The Lord of the Rings is suffused with melancholy. It is the story of a fading world. Even if Sauron is defeated, which not many think possible, what comes after him will be less though better. It's full of loss and wounds that never fully heal.
Most of the Tolkien imitators lacked that atmosphere, whether because they didn't notice it, were incapable of replicating it, or simply didn't want it. Nevertheless, few had anything like it and fewer replaced it.
Robert Jordan replaced it. The Wheel of Time is not steeped in melancholy. It is not missing melancholy. It is something else entirely. It is lively and vibrant and action-packed. There are thrilling boss battles, and not just the ones seen directly in the books. There are heroes of legends being reborn all the time and redoing their timeless deeds. There is history told as stories rather than as poems, recalled with excitement rather than nostalgia.
All that makes The Wheel of Time an obvious choice for adaptation into more visceral media, but there was only one videogame made out of it. Meanwhile, The Lord of the Rings has had all sorts of movies and games. Allegedly.
If we consider the atmosphere of those adaptations and on what aspects they concentrate, we might wonder if they are adaptations of The Lord of the Rings at all. We may wonder if they are not in fact The Wheel of Time with the names changed.
I mean, I don't wonder that. I'm saying it. Here. So y'know.
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