200 pages into TDR

[Lavaliar]

This is my favorite volume so far! And I have finally reached the notorious braid-tugging and skirt smoothing! Ha ha. Maybe forewarned is forearmed, 'cause it's not bothering me (quite) as much as I was led to believe it would. But if Nynaeve keeps tuggin' that thing it's gonna fall off!

 

Thoughts so far:

 

1. My favorite thread in the story is the Aes Sedai. I love all the Tar Valon stuff, the byzantine politics and intrigues, the culture and lore, the allusions to myth and history. I could seriously read a whole series just about this stuff. This is surprising, I wasn't expecting to like that portion of the story, but I love it!! So far, New Spring & TDR are my favorite volumes.

 

2. Perrin as a character I like; but Perrin's story isn't grabbing me. Unless he embraces his wolf connection I don't know how absorbing his story will be for me. I love the wolf brother concept, I want more of that. But Perrin himself is resisting it so he's a little boring to me.

 

3. Yay Rand!! This is what I hated about the Harry Potter books - the kid just sits there like a sitting duck doing whatever Dumbledore tells him to do. I'd've been outta there like a bat out of hell, taking the offensive, looking for ways to defend myself and mount offensives. Go Rand! I was so happy when I turned the page and he'd just . . . walked away. Maybe it's the wrong decision, I don't know what happens next, but if I were writing this I'd have Rand really go on the offensive, finding answers, getting stronger, fighting back. I'm very excited about his arc now.

 

4. What happened to the Seanchan?!?! They're just gone? I know they come back into the story but their "cameo" in TGH was just too short, I have a very strong but incomplete image of them in my mind. Hope they come back soon.

 

5. Lots of Lan = a happy reader :)

 

6. I love Min. I dearly hope her character doesn't get lost in the mix or fouled up. She's one of the strongest "voices" in the text. She never ever sounds like something someone wrote, I feel like I could find her and talk to her in the real world.

 

Onwards and upwards!

[Whizbang]

*Looks back to the beginning...*

 

Yeah, good times. The first few books were definitely full of epic wonder. There aren't/weren't too many books out there that had the scope of WoT. TDR was great because everyone went a different way and you really got a great look at just how large the world RJ created.

 

Keep up with these updates. I'd love to re-live the series through you.

[Rhienne]

It is a really great book, and one of my favourites for the reason Whizbang gives - the party splits up and explores the world in different directions and you realise how big RJ's world was, and how detailed and fascinating.

 

I loved the WT scenes in tDR and NS too.  Learning more about the structure and history of the AS is really intriguing at this point in the series.  Keep faith with Perrin - he is awesome in the next book, and has (imo) one of the best plot arcs of any character, in any book, in tSR.  I have to say, I wished the Seanchan had stayed gone when they did eventually come back!

[Lavaliar]

I'm reading much faster than before & I have a goal to complete the series before the encyclopedia comes out so "updates" are more likely!

 

This is funny: last night I dreamed that I was watching a WOT animated series ha ha. It has now officially invaded my dreams!

[Agitel]

I've had dreams before, too! Anyway, I love reading your thoughts and reactions, even if I don't post all the time. I'm sure many others do as well.

[Lavaliar]

I re-read the opening chapters of EOTW last night and was blown away by the depth of this 14 Volume "novel"!!! I can only imagine what re-reading the entire series would be like! I was especially impressed by how much information is in the character descriptions - he's telling you so much but since you don't know what to look for a lot just goes right past you! The first time I re-read EOTW (2011, I hadn't looked at it since 1990) I couldn't really make head or tail of Tam's fever "ramblings" - last nite I was able to put it together with what I now know, which was incredibly exciting. As RJ so often said, with this story you have to "read and find out!" Brilliant.

 

Anyway, just wanted to share!

[jedman67]

I'm reading much faster than before & I have a goal to complete the series before the encyclopedia comes out so "updates" are more likely!

 

This is funny: last night I dreamed that I was watching a WOT animated series ha ha. It has now officially invaded my dreams!

If you're dreaming about WoT now, then welcome aboard! 

[Agitel]

The whole series is filled with tidbits, hints and foreshadowing that you'd only pickup on a reread. I love it.

[he who comes with a bong]

It seems to be that every time you do a reread that yes you find a few things here and there that you missed on the first time through. For me when i was in the upper levels of rereading say like 50 times for TDR that you just breeze by everything, and then you start to look at every little sentence to try to find out ever bit of foreshadowing that was in each book.

 

I have read them so many times usually by the time im in the third of fouth chapter of each book i can remember what happens in the whole book, so it makes it easier to focus on the little things that you dont normally get the first few times through the series.

 

But i also have to say that since i read the last book 2 times i feel no need to read the series again. Or at least for a few years, I used to finish what ever boosk were out then just pick the eye of the world right back up and read them again.

[Lavaliar]

It seems to be that every time you do a reread that yes you find a few things here and there that you missed on the first time through. For me when i was in the upper levels of rereading say like 50 times for TDR that you just breeze by everything, and then you start to look at every little sentence to try to find out ever bit of foreshadowing that was in each book.

 

I have read them so many times usually by the time im in the third of fouth chapter of each book i can remember what happens in the whole book, so it makes it easier to focus on the little things that you dont normally get the first few times through the series.

 

But i also have to say that since i read the last book 2 times i feel no need to read the series again. Or at least for a few years, I used to finish what ever boosk were out then just pick the eye of the world right back up and read them again.

 

I aspire to reach such levels of WOT literacy!

[ChristianM]

This is when the series really picked up for me, and caught my interest. Not that the first 2 weren't good, just that this one really pulled me into the series. 

[Zanarky]

1. My favorite thread in the story is the Aes Sedai. I love all the Tar Valon stuff, the byzantine politics and intrigues, the culture and lore, the allusions to myth and history.

 

I definitely agree! I always love reading about some sort of major organisation or group that an author has created, and seeing the similarities between the real world. The Aes Sedai are very much in that group, and over 14 books, they are described and depicted so often that you can't help but feel a part of it.

[Lavaliar]

Faile was just introduced!

[Rudrah]

I always liked her. Many WOT fans don't like her and she gets a lot of heat. I'm re-reading the series now and I forgot she was introduced as a Hunter of the Horn. I can't say much more than that with out spoiling things for you.

[jedman67]

Faile is very annoying at first - but she becomes more likable over time. In the begining, i was secretly hoping she'd be offed and do Perrin and Moiraine a favor 

[Rhienne]

I found Faile a lot less irritating on my second reread.  I think it helps to know she gets better, and you can kind of find her amusing rather than just infuriating.  Having said that, I still find her behaviour in the first half of tSR makes me very angry!

[Lavaliar]

I know her only by name & notorious reputation! But I loved her first scene & I liked her introduction. I guess I'll wait & see how I feel about her later!

[Lavaliar]

Holy Cow ---- Perrin's dream after he meets Faile!!!

[Lavaliar]

Aviendha <3

[jedman67]

dude - please don't just keep updating your threads with milestones. heres some friendly advice - do a review of each major chapter or section that really pulled you, write something that captures your excitement at reading and sharing it with others. 

Enjoy!

[Barid Bel Medar]

Due to the inundation of threads that were created, we decided that WoT first time readings or re-reads should be posted as blogs and not on the WoTD boards. 

 

The thread started off as a discussion, but seems to be turning into a reaction to reading. I'll leave it open if you want to discuss something in particular, but please take any reading progress topics to the blog section. 

[Lavaliar]

Hmmmm . . . to begin with, someone specifically asked me to keep posting reactions!

 

And it hardly seems like there's a lot of heavy traffic around here.

 

Also, I've only started one thread per book.

 

Sorry to bother

[Agitel]

I don't remember exactly when, but a few years back a lot of "reaction" threads started cropping up. It started with just one, but others followed. We had numerous ones floating up and down the front page. That's when the rule started, or at least was brought to my attention. Barid Bel Medar is just taking preemptive action.