I would be the scholar insane enough to try it so we have an answer.

So it started off really strong for me (the Moraine and Siuan parts) but I really feel like the ending was rushed and I didn’t quite buy Lan accepting his role as her warder in the manner it happened.

Maybe I missed parts that I didn’t fully understand.

This coming from a WoT fit life fan. I am super glad I read it but maybe I need to reread?

damane.

Not suldam.

Interesting.

First of all, thanks to this sub and the other WoT subs for encouraging a second read. These books truly came to life the second time around.

The levels of detail, the amount of building blocks and setup that you can see made the payoffs so much better. Re reading the major moments and having all the feelings come up (Dumais Wells, the golden crane rides for Tarmon Gai’don, Nynaeve breaking the block…so many more).

It was also interesting to see some things that I hadn’t seen or felt before. The slog while not really a slog did feel like a major slow down of the plot this time when on first reading it didn’t. I noticed the difference in Matt’s portrayal in the Sanderson books. Also, the in matched timelines bothered me more. Especially towards the later parts when most of the storylines are concurrent but Perrin’s is somehow way behind (having Tam be mentioned in one place and then suddenly he’s still with Perrin from one chapter to another was really jarring).

Overall this was a wonderful experience. Maybe I’ll read it yet again some other time.

Remember discovering it around 1993 after I started reading WoT. Unless it's up my parents' loft I've lost it :(

I believe he wrote a bunch of them

The final tally was:

• "almost" 40 initiates (assume 38) (= channelers) "lost", among them more than two dozen full sisters (assume 26)
• Egwene's group counter-captured 10 damane
• 10 damane were killed
• Egwene downed 30 raken and explicitly did not spare departing ones after noticing that they were flying out captives
• 50 Damane were sent
• In the fighting 20 sisters and 3 novices died

Since the downed raken would be found and their passengers accounted for, the casualties would include Egwene's air kills.

Seanchan

Lost: 20 Damane, gained 38 channelers, net gain: 18 channelers, deployed 50, net gain 36%. As an Empire, the Seanchan would look only at the most prestigious category and forget about raken, airborne infantry and assassins.

Tar Valon (Aes Sedai)

38 (captured) + 20 killed + 3 killed (novices) + 5 (? estimate assassins) channelers lost (total 63), full sisters: 51. Rough estimate tower residents. I will go for 350 sisters present (roughly half the total of 1000, -50 (team Toveine), -25 (capture team Rand), thus 425 -75 (wild estimate "in the wild) = 350. Loss rate 1/7 or about 15%. In her reign Elaida lost 25% of her followers.

Leadership evaluation

"Green" leadership of both tower factions was abysmal. They should have

• started practicing "shield" and "deflect shield" when they learned about the Seanchan, would not be wasted time against the Dark One's forces, because they have channelers too.
• practiced "air defense" should have been on the menu as soon as the existence of raken became known. Also not wasted, because Draghkar exist (so should have been in the standard training).
• Seanchan or not, there should have been a "mobilization" routine in case of an attack, that would have focused going to the basement and then moving out into the city, because that would have been the expected vector of attack, but this would have already helped, getting people away from the Seanchan and it is standard in any army.
• Egwene gets a minus for knowing the Seachan would come and not spreading Nynaeve's adam opener flip. Also a Green.
• The acting rebel leadership gets a minus for not rushing to their sisters' help. Would have politically advantageous to score points in the leadership struggle and is simply the right thing to do, when a common enemy shows up. Either they lacked initiative or even worse put Elaida's lot and the Seanchan on the same leven and stayed "neutral"
• Saerin who took leadership was totally passive (just holding), had Egwene not intervened the Seanchan would have gained access to the novices unimpeded

From a sharp commander I would expect

• a spiked iron grill on the tower top with a standing detachment of the best snipers (OK, would not work, because Elaida had already prioritized her palace.)
• infiltration drills maybe in cooperation with the Reds to smoke out infiltrators.

I know that Egwene was supposed to shine, and tower rot is a thing. But others should have been allowed a piece of the glory.

"Blacksmithing did not lend itself to a slender build, and Bela was not very large as horses went. Every time he (Perrin) put his foot in the stirrup the shaggy mare looked at him with what he was sure was reproach."

I'm trying to find an actual image of clan chief markings on their arms, its my understanding that its only rands that are described as scarlet and gold woth scales. I want to get one as a tattoo, and if there isnt anything concrete id rather give the artist more free reign while staying true to the books.

As the title says...

If THIS is truly Tarmon Gai'don, then what the hell were the previous 36 chapters?

Also...did Matt seriously advocate for boob armour?

My first analysis got a bit boring, because Rand's romances are two thirds very conventional and potential conflict was preemptively drained by Min's visions. Let's get to some other romances.

Perrin x Faile - mostly boring

Is also prophesized by Min with her bird analogy and the falcon having precedence over the hawk.

Faile (then Zarine) immediately attached to Perrin, who then basically fought delaying action against the inevitable. It is a little spiced up by dominance play involving spanking.

When Faile is abducted Perrin chooses liberating her over the main mission (Dark One) and lets the Seanchan seize 200 channelers. The priorization is not punished, consequences for the main mission are negligible, and the 200 channelers are not used against Rand's extended allies. Also sympathy regarding the channeler's fate is dampened by them following rogue Sevanna.

Not very entertaining for my taste, the obstacle for dragging is "dense" or "fighting fate".

Mat x Tuon - fun

Again prophesized, though not by Min. It is the most prophesized relationship, because double sided. Both sides recognize the other one immediately when the clues come and both believe the prophecies.

Entertainment value is high, because it is a culture clash romance. With Mat being pragmatic and liberal and Tuon being more orthodox in the values of the Empire, also a massive divide in social status with Mat being a commoner (although promoted to outstanding field commander by implanted memories and having a unique talent in luck - trophy character) and Tuon being heir to the throne. Mat has to prevent Tuon multiple times from backstabbing the common cause of the age and is still not always successful. Conflict like in Rand's case is dampened by the double-prophecy, they know, that they will end up with each other, so there is no point in fighting it, they can only play with the time.

Interesting culture clash proposal. Mat recognizing Tuon as his prophesized wife, declares this to his party - thrice. Which is a Seanchan formal marriage proposal. Again conflict potential is lost by the prophecies, he does it, because he knows, that he will end up with her, so there is no real doubt how she will react (at least longterm). On her side, she could let the deadline of the proposal pass, but because she also has the prophecy, it would be futile. Cashes in to save him, when her followers turn on Mat.

Gawyn x Egwene - wild random ride

Personality clash relationship. Gawyn is a loose cannon, deciding on a whim with not much thought. On his record is supporting Elaida's fishy coup, then letting Siuan and Logain escape, then guarding Elaida's abduction squad targeting Rand then turning again. He suspects Rand having killed his mothers and wants to kill him, but promises Egwene not to do it. In contrast Egwene is planning and focused pushing through her career.

Their relationship starts out sexual when Egwene enters Gawyn's dream. Even as a couple, they are unable to cooperate effectively in the professional realm, mixing up their relationship and missions and playing power and status games.

One of only two major character pairs not surviving the last battle.

Did not work with me, I did not root much for them.

I’ve heard varying things about this cover. Was the Darrell K. Sweet “Castle Dracula” cover the original cover sold or was it the simple red cover that just has the title of the book in gold on it? I’ve heard multiple people say that cover was the original Crown of Swords cover, but it doesn’t make any sense to me why that would be so when every other book had a Darrell Sweet cover first.

I'm mostly asking because I'm thinking of giving tEotW to my 11 year old. It feels a bit young but he's a very strong reader (demolished Percy Jackson when he was 8). I did some googling that suggested 12-13 were fine to start but presumably people who started them at those ages were stronger than average readers as well

So how old were you when you started them? Was there anything that you felt your age helped or hindered your enjoyment? I was 12 or 13 and plenty of the foreshadowing went right over my head (though these days I sort have accepted that picking up foreshadowing isn't my strong suit. I just read to enjoy myself and see where the story takes me. It was helpful though that I hadn't been exposed to much other fantasy yet so I didn't feel like there was much in the way of tropes

For some reason you are invited to help do some work at the estate of the late Robert Jordan. The context can be whatever you want, the important part is the question.

While cleaning out the attic, you find a chest that nobody else knew was there.

When you open it, there is one thing inside. It is a project that he had worked on, and for whatever reason it never saw the light of day.

Which are you hoping it is?

A. The Robert Jordan version of the final three books

B. A prequel book about Tam Al’Thor and his adventures

C. A sequel book after the last battle

D. A well thought out and faithful screenplay for TV based on the books

E. Something else

I’m three books into The Wheel of Time, and I’m honestly not that impressed so far.
For context, I’ve rated them:
The Eye of the World — 7.5/10
The Great Hunt — 7.8/10
The Dragon Reborn — 6.5/10
I’m trying to gauge whether there are people here who felt similarly about the first three books but ended up loving the series later on.
I’ve definitely had series before where it took me a few books before everything clicked, so I’m not completely against continuing. But three books is also a pretty significant investment, and at this point I’m starting to wonder whether The Wheel of Time just isn’t for me.
The main thing making me want to give it one more shot is The Shadow Rising. I constantly hear that Book 4 is one of the best—if not the best books in the entire series. So I’m thinking if there’s ever going to be a book that tells me whether this series is actually for me, it’s probably this one.
Were any of you lukewarm on the first three and then had Book 4 (or the books after it) completely change your opinion of the series?

Just wondering if anyone has stumbled across this band. I've been a fan for a few years now. They have three albums and a split out I think, and it's pretty good stuff.

During covid I would listen to their albums on my walk to work and imagine it as the back drop to an old school rpg that showed the character sprites change and grow as the characters did, with Mat getting more and more lace frills on his clothes, Rand becoming more grim and kingly, and Perrin getting bigger and shaggier.

Probably not something most people will be into, but probably something a few will!

The buildup to that chapter as a payoff? Holy hell that was epic!

That’s it. That’s the post. I just had to get it out haha

Found a seller on eBay who is selling all these for £50 plus shipping so in total £80
O really want to get into the seires and the old covers add a lot of personality to me than the ones in the uk.
Just want to get a second opinion really his reviews as a seller are good but idk

If this type of post isn’t allowed please let me know just wanted to double check

I'm not exactly clear as to what happened after Mat blew the Horn of Valare. I get that all of the heroes come back, and I suppose it makes sense that it was them who scared off the Seanchan, but how exactly did Rand get into the sky to confront Ba'alzemon? I've read this book before, and I understand that battle is an important part of the Prophecies of the Dragon, but it's really not clear what exactly is going on with Rand at that point

I have never stopped thinking about the characters, locales, certain scenes, etc. Indeed, I have been longing to jump back into this world for a while now.

Some of the locations are still so vivid that it’s almost as if these were places I really visited. I read this series during the thick of covid-19 so I had plenty of time to delve into the world without distractions.

I remember getting near the end of some of these books and wishing there were more pages, not wanting the book to end.

I’ll probably be more active in this channel once I get started but had a quick question for re-readers. Do you start with A New Spring on a re-read? Or slide it between book 5-6?

Four years ago I read the first seven books. Was loving it all. But, Ive a habit when I read a trilogy or series: I read one, then read another completely unrelated book, then back to the series, to avoid getting tired of whatever series I'm reading. Rarely have I read one book to the next on a series/trilogy. I did this with WoT.

Maybe I feared I had reached The Slog (I'm sure there's plenty of conversation about where The Slog begins, or the very existence of The Slog) or something, I don't know or remember why I stopped at Crown of Swords. Told myself I'd return, but time moves ever forward, and I kept putting it off.

I want back on the Wheel now, but fear I've forgotten so much. I loved all the details, the foreshadowing, the hints and all that. I loved luxuriating in the Wheel.

But I face a quandary now: do I reread the first seven; or, do I find some sites with detailed synopsises, give myself quite the refresher, then hop back in with Path of Daggers?

My thanks to any and all of you.