Wheel of Time: Reading Order (New Spring and The Eye of the World Spoilers)

[Ereinion]

I liked The Great Hunt's best. 

You only say that because you haven't finished Lord of Chaos yet 

[Hobbun]

I liked The Great Hunt's best. 

You only say that because you haven't finished Lord of Chaos yet 

Oh, agreed. The Great Hunt has a very good ending.  But Lord of Chaos is just epic.

[Comatose]

Well, Great Hunt will have to wait.  I could not resist the Name of the Wind.  I'm going to get through it as quick as I can though (and Indigo had a buy three get the fourth free deal, so I also bought the Dragon Rebron), and continue with the wheel of time.  I hope to finish as many as possible before Way of Kings comes out.
I look forward to these great endings you speak of

[Shivertongue]

I liked The Great Hunt's best. 

You only say that because you haven't finished Lord of Chaos yet 

Oh, agreed. The Great Hunt has a very good ending.  But Lord of Chaos is just epic.

I read the ending to Lord of Chaos so many times I think I could probably quote it word for word now...

Winter's Heart, in my opinion, also had a truly epic ending.

[Renoard]

Wow.  Interrupting WoT to read Name of the Wind is like interrupting a filet mignon at a blue ribbon restaurant to eat beef wellington at a table across the room.

By the time you get back it may be too cold to be palatable and you'll likely be too full to eat.

That said, every time I've tried to sit down and read New Spring it's been so mind numbingly boring I've not been able to push on through.

[Hobbun]

Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what Comatose was referring to in Name of the Wind. I had to look it up on Amazon. It seemed kind of interesting, but something I am not looking at jumping into at all.

I actually want to start WoT again and keep looking at my books at home.    But I am going to wait until I read through some of Brandon’s original works, first.

[guessingo]

The endings of the first 3 books are by far better than the other endings. The ending of Lord of Chaos is pretty good. The ending in book 9 is good, but seems rushed. The endings of 7,8,10, and 11 are not that good.

book 12s ending is good, but it is  a Brandon Sanderson ending and not a Robert Jordan ending. Their writing styles are polar opposites. You should be able to see the difference between the two with the first part of the prologue in book 12.

I will always like The Eye of the World best since it was the first one. There is something about a book that starts with

"Lord of the Morning I have come for you" and ends with "The prophecies will be fullfilled. The Dragon is reborn". Alot of people really like the first line of the Gunslinger by Stephen King (the man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed). That is a great opening line. However, the prologue to the Eye of the World is the best prologue I have ever read by far. Nothing else is even close. Once I read that I could not put the book down.

[Hobbun]

The endings of the first 3 books are by far better than the other endings. The ending of Lord of Chaos is pretty good. The ending in book 9 is good, but seems rushed. The endings of 7,8,10, and 11 are not that good.

book 12s ending is good, but it is  a Brandon Sanderson ending and not a Robert Jordan ending. Their writing styles are polar opposites. You should be able to see the difference between the two with the first part of the prologue in book 12.
I will always like The Eye of the World best since it was the first one. There is something about a book that starts with

"Lord of the Morning I have come for you" and ends with "The prophecies will be fullfilled. The Dragon is reborn". Alot of people really like the first line of the Gunslinger by Stephen King (the man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed). That is a great opening line. However, the prologue to the Eye of the World is the best prologue I have ever read by far. Nothing else is even close. Once I read that I could not put the book down.

Not to get too much into TGS (as I haven’t read it, yet), but however much I have heard Brandon did a great job with it, I will admit I am still concerned in how I hear he has handled Mat. I have heard Mat is ‘little off’ and seems ‘forced’ in his responses, that his character is very different than the previous books.

But, if that is the biggest issue people have had of the book, I can deal with that. Considering how much praise it’s received.

[Link von Kelsier Harvey XXIV]

Brandon actually had an interview wherein he talked about people's reactions to Mat.  It's always good to see what the other says about things like that... I can't remember who did the interview...  It was pretty recent though.

[Hobbun]

Any way you could point me in the direction of the interview? Or could anyone else who knows about the interview? I would be very interested to hear Brandon’s answer on that. (Unless it is a spoiler).

[Comatose]

I have to say, so far my detour into the Name of the Wind has been a good one.  It's hard to put it down, which is different from Eye of the World.  There came times while reading it that I had to put it down.
I just hope I can pull away from it long enough to get some writing done today!

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Hobbun: Here. http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-brandon-sanderson-interview.html

[Hobbun]

Thanks Peter.

I read the article, and even though there is a part of it he addresses fans reactions to the characters, it was done more in a general sense than specifically with Mat and the issues I have read that others have had with him.

Again, I am not speaking from experience as I have not read TGS yet, but it was something that came up over and over in user reviews on how Mat ‘changed’ or his humor came along more forced than early books. Just in general, many felt the way he acted was off in how his characterization was established earlier in the series, as if Brandon had difficulty writing him.

And as I said before, if this is the only major issue with the book, it is small indeed, especially considering how positive the reviews (user reviews included) were overall.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Hobbun, I'm not sure you read the last part of the interview where he specifically addresses Mat. As specifically as he's going to, at least.

[Hobbun]

Hobbun, I'm not sure you read the last part of the interview where he specifically addresses Mat. As specifically as he's going to, at least.

Yes, I obviously did not read the very end of the article (due to my complete blindness) as when I got to the Way of Kings portion, I stopped. Silly me, as the last portion dealt with directly what I was referring to.

*face palm*

Sorry!

As  I said though, I was not too terribly concerned even if I noticed some difference in Mat (doesn't sound like he got a lot of people who did, or at least a lot that emailed him on it). And if I do notice it, and that is the biggest problem of the book, that is very small.

But it is at least nice to see Brandon comment on it, and even without the interviewer bringing it up. From the other interviews I have read with Brandon and the time I have seen him in person, he has always struck me as very open and honest.