End Times Melancholia - a Fugue

[Dbob]

So I just finished TOM, and there I sat, in my comfy recliner, scotch at hand (I'd include the cracking fire and the setter but that would be pushing it,) chuckling at the antics of Elayne, shaking my head sadly at the blindness of Egwene, kinda ticked that Moraine got almost no play at all, forming arguments for why the unmasking of Messana was wholly unsatisfying - when, with all the force of a yank of the braid, it occurred to me. There is only one more book! Even if the light wins, it's over for the rest of us.

 

This is an unsettling thought, for years and years and years, one might say since I metaphorically left The Two Rivers myself, I've been either reading the latest book, or waiting for the latest book, or arguing about the latest book, safe in the knowledge that the end times were far away. In fact there were times when in my complacence, I simply assumed it would go on forever, much like the mystery of who killed Asmodian. I was prepared to go to my grave never knowing where Demandred was hiding.

 

Then all of sudden, I am confronted with the reality of THE END. On the last page, of the last book, staring me bleakly in the face.

 

I don't know how I feel about that.

[Twitchy]

I'm scared.

:(

 

Ten years this series has been such a huge part of my life, seven years this website... And now it's gonna come to a close...

 

I'm scared. I have very little doubt that I will cry after reading that last prophecy.

[Areopagitican]

Hmm, I wonder how Dragonmount will go on with no new books?

 

Let's hope for some spin-off's. Heh.

[Sid]

I'll be sad that there's no more books to read, but at the same time I'll be thrilled because I'll find out how it ends. When RJ passed on a few years ago, I was so disappointed that I didn't even look up anything WoT related online until something like a year and a half later, when I found out TGS was mere months away. So, finding out what happens (with Brandon Sanderson bridging the gaps) when for quite some time I thought I never would will bring joy.

[PraySilence]

I'm sure I heard somewhere in the 4th age podcasts that they MAY make a few other novellas, possibly bridging the gap between new spring and Eye of the World, and another possibly telling Tam's story during the Aiel war and finding Rand.

[dapianoplay3r]

I just wish there was some way to keep living in the WoT world. Doesnt even have to be a story.

What they need is just an online computer game or something that we can just keep living in the WoT. I dont think there will ever be anything to replace it so i guess ill have to keep rereading

[SylvanFox]

I think there's some kind of online WoT game. It's an MUD.

 

It would be super awesome if they had some crazy WoW-sized Randland mega game. I'm just sayin.

[dapianoplay3r]

I was thinking WoW type. I played the MUD for a bit. I want pictures though

[daveq65]

I'll be sad when the last book is published, but also relieved. Because we'll finally know the ending, and when we wish to to do a reread we won't be hanging on for the next one in the series we can read through from tEotW through aMoL.

 

To say this series means a lot to us would be an under statement I think, for a lot of us this is a series we have grown up with, it has taken us to highs and lows in the characters lives and adventures. We have hit massive lows with the passing of Robert, and gained highs again as the series got taken up by Brandon so we'd know how it all concludes. We all find comfort in reading these books, sometimes many times, often finding bits we have passed over, or reviewing our views on certain characters and events. I don't think we'll mourn too much, there is still plenty for us to talk about in the books, theories and the likes for a long time to come. Even once the last body has fallen on Shayol Ghul and the crows and ravens feast on the corpses from Tarmon Gai'don.

 

But we will still have the WoT encyclopedia/guide to come which I hope will be as deep and informative as some of the ones on the net, if not deeper.

[Feral]

I'll be glad to know how everything plays out with the Last Battle, I just wish the books could keep going afterwards. The world's been going so long now, just seems impossible that it should end. Even if it was just books filled with the boring day to day stuff of the characters' lives I'd still be happy lol. RJ did such a good job of making his characters come to life, it will be like having a load of good friends die when the series ends I really need to find another good series...

[theicewitch]

I want to know... I need to know.

 

I will at the end though, have a sigh of remorse as I always do with the end of series,then I will put the last book on the shelf of my library with it's 13 other friends to be read again and again. My literary friends linger in my life like my 3 dimensional friends they fade in and out of my world but I love them all the while.

[gaz40]

I want to know... I need to know.

 

I will at the end though, have a sigh of remorse as I always do with the end of series,then I will put the last book on the shelf of my library with it's 13 other friends to be read again and again. My literary friends linger in my life like my 3 dimensional friends they fade in and out of my world but I love them all the while.

 

Couldn't agree more... Reading the last line will be absolutely bittersweet.

I have been immersed in this series since '92.

It may seem silly to some but I expect to have a small sense of grief over it's impending end

Knowing that that there will never be another.... An end to all the anticipation, conjecture and debate that sites such as this exist.

Sure there will be intricate details that will be probably left for interpretation, most likely with the minor plot arcs, but all the biggies will be answered.

 

What will happen to the WoT community?

:(

[RyanDuranGeiger]

When I finish it, it'll be the most bittersweet thing, ever. It will be like ripping a giant barbed thorn from my arm.. It will case extreme pain, but I will be relieved to be done with it..

I'm certain that I'll likely cry multiple times (That's right, I'll admit it.. I'm gonna cry like a little girl), I'll get shivers and giant adrenaline rushes..

 

 

I already have how and where I'm gonna read it planned out.. gonna have a hammock set up near a nice waterfall in the middle of the rain forest.. Will have the peaceful sounds of the waterfall crashing down, along with the sound of the rain forest (Can't really describe it.. But, I find it quite intoxicating).. Gonna read it over two days, so I'm gonna camp overnight.. Hopefully it will put some justice to the final book, to read it in a tranquil "paradise".

[Dbob]

I don't find the grief silly. For most of my life there has been WOT, through the good books and the bad, it's something that I've thought about, and argued about, and followed - I'd almost rather have no answers than definitive ones.

 

Which is strange because I really don't feel that way about any other series.

 

To have all the answers, I'd almost rather continue on with the debates and the mysteries. The last battle on the horizon.

 

To have that go on forever, sometimes, I think that might have been a greater tribute to RJ.

 

But that's just me.

[marathdamane]

I just started the series in Mid July and forsook all other reading material until I finished ToM. When I first started I knew I was looking at tackling 15 book series with each individual book being double the size of many novels. I powered my way through them with my eye on the end the entire time and no matter how much I read I knew there was more to be had... at least it felt that way. I've talked tons of WoT with the friend that introduced me, with my spouse who is also reading the books, made joking references to the books almost every day, had countless awesome dreams about channeling the One Power because I was reading so much WoT month after month. Now I'm here, waiting on AMoL with the rest of you and I'm sorry that it's ending, but it'll be a relief to know how it all ultimately goes down. Maybe I'll actually be able to start reading other books again...at least after a WoT re-read.

[Medo123]

I too started in July of 2010 and finished ToM in November. Then I was sad when there was nothing new to read. So I did what any other sensible WoT fan would do, I started tEotW again, I'm halfway through now and it's better than the first time. I used to think the people who have read it multiple times are woolheaded madmen/madwomen, and I was right, but I'm one of them now.

 

AMoL will come and go. We will always have the books to reread and new things to discover.

[Shimmer]

I am eagerly looking forward to aMol and knowing how it all ends but I know that an inexplicable sadness will come as the WoT series wraps up. I have only been reading (and re-reading) WoT since 2007 but since then I have literally been living and breathing Wot: I have a WoT wall spread, computer wallpaper and my Mum even made me a pillowcase with the snake and Wheel symbol on it. Hopefully, I will be content and satisfied with the ending which will balance out the inevitable sadness. After that, there'll be the re-reads and maybe even a few novellas and/or a WoT encyclopaedia. Here's hoping.

[Ozzie_aiel]

I have mixed emotions about the series coming to an end. I feel glad its finally here, but also sad that its ending. Even if novellas and other stories come they will not have all the characters we've watched grow and come to love. However, like all good things, the Wheel of Time stories must end. Like faithful old friends the books will be there for me whenever I want to revisit the world we've all come to enjoy.

[Toad]

I am almost certain that I'm going to burst into tears at the last page. I started reading Wheel of Time the summer of last year, and was always looking forward to the end, but now that it's almost here I'm both really sad and happy because I get to know how it ends. I'm really scared that one of my favorite characters will die, though. I can't really describe why, but it feels like if someone dies in the last book, it'll be final, and I'll always be thinking about the end during my latest re-read. I did a bad job explaining that, but oh well.