LevenThumps Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 In re-reads, with a series this long, people who aren't super dedicated pretty much read their favorite books, or the books where the most stuff happens. But for a first time run-through, you should read all the books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcanist Lupus Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 When the number of books in a series is in the double digits, its probably a good idea to start at the beginning It depends on the series. If it's one story arc, then yes. If it's a disjointed series, like Discworld, then reading them out of order is fine. (of course, if this was a disjointed series like Discworld, then Brandon wouldn't have to finish them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LevenThumps Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunyod Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 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. 10 books in 2 months? That's insane! It's like non stop reading and doing nothing else? P.S. If you use Ipod and listen to audiobooks and spend at least 6 hours a day listening to the books. It takes 53.5 days to finish the book N10. So I guess you are right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted April 15, 2012 Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 I could probably beat that if wrangling with my poorly-bound copy of Lord Of Chaos didn't tend to discourage me from finishing it. Anyways, book 10 mostly has things start to happen, and then come book 11 they actually happen. The Egwene and Mat plots actually have things happen in them, but the rest not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piestein Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 I actually registered just to post here. You have to read all of them. You really, really have to read all of them. Seriously. Read all of them. And not just for the general argument that says that if you want to read a story, you should start from the beginning. No resumes, no crem dung. You might throw all the info about tea and skirts, and so on in your mental garbage can, but you have to read them. I admit, sometimes the pacing is TERRIBLY slow and that is really why these books take time - I read the 2nd of the 12th book in 2 days, or 1 day and a half, or something like that, but it took me 2 months to suffer through the 6th. But you cannot skip them, because: - First, the author leaves crumbs during the nonsense and introduces small, mediocre or even important characters. This makes you appreciate better twists - despite being shocking, they remain logical. - Secondly, because fillers, although they are so very much overabused in the series, hold also some value. You get used to a character, you start sympathizing, you get comfortable around their narrative, or used to them at least - you get to appreciate their change better. If you steal a baby from a mother in page 1, you consider it as heinous a crime as heinous crimes usually get - which is to say, your reaction varies from, "Meh," to, "It's sad, but..." (I'd personally finish that last quotation with, "I'm hungry," but it sounds kind of mean, especially if you're not aware of the value I put in eating). If you've actually followed through at least a couple of months of life of the mother during the pregnancy, you tend to care more for the baby, because the baby becomes a person in your head - this will be her son and/or daughter (you never know), instead of just a baby. - Finally, and this is more specific to the Wheel of Time, you need time to remember all the names and the places. This world is vast. Seriously, it is big. Very big. And there are names, tons of them. If you read through the stories carefully, it's okay, because you've had around 10 000 pages to get to know the world. The cultures, the towns, the customs, the names, the names, the different Ajah, the history of the world and the names. If you read resumes, you'll have to stop reading constantly just to reread the resumes, since bulks of information just fall from the sky in those, making it useful, but... well, we don't read encyclopedias from the first to the last page, do we? Yes, I know one of you does. This is a very curious (in the positive sense) habit and I have nothing against it. But you confirm the truth in my statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozndevl Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Man, I miss being able to devour the books as fast as I used to. However, I'll add to the chorus as someone who started out with WoT, and then found Brandon after he took the reins. Of all the books, the worst for me was probably Fires of Heaven, that was one hellaciously long, and for me, slow / dull book. It's also good to read from the beginning because although Brandon does a great job of continuing the voice of each character, it is a bit different. Reading from the beginning, you have the chance to read each of the characters as envisioned and written by their creator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeusfireair Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I guess I'm the fastest reader here... I started my first read-through in the summer of last year and finished it within the week. I read way too fast... But yeah as everyone has been saying, definitely start with book 1. You'll be way out of your depth (by about 9000 pages) thats a HUGE amount to miss out on, and its all really good! -zeus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eerongal Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I guess I'm the fastest reader here... I started my first read-through in the summer of last year and finished it within the week. I read way too fast... But yeah as everyone has been saying, definitely start with book 1. You'll be way out of your depth (by about 9000 pages) thats a HUGE amount to miss out on, and its all really good! -zeus wiki-wha? Is that even humanly possible?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidus Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I guess I'm the fastest reader here... I started my first read-through in the summer of last year and finished it within the week. I read way too fast... But yeah as everyone has been saying, definitely start with book 1. You'll be way out of your depth (by about 9000 pages) thats a HUGE amount to miss out on, and its all really good!-zeus I'm about the same, I usually get through 1 or 2 in a day, although I tend to lag a bit in the middle of WoT readthroughs so it usually takes more like 1.5-2 weeks unless I start speedreading, but I find that I don't retain anywhere near enough information if I do that. Anyway to be on topic a little bit, definitely read through the whole series, there is way too much backstory to jump in at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otomo Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 The Wheel of Time books don't stand alone at all. Each book creates more unresolved plot threads that continue into the next. The first three are the closest things to stand alone novels, and even then I wouldn't start with book 2 or 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozndevl Posted May 25, 2012 Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 If I remember correctly, it was originally envisioned as a trilogy, so the first three stand together (and can be read alone). I also have a vague recollection that the first book (EotW) was so long he had to split it into those first 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCullough Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 If I remember correctly, it was originally envisioned as a trilogy, so the first three stand together (and can be read alone). I also have a vague recollection that the first book (EotW) was so long he had to split it into those first 3. It was envisioned as a trilogy, but not in a way that will make the first three stand alone. When Jordan first envisioned the trilogy the ending was the ending we will see in A Memory of Light. He had so much material that he found it necessary to keep writing more books. In other words, what is in books 4-13 and then 14 would have been in the "original" trilogy is Jordan had found a way to make it work. I'm actually glad he didn't find that way. The series has been a part of my life for more than twenty years and I have loved every minute of it, even the seemingly interminable waiting for new books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRioter Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) I can't imagine how he could have told the story very well in only three books! Edited June 15, 2012 by CrazyRioter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack the Halls Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 I think book 10 is written in such a way that you could read it and be confused all the way through, but then know enough to read books 11 - 13 and still enjoy them. However, the series is so darn good that you'd just be doing yourself a disservice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Yasha Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 (edited) Don't be silly. 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. I've really got to edit this because I completely misunderstood CoT at the time. Now I realise it's the book most of the character development happened in. I didn't like it first read, true, but thinking about it recently it's actually a subtly brilliant book. Original text:[if I'm remembering it right there was a lot of political strife in CoT. So that's maybe why it was dull, but yes I didn't like that book either.] Edited August 22, 2012 by Lyrebon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trizee Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 First off, read the whole series. And by the whole series I mean every single sentence and word- it's that good. As for book 10, though not much happened in the book, I'm not sure you would understand book 11 very well without reading it. Also, even if nothing happens in it, it's still a very well written book and it actually has a lot of emotional content if not action. Same with its ending. Though it isn't action packed it has some of the best emotional scenes in the series (Mat and Seta, and of course: PERRIN. AXE. HAMMER- one of the best scenes in the series) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Dude, bra, you can TOTALLY start with book 12. Totes. Like, there ain't no reason why those first 11 books got wrote, dog. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Yasha Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) 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. How the hell did I miss this? Do NOT skip Winter's Heart (book #9), it has perhaps the most pivotal storyline in the entire series, without which further books are pointless to be read if you don't experience the events in WH. Book #6, Lord of Chaos, is also a pivotal book and the second best - in my opinion - of the series. What happens in that book is crucial to the development of a lot of characters. Book #8, Path of Daggers, was slow, I'll give it that, but there's no need to skip it since it builds everything up for Winter's Heart. Book #10, Crossroads of Twilight, might seem difficult to keep attentive with at first as it doesn't advance the plot much, but it is rich in character progression and development, that allows the next book, Knife of Dreams, to drop straight into the action. There is something that can be gained from reading each book, whether it's just watching one of the characters you like the most grow. There is so much richness and vivacity in every book that it would be a shame to miss any of it. If you're a fan of fantasy then you're cheating yourself out of some wonderful, gripping, and powerful moments by skipping any one book in the WoT universe. Edited August 22, 2012 by Lyrebon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyman Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I agree with Lyrebon that you shouldn't skip any book, at least for the first read-through and probably not for at least some of the later ones---although I found Path of Daggers dead dull the last time I read it, but there are still things in there that you need to read to understand the very important, much more interesting parts that it is building up to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
name_here Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 So, I of course agree that starting with book #12 just doesn't work. As for the earlier books, I felt #5 kind of dragged in the middle (especially the traveling circus plot) but a whole ton happened in the end. #6 is vitally important in a number of ways and I really need to get myself an intact copy of it. #7, #9, and #11 are all great #10 is honestly the low point of the series. Basically, there was a lot of setting up the events of the next book. Unfortunately, every plotline simultaneously entered a phase of preparing for the next book with the sole exceptions of Mat and Egwene, with the result that virtually nothing actually happened. Though as a result of that, a whole ton of things simultaneously happened in #11, which is part of why it is so good. In order to avoid this problem, Brandon left a number of plotlines completely out of #s 12 and 13, which did kind of introduce its own problems, namely that Perrin's portion of #13 is almost entirely contemporaneous with Rand's portion of #12, while the other plotlines seem to be in step temporally or at least don't highlight being out of sequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbinger Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 I'd say skim 8, skim the Perrin and Mat portions of 9, and read a summary of 10. Even if you read all of 8 and 9 still skip book 10. Something I have finally come to grips with as I've gotten older and read a lot more authors since I started reading Jordan is that there's no such thing as a set up book. If you need an entire book to setup what's going to happen next than you need to skip ahead and edit out the superfluous details. Book 10 had nothing truly significant happen that couldn't have been summed up elsewhere. Book 10 is what made me finally admit something had gone wrong with the writing and give up on the series. Most of the events of 10 and 11 could have been edited down to one really good book. And even when I read book 11 in which a lot of the excessive plotlines were whittled down and FINALLY closed, there wasn't a lot of payoff for many of the side characters. They just didn't justify all the "screen time" they received. I know WOT fans disagree with this sentiment, I used to be a hardcore fan myself, so I get the point of view. But when you have characters sitting around bored with the story their in because nothing significant is happening, and they even say their bored multiple times, then it's time to do some editing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivertongue Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Skip nothing. Skim nothing. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 I think this thread has run its course, hasn't it? The original question was asked in Dec 2011. I think they have their answer by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivertongue Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 I think this thread has run its course, hasn't it? The original question was asked in Dec 2011. I think they have their answer by now. Agreed xD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts