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    Wheel of Time Discussion/Appreciation

    So I figured since there are other WoT fans here we might as well have a place to talk about the books, news, etc.... Anyway, Brandon Sanderson posted on twitter/facebook today that his final edit is done of the first book! So now it's off to TOR for publishing. Woot!!! I can't wait to read it. But I really want the whole thing, not just one part of tree. Although, part of me just wants all 3 parts right now, and another part of me is glad for the wait since I've been reading WoT for almost 12 years and I don't want it to end.
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    #2
    I have heard of these books, but haven't read them. I'm always looking for a good sci-fi/fantasy series. What are they about? How many books?
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      #3
      Wow, they are so hard to explain. I will just copy and paste some of what it says in the wiki premise. I don't want to say too much on the actual plot because I find it's best to read it and find out on your own.

      At the dawn of time, a deity known as the Creator forged the universe and the Wheel of Time, which spins the lives of men and women as its threads. The Wheel has seven spokes, each representing an age, and it is rotated by the One Power, which flows from the True Source. The One Power is divided into male and female halves, saidin and saidar, which work in opposition and in unison to drive the Wheel. Those humans who can use this power are known as channelers; the principal organization of such channelers in the books is called the Aes Sedai or 'Servants of All' in the Old Tongue.

      The Creator imprisoned its antithesis, Shai'tan, at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel. However, in a time called the Age of Legends, an Aes Sedai experiment inadvertently breached the Dark One's prison, allowing his influence to seep back into the world. He rallied the powerful, the corrupt and the ambitious to his cause and these servants began an effort to free the Dark One fully from his prison, so he might remake time and reality in his own image. In response to this threat, the Wheel spun out the Dragon, a channeler of immense power, to be a champion for the Light. In the Age of Legends the Dragon was a man named Lews Therin Telamon, who eventually rose to command the Aes Sedai and their allies in the struggle against the Dark One's forces. After a grueling ten-year war, which began a century after the Dark One's prison was breached, Telamon led his forces to victory in a daring assault on the site of the earthly link to the Dark One's prison, and was able to seal it off. However, at this moment of victory the Dark One tainted saidin, driving male channelers of the One Power insane. The male channelers devastated the world with the One Power, unleashing earthquakes and tidal waves that reshaped the planet. Their leader, Lews Therin, killed his friends, his family, and finally himself in his insanity. Eventually, the last male channeler was killed or cut off from the One Power, leaving the human race all but destroyed and only women able to wield the One Power safely. The Aes Sedai reconstituted and guided humanity out of this dark time. Mankind now lived under the shadow of a prophecy that the Dark One would break free from his prison and the Dragon would be reborn to face him once more, raining destruction upon the world in the process of saving it from the Dark One.
      The series starts 3,000 years later on an Aes Sedai's search for the Dragon Reborn. The Dark One's prison is weakening and he can touch the world. The series focuses around the Dragon Reborn and a group of friends that all end up having significant roles in the fight against the Shadow.

      Besides the fact the the world RJ created is so amazing, I love all the theory building you can do with these books. They really make you think. And when you go back and revamp them you will pick up on more of the foreshadowing and hints dropped in there.
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        #4
        It's an absolutely brilliant series, one of the best I've ever read. It's very involved though, the books all go into a lot of depth. If the characters go on a journey, you get the story of the whole trip, not just they set off and x days later arrived.
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          #5
          I forgot about this thread.

          For anybody interested Tor has the first chapter of The Gathering Storm on their website!!!!!!! You have to register here first.

          Also, the prologue will be available on Sept. 17 through amazon. It's $2.99 this year (I think t was $1.99 previous years, but this one I hear is very long!).

          So actually if you read the first chapter then the prologue, it will be out of order. Personally I don't care. I'll read it again in Oct. when TGS is released.
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            #6
            Originally posted by Care View Post
            I forgot about this thread.

            For anybody interested Tor has the first chapter of The Gathering Storm on their website!!!!!!! You have to register here first.

            Also, the prologue will be available on Sept. 17 through amazon. It's $2.99 this year (I think t was $1.99 previous years, but this one I hear is very long!).
            So actually if you read the first chapter then the prologue, it will be out of order. Personally I don't care. I'll read it again in Oct. when TGS is released.
            Their all very long. Most of them are 80 pages

            I shall return to discuss when I actually catch up Only on Winter's Heart
            Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a night. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm the rest of his life.
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              #7
              I've read the eye of the world (allthough i only found it this year and it was splight into two books, From the Two Rivers and To the Blight) and im not sure if i want to read the entire series.

              I've read reviews on amazon of all of them and im confused now because (no matter how many good reviews the mind always seems to remember the bad ones. I hate that) i read in them alot about skirt adjusting,spanking,complaining and bickeribng women and endless descriptions of cloths and more skirt adjusting with charecters dithering.

              Now i didnt get any of that from what i've read (and im glad of it) so could someone please enlighten me because i enjoyed the books and i dont get what all what people are on about with all the above stuff.
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                #8
                Originally posted by Ukko View Post
                I've read the eye of the world (allthough i only found it this year and it was splight into two books, From the Two Rivers and To the Blight) and im not sure if i want to read the entire series.

                I've read reviews on amazon of all of them and im confused now because (no matter how many good reviews the mind always seems to remember the bad ones. I hate that) i read in them alot about skirt adjusting,spanking,complaining and bickeribng women and endless descriptions of cloths and more skirt adjusting with charecters dithering.

                Now i didnt get any of that from what i've read (and im glad of it) so could someone please enlighten me because i enjoyed the books and i dont get what all what people are on about with all the above stuff.

                Well... there is all of that. But the adjusting is mostly when their nervous for example. (which is often enough) But, that basically goes away as time goes on. I'm on book 9 and they dont do any of it that much. (exept the bickering, silly women )
                Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a night. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm the rest of his life.
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                  #9
                  Originally posted by AtlantisRules!!! View Post

                  Well... there is all of that. But the adjusting is mostly when their nervous for example. (which is often enough) But, that basically goes away as time goes on. I'm on book 9 and they dont do any of it that much. (exept the bickering, silly women )
                  I have to wait 9 books for them to to stop messing with their skirts?
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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Ukko View Post
                    I have to wait 9 books for them to to stop messing with their skirts?
                    No.. I meant it happens a lot in the second or third.. and then gets less and less in every book after that
                    Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a night. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm the rest of his life.
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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Ukko View Post
                      I've read the eye of the world (allthough i only found it this year and it was splight into two books, From the Two Rivers and To the Blight) and im not sure if i want to read the entire series.

                      I've read reviews on amazon of all of them and im confused now because (no matter how many good reviews the mind always seems to remember the bad ones. I hate that) i read in them alot about skirt adjusting,spanking,complaining and bickeribng women and endless descriptions of cloths and more skirt adjusting with charecters dithering.

                      Now i didnt get any of that from what i've read (and im glad of it) so could someone please enlighten me because i enjoyed the books and i dont get what all what people are on about with all the above stuff.
                      Well that's because you only read the first book. Every book after that Jordan began to increasingly give all his female characters odd compulsive behaviors and or attribute over the top stereotypes to them. The males got plenty of this as well. I don't really recall what you described but there's plenty of other stuff going on. Needless to say this becomes a distraction but I think Jordan's original intent was to make his characters more enduring to his readers, which is ironic.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Ukko View Post
                        I've read the eye of the world (allthough i only found it this year and it was splight into two books, From the Two Rivers and To the Blight) and im not sure if i want to read the entire series.

                        I've read reviews on amazon of all of them and im confused now because (no matter how many good reviews the mind always seems to remember the bad ones. I hate that) i read in them alot about skirt adjusting,spanking,complaining and bickeribng women and endless descriptions of cloths and more skirt adjusting with charecters dithering.

                        Now i didnt get any of that from what i've read (and im glad of it) so could someone please enlighten me because i enjoyed the books and i dont get what all what people are on about with all the above stuff.
                        I found the first six books in the series to be really enjoyable. One thing I found about Jordan is that he seems to know how people think. The character do feel 'real' at times in their thought processes and attitudes.

                        I heard that initially Jordan wanted 3 books in the series, but that there was so much going on it snowballed into more. That may explain why some people find more of the stuff you mention above, especially in later books. It does feel a bit like a mess of story that just explodes out of control by book 7. There are some fluffy, silly parts in Book 5 (The Fires of Heaven) but the ending of that book is really awesome and I tend to forgive those parts. Book 6 (Lord of Chaos) is a game changer, and though the book itself was good, I found that everything after it got really intricate and confusing. It takes forever for any one character to accomplish anything, which is where I got frustrated. That, to me, was the 'character dithering' that seems mentioned above. 80 page prologues to books with characters you've never heard of or barely care about does not make for a fun time of reading.

                        But, all that being said, I still enjoyed it. I think it is more the type of reader you are. If you're more interested in the world in general, you probably will get frustrated. If you latch onto characters, I think you'll probably like the entirety of the WOT. I'm a character fan, and I had more than one favorite, so no matter how expansive the story got, I could always find something to enjoy. And like Tolkien, he rarely kills characters off (so far), though there is one or two exceptions.

                        I'd recommend reading through book #3 and seeing how you like it. Once 3 is over, if you're semi-bored or not enthused, I'd stop there. It is sort of the last one written like EOTW. Once you start #4, everything begins to get bigger and bigger, at least it did for me.
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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Eri13 View Post
                          I found the first six books in the series to be really enjoyable. One thing I found about Jordan is that he seems to know how people think. The character do feel 'real' at times in their thought processes and attitudes.

                          I heard that initially Jordan wanted 3 books in the series, but that there was so much going on it snowballed into more. That may explain why some people find more of the stuff you mention above, especially in later books. It does feel a bit like a mess of story that just explodes out of control by book 7. There are some fluffy, silly parts in Book 5 (The Fires of Heaven) but the ending of that book is really awesome and I tend to forgive those parts. Book 6 (Lord of Chaos) is a game changer, and though the book itself was good, I found that everything after it got really intricate and confusing. It takes forever for any one character to accomplish anything, which is where I got frustrated. That, to me, was the 'character dithering' that seems mentioned above. 80 page prologues to books with characters you've never heard of or barely care about does not make for a fun time of reading.

                          But, all that being said, I still enjoyed it. I think it is more the type of reader you are. If you're more interested in the world in general, you probably will get frustrated. If you latch onto characters, I think you'll probably like the entirety of the WOT. I'm a character fan, and I had more than one favorite, so no matter how expansive the story got, I could always find something to enjoy. And like Tolkien, he rarely kills characters off (so far), though there is one or two exceptions.

                          I'd recommend reading through book #3 and seeing how you like it. Once 3 is over, if you're semi-bored or not enthused, I'd stop there. It is sort of the last one written like EOTW. Once you start #4, everything begins to get bigger and bigger, at least it did for me.
                          I tend to latch onto characters (I liked Rand and the wisdom-cant spell her bloody name) more while reading and think more about the world when i've finished the book. If that makes any sense. I like books with lots of different characters because i get lots of different perspectives, and if i loose interest or become anoyed with one, i always have others to enjoy I've enjoyed what i've read so far and i like Jordans writing style, so i'm expecting good things. Those reviews just bothered me. The reviewers are probably just a bunch of picky little baskets

                          An 80 page prologue about someone i dont and wont care to know doesent sound fun. But i believe i can get through it if the rest of the book is worth it.
                          When you say fluffy silly parts do you mean constantly pineing for someone then never being able to meet their eyes because their so in love and they dont want to admit it and blah blah blah? Because when good characters start doing that kind of thing for endless pages (i dont mind 1 or 2 pages) or worse, chapters, its realy anoying, IMO and unnessecery. I feel it slows everthing dont and messes with the flow of the book.

                          I'll get the next book on saturday anyway when i go to the book store (To get book three of The Casting Trilogy, wich i recomend as im enjoying it) and if i like that then im likely to read the whole series. Are there 11 or 12 books?
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                            #14
                            Yay for WoT! There are 11 books, and the 12th is coming out in about 1 3/4 months. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gat...orm_%28book%29
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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Ukko View Post
                              I tend to latch onto characters (I liked Rand and the wisdom-cant spell her bloody name) more while reading and think more about the world when i've finished the book. If that makes any sense. I like books with lots of different characters because i get lots of different perspectives, and if i loose interest or become anoyed with one, i always have others to enjoy I've enjoyed what i've read so far and i like Jordans writing style, so i'm expecting good things. Those reviews just bothered me. The reviewers are probably just a bunch of picky little baskets

                              An 80 page prologue about someone i dont and wont care to know doesent sound fun. But i believe i can get through it if the rest of the book is worth it.
                              When you say fluffy silly parts do you mean constantly pineing for someone then never being able to meet their eyes because their so in love and they dont want to admit it and blah blah blah? Because when good characters start doing that kind of thing for endless pages (i dont mind 1 or 2 pages) or worse, chapters, its realy anoying, IMO and unnessecery. I feel it slows everthing dont and messes with the flow of the book.

                              I'll get the next book on saturday anyway when i go to the book store (To get book three of The Casting Trilogy, wich i recomend as im enjoying it) and if i like that then im likely to read the whole series. Are there 11 or 12 books?
                              No, Jordan stays away from that. There really isn't 'fluffy' romance in WOT. There's some weird romance, but not fluffy. He does have characters fall in love, but most of it is pretty natural and not overtly 'romantic'. So you're safe there.

                              I think overall you're the type who can appreciate the whole of the series, then. I think the people complaining have their justifications, because there are parts of the story I don't like, but on a whole, I though Jordan was a pretty good fantasy writer and the characters were great. I'm eager to see how it ends, though I hope many MANY loose ends get tied up.

                              As far as book number...this is off the top of my head, so...

                              1: Eye of the World
                              2: The Great Hunt
                              3: The Dragon Reborn
                              4: The Shadow Rising
                              5: Fires of Heaven
                              6: Lord of Chaos
                              7: A Crown of Swords
                              8: Path of Daggers
                              9: Winter's Heart
                              10: Crossroads of Twilight
                              11: ...uh...oh, Knife of Dreams
                              12: The Gathering Storm

                              There's also a novella based on an anthology story Jordan developed, called "New Spring", but it doesn't really count as a book in the saga, it's more a prequel. However, I highly recommend it after you've read through about the first five books. There's a character in it you won't understand until you get to know her better.

                              I also recommend looking through the glossaries at the end of the novels if they still publish those. I had no idea how to pronounce anyone's name in Jordan-world until someone point them out to me. Nynaeve, for example, I was pronouncing "nin-eh-vah" for the longest time until I checked the glossary, where I discovered it was actually pronounced "NIGH-NEEV".
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