WOT Help

[mtbikemom]

   I'm supposed to be rolling out pie dough now, but I'll get the flour off my hands long enough to post this.  I hereby end this lovely rabbit trail on JoeC's thread, since I started it.  I will answer you, mtlhddoc2  , elsewhere since I think some people are getting weary of having to scroll through this stuff to get to what they want to hear; namely, how Joe is liking WOT.  Thanks to those who have pm'd me those encouraging messages.  There are some thoughtful folk who are Wasting Time with me lately!

   Thanks for what you wrote, Reaves.  You sound like a good egg, but we know that won't get ya to heaven. 

   Keep praying for mtlhddoc2.  I think the hook's in his mouth and he's fighting hard, but I really believe his name's in the Lamb's Book.  Otherwise, it's pearls before you-know-what.  I really enjoy gently provoking him,  which is part of the purpose of this here paragraph; but he has been respectful and has brought up many interesting and challenging points.  It's been a lively, healthy, energizing debate.

   Actually, Joe, my favorite WOT book is The Shadow Rising.  Your head will literally explode when you read it!  Better have an EMT handy...
   See some of you over in the new Religion in Fantasy thread I'll try to start tomorrow. 

[Peter Ahlstrom]

mtbikemom, I'm a believer, but I have a lot of sympathy for the other view and if I were mtlhddoc2 I would find your third paragraph downright offensive. What you said is not likely to have any kind of positive effect.

If you want to answer him elsewhere, answer him elsewhere. Don't tease with paragraphs like this. It's not helpful.

[mtlhddoc2]

Santa: I do not find it offensive. Mainly because I know how some people can be. She is what she is, and one of the tenets of her religion is prosetlizing. I used to find attitudes like that very offensive,but not so much any more. The only thing that offends me these days is when people say that without "god" I am "empty" or "devoid of morals". The rest I find funny.

[JoeC]

Update!!
 I finished The Great Hunt this morning. Holy crap what a great ending!! Very satisfied and I can't wait for The Dragon Reborn to come in (I ordered the hardcover yesterday.) SPOILERS BELOW:

Okay, I liked this book about 10 times more than I liked EotW. This had more action and more interesting character interactions. I actually had no problem getting used to all the new characters introduced in this book. I'm actually starting to like Rand too, especially since he squared off with Ba'alzamon at the end....oh yeah btw...what an ending!!! I couldn't believe Mat blew the horn! That was so cool! Didn't expect that at all. Also didn't expect Ingtar to be a Darkfriend either. Talk about a sucker punch. I really liked him too and that whole scene where he confesses to Rand who he really was and then goes on to redeem himself was VERY well written. I imagine that if I had ever gotten the chance to meet Mr. Jordan in person, that would be one scene in particular that I'd commend him on.
I thought that the whole Leash Holders/Leashed Ones was  very interesting. There is definitely some kind of bondage aspect there and the Seanchan people seem all about control. I had no idea how they were going to get out of there! I felt so bad for Egwene. The scenes of her torture at the hands of Renna and her forced submission were heartbreaking (props again Mr. Jordan.) Which made Egwene's revenge all the better (even if it didn't last)
I'm truly enjoying the ever evolving history of the Dragon and how Rand is fulfilling prophecies and all that. Loial is the man. Would love to have him as a best friend. I'm glad Min is an integral part of the story now, I liked what little of her was in EotW. Finally, the scene where Rand sends everybody through the Way Stone and they all see hundreds of different versions of their lives played out in front of them was one of the most thought provoking scenes ever in a book! Can you even imagine?!? Someone could go mad!! What an imagination Mr. Jordan had!!
Okay I've gone on too long. To sum it up, I'm officially hooked now. I was on the fence after EotW but this one threw me over. I can't wait to read Dragon Reborn. I'm dying to know how Rand handles the fact that everyone is learning of his true identity after people saw him fighting Ba'alzamon in the sky. Thanks again guys!! I'll keep you updated!
-Joe

[deyan]

Hi all, new here, fan of Wheel of Time. Would just like to say how much i enjoy reading these books. Started reading them in 2004 (was playing the computer game before that, involved in the online community) and it's a fantastic series. I'm currently half way through Winter's Heart and i just can't put the book down; i haven't been able to put down any of them for that matter. I'm confident Brandon Sanderson (although having not read any of his books) will do a great job in finishing the series off.

@JoeC, it was quite an ending hey? Get ready to look forward to even more addictive Wheel of Time books, especially the Dragon Reborn.

[Loud_G]

Ahh....JoeC, your post reminds me of the first time I read the series. I too was blown away. As I read it over and over, I still find it tremendously exciting even though the initial surprise is gone. I'm glad you are enjoying it. It only gets better

[Clomer]

Like many others here, my story is opposite JoeC's: I've been a Robert Jordan fan for a long time.  Book 7: A Crown of Swords had just been published when I first read Wheel of Time.  When Brandon Sanderson was chosen to finish Wheel of Time, I was like "Brandon who?

I have since read Elantris and the Mistborn trilogy.  I've very happy with what I've seen, as those books are among the best I've read.  I think Brandon will do fine with Memory of Light.

Joe, your reactions to The Great Hunt are about what mine were the first time I read it.  Looking back, I also now know that I had no idea what was coming, and yet the amount of foreshadowing and consistancy from book to book is amazing.  Things were foreshadowed in book 2 that don't come to fruition until book 11, and I wouldn't be surprised to find more fulfillment in 12.  I won't say more than that as I don't want to give any spoilers.  As RJ would say: RAFO (Read and Find Out).  :-)

[douglas]

I'm dying to know how Rand handles the fact that everyone is learning of his true identity after people saw him fighting Ba'alzamon in the sky. Thanks again guys!! I'll keep you updated!
-Joe

Yeah, kinda hard to keep it secret after something like that.  And then you have certain prophecies from the Karaethon Cycle, too.  I checked, this one's in TGH so it's not a spoiler now.

Twice and twice shall he be marked,
twice to live and twice to die.
Once the heron to set his path,
twice the heron to name him true.
Once the dragon for remembrance lost,
twice the dragon for the price he must pay.

He's got the second heron now, and sure enough word of the true Dragon Reborn is starting to spread and Rand is finding it much harder to deny the truth.  Makes you wonder how he's going to get marked with a pair of dragons too.  I won't say anything about when and how that happens, but it is an extremely powerful scene, one of my favorites.

[Razor]

As mentioned here the 3 scenes with Ingtar and his confessssion and death, when Matt blows the horn...with the heroes and Rand battling Ba'alzamon in the sky... and when Rand gets his Dragons are three of the best scenes in the book.  However,  those of you reading for the first time have lots of great scenes to look forward to, as there are many other scenes equally as good.

[Vatdoro]

I loved all the scenes that Joe mentioned from TGH. Just hearing him talk about Ingtar and all those great scenes reminds me about how awesome all of these books are!

I don't know about you guys, but one of my favorite scenes from TGH is somewhere in the middle of the book. When Rand sneaks into the Trolloc camp and steals back the Horn. I love that scene! Rand finally uses the void and the sword lessons from Lan together successfully and we see how deadly he can be (without even touching the OP). And then Perrin and his group get to that point in the trail and Perrin learns that someone killed a bunch of Trollocs and the wolves call him Shaddow Killer.  Oooh, that just sends shivers up my spine. And Perrin has no idea that Shadow Killer = Rand.   

I LOVE THE WHEEL OF TIME!

[JoeC]

Sorry for the wait guys!
I had to wait a week before I got the Dragon Reborn, so I read Chris Farley's biography (exellent read, very sad ending) Now, I'm about 65 pages into TDR and I just got done with a very nice action scene. The Trollocs attacked Moiraine's camp and killed Leya. Perrin cleaved a path of destruction with his axe and all the wolves came to help them too. Awesome!! My favorite scene was where Perrin is viewing the wolves chasing down a fleeing Myrrdrall and they rip him apart while Perrin feels their emotions. Such a well written scene, though I'm disapointed Rand sat this one out. Now Min is on her way to Tar Valon and Perrin, Lan, and Moiraine are on their way to get Rand. VERY good book so far! Thanks again guys!!
-Joe

[Publius]

Hey Joe,

Like you, I started to read WOT well after it was first published I was able to read books 1-10 one right after another.  I'll say this the later books do slow down a little, but it didn't affect my enjoyment in the series too much because I didn't have to wait for the books.  Knife of Dreams was published shortly after I finished the tenth book.  Two books stand out that I didn't like.  Crossroads of Twilight and Path of Daggers.  I'll tell you why but don't worry because there is nothing in these reasons that is going to spoil anything for you. 

CoT I thought was the final book.  I was 3/4 of the way through the book before I realized that it wasn't the last book.  Of course you already know this, so it won't be a surprise for you.  I actually enjoyed the last 1/4 of the book, so I think I may have enjoyed the entire book if I had known that it wasn't the final book ahead of time.

tPoD is the real reason for posting this because if I knew then what I know now I may have enjoyed that book also.  When you pick up tPoD your going to be looking for a certain character, and that character isn't going to be in that book.  You're going to have to wait until you read Winter's Heart. 

Other than those two things I thought the books moved at a good pace and I really enjoyed 9 out of 11 of them.  I'm going to wait until AMoL is published before rereading the series, and I'm excited to see if I enjoy those books the second time around.

[smashingsilver]

I also didn't like The Path of Daggers the first time I read it, but for several reasons.

The first one is the one you mentioned; I was very disappointed that character did not appear in the book.

Second, the first time I read the WoT series was in 1998-1999 and at that point tPoD was the most recent of the books to be released.  For that one to be the last book I would have to read gave me, well, not much to look forward to.  On my several re-reads of the series since, I have come to enjoy it a lot more, but at the time I found it pretty dull.

Third, and this is connected to the last reason, this book is pretty anti-climactic.  While a lot of stuff does happen at the end, it's not really suspenseful.  Of course, when you have Winter's Heart sitting there just waiting for you when you're done, that's not really a problem.  When you have to wait a year and a half...uggh.

Last, this book might be the most confusing of all of them (maybe CoT could rival it).  I got really bogged down by the political maneuverings and the vast amount of main and important characters' storylines.  Additionally, when you compare this book's timeline to A Crown of Swords, it seems like it's taking forever for things to happen (aCoS takes place over a week, tPoD takes over a month).  When you consider that much of that time is spent travelling (and I'm not talking about the One Power kind), or sitting around talking about going somewhere....  Granted, this book does a lot to set up for the conclusion of the story, but during the first read, it's a bit rough.  My wife just finished this book a couple of weeks ago during her first read of WoT and she also found that one the most difficult to enjoy and comprehend.  I guess it's like vegetables - not that great the first time, but you later come to appreciate their value.

[Raphael]

Personally, I loved the Path of Daggers because of the political maneuverings. But, to each his own.

[Razor]

Joe, this is the book where you will really like and start looking forward to the Mat scenes.