Wheel of Time Books

I cannot think of many. That was one of the nice things about last books was the cunning ways that Gateways were used to great effect. But for me it was always a little bit annoying how the One Power was nearly always used as weapon of blunt force, with pure strength being the only required skill. Especially given how important a role channeling exhaustion is given later in the books, you would think that channeling smarter, not harder would have been more valued. One thing that always stood out for me is when channelers are facing a cavalry charge, why did they not just weave air into an obstacle at about waist height and watch the horses go dow…

So, after completing the wheel of time series I find myself needing to fill the void it left before my first re-reading. Does anyone have any fantasy series recommendations? Is Earthsea worth reading? Any other older series in the same vein? My only stipulation is that they cannot be LitRPGs or video-game adjacent. That stuff is just too immersion breaking and cringey for me.

I was just re-reading a snippet of The Dragon Reborn where Rand enters the Heart of Stone. Upon a re-read I was fascinated with how eager Be'lal was to fight (and best) Rand in a sword fight, so eager it delayed him long enough for Moiraine to show up. Rand's old wound opens during the fight. After that battle, when Ba'alzamon descends from above and begins to tear Rand's soul from his body, I wonder if the only reason Rand survives this onslaught is because the True Power can't defeat an opposite evil.

While reading through the series the first time, I noticed that characters will sometimes refer to something sour as tasting bitter. That seemed like a weird arbitrary choice, but I thought maybe there was some interesting real-world history on that (like the color orange and such), but a quick search didn't seem to turn up anything. Gang, I humbly ask: What's up with that? (Also, the Peaches being poison is weird. I think people used to think tomatoes were poison so I gave it a pass, but if anyone has more details on that it'd be appreciated)

I've been a fan of this book series since...I don't remember when actually. I got sucked in via a marketing campaign. The local bookstore I frequented was giving away the first half of TEoTW for free. It worked. It worked so well in fact that I don't even remember reading the three "Alien" series books I bought at the time. I've been a lurker for decades?, recently finished a complete readthrough and discovered "River of Souls" and "The Strike at SG". Strange to find new content after all these years. And reading all those posts about how Sharans COULDN'T be introduced that late in the series, due to various well thought out reasoning, did and still does make …

Arising from discussion about the show. I was thinking that Faile's character, in particular her demand that Perrin act in the way she wants him to, without telling him what that is, is actually a male conceit. It takes the cliche of male partners not knowing why their female partners are angry or upset, and instead of showing this from the male point of view where Perrin is baffled by Faile's behaviour, the story doubles down on showing that Perrin has done nothing wrong, by also showing from Faile's point of view that she knows he has done nothing wrong and in as much takes full responsibility for her behaviour and the situation as a whole. And …

I’ll start…I’ve heard people have done this but no one I know. I do have a friend who really wanted to name his son Rand but baby mama vetoed. I had my kids before reading, so I’m not sure there, but I could see naming future fur babies something inspired by WOT.

One thing that amuses me to no end in this series is how the Aes Sedai can twist the truth to essentially render that part of the oaths null and void. Give me some more examples of extreme truth twisting for fun! In example: "I was fired for gross misconduct." On a resume could become: "After receiving recognition from the Human Resources department I was promoted to Customer, notably among our most profitable positions."

When the seeker comes to karede to discuss the disappearance of tuon and other things, he presents information about a girl meeting a specific description who has been sighted in ebou dar extorting merchants or some such story. They seem convinced of the accuracy and authenticity of this intel. I was kind of confused overall whether or not I was picking up on the situation, so I may be operating on a false premise, but I got the impression that they believe this girl to potentially or even probably be tuon. If I got that part right, and since we know that is not her, then who is it? It also is mentioned that her truth speaker has taken to seclusion. Are we to assume that …

Has Robert Jordan ever talked about where the word Ashaman comes from? Is it as simple as being A Shaman? Taken from the medicine men and shamanism of our age?

Of all the 14 books in wheel of time series, which is your favourite, second favourite, third favourite etc? Which is your least favourite?

I'm re-reading The Dragon Reborn and reading Mat's first chapters after his healing from the dagger. I was taken by how different his character seemed to me. How his luck seemed to burst into being that one night he began exploring Tar Valon. It seemed out of the blue and I wondered if it was an just an aspect of his Ta'veren nature coming to fore Does anyone else have thoughts on this ?

Where to buy books for collection (best look/price)

On a number of posts I have seen casual mention of the fact that Mat is pro slavery because of his actions surrounding Damme. Having re read the series again I found myself during this recent read a little confused because no where is this suggested. yet it seems, amongst some, to have become almost an accepted viewpoint. The main point of evidence for this "pro slavery" approach is given as how he treats the Damme he captures at the last battle, with some claiming that because he didn't set her free again, and instead allowed her to be collared and then work for him, he shows his true colours. However throughout that whole scene Mat has moments where he questions. …

Can someone please tell me what exactly is the reason for the treatment and punishment siuan received? I’ve never quite understood what the offense was. When she and moiraine would say they would be stilled and possibly executed if they were found out, I always felt like I was missing something because I couldn’t figure out what was so terrible about what they were doing. Then it happened and I still couldn’t quite grasp what the issue was. As the amyrlin seat shouldn’t she have made it a priority to find the DR and not allow him to be gentled so he can win the last battle? As far as the secrecy, that is how AS roll, especially the amyrlin seat doesn’t share everything wi…

So, I am re-reading entire series ahead of Season 2, and finished book 1. When I was reading before, I assumed that all the Eye of the World hints were just happy coincidences that lead our group to be at the Eye of the World at just the correct time to save the World. And then at Eye of the World confrontation was just Forsaken released because first Seal just broke due to being old and weakened by Dark One's taint. However, after Season 1, as I am rereading the books, all those hints that "coincidentally" were revealed leading the group to the Blight, now feel like a setup and a trap set by Ishamael. And their confrontation at Eye of the World was actually cor…

Ok first of all I would rather have the BS books then not have the series finished at all and in a ranking of other people finishing someones work this is not GOT levels of bad, but, on my last reread of the last 3 books I found myself going over each one twice and realised that for a long time I have convinced myself they are much much better then they actually are. I am not going to get into the Lore problems (I have many) or the issue with how certain characters personality is changed, or they suddenly speak in a way that is alien because that is all down to personal feeling and I have no doubt there will be things I liked that others hated. I am instead just going to …

So Verin has made her appearance in the TV show and it has got me thinking about her arc in the book, and I feel that RJ wasted a great moment there by being too secretive. In the TV show Verin has a sister, and my assumption is that we as the audience are going to see that Verin is clearly black Ajah far earlier, Possibly involving her killing her own sister. TO my mind, in order to get the influence and information she did amongst the darkfriends Verin had to do some very very very nasty things to innocent people to prove herself. We know that Aes Sedai do not automatically sit at the head of the darkfriend council, and we also know that the Forsaken (who verin ha…

Is there any explanation for why saidin was corrupted and not saidar? I just realized that I must have assumed that the DO was defined by a gender construct, namely male in general. Now I’m feeling naive and embarrassed to admit that I assumed the DO was inherently “male ish” and therefore the taint had to be tied to saidin. So moving past my blunder and acknowledging that forces of nature/creation on the level of the DO itself are not constrained by gender constructs, what caused specifically the male half of the power to be vulnerable to the DO corruption? Is it because the men were the ones actively channeling at the time so the DO had easier access to saidin?

I really wanted to like Faile, and maybe the character is written better later, but I just can't with her. She is so enormously awful. Selfish and mean about every single thing. And Perrin is the one that got strapped with her? She's horrible to him, bullying and even abusive in nearly every interaction. I'll grant that Perrin is obnoxiously "protective" of her to the point that he steals her personal agency trying to keep her out of any danger. That's also gross. However, they are easily the most toxic "good" relationship I've read in ages, and it's nearly enough to quit reading to avoid this narrative.

On August 2, 2023 I've finally finished the wheel of time books after five months it was breathtaking.

I think the publics history with a property is often just as interesting and vast as the property itself, so I'm wondering what history the members here have with the series. I started the Eye of the World at 10, in 1991, and finished the series with the release of of the final novel 22 year later. I lived near this book store, Daniel's Fine Books, and by an older gentleman, Daniel Charles Jacob. I used to tease him for having three first names. The store being near is relative, I live on a farm in the country and it was miles on bike into town. Anyway, when Eye of the World released a few months before and they had a few copies in the window. I knew the owne…

I’ve heard great things about the WOT audiobooks, but haven’t listened to the books (or anything by audiobook) myself. I tend to have trouble computing information solely through hearing, I’m usually more dependent on something visual to facilitate any absorption of content. Despite that, I kinda wonder if I should give it a try anyway since everyone seems to really enjoy the audiobooks. Any thoughts? Especially from anyone who can relate to being audio challenged but tackled the audiobooks anyway?

Soooo... that was a fun stream! For those who missed it: Brandon Sanderson did a stream with Matt of the Dusty Wheel for the tenth aniversary of A Memory Of Light, and many topics came to pass, but most interesting was the fact that they finally had permission from Jordan's wife and team to talk about certain things that had remained a secret up to this point. And the main one was... Okay, I'll put it in spoilers. Go see the stream first. And if you haven't read A Memory Of Light yet, GO AWAY!! This is your final warning. Spoiler So at the end of AMOL, Lanfear uses compulsion on Perrin in order to have him help her accomplish her g…

I don’t get why Lanfear felt the need to fake her death. That was needless and also redundant if you think about it. Everyone on the side of light except Perin and Rand already thought that she was dead. People already thought that the saw her die in the real world. Neither Rand or Perin were going to chase after her. Her actions made absolutely no sense.

When did the name People of the Dragon start? my only theory is that when Lews first became Tamyrlin, and the war started and he moved to a greater role and took the title Dragon and the Forsaken left, the Aiel were no longer just servants to the Aes Sedai, they became the servants of Tamyrlin and adopted the name People of the Dragon or were called so by others. During the Breaking or later, that name may have been lost, but not before the Dragon Wall got its name… Any other ideas?

Okie, so there's a scene early on in the books where a character (I think its Siuan, but not entirely sure), is explaining about the One Power, and how non-channelers are more or less helpless against them in most circumstances. It's phrased like she's mocking someone. What's the exact quote? Keep thinking it involves something about "Big burly man" but might be getting it confused with another quote from a different series. Anyway, I can't for the life of me find it. Can you guys help me?

Everybody knows about Robert Jordan's military service in Vietnam. I am hoping, for the sake of his reputation, that that was all it was restricted to. I've just come across a nasty little secret about the war that that war criminal and all-out creep Henry Kissinger started against Cambodians in Cambodia. https://theintercept.com/2023/05/23/henry-kissinger-cambodia-bombing-survivors/ I assume everybody knows the Questioners express RJ's view of the CIA as he saw them in Vietnam. I wonder if Shaidar Haran was his view of Henry Kissinger, assuming he did actually know of the crime against peace and humanity that the US was waging against Cambodian ci…

Now, I have mentioned a lot of the times that Tolkien's Legendarium and Jordan's Wheel of Time dovetail very, very well when you let your mind work around it a bit. General View Entire story of the Pattern, and all its ages and turnings, happen long after the War of the Ring and the War of Wrath: Morgoth was banished into the Void, and Sauron with him, along with many fallen Maiar. After that, Eru the Creator changed the passage of time on Arda so that it is cyclical and that Morgoth could never escape the Void. From age to age, he manages to make a bore in his prison and reaches the world of humanity, who call him Shai'tan and the Dark One. Sauron w…

I have been rereading our beloved WOT for the first time since completing the series last year. Someone recommended another series and so I stopped my reread to read it. I do like the book but all I can think about is getting back to WOT. It’s like I can’t even give a s*** about anything anymore. I used to love reading everything. What is happening to me? Can someone relate?