Octopus Overlords

Finished my read through. From start to finish, with no other books being read, it took me more than a year to get through the series. I started in July 2019...

I had read probably the first 7-8 books previously, years back, so there was a bit of familiarity early on, and indeed, there still were a few books where I slowed. It's interesting looking back on my purchase history on Amazon to see that I generally would go at a 3-5 weeks per book pace....except for Crossroads and Knife, which were 6 and 7 weeks.

All in all, it was a great journey. Some frustrating aspects to be sure, but the final books being wrapped up by Sanderson were well done and I found very satisfying for such a big, detailed series.

That 'chapter' in a Memory of light was probably one of the most exhausting parts of a book I can remember (in a good way). I stayed up waaaaay too late several nights in a row reading that part of the book.

I find the slowness of the middleish books are way more palatable when you know the whole series is finished as opposed to when they were coming out at such a slow pace. (I mean not as slow a pace as Rothfuss or Martin, but they have set new standards for failing to write the books that made them famous....) And, when I re-read the WoT after having finished it, I blitzed through the slow books because I already knew how great the ending was.

My only criticism of Sanderson is that I don't think he quite got Mat "right". Don't get me wrong the Mat stuff in his books are GREAT, but they didn't quite click completely for me. (shrugs). Just one idiot's opinion that I have probably already shared in this thread.

JCC wrote:And, when I re-read the WoT after having finished it, I blitzed through the slow books because I already knew how great the ending was.

Indeed, it was what kept me going - knowing that others had said they found that the ending actually was well done.

I do agree that Mat felt a bit off under Sanderson. I felt Mat was always a bit more conflicted/dynamic in what he said or did, compared to the other two. Less predictable and therefore I can imagine harder to take over. Still, his final arc was great, especially as I generally *didn't* like him as much as Perrin.

Now just to wait for Amazon to do the series justice... hopefully.

Lord of Chaos put me on the mat. I haven't picked up the next one but I gotta get back into it.

Moat_Man wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 11:50 pmLord of Chaos put me on the mat. I haven't picked up the next one but I gotta get back into it.

Lord of Chaos is where I am now (about 100 pages in). For previous books in the series, I was listening to the audiobooks. I got frustrated by all the excess ponderings and confusing details. But now I'm listening to the audiobook while reading the hardcover book, and I'm enjoying it a lot more. Not that the book+audio combo makes the story amazing all of a sudden, but it's a lot more easy to follow now.

To avoid spoilers, I haven't been reading this thread except for little peeks here and there. But I look forward to posting my impressions of all the books (and even a certain OOer's favorite game of 1999) when I'm done with them!

RunningMn9 wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 6:50 pm It’s taken almost 30 years, and in the end the only way to do it was to switch to Audible and consume the series in 50 minute intervals as I commuted to and from work, but I have *finally* completed The Wheel of Time.

I was curious what this was in terms of Audible. I had re-purchased the books I owned for my Kindle to complete my last reading and have since taken a shine to listening to audio books during my drives.

The whole series, 15 books, is 462.68 hours for $812.08

In 50 minute chunks each way to and from work, that's 278 days of driving. My commute is 25 minutes. It'd take me 556 days.

I've embarked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy this way a while back when I had a long drive ahead of me one day, and am only partially into the second audio book. This is just a 54 hour endeavor.

Paingod wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 9:55 am The whole series, 15 books, is 462.68 hours for $812.08

In 50 minute chunks each way to and from work, that's 278 days of driving. My commute is 25 minutes. It'd take me 556 days.

Or about 18 months, which means you could get the entire thing on membership credits for a tiny fraction of the cost (annual membership = $150 = 12 credits.)

I'll keep it in mind for my next hankering for the series. I don't know when that'll be. It's several years between each one. I'm reluctant to 'waste' my monthly credit on anything insubstantial, so these books certainly count.

The Kindle versions were mostly because most of my paperbacks had disintegrated and I didn't own anything past book 8.

i looked it up - the entire series is 11,308 pages

having just now read most of this thread, i have a burning question:

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:00 pm Lord of Chaos (#6) broke me

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:30 am Lord of Chaos almost breaks me

so which is it?!?

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Lord of Chaos breaks Smoove_B again.”

Not to denigrate the wheel series, which I think I've read through three times total??? Maybe 2.5. But really, if you want absurdly long, well-written books, just start on The Way of Kings.

Formix wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:55 am Not to denigrate the wheel series, which I think I've read through three times total??? Maybe 2.5. But really, if you want absurdly long, well-written books, just start on The Way of Kings.

It's on my list, but I won't start until he finishes. Burn me once...

Man, lots of Lord of Chaos talk, and not necessarily in a good way. I admit I find that a little strange as it is one of my favorite books in the entire series. In my last read through a couple things I noticed were that book 5 was not as good as I remembered but that #6 (Lord) was. A lot of stuff happens. And not just random new stuff but important to the series things that need to happen. And it has one of the best endings.

stessier wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:58 am

Formix wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:55 am Not to denigrate the wheel series, which I think I've read through three times total??? Maybe 2.5. But really, if you want absurdly long, well-written books, just start on The Way of Kings.

It's on my list, but I won't start until he finishes. Burn me once...

Sanderson writes like a madman. The downside is that he has SO MANY concurrent projects.

coopasonic wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:25 am

stessier wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:58 am

Formix wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:55 am Not to denigrate the wheel series, which I think I've read through three times total??? Maybe 2.5. But really, if you want absurdly long, well-written books, just start on The Way of Kings.

It's on my list, but I won't start until he finishes. Burn me once...

Sanderson writes like a madman. The downside is that he has SO MANY concurrent projects.

Yep, but they still space this series every 2 or so years. Given the 10 book target, I'll be reading around 2030.

stessier wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:55 am Yep, but they still space this series every 2 or so years. Given the 10 book target, I'll be reading around 2030.

You are correct. If you look at the two release histories, Sanderson is actually on a slower pace then Jordan was.

Here is Jordan (I left out the first few as he already had them partially written when the first one came out):

#4 The Shadow Rising 15 September 1992

#5 The Fires of Heaven 15 October 1993

#6 Lord of Chaos 15 October 1994

#7 A Crown of Swords 15 May 1996

#8 The Path of Daggers 20 October 1998

#9 Winter's Heart 7 November 2000

#10 Crossroads of Twilight 7 January 2003

Prequel New Spring 6 January 2004

#11 Knife of Dreams 11 October 2005

After that he got sick. 2.5 years between 7&8 was the longest gap. For books of this length I don't think that is bad. Even Sanderson, who most consider one of the fastest writers around has himself said it takes him 1.5 years to write new Stormlight books. With his other projects mixed in his will be done no sooner.

Here is Sanderson:

#1 The Way of Kings August 31, 2010
#2 Words of Radiance March 4, 2014
#3 Oathbringer November 14, 2017
#4 Rhythm of War November 17, 2020

He's currently at a 3 year pace, slower than Jordan's.

I should mention I read his Mistborn series and really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading all his series. I just don't like starting something I know isn't finished. I only started The Expanse because I was under the mistaken impression that the 8th book was the last. At least I got lucky and it will be done next year.

I was more comparing Sanderson to the likes of Martin and Rothfuss where I have spent most of my adult life waiting for their next books.

Sanderson writes multiple series. He’s not stuck on one book for years, he’s between projects for years. Big difference.

Zarathud wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:19 pm Sanderson writes multiple series. He’s not stuck on one book for years, he’s between projects for years. Big difference.

Yes, and I mentioned that. Doesn't change the fact that if Stormlight is what you want they come out like I said.

If one of the fastest writers takes 1.5 years to write a book, 2 or 2.5 for a book of similar length for other normal writing speed people seems right on track to me.

Blackhawk wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2013 2:33 pm I'm a little tempted. I read Eye of the World shortly after it came out. A year or so later, when the second book hit, I re-read the first, then went straight into the second. I missed the third, but when the fourth came out, it had been a long time since I'd read them, so I started again with the first and read straight through. I believe I did that again with the sixth, then read the seventh without going back. I never picked it back up after that, and that's been oh, 17 years.

Nine years later...

I'm partway through book three. I've been reminded that A) women are all wise, mysterious, and universally responsible for keeping men from walking off of cliffs, and B) whoever isn't there is the one who doesn't have any problem talking to women.

I'm really enjoying it, though. It's been 26 or 27 years since I last read them, and I remember only a few 'major' scenes without any context. That gives me a clean palette for giving the finished beast a full read (it's the longest fantasy series ever written if you count the prequel.)

You know, I just realized something about Mat (Spoilers through the end of book 13, haven't finished 14 yet):

I never updated this, but I finally finished this late last year. What a great ride, especially since I have been waiting to finish the ride for almost 30 years. Brandon Sanderson really, really nailed the last few books, too. He hiccuped on a couple of the characterizations (it took him a while to get Mat right), but while he was less verbose than Jordan, his prose flowed more smoothly. I'm absolutely going to be reading more of Sanderson's work.

It took me about a year and a half to read the full series (minus the standalone prequel, New Spring, which I'll get back to), but 14 novels in a year and a half doesn't bother me - if you break the word count down (4.36 million words) into the length of the average novel (80k words), then Wheel of Time is about 54 novels. I'm happy with that volume in a year and a half - it's about a novel every ten days, with most of the reading done just before bed.

A couple of recommendations for those who are reading or who will do so in the future:

Maps - of the world, of the continent, and of the cities. At the very least, I'd recommend putting the continent map on your phone/tablet so that you can refer to it while reading - there is so much world hopping, nation-naming, army-marching, and politics going on that it really helps to have a physical understanding of what's happening. I checked through a lot of maps, and these were the best. They're not the most elaborate aesthetically, but they're the most usable, showing every named location.

Tar Valon Library's Pronunciation Guide. It's at least worth referring to for the main characters - Nynaeve, Moiraine, Aes Sedai, Tar Valon - they're not always easy to get right the first time you see them. It doesn't help that Jordan himself didn't know how to write a proper pronunciation guide - (Keye-ree-EHN) - is "Keye" Kai? Kay? Key? only Jordan knows!), and it doesn't help that he changed a few of them along the way (Ogier - it's either 'oh gear' or 'oh zheer', depending on which book you're reading - and 'zh' is the sound in the middle of 'vision'.) If you're the type to just sound it out once and move on, more power to you, but if you're the type who enjoys the lore, this is the best resource I could find.

The Wheel of Time Compendium (Unofficial) I saved the best for last. This thing makes the books so much more approachable. It's a free app, and one with zero bullshit attached. The premise is simple: You select the book you're in, and it tells you what each and every character has done up to that book. That way there's zero spoilers (do not - I repeat, do NOT do searches for Wheel of Time characters on the internet. The simple Google summaries are enough to give major spoilers, and the WoT wiki pages give away entire character arcs in two sentences with important titles highlighted as links.)

To give an example using Lord of the Rings: You're reading Two Towers. You select TT and look up 'Frodo', and it tells you that Frodo is a hobbit from the Shire and Bilbo's nephew, plus gives important points based on what he did in Fellowship of the Ring. When you're reading Return of the King and look up Frodo's entry, it includes the things he did in Two Towers. You get the idea.

The Wheel of Time has ~2,700 named characters. Many of those are there-and-gone, but there are well over 100 from whose viewpoint we see different sections of the book, and hundreds more that are significant players. When you haven't seen a character in two books and they suddenly show up, there's a good chance you're not going to remember who they are - thus the app. It gives you just enough to nail down your memories of them before continuing.

Bonus trivia, something... odd that I just had pointed out to me, and that is confirmed as being Jordan's intention: The shape of Tar Valon...



...is intentionally, er... female.

I would figure that it's as much based on Île de la Cité as anything else.

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jun 01, 2024 2:59 pm The Wheel of Time Compendium (Unofficial) I saved the best for last. This thing makes the books so much more approachable.

I wish I'd known about this app! It would have made my reading experience much better.

I finished the books last year. I meant to make my own super-post about them, but never got around to it. I still might, now that you've nudged me.

all volumes of _The Wheel of Time_ series re-bound into a very, very, very, very long book

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1B1u79kmxk/

(no fb account needed to view)

hitbyambulance wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2025 12:22 am all volumes of _The Wheel of Time_ series re-bound into a very, very, very, very long book

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1B1u79kmxk/

(no fb account needed to view)

Same thing from youtube for anyone who'd prefer that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bioxZa950vo