Ages, as in 'being x years old'

[randsc]

Again, when the first few WoT books came out, they were in fact in the Young Adult section. This would be at Barnes and Noble, at the time the largest bookseller in the United States. Making it into the general fantasy section had more to do, I suspect, with the aging of the original audience and the success of the series (Harry Potter isn't banished to the kids section either) than with any feature of the books themselves.

 

The writing and vocabulary of the WoT books is perfectly accessible to young readers, they are written on about a 6th grade level.

 

This isn't a slam on the series, which I like or I wouldn't be here. But yeah, it's a young adult series.

[Vambram]

Again, when I first started buying the WOT in 1991, it was found, and has always been found in any of the dozens of bookstores that I have been to in the General Fantasy section, or the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section. Never, in the last 20 years, have I ever seen the WOT in the YA section, with the exception of the first two novels which were broken up into two books each specifically for the young adult, or teenage readers.

 

Perhaps Barnes and Noble mistakenly thought that the WOT was YA fiction. But every other bookstore and book seller out there in the entire world knew differently.

 

The writing and vocabulary of the WoT books is perfectly accessible to young readers, they are written on about a 6th grade level.

 

You have a much higher opinion of a six grade reading level than I do.

In my opinion, the Harry Potter books are on a 6th grade level, whereas the WOT is more complex and more difficult thus placing it on a 10th grade level.

[randsc]

Again, when I first started buying the WOT in 1991, it was found, and has always been found in any of the dozens of bookstores that I have been to in the General Fantasy section, or the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section. Never, in the last 20 years, have I ever seen the WOT in the YA section, with the exception of the first two novels which were broken up into two books each specifically for the young adult, or teenage readers.

 

Perhaps Barnes and Noble mistakenly thought that the WOT was YA fiction. But every other bookstore and book seller out there in the entire world knew differently.

 

The writing and vocabulary of the WoT books is perfectly accessible to young readers, they are written on about a 6th grade level.

 

You have a much higher opinion of a six grade reading level than I do.

In my opinion, the Harry Potter books are on a 6th grade level, whereas the WOT is more complex and more difficult thus placing it on a 10th grade level.

 

That's nice. So what?

 

By the way, do you know what Flesch–Kincaid refers to?

[Vambram]

That's nice. So what?

 

By the way, do you know what Flesch–Kincaid refers to?

Yes, its the readability test.

[randsc]

That's nice. So what?

 

By the way, do you know what Flesch–Kincaid refers to?

Yes, its the readability test.

 

And using that test, how do the WoT books grade out?

[Stitch]

IMO Flesch reading ease is relatively sound, as it is based on the total syllables, words and sentences, looking at the ratios between them - however it doesnt examine paragraph or writing block (for example chapters and sub chapter divisions) length at all nor the level of obscurity in the vernacular used or the level of complexity in the sentence structure. The Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level Formula inherits those same flaws, it is also mostly arbitrary in how it is applied to 'grades' (as in schooling level) while the sentence structure and word obscurity problems are exacerbated significantly. the Gunning Fog index examines 'complex words' which is slightly more useful I believe than the syllable provision in the Flesch–Kincaid approach, however is still limited. Required reader vocabulary and comprehension of sentence structure are, in my opinion, vastly more important to the definition of text complexity than how many syllables are in a word, how many words are in a sentence and how long the text is.

 

I think the content of the Wheel of Time books is appropriate for just about anyone (though some of the sub themes are probably appropriate for those aged 12+), however the way that the narrative is delivered is probably too complex for the majority of children, pushing the age to young adults (14/15+) or possibly late teens (17/18+).

 

 

On the topic of ages however, I also realised that I had not included Loial, who while old by human terms is only in his mid-late teens in ogier terms; given that, his address of the Great Stump is also something that is near inconceivable - like a 12 year old giving a university lecture.

[lenardo]

as for where it is in the book stores. that is UP TO THE BOOKSTORE.

 

I started reading WoT when book 2 came out- i have all the books in hardcover, i have all the books in E-format(

 

in Every single bookstore i have ever been in, they have always been in the Sci-fi section.

 

could they be in the YA section? yes they CAN because YA has sci-fi/fantasy within the YA "overall" category.

 

hell when WoT came out i do not remember there even BEING a YA category in the bookstore, of course i never Looked for it, i always just hit the sci-fi/fantasy section.

 

until I had kids i never even entered "young adult" section in the book store.

 

even when I was 9-10 (35years ago)i just hit up the sci-fi/fantasy section.

 

as for ages for kids i was 10 when i read the Gor Books. (i also read the first ~100 or so perry Rhodan books at that age as well)

 

my 9yr old is starting to read Eye of the World now.

[Randommer]

Well I mean the books begin with a man who's just killed his whole family and decides to kill himself. Not that I think someone of the age of 12+ wouldn't be able to handle that sort of thing (I remember reading YA fiction and some of it's pretty damn gritty) but it's just not the sort of thing that usually occurs in YA fiction, and neither are many of the other problems the characters face.

 

That and although most of the characters are relatively young (late teens or twenties) you have to remember that the WoT books are set in a different sort of time, when a person might well be married with children by the time they were nineteen or twenty. I mean the characters in YA books don't often end up married is all I'm saying.

 

Of course teenagers read and enjoy the WoT books, but they're hardly aimed at them. I read and enjoyed Jane Austen books when I was thirteen, and that doesn't make her a YA author.

[nojnomad]

You guys can be as open minded as you want to be. When my kids reach 18 they can read this series and I will encourage them to do so. No child needs to be exposed to any literature that has adult relationship material of any kind.

[randsc]

Are you serious?

 

There is much, much more adult material that is part of the standard high school program. How are you going to deal with that?

[Superhal]

In the Medieval period, people were expected to "mature" (start families) at a very young age, and average life expectancies were very low. By 18, you had a wife, kids, and full-time job, probably along with a small field and a few animals to tend. (As an aside, in the Industrial age, the average life expectancy was mid-30's and people needed to start their families by 15.)

 

Today, it's quite common for children to stay with their parents into their 30's, and start families in their late 30's. To us, maturity is something undesirable and delayed; for some people, never achieved.

 

So, these characters aren't young, we're just old and immature.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Are you serious?

 

There is much, much more adult material that is part of the standard high school program. How are you going to deal with that?

 

 

he can't be serious. . . i'm guessing the bible would be completely off limits. . .

 

but there's nothing that makes a kid want to do something more than telling him he can't, so it'll all work out either way. most kids do leave their homes occasionally, and they still have libraries in some schools, and computers, and friends to borrow from, and fake covers to paste on, and all kinds of sneaky dodges. kids are smart.

[ncstahlis]

I started reading these books at the age of 12. I am currently 17 and am absolutely in love with the whole series. This has no bearing on the topic of chracters ages.

 

As for ages, I was under the impression that Moiraine had searched for Rand and his friends for 19 year. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Puny]

I´d let my young kids read the books. WoT is a book. I never got the YA/adult grading. In Sweden atleast the YA books can be pretty gritty, dealing with rape, being groomed, peer pressure, violence and so on, and they can be cheerful and all sunshine. The same with fantasy. It can be all kinds of struggles described in detail or just in general.

If we go to the sex and violence and cursing, imo WoT is not so bad. There are lots of descriptions about howling and tears but nothing too bad. The sex is so subtle it´s silly, so I doubt a 12y old would even get the hints about sex. Lol, sometimes a 26 year old don´t get that Jordan is describing sex cause it´s filled with weird describtions. And when you are that young you will just read the books and miss a number of hints, as you get older you can pick them up.

 

There are worse things they can listen to on the radio/watch on tv. WoT is vanilla.

[Superhal]

 

As for ages, I was under the impression that Moiraine had searched for Rand and his friends for 19 year. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I didn't read New Spring, but Moiraine and Siuan were both Accepted at the time of Rand's birth. I think Siuan was Amyrlin for 10 years at the start of EotW, but I'm not sure that Moiraine was AS for 19 years and she couldn't leave the WT as an Accepted.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

they were raised very soon after rand's birth, and moiraine left the tower very soon after she was raised (days or weeks, i think, but my memory is not so good with details), and was looking for the DR on the road from that point, IIRC.

[Lupy]

The FAQ says that Faile is 16! I forgive her for being so annoying, I don't know how many 10th graders would be less obnoxious than she is under the same circumstances.

[Amadine]

Rand was born just before Suian and Moiraine were raised to Aes Sedai - so at the beginning of EotW they had been searching for him for roughly 18 years.