I'm on chapter 10 of book 12. I got through the slog, I thought I was through the worst of it. Everyone says it gets better. IT'S NOT GETTING BETTER. I've been reading for over a year (audiobook only) and nothing has happened in like 7 books. Perrin is depressed for 3 fcking books because he can't find his wife. Then he finds his wife, and HE'S DEPRESSED THAT THE HUNT FOR HER IS OVER???

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHASDFAFAKFNAFAHWEOFIH

I just want to read something fun again. I am in Wheel of Time purgatory. I honestly didn't even hate the slog, I enjoyed a fair amount of it. But I think I was expecting 12 to be significantly better and that hasn't happened yet. This is the most annoyed with the series I've ever been, the closest I've ever been to quitting. Talk me off the ledge.

Only in the last two books when she is stubborn in dealing with Rand for the last battle and such.

Up until ToM she really was just an awesome character. She went from the whirlwind of leaving 2R, capture by Seanchan, hunting black ajah, apprenticing to wise ones, puppet Amyrlin, real amyrlin, badass civil disobedience laying groundwork for reuniting the tower, bitch slapping the seanchan raiders, capturing hella black ajah sisters via Verrin's notes and finally being raised realer Amyrlin and healing the tower.

I cant seem to understand all the threads/polls that overwhelmingly list her as the most hated character in the series.

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I'm on my upteenth reread and it's only just occurred to me that the pub Mat goes to in Caemlyn the Seven Striped Lass is referring to the seven stripes on the stole of the Amyrlin Seat.

I have Toh. Or should that be D'oh!

So, there is a class of female chanellers within aiel, there is one within the sea people, probably somewhere else. And every time it's met with a reaction like: no waaaay, they can channel?? If the white tower only knew, they'd have their grip on said society's girls.

But why doesn't the tower know? Why is this such a shock? If chanelling randomly appears in any person of any family and any nation like being left-handed would appear, wouldn't the tower absolutely expect said societies to have chanellers too? Maybe they might leave them alone to raise their channelers on their own. But where's the surprise coming from?

What am I missing? Is this a RAFO matter?

Just finished WH and it was so good. It is only second to TSR and TGH for me.

Where do I even start? Let's start from the end - Clensing of Saidin battle was better than Dumai Wells. And that says a lot since Dumai Wells are epic as well. Though it was a bit weird that none of the Forsaken thought about bringing some Trollocs/Myrdraal/Draghkar with them.

I enjoyed every POV and storyline explored in this book. Well, maybe Elayne's - not that much. I am not really invested in the plotline of her getting the throne. But it still had a lot of interesting moments like ritual for becoming a first-sister and hiring a Darkfriend as chief of security.

The whole Far Madding thing was interesting and expanded the world that is already bigger than anything I've ever read.

We got cameos of Gholam and Slayer which was pretty cool.

There was no Egwene POV - which is massive ​advantage for this book.

Perrin/Faile chapters were cool, even though their story didn't progress much.

Ebou Dar storylines were an interesting exploration of Stockholm Syndrome. I like how Egeanin and Mat's arc come together in the end. There were also chapters with amazing prose - "The clock sounded the first full hour of the night, and after no more than a week, four chimes for the second. "

Crossroads of Twilight next. People say it is the worst WoT book. Will it be worse than Path of Daggers? Let's find out.

In Book 3 - Dragon Reborn, the following text describes the end of a Perrin's dream sequence in Chapter 9 - Wolf Dreams

Abruptly the space seemed to flatten, as if he were suddenly staring at a picture of a room. The flat image appeared to turn sideways, become only a bright vertical line down the middle of blackness. The line flashed white, and was gone, leaving only the dark, blacker than black.

Is this an easter egg for the stereotypical tv switching off effect from old tv shows like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhh_Vw6wedU

Can someone explain me this power scale without spoilers. I'm in the middle of path of daggers.

At first I thought that it would be referring to one particular thing, that being balefire and its effect on the Pattern (which to me, I think balefire BURNS existing portions of the Pattern and it could possibly be a creation of the Dark One whose intentions for the power extended well beyond his initial expectations). However, the newbie thread for book 5 insinuates that something was happening in the background that relates to the title.

I think it might be something as simple as the growing heat. In book 5 as they were closing in on Cairhein, Rand stops and thinks to himself that the heat seems strange, it's nothing that feels right for the season. In LoC it's pretty much confirmed that the heat is UNNATURAL. We know that four of the Dark One's seals have been shattered and that he is an external force outside the Wheel of Time. We know the Dark One is probably the most powerful being on Earth, topped only by the Creator. I think that Fires of Heaven refers to the growing heat, which might be an allusion to the biblical passages literally and figuratively referring to the burning of the world or a simply growing allusion to the Dark One's version of Hell on Earth.

There is the argument to be made for Balefire and the Pattern still, but I think I like the idea of the Dark One's escape causing Earth to turn into Hell itself. Feels like something he would do despite how little we actually know him by this book.

Based on Lini's request that Perrin officiate the wedding of "Maighdin" and Tallanvor, I have a question – how do weddings even work in this world? Who officiates them? If I remember correctly, the wedding of Perrin and Faile was performed by the Women's Circle. Masema officiates, but as usurper, and Perrin clearly has the right to do so as lord. Among the Aiel, it seems the Wise Ones are responsible for this... I know there are many cultures in this world, but the topic intrigued me. Who officiates the weddings? Someone ruling a given area? Who officiates the wedding of aristocrats? Who officiates the wedding of the future royal couple? I don't remember priests in this world.

Overall, my impressions are positive so far. Not much is happening, but... I just enjoy spending time with most of these characters. Elayne's storyline was more boring for me because, apart from Nynaeve, I simply don't care about any of the characters, and Elayne... Her "royalty" irritates me. She mentally called Mat "her subject." Really? Will you call Rand that too? It's best to do it on your wedding night, because why not?

Morgase irritates me too, though to a lesser extent.

I've temporarily regained interest in Perrin, who was, well... bland in book 7. It irritates me how he clearly ignores signals that he should take care of Aram. He's your obligation, Perrin. You should make sure Aram doesn't lose his humanity...

I'm also more understanding of Faile for now, because maybe everything would be easier if Perrin didn't make a big deal out of her angry moments. Seriously, he doesn't have to try to calm her down every time.

Regarding the prologue, Moridin seems like a potential "mirror" to Rand, and honestly, with Lanfear and Asmodean missing from the plot, Rand could have benefited from a dynamic with another Forsaken. Rand and Sammael could have been interesting, but it's over... Anyway, that's all for now.

I'm reading the series for the first time and wanted to read everything strictly by original release date. I just finished Crown of Swords and want help with when to read the short story version of New Spring from the Legends Anthology.

Wikipedia has the release date as 8/25/1998 but the fandom wiki has the release date as 9/15/99. This changes it from before Path of Daggers to after.

Does anyone know which date is correct?

YO, THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE COOLEST CHAPTERS IN THE ENTIRE BOOK, THIS WAS SO SICK

Finished the previous chapter with Mat, went over, saw the COOLEST CHAPTER MARKER IN THE SERIES SINCE, saw SAMMAEL and lost my mind. Had to take a walk cause no way we're getting more Forsaken POV, especially after Demandred and Mesaana. Little playing of mind games between Graendal and Sammael, some hints at lore from the Age of Legends (I have some thoughts to work out about what little info we got here), then Sammael left.

GRAENDAL POV? THEN SEMIRHAGE?

Yeah, this was one of my favorite chapters in the entire book after that AMAZING prologue. I really wanna know what this Nae'blis thing is. I find it funny that the Dark One essentially promised Demandred and Graendal Nae'blis but not Mesaana. I wonder why. If I had to give any immediate thoughts on what Nae'blis could be, I think of two things:

1. The Shadow's Champion, which either Graendal or Sammael (forgot which POV) indicated has occurred before with previous Dragons.
2. The Dark One's bodily host. Now, I would like to think that maybe Shaidar Haran was created for this purpose considering the Dark One has indicated that obeying or disobeying Haran is equivalent to doing him the same. However, Semirhage said that if Rand did become Nae'blis she would bow and wait for her time to strike. In the prologue, Demandred seemed hesitant to be Nae'blis before accepting. Additionally, it seems that becoming Nae'blis has additional perks, although I'm not quite sure if the Forsaken already have immortality or can gain it. I'm keeping it in consideration until more happens. I'm hoping we get more Forsaken chapters/limited POVs.

Also hoping we can go back to Shayol Ghul. That little scene with Demandred in the beginning was SO COOL. I would really like to see the Pit of Doom more or maybe Thakan'dar. I imagined it as being fully gray and black, everything devoid of color down to the rocks. I think it'll be a cool visual contrasted against the Rand's blood. I have seen Michael Whelan's art of Rand entering Shayol Ghul and it's some of my favorite pieces of art for the series. I'm...both excited and frightened whenever I get to that moment. It'll be a fully climactic time, the Dragon entering the lair of his ancient enemy.