Jordan has 8 already, and he's not stopping!

King has been writing Dark Tower for 20 some years.

Why and when will it end?

We all keep demanding more! And then we're disappointed when we get it!
Ungrateful lot, aren't we?
I was completely over the "Wheel of Time" by about "The Dragon Reborn", yet I keep buying the things. I bought the whole Shannara series, though I'd had enough of that by "Wishsong". Likewise: "Death Gate", which lost its appeal around "Hand of Chaos"; the "Warlock" series, which was getting very old by the end; and I bought all of David Feintuch's Nicholas Seafort saga (Sci-Fi - sorry!) and I didn't even like the first one!
This kind of behaviour just encourages them, obviously.
The thing is, once you become involved in the lives and worlds of characters as well drawn as these are it is hard to be disinterested in what will happen to them.
As long as the books keep selling, and as long as authors receive fan mail and demands for more, fantasy series such as these will continue.
And some never lose their appeal. (See: The Good, the Bad and the Endless..)
In fact, it's logical to assume that there are people out there for whom the Wheel of Time still holds an endless fascination...
Sad, really.

rachqd -
WoT - I'm not gonna but anythiong else the guy writes. I'll borrow the books if friends of mine buy it, but I'm not gonna spend good money on it. Jordan has lost me.

and DeathGate - Although it did detirirate after 'Hand of Chaos' there were only two more books, and it's still a great serie

But what I'm surprised is that there aren't that many non fantasy series, and that there aren't any stand alone fantasy books ( or relatively few)

Often the first book of an "n-"ology is a standalone... The classic example is Brooks "Sword of Shannara". This book stood on its own, and IMHO was the best of the Shannara books.

What happens is that the author sees a few loose ends he might use, or he doesn't want to invest the time and effort into creating a new world, so he reuses the world, and a standalone book becomes part of a series.

Omer--There are a _lot_ of stand alone fantasy books! Most of Pamela Dean's work, most of McKillip's work (she has a trilogy which tied itself up as a trilogy), McKinley's work, Park Godwin has written some 2 book series & some stand-alones, Andre Norton has some infinite series but also some stand alones, several of C. J. Cherryh's are stand alones . . .

True--there are the endless series; there may even be some endless series that are worth it, but there are also stand alones--some bad, some very good. And some that I, contrary creature that I am, wish had sequels.

Jessica

We have so many from Jordan because he's milking money from those hooked on his series or he'd have finally ended it by now.

Yup. I'm a Wheel of Time junkie. There should be help groups for this sort of thing--- Wheel of Timeholics Anonymous or something. We could have our own 12 step program; the first step is to submit to you problem in order to control it.... AAAAAAAAAH! WoT has invaded my brain!

Wow, it's late. But seriously, I think I do have a problem. I'm in the middle of "Lord of Choas" and I find myself using phrases from the books in everyday conversations--- I keep calling people "wool-brained idiots," remarking that so-and-so has "the Dark One's own luck," and making references to black-veiled Aiels. Should I seek professional help?

in a word: yes. But not because u use phrases, but because you read wheel of time :-)

Although, Lord of Chaos is, in my not very humble opinion, the best of them

Yup, Lord of Chaos is definatly cool. It's got more of a plot than I've seen in the WoT in awhile. And just think, I've got six down... only 2+infinity left to go! I really hope he ends the series soon... I don't think I can take much more of Nynaeve and Elayne. I'm about ready to yank Nynaeve's braid out for her.

I'm glad you share my opinion on Lord of Chaos. Unfortunately, things do NOT improve on... The TreeKiller is a beyond saving:-)

I personnaly like the wheel of time, if not for the story but by the sheer fact that I can spend less than $10 on a book that can conceivable last me two months at the rate I read 'em (one chapter a night). As for my problems with the series, Rober Jordan has doesn't have the knack for political intrigue that he should have. Thus, he 'borrows' from other giants such as Frank Herbert.

WoT...I have to admit, at times it drives me crazy, but it's the best fantasy I know of that's being written now. Yes, the politics is less than original; yes, the characters are often incoherent; yes, the series peaked in "Fires of Heaven" and "Lord of Chaos" and has yet to recover; yes, there's been no real resolution yet to any plot threads or character arcs; yes, EotW copies FotR with near slavishness for the first couple of hundred pages. However, the very ambition of the whole thing keeps my attention going. Jordan does, at this point, seem to have trouble holding together a complete plot, but when he's good he's GOOD.

In fact, I'll tell you why I keep reading those: Jordan writes roaring good endings. They don't always resolve very much, but they're spectacular to read. I don't want to know what happens in the next book; I just want to know how it *ends*.

can I please, please, make you people read george R R Martin's A Game of Thrones. It's the first part of his Fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. It has the coolest characters, the most brilliant ideas and political plots, and a part of A Game of Throne, published as a lone novella, had won A nebula award.

I'll second Omer's recommendation, as Martin has brilliant ideas.

I'll third Omer's mention of ASoIaF.