How did YOU find the World of the Wheel ?

[Medo123]

I pity those of you who started reading 20 years ago. I first became aware of WoT 4 or 5 years ago as I was browsing the SF/Fantasy aisles in various bookstores. I ignored them, because I was losing interest in Fantasy, having been a huge Tolkien fan for the past decade I was getting tired of that kind of stuff. So for the past 5 years I didn't read much due to my reader's block, I mainly read some SF now and then.

 

Then, sometime in July this year a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist!!!

My friend and I started talking about books and he mentioned a few authors and then he mentioned Robert Jordan and the Wheel of Time novels and he said they were even better than Lord of the Rings. I was sceptical, but I promised him I would read the first book...and I did. And I read all 13 books by mid November and I loved them to bits and then I read New Spring, and then there was nothing to read, and then I started to miss the characters. I almost started reading them again, but I thought that would be sad. So I told myself I'll read them next year, in anticipation of the last book.

 

Meanwhile I'm reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen, still on the first book.

[mb]

Just to make sure, does the title question refer to "the guide" or to this series?

 

This series, I was given the first book as a present from a nephew. I have been buying the rest.

The guide, I bought it at Barnes & Noble.

[Veranza]

Around 2000 or 2001, my cousin, who I consider to be my sister, got me into the books. That entire summer, I ready through about 3 of them. After that, we both fell off the boat because of how slow the series was going. About 2006, I picked them up again and began reading them all, due to the fact that I was in a horrible car wreck in 2004 and my life was still put into halt. I joined the site once before but left after a period of time in which I needed to leave. I came back about 3 weeks ago, after starting to re-read the series and I am almost finished the second book, The Great Hunt!

[TheDeceived]

My sophomore year I was sitting bored in study hall, when I looked beside me at the teachers tiny amount of books, and I noticed this cool looking book with an armoured guy and a woman on horses. Well I grabbed it and started reading, before I knew it study hall was out in a minute, soooo I slowy slipped it in my bag (uh o). From that point on finished it in a week then I googled it to see if there were any others and about had a heart attack when I saw all the names. Needless to say I better thank microsoft for my 360 breaking cause I read all of them up to KoD in 4 months.

[ValiantLovesWoT]

Well, mine sister readed them when i was around 12-13 and i first said'It must be stupid because it's so big' but i still started with it, the firs 200 pages were kinda boring but i began liking it.

So much that i re-read them all 2-3 times :D

 

BTW: mine sister bought all books expect The Gathering Storm(got it 2-3 days ago on christmas eve and read it during first and second christmas day and it was out.....

[daveq65]

I found them thanks to my boss. He owned a bookshop I worked in another shop he owned. I started finding them with tSR and bought the three previous ones, helped by a hefty employee discount After that I was hooked and devoured them ever since. My poor girlfriend wonders about my sanity as I had cross-stitch me WoT logo and it hangs near my books.

[rsahae]

My tale contains certain embarrassing elements...

 

I started in 1996, which would make me 10 or 11 at the time. At that age you really miss a lot of the things going on. I was only recently removed from an era of reading that was hordes upon hordes of serial books: Goosebumps, Boxcar Kids, Narnia of course, anyone remember the My Teacher is an Alien series? And because of dire need for reading material, I even worked my way through much of the...yes, the Babysitter's Club. Hey, it happened.

 

So, to say RJ was a massive leap in reading complexity and difficulty is an understatement. I didn't happen upon EotW randomly. I "cluelessed" my way straight to it.

 

Here's what happened: I was playing this WoT universe (without knowing it) MUD, a multi-user dungeon or domain or something like that. A text-only precursor to World of Warcraft (playing it on like a 1200 bps modem - LOL) that had guilds or clans or something that were WoT oriented. Band of the red hand, whitecloaks, etc. I had no clue those names meant anything to anyone outside this MUD.

 

I tried to join a clan and the person wanted me to explain in role-playing terms why I wanted to join. I was like, huh? Whaddya mean, how did I come to Tar Valon? I just want to join your cool people's club where cool people get to do cool things.

 

Well, I was told about the series, and not because I wanted to read it, but because I wanted to join one of these cool people clubs, I went and found EotW and pulled it off the library shelf.

 

And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

P.S. I like the GGR MARTIN series, although he's worse about getting a book out then RJ ever was. Goodkind is ok...the first 4 books were pretty solid, downhill after that (except faith of the fallen).

 

P.P.S. Had to chuckle when I read someone say Rj was slower-paced than Tolkien...I give LotR respect for it's place in the canon, but the first half of Fellowship is the most stultifyingly boring 200 page walk through the forest you'll ever read.

[Minnea]

I found the Swedish translation of the first two at a book fair in ... um ... 1996 or so. Looked at them, did not like the covers much, but the cover text sounded good and I wanted something new to read. So I bought the two parts making up EotW.

 

Then I borrowed the next two from the library. And ... began bying the English versions after that. CoS was the first one I had to wait for, I believe, since that's when I started to buy hardcovers... ;)

[marathdamane]

A close friend of mine is a big fan of the series and has been reading them as they've come out since like the beginning of the series. He had re-read many of them several times as new ones had come out and as the release of Towers of Midnight was approaching he found himself wanting for someone else to to talk about the series with.

 

I am an avid reader but I've really only ever chosen to read drama/horror/sci-fi stuff and I was a little skeptical when he handed me "The Eye of the World" because I've always kind of been playfully snobbish to my friends about reading "wizards and warriors" kind of stuff. He gave me tEotW around Mid-july and I kind of slowly picked my way through it....and after that I powered through the rest of the series, Just finishing Towers of Midnight about 2 weeks ago.

 

Now I find myself reading random WoT related stuff online all the time. Fan theories and opinions, catching discussion about details that I might have missed since I'm kind of a speed reader sometimes. I tried to pick up another recemt book by a favorite author but I got about 3 chapters before I found myself back on the internet reading about WoT and now I find myself feeling like I'm going to have to re-read the series with my new understanding of where things eventually wind up fitting together. I almost feel like I've got a sickness that compels me and I fear only reading the final book will cure it...so here I am waiting with everyone else.

 

In the meantime I bought my little brother the first three books as a late christmas present (he'll get them tomorrow) so I'll have someone else to talk about WoT with...and so the addiction spreads...

[konkoivu]

I must have been about 17 when i started to read WoT for the first time. I borrowed what i thought was the second book in the series (actually it was the second part of TEOTW). So i started to read when Rand and Mat were on their way on the Spray, and that Perrin and Egwene met the tinkers. Then i stopped and thought this is the worst crap ever. I thought i could jump into WoT like i've jumped into LotR since i started that in the two towers. After the first try i read every other fantasy novel in my local library before even tryin WoT again.

 

And was i hooked when i actually got the first book in my hands. I think i read the first book (chapters 1-19?) in one sitting and tEotW and tGH in one weekend. I've finished the rest of translations in a few months , but it took me about a year to understand that these books are released in english way before they are translated. So back in 2001 or 02 i bought my paperback of aCoS which wasn't translated back then, and never looked back. I have to admit that Robert Jordan and Ronnie James Dio are the reason why i was so good in english back in high school.

 

In hindsight all of those books i thought were great seem quite stupid. For example i thought that R.A. Salvatores books we're the greatest fantasy ever. I even read all of the books written by David Eddings. Even those crappy sequels to Sparhawk story.

 

Now I'm 26 , and i can't wait for the ending of the story. I've been waiting for it almost ten years. When i think of it WoT has been around longer than my little sister and she can drive a car ,buy alcohol and/or join the army if she wants (atleast in Finland).

 

And after all it's hard to think that something you've waited for a decade (or two) will end .As much as i wait it i fear it also. I remember that i was just broken after i played through one gaame in my playstation. So when WoT is finished i probably spend the next couple of years in asulym , hopefully NOT in care of Greandal.

[Dragons_Eggman]

I first picked up tEotW in 95 or 96 (can't remember exactly) when I was around 11 or 12. I was (and still am) a precocious reader when I was younger and had finished LotR in about 14 hours when I was 10, which got me hooked on the fantasy genre. Within 6 months I had proceeded to read almost every fantasy series/novel my family owned (beginning with the Belgariad and Mallorean and moving onto the Magician series, Memory Sorrow and Thorn series and Janny Wurts' Mistwraith series). I thought I finally finished all the other series and was raiding my sister's bookshelf for something else to read and saw the first six WoT books sitting there, the spine of TDR caught my eye (the one with Ishy and his flaming eyes and mouth), I pulled them out and the covers dragged me in (the series was only up to LoC when I started).

 

I have been re-reading the series at least once a year since and am probably around re-read 20 or so (though it did take me three attempts to get through CoT) and am currently re-reading LoC. Early on in the piece I used to get frustrated with the delays between books because my family lived out in country Australia and we seldom travelled to the big towns that had book stores that stocked the new WoT books when they came out. I remember that ACoS was one of the first adult novels that I bought with my own money.

[theicewitch]

I think,a million years ago, I had just finished reading David Eddings, "The Seeress of Kell" and was searching for a series, because single books don't last nearly long enough. I happened onto the "Eye of the World" and "The Dragon Reborn" on the shelf at the library and snactched them up. I started reading a a new one every time it was published. And since they have a habit of coming out in the fall they are usually my birthday present from my husband. My youngest is now reading "Eye of the World" we are on our second copy and it is going to have to be replaced before my next full series re read.

 

I enjoy seeing how everyone has "come to the light" so to speak.

[Ananta]

I had "Eye of the World" in my bookshelf for years. I actually have no idea how long it was there. I never picked up it, I hardly even noticed it tbh. I must've been 12 or something when I was given the book (It's the finnish version, so it's actually just half of the original book. Most of the WoT books are cut in 2 or 3 different books in Finnish.)

 

Then one evening, as a 18 year old boy, I was extremely bored and walked up to my bookshelf, found the book and was like "what's this? looks pretty cool. How'd I miss this?" then I read the book in quite literally 1 day and went like "the hell, this shit is awesome. How come I never read this before?" and went to library and borrowed almost all WoT books. Though someone else was reading the series too, so few of the WoT books were already in loan, so I went and bought the missing books.

 

Now I'm buying them all in English. They are way better in English than Finnish. The jokes and stuff work way better etc.

[coolpool]

some of you have really cool stories of finding the WOt books..

 

I just wanted a big series of big books to read as i get through books way too quickly (like 700pg books in a day :S) and in the book shop i saw the big books and huge line of them and i thought i'd give them a try... and look whats that done.. its got me totally addicted... :D

[ThomGrinwell]

I was in 5th grade (1996) and my family and I went on a trip to New York. Before we left, I picked out a book from Walden's Books so I would have something to read on the flight. I also picked books by thier covers! but the book I chose was actually the Chronicles of Conan by Robert Jordan. I liked the book and then a year later (this was before kids had access to the internet, which explains the time lapse) I saw that Jordan had a whole other book series, so I picked up The Eye of the World. I think A Crown of Swords was the first book that I got as a new release. Now I have reread the series before each new book is released, and I love them more every time. Thank you R.J.

[Sandmanbm]

I was looking for a new book a my high school library and saw EotW. I read it in about 3 days. I think it was in '92.

I was immediately hooked. After getting caught up I would buy the newest one the day it came out or a couple days later (working at a book stor really helped with that ). Now I usually read them in a day.

[Terrah]

About 3 weeks ago I was in my local book shop looking for a new Stephen King to read, I happen to glance up and the words 'The great hunt' catch

my eye. They had the first 10 WoT books all in a row and I thought 'A fantasy series with 10 books? thats awesome!". So I read the blurb on the

back of Eye of the world and it sounded good so I bought it. Thats how I found the world of the wheel.

 

Eye of the world is now my favourite book. Great hunt is good aswell but i'm only 200 pages in so far. And I know there are more than 10 books, thats all they had in the shop :P

[crm2442]

Audiobooks. I'm a truck driver/fantasy nut, and was looking for long series to listen to. I found one. So I can pronounce the names properly, but can't spell most of them.

[_wolfbrother_]

I was given a copy of Path of Daggers by my late Grandfather (I know its book eight but i was young and foolish ) and fell in love with it since. I actually ended up scouring most of the east side of Ireland trying to find the others books but to no avail, until last year when a library opened up in my town and they had Eye of the World and The Great Hunt. I pounced on them and read them in less tan a week I kept hounding the librarians to get the other ones in. They are bringing them in, but very slowly. I'm currently waiting for them to get The Fires of Heaven in , which reminds me I may check tomorrow

[Myrenna]

My story is quite boring. I just asked a friend of mine why his display name on skype was "Lews Therin Kinslayer." I thought he'd misspelled Lewis. When I asked him what Lews Therin Kinslayer was, he said, "He's the Dragon who was fated to save the world but destroyed it instead." I thought he was talking gibberish, and a book about dragons had to be silly and cliche and rubbish, but I may as well give it a try.

 

I'm on a train for half an hour every day and I needed some reading material, regardless of how bad it was. Sometimes, I like being wrong. ;)

[murf2011]

well when i was about 10 or 11, my older brother had the first 6 books on a shelf on his room. His room was forbidden territory of course, but everytime he went out, i would go in there and look at the covers, just coz they looked really cool :) one day my mum saw me looking and said i could have them, seeing as how my brother never even opened one of them. From then on, i was hooked.

[Toad]

Around a year ago, when I was 12, I was wandering around my library and found the first half of EotW on a shelf and picked it up. There was that whole 'Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time' thing on the back, so I actually thought it was about some sort of time-traveling dragon. I started reading, and actually hated it for the first ten or so chapters, but didn't have anything to read, so I slowly made my way through. By the end, I was absolutely hooked on WoT and spent the whole day begging my mom to drive me to the bookstore to get the second half of the book.

 

I actually stopped reading for a while after Moiraine 'died' because she was my favorite character and I couldn't imagine plowing through seven more books without her, but I finally started reading again. Now I've read all of the books twice (that's a small amount compared to everyone else here, isn't it) and I've read New Spring four times since I just love Lan and Moiraine.

[Aquarius]

In 1996 or 1997, I was 16, I just had the minimum english level to read shot novels or teenage books, and I bored through my brother's The Lord Of the Rings although I didn't understand half of it at the time. I was then relieved to see that not all heroic fantasy novels were as difficult as this one when I read David Eddings Belgariad and Malloreon... but it was all too "simple" as far as world building is concerned. My brother just had bought the paperback version of A Lord of Chaos so I delightedly grabbed all his WoT novels, bought PoD paperback and hardback Winter's heart that were realeased soon after :)

[Rolan]

I was playing a game and saw someone called Aviendha. I thought it was a cool name and looked it up. I read the wikipedia page on WoT and thought it sounded awesome. Went out to buy the first book and never looked back. :)

[dobraine]

My sister got me interested in WoT shortly after KoD.

I was hooked after the prologue.

She was listening to TSR and I managed catch up.

Fourteen days of audio and then the wait began.

WoT was finally where I found something to fill the void after LotR.

Not usually an audio book person but WoT audio books are rather entrancing.

 

Dobraine