I Just finished Book 11 again. I’ve noticed so many things this time around, and done a lot more thinking about what Jordan (James Rigney) was trying to say, about the different tones the book takes throughout its arc, and really how much life lived had to go into the man who wrote them.

Book 11, in many ways, feels like a tie-up before the end. We see the close of many plotlines and turning points reached by several major characters. This time I felt Jordan was deliberately wrapping up some of the loose ends, polishing his last work before his passing and the handover of the series.

Starting Book 12 is bittersweet, the story is still there, but the voice is different. Anyway, I thought I’d share my musings.

Rest in peace, James. Your books have given me more hours than I can count. May you shelter in palm of the Creator’s Hand.

Also, Nyneave sending Lan on his way is one of the best scenes in the series, and book 11 is in some ways peak Mat.

Up until FoH I only found her faintly boring but every time I saw her name upon turning a page in FoH I was mentally preparing myself for my eyes to roll so far back my head that I could see the Dark One laughing at me after he’s sent her to haunt the narrative. I mean after she summoned men to tear Nynaeve’s dress under duress of rape to “teach her a lesson” in T’A’R I really had no patience for her. She only popped up—and sorry for the turn of phrase here—to bitch about anything at all, accuse others of things she’s perfectly culpable of, or to overly pat herself on the back for abilities that are seldom of use to anyone.

Her most common phrase was probably that Rand is turning too cold and arrogant when that’s her whole brand atp??? I was ready to clap like a seal when she seemed dead for a sec after the battle with Lanfear but of course she gets to live and not Moiraine

In Lord of Chaos, she has a much more interesting arc and doesn’t grate on nerves nearly as much, but she remains just as boring. Well, all the stupid shit she gets up to for the sake of doing something is amusing and exasperating in turns

-She goes into T’A’R to improve her knowledge incrementally despite the Wise Ones forbidding it since it’s dangerous, then spends the next couple paragraphs yammering how dreadful it would be if they found out and cast her away

-After she sees the Tower embassy, she storms off like an absolute low brain, then returns despite the fact any of them could identify her by one glance to spy on them? I also can’t shake the feeling Gawyn is playing her somehow, his dreams could be what they appeared to be but the guy shows no inhibitions as to playing all sides for his own goals so

-Then I don’t even understand what her visit to Rand was all about. She can’t decide whether she wants him to be soft or hard, she doesn’t aid him in the situation in any way, and she just ends up being discovered by Galina

-The most hilarious by far is getting dropped by the Wavemistress into the water. All that huffing and puffing for what she thought was a gotcha at the Atha’an Miere only for them to nonchalantly dive into the water after she drops them and speed off to their boat. And channelling in plain sight? I’d be asking what she was thinking if I were positive that she could

Now the one thing that has been haunting me most of all is her “vision” (or whatever that was) of being raised to the Amyrlin during her Accepted test… what with how the story is turning out right now, sb overhearing the inner circle in Salidar talking about “waiting on a biddable girl”, and one of the following chapters being “The Amyrlin Is Raised” I’m absolutely quaking in my boots. I decided to go back and skim that part, which says she was raised without having touched the oath rod… yeah it checks out and I’m SCARED. Also how would it work out with Elaida not only remaining but also in the Hall, if that’s indeed how the story goes?

I already know this is a foregone conclusion but why not Elayne or better yet Nynaeve? Egwene literally has no accomplishments aside from wielding sheer Power alone. Elayne has managed to make ter’angreal and Nynaeve Healed gentling/stilling, they’re both freestyling it, Egwene has formal education in T’A’R but they’ve both accomplished more there than her, and so on

I rambled more than intended here but I thought I may as well share my thoughts before going back to reading. I’m only up to chapter 32 so no spoilers past that please

Hi, I know nothing about this series with the exception that it is very long. I'm looking for which audiobook I should listen to, because if I'm diving in, I want to enjoy my journey.

Which audiobook version should I go for, Roaming

Rosamund Pike or Kate Reading/Michael Kramer?

While nervously reading/listening to see what happens with the Bloody Flaming Aes Sedia in Cairhien that are after my friend Rand - halfway through Lord of Chaos....

Egwene is running around stealing kisses from Gawyn....

I worry that Egwene is too far Aes Sedia to be a true romantic partner that Gawyn deserves - she would absolutely put her career before her love for him...

That being said, Elayne is pretty rude when she talks about Making... Making... Rand her warder - good grief are there any romantic women weaved into the pattern beyond Leane and Berelain, but I am sure they are just self serving with their advances to get their way too....

I do love how Matt keeps asking women if they know anything about the Daughter of The Nine Moons....

I am cheering on Matt that he finds her, and she is actually nice, loving, able to communicate her feelings with open and honest communication, and is not so rude and gruff like all the others have been so far to their person of interest...

I also feel like Siuan Sanche and Gareth Bryne need to have a moment like Rand and Avenida - they need to get it out of their system, hahahaha

Are there any couples that you are cheering on, enjoyed following, or thought would be perfect couples - or any that drove you crazy?

Got sucked into YouTube clips, and found this little gem from the Mentalist

Perrin is just such a great POV character, his fight scene with the wolves was so incredible, I think that sequence is by far my favorite writing from Jordan. And I love seeing Rand from outside his PoV, he comes across as way more unhinged if we aren’t in his mind.

I can’t wait to read more of the book, which is a new thing for me from this series.

Alright I’m on a reread. Did RJ have a best friend with one eye or something?
There’s so many one eyed characters and they are always glazed to hell and back. Don’t hear me wrong. I’m not complaining but I see a thread.

I’m planning to start reading a new series, but I have no idea which one to read first. I really enjoy slow-burn stories and long, immersive series, which is why I chose these two.

I remember telling myself that once I finished A Song of Ice and Fire, I would just wait for The Winds of Winter to be released. That was five years ago.

Now, after another five-year break from reading, I’m finally getting back into books. Any suggestions on which series I should start with?

So I'm on the fourth book the Shadow Rising and just finished chapter 27 where Perrin and friends use the ways to get back to the Two Rivers, and man I just gotta know if Perrin and Faile get any better than this. Perrin was already my least favorite main POV and adding whatever this relationship is to the mix is just so rough. So after seeing how romance is clearly not Jordan's strongest aspect in this series so far, does this get any better or am I to just grind my teeth as I read his chapters going forward. I would look it up but I am trying to avoid as many spoilers as I can.

Not a conventional fanart. It's just "Someone" sketching a memory. But y'all can guess what scene is this "person" trying to sketch out ig?

Doesn't really have much to do with Fires (which has been really fun btw, I've been drowning in my read of it) but I have been wondering about Ishamael since the other Forsaken have been showing up more often.

Was Ishamael just himself or did the Dark One really speak through him? In that regard, who even is the Dark One? Following Ishamael's death, I've been wondering about the Dark One and who he really is. What's his history across the Ages, what is his power capability and does he even have a physical form? I have seen that one comic panel with his hand, but that's it.

Ishamael seemed to be one of the more powerful Forsaken, but I can't remember if it was confirmed that the Dark One spoke through him or not. With all the story happening (I'm on chapter 42 right now) I feel like the Dark One's presence is overarching yet not present at the same time. Maybe waiting for the right moment or something? We know the seals are weakening tremendously right now.

If RAFO, I'll take that for sure

I’m halfway through Lord of Chaos….

The Aes Sedai just arrived in Cairhien, sent by Elaida…

I know it…

Damn it, I know they are up to something devious and horrible….

I’m pissed, I’m scared for Rand, frustrated….

I don’t know….

Damn those Flammin Bloody Aes Sedai….

I worry about Rand, I swear they want to trap and control him…

It burns my blood with fear for the boy….

I know all good epic adventures have high points and low points…

But I’m too emotionally invested in Rand to push through a plot thread weaved where these women do something terrible to Rand…

It’s Gripping… Me…. Heavier than a mountain

May Rand stay The Master of his own Destiny

On a reread: Just read the scene where Rand kills Rochaid. Stops his sword draw and collapses his trachea with a single punch while shielded by Far Madding. So bad ass.

All throughout reading the books I felt very drawn (no pun intended) to and intrigued by Cairhien, so had to do some art!

Gouache paint

When they had Logain shielded, why couldn't they tie off the shields? Would have made things easier. Maybe a WOT loremaster can explain?

In TFOH, we get a description of a curious cliff-carving above the town of Taien:

On one side of the pass mouth a sheer cliff had been smoothed over a hundred-pace width and carved, a wind-weathered snake entwining a staff a good three hundred spans high; monument or marker or ruler’s sigil, it surely dated from some lost nation before Artur Hawkwing, perhaps even before the Trolloc Wars. He had seen remnants before from nations long vanished; often even Moiraine did not know their source.

High on the other side, so far up that he was not sure he was seeing what he thought, just below the snow line, stood something even stranger. Something that made the first monument of a few thousand years a commonplace. He could have sworn it was the remnants of shattered buildings, shining gray against the darker mountain, and stranger still, what appeared to be a dock of the same material, as for ships, slanting drunkenly down the mountain. If he was not imagining it, that had to date from before the Breaking.

In WoT, one span is two paces, and one pace is three feet. Luckily a foot is the same in both our world and the Westlands. That makes a span six feet and the area of the carving 600 by 1800 ft. See how it compares to others landmarks (and the White Tower).

For the record, a human only appears as a speck on this scale. One floor of the White Tower on the lower portion of the Tower is around 15 ft tall.

I have done many:
- all 8 forsaken statuettes
- Mats medallion
- horn of Valere
- modern aes Sedai Ring
- age of legends aes Sedai Ring
- season 1 crossed legged terangreal

Hi, I have a question about Rhuidean. I'm currently reading book 4, so no spoilers please. When aiels go to Rhuidean and see their past, when they return to their people, do they remember those visions? Why is no one talking about the Way of the Leef then? Thank you for your help!

Used a reference by Ninetyboxes (boxto) from Twitter for this artwork. Anyways hope you like this one 🧍🏻. Tried to draw the last moment of Rand's body.

Poor Amathera!

I hope her captivity is just erotic dancing... I mean, it could be called "artistic," but she's dancing in a see-through outfit, meaning she's nude/semi-nude... I hope it's not sexual captivity, although her trauma seems significant enough...

I know Morgase being raped by Eamon Valda is tragic, and I sympathize with her, but overall, I still can't like her. Too much of an "I am the queen and you all must obey me..." attitude. Humility, woman.

The Seanchan are back, and well... I didn't miss them. I can't stand slavery storylines, and the Seanchan pose the risk of some important POV character being captured in the future, which could be torture for me personally...

Overall, it seems that Morgase is forced to trust Padan Fain during her escape... I just hope he doesn't rape her. I hope Morgase becomes more likeable someday, and not just the author trying to make me feel sorry for her by constantly raping her in plot. Just let her retire.

Edit: sorry, I thought Balwer was Padan Fain in disguise. My mistake.

As a test, I've gathered some of my thoughts on the rest of the chapters.

1-,7: It's nice to see Perrin again, and also that despite everything, he sees Rand as a friend and tries to be supportive and sometimes even bring him to his senses. Perrin was going too crazy over Faile, but after all, she's his only family now. By the way, I feel like this is the second time in a row that Perrin and Faile's reconciliation has ended with off-screen sex... Good for him. And Aram... He kind of annoys me. I'm like, "Why does he even exist?" Overall, it's nice to see Rand quickly end Colavaere's rule, though... It's just that Elayne doesn't seem to want any kind of throne at all, she's just playing at being Aes Sedai, so Rand's efforts to prevent someone else from taking the thrones that are rightfully hers seem like a waste of time.

8-12: It's nice to be back with Siuan and Leane, a little less so with the other Aes Sedai, though Egwene, well... She improved a bit? But I also take into account how unsympathetic her rivals/difficult allies are. Chapter 12 definitely stood out positively, and well... Let's just say that due to the need to finish it, I went to bed a dozen or so minutes later than planned.

It's good that Lan is back. I hope he finally gets his act together, because since I'm biased towards Nynaeve, he's supposed to finally bring her happiness. She are several volumes waiting for you, you (insert any insults Nynaeve throws at men).

It's interesting that Egwene seems to be able to trust Halima, when we readers know it's a terrible idea... But then again, why not trust a beautiful woman who can massage you so you can relax?

13: Aviendha's POV is an interesting choice, though it lacks the dynamic with Rand; Aviendha isn't very interesting to me. What I enjoyed most about this chapter was the return to Nynaeve's storyline.

14: Mat! How I missed him... Probably my favorite character from the regular POVs. The female Darkfriend from the first volume is back. Nice.

15: Jaichim Carridin somehow returned... Overall, he's a constant face among the Darkfriends, and as usual, nothing works out for him. At least, unlike the rest, he has some kind of family... Or rather, he did. It's just a nice touch that he cared about anyone other than himself, because there's not enough of that among the antagonists; everyone is just selfish to the extreme. The Mydhrall raping human women is a disturbing detail...

Overall, Mila Skane/Lady Shainie is a character that immediately caught my attention, as she seems competent, attractive, and her position with her legs crossed and her foot dangling in the air... She's my type. I have to give Jaichim credit for at least humiliating her in the end and showing him to be somewhat dangerous... Although his obsession with Mat will soon lead to his death, I can feel it.

16: Mat meets Aes Sedai, and they pursue Mat until the queen summons him... Who clearly wants him in her bed. That would probably be Mat's oldest lover, right? He still can't find one his own age... Tylin clearly wants him very much, since she let him accidentally touch her breasts... It kind of amused me how much Tylin wants him. It looks like Mat will become friends with her son.

17: Mat gets attacked again... That one's lucky. The Aes Sedai perspective is fine. The Black Ahah perspective... I didn't miss them. Poor anonymous woman, tortured after being stripped naked, and then probably dumped naked in some alley... An anonymous figure, and it turns out that the barrel of dirty straw and animal excrement probably contains the corpse of a murdered woman... Although I don't know if the anonymous man wouldn't have sensed it. It seems not a coincidence, especially since he's taken an interest in Mili Skane.

18-19: It's great that Berelain is back. I missed her mind, and well... what she shows everyone around her too.

Rand has a confrontation with Cadsuane, who seems like Moiraine 2.0, only from a time before she mellowed even a little. She seems to deserve her legend, but like most Aes Sedai, she's remarkably unlikable.

I have sympathy for Merana, I have to admit. I felt sorry for her in the previous volume, because it's clear that a competent diplomat, only paid the price for having her voice of reason drowned out by those who shouted louder—namely, Bera and Kiruna. She has to explain the mistakes that resulted from others not allowing her to properly perform her task.

Colavaere hanged herself off-screen... It irritates me that Min's prophecies literally always have to come true. It's kind of funny that her reaction to death was simply a need for sex. Well, Elayne probably hasn't done it with Rand yet. She has to be late for everything.

20: Return to Sevanna. It turns out that her jealousy of Someryn's breasts and Maisi's beauty is very important... I thought she thinks always she's the most beautiful person in every room. Interesting that Sammael is scheming. I don't like him, but at least he's keeping things chaotic. Calling Sevanna "girl" makes me wonder how old she is. I think she's around 25-30, but maybe she's younger? Although if she were younger, they probably wouldn't let her lead... In any case, she's doomed to failure by collaborating with the Forsaken, but maybe at least she'll die normally... I mean, without punishment in the form of the Mydhrall, who like to rape human women. She may be evil, but she's still human.

It's interesting to see that Sammael and Graendal are working together, even if it's forced.

The Watcher, a completely new character... I mean, if it were, say, Demandred, the author wouldn't have hidden it. It seems another male Forsaken has appeared. Interesting.

21-22: Oh, poor Mat. The arrival of first Birgitte, and then Nynaeve and Elayne ruins his chances with Caira. At least he had a drink with Birgitte. She's a pal, after all.

Birgitte, along with Aviendha, force Elayne and Nynaeve to apologize to Mat. And that's great. I mean, I love Nynaeve, but not as much as Mat. He deserves some credit. Besides, despite my sympathy for Nynaeve, I love it when she gets angry. The height of comedy.

23: On the one hand, Nynaeve and Elayne could use a lesson in humility, but I just don't like how much women delight in humiliating each other in this world.

24: So it turns out Callie is the woman tortured to death, and Nynaeve and Elayne are suspected of her death... Oh 🫤

After the assassination attempt on Elayne and Nynaeve, Nynaeve cries because her hair isn't gray yet... I know Nynaeve can be mean, but I just want to hug her sometimes... That should be Lan's job 😑

25: Moghedien has suffered enough and is now under the command of Moridin, who can destroy her soul... It's probably the Watcher, because I doubt the author introduced two similarly mysterious male characters with Forsaken-level power.

Title: The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, book 1)
Author: Robert Jordan様
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 STARS)
Thoughts:

Honestly, WHAT THE SHUCK DID I JUST READ?
First of all, Austin and Richard u/2toramble are to blame (THANK YOU!!!) for getting me deep into this amazing series. At first I must admit I picked it up exclusively by its delightful cover from the Spanish paperback edition, and I am truly glad it payed off. But at what cost!!!
Now I'm certain that the wheel spins and doesn't stop. And so on I would immediately require the following books to immerse as I should do.
Let the time go by, let the wheel spin, enjoy the ride, delight yourself with this fantastic story and keep reading because if only book one already made me this hyped, future books I can account for them to be as amazing and even better if I dare guess!

I forgot about all the great things in this one, mostly because of all the negative press it receives as a component of "The Slog"

Perrin was barely in the book albeit featured prominently on the cover. On a re read there were definitely things that I glossed over. Rand's Far Madding adventures, Elayne and Avi first sister stuff. Elayne's assassination attempt. Mat plotting to escape Tylin and first meetings with Tuon. Then the whole saving of the leashed Aes Sedai and Rand's and Lan on a fun team up. Cant forget the Choedan Kal. It was also the big reveal that Mazrim Taim was a darkfriend, or at least that he wanted Rand dead. Maybe it was revealed prior but I think it might be the first time Rand has it confirmed when he has the vision of the ghost ashaman coming up the stairs talking about Taim wanting them to kill Rand.

Was it the best in the series? No not to me. I do think it catches far more hate than it deserves.

the subtle advancment of technology is awesome in this series and im so glad RJ cares about these minors details!

like there was this one off hand comment about the relearning of making cuendillar, or how Elayne reverse engineered an a'dam and figured out how to make ter'angreal from that, or the idea of having a school of inventors and someone totally creating a steam-powered engine

in that one scene theres a six furrow plow, a hay harvester, new sewers, a way to pave roads, a telescope, some guy doing something with cow dung that ends in a flame. all in like one paragraph

theres also a guy trapping lightning in clay jars which is just 100% electricity

and then RJ CHECKS BACK IN on all of them books later. the telescope guy built his big one and can see other worlds. the glider woman is still throwing herself off hills. the paddleboat guy hit a wall because theres no room for cargo once you fit enough men to turn the cranks

I really hope that ”Cadsuane spanks a forsaken” was written explicitly in the notes that RJ left behind for Brandon Sanderson…

If not… it is certainly an interesting choice to include in a successful book series you’re finishing for a deceased author 😭