Your favourite wheel of time book?

[slynese]

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

Which is your least favourite?

[Lightfriendsocialmistress]

On 3/4/2023 at 12:42 AM, slynese said:

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 going to have to delay my answer until after I finish my current reread, as I’ve only read the series through once and I don’t think I can answer until I complete my reread. I would love to hear your answer to your question though…what is your favorite book?And second or third? Do you have a favorite character? 

[slynese]

My favourite is memory of light, second favourite is lord of chaos, third favourite is shadows rising. Least favourite is crossroads of twilight, My favourite character is Nynaeve.

[Lightfriendsocialmistress]

21 hours ago, slynese said:

My favourite is memory of light, second favourite is lord of chaos, third favourite is shadows rising. Least favourite is crossroads of twilight, My favourite character is Nynaeve.

Those 3 are definitely going to be on the top of my list too. Not sure what order or if I might have something else to add. top 5 at least!
 

What is it about nyneave that makes her your favorite? She’s definitely interesting…I feel like she has the tendency to be a bit “extreme”. Whether she’s helping, has a goal she wants to achieve, or being controlling or stubborn or whatever, whether it’s a positive trait or a negative one, it seems to me she goes all the way with it. I don’t know if I have one favorite character, but I love reading through Mat’s perspective. 

[DojoToad]

Don't know that I could pick a favorite book.  Like choosing between chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and lemon black raspberry frozen yogurt - they are both favorites at different times.  And then there are great scenes in the books I like less.  

[Asthereal]

1) The Shadow Rising

2) ... uh ...? The Gathering Storm...maybe?

I feel like numbers 2 all the way through number like 7 or so are so close. I love The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, The Dragon Reborn, Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light about as much as The Gathering Storm, but the arcs for Rand and Egwene at this moment push that one to number two. Could change in an hour though.

[Some_random_novice]

Definitely a difficult decision, however my favourite book might be The Gathering Storm followed by a tie between Winter’s Heart and Towers of Midnight. Least favourite is probably The Eye of the World, don’t have a reason why but I always thought the other books were so much better and more interesting but I definitely still love Eye of the World. Favourite characters have got to be either Mat or Egwene. 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Some_random_novice
Mixed up names for Crossroads of Twilight and Towers of Midnight

[KakitaOCU]

Favorites are Shadow Rising and Fires of Heaven together.  The first three books suffer from being more formulaic, easy to predict and continue the theme of the heroes being the underdogs always on the backfoot and scrambling to manage their wins.

Then comes books 4 and 5 and for the first time for me I hit a story where the heroes were on even footing before the last chapters.  Rand gets ahead of things, Rand gets an entire people actually loyal to him, Perrin unites and saves the Two Rivers and all the struggle is internal or from actual enemies, no struggles to be taken seriously by the people he would lead.  Mat forms the Band.  

It made Lord of Chaos' prologue hit me when Min says "we're winning" and Elayne puts that to question.  The next are problably Towers of Midnight and Memory of Light, giving us the Finn and the end.   

Least favorite is Eye of the World.  Jordan trying to mimic Tolkien I'm sur emade sense at the time but as someone who respects Tolkien as a world builder but doesn't think much of him as a story teller...  Yeah, I wouldn't have kept reading WoT, except my parents already had books 1-5.

Favorite character has changed through the years.  When I was young it was Mat.  But now I think it's a toss up of Verrin and Cadsuane.  I empathize and understand them better than the others in the series anymore.  

[Vartija]

Really hard to say. I binge-read the series after all the books had come out and they just melded into a great continuous narrative in my head. TBH I can only recall detailed plot points from the first three books, after that I struggle to connect events with a book title. Every book has it's high points and memorable events.

 

Least favourite is the one that has the Faile rescue that dragged for too long and the Salidar politicking which really started to strain my patience on my latest re-read.  

 

I struggle a bit with the writer change after KoD. I didn't notice it so much on my first read but on successive re-reads the change of style is a bit grating. I think I just like RJ's meandering style a bit more than Sanderson's more straightforward style (more dialogue and shorter sentences). Though RJ overdid it in his final books where things started to move in a snail's pace.

 

My favourite character (or rather pov) is Rand. He sure is a woolhead and incredibly thick at times but the sheer amount of power and influence that he's surrounded with all the time makes his story interesting. I also like the girls' adventures for the most part. Min is definitely one of my favourites. I've never been much of a Mat guy which seems to be rare among the fandom. 

[bringbackthomsmoustache]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:24 PM, Vartija said:

Least favourite is the one that has the Faile rescue that dragged for too long

My recollection is that it started in the epilogue of one book, dragged on over two books and was resolved (Masema's last followers being killed) in the prologue of a forth - while I like a leisurely pace at times one can have too much of a good thing.😀

[KakitaOCU]

But in Reality it's two books.  Because the Epilogue and Prologue sections are just setting up and putting a ribbon on it.  The plot starts with Perrin knowing she's been taken and ends with his assault on Malden.

[Asthereal]

On 3/8/2023 at 10:42 PM, Some_random_novice said:

Definitely a difficult decision, however my favourite book might be The Gathering Storm followed by a tie between Winter’s Heart and Towers of Midnight. Least favourite is probably The Eye of the World, don’t have a reason why but I always thought the other books were so much better and more interesting but I definitely still love Eye of the World. Favourite characters have got to be either Mat or Egwene. 

 

I very much appreciate seeing some love for Winter's Heart.

Nice to see that a part of the "slog" made its way into a top 3 somewhere.

 

For me this particular book is further down, but it has some of the most beautiful moments in the entire series. And the second best ending, behind Lord of Chaos (in my opinion).

[EbouDarien]

Slightly surprised to see a focus on "favorite books".  Like Lord of the Rings, the "books" of course are not really separate books, but just sections of one big book.

 

Otherwise, the twists and turns from book to book (or section to section) are striking sometimes.  I am in the middle of Book 6, and I find I have to reread much of the text because I become lost in the convoluted plot.

 

Least favorite character:  Nynaeve (just too cranky, and does not give due credit to characters like Mat, who she should know defeated the Shaido Chief in single combat).

 

Favorite characters:  Aviendha, Elayne, Min, Mat, Rand al'Thor, Rhuarc, Berelain, ...

[bringbackthomsmoustache]

13 hours ago, EbouDarien said:

does not give due credit to characters like Mat, who she should know defeated the Shaido Chief in single combat

why should she know that - she was the other side of the continent when it happened and Mat would rather forget it than boast about it - Egwene may have mentioned it to her but why would it alter her interactions with Mat

also it was during a mass battle, not single combat

[DojoToad]

12 hours ago, bringbackthomsmoustache said:

why should she know that - she was the other side of the continent when it happened and Mat would rather forget it than boast about it - Egwene may have mentioned it to her but why would it alter her interactions with Mat

also it was during a mass battle, not single combat

Single combat happens in mass combat.  Just as a one-on-one fight can devolve into mass combat when others want to join the party.

 

Mat definitely wouldn't brag on his victory over Couladin.  But there were plenty of people who saw it and told others because it was evidently freakin' awesome.  Still doesn't mean any of these people would have spoken to Nynaeve.  She may have heard about fourth hand.  Or not at all...

[Lightfriendsocialmistress]

11 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Single combat happens in mass combat.  Just as a one-on-one fight can devolve into mass combat when others want to join the party.

 

Mat definitely wouldn't brag on his victory over Couladin.  But there were plenty of people who saw it and told others because it was evidently freakin' awesome.  Still doesn't mean any of these people would have spoken to Nynaeve.  She may have heard about fourth hand.  Or not at all...

True, and I can’t help but wonder if it would have made any difference to nyneave anyway. As long as we’re kind of on the subject of Nyneave, I have been trying to figure out what caused her to react so strongly in opposition to Mat in books 6 and 7. I don’t recall her having such an extreme aversion to him and finding him so abhorrent earlier on in the series. She literally kicks him in the ass in salidar then avoids him at all costs. She adamantly rejects the idea of his presence. She certainly always seemed to be irritated by and look down on him and such but I was caught off guard when she reacts in such an extreme way to him when he showed up in LOC and continues at least until the point where I currently am at in my reread, not yet halfway through book 7. Did I miss something? What caused her to suddenly be so weird regarding Mat?

[DojoToad]

2 hours ago, Lightfriendsocialmistress said:

True, and I can’t help but wonder if it would have made any difference to nyneave anyway. As long as we’re kind of on the subject of Nyneave, I have been trying to figure out what caused her to react so strongly in opposition to Mat in books 6 and 7. I don’t recall her having such an extreme aversion to him and finding him so abhorrent earlier on in the series. She literally kicks him in the ass in salidar then avoids him at all costs. She adamantly rejects the idea of his presence. She certainly always seemed to be irritated by and look down on him and such but I was caught off guard when she reacts in such an extreme way to him when he showed up in LOC and continues at least until the point where I currently am at in my reread, not yet halfway through book 7. Did I miss something? What caused her to suddenly be so weird regarding Mat?

Probably because he rescued her and she didn't want to 'owe' Matrim Bloody Cauthon anything.

[EbouDarien]

On 3/15/2023 at 12:06 AM, bringbackthomsmoustache said:

why should she know that - she was the other side of the continent when it happened and Mat would rather forget it than boast about it - Egwene may have mentioned it to her but why would it alter her interactions with Mat

also it was during a mass battle, not single combat

I figured that Egwene could have mentioned it, especially once Mat showed up in Salidar.  Maybe the bigger problem is with her then...

[EbouDarien]

On 3/15/2023 at 12:06 AM, bringbackthomsmoustache said:

why should she know that - she was the other side of the continent when it happened and Mat would rather forget it than boast about it - Egwene may have mentioned it to her but why would it alter her interactions with Mat

also it was during a mass battle, not single combat

It was a mass battle, but I recall somebody specifically describing it as "single combat" (perhaps in Book 6).  

 

Anyway, I cannot believe that Nynaeve could have remained ignorant of how the battle for Cairhien turned out.  Remaining ignorant is another side of her inability to recognize what others are doing (other than Lan baby...)

[EbouDarien]

Not described as "single combat" I see, but even Nynaeve was apprised to this information by Egwene.  Nynaeve still wrestling with her preconceived notions about Mat...

 

[DojoToad]

4 hours ago, EbouDarien said:

Not described as "single combat" I see, but even Nynaeve was apprised to this information by Egwene.  Nynaeve still wrestling with her preconceived notions about Mat...

 

BOOM!

[Disco]

Best book shadow rising/fires

Worst CoT

 

Favourite character is very hard. I loved nynaeves arc. She was very difficult to begin with but she became more sure of herself and her heart shone through. Galad also had a great arc and I thought was a fantastic and interesting character. Moraine too but she wasn't in a lot. Everyone loves Mat, you have to. 

 

Most hated character is easily Gawyn. I could rant about him but he was toxic and absolutely full of himself. He did more for the shadow than most of the forsaken

 

Edit - favourite scene when I read it for the first time... Galad challenging Valda. At this point I loved his character concept but thought he'd be "infantile" for the duration books. It shocked me, I loved it, and I still get goosebumps reading it.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Disco

[Lightfriendsocialmistress]

5 hours ago, Disco said:

Best book shadow rising/fires

Worst CoT

 

Favourite character is very hard. I loved nynaeves arc. She was very difficult to begin with but she became more sure of herself and her heart shone through. Galad also had a great arc and I thought was a fantastic and interesting character. Moraine too but she wasn't in a lot. Everyone loves Mat, you have to. 

 

Most hated character is easily Gawyn. I could rant about him but he was toxic and absolutely full of himself. He did more for the shadow than most of the forsaken

 

Edit - favourite scene when I read it for the first time... Galad challenging Valda. At this point I loved his character concept but thought he'd be "infantile" for the duration books. It shocked me, I loved it, and I still get goosebumps reading it.

I love your thoughts here… thank you for sharing 

[JimmyCruce]

On 4/9/2023 at 5:19 AM, Disco said:

Best book shadow rising/fires

Worst CoT

 

Favourite character is very hard. I loved nynaeves arc. She was very difficult to begin with but she became more sure of herself and her heart shone through. Galad also had a great arc and I thought was a fantastic and interesting character. Moraine too but she wasn't in a lot. Everyone loves Mat, you have to. 

 

Most hated character is easily Gawyn. I could rant about him but he was toxic and absolutely full of himself. He did more for the shadow than most of the forsaken

 

Edit - favourite scene when I read it for the first time... Galad challenging Valda. At this point I loved his character concept but thought he'd be "infantile" for the duration books. It shocked me, I loved it, and I still get goosebumps reading it.


Same here, I also like shadow rising/fires. It is one of my favorite books and I am glad I found your post. I was actually searching for a site online where I can find about Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Kids and when I was searching for it online, I found your post link and you were talking about my favorite book and that is why I can't stop myself by replying you here.

Same here, I also like shadow rising/fires.

Edited September 25, 2023 by JimmyCruce

[Scarloc99]

On 3/14/2023 at 5:39 PM, EbouDarien said:

Slightly surprised to see a focus on "favorite books".  Like Lord of the Rings, the "books" of course are not really separate books, but just sections of one big book.

 

Otherwise, the twists and turns from book to book (or section to section) are striking sometimes.  I am in the middle of Book 6, and I find I have to reread much of the text because I become lost in the convoluted plot.

 

Least favorite character:  Nynaeve (just too cranky, and does not give due credit to characters like Mat, who she should know defeated the Shaido Chief in single combat).

 

Favorite characters:  Aviendha, Elayne, Min, Mat, Rand al'Thor, Rhuarc, Berelain, ...

I often read them in isolation, or as pairs now, for me the weakest are books 1 and 2, and 14 is up there, yes it finishes the story but AMOL just dissapoints me more and more every time a read it in just how badly it is put together as a story. There are good moments, but in my opinion, those good moments are just surrounded by Brandon Sanderson crap. 

The Shadow Rising is for me the best book, after the "prologue" of books 1-3 where Robert Jordan was finding his voice and shifting from the Fellowship copy that EOTW was into his own voice and world, I feel the shadow rising is the first real moment that RJ gets to write the story he has been wanting to all this time. For me personally it was also the book that opened up my eyes to the truth of the world. For whatever reason I had not picked up on the fact that the Age of Legends was a high tech future earth, I had always assumed, like most fantasy, that the age of legends was just another age of castles, horses, but with far better magic. 

Then I love that middle section that many others seem to hate, I never got lost on the middle, I never found that the perrin saga dragged, or the politics boring. So yes WOT for me is a definite bell curve.