Everyone's favorite wheel of time books?

[bluetear111]

Hi all,

 

so i have just finished the dragon reborn and really enjoyed it. Its my favorite of the first three books, and i have just started reading the shadow rising.

 

Im curious what everyone's top three (or more) of the wheel of time books are peoples favorite?

 

I am enjoying the series more and more as i go on, and i am just curious if the best is still yet to come!

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

I think a lot of would rate The Shadow Rising as their favourite, there are a lot of classic parts of the story in that one, and it is the book that really sets out the epic storyline of the books after simply chasing about after artifacts to save the world.

 

So you should be in for an immediate treat 🙂

Edited October 5, 2023 by HeavyHalfMoonBlade

[Finnssss22]

Yep book 4 is pretty much always in everyone's top-3 and probably gets ranked #1 the most.

It's #2 for me behind book 11 and ahead of book 6

[TheBlueStuff]

I took a long break after book 4. Like years. Coming back to book 5, The Fires of Heaven, was just incredible. The ending with Rand vs Rahvin and Moiranne vs Lanfear. Featuring Nyneve outsmarting Mogheiden??? Epic book.
 

And the character development in Rand, hearing how other characters describe how hard he gets is just so cool. Matt finally coming to terms with his memories and abilities.

 

books 5-14 were all incredible for me (except Crossroads at Twilight that shit was garbage). Brandy Sandy’s treatment of the final books was so much more fast paced than RJs, loved it. And his comedic touch with Matt was the finest. Brandy Sandys books are my next fave. 

Edited October 10, 2023 by TheBlueStuff

[Scarloc99]

8 hours ago, TheBlueStuff said:

I took a long break after book 4. Like years. Coming back to book 5, The Fires of Heaven, was just incredible. The ending with Rand vs Rahvin and Moiranne vs Lanfear. Featuring Nyneve outsmarting Mogheiden??? Epic book.
 

And the character development in Rand, hearing how other characters describe how hard he gets is just so cool. Matt finally coming to terms with his memories and abilities.

 

books 5-14 were all incredible for me (except Crossroads at Twilight that shit was garbage). Brandy Sandy’s treatment of the final books was so much more fast paced than RJs, loved it. And his comedic touch with Matt was the finest. Brandy Sandys books are my next fave. 

And this is what is great about WOT so much variation, the 3 Brandon books for me are amongst the worst, I am greatful the series was ended, but I hate his style of writing and what he did to the characters I loved, I also hate the way he artificailly generates tension when RJ was able to do it so organically. 

My fav books, 4-11, with an emphasis on 4,5,6 and 7 I just love that flow of books and story. I find EOTW the weakest overall, and TGH is probably about level with AMOL in terms of being the 2nd worst for me, 

Edited October 10, 2023 by Scarloc99

[Asthereal]

On 10/4/2023 at 3:28 PM, bluetear111 said:

Hi all,

 

so i have just finished the dragon reborn and really enjoyed it. Its my favorite of the first three books, and i have just started reading the shadow rising.

 

Im curious what everyone's top three (or more) of the wheel of time books are peoples favorite?

 

I am enjoying the series more and more as i go on, and i am just curious if the best is still yet to come!

 

At first I too felt The Dragon Reborn was stronger than The Great Hunt, but upon rereads I expect those to change places. The strongest aspect of The Dragon Reborn is the change in perspective, where we deliberately don't follow Rand for a long time, but that effect will likely diminish in rereads as you'll know how the story goes and the not knowing what Rand is doing has less of an impact. And the Great Hunt is very good. 😉

My personal favorites right now are The Shadow Rising, the second half of Lord of Chaos (okay I'm cheating a bit here, but that part is so strong it needs a mention) and The Gathering Storm. I'm pretty sure Shadow Rising will stay at the top, but I fully expect many changes in my estimation as I read the books more often.

[books of Robert Jordan]

On 10/4/2023 at 3:28 PM, bluetear111 said:

the dragon reborn is my favorite of the first three books, and i have just started reading the shadow rising.

Im curious what everyone's top three (or more) of the wheel of time books are peoples favorite?

From a technical point of view: TDR is the best. (Despite lacking my favourite character, Rand.)

As for personal choice?

WOT consists eleven novels plus a short prequel, but I reread them all the time, so it's very hard to choose a TOP3, or a TOP5, or even a TOP7.

I'd go rather backward, meaning that New Spring is the novel, which I could live without. There's a good story in there, but the whole book has a feeling like 'I get thousands questions all the time about the White Tower, so I will answer almost all of them in form of a short novel'.

In the last decade, I have changed my opinion about KOD, I think Jordan made a mistake with this book after the feedback of COT, he should have never listened to the fans to wrap up everything so swiftly.

Perhaps the first six books are the best (TFOH is being the very best): TEOTW has excellent partnership between Rand and Mat, and it has adventure after adventure, TGH is a fantastic, breathtaking chase, TDR is very tight, almost a stage play, TSR unfortunately gives a certain character too much screentime, then we got a little correction in Ch. 57-58, where (especially in 58) practically every sentence, every sentence has a very important meaning, In TFOH the main character rules the world, and you will love (if you don't already) a certain woman, and you will yearn for more and more chapters from her (her arc ends here), and LOC, which is the last summit in the series, will give you beautiful relationships, and jaw dropping scenes from laughter.

ACOS and TPOD could have been the most powerful novel combined together with a little trimming. (The so-called main female character shines (a little bit) in them.)

 

WH, COT, KOD: albeit I really like them (just finished COT for the umpteenth time, was it the 13-14th?), the formerly little problems getting very big, and Jordan should have handled them with a stronger hand.

All in all, it's very difficult to rank them, and my judgment is completely irrelevant: having read the series so many times, and having read very many chapters 100+ times makes me a little bit biased.

[Scarloc99]

21 hours ago, books of Robert Jordan said:

From a technical point of view: TDR is the best. (Despite lacking my favourite character, Rand.)

As for personal choice?

WOT consists eleven novels plus a short prequel, but I reread them all the time, so it's very hard to choose a TOP3, or a TOP5, or even a TOP7.

I'd go rather backward, meaning that New Spring is the novel, which I could live without. There's a good story in there, but the whole book has a feeling like 'I get thousands questions all the time about the White Tower, so I will answer almost all of them in form of a short novel'.

In the last decade, I have changed my opinion about KOD, I think Jordan made a mistake with this book after the feedback of COT, he should have never listened to the fans to wrap up everything so swiftly.

Perhaps the first six books are the best (TFOH is being the very best): TEOTW has excellent partnership between Rand and Mat, and it has adventure after adventure, TGH is a fantastic, breathtaking chase, TDR is very tight, almost a stage play, TSR unfortunately gives a certain character too much screentime, then we got a little correction in Ch. 57-58, where (especially in 58) practically every sentence, every sentence has a very important meaning, In TFOH the main character rules the world, and you will love (if you don't already) a certain woman, and you will yearn for more and more chapters from her (her arc ends here), and LOC, which is the last summit in the series, will give you beautiful relationships, and jaw dropping scenes from laughter.

ACOS and TPOD could have been the most powerful novel combined together with a little trimming. (The so-called main female character shines (a little bit) in them.)

 

WH, COT, KOD: albeit I really like them (just finished COT for the umpteenth time, was it the 13-14th?), the formerly little problems getting very big, and Jordan should have handled them with a stronger hand.

All in all, it's very difficult to rank them, and my judgment is completely irrelevant: having read the series so many times, and having read very many chapters 100+ times makes me a little bit biased.

11 novels, do you ignore the 3 BS books? 

[Daniella Foster]

I totally get why The Shadow Rising is a favorite - it's just so rich in story. My personal picks are The Shadow Rising, Lord of Chaos, and The Gathering Storm. The way they delve into the characters is just amazing. And how Brandon Sanderson picked up the series in the last books, it's like he breathed new life into Robert Jordan's world. Every time I re-read them, I find something new, which is even true for Crossroads of Twilight, despite its slower pace.
I was so impressed by The Shadow Rising that I even chose it as a topic for writing an essay. But I faced challenges, as academic writing has always been tough for me. That's when I turned to https://royalwriter.co.uk/ for assistance. Their expertise was like having Brandon Sanderson's touch on my work, adding depth and clarity to my understanding of the novel's complex themes and characters. This service was a lifesaver, helping me convey my insights and appreciation for the book in a well-structured essay. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Daniella Foster

[MauricXe]

Knife of dreams is my favorite

[Figs and Mice]

4 ,5  and 6 probably my favourites. And I was quite happy with the way Sanderson finished the job - though it was a great pity RJ didn't survive to see it to the end in his own way (might have ended up with 16 books of course ! )

 

But it is like trying to pick a favourite child : on a given day I might have almost any one volume higher or lower for one reason or another.  Envy anyone new to the series and getting to enjoy each book for the first time...