Forever doomed to languish in the shadow of George R.R. Martins more muscular work, Jordans long (long, long LONG) series is the very definition of an epic fantasy. Ancient evils, calamitous magic, war, gods and demons: its Tolkien recast as manga, with a cast of thousands that rivals A Song Of Ice And Fires massive list of supporting characters. Part of the huge crossover appeal of Jordans novels is that his world treats women as equal to men, and in some societies actually hierarchically superior. This isnt just some pie-in-the-sky sop to the usual criticism that fantasy reinforces chauvinist tendencies after the world was nearly cracked in two by male practitioners of magic, all of whom were driven mad by his iteration of the Devil, its been women who have gradually pieced society back together. The number of strong, well-crafted and compelling female characters in the series is striking from the very first book. Part of the rest of the appeal is that each of Jordans novels is already structured like a season of a television show. They follow an overarching narrative, chapters chopping backward and forward between characters and situations like scenes in a film, and each book ends in a climactic set-piece like the season finale of a great TV show. Its crying out for a television adaptation: Game Of Thrones without the misogyny, with mad wizards staging rebellion against legions of frankly terrifying witches.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
