The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan (Part II)

I put a "part I" on the last Wheel of Time post because I anticipated having to write this one. I'm currently in the middle of the twelfth book in the series, which just came out in October. Over the past couple of months, I finished books six through eleven. Regarding books six through ten, though, they got slower, more stagnant, and worse overall as the series progressed (just as I remembered from having read the series through the tenth in high school).

Before I make it sound like I don't recommend this series to any fan of fantasy/adventure (or anyone with a general appreciation of the Hero's Journey), I want to clarify that none of these books were "bad" in comparison to most contemporary fantasy, and most were still quite good--just not as good as the first five. In fact, book six is one of my favorite in the series, and book nine is also quite good. On the other hand, books seven and eight felt like they should have been condensed into one book, and book ten was so stagnant that it could have been an incredibly long epilogue to book nine. Fortunately, by the time you have read the first five or six books in the series, you generally become so interested in the characters' lives that even the slowest parts aren't too painful.

Book eleven, Knife of Dreams, was the last book Robert Jordan wrote of the series before he died (it's now being finished by Brandon Sanderson), and little of what I said of books six through ten applies to it. In my opinion, it is the single best book in the series so far. Jordan made up quickly for most of the stagnant plot lines that filled the preceding books, leaving book eleven with enough plot progression for two good books.

I look forward to finishing book twelve, and--finally--to the real end of the series when Sanderson finishes the last two books in the next couple of years.

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

I wanted to mention this book in passing. This was actually the first time I have read the book, which is not odd in itself except that I've read almost all of Lewis' other books including the more obscure ones. I tried to read Mere Christianity several years ago, but only made it about 50 pages in. I still find the book a bit on the dry side, but I suppose my tolerance for dry books has gone up, or on the other hand, I suppose my appreciation of solid rationale and powerful rhetoric has also increased.

Even as I express my admiration for Lewis' thoughts, opinions, and arguments, I do want to note one interesting habit that is especially prevalent in this book. Lewis tends to spend about 80% of his time in Mere Christianity describing allegories to explain his argument. This normally wouldn't be a problem--most great teachers use allegories--but about halfway through the book I have to admit I got a little tired of them. Overall, however, it was a great read and full of powerful and thought-provoking explanations of Christianity.