Trepidation on beginning to read KoD

[krislee]

Afternoon all,

 

Another newbie to the site... :D

 

I read CoT when it first came out and then had the usual wait for the next book, KoD, to arrive. I bought KoD and then New Spring when they first came out but I've only just got round to reading NS. It has drawn me right back into it all and I picked KoD up straight after finishing NS. Trouble is, it's been years since I read the last book and I've forgotton who anybody is, where they are or what's going on. :(

 

I read the glossary and little things kept popping back from my memory but I still don't have much of a clue. I don't know whether to stick with it and muddle through in the hope that things will return, or start again from scratch - which will not be a quick task with eleven books to read! Although maybe the final book will be out by the time I finish

 

Any advice? Are there any parts of this site that will bring me up to speed to the end of CoT?

 

Regards,

 

Kris.

[Guest Majsju]

Well, I strongly suggest rereading the books. Most people here have done it, and more than once. The size of the series, and the huge amount of details means that rereading is necessary, because you will have missed details the first read.

 

But, if you want a quick recap,

http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/

 

http://www.lifestyle-movement.org.uk/wheeloftime/summaries.htm

[krislee]

Thanks Majsju. I'll have a look through those links.

 

Why did RJ choose names that are so similar! It makes remembering who's who all the more difficult :roll:

 

Regards,

 

Kris.

[OzzieAlThor]

I say forget the links and reread the books totally.

 

It's what I did and I promise you alot of stuff happened that you don't remember. It really is like reading it new again.

 

Give it a whirl, you'll enjoy yourself.

[Iceman]

I hadn't read the other books for a couple years either, but after getting through the Intro and into Chapter one, I was right back into it.

 

I am now re-reading (audiobook)all of them and rediscovering details I had forgotten.

 

So, a Re-read is definitely beneficial, but not necessary.

[taters]

On my first read i got in a rut at POD, and didn't read them for a few months. I toiled through to the end of KOD, not remembering who was who, etc., and it got very confusing.

 

When re-reading from start to finish it is very satisfying knowing "ah, he's the chap who ..." instead of "who the heck are they?!", so i'd definately recommend re-reading.

[cannon]

If you don't have the time to reread the series once a year like some fans, I would suggest using an excellent website which provides summaries of every chapter and keeps track of all the characters quite nicely.

 

http://www.encyclopaedia-wot.org/

 

I've found it to be invaluable when I'm trying to figure out who some of the minor characters are and what significance they have.

[krislee]

Thanks for the comments. Spare time is nonexistant at the moment as we've got a 5 month old baby and a new house! So loads to do, unlike when I was a student

 

I think I'll try and get through KoD. If it all means nothing to me then I'll start re-reading them all. The couple of websites that Majsju gave earlier provide a fair bit of info.

 

cannon: I've seen that link before a few times on here but it doesn't work for me. I've tried it on two different PC's each with different net access. Is it down for some reason?

 

I've browsed through the general forum and some of the threads are interesting and informative. Somewhere else for me to while away my time :)

 

Regards,

 

Kris.

[Wise One]

I only discovered this wonderful series this year, so I have been reading them largely back to back. Still, I found in the middle it got very confusing trying to remember who is who, especially with all the semi-important Aes Sedai that start running round all over the place. Though now I'm almost finished on KOD, and I am finding it a lot easier. The WOT encyclopedia (link posted above) is really excellent, as you can get chapter summaries if there's some small section that you've forgotten, or get character summaries, to find out where people actually featured.

[cannon]

cannon: I've seen that link before a few times on here but it doesn't work for me. I've tried it on two different PC's each with different net access. Is it down for some reason?

 

Well it was up yesterday when I posted the link, but it looks like the site is down right now for some reason.

 

Just bad timing I guess.

[TaeaDawn]

Just a note.. whenever a new book comes out, I always reread the previous. I might not remember everything at first, but by the time I finish reading it i'm back in the thick of things and I don't spend half the book going 'oh ya.. that's what was happening'.