Romance. Before WoT Jordan was actually a romance writer. I haven't read any of them but I suspect this is a major part of the problem. The most frustrating parts of the story to read, and Rand with the three women had way too convenient an ending. Everything is pretty tame as well, very PG-13 (ultimately I do kinda see this series as aimed at 13 to 16 year olds). It's been a long time since WoT was my favourite series (I stopped eagerly anticipating the new releases about book 10), but does it suck? No, not in my opinion. However I don't think it's that far away from it, I think there is probably a good argument for it but I wasn't convinced with this video. One thing I can absolutely agree on though is that The Wheel of Time is seriously overhyped, especially in this post-Game of Thrones world. PS: If anyone is reading the series and is considering dropping it I will say that if you don't enjoy it by the end of book 6 then it is _very_ unlikely you ever will and you should drop it there. That doesn't mean you shouldn't drop it earlier of course, but don't punish yourself with a 14 book series if you aren't already enjoying it. Life is too short.

A page and a half to open a door feels like some kind of a record for plot padding. 😂

EVERY WORD IS PERFECT JOSE!!! Just kidding. I’m looking forward to rereading this MST and then starting the follow up series for the first time this year!

Nice, I've just finished a beer when clicking on the video. As a fantasy fan and Tolkien fan especially I was curious about the wheel of time. Even positive reviews of the series are adorned with sarcastic and critical comments. I actually became interested in finding reasons why I would not like Wheel of Time instead of the opposite ^^ Most horrid thing about it is that it sounds laborious, almost like a joyless dedication to get through all pages.

1k subs?! Congrats José, you absolutely deserve it. Keep doing what you’re doing and follow your passions. Can’t wait to see you reach 10k!

2:17 ok which one of you was it? Fess up, someone farted!

The spellmonger series something that really holds up. cannot tell how underrated it is. anyways.

This bothered me so much when I read it - the men and women not communicating with each other. I was wondering whether just once a man and woman might have a respectful conversation with each other and resolve something. Every relationship (at least in my memory) is a battle to manipulate, intimidate, trick the other into doing something. It was just sad. I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on this. I gave up about book 8.

I read exactly one chapter of the first book and thought screw this I'm out. it felt like he really wanted to hammer home his English degree with so many unnecessary words. So, knowing there were so many more books to go through I opted out early

Would it be alright if i used a ten second clip from your video for a video I'm putting together. It's the part where you say "That is what happens in wheel of time a big fat nothing, nothing happens". Its a compilation of people voicing their thoughts on Crossroads of Twilight. I'll be sure to list you in the video and give you credit for your part and if the video is successful it might bring more traffic your way.

I'm really sorry that this is my first ever comment on your channel because I saw your video in a Google recommended tab actually and I think it's wonderful! My dad is a huge discworld fan and I love the world too so definitely excited to see more videos on your takes, I'm a literature nerd so I love this stuff. Not meant as hate at all but please check on your fishy, the amount of gasping it's doing at the top there means it's struggling. Not sure if that's a temporary tank for the video or if that's where he lives but he's having a rough time throughout this vid.

Sourcery is an amazing read, it is probably my favourite of the Rincewind books.

Thanks for another great video!! I haven’t read enough Discworld books, it always felt so daunting and I didn’t know where to start. This sounds like as good a place as any! (Sorry it’s been so long since I left a comment, it’s been a very busy couple of months for me personally.) 😊

The scenes with the four horsemen of the apocalypse were some of my favourites ever :D

I just saw your fish in a Discworld video. Nice gift. I think I should also watch the other videos about this saga, because I don't remember if I saw them or not. Just today I found it. The different worlds thing may be to have more creative freedom in the future. Thanks for the video. Take care

congratulations for the thousand subscribers. I hope you are well and that you are doing better from now on. i look forward to your reviews of Discworld. it is a saga that catches my attention. Thank you, again, for the video. By the way, Do you recommend Posteguillo?

thanks for the video. happy new year. i already commented on the Spanish video but i also saw this one for the algorithm, hahaha. nice fish, by the way.

Congratulations on hitting 1K and happy New Year!! 🎉 Here’s to many more on both fronts! Looking forward to the reviews you’ve got planned. 😊

Congratulations on 1K subscribers and Happy New Year!

Hello! Happy New Year! I hope your fish is still alive. Congratulations and good luck with the reading in 2025.

Congratulations! 🥳Happy new year 🎉And thank you 🙂

I totally agree with 1, and I agree Sanderson wrote it better. About nr. 3 - well, that is intentional. Without all the burdens it would be a fun story like Once upon a time in Tokyo. Story about how fate may work without people working, which is a: how things sometimes work in life, so it is fun in greater scale. I really enjoyed how Rand destroyed Cairhien with doing nothing, because everyone was used to political games. The best parts were where MC-s were guided by fate. Only when they tried to be proactive heroes things started to suck for me. Also b, it demonstrates how antagonist's strength was in the weaknesses of the former political system, not in their own strength. Same as in Star Wars, something well shown in Disney and ruined by EU. And c: this was and is the truly original part, something in life books tend to lose. Only parallel is the Foundation series by Asimov

Happy New Year! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on To Green Angel Tower!

There are really good things in there like Shadar Logoth, Mashin Shin, the red ajah - black ajah agents, the sheol ghul pit, Rhand's transformation but there is so much pointless meandering and slog in this. I think 5 or 6 books were more than enough.

He's not my bitch but he's a bitch. Gaiman too, pretentious prick.

Just curious; Why did you think the final Harry Potter book was so bad? And why do you still regard the series as being so great if you hated the final book, wouldn't that taint the entire series in your eyes? Also, what'd you think of the films? Good adaptation?

How come you guys never made another live stream after you finished the Wheel of Time series?

Good review and I agree. Have you ever read The Chronicles of Amber, or The Chronicles of Prydain? Curious what your thoughts are.

I tried to watching the Amazon prime series "The Wheel of Time" and was baffled by the homunculus horse shit that it was. So damn boring and poorly written. Are the books as bad as the TV series????

Hey, great review. I'm new to Fantasy, is this a good first read (i got the chronicles 3 books) or is it difficult to follow with many characters? Thank you

I got the exact cherry picked info i wanted to hear as i just stumbled upon the long cosmos after hearing about the serie just last week so I wished I found the long earth first but I guess time probably ain't linear anyway so I'll start at the end Hahaha

Whole video is full of very shell conclusions. Fantasy is not defined by inclusion rases that WoW has. It’s a specific way to tell a story. Why there are no more dragons and elves anymore? That’s was Tolkien influence that dominates for many years, and now it’s Martin’s influence taking its place. I personally hates worlds with dozen sentient races thriving and not killing each other to a point of a total extinction. It’s just unrealistic and naive idea overall.

four years later you're still right IF wings is to feast/dance what storm is to clash, then (even if the series never finishes) it might still be a good incomplete work. Loads of ancient works like Livy are incomplete but great. But if he just does ANOTHER all buildup with no payoff book?

Catching up on some videos & having just read the book was great to watch this! Thanks for hosting Jose

Thanks for the video. You said it was for young adults, but I'm not much of a reader of literature in that age section. The premise catches my attention though. Is the language simple for someone who is just starting to read in another language? Does it have some difficulty or is it manageable for someone with a C2 level? Take care and keep reading

My problem with traditional fantasy is that a lot of it is boring to me. I love stories balanced between character and plot. Modern goes too deep into personal subject truths and justifying moral relativism, and traditional is all about the quest. Dragon lance was painful to read, and I dropped the first book at the unicorn.

I agree. I've been writing a series including fairies, dwarfs, nurcles , and other creatures. I have book one almost finished, and book 2 is ready to be edited. I originally intended book 3 to end the series, but it keeps growing as I write. Because fairies and such aren't popular, I never expected anyone to read it, but your talk encourages me

Sorry, but for me, I don't want to do without Dwarves, Elves, ORcs or similar bad craatures. I want trees that can talk and be dangerous. I want swordsmen and Basilisks and Trolls.

Conan wasn't campy. Beastmaster wasn't campy. Lord of the rings, chapter 1 Fellowship...wasn't campy. Some of the Forgotten Realms books and Dragon lore books were okay. If you want REAL FANTASY that entertains, then you HAVE TO GET INTO the D and D novels and gaming. They don't make good books anymore because all the good authors are dead.

Look, don't complicate the argument. Its simple. REAL FANTASY should always appear as a Tolkien story, or a D and D adventure game. Or like Daggerfall or CONAN the Barbarian movie or book. People would never get tired of movies like Beastmaster or Conan or Dragonslayer. Put the "harry potter"s culture BACK where it belongs. In ancient times. quests and struggles are important. Look how good the GAme of Thrones was early on. Most authors who write books always have to include too much sex or dark, edgy themes. Give us some heroes who EXPLORE their world and want to get rich or find artifacts.

I don’t know how this 3 year old video popped up on my watch list. But this is one of the best videos I have watched in a very long time

Gracias por tu opinión sobre este libro. Soy principiante ((?) mi nivel de español es bajo) pero he estado aprendiendo el idioma con la serie Pokémon. He estado comprando los libros de Isabel Allende para probar después de algunas series de "middle readers". Una copia de Sidi ha estado en la estantería durante un año y la sigo devolviendo. Leí la premisa y la biografía del autor, pero no entendí todo el contexto. You’ve “sold me” de comprar este libro, ¡gracias! Entonces tal vez compre su libro ‘el italiano’ también. Nuestra sección de libros en español en la tienda es pequeña, pero me alegro de que tengamos algo. Nunca pensé que me encontraría con una reseña de este libro de manera natural, espero que hagas más como este en el futuro.

Hi Jose! Lovely to see you back on the Disc, Mort is indeed a fantastic look at cognitive dissonance and the ways our brains filter out things that don't mesh with our own world view. Like everything Sir Terry did, he wrote in such a way to make a reader think, not feel attacked. Have a great weekend.

Thanks for the video! Can it be read as a standalone? Interesting premise of the book

Thanks for the video, I'm excited to start reading this series.

I do like the Warhammer Fantasy novels, specifically the books writtened by CL Werner and William King.

Hello from the future. Got this in my recommendations. And as we are all in the future, we know GRR Martin has not completed the Winds of winter and no announcement is imminent. So you were right (and so was I, but I cannot prove that).

Yup, definitely reading this series as soon as I finish some of the ones I have ongoing. Interesting detail about the start, though. Great review!

Many people are tired of the old fantasy tropes. Publishing houses are also dominated by middle women. Leading to massive amounts of romaticy and cozy fantasy. Most fantasy being published is either by established authors or self publishing. Personally I like the less over the top fantasy. I don’t want a childs fantasy. I don’t want Lord Of the Rings with black and white characters and a satan like world threat bad guy. Nor do I want a power fantasy like anime produces. Give me well developed characters in a believable world. Give me fantasy ideas I haven’t read 200+ times. I like Sanderson but hes not one of my favorites. If you didn’t love mistborn I wouldn’t get your hopes up to high for Stormlight Archive. Try used book stores or websites. With thousands of classic fantasy books out there you should be able to find some. You might also look for websites that have stuff like the old magazine short stories. If you don’t mind other mediums there are podcasts and RUclips live game play of d&d you might enjoy.