Shivertongue Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 This is it. After more than twenty years, we are nearing the end. I don't know if I can speak for anyone else on this, but for me, it feels almost bittersweet. I'm eager - so, so eager - to read A Memory of Light, but knowing it's going to be the end has me almost wishing I could push it back, just a little longer. I started The Wheel of Time when I was nine years old, a year or so after The Lord of Chaos came out. I am now twenty-six, and the series is coming to it's conclusion. Many long-time fans speak of the books and the characters as if they were old friends, in a manner that sometimes confuses those who aren't a part of it. But that is how it is, for many of us. For many of us, The Wheel of Time has lasted longer than jobs, longer than friendships, longer than romantic relationships. I know the characters in this epic better than I know anyone from my graduating class. The Wheel of Time has been a constant in my life, one of those things that I could always fall back on when things began to get crazy. The series has it's detractors, as all things with large fandoms do, and this is the reason we so vehemently defend it. It's not something that can truly be explained. I've tried - I'm trying right now - and I find myself wishing I could find the words. There are some things no words can explain. All stories must come to an end. And I would be upset if the Wheel of Time did not. However, as all Wheel of Time fans know, this is not an ending. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it is an ending. And to lead into this ending, I propose a beginning. The Great Reread, for any on 17th Shard who wish to participate. Whether you can quote the prophecies by heart, sing Jak o' the Shadows pitch-perfect, or have never before cracked open one of the books, all are welcome. A Memory of Light is scheduled to come out January 8th. That gives us just under six months to read 13 very large books - 14 if some of you want to include New Spring. That's a little less than two weeks per book. If you've already begun a reread, that's totally cool. If you were planning to, now is your excuse to start. I'm in the middle of rereading The Way of Kings right now, but I'm setting it aside for The Eye of the World as soon as I finish this post. The rules are simple. Read, or reread, the entire Wheel of Time series, finishing Towers of Midnight by the time A Memory of Light comes out. Post that you are participating, and post when you finish or start a book. If you want - and I highly encourage this - post any thoughts you have on the book, and how you think they might pertain to the upcoming finale. There is no set pace everyone must follow, only that you must finish by January 8th in order to "win". All participants will receive a forum award of my making. All participants who finish within the time frame will receive an even more prestigious forum award, also of my making. Think you can do it? Then sign up and start reading. Dovie'andi se tovya sagain. Official Participants Shivertongue Rubix Master_Moridin Lyrebon JamesW KChan almeldiel Voldy Windrunner Brendan Vandelyk Lance Alvein lyssie95 Aerosmith47 LevenThumps ReaderAt2046 Tulir Eerongal Ryan Aethling Lantern13 Morderkaine frozndevl Telcontar zas678 Iredomi Jack the Halls Lysid igolbug McCullough Geoffray Voidus E.Hyde 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master_Moridin Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I shall participate! Just have to get someone to bring my books from home. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubix Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I'm in. I'm about halfway through Eye of the World, but I'm totally in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Yasha Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I'll start EotW tomorrow at the earliest possible moment. I do have two other books to finish though so it won't progress much for the first few days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Count me officially in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KChan Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I'll join! This'll be fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almeldiel Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 *raises hand* Might as well start the series. "The Eye of the World" has been sitting on my To Read pile for a while now. It'll be fun reading it along with everyone here. I just hope I can keep up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riddlesinthedark Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I'm in, its the kickstart I need to finally start this reread. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Started my reread a bit early, back in April, though I want to follow and see what others have to say. Just finished listening to The Gathering Storm on Audible a few days ago. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are the perfect narrators for the series. Anyone else do the audio versions? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 What the heck, I'm in! Might be a good motivation to finally give WoT a try. All you old WoT hands better be prepared for some seriously stupid questions on my part. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivertongue Posted July 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 What the heck, I'm in! Might be a good motivation to finally give WoT a try. All you old WoT hands better be prepared for some seriously stupid questions on my part. Glad to have you, Windy! And everyone else, of course! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I meant to start my reread at the start of this month, however I'm still going on Book 9 of Malazan, but I'll get my reread done in time! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandelyk Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I started reading the first book a few days ago, so I'm in! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Alvein Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 As I said in the chatroom yesterday - I'm in as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyssie95 Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Coolcoolcool! I'm in- I was actually just about to start the books for the first time anyway This sounds like it'll be fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosmith47 Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Sounds like a plan! I had planned to start my re-read before now, but before I could, I acquired a copy of what most WoT fans "affectionately" call the 'Big Book of Bad Art', better known as, 'The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time'. I must say, other than the maps, I would have to whole heartedly agree with them, but the information within the text is just downright jaw dropping, to say the least, and more than makes up for the.. ahem.. terrible artwork. Anyway, I digress.. I am just about done pouring over the previously mentioned text and all I can say is... I am down with the reread, so count me in, too. On a side note, Shivertongue, you and I got into the series at about the exact same time and also nearly age. LOL.. I was 11, in the sixth grade, and the paperback for Lord of Chaos had been recently released. After annoying my older brother for one of his huge books, not to mention a huge fiasco a few years earlier at the private school I was attending at the time for reading The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, deemed by them as unfit reading material, he decided to play it safe, especially with our mother, and try me out on Epic fantasy, knowing I had a fondness for fantasy in general. That's when he handed me the doorstop he had finished reading, and it was Lord of Chaos. It was the only one he had at the time, and so I went to my local library a few days later to reserve the other five books in the series. That was almost 17 years ago. He is also the guilty one that gave me a copy of Mistborn: the Final Empire that sent me running, instead of walking, down this road of obsession with the rest of you. Go figure, right? LOL.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LevenThumps Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Count me in. This is a great idea 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riddlesinthedark Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Sounds like a plan! I had planned to start my re-read before now, but before I could, I acquired a copy of what most WoT fans "affectionately" call the 'Big Book of Bad Art', better known as, 'The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time'. I must say, other than the maps, I would have to whole heartedly agree with them, but the information within the text is just downright jaw dropping, to say the least, and more than makes up for the.. ahem.. terrible artwork. Anyway, I digress.. I am just about done pouring over the previously mentioned text and all I can say is... I am down with the reread, so count me in, too. On a side note, Shivertongue, you and I got into the series at about the exact same time and also nearly age. LOL.. I was 11, in the sixth grade, and the paperback for Lord of Chaos had been recently released. After annoying my older brother for one of his huge books, not to mention a huge fiasco a few years earlier at the private school I was attending at the time for reading The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, deemed by them as unfit reading material, he decided to play it safe, especially with our mother, and try me out on Epic fantasy, knowing I had a fondness for fantasy in general. That's when he handed me the doorstop he had finished reading, and it was Lord of Chaos. It was the only one he had at the time, and so I went to my local library a few days later to reserve the other five books in the series. That was almost 17 years ago. He is also the guilty one that gave me a copy of Mistborn: the Final Empire that sent me running, instead of walking, down this road of obsession with the rest of you. Go figure, right? LOL.. I'm a couple years behind you two. I started the summer before PoD's came out, and it was an enternal wait for the next book, little did my 10-year old self know... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReaderAt2046 Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I'm in! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulir Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I am completely in, I was planning on doing this myself, but I will have to wait until after August 15th to start, because I will be backpacking the first 2 weeks of August. Let's do this! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eerongal Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 i was doing this before it was cool /hipster But seriously, i was doing this in anticipation for it back when the expected release date was like early 2012, so i was planning on being done by then, but i've had to stretch it out to make it last now. I'm up to knife of dreams, and i've been going into it off and on to try to make it last. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivertongue Posted July 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Sounds like a plan! I had planned to start my re-read before now, but before I could, I acquired a copy of what most WoT fans "affectionately" call the 'Big Book of Bad Art', better known as, 'The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time'. I must say, other than the maps, I would have to whole heartedly agree with them, but the information within the text is just downright jaw dropping, to say the least, and more than makes up for the.. ahem.. terrible artwork. Anyway, I digress.. I am just about done pouring over the previously mentioned text and all I can say is... I am down with the reread, so count me in, too. On a side note, Shivertongue, you and I got into the series at about the exact same time and also nearly age. LOL.. I was 11, in the sixth grade, and the paperback for Lord of Chaos had been recently released. After annoying my older brother for one of his huge books, not to mention a huge fiasco a few years earlier at the private school I was attending at the time for reading The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, deemed by them as unfit reading material, he decided to play it safe, especially with our mother, and try me out on Epic fantasy, knowing I had a fondness for fantasy in general. That's when he handed me the doorstop he had finished reading, and it was Lord of Chaos. It was the only one he had at the time, and so I went to my local library a few days later to reserve the other five books in the series. That was almost 17 years ago. He is also the guilty one that gave me a copy of Mistborn: the Final Empire that sent me running, instead of walking, down this road of obsession with the rest of you. Go figure, right? LOL.. Hey Aerosmith, welcome to the Reread and to the forums! I know all too well what you mean by The Big Book of Bad Art. I have it myself, and as an artist, I can;t tell you how... disappointed I was when I first saw it. I had been so excited to see my favorite characters and places in a visual form for the first time - outside of Darrel K. Sweet's less-than-awesome cover art - and what I got... was a let-down, to say the least. I have heard that it was a bit of a rush job, and the artist himself is disappointed with how it all turned out. Hopefully, if they do another one after A Memory of Light comes out, they give the artists all the time they need to make it awesome. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I'm in. I've actually been doing this since December. I made a thread about my wot reread that I haven't posted to since somewhere in book 4, but I'm actually about two thirds of the way though book 8. So long as I complete a book per month, I'll hit the deadline. Yes, I've been a bit busy. I also read more slowly than many here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethling Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 Almost finished with TDR here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj26792 Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 I might have to wait till the end of my semester, if I start around November I should still finish in plenty of time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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