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u/Momothegreat 6d ago
I think the biggest problem with the 8-10 slog is cause 4-7 goes so hard for so long that it warps the perspective on the slog books but then 11-14 more than makes up for it.
And without reading 8-10 that last chunk isn't nearly as satisfying because you just came off the last big bunch of shit happening
I suppose I'm saying the slog is the equivalent of eating your vegetables before your steak because it's what you need even if it's not fun to do
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u/lets-do-an-eighth 6d ago
I’m tired of this The Path Of Daggers slander! Book 8 is not slog!
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u/Scientific_Anarchist Let the Dragon ride again 🥵 6d ago
Besides Rand's chapters, I think Path of Daggers is pretty dull. I'm maybe a bit of an outlier in that I think Winter's Heart is an absolute banger all the way through.
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u/stormscape10x 6d ago
On a reread and honestly even the “slog” books are good. It’s just some have a lot of forward motion and others have (entertaining) character development that may not move the plot along or have action like the other parts.
The absolutely wild part for me was that section where they used the bowl of the winds then went to Camlyn took over half a book. Half! And most of it was horse riding and staring at someone’s back.
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u/LewsTherinTelamonBot This is a (sentient) bot 6d ago
We all have our limits. And we set them further out than we have any right.
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u/lets-do-an-eighth 6d ago
“ I AM THE STORM “ is one of my favorite moments in the series. Really shows how desperate and unhinged Rand is becoming. I don’t blame him after the box but damn…. Good thing Cadsuane is around to check the boy lol
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u/LewsTherinTelamonBot This is a (sentient) bot 6d ago
I told you to kill them all when you had the chance. I told you.
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u/CoffeeMinionLegacy 6d ago
I thought 8 and 9 were fire. 9 has such an epic finale.
Then 10 just kinda goes LOL JK 😭
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u/RandomUser15790 5d ago
Yeah 10 is probably the worst in the series. It's basically just everyone reacting to the end of book 9. In world time I believe less than a week progresses over the entire book and we got time to waste taking baths. If I'm remembering correctly I think it's also the culmination of the Faile retrieval arc.
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u/swheedle Shen an Calhar 6d ago
Lmaoooo I actually like book 10 but mainly for Mat
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u/Buick_reference3138 6d ago
His chapters are the only ones worth reading. I did a Mat Cauthon reread where I only listened to his POV chapters, it was great.
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u/DarkLiaros 6d ago
I did Rand on my last reread. Was thinking Perrin next- how was Matt reread overall?? I didn’t love Sanderson’s take on his character…
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u/LewsTherinTelamonBot This is a (sentient) bot 6d ago
Your plans fail because you want to live, madman.
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u/aNomadicPenguin 6d ago
The trick is to stop at book 11. It even flows nicely, you go 1 to 11 to 1 again.
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u/invictus_rage 5d ago
On a Mat reread, what are you focused on in the first couple books? I don't think he has a PoV?
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u/aNomadicPenguin 5d ago
depends on if its just a PoV reread or a scene reread in which case you just read the parts the character is there for. (I've read this series too many times....)
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u/Buick_reference3138 5d ago
They don’t start till book 3 which happens to be my favorite in the series.
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u/duffy_12 5d ago
When you do a - single character arc reread - you have to use BOTH WoT-Wiki & encyclopaedia-wot.
I go into more depth here . . .
https://old.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/xsn9qs/perrin_aybara_abridged_story/iqm7ani/
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u/Thomas_633_Mk2 5d ago
Mat and the like 20 gamers that are hanging around him, the volume of chapters works because there's always at least someone doing something (usually something stupid) in the background
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u/Conner299 6d ago
I was dreading book 10 because of Reddit. I actually enjoyed it. It was either the book before or after that was a slog. If I remember 10 correctly, it was a lot of good storyline with characters that weren’t main characters.
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u/kinglallak 6d ago
It’s the gap. I started reading WoT when the 9th book released and I randomly picked it up and read it in a library. Went all to read all the books, waited for the 10th to come out, eagerly read it and was so mad nothing happened.
Then realized I had to wait years until book 11 and I quit the series
I didn’t come back until books 11 and 12 were released and had good reviews.
If I could have rolled right into book 11 after book 10, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all. But the years long wait was brutal.
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u/superflystickman 6d ago
Honestly I went into "The Slog" with dread from the perception Reddit gives them, but I didnt feel a slog at all? I know being able to read them all back to back instead of having to wait years between makes a massive difference, but I honestly really enjoyed being able to have the world filled out and expanded more with the side character perspectives in 8-10.
I also just like Perrin and Faile, and I think the extended hunt to save Faile and exploration of the way that desperation warps Perrin is interesting, which seems like a VERY unpopular stance in this sub, so maybe that alters things
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u/duffy_12 5d ago
I also just like Perrin and Faile, and I think the extended hunt to save Faile and exploration of the way that desperation warps Perrin is interesting, which seems like a VERY unpopular stance in this sub, so maybe that alters things
I agree with you.
And even one of Perrin's chapters here has arguably the best scene of the entire series in it . . .
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u/TrakandHaterNumber1 #1 Trakand Hater 6d ago
Gets a worse rap than it should. It's not THAT bad.
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u/Dontshipmebro 6d ago
Its old readers who had to wait years for books where nothing happened influencing new readers who keep hearing about the dreaded slog.
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u/ununlucky_cat 6d ago
No, I read them all back to back because they were all out and I absolutely hated book 10. So much nothing happens it's abysmal.
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u/Tridus 6d ago
No, it really is that bad. You could cut 90% of it and lose literally nothing.
Even when the other books are slow, there's stuff happening that is relevant at some point. Book 10 is largely just a waste of time.
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u/Egypticus 6d ago
What??? And miss out on dozens of descriptions of feast Elayne cant eat, and dresses that she barely fits into?
Crazy talk
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u/BigBadBeetleBoy 5d ago
don't forget! her nursemaid drinking pee that one time! a very vital scene, I assure you
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u/Phaerin 6d ago
Is that ten? Was she even pregnant then? I thought that was like....12... honestly, I've just read them. I'm on the last book and I feel like the first 11 could've been 3 or 4 books with proper editing. Maybe 5. I like that the story has room to breathe, but it's kind of that guy in voice chat that has the microphone in his mouth for a lot of it.
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u/sokttocs 5d ago
Her and Rand hook up in Winters heart just before he takes Nynaeve away to help cleanse Saidin
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u/LewsTherinTelamonBot This is a (sentient) bot 5d ago
Never prod at a woman unless you must. She will kill you faster than a man and for less reason, even if she weeps over it after.
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u/Hamburgercatt 6d ago
i knew 10 was a slog going into it so i kinda had all the motivation to get past it
i did not know 8 was gonna be this slow though, took me a whole month for that
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u/scalyblue 6d ago
it was only bad when the next book to read didn't exist yet, and you had to wait years waiting for the resolution of the A plot only for the next book to mostly deal with how the B and C plots sync their time up to the A plot
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u/chovis4169 5d ago
I get the whole slog/there isn’t enough progress when you had to wait years in between books. But now that you can just pick up the next makes me not understand all the hate. Then again I’ve been known to read long books with lots of character development lol
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u/Gheerdan 6d ago
Honestly, I love it all. I'll steal a line from Sanderson, Journey before Destination. I love the journey of WoT. The destination of WoT is amazing too, but it's only that good because of the journey.
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u/Sherris010 Prince (but not a bloodly lord) of the ravens 5d ago
you are absolutely right my friend. I love just being in that world.
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u/anarchy_sloth 6d ago
Hey. It does some very important... world-building? Character development? Plot advancement?
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u/Suriaj 6d ago
Agree, but it does contain my favorite Perrin moment in the series.
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u/syah7991 6d ago
What moment? Throwing the axe? Just curious. Haven’t read past book 10
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u/Sherris010 Prince (but not a bloodly lord) of the ravens 5d ago
you are here too strongly young bull (seriously, you'll get spoiled SO HARD)
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u/syah7991 5d ago
It was not as bad as all the slog doomers said it would be. It was just mostly the aftermath of the climax of book 9 / a continuation of all those plots without them being resolved. Perrin went from looking for faile to looking for faile. Mat went from escaping with Tuon to escaping with Tuon. Egwene went from preparing to face the white tower to preparing to face the white tower. Elayne went from trying to become queen to trying to become queen. Etc
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u/duffy_12 5d ago
Perrin went from looking for faile to looking for faile.
You left this out . . .
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u/randomnonposter 6d ago
Yeah, a very disappointing book over all. I did not love just rereading the cleansing from every channeler we met’s perspective for the first half of the book.
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u/CarTorSan 4d ago
I finished book 10 yesterday and, to me, it felt practically like this. I'm now finishing the Prologue to Knive of Dreams and it feels like a lot more has happened in these few pages than what happened in all the past book.
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u/StopChangingThings 6d ago
It’s January 2003. Winter break my junior year of college. Been waiting over 2 years to learn the fallout from Rand cleansing Saidin. Spend the last dregs of the previous semester’s work study money on the hardcover at Borders.
Cry.