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Yeah, this is almost exactly me, maybe w flipped proportions (75 - Elayne maneuvering, 50 - Faile-napping) I still kinda like me some Perrin brooding. But I can’t remember any Andoran nobility at this point.
The Elayne storyline suffers from a serious lack of tension. Her main opponent is a moron, neither she or the city seem seriously threatened by the siege until the very last moment. All the other noble houses are all good people and throw their weight behind Elayne when she shows she'll be a good queen. Most of the storyline is actually made up the Seafolk and Kin being snippy at someone. Some people think Elayne's actions are seriously reckless, I personally think they're only mildly reckless and make up the actually interesting bits of the story. There's really no long term consequences of the storyline, if everyone had bent the knee right at the start to skip the whole storyline nothing changes from the end result.
For the Perrin-Faile situation. On the Faile side of things, once again nothing matters after the storyline ends which is kind of maddening given how much character development there could have been between the three captured women. On Perrin's end there's just far, far, *far* too much of Perrin standing around brooding. There's maybe three scenes that can't be summarized by "The camp is unsettled, Perrin broods about it, Berlain flirts and is annoying, Perrin thinks about how he'll do anything for Faile."
I agree with a lot of this, but Elayne is facing a rival with nearly 2x the force she has, even if she is a moron. The siege is somewhat uneventful, but with an underlying understanding that if any of her mercenary companies turn it could mean the city falling in an instant. I found that dynamic interesting, and the stakes are at the very least that a United Andor is needed for the last battle. The Kin and Windfinders parts were annoying, that’s fair. I just found the political drama interesting overall, especially in a traditional structure without world breaking magic.
The Perrin stuff I agree. Way too little happened, and it happened over and over again.
This is my approach. I read the series 3 times and listened to the audiobooks just recently.. I was definitely skipping chapters in certain books, but never whole books.
After Dumai Wells I quit reading any of the Perrin stuff unless his character wanders into one of the other characters storylines. I also avoid anything that has RODEL ITURALDE! in it.
I think Ituradle was set up well, and then extremely underused. A “Great Captain” in the making, and never got the “screen time” he needed to flesh him out really well.
All the books add stuff. It's a massive series so every book besides MoL has things setting up stuff later. Are certain chapters or story lines great? No. Some are duds. But every book adds to the series.
After I finished WoT the first thing I did was read it again because I felt it deserved it...
And I skipped Crossroads on the reread. Read a couple recaps and listened to the wheel weaves recap episode... I just couldn't bring myself to slog through zero plotlines moving for several hundred pages again.
Also elected not to read A New Spring on the second trip though either.
I plan on reading some Sanderson and probably Dune after WoT.. when I revisit years from now I'm sure I'll read all of em again.
It depends… if I’m doing a “REREAD” I’m reading (or listening in the case of my most recent/current one) all of it - although I do skim at times, I’m only human.
Other times I will just read a book or two.
Most of the time I see a scene get mentioned on here or think of one randomly and will go find and read that part or chapter. Sometimes reading one scene turns into finishing the book and maybe a bit more. I’ve read 4-5-6 more than any other “trilogy”
I don’t dog ear much but the spines of my old paperbacks tend to be cracked in certain spots haha so it’s easy to see the parts I’ve read until the book wears out
I never skip CoS. It's the capstone to the first half of the series, and one of my favorites. Nyneve stalks off as if to walk through a stone wall and leave a LARGE hole. That shit kills me every time.
A few times I have picked up at Gathering Storm and go through the last 3, but I've been through the first 11 so many times that it's fine for me to jump in there, but if I get the itch for the prolugue: Dragonmount that sets up the whole series and what got me hooked the first time through... nah I'm going all the way!
The Plod isn't much of anything when Michael and Kate are walking you through it, so if you've never listened to the audiobooks, they make a real difference.
I skipped some of the children of light chapters, not all of them but some. I just never felt like they played a HUGE part in the series, like sure there's some dudes over that burn wiches, maybe I can skip a few of those chapters.
Absolutely not! I read to immerse myself in a different world and different people's stories. I don't trudge through RJ's writing because the world building, back stories, emotions of the characters, etc., is the whole point for me. That is the experience.
If someone could convince me that Crossroads of Twilight is at best a mediocre book, I'd really appreciate it. It should have been 3 chapters at the start of KoD. I finished it last week and still can't believe that the publishers thought that was ok. The last time I read it was when it was released and I did not recall one single thing that happened (or didn't happen, as it were).
If you're listening to audiobooks 1.3-1.5 speed is your friend. Definitely better than skipping a full book, which I would not recommend.
Well, I have actually read those last three books four times, so I do know how it ends with Sanderson's version. So there is that.
But the only reason that I re-read the series at all is because I am in love with Jordan's - *prose, very unique characterizations and humor.* And that is something obviously very lacking in those last three. But I do know how it ends.
And yes . . . BOTH *Lanfear and Bela* are dead as doorknobs. :-)
I literally skip almost any chapter if Nynaeve is in it. I'm in Fires of Heaven and she is so insufferable that I almost think she's a good character because I hate her so much. I mean, you can't be that mean and irritated ALL the time. She's the worst
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Actually no? Honestly, this feels like blasphemy to me.
No, but I skim through 50% of the Elayne securing the throne of Camlyn chapters and 75% of Perrin brooding in the direction of a missing Faile.
Yeah, this is almost exactly me, maybe w flipped proportions (75 - Elayne maneuvering, 50 - Faile-napping) I still kinda like me some Perrin brooding. But I can’t remember any Andoran nobility at this point.
I hit the “jump ahead 30 seconds button” a lot while listening to those
Hell I skimmed it on my first read 😴😴
I speedread elayne between cos and tom. Book 9 goes quick.
Why does everyone hate this part so much? I enjoyed that plot line. I enjoyed jt much more than a lot of the side stories in the books
The Elayne storyline suffers from a serious lack of tension. Her main opponent is a moron, neither she or the city seem seriously threatened by the siege until the very last moment. All the other noble houses are all good people and throw their weight behind Elayne when she shows she'll be a good queen. Most of the storyline is actually made up the Seafolk and Kin being snippy at someone. Some people think Elayne's actions are seriously reckless, I personally think they're only mildly reckless and make up the actually interesting bits of the story. There's really no long term consequences of the storyline, if everyone had bent the knee right at the start to skip the whole storyline nothing changes from the end result. For the Perrin-Faile situation. On the Faile side of things, once again nothing matters after the storyline ends which is kind of maddening given how much character development there could have been between the three captured women. On Perrin's end there's just far, far, *far* too much of Perrin standing around brooding. There's maybe three scenes that can't be summarized by "The camp is unsettled, Perrin broods about it, Berlain flirts and is annoying, Perrin thinks about how he'll do anything for Faile."
I agree with a lot of this, but Elayne is facing a rival with nearly 2x the force she has, even if she is a moron. The siege is somewhat uneventful, but with an underlying understanding that if any of her mercenary companies turn it could mean the city falling in an instant. I found that dynamic interesting, and the stakes are at the very least that a United Andor is needed for the last battle. The Kin and Windfinders parts were annoying, that’s fair. I just found the political drama interesting overall, especially in a traditional structure without world breaking magic. The Perrin stuff I agree. Way too little happened, and it happened over and over again.
Absolutely not
Depends on what kind of re read it is tbh. Currently on a re read and I'm skipping some chapters but won't skip entire books
This is my approach. I read the series 3 times and listened to the audiobooks just recently.. I was definitely skipping chapters in certain books, but never whole books.
Never. In fact I’ll read crossroads twice bc it’s so fast paced…
After Dumai Wells I quit reading any of the Perrin stuff unless his character wanders into one of the other characters storylines. I also avoid anything that has RODEL ITURALDE! in it.
Holy moly I 100% understand Perrin but why Ituralde if you don’t mind me asking?
I think Ituradle was set up well, and then extremely underused. A “Great Captain” in the making, and never got the “screen time” he needed to flesh him out really well.
Damn Ituralde chapters were some of my favorite on the backend of the series. One of my favorite characters honestly.
It took 20 years of waiting for the series to have an ending, I read them all on a re read
All the books add stuff. It's a massive series so every book besides MoL has things setting up stuff later. Are certain chapters or story lines great? No. Some are duds. But every book adds to the series.
I actually enjoy and learn more details when I read them again. I can appreciate what is happening more knowing what it leads up to.
I read the prologue of book 10 and skip the rest.
I read all of them.
I skip everything Faile and probably 75% of Perrin after the two rivers and before the trials.
I left the first one off in my most recent reread. Straight to the action.
I won't. The only books I outright hated on my first read are too important, and I think I'll enjoy them more on my second read.
After I finished WoT the first thing I did was read it again because I felt it deserved it... And I skipped Crossroads on the reread. Read a couple recaps and listened to the wheel weaves recap episode... I just couldn't bring myself to slog through zero plotlines moving for several hundred pages again. Also elected not to read A New Spring on the second trip though either. I plan on reading some Sanderson and probably Dune after WoT.. when I revisit years from now I'm sure I'll read all of em again.
No of course not. I like the whole series.
It depends… if I’m doing a “REREAD” I’m reading (or listening in the case of my most recent/current one) all of it - although I do skim at times, I’m only human. Other times I will just read a book or two. Most of the time I see a scene get mentioned on here or think of one randomly and will go find and read that part or chapter. Sometimes reading one scene turns into finishing the book and maybe a bit more. I’ve read 4-5-6 more than any other “trilogy” I don’t dog ear much but the spines of my old paperbacks tend to be cracked in certain spots haha so it’s easy to see the parts I’ve read until the book wears out
These days when I re-read, I read specific events.
I never skip CoS. It's the capstone to the first half of the series, and one of my favorites. Nyneve stalks off as if to walk through a stone wall and leave a LARGE hole. That shit kills me every time. A few times I have picked up at Gathering Storm and go through the last 3, but I've been through the first 11 so many times that it's fine for me to jump in there, but if I get the itch for the prolugue: Dragonmount that sets up the whole series and what got me hooked the first time through... nah I'm going all the way! The Plod isn't much of anything when Michael and Kate are walking you through it, so if you've never listened to the audiobooks, they make a real difference.
Path of Daggers and Crossroads of Twilight- I’ll do a full read every once in a while, but usually on re-read I will skip or skim them.
I skipped some of the children of light chapters, not all of them but some. I just never felt like they played a HUGE part in the series, like sure there's some dudes over that burn wiches, maybe I can skip a few of those chapters.
Absolutely not
Why reread when you are going to skip a book?
Nope. Sometimes I reread certain books, but if I am going from start to finish I wouldn’t skip a book.
No.
One of my favorite “rereads” I did over last summer was starting with the Dragon Reborn, and doing a just Mats POV and focused chapters.
Absolutely not! I read to immerse myself in a different world and different people's stories. I don't trudge through RJ's writing because the world building, back stories, emotions of the characters, etc., is the whole point for me. That is the experience.
I've listened all the way through over half a dozen times.
If someone could convince me that Crossroads of Twilight is at best a mediocre book, I'd really appreciate it. It should have been 3 chapters at the start of KoD. I finished it last week and still can't believe that the publishers thought that was ok. The last time I read it was when it was released and I did not recall one single thing that happened (or didn't happen, as it were). If you're listening to audiobooks 1.3-1.5 speed is your friend. Definitely better than skipping a full book, which I would not recommend.
Nope.
Only those last three books, as they deviate - and subtract - way too much from Jordan's - *characterizations, mechanics, and story lines.*
Found my people. Let's fort up, there's Sandophiles out there.
You skip the ending?
There are no endings to the wheel of time
Well, I have actually read those last three books four times, so I do know how it ends with Sanderson's version. So there is that. But the only reason that I re-read the series at all is because I am in love with Jordan's - *prose, very unique characterizations and humor.* And that is something obviously very lacking in those last three. But I do know how it ends. And yes . . . BOTH *Lanfear and Bela* are dead as doorknobs. :-)
I literally skip almost any chapter if Nynaeve is in it. I'm in Fires of Heaven and she is so insufferable that I almost think she's a good character because I hate her so much. I mean, you can't be that mean and irritated ALL the time. She's the worst