My First Time Reading Eye of the World

[moratcorlm]

I mean, Lan has to have some sort of weakness, right?

Lan has certain weaknesses, but honestly he's the character Robert Jordan seemed to identify himself with most, which sometimes led to embarrassing lines like "Poetry out of Lan? The man was like an onion; every time Rand thought he knew something about the Warder, he discovered another layer underneath." and sometimes (ironically) to a certain lack of depth in his pristine stoicism. He's a second-tier character, though; it's not an enormous flaw. You will discover a lot more about his relationship with Moiraine.

 

The Forsaken are certainly not all rotting; that was unique to Aginor and Balthamel because of the way they were bound in the sealing of the Bore 3000 years ago.

 

Have you made it to "Healing"/"Awakening" yet?

[Medo123]

Too many spoilers from some people. Even the most innocent revelation can ruin stuff.

 

When I was reading it for the first time I threatened my friend (who had read all the books) with physical violence if he ever revealed anything.

[Delvoire]

Can't believe you don't like Min.. She's one of my favorite female characters.

 

I've just come along this thread and first I'll say thanks for serving our country. Good luck in your recovery and hopefully everything turns out alright.

 

You noted a few pages back that it's hard to believe that Nyn and Lan have fallen in love so quickly. You gotta remember that their trip from the Two Rivers all the way to the EotW was taken over months if I remember correctly. Plenty of time to build a budding relationship ;)

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of the series. tDR is awesome, I found it to be one of my favorites. Most likely because I'm a huge Perrin fan.

[Coz]

Perrin is currently my favorite character, which will probably make The Dragon Reborn a fun read. As for not liking Min -- I just didn't think her scene with Rand at the end of the second novel worked.

[Lupy]

Perrin was my favorite character then too.

 

I'm loving this thread, you'll look back in a couple of months and laugh.

[Coz]

Perrin might turn into a wolf? Rand can shoot beams of light from his hand, and continues his descent toward madness? The kettle screams, and the pages pass by...

[nojnomad]

This has to be my favorite thread ever for this forum.

Soon you will be entirely assimilated and the Jordanian writing quirks will seem normal... somehow natural... and become reference point from which all works are judged.

[Coz]

So, skipping ahead a bit (not much), it seems to me that the next two-hundred pages are solely focused on Egwene, Nynaeve, Min and Elayne. So, I guess the only way to like the people you don't like is to spend more time with them.

 

And here I was, thinking this was Perrin's novel...

[Elend]

Nope. This is Mat's novel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, not really. But he's the most epic character in it. Honestly? Its Rand's novel, you just don't see him much.

[Sid]

So, skipping ahead a bit (not much), it seems to me that the next two-hundred pages are solely focused on Egwene, Nynaeve, Min and Elayne. So, I guess the only way to like the people you don't like is to spend more time with them.

 

And here I was, thinking this was Perrin's novel...

 

A fair amount of the upcoming happenings occur in the city where Elayne, Egwene, and Nyneave end up. Lots of interesting things happen there in this time. But even if one absolutely detests these three (which I don't), there are other people around that make up for them.

 

Haha, there were quite a few things I typed out, looked at again, and deleted because I decided it was better safe than sorry spoilerwise. Happy reading

[trench]

Well thats one of Jordan's quirks and he has a bunch. He sticks with a subject for many chapters in a row. Where most authors will switch pov's and topics to keep up a faster pace. RJ is always ready to slow up and focus on the details and minutia of the world, keeping the same thread open for couple hundred pages. While it works most of the time, sometimes I hear the Monty Python's line "Get on with it!" in my head.

 

That being said the Girls do have some awesomeness coming up.

 

Also have you reached the chapter titled Awakening yet?

[Isgrimner]

Nope. This is Mat's novel.

 

 

Okay, not really. But he's the most epic character in it. Honestly? Its Rand's novel, you just don't see him much.

 

You know, I was 14 or 15 when TDR came out and at the time Rand was my favorite character. I was pretty bummed, because I kept flipping through the book trying to find chapters with Rand point of views and having trouble finding as many as I wanted.

 

Mat, who I wasn't too fond of at that point rescued the book for me. Eventually becoming my (like many others') favorite character.

[moratcorlm]

Part of the problem of a series with six main characters is that you're going to have chapters upon chapters with those you don't like. On the other hand, those you don't like will change, and the women, especially Elayne and Nynaeve, become much more developed in the part you're reading and henceforth. And in chapter 19 you're about to happen upon the sentence

He was known as a gambler; it was time to toss the dice.

which signifies another development in awesomeness.

[Coz]

Yeah, I think it's Mat's time for a couple of chapters. He's the most under developed of the main three at the moment.

 

So The Shadow Rising is Perrin's Novel? Or am I wrong in assuming that too...

[moratcorlm]

It's probably too much of a spoiler to answer that question directly, but pretty much everyone is satisfied by Perrin's arc in TSR. And the arcs for all five other mains and most of the minors, for that matter. There's a reason most people consider it the best book in the series.

[Sid]

You will like Perrin in TSR. The end.

[Coz]

As long as he doesn't turn into a wolf -- which might be a little too far for me -- I'm sure I'll like him in every single novel. I identify with being the strong, silent type.

 

And, just a question here, is The Shadow Rising considered the best? If so, which is considered the worst? My girlfriend -- who is literally loving how many questions she can't answer -- says Crossroads of Twilight, which seems pretty late in the series to be that bad...

[moratcorlm]

Most people think COT was the worst, for reasons we really can't get into other than that it's the shortest of the books. Me, I think EOTW was, but that's a minority viewpoint.

 

I don't think there's anything more we can say about Perrin that doesn't constitute a truly massive spoiler.

[Coz]

Understood about Perrin. I'm just making sure my favorite character doesn't turn into my least favorite, or one of, I guess.

 

Also: at Tar Valon now.

[Gentled Ben]

I didn't care much for The Path of Daggers or Crossroads of Twilight, but every volume has at least one cool part to it. There is something to redeem each novel, and the story picks back up again with Knife of Dreams and the two Sanderson novels. Most people seem to agree that books 4-6 are quite good, and that books 7-10 are kinda slow. Beyond that, everyone has different favorites and least-favorites.; you'll find your own. I'm glad that you're enjoying it so far!

[A2597]

Understood about Perrin. I'm just making sure my favorite character doesn't turn into my least favorite, or one of, I guess.

 

Also: at Tar Valon now.

 

 

....Soooo freaking hard not to answer that question about Perrin....

 

I guess I'll go with the safe answer and say that, just like real people, Perrin has his ups and downs across the series. I can say that about any character in the books really, as they all have high and low points. But alas...

 

And yay! At Tar Valon!

[Agitel]

Winter's Heart ends on an epic finish. Crossroads of Twilight has no reflection on said epic finish and in fact jumps back in time. The book's a crossroads, in a way, and it seems like Jordan had trouble deciding which road to take. It sort of meanders.

 

Granted, I still like the book, it's got some good character development, but the plot doesn't move much. And like I said, having no reaction to the epicness of book nine is a bit of a disappointment when you have to wait between books. (To be honest, 8-10 is generally considered the 'long stretch' in the series).

 

As for The Shadow Rising, I'd say it's more evenly split in POVs, and is an all-around awesome novel.

[Gentled Ben]

Crossroads ends on a cliffhanger.

Edit: Oh, I see what you're saying. Well, the previous book's epic ending is referenced, again and again and again and again until you want to tear your eyes out.

[Shard]

Actually I think TSR was balanced for everyone, no one got left out in otherwords as far as page time was concerned. It's one of my favorites for that reason. The pacing was just brilliant of how Jordan can really shine.

[rsahae]

May I add my voice to all those who envy you reading this series for the first time. And I don't think anyone has said this yet, but I want to give you some encouragement moving forward: It's easy to get lost in this series. The more the books go on, the more characters and storylines and it can get quite confusing. Just realize that even on my 5th or so reread I was still noticing new things. So just sit back and enjoy the ride, take it as it comes!

 

My favorite book I would say was KoD, but TSR is damn, damn good. It's my second favorite. In fact, in response to what someone else said, I think the best chapter of the series is in TSR.

 

The worst book? Hands down, everything written by Sanderson. If you mean worst by RJ, there is none, but I would go with CoS. Shame on those who disparage CoT, that book is AWESOME!

 

It's understandable you don't like Nynaeve, but let me encourage you not to skip through even a hint of the Nyn/Egw/Ela chapters. Beyond the fundamental reason, that every word of RJ's is gold and is to be treasured, those characters and their story is too important to let anything slip by.

 

But you like Mat, eh? Yeah he blew the Horn but he's just an arrogant, lazy, jerk! He never wants to do his share. He's rude and self-centered. What is it that you like about him?