What it says on the tin. What was the last book you didn't finish? Malice by John Gwynne - This one came highly recommended based on other books I enjoy. I just could not plough to the end.. I gave up.

Well... I've been gone for a bit on a trip. Didn't have much time to read during, but.... As an update, I'm 25% into The Dragon Reborn. So far, I'm really enjoying it. The first time I read the series, I believe I walked away liking The Great Hunt a little more than The Dragon Reborn but this time, I might switch that up. We'll see by the end.

Daniel Henney finally acknowledged WOT on his Instagram .

I hate air travel, I really, really hate it. I hate having to wake up at an unholy hour and get to the airport and do the whole rigamarole and then be confined to a tin-can with wings for however many hours. Yes, I'm whining, I'm being petty, I need to rant randomly, because I'm kinda stressed, but did I mention I hate air travel? 😣 I'm going to read The Dragon Reborn a bit, I've only just started it and read the prologue and first chapter so I figured bring it along, even though I may not get very far in reading during my trip. In my old travel days I almost always brought a book so I guess I'm revisiting that. It brought back the memory of the first time I started The Eye of The World I was going on a long road trip and snagged the Kramer and Reading audiobook - driving through autumn scenery and mountains and hearing the story for the first time? That was magical. Great memories of discovering Emond's Field for the first time and it was the quickest car trip I can recall, the miles just flew by. I think I like road trips better than flying. That wasn't the case when I was kid but it sure is now. Read, watch a movie, check the time and brace for the landing, and then go with the throng and try to find my suitcase. That's the plan.

Kramer and Reading were my introduction to the WOT. I really enjoyed their narrative. Another thing I forgot to mention, the first time I read The Great Hunt, I thought the Egwene/Seanchan plot was much longer than it actually is. I have no idea why. The first go around I had the impression that Nynaeve, Elayne and Min took a lot longer to plan and set their plans into motion. I was surprised how quickly it went by rereading. I'm going to start The Dragon Reborn. I have good memories of that book (especially the Mat/Thom bits and ending at the Stone of Tear), so let's see what I forgot or what my take is this time.

Barney Harris left before Season 1 even finished. It's a mystery but .. I was more interested in post cancellation reactions from the cast that stuck around. Which I haven't seen a whole lot of. Daniel Henney and Zoe Robins seemed like they were actively doing interviews around season 2. I just find it odd only a handful of the cast had anything to say when all was said and done.

I liked Silviana as well. It was nice to have some Red Ajah like her and Pavera who seemed different and more sympathetic than the typical evil Reds that seemed in the majority. One thing I was thinking about recently, The White Tower was interesting to me because it was created as a flawed organization. It was not clearcut as good or bad, and a lot of members were actually disillusioned and out-of-touch with the world outside, which surprised me my first read as I expected them to be more the heroes. Learning that Moiraine was an exception rather than the norm made for a fun reading discovery upon first read. I'm also a Celtic nerd, so the Flame of Tar Valon called to mind The Flame of Brigid (aka Brigid's Fire) which was fascinating to me.

All of this. Elayne is very dogmatic about not accepting the throne on Rand's terms, because she's just going to look like a puppet ruler of the Dragon Reborn. With how the Game of Houses is played is really valid. Let's remember the mess Rand made as early as The Great Hunt with politics in Cairhein. It was in Rand's nature to want to hand over the throne to Elayne but it was simplifying the complexity of the what comes along with assuming the Lion Throne.

I couldn't find any fault with his acting. He seemed to do his best regardless of what the script asked of him. For being a young actor, he had a solid presence and handled himself well imo. Also, Josha actually fit my mental image of Rand when I read the books, which was cool. I was still reading the series for the first time when the show came out - someone asked me about characters book vs show, and I remember remarking about Josha being a good choice for Rand.

As someone with experience in YA fic WOT would not be considered YA when published or now, period. But frankly, I have to agree with @HeavyHalfMoonBlade it's classic fantasy, but why this even matters is beyond my understanding. It changes nothing about the WOT.

This isn't just the show. A quick browse through topics will produce a lot of complaining and rage towards the books as well, even accusing the author of cashing in or saying he purposefully didn't finish the series, or wrote rubbish books, didn't world build enough or what have you. It's actually not that different to criticisms found in the TV section. The characters in the book are constantly hated on, theories of what could've, should've but ultimately didn't happen, complaining about pretty much every plot line and picking apart world building. It's a mirror effect. At the end of the day, fans in a fandom are seldomly united in what they are fans of. That's not exclusive to WOT. The things I personally loved in the books do not translate for me 9 out of 10 times into Rafe's adaption. That's my opinion. Honestly, we all have different opinions reflective of our different tastes. I don't think it's really for anyone to say "you are not a fan of this because" on either side. It should be accepted that fans like different things. There are clusters of fans that will agree, on one or several points, but probably never agree on every single aspect. Do I think it's a shame the WOT TV series was cancelled? Yes, I do. Because it's annoying when a show is cancelled when fans are invested in it. Do I wish WOT had been adapted differently than how the TV series chose to do it? Yes, I do. Because for me it didn't satisfy me on an book to series adaption level. So, there we are again. We can agree on the former but not the latter. I think accepting opinions other than our own as valid goes a long way in discussion. Fans might be fans of the same fandom, but they are also fans for different reasons and like and dislike different things. (Hopefully this makes sense. I'm down with a serious head cold atm).

I understand where you're coming from. It's a valid opinion, the reverse is true too. It's not a one size fits all. It's like going to a concert of Beatles imitators, they don't really sound like the Beatles, but it's the closest you can get to seeing them live so the opportunity seems worth it. Totally fair if that works for you. For me, I'd rather just stay home and listen to the real records. The cancellation of the series is especially hard on people who came to it fresh and loved it. Because it's not like they can even pick up the books to see how things turned out, it's too different. As you said, we'll never know where the series was headed or how events would've unfolded had it been continued. I really dislike shows getting cancelled before their ending. I've been burnt plenty of times to think that's unfair.

Exactly. The claim there weren't enough episodes to tell the story is just as much a handy excuse as saying The Eye of The World was too hard to adapt in season 1. Saying hard to adapt, not enough episodes might sound like a defense...but if you look at how the story was adapted therein lies the issue. I stand by the fact that Rafe and the team weren't malicious or setting out to destroy RJ's world. I also stand by the fact that Rafe and the team were not interested in faithfully adapting WOT. The focus, themes, story, characters, everything is too different for that argument to hold up. They had their own ideas, an endless supply of them. He wanted to create a fantasy franchise and use WOT as a vehicle, borrowing seeds of concepts and names (he grew up with the books and probably related to the world the way fan fiction writer relates, a vehicle to tell a story about a crack ship or make the villain the hero or vice versa). I don't think Rafe wanting to adapt the WOT means he did a good job. And he is to blame for his show. Bottom line, could have had 10 seasons of the show, and trust me, it would never be enough to tell the story. It wasn't the WOT in the books, and I still don't know what story it was they were telling.

This was my understanding as well. And the whole point of Aviendha's visions were to give her an opportunity to fight the outcome so that the Aiel wouldn't be utterly destroyed in the future. I found it similar to the various lives Rand sees himself living with the portal stone in The Great Hunt. It's a future that "could be". Also as a side note, channeling isn't exclusively genic. Two channeler parents have a greater likelihood of producing channeler offspring but if it was highly common, then Egwene's sisters would have had the power, or Mat, since his sister winds up being able to. Adeleas and Vandene are an exception to the rule rather than the norm, as far as it's presented in the books. The resurgence of male channelers seemed plausible to me. It's similar to most of the odd happenings and miracles surrounding the Dragon Reborn. One of the signs of leading to the last battle is how I took it. Also, plenty of men might have been dying out from the adverse effects of being able to channel, it's not like the Red Ajah were numerous enough to be spread out in their hunt. But to get back on topic, I believe Aviendha was given the visions so that she'd correct the oversight Rand made believing he was rewarding the Aiel. She has a life purpose to keep those visions from becoming a reality. WOT is very big on the theme of redemption, so it fits.

I'm coming to the final chapters in The Great Hunt (I got sick so my reading speed is being impacted by a head-cold atm x_x). Some stand out parts for me are the beginning training scene in the tower between Lan and Rand (I really enjoy Lan schooling Rand before meeting the Amyrlin). The creepiness of Egwene and Rand visiting Fain in the dungeons. Lan and Moiraine in the library, and the garden attack. Nynaeve's testing for accepted. Loial's comic relief. The Portal Stones delighted me just as much as my first read. Rand's various lives is one of my favorite parts. Verin, she's a fun one. And knowing her dark secret puts some context into her on reread. I'd forgotten some of Min's moments in this book, but for the most part, I feel like I didn't forget half as much as was the case with The Eye of The World.