Nothing is like your first reading - My 1st

[aunt_pol]

Love love love this. I actually had my hand over my mouth reading your last post to avoid 'telling' you stuff.

As I've said before, savour every page. Most of them are great, and there are tiny details scattered all over the place, that in future reads, will invok lots and lots of "Aha!" moments for you.

 

Hope you read fast, dude... we're all gonna be harassin you lots.

[Impressive Bosom]

I'd like to make a suggestion to the original poster, that he keep track of these notes so that he can refer back to them in the future and enjoy his own ride, his own suprising insights and his own completely off ideas.

 

Also, Is there anyway we can have two threads for this? This one and a stickied thread where only the OP can post? I just ask because I can see this thread becoming almost impossible to follow considering we're only through chapter one.

[aunt_pol]

good point. lot of books to get through. Hell, a lot of chapters  to get through, it could quickly get unwieldy.

[Bowden]

A side note, regarding spoilers, I cannot feel offended should someone spill the beans on something that was released over two decades ago. If I wanted it spoiler free, I should have read it when it was published; being in kindergarten was no excuse Tongue.

 

LOL!

 

I'm so jealous!!! I'm re-reading from book 1 right now and watching your theory's and assumptions is extremely entertaining. Please resist the urge to read any spoilers lol. Like everyone else here, I want to see your reaction to so many awesome scenes.

 

So read on man! You have until Nov. 1st to finish all 12 books and the prequel :P

 

I'd like to make a suggestion to the original poster, that he keep track of these notes so that he can refer back to them in the future and enjoy his own ride, his own suprising insights and his own completely off ideas.

 

Also, Is there anyway we can have two threads for this? This one and a stickied thread where only the OP can post? I just ask because I can see this thread becoming almost impossible to follow considering we're only through chapter one.

 

I second this. Looks like someone's hiding 2 extra brains in their impressive bosom...  sorry, couldn't help it XD

[Dralid]

Its just good to remember being excited and not knowing what the hell was going down when we were first reading it.

Thanks!

 

I reread my last post, and I realized that unless you have memorized every last word of the novel (you know who you are), that many of my comments are lacking context. I hope this post reads better.

 

Apparently I'll be making a single long post per chapter.

 

- So I start reading and first thing there is a comment on the strange folk of Taren Ferry, what did they ever do?

- Mistress al'Vere, who is implied to have the hots for Tam, offers baked goods to the village council and to Mat and Rand.

- Mat  recounts a prank gone foul involving a ghost story and a pair of floured dogs. I love it. I hope Mat gets to play a large part of the book.

- So the plot thickens, two strangers with camouflage cloaks are in town, and neither are likely to be the Black Horseman. Apparently the woman is named Moiraine, who apparently wants to know everything about everybody. And she travels with a person "in service" to her.

- I'm worried that this is going to sound like the beginning of a cheap Pathfinder campaign(think Dungeons and Dragons improved): Tam, the ranger; Moiraine, the druid; and the as yet unnamed bard meet in the tavern of a small village to chase the mystereous Black Horseman. Strike that, if it is like my campaigns more like Tam, Moiraine, and the bard join up with the obviously-evil-but-inexplicably-wants-to-fight-against-evil Black Horseman to crawl around in a dungeon pointlessly for some reason :(.

- Mat and Rand stare down a raven. The raven blinked first.

- So the boys meet Moiraine and are dumbstruck. Oh and a boy named Ewin, who I've already forgotten about was with Mat and Rand.

- So Moiraine forms a bond of some sort using a coin. I've seen the term bond bandied about across this site in several places, I'm sure I will hear more of it. I would not be surprised if the bond created through the coin were in some way binding. Moiraine is intensely curious about this village – methinks she is looking for something, also she has an enchanting way with words it seems.

- The three boys go to see the gleeman and the chapter ends.

 

Answer me this: the quote on the cover of the edition I'm reading links this world to Tolkien's. Are they supposed to be set in the same universe, with Lord of the Rings happening either much earlier or much later? Please don't answer “read and find out”. The question is buzzing in my head and distracting me from the plot. If yes, I don't need details.

 

And is no-one gonna tease me about my wild theories or drop me some tantalizing hints? I know it goes against what you've been trained about spoilers, but there's a difference between a spoiler and a teaser. I promise that I won't let it ruin my experience. In fact, I'll probably assume that some of you are feeding me lies. After all, I know there's an active Mafia community who are all skilled liars.

 

Aww well, in any case I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

[aunt_pol]

Nope, no link to LOTR at all, except in a general Fantasy kind of a way.

 

Now somebody hugely experienced is going to come along with a flippin dissertation on Fantasy, its origins, its archetypes etc...

 

You do know you've given all the nutters here the best reason ever to come out and play, right?

 

Just watch out for a guy called Dida...

 

 

Hey, glad you like Mat. ;D

 

Are we going on a chapter a day basis? *Sitting patiently*...

[Dralid]

savour every page {...} Hope you read fast, dude.

Wait, which is it?

[aunt_pol]

Bags, man, both!! Lol

[Dralid]

Now somebody hugely experienced is going to come along with a flippin dissertation on Fantasy, its origins, its archetypes etc...

 

You do know you've given all the nutters here the best reason ever to come out and play, right?

 

I'll issue a challenge: Anyone who can explain how Harry Potter, Inception, Bladerunner, Super Mario Bros, and Wheel of Time all must be set in the same canon universe, and say it with a straight face, wins.

Edit: but please post the full details in another thread :P

 

Are we going on a chapter a day basis? *Sitting patiently*...

I keep trying to read faster (I've been given a Nov 1^st deadline by Bowden, ya know :P) but my mind will only read as fast as it wants to. I've learned that forcing it to read faster only ends in disaster. I'm normally a very fast reader, and I suspect my pace will quicken after the story wraps up exposition and things start really happening.

[aunt_pol]

Deadly so. We'll all cheer you on. No pressure! Ah no, delighted for you starting them, they're great books.

[Bowden]

I only said Nov. 1st because book 13 is coming out on Nov. 2nd. I'm pretty sure board activity will drop for at least the first week after that, and then it will explode again with "omgwtfbbq!!" after everyone reads it. I know I won't be visiting until after I've read it cause I don't want any spoilers lol.

 

 

[aunt_pol]

Well you've 12 weeks and 5 ish days to catch up with the rest of us, book per week isn't mad, is it? Is that just me?

[Impressive Bosom]

How's this for a 'teaser'?

 

Yes - Mat plays a large part in 'this book'.

 

Incidently, I'm desperately in love with Moiraine (that's her in my avi pic). And don't read my sig.

 

Seriously. Don't.

[Dralid]

I only said Nov. 1st because book 13 is coming out on Nov. 2nd. I'm pretty sure board activity will drop for at least the first week after that, and then it will explode again with "omgwtfbbq!!" after everyone reads it. I know I won't be visiting until after I've read it cause I don't want any spoilers lol.

Oh, I know. Even while trying to avoid spoilers I found that date being etched into my mind, just while navigating the site.

 

.. I started reading Ch 3, but there's a real life thing going on here keeping me from delving into that chapter.

 

On another note some math:

Time between now and 1 Nov: approx 120 days

Number of books to read: approx 12 (13 is approximately 12, right?)

Time to read each book: approx 10 days or approx 1 week (rounded down)

 

I'll set my calendar to start a new book each Monday. It probably won't work (book length tends to get longer as a series goes on), but that seems to be a good goal to work with.

 

Addendum: my math is good, but my counting is terrible, there are only 89 days until the 1^st of November. Still equates to about a book a week, though.

[Amadine]

*marks thread to follow* ;D ENJOY!!!! Wish i could go back and read it for the first time again... i'm on about my 7th or 8th re-read now :)

[aunt_pol]

Ah, four pages already. This thread is gonna grow arms, legs and probably tentacles.

[PatsNats28]

On the subject of acronyms, each book is acronymed, so The Eye of the World is tEotW, Book 2 The Great Hunt is tGH, etc. Other than that, acronyms are basically what you'd expect - AS is Aes Sedai, DO is the Dark One, etc.

[Owayn The Traveller]

This is better than the read throughs on Tor and the 13th depository. Someones suggestion to sticky it was ace. Heck maybe TOR should put on their site or something.

[Isgrimner]

I'm a little curious as to Dralid's age, just to put things into context.

 

When I started reading the series I was 14 and from the sound of things had probably read some of the same books before I got TEotW, ie. Lord of the Rings, Shannara books, David Eddings etc. 

 

I am sure my perception has changed over the years and several rereads.  When I read TEotW, The Great Hunt was not out yet, I had to wait about a month.  So I definately envy you on being able to go one right after the other.  I had probably reread TEotW and TGH two or three or four times before The Dragon Reborn.  The amount of rereads has grown since then.  I can remember being fourteen and being interested in Ewin Finnegar as he seemed closer to my age then. 

 

Teasers but not spoilers, you ask.  Well since you asked about Mat and he is my and many others' favorite character, I will say he plays a bigger role, though there are some points early on where you may not think as highly of him.  I know my perception changed of him as in the beginning he was not my favorite character.

[Elend]

Poor Egwene. Poor, poor Egwene. 'Tis a tragedy, what happens.

 

Or is it?

 

Muahahahahahah.

 

Dralid, I think their is an option to disable signatures somewhere in your profile. I'd advise taking it unless you're good at avoiding people's signatures.

 

Just remember this: The cake is a lie.

[jemron]

A better answer to your LotR correlation question:

 

RJ intentionally made tEotW feel similar to LotR so that it would feel familiar to fantasy readers of the times (1990 is when EotW came out).

 

He was compared to Tolkien because of the depth of the world that he had created.  There are many similarities to the Fellowship in EoTW intentionally.  RJ didn't copy it, so much as borrow familiar elements from it so as to make it a good experience for long-time Tolkien fans to ease their way into what would become a much larger world with very strong differences from the world that Tolkien had started.

 

Black riders, a party in a small village, a Gandalf-like mysterious character, and many other things that you will easily be able to compare/correlate with LotR happen in the first book.

 

But then RJ takes it in a completely different (and in my opinion, totally original) direction in later books.  For this, I am glad.

 

So, the worlds are completely different, and aren't meant to take place in the same universe/realm; but some of the story elements in the early books (most specifically book 1) are intentionally similar.

 

Finally, Mistress al'vere has the hots for Tam?  Wow.  I never thought about that.  Funny... and interesting.

[Tiinker]

huuuurrrrrrrrryyyyy!!  :D

[alannalynn]

*laughs* The cake is not a lie: it exists in an alternate reality.

 

And yes, do hurry.

 

This thread will be ridiculously long, but SO enjoyable to read. :D

[PatsNats28]

I'm a little curious as to Dralid's age, just to put things into context.

 

When I started reading the series I was 14 and from the sound of things had probably read some of the same books before I got TEotW, ie. Lord of the Rings, Shannara books, David Eddings etc. 

 

I am sure my perception has changed over the years and several rereads.  When I read TEotW, The Great Hunt was not out yet, I had to wait about a month.  So I definately envy you on being able to go one right after the other.  I had probably reread TEotW and TGH two or three or four times before The Dragon Reborn.  The amount of rereads has grown since then.  I can remember being fourteen and being interested in Ewin Finnegar as he seemed closer to my age then. 

 

Teasers but not spoilers, you ask.  Well since you asked about Mat and he is my and many others' favorite character, I will say he plays a bigger role, though there are some points early on where you may not think as highly of him.  I know my perception changed of him as in the beginning he was not my favorite character.

 

Very true. If you thought of it like a graph, Perrin is higher than Mat in like the first book, but he's going down and Mat's going up, they intersect in Tear, and after that Mat is awesome and Perrin is boring.

 

I don't think you understand any of that/it spoils anything, right? Personal opinion...

[Dralid]

Welcome to a double feature of "Stream of Consciousness: A reading to Eye of the World" Tonight we will present Chapters 3 and 4.

 

But first, a word from our sponsors:

This episode of Stream of Consciousness is brought to you by ChillPill^TM. Now both red and blue.

 

and now, back to the show:

 

Chapter 3

- The peddler arriveth, and he hath a name: Padan Fain. The name was presented to the reader with so much fanfare that we know he will be sticking around in the story.

- Fain speaks of war, and of a Dragon, specially Dragon Reborn. Interesting... and the man can channel, or use the One Power, apparently.

- After the big announcement, Rand shows us that he has some adventurelust in him. A wild prediction: he just may go on an adventure. I know, wild idea...

- Mat has an interesting idea floating in his head, that the dragon would save the world in its hour of need. In contrast to everyone else who sees the dragon as the bringer of doom. My guess; both are right.

- Some people are using the Dragon and Dark One interchangeably. I hope this gets sorted out sooner or later.

- Apparently the dark one has a specific name, which uttering brings bad luck. My guess: Voldemort. I hope the name doesn't turn out to be d'Ralid, that would be very unfortunate.

- So we finally meet Wisdom/Nynaeve. I've yet to see why she is considered wise. So far she seems easily offended and a bit holier-than-thou.

- Rand and Egwene had a lovely discussion about their futures. I'm sticking to my theory; nothing good comes from a Chapter 1 crush. Luckily Robert Jordan appears to have large plans for her, so a violent end doesn't appear likely. A tangled love tringle, however, seems very probable.

- Ooh, more coins. Moiraine seems to want to form bonds with all the young men.

 

Chapter 4

- Wow, the gleeman - like a court jester, speaks the truth that nobody else dare say

- Thom Merrilian, rings of Merlin in my ears, but far too early to say.

- Ha! not a page later he introduces himself as "Once a Court-bard"

- Okay so recap: Merrilian has started talking and every word is gold, simultaneously true and fanciful, simple and layered. He managed to steal Egwene from Rand, calling on her to be his assistant

- The children eventually goad him into giving a preview of his show. Many of the stories sound like our tales retrimmed to fit WoT. Artur Paendrag sounds like Arthur Pendragon, or King Arthur. The thousand tales of Anla, the Wise counselor may be One Thousand and One Nights. but those tales are unimportant. I'm hoping a chapter or two will be devoted to the telling of "The end of the age of legends" complete with both the Dragon, and the Dark One (whom have gone back to being seperate entities I see)

- Judging by Thom's reaction (he stopped mid-juggle and mid-sentence when she entered the room), He has met Lady Moiraine before, or at least someone like her. Both of them are more than they appear.

- So the Village Council has adjourned and a patrol is being set up. Obviously Mat wants to get in on the action. Far more interesting is that Tam is intent on leaving. My guess: there's something not yet said that will be discussed privately between Tam and Rand, probably. If I had to be more specific, it would be something about Rand's origins and how that connects to the war that is breaking out.

- Okay so the chapter ends disappointingly. I got my hopes up about Tam saying something about Rand's past - All I got was the acknowledgement of something I already knew: that Tam was wise enough to believe that Rand had indeed seen some sort of Black Rider.

 

Okay, I really should get some sleep now.... or maybe one more chapter, No! Really need sleep.

 

See you next time; Same glee time, same glee channel.