It's been 20 years coming but at the age of 34 I only have a couple of hundred pages left in AMoL. It feels empty already. Small spoilers.

[Guest Luxiom]

Some spoilers below for the whole series

 

I was supposed to write this post up before even starting AMoL but I couldn't stop reading after finishing ToM and the pages turned them self. This weekend I found myself in the longest chapter of all time and I just couldn't stop. And when I finished I realized it was almost already over. I have avoided this community to avoid spoilers, but now, I want to say hi!

 

 

 

Hi, my name is Luxiom and I'm a Wheel of Time fan.

 

This might be a rather pointless selfpost but I just wanted to share the experience in some way. I started reading WoT when I was in 8th grade (I think) at the age of 14, translated to Swedish. I was kind of tricked into it by a friend. I didn't want to read anything that wasn't already finished as I recently read some other series and had to wait for the last books being published. And I hated that. "Nha, it's finished" he said. Liar. At the time half of Fires of Heaven was out in Sweden (they split the books), so we where kind of just getting started...

 

Well I read it all, only realizing a couple of books in that this wasn't even close to finished! I'm not even mad over this anymore (Thanks M!!) :-) But I loved it so I continued. I finished the current published books, then ignored the series for a couple of years, in essence waiting for more books.

 

 

 

Later I became a failed engineering student. Fleeing from my studies with the help of books and I decided it was a great time to re-read the series and finish up the new books. And what better time to do it then during finals! I had soooo much free time, right? I spent hours in the "reading corner" of the livingroom i shared with three friends earning some strange looks as I ignored everything else for a couple of weeks rereading the series. 

 

This was somewhere around 2001 if I remember correctly so WH should have been out, but I never got that far. I got stuck after tPoD. I know the arguments about book 7-10 being slow and worse then the rest of the series and at the time I would have agreed with this. At the time book 7-8 just felt so slow and "un-epic" compared to the adventures of the Waste, the strangeness and honor of the Aiel, the character development of Rand and Egwene, the siege of the Two Rivers and the epic finale of Dumai's Wells. The conclusion of book LoC is still one of the strongest moments in books I've experienced and the "second trilogy" of book 4-6 may be the strongest part of the series for me. In this context I just got burned out on the series more or less reading them in one long sitting and never started WH.

 

Well, a couple of years later I tried again, and had kind of the same experience. At the time I had quit the university, worked in sales for a while and saved money for a sabbatical (you know, to travel around and drinking beer with friends, the important stuff of life). I was in the middle of my year "off" and thought hey, lets give it a go again, there are new books out. This should be around 2005, I think KoD was fresh of the presses but my memory is a bit blurry (to much beer). This time I really did have endless free spare time to work with, and so I read it all, again, spending several hours a day reading, again, and got as far as CoT. I know this because I remember the cliffhanger of Egwene being captured, but not much else fro the book. I burned out this time, again, and never picked up KoD.

 

So what then? How does my story end? Third times a charm? Nope!

 

 

 

I actually think my second burn out experience was part of making me fall out of love with reading in general. After my sabbatical year I kind of quite books. I played more video games, did more sports. "Surfed the net". From being a "reader" I went to not reading at all. Like our main boy Rand I kind of fell to the dark side for a while, loosing track on why I found certain pass times rewarding. In this sense I grew up, in the bad way.

 

It took a long long time before i picked up books again. I head Jordan got sick and thought that sucks, poor man, but, that figures thinking back on how I started reading the series under the impression it was finished. And how it had followed me trough several critical years growing up. Like an endless companion. Like a never ending fantasy scape I could visit. Now it it probably never would be finished at all.

 

Then I heard he would finish it together with someone else. I heard this Sanderson guy actually did a pretty good job. And in 2012 I heard that the last book was coming. Still didn't pick up books again.

 

 

 

It wasn't until 2014 that I thought it was high time to start reading again, and what better project then to finish Wheel of Time!

 

Such a bad idea... I read book 1-6 and loved it! Then stalled on book 7 and gave up after not reading for a couple of months.

 

This year, 2016, I actually asked for help after stalling for two years. I went to the local bookstore and asked around for fantasy books that could re-kindle my interest in reading over the summer vacation. One of the books I got recommended was "The Way of Kings" by none other than that Sanderson guy and I thought why not? if it's good then maybe I want to finish WoT.

 

It worked. Way of kings is awesome, you should read it. Right after finishing it I decided no more excuses! and picked up WoT again, reading brief summaries of the first 6 books (I've read them like four times already!) and started with the last chapters in LoC so I could read the epic Dumai's Well build up and ending one last time. I then dove head first into book 7-10 and this time I actually loved it! Reading these books back to back, without waiting and without being burned out from already reading 6 books made me appreciate them in a whole new way. They are actually really good and the only thing that really annoys me is that Rands miracle in book 9 never really gets an equal epic reaction. The "stone in pond" analogy might be realistic but boring for such an enormous change to the world. I especially was surprised by WH as I kind of didn't remember the book at all.

 

I then came to KoD. Damn that is a strong finish by Jordan. Wonder full book setting the stage for the Sanderson finalie. Egwene being kick-ass in the Tower, Perrin falling towards the edge, Mat being back as a general. And Rand just slowly breaking apart. It's all good!

 

I get into the Sanderson books without even noticing it (much) I think the first one is great. The parallel between Egwene and Rand is well made and Egwene is now my favorite character. And I keep reading, fast and often!

 

 

 

And... well now I almost read it all without even noticing, just a couple of 100 pages left. If feels a bit surreal. I've done it.

 

So many times I thought I would never finish this damn series. I thought about it again and again and noticed that they often make them self reminded in my mind.

 

I'm glad I'm here tough. It feels like finally closing a chapter of my childhood, teenage and young adult years. Such an epic companion for such an important time.

 

I'm not sure what I think about the series as a whole yet. It's good, all in all. Sanderson did a great job. Jordan finished strong. Sadly the last book doesn't really grab me by the neck. All deaths in Harry Potter and Snapes story hit me harder then all deaths in AMoL. I'm not sure this is the fault of the book, the series, or me starting to be almost burned out again. I, of course, have made the same mistake again reading book 7-14 back to back starting late august and finishing up now.

 

Jordan. Thank you. Sanderson, you too. And thanks to everyone that shares this with me trough this wall of text.

 

The Wheel turns, and I'm sure I'll read these legends again when the ages of my life have come and pass and their memory have faded to myth in my mind. I'll read them, again, and not only relive the time of the Dragon but the age of my youth and all my own memories that are interwoven into a pattern with the adventures of Wheel of Time.

[Sooh]

He's Swedish, he posts a wall of text and he loves WoT. What's not to love?

 

Oh I know. He's Swedish

 

*hugs* from a neighbor to the west

 

You should definitely take the time to dive into this forum. I'm mostly familiar with the social groups side of things, and spend most of my time there (and playing mafia), but we also have a role playing section and a discussions section where I'm sure you'd find many interesting things to read and do as well. 

 

If you have any questions about the site, just name them, and then somebody will come in here and help you. We're a friendly community that way :)

 

Happy posting!

[Guest]

Happy posting indeed ! lol

 

Welcome to DM

[Doselan]

It is definitely a unique feeling to be finished with the series, but I do go stare at the books on my shelf pretty often and consider rereading some of my favorites.  I started another read-through a while back, but got distracted with another book series part of the way through. 

 

Welcome to DM!  I hope you enjoy yourself!

[flinn]

 Yep, even though I finished the series right after AMOL first came out, I still find myself sad from time to time that it is over.

 

I am sure there should be a new form of depression ASED.. After Series End Depression.