Jeremy Conlin Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 I have not read any of the Wheel of Time books. However, I would love to read the final book(s) that Brandon has read. Do I need to read the first 11 books of the series to understand what is going on in Brandon's books? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcanist Lupus he/him Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 You can't begin with book 12. To illustrate, this is part of the character list, copied from Encylopedia WoT. Abaldar YulanAbar Abdel Omerna Abell Cauthon Abelle Pendar Ackley Farren Adamad Adan al'Caar Adden Adela Adeleas Namelle Adelin Adelorna Bastine Adim Adine Canford Adine Lewin Admar Admer Nem Admira Adora Aybara Adria Adrielle Adrin Adrinne Adsalan Aedelle Baryn Aedmun Aedwin Cole Aeldene Stonebridge Aeldra Aeldra Najaf Aeldrine Aelmara Aemin Aemlyn Carand Aeric Botteger Aeron Aethelaine Afara Afrim Hansard Agardo Saranche Agelmar Jagad Aghan Aginor Agirin Agni Neres Aiden Aiko Ailene Tolvina Ailhuin Guenna Ailil Riatin Ailron Ailys Candwin Aisha Raveneos Aisling Noon Ajimbura Akarrin Akir Mandragoran Akoure Vayet Master al'Dai Mistress al'Donel al'Lora Alaabar Harnesh Alaine Chuliandred Alainia Alalved Alamindra Cutren Alanna Mosvani Alarch Alarys Aldan Aldecain Aldin Aldin Miheres Aldred Gomaisen Aldrin Caldevwin Aledrin Aleis Barsalla Alene al'Vere Aleshin Alesune Chulin Alfara Algarin Alhandrin Alida Aldragoran Alin Alin Seroku Alis Alise Tenjile Alivia Alliandre Kigarin Almen Bunt Almurat Mor Aloisia Nemosni Alpert Mull Alric Alrom Alsalam Alsbet Luhhan Alsera Mistress Alstaing Altalin Alteima Althyn Conly Aludra Alviarin Freidhen Alvistere Alvon Alwhin Alwin Rael Alwyn al'Van Alys: see Moiraine Damodred Alysa Amaena: see Leane Sharif Amalisa Jagad Amaryn Amathera Amel Amellia Arene Amenar Shumada Amico Nagoyin Amira Moselle Amondrid Osiellin Amylia Amys Anaiya Anaiyella Ananda Anath: see Semirhage Andaya Forae Andaya Murasaka Ander Corl Ander Tol Andere Andhilin Andil Andra: see Lan Mandragoran Andric Andris Andro Androl Genhald Mistress Andscale Anemara Mistress Anford Anghar Angla Anjen Ankaer Anlee Annharid Annoura Larisen Antail Anthelle Sharplyn Antol Anvaere Anya Ara Aracome Aram Aran'gar Arathelle Renshar Aravine Carnel Arebis Ared Mosinel: see Rahvin Areina Nermasiv Arel Malevin Arendor Aril Corl Arilinde Branstrom Arilyn Dhulaine Arin Arinvar Arlen Nalaam Arlene Arnin Arrata Arrela Shiego Arwin Arymilla Marne Asan Sandair Ashelin Asher Ashin Ashmanaille Asidim Faisar Asmodean Asne Zeramene Asra Asseil Assid Bakuun Astelle al'Seen Astoril Damara Astrelle Atal Athan Chandin Athan Dearn Atuan Auaine Fanwar Aubrem Pensenor Aurana Avar Hachami Avene Sahera Avi Shendar Aviellin Aviendha Avin Ayako Norsoni Azereos Azi al'Thone Azil Mareed Azril That's the character list for people who's names begin with A. The series is far too long and complex to start from anywhere but the beginning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterGhandalf Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 If you start with book 12, expect to be utterly, hopelessly confused. You could, I suppose, read in-depth summaries of books 1-11 (I'm sure you could find them online) but even then you'd miss a great deal of the nuance. I wouldn't recommend doing anything but starting with book 1 and reading straight through. Essentially, keep in mind that Brandon is writing the concluding act of a very long, detailed ongoing story- it doesn't stand on its own, and was never meant to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyman he/him Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 Yet another person saying that starting with book 12 is a terrible idea. I mean, I don't think you'd run afoul of any spoilers---you wouldn't have the foggiest notion what was going on! After 11 books, the authors don't bother to reintroduce anybody in the top two tiers of significant characters. In not like some series, where each book is an individual story---it's one long story the whole way through, and was always intended as such. No, the only plausible way to read the Wheel of Time and understand anything at all is from the beginning. If you decide not to, totally cool. It's a huge commitment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eerongal he/him Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 If you start with book 12, expect to be utterly, hopelessly confused. You could, I suppose, read in-depth summaries of books 1-11 (I'm sure you could find them online) but even then you'd miss a great deal of the nuance. I wouldn't recommend doing anything but starting with book 1 and reading straight through. Essentially, keep in mind that Brandon is writing the concluding act of a very long, detailed ongoing story- it doesn't stand on its own, and was never meant to. this site has excellent chapter-by-chapter summaries of every book, with various cross references to things like particular item/creature definitions and stuff. That being said, you totally need to read books 1-11. It won't make ANY sense if you don't, especially since we're now seeing the wrap up of some plot points that have been going on/growing for at least like 4 or 5 books now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EHyde she/her Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 I feel like even with detailed plot summaries, the character arcs won't have nearly as much of an impact as if you'd actually read the previous books. I was in a similar boat--I'd read most of the series, years ago, but basically forgotten most of the major plot points. Then I got into Brandon's work and wanted to see what he'd done with the series, so I went back and started from book 1. I'm glad I did. Not only would I have been completely lost otherwise, even having read the books once before, they're good books (though the later ones do get a bit slow). If the thought of that many huge books is scaring you away, I'd recommend the audiobooks. They're well done and you can do other stuff while listening to them (and you may not even have to pay for them--my library had some of them available for download). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Conlin Posted December 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 Wow, I guess a vote of 5-0 means I should read the entire series. I love to read, but I don't get enough time to read. The entire series will probably take me close to two years. On the other hand, I need a Sanderson fix! Thanks for everyone's answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eerongal he/him Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 Wow, I guess a vote of 5-0 means I should read the entire series. I love to read, but I don't get enough time to read. The entire series will probably take me close to two years. On the other hand, I need a Sanderson fix! Thanks for everyone's answers. I can second the notion of audio books for these as well. I initially read all of them, most as they came out (so it broke it up pretty well) and i wanted to reread them before the final book, but balked at the idea of starting all the way over, so over the past almost year now ive been listening to them on audio book, and its been pretty smooth so far. They're pretty good quality (though i personally prefer the male reader to the female one. They swap based on the sex of the current PoV character, i think he does a much better job with emotion in the speech, and has better voices for the characters in general) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Another vote for reading them all or none. There are some pretty awesome reveals in both of Sanderson's books in the series that would be ignored or fall completely flat without having 11 books building to them. If you're not a thorough reader, some of it might be lost without also looking into the web discussions about the books over the last 20 years. Verin, mainly. Also, Olver finally winning a game of snakes and foxes would be like "oh, ok" instead of "HEY! I GOT IT!" while Mat wins the same game in real life. And Asmodean's killer? Basically, if you skip them all to read the Sanderson books it will be a complete waste of time. Brandon would agree that he wouldn't be what he is if there were no Rigney that came first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhalagirl she/her Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I gotta agree with everyone. Starting at book 12 would be like jumping into the fifth season of Lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LevenThumps Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 Another person says start at Book 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KChan she/her Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Definitely start at book 1. Even in High School, I was able to knock out 10 books in 1.5-2 months. You don't notice the slower pacing in the middle books quite so much when you have several volumes all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LevenThumps Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Definitely start at book 1. Even in High School, I was able to knock out 10 books in 1.5-2 months. You don't notice the slower pacing in the middle books quite so much when you have several volumes all together. I agree. I think everyone complained about the series in the later books because they had to wait so long in between when little happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Spoonface he/him Posted February 11, 2012 Report Share Posted February 11, 2012 Book One's a good place to start. For me, it only took about 150 pages before I was really interested- around Chapter 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gela Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) You can skip or skim some parts of the series, though. For example, reading summaries of almost everything in book 10 will be enough, as opposed to actually reading it. And feel free to skim the beginnings of all the books ('cept TGH and TSR), for maybe the first three chapters, if you don't mind getting an incomplete feeling. And 1.5 months for 1-10? It took me that long just to read EotW! Edited February 12, 2012 by Gela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KChan she/her Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 It was summer break, and I did almost nothing else but read all day. XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eerongal he/him Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 You can skip or skim some parts of the series, though. For example, reading summaries of almost everything in book 10 will be enough, as opposed to actually reading it. And feel free to skim the beginnings of all the books ('cept TGH and TSR), for maybe the first three chapters, if you don't mind getting an incomplete feeling. And 1.5 months for 1-10? It took me that long just to read EotW! yeah, seriously. That's probably like 9,000 pages of book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KChan she/her Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 Well, I've always been a fast reader when I actually have the time. And I definitely had the time. XD Like I said, it was summer break. I didn't have anything else to do, so I read all day. Every day. For over a month. Probably one of the best breaks ever. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe ST he/him Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 Well, I've always been a fast reader when I actually have the time. And I definitely had the time. XD Like I said, it was summer break. I didn't have anything else to do, so I read all day. Every day. For over a month. Probably one of the best breaks ever. Aye, I pretty much read this fast. Usually finish a reread in under 3 months. Malazan took us about that, and so did Dresden Files... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feloxia she/her Posted February 16, 2012 Report Share Posted February 16, 2012 I'm reading this series for the first time, and I say read it from the beginning. The plots and characters are all way too awesome to miss out on. Definitely start at book 1. Even in High School, I was able to knock out 10 books in 1.5-2 months. You don't notice the slower pacing in the middle books quite so much when you have several volumes all together. That is impressive! I feel like I'm reading through it pretty fast, with just finishing book 11 in 8 months. Even with a summer break full of reading! Although, there were a couple of short series I read as well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guess Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 you can do whatever you want, but you will not know what is going on. If these books were serials, then you could jump in. Serials are stories where you have an ongoing list of characters and the author just thinks of new stuff for them to do as he goes along. Stories are for the most part self contained. This series is not like that. The book (The Eye of the World) is one of the most influential fantasy books ever written. George RR Martin and Brandon have both said this. It is also probably one of the 5 best epic fantasy books ever written. Brandon said himself that the first 3 books greatly influenced his writing. you can probably skip books 8,9,10 and read the summaries. fast skim books 6,8,11 Not much happens in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altonahk Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 you can do whatever you want, but you will not know what is going on. If these books were serials, then you could jump in. Serials are stories where you have an ongoing list of characters and the author just thinks of new stuff for them to do as he goes along. Stories are for the most part self contained. This series is not like that. The book (The Eye of the World) is one of the most influential fantasy books ever written. George RR Martin and Brandon have both said this. It is also probably one of the 5 best epic fantasy books ever written. Brandon said himself that the first 3 books greatly influenced his writing. you can probably skip books 8,9,10 and read the summaries. fast skim books 6,8,11 Not much happens in them. First to paragraphs are spot on. The rest is total bonk. You CANNOT skip ANY books. Some are better then others, but ALL of them include something important. Some of the later books are less important for Rereads, but they are ESSENTIAL in your first read. They seem slow in that the number of plot-lines make it impossible to be concluded in one book, so there is less of a sense of accomplishment, but the idea that they can be skipped is ridiculous. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LevenThumps Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 When the number of books in a series is in the double digits, its probably a good idea to start at the beginning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan he/him Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 First to paragraphs are spot on. The rest is total bonk. You CANNOT skip ANY books. Some are better then others, but ALL of them include something important. Some of the later books are less important for Rereads, but they are ESSENTIAL in your first read. They seem slow in that the number of plot-lines make it impossible to be concluded in one book, so there is less of a sense of accomplishment, but the idea that they can be skipped is ridiculous. Period. I'm with you for most of the books. But book 10...the very impatient reader may want to skip it. Here's the executive summary: Description of object. Description of object. Description of object. Character 1: Boy, the world is kinda screwed up, isn't it? Character 2: Yeah, and we're screwed too. Description of object. Character 1: At least there's still tea. Even if it does taste a little off. Description of object. Description of object. Character 2: No matter how screwed up the world gets, we'll still keep incessantly drinking tea. Character 1: Too right. By the way--I say, do you feel that? Character 2: How could I not? What IS that? Character 1: Dunno. Character 2: *sips tea* Description of object. Description of object. Description of object. Description of object. Scene break. Jump to a different pair of characters. Repeat until end of book. Seriously. More happens in the prologue of book 11 than the whole of book 10. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connerjade Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 (edited) Book 10 has a good amount happen, however, it is almost all with a fairly disliked Wonder girl, and therefore, it feels like nothing is happening. However, we have yet to see if all of the girls are important on a global scale, if they are, then yes, you really, truly, need to read the entire series including book 10. I will admit that I tend to skip most of 9 and 10 during re-reads, but that is because I have gotten to see what happens already. Edited March 9, 2012 by Connerjade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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