Title: The Trials of Asmodean
Author: bloodylullabies
Rating: M
Genre: Fantasy
Status: In-Progress
Library Category: The Alternates
Pairings: Asmodean/Mazrim Taim
Fandom: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Summary: The life of the man known as Jasin Natael, from the moment he died until the Last Battle. [Asmodean/Mazrim Taim]
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13539810/1/The-Trials-of-Asmodean

Essentially this story follows the potential life of Asmodean had he not been murdered. Rand puts him in charge of the Black Tower, alongside Taim, and intrigue, hilarity and apparently romance ensues.

I loved it. Imo Asmodean was a wasted character in WOT, Jordan should have kept him around for a great while longer. Taim's arc was also uninspired and dull as far as I'm concerned, so it's nice to have them both as protagonists.

The writing itself is quite good, it flows well, the dialogue feels natural, and the characters come across quite realistically as people (even if Asmodean can be a bit pathetic at times.). While the author obviously can't match Jordan's verbosity and 'flair' for world building, it probably wouldn't have worked very well if they had tried.

Now, in regards to the romantic elements in the fic... Well, it wouldn't be my first choice of pairing, I'll say that much (not that I have any respect at all for the canon WOT pairings), but it's surprisingly well executed - there's a genuine emotional connection between the characters, and it works.

Fight scenes are clearly not something that the author is interested in writing, so you'll have to look elsewhere if you're after an action packed narrative, but I quite like the lack of any real emphasis on violence, at least for most of the story.

 

This started okay but then descended into generic trash with no hook beyond the 'romance'.

 

Chapter one left me with the impression that this version of Asmodean is a fucking idiot.

The tone of the writing was entirely generic internet voice and not even a flimsy attempt at something closer to the setting. I wouldn't expect anyone writing a fanfic to emulate Jordan's dense descriptive prose, but I also don't want it to sound like a reddit post.

I'll rate this 2/5 as in did not reach chapter 2.

Not even relevant to the part I read, but wtf at the pairing. Gay Asmodean could work very well, but Mazrim Taim is an unsympathetic chud and I have no interest in reading about him finding love. The pairing implies shitty slash top / bottom tropey power dynamics as well which is also off-putting.

Thus continues the trend of there being no good Wheel of Time fanfiction (if I am wrong please correct me, I would love to be wrong)

 

I remember it getting quite good about midway through, although I think that things may take a turn for the worse as the story marches on. Either way, almost none of the stories qualities are in the first chapter from what I recall.