I am on the 3rd book of the Wheel of Times Series and it's as good as the Lord of the Ring Triology + The Hobbits. Here's hope to that the remaining books in the WOT series are as good. But thus far, I would have to rank them as equal. No clear favorite yet.
I would say the first 5 or so were as good as Tolkien. But you realize there's like 10 of them, right? The problem is that by book 7 or 8 he's got all his main characters (protagonists and antagonists) running around different points of the globe doing completely different stuff. It's hard to keep a coherent story, and not all of the little sub-plots are that interesting. (i.e. the books go from being about 75% about Rand to about 25%). Plus, the series gets to be a real nightmare when you finally catch up to where Jordan is currently at in the series now, and he doesn't release the next book for 2 and a half years. It's hard to just open up the new one and jump back into it. Then again, the Tolkien stuff after Hobbit + LOTR wasn't that great.
Have to agree with stopper4, these are great books, but once Rand's role began diminishing, so did my interest. Well, it was a combination though, because I got through about book 6 before I had to wait that long dry stretch between books and by the time the 7th came out, I had other reading on my plate and just didn't ever revisit the books. I suppose by now, I'd almost have to start back at the The Eye of the World and go from there.
as will I. I got The Eye Of The World for christmas like when I was 15, almost a decade ago. I quickly caught up in the series, faithfuly read the next two or so books that came out post catching up, and got very frustrated with waiting for another book and then another, and so on. When he's done writing, I'll start reading again from scratch. I loved every chapter of the first 6 or so books, and I'll probaby enjoy the whole series regardless of Rand's role in the later books. I'm easy like that.
I think part of the problem is that Jordan has created so many interesting characters, each with their own part to play in an increasingly complex story. Contrast this with some of George R. R. Martin's stuff. I like his writing just as much. We're approaching book 4 or so of his series, A Game of Thrones. You don't have this problem because he's absolutely pitiless about killing major, popular characters off if the plot warrants it.
At this point I've invested too much time into the WoT to stop now, but if I had known how much it would drag I never would have started. I understand some hardcore fans of the series have told Robert Jordan that, after all this, if he dies without finishing the series, they'll desecrate his grave. I wouldn't go that far, but, after 6000+ pages, I just might be frustrated enough to watch out for the cops while they do it! Has any of you read the new prequeal volume, with Moraine still just an Accepted? And I really, really disagree that the WoT is anywhere close to The Classic in the field.
I find the Wheel series really starts to drag after book six. I got up to ten and then couldn't stay interested (good run though) The plot wears down. It is like a Tom Clancy novel where there about five (or more) simultaneous subplots and you are only interested in two or three. Lord of the Rings just felt smoother even though it too had sub-plots, you had the feeling that the characteres were still working in unison. I have no idea what's going on sometimes in Jordan's works.
Yes, it was short, but good. All about Morianne and Lan, which were always two of his more interesting characters. Jordan really needs a big battle to get all his main characters in one place. That always helps. That, and kill all of those damn recycled Forsaken. I just can't keep track of who's who with the new bad guys. More Rand, less Egwene.
Agreeing with many of the posts here... WoT dragged from books six through nine, I thought ten was pretty good. Jordan could have tightened things up a lot, though, but I'm under the impression he's stretching it out (it was supposed to be nine for the whole story at one point, now he's claiming it will be thirteen or so.) I, too, have invested too much to quit now, but a series I started reading the year after college is nowhere near ending as I approach 40. (Tugs his braid in frustration... oh, wait, that's Nynaeve. And I have short hair.) And, to agree with Stopper4, the winner of the Jordan vs. Tolkein contest is... George R. R. Martin. The Songs of Ice and Fire series is just phenomenal. It's supposed to be two trilogies, the first trilogy is complete and the first book of the second trilogy is due out around Christmas.