Reading Wheel of Time for the first time

**Doggles** · September 17th, 2012, 03:42 AM

Thanks for all the comments guys,

You can't go on any fantasy forum without people talking about WoT, and I had noticed that it is generally seen in a very positive way.
Some comments I hear (even on this post) is that people have tended to have read it when they were younger and have such fond memories of it. I think that's why I never got round to reading it before because I thought somehow I had missed the boat and wouldn't enjoy it now (I'm in my 30's now) :-(

So am 5 chapters in, enjoying it so far. the prologue was very intriguing. Is there a reference for time in years, like for example how many years before the current events did the prelude occur.

Stand out characters so far have got to be Mat and the Gleeman Thom??

Anyway so far so good and a nice change of tone from Erikson (read forge of darkness before this and it is very heavy on the philosphy!!)

**Freakytapir** · September 17th, 2012, 08:29 AM

The prologue is set about 3000 years before the events in the series.

**chokipokilo** · September 17th, 2012, 07:31 PM

I've been torn over whether or not to read WoT for years...along with the Malazan series. These stories are just ridiculously long, and from what I hear of Malazan, the ending wasn't quite up to snuff. I'll probably wait till after the last WoT book comes out and see how it's reviewed to see if I really want to commit to a series of this size, with a well known, several book slump in the middle.

**chris777** · September 20th, 2012, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by chokipokilo

I've been torn over whether or not to read WoT for years...along with the Malazan series. These stories are just ridiculously long, and from what I hear of Malazan, the ending wasn't quite up to snuff. I'll probably wait till after the last WoT book comes out and see how it's reviewed to see if I really want to commit to a series of this size, with a well known, several book slump in the middle.

WoT and Malazan are both very good books in their own way. I believe both series could be condensed enough to completely remove at least 2-3books. WoT provides a lot of filler around books 6-10, while SE simply bloats up almost every book. Too much philosophy talk that I tend to skim anyways. (I find myself skimming to dialogue in almost every series so a lot of it is just me)

Both have their moments of being an amazing series though. I don't yet know how WoT is going to end, but Sanderson has done better than expected. He revived the series, and then some. I am 1/2 way through the last SE book, The Crippled God. The last few books have been awesome! So I don't expect the final book to be anything but. And as to your quote about it being "not quite up to snuff". I have not heard that at all. I have actually heard mostly the opposite that many have liked it, and it was a "fitting ending". Or the ending most people wanted. An ending for the readers. ..well see though!

I don't know which one I would rank higher. I would recommend reading both. They are both HUGE undertakings though. It took me awhile myself to get the courage to start Malazan simply because I was afraid of starting a 14+ book series. I am very glad I did though.

**UB313** · September 20th, 2012, 01:29 PM

Maybe the forerunner to the extended, elaborate world-building series of which there are a number today. And fairly original world as well. (Don't be put off by the Tolkienesque first book.) Quite a lot of interesting anthropological details - check out how he thinks through how the White Tower, Aiel and Seanchan societies would be organised.

Decent plotting, epic in scale; a little slow for me, but no slower than Martin or Erikson until you hit book 7 or 8ish.

If you're sensitive to characterisation that is either bland or annoying and repetitive, prepare yourself.

**chris777** · September 20th, 2012, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by UB313

If you're sensitive to characterisation that is either bland or annoying and repetitive, prepare yourself.

Oh man. The women, particularly Nynaeve, were probably the most annoying thing I've had to deal with in any book. It almost made me stop reading. Jordan has a warped view on how women think.

**azninvasion99** · September 20th, 2012, 04:38 PM

I feel that both Nynaeve and Elayne were exceptionally annoying, particularly around books 6-10. Elayne more so in book 9 and 10, since Nynaeve was not in those two as much.

**Kenneth2** · September 20th, 2012, 06:31 PM

Didn't Robert Jordan pass away a few years ago?

**Michigan** · September 20th, 2012, 11:06 PM

Originally Posted by Kenneth2

Didn't Robert Jordan pass away a few years ago?

yes he did

**Doggles** · September 21st, 2012, 02:38 AM

Ok, so up to chapter 17. Still enjoying it, a little slow but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

One thing I've just read that I don't get is that The wisdom has just told Rand about how she can remember his father returning to the village with a new wife and baby, which makes him realise he was born outside of the the two rivers. But the first few chapters told us that the Wisdom is very young and only a couple of years older then Rand. It seemed like she was telling it as if she was a wiser older woman, yet she could only have been 2 or 3 at the most!!! Is this a RAFO or just a mistake?

**Johnny B** · September 21st, 2012, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by Doggles

Ok, so up to chapter 17. Still enjoying it, a little slow but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

One thing I've just read that I don't get is that The wisdom has just told Rand about how she can remember his father returning to the village with a new wife and baby, which makes him realise he was born outside of the the two rivers. But the first few chapters told us that the Wisdom is very young and only a couple of years older then Rand. It seemed like she was telling it as if she was a wiser older woman, yet she could only have been 2 or 3 at the most!!! Is this a RAFO or just a mistake?

It's been a while since I read these, but I was always under the impression that Nynaeve was in her upper mid 20's (27ish maybe?) while Rand was about 19 at the start of the series. If this is the case then she would probably remember this.

**chris777** · September 21st, 2012, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by Doggles

Ok, so up to chapter 17. Still enjoying it, a little slow but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

One thing I've just read that I don't get is that The wisdom has just told Rand about how she can remember his father returning to the village with a new wife and baby, which makes him realise he was born outside of the the two rivers. But the first few chapters told us that the Wisdom is very young and only a couple of years older then Rand. It seemed like she was telling it as if she was a wiser older woman, yet she could only have been 2 or 3 at the most!!! Is this a RAFO or just a mistake?

First of all, I envy you and your fresh start to a great series. Let me give you two links that will save your life with this series!

Tor Re-Read. **REMOVED AS IT CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Wot Character info. This website is AMAZING for WoT. There are a lot of characters, and sometimes people show up and you think "who is she, how do I know her, what has she done?". This website tells you what they have done UP TO THIS POINT. So it never spoils you. Select the book you are reading.
http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~karlh/cgi-bin/wot.cgi

I would recommend reading both website and utilizing them starting on Book2. At the very least bookmark the Character Info site. It helped me soooo much.

**Doggles** · September 22nd, 2012, 08:48 AM

cheers Chris,

I had a quick look at the Tor re-read but I think there are massive spoilers in there, but the other link looks great, appreciate the heads up!!

**chris777** · September 22nd, 2012, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by Doggles

cheers Chris,

I had a quick look at the Tor re-read but I think there are massive spoilers in there, but the other link looks great, appreciate the heads up!!

For the re-read you can of course use whatever method you prefer. But what I did(For Malazan, I didn't know it existed when I read WoT) was read a chapter; then go look through that chapter's re-read. But imo the first book of WoT is pretty straight forward, it starts getting confusing later and that's when the re-read and char site will come in extremely handy. So yes, there are spoilers. Don't look through it now! You could start looking through each chapter re-read after you read that chapter now if you find it helpful.