Re-Reading EOTW for the first time since 1990

[Vinny]

TEOTW coincided with a lack of interest in the SFF/F that lasted about 4-5 years for me. I remember enjoying it intensely in 1990 but being disappointed by the brevity of the climactic stand-off. I was 17 at the time. Anyway, I have recently been feeling nostalgic about the early 1990's. I re-read "Heir To The Empire" & that made me think of TEOTW for some reason. I picked "Eye" up two days ago and am about four chapters in. I actually bought a pristine 1990 papberback for .25c!

 

I don't know if I'll read any more of the series. I'm not such a big fan of "fantasy" novels, I really don't read much pose fiction at all. When it comes to this sort of thing I am always discovering epics I have never read before: I am reading "Shanameh" (The Persian Book of Kings) right now.

 

I do remember being surprised several times in the 90's and in the early 2000's to see yet another 1,000 pg WOT book for sale at the bookstore! A few times I read this website & I had a few chuckles over fan reactions to the books. I remember one person calling WOT "the Swann's Way of fantasy" or something like that i.e. "nothing happened" in the books LOL. I was also aware of Jordan's unfortunate passing. For me, he will always be "the second best Conan author" after R.E. Howard, a part of my 1980's adolescence; TEOTW was actually the last book of his I read. But my favorite nephew started reading WOT & it's become a yearly tradition to nab him an advance copy of the latest volume thru my bookseller friend.

 

At any rate, I thought I'd post my thoughts as I read through TEOTW. I'm a slow reader of fiction, it will probably take me until Christmas to finish. And I am also re-reading Spenser's "Faerie Queene" which is a real eater of reading time! But I do want to finish all of WOT1.

 

So far I am enjoying it. As you can tell I am very picky about writing styles. Jordan had a whole basketful of annoying quirks but nothing that has stopped me from reading. In fact, it's every bit as compulsively readable as I remember & as I have heard time & again from RJ fans. So, here goes...

[ironisles]

Welcome aboard. Reading them all will be a good experience; just be warned that after Lord of Chaos things... slow down for a couple of books.

[Vinny]

Welcome aboard. Reading them all will be a good experience; just be warned that after Lord of Chaos things... slow down for a couple of books.

 

Heh heh, at my reading speed it would probably take me the rest of my natural life to finish this whole series! I'm hoping to polish "Eye" off by new year's, and to post here once a month :)

[EpitomyofShyness]

I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did! I grew up on these, and as annoying as a few things about the WoT can be, and as slow as books 8-10 are I still love them to death.

[Vinny]

I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did! I grew up on these, and as annoying as a few things about the WoT can be, and as slow as books 8-10 are I still love them to death.

 

Ah, once again, it is highly doubtful I'll get beyond Book One ;)

When I heard that there was going to be a new movie based on "Soldier, Tinker, Tailor, Spy" I decided to re-read the book...almost two years ago! I'm about 200 pages in :P The movie comes out this Autumn.

I'm just a slow slow reader of fiction...

 

I just finished the chapter "Winternight." I remember some of this very strongly, which is amazing given that I read it 21 years ago! EOTW really has that "classic" adventure story quality, it brings back memories of Robert Louis Stevenson, James Fenimore Cooper & Walter Scott. Jordan's nowhere near as solid a prose artists as those authors but he definitely wanted this to feel like a classic from the get-go. The build up to the first action sequence was excellent, with recognizable character types, lots of mystery & intrigue, and the feeling of a big big adventure starting. The atmosphere is well established & the settings "feel real." Overall, I'm enjoying the book immensely.

 

I picked up the "New Spring" graphic novel : should I read it now or wait till I'm finished EOTW? Is it very spoilerish? I know it's a "prequel." I do remember that Rand is some kind of "chosen one" ala Paul in Dune, but the details have long since fled my memory banks. I'll wait till you all chime in before I crack the spine of NS...

[Vinny]

I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did! I grew up on these, and as annoying as a few things about the WoT can be, and as slow as books 8-10 are I still love them to death.

 

Ah, once again, it is highly doubtful I'll get beyond Book One ;)

When I heard that there was going to be a new movie based on "Soldier, Tinker, Tailor, Spy" I decided to re-read the book...almost two years ago! I'm about 200 pages in :P The movie comes out this Autumn.

I'm just a slow slow reader of fiction...

 

I just finished the chapter "Winternight." I remember some of this very strongly, which is amazing given that I read it 21 years ago! EOTW really has that "classic" adventure story quality, it brings back memories of Robert Louis Stevenson, James Fenimore Cooper & Walter Scott. Jordan's nowhere near as solid a prose artist as those authors but he definitely wanted this to feel like a classic from the get-go. The build up to the first action sequence was excellent, with recognizable character types, lots of mystery & intrigue, and the feeling of a big big adventure starting. The atmosphere is well established & the settings "feel real." Overall, I'm enjoying the book immensely.

 

I picked up the "New Spring" graphic novel : should I read it now or wait till I'm finished EOTW? Is it very spoilerish? I know it's a "prequel." I do remember that Rand is some kind of "chosen one" ala Paul in Dune, but the details have long since fled my memory banks. I'll wait till you all chime in before I crack the spine of NS...

[JTmin5]

It really wouldnt matter if you finished EotW first or opened newspring now. It really just kind of sets the story for the rest of the books. Eotw kind of leaves your beginning in the dark and you dont really understand the reason why moiraine and Lan are traveling or what they are looking for you just kind of sense it. New Spring give you the background on moiraine and Lan. I dont think i would have liked moiraine as much as a character if it hadnt been for reading new spring first. I started off with new spring before i read eotw so it was nice to go that way for me. I warn you though that New Spring is kind of slow but it shows you how lan and Moiraine met and a lot of Lan's background and some of the Aiel war. I still though it was a good read though and i jumped right into the rest of the books. I wasnt able to really put them down i finished all 13 in about a year. I hope you get hooked lol i thought it was an awesome story, it might not be the best written series but i would say its my favorite.

[Superhal]

I dunno, to me it's just another series, but far, far, FAR longer. I don't really enjoy the story as much as feel a sense of accomplishment in reading the entire thing. To me, it's like those 20 lb burger challenges. If you do it, you feel good, but you don't really go for the taste.

 

I wonder how many people gave up because it was so long.