Tricks, tips, or methods, to remember characters and sub-plots within the series

[Kahsm]

I'm re-reading, AGAIN, and I'm taking copious notes. I have a spreadsheet with all the character names and hopefully a description of them as I'm going along, halfway through TSR (and have just under 500 names). I'm also coloring the cell with the color of an Aes Sedai Ajah, so I can remember what they are at later stages of the book. Not sure why I'm doing it, but I am.

 

James

 

This is seriously off-putting... If a book needs a spreadsheet to help the reader.. count me out, man.

 

It doesn't need it at all. It depends how much detail you want to absorb and what types of things you're interested in for any theorizing.

[Sid]

Eh, the only thing you need to that kind of attention to detail for is solving Siuan's mystery of the too-young Sitters. Which some people did in the CoT version of the FAQ. Which was dang impressive... a) that people figured it out and b) that Jordan put it in there in the first place.

[dwn]

This is how I managed to keep track of everything--and how a lot of readers probably did, too. See, it's mostly a matter of the order in which you read the books.

 

Try reading them in this order:

 

1) TEotW

2) TEotW, TGH

3) TEotW, TGH, TDR

4) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR

5) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH

6) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH, LoC

7) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH, LoC, ACoS

8) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH, LoC, ACoS, TPoD

9) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH, LoC, ACoS, TPoD, WH

10) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH, LoC, ACoS, TPoD, WH, CoT

11) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH, LoC, ACoS, TPoD, WH, CoT, KoD

12) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH, LoC, ACoS, TPoD, WH, CoT, KoD, TGS

13) TEotW, TGH, TDR, TSR, TFoH, LoC, ACoS, TPoD, WH, CoT, KoD, TGS, ToM

 

After that you'll likely have everything pretty much memorized. Oh, it also helps to randomly re-read some of the books in between each step above. New Spring is fun too, but ultimately optional.

 

-- dwn

[True Source Creator]

So we're supposed to read 13 books so that they add up to 93 books instead?

 

...ooooooooook.

[Waffleboy]

Wow, so many people take notes :O I just read them, and if I really don't know who a character is, I look it up on the WoT wiki.

[Puny]

Lol waffleboy.... I agree. Tbh when I read the books the first time I thought. Frakk, what is up with all the names? Who under the Light is Seanie and Searin? And why are their names so damn alike. Was Rand the blacksmith or the funny dude? And who is Shalon, a windfinder, a windmistress or is she just passing wind. =/

 

Thank god for internet.

[Arani Lepenque Aes Sedai]

Foolproof method.

 

Just read everything ten times over within a year. And by read I mean read.

 

Most people should be able to remember the lot by then.

[Jay Aldridge]

Thank God I'm not the only person to have this problem. I read the books the first time and was constantly like " who is this person ". Then I joined this site and everybody seemed to know so much more about what was going on than I did. I didn't even remember some of the things they were talking about. Then I realized most of the members here have read the books 8,9,10 times. I found the WOT Ency., WOT wiki, Tar valon. Net, and bought the BWB so my second reread is going much smoother. I dont feel quite as stupid as I once did.

[Guest Wulver]

The majority of the characters are just background noise. You need to know Cadsuane, you don't need to know all the different Aes Sedai who follow Cadsuane because they're irrelevant and replaceable. I still can't remember the name of the Yellow who Healed Rand before Flynn got to him. But all you need to know is that Rand was Healed and it was a man who saved him in the end (with contrbutions from some Aes Sedai or another).

[Majsju]

Read, re-read, and then keep re-reading. Eventually it will get stuck.

 

I've read the first books +20 times and then a falling scale to TOM, which I've only read (as in from start to finish) 3 times.

[Puny]

Majsju din galning...

 

I don´t care how people remember things about WoT. They can google it, look at forums or reread the books until their eyes bleed. Tbh I always found it abit... excessive to reread the entire series whenever a new book comes out. Fine... there is a two year wait. Read something else besides WoT. Reread the book before and you´ll be good. Only if you want to do some serious deep study is the countless rereads necessary.

Sure you forget some stuff but that´s life, lol.

 

I dk.. I get the nagging feeling some people only read WoT. There are other books out there...

[RyanL24]

There are simply too many characters. I'm listening to CoS, which is interesting. I've listened to these books a bunch, probably 5X each. But not this one. I'm not sure how many people know this, if everybody knows it so I don't need to say it or what... the 7th book was recorded by a different company than the rest of the books. At some point, that company went out of business. When the library had a broken cassette tape or scratched CD, they could no longer replace it. Soon there were no audio versions of book 7 in libraries. So I had to manually read that beezy, I think it took me the same amount of time to read book 7 as it did to listen to the other 8 books. (This was a while ago) FINALLY, the contract with the out of business company ran out, and the usual company started making them. So I've read the book once, and am listening for the second time. I'm picking up tons of new crap! AND consulting the online character guide.

 

 

There is a character, a maiden of the spear. Rand took her to Shadar Logoth where she disappeared. He went back a looooong time later to kill Sammael, and there she was! I was wondering how did she survive all those months in Shadar Logoth? Makes no sense. So I check out the character list... What's her name? Well, the reader of the audio book sounds like maybe "Liar" with a New York accent. Lia. I go check the L's.... 107 L characters! So I check the first one... Leya. That seems good, there she is! Then I read about her, and no, that's not her. How about Loya? I dunno, maybe I was hearing it a little wrong, or Michael was pronouncing it a little different than I would. Nope! Not her. Maybe Lira? Maybe Lara? As in Lara Ayellan? Am I misremembering? I go back and listen again... definitely Laya, but... there is no Laya on the list!!!! Maybe it's Llyw, which... who has any idea how you pronounce that.

 

Finally found her, it was Liah. http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/characters/l/liah.html Says she was corrupted by the evil of Aridhol, but that really doesn't explain what she ate or how she avoided Mashadar for all those months, only to be eaten by it later.

[RyanL24]

I dk.. I get the nagging feeling some people only read WoT. There are other books out there...

 

 

Amen LP. I don't think people should start their first re-read of WOT until they've hit all of the classics, and then SK's Dark Tower series. Which TO ME, is the best series on the Earth at this time.

[True Source Creator]

I find so far that it's not really so important for me to remember every single character. If a character comes around and makes just a small ripple, then he/she isn't really necessary to the plot. If he/she makes a small ripple and then later makes a big(ger) splash, I tend to remember who he or she is.

 

But this is my biggest peeve with character names: Saein and Searin. I don't remember their exact names, but that's close enough. I can't tell who's who.

[Superhal]

I dk.. I get the nagging feeling some people only read WoT. There are other books out there...

 

There isn't an e-book version of The Exorcist yet. :(

[Puny]

I find so far that it's not really so important for me to remember every single character. If a character comes around and makes just a small ripple, then he/she isn't really necessary to the plot. If he/she makes a small ripple and then later makes a big(ger) splash, I tend to remember who he or she is.

 

But this is my biggest peeve with character names: Saein and Searin. I don't remember their exact names, but that's close enough. I can't tell who's who.

+1. But I think I got it now... Saerin is Brown One, and Seaine is the White... because Seaine ends with an e just as in white... lol.

 

I dk.. I get the nagging feeling some people only read WoT. There are other books out there...

 

There isn't an e-book version of The Exorcist yet. :(

 

=/ Have patience. Read it as a paperback for old times sake.

[Superhal]

 

=/ Have patience. Read it as a paperback for old times sake.

 

Interesting story here: my local Barnes and Nobles has one, but there's a stain on the front cover. I told them, but they said they can't do anything about it. The only way I can get a "mint" copy would be to order it, which would take 5-10 working days, or somebody would have to buy that copy and then they would get a new one.

[Puny]

 

=/ Have patience. Read it as a paperback for old times sake.

 

Interesting story here: my local Barnes and Nobles has one, but there's a stain on the front cover. I told them, but they said they can't do anything about it. The only way I can get a "mint" copy would be to order it, which would take 5-10 working days, or somebody would have to buy that copy and then they would get a new one.

 

Sucks... atleast with an e-book there are no stains.

 

My hardest chars to memorize are the sea folk... and were everyone are at a certain moment. Although when you read the books straight true it gets alot easier.

[Superhal]

I hate they AS. They all only have 1 name, and the spellings sometimes are similar, like Saerin/Sarene or whatever.

[coolpool]

ive only read the series through all the way once, and there were a few sub charaters that have simular names but i found that i remeber situations... not names.. it is easyer to follow the charaters.. like i have a good memory so i didn't suffer too bad but i remeber the situations.. (like i have read entire books and i could say exatly what hapened to each charater but i wouldn't remeber the name of the charaters like in a weeks time) like the brown ahjar woman who was the forsaken masaana.. can't remember her name but i remember how shes discribed.. and thats how i rembered her.. and that cart guy whos in EoTW and then in ToM

 

it also helps to read each book one after in like 2-3days per book and read in silience... and to come on here.. its a good refresher to remeber charaters that are actually important, so u rmeber them better cos u know they're important...