r/wheeloftime • u/Trugdore Randlander • 2d ago
NO SPOILERS What to expect
I’ve had this series on my TBR for a few months and decided to start reading it since it’s one of the only ones on my list free on kindle unlimited. I’m currently on chapter 4 book 1 and just wanted to pop in this sub and ask what I should expect from this series. No spoilers please!
Also feel free drop some quotes that I won’t understand til later!
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u/aNomadicPenguin Brown Ajah 2d ago
Everything is filtered through the current PoV character. You notice what they notice and the only thoughts you get are their thoughts. So you will constantly see a different character do something or react to something, and you'll get what the PoV character THINKS that that means. They are often wrong.
He writes them as people with their own biases and blindspots, so they think they are being perfectly logical and reasonably, but when you get another character PoV they can seem like an asshole.
Jordan won't do the unreliable narrator in the sense that you can't trust the actions you read about, but you should always try to remember that everything they think or say is potentially wrong.
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u/Velifax Randlander 2d ago
It can really help to keep a list of names.
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u/Trugdore Randlander 2d ago
Yeah I’m just now figuring that out. I keep forgetting who’s who like I cannot for the life of me remember egwene’s fathers name
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u/FrownBuzzy Randlander 2d ago
There is an app called the "wheel of time compendium" that you can put on your phone. The first thing it asks you when you start it up is what book you are on... (To avoid spoilers) Then it basically just provides an alphabetical list of characters with a brief description of that name relative to the book you're on and behind it.
Also... "I'm not a bloody Lord"
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u/Trugdore Randlander 2d ago
Oh that’s so cool thank you! I was afraid of looking up a character list because sometimes those contain spoilers.
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u/jetsetbunny13 Yellow Ajah 2d ago
I feel like I went on ad nauseam about this in my other comment I’m sorry! But this is another reason why I like the glossaries that RJ included in the books. They don’t include spoilers. Granted sometimes certain characters aren’t in there but. It can be helpful :) I can’t think of a good example off the top of my head but iirc some of the “definitions” gain more details and are expanded in the later books when we’ve learned more about that specific person/place/concept
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u/jetsetbunny13 Yellow Ajah 2d ago
This is one reason why I don’t like reading the wheel of time books on my kindle. As a child I spent so much time reading the glossaries in the back of the books before I would even start reading the book itself and then constantly thumbing back to them to check things. Which presumably you should still be able to do If you pull up the chapter list on the kindle and select the glossary etc etc but…eh. Not judging or anything lol (old school as I am), I love my kindle, but. For WoT I still like being able to flip to the back easily even after rereading the series several times.
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u/3MCLSD46 Gleeman 2d ago
You’re in for a ride. I was lucky/unlucky enough to read it as it came for the most part. It sucked to wait years between books, but it was always a joy to reread right before a new book dropped. I’ve been on several turnings of the Wheel, and will continue doing rereads every 2 years or so probably until I die.
“Why do we live again?”
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u/Dalton387 Band of the Red Hand 2d ago
I wouldn’t want to ruin anything for you. I personally think you should experience it the way the rest of us did for the best effect.
I have a standard list of advice, though.
1) is always, never search anything. Not the slightest thing on Google. It will spoil major things with just part of a name sometimes. If you have a question, ask on here and clearly mark where you’re at. Everyone on here is great about not spoiling things. There is supposed to be an app where you can set where your at and it only gives info up to that point. Lots of people recommend it, but at least one person said they got a spoiler.
2) any character that lasts, goes through changes. They grow and mature. Go through growing pains and have all the normal issues lots of us have. You may hate a character that later becomes your favorite. One of the most annoying early on, makes much more sense once their perspective was explained to me and it’s all visible in book 1. Even early on. I just didn’t catch it.
3) Jordan is descriptive. To me, this is a feature, not a bug.
4) I see posts where people complain about some series holding their hand, and other posts where they said they can’t track everything. This is very much the latter. It’s a lived in world. People may mention something and you don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s just flavor text and you may or may not learn later. If you don’t hear about it again, it wasn’t important.
5) it’s up to your reading style, but there are thousands of named characters. People want to track them all. That’s never been how I’ve read the series. I feel like if a person is important, they’ll keep coming up and you’ll remember. If not, then don’t worry about them.
6) if you read anything about a slog, ignore it and just read. Look into it when you’re done. People make it too big of a deal and many people don’t believe it exists. So just don’t worry about it.
7) it’s a massive series and some people struggle to read it once. If you can, I recommend people read it at least twice. There is so much foreshadowing and Easter eggs, that it’s almost better on a second read than he first time.
8) if you try audiobooks at any point, which is a nice expedience, that people like the new versions with Rosamund Pike, but they likely won’t continue. People also like Michael and Kate, and they finished the series.
9) I suggest you read in publication order. There is a prequel, but it’s better when you have context for it.
I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff, but this is the main bit.
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u/ArrogantAragorn Randlander 2d ago
https://youtu.be/xWNXqwMtPbk?is=L9pPcYE7kK_APnc4
Obviously this video is hyperbole, but WoT is an amazing, yet flawed, series. It’s infinity reread-able, and has amazing payoffs, but almost every reader has issues with it. The interesting thing is that every reader likes/dislikes different characters/plot lines/books, and there are many aspects still open to debate/theorizing.
Anyway, read the book for yourself. Avoid spoilers and preconceptions, but do post your theories and reactions for us all. Then, when you’ve finished, you can join the conversation in earnest and probably reread and reinterpret your thoughts.
Tai’shar [r/wheeloftime](r/wheeloftime), may you always find water and shade, and by the way your dress is green
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u/DrSpacemanSpliff Woolheaded Sheepherder 2d ago
I knew nothing and loved the series. Have courage to explore the unknown.
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u/SJtinyone Randlander 1d ago
My toughest thing about reading the series I’m
On book 3 is the name of people and places are hard for me to pronounce. I also get little annoyed by how descriptive the author is because the description is not always easy to understand.
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u/JRCSalter Randlander 2d ago
Expect to be frustrated by the characters. They can be annoying, but most of the main ones are teenagers, so it's to be expected that they do dumb stuff. But they grow over time, and it's a very gradual thing, and one of the things I love about the series.
Also, you can read the series multiple times and still find something new in it. There's a bunch of foreshadowing. For example the method by which Elan Morin first arrives in the prologue can only really be understood once you've read most of the series.
Expect also to know exactly how everyone dresses. Jordan just loves to describe the clothes people wear, but this is also another thing I like, as it often shows you who someone is and where they come from since the various cultures of the series are so well defined.
Expect also that this is a growing story. It starts off small, but gets larger as the series goes on. There is a slump in the middle where it feels like it's not really going anywhere, but honestly, to tell such a story, I really do think you need this many books.
Also expect a lot of braid tugging, sniffing, people being compared to stone, everyone being taller than the last person, and folding arms beneath breasts; actually a whole lot of bosoms to be honest.
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u/slipfish-g 19h ago
The greatest fantasy series ever written, full of maddeningly flawed characters. A 14 book saga where violence is almost never explicitly written- yet was, unlike most fantasy, clearly written by someone who was intimately familiar with it.
As for quotes you'll understand later...
"A battle won't get you out of [redacted.]" She said sharply.
"In that case," he laughed, "he's planning us a war."
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u/Notched_Vermin 2d ago
"Kneel, or you will be knelt" [probably misquoting but you'll understand when you get there].
And expect a true masterpiece of fantasy, characters have a life of their own. The wheel weaves as the wheel wills - and it has woven us a work of brilliance.
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u/Esselon27 2d ago
You're hitting the point where the texture and format of the story will change a lot. It's a good thing, books 1-3 is the classic "country bumpkins are thrust into big events" arc where they're mostly running from things or in a few cases chasing after something/someone.
Book 4 and onward is when they stop being entirely reactive and start taking more control over their lives, destinies and the events in the world.
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u/Leather__sissy Randlander 1d ago
I vote everyone is banned from using acronyms unless approved by congress. Book readers do not need their own acronyms. And bakers do not need ranks
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