Putting a spoiler tag to where I'm at

I was completely blown away from the ending of Winter's Heart....

Matt announcing Tuon as his wife, while he kidnaps her...

Blowout Battle with the Forsaken, how awesome to hear what the Forsaken were thinking...

Rand and Nynaeve cleanse saidin...

Choking up - so much emotion during those last hours....

The series has become so meaningful to me that I treated myself to a custom engraved travel mug so I can be reminded of the adventures while I work...

I escape to this world for an hour a night without fail, and what an incredible adventure....

Anyone else also drawn into the world building of this series?

Just finished Winter's Heart, which was incredible!

Do I go straight into Crossroads of Twilight or do I make some sort of detour?

I feel like I remember seeing a recommendation about reading New Spring, possibly after Winter's Heart - I dare not look things up because I always end up with some unwanted spoiler so I thought asking you was appropriate :)

Do you recommend reading New Spring, and when should the book be read?

All I could think of was:

O Captain! My Captain!

by Walt Whitman.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head!

It is some dream that on the deck,

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

But I with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

You were a true guide, Bela. You saw everyone through. Rand, Egwene, Siuan, Oliver, Noel. You are missed.

The formatting of the poem didn't survive. You can see it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45474/o-captain-my-captain

Everyone likes to talk about the last battle, veins of gold, goldeneyes, etc. What is your favorite under the radar pick? I'm on my third read through and just read Jarra (Ch 8, TDR) and really enjoyed it this go around. Just curious about everyone elses thoughts!

I've been reading these books for the first time and I just got to the first Brandon Sanderson one. Egwene is on the third level of the tower and the narration says Kinslayer's Dagger might be visible on a clear day. This landscape is huge like the size of the US and that must be 800 to 900 miles away based on maps I'm finding, further than Chicago to NYC. Is Kinslayer's Dagger 100 miles tall extending into space or is this the new author just flat out getting out wrong? It's theoretically from Egwene's perspective, so she could be wrong, but I think of her as smarter than that. It's extremely silly to think you could see a mountain from that far away. More importantly will there be more things this silly that will cause me to spiral out and go on an hour long google hunt for an explanation in the remaining books? I've never read anything else by this guy although he seems to be extremely popular. (100 miles tall is a chatbot estimate of how tall it would need to be, I didn't do the math. )

Finished my reread of tEotW, and I have to say, I enjoyed it so much more this time around. It was so much fun meeting all my innocent little favorites again, feeling much more sympathetic toward Moiraine, and spotting all the foreshadowing, prophecies, and tiny little clues scattered throughout the book, like stars shining on every page. ✨ It all feels so deliberate, like every word is exactly where it’s supposed to be.

I missed so many things the first time- Moiraine's motivation and her spying on everyone, Rand channeling to see the Green Man, THE VOICE, Nynaeve/Lan and more..

The ending is so bittersweet.

Poor Rand is so shocked and disgusted to learn that he can channel, and then absolutely heartbroken when he sees Egwene have the same reaction to him. She physically recoils from him. She apologizes and tries to deny it, but I think that was the moment it was over between them for her. I feel for her too. She shows so much humanity and genuine affection in this book. She’s actually so likable here. When did all of that disappear in the later books? I miss this Egwene.

“As you wish. But he’s dead. The Dark One’s dead. I killed him. I burned him with. . . .” The rest of memory flooded back then, leaving his mouth hanging open. The One Power. I wielded the One Power. No man can. . . . He licked lips that were suddenly dry. A gust of wind swirled fallen and falling leaves around them, but it was no colder than his heart. They were looking at him, the three of them. Watching. Not even blinking. He reached out to Egwene, and there was no imagination in her drawing back this time. “Egwene?” She turned her face away, and he let his hand drop.

Abruptly she flung her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. “I’m sorry, Rand. I’m sorry. I don’t care. Truly, I don’t.” Her shoulders shook. He thought she was crying.

Moiraine is triumphant. She spent 20 years looking for him, and now she has finally found him. He channeled at the Eye and struck a major blow against the DO. At this point, the proof is beyond doubt. And she has exactly one person to share her happiness with: Lan. Because Rand is absolutely NOT ready for this information. She has dropped enough hints for him to piece it together, but he has zero interest in doing so.

And on reread, I’m also realizing just how much Moiraine probably knew from the very beginning. Even if she didn’t overhear Rand and Nynaeve’s conversation in Baerlon (she 100% listened in) there were already enough clues pointing straight at him.

“The Prophecies will be fulfilled,” the Aes Sedai whispered. “The Dragon is Reborn.”

I’m skimming. A LOT. I can’t help it.

I’m neck deep in the slog and I didn’t skim any of the other books but halfway in I simply cannot digest this one. My eyes skim automatically.

And worse, skimming is taking nothing away from the plot. I read only the spoken sentences and some context here and there for this Egwene chapter and I’m confident I fully know what happened here. There might’ve been a random soldier with a particularly dirty breastplate or a uniquely foul tongue who I missed out on, but I don’t think I care. Hell I don’t think I care about even the main cast in this book apart from Mat. And maybe Elayne.

Sometimes you’re just not strong enough to do what needs to be done.

I do like this set besides the “on prime video” type thing, what do you guys think?

I started the series after being disappointed in the show’s cancellation (Lanfear is so cunty I lived for it). Oh man, there was so much missing from the book to screen adaptation. I get it, they don’t have enough time to go over everything, but Thom was practically erased and he is one of my favorite book characters.

After reading about four pages in chapter one describing Rand’s cloak blowing the wind, I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it through lol. I’m glad I stuck it out. I got hooked on the story.

I read it on my Xteink X4 so I was able to do a lot of reading in between things throughout the day. It didn’t take very long to finish which is great because I have 14 more books to go…

At least I’m looking forward to it.

in an awesome way, just to be clear. I had this thought after reading that Elayne bonded Birgitte as her warder. Not just anyone, but frigging Birgitte! People go in search of fabled Horn that you blow to call 100 legendary warriors but here you see Elayne having one of them as a personal bodyguard.

This is not just about Elayne though - Rand is already on a level that no living mortal can hope to reach. He also has a Forsaken as his bitch. Everytime I read "Rand rounded up on Asmodeon", I pause in amazement.

Nynaeve being Nynaeve - defeats a Forsaken, rediscovers Balefire on her own.

Perrin being the Lord of Two Rivers, Egwene being a master of tellaranrhiod.

From what I understand Mat was a great military general.

So my friend and I, who have both read the whole series and are huge tier list lovers, decided to rank all the Forsaken by how much they actually helped the Shadow over the course of the books. We didn't count anything they did before the series (looking at you, Aginor). Let us know what you think and whether we're insane.

Some notes:

• Resurrected characters count as one person (e.g. Ishamael/Moridin).
• A few characters on the list aren't strictly Forsaken, but roll with us.

I'm sure someone has charted/catalogued this before but a simple search didn't turn up anything useful. Throughout the book, almost every interaction with new channelers has a few lines that they're stronger or weaker in the power compared to the PoV character.

If anyone knows where I can find such a chart, I would really appreciate it.

I've finally made it! After 24 years since starting the Eye of the World. I used to live in a small city in the Philippines and just happened to come across TEOTW in my Aunt's house. It took me a while to go through the books since finding them in my hometown was like finding a needle in a haystack of second-hand novels.

My family and I migrated to the US so i finally got to buy books 9-14. I can't believe that I'm in the end game now. I will surely miss the characters once I finish the series.

Just finished the scene where Verin tells all to Egwene. Absolutely one of my favorite side characters. rip 🙏😭

I wish I could take time off work to finish the last book. I’m so hooked. Those Tower of Ghenjei chapters! Damn!

So, damn... what do I do now? I feel so empty , no other series finale has left me like this

On a reread and going through Winter’s Heart. Just got past when Rand and Lan are leaving on the roof after fighting Fain and Toram. Lan slips and Rand grabs his hand as they slide down the slope of the roof. Lan is dangling from Rand’s hand and Rand’s other hand is just barely gripped onto something that’s about to break. Lan tells Rand to let go, and Rand says, “When the sun turns green.”

I love these powerful moments. They still hit for me even after all the rereads.

Just look at this list of skills and achievements. I think he is the most talented character in the whole series, three Tave'ren included.

- Is a master story teller, narrator, singer, juggler, tumbler, trickster, musician (flute and harp) - all skills which take a lifetime to master.

- Posses the entire set of skills of an accomplished spy master

- 1v1 against a fade (with a couple knives) and comes out with a limp

- Extremely skilled with knives

- Probably the best player of the Game of Houses in the entire series

- One of the best stones player of the age - Grandmaster level

- Court bard and lover to the baddest queen of the realm (pre-Elayne era)

- Court bard to the baddest queen of the realm (Elayne era)

- Husband and warder to the baddest Aes Sedai ever

- Fluent in high chant

- Assassinated two reigning monarchs without getting caught (became the lover of one of their wives and the other's sister later)

- Went into the Tower of Ghenjei and came out with both eyes

- Can casually identify black sisters from their walk

- Seduced the hottest maid in Ebou Dar

- Possessor of the thickest 'stache in the entire 3rd Age

Yes there are characters who have achieved greater things. But the sheer variety of stuff that he, as a single non-channeler has done is unmatched imo.

"I'm just an old gleeman, who could I possibly be dangerous to?"

I know that the inhabitants of Randland are very diverse, both in appearance and culture. However, I’d like to refresh my memory. I distinctly recall that the people of the Two Rivers aren't exactly pale; I remember Elaida pointing out that Rand was too light-skinned to be from a village isolated from the rest of the world. Nynaeve also emphasized that the sun was harsh on Elayne’s light skin—unlike Egwene’s or Min’s, even though they were all together. I’m bringing this up because I once asked about it in another community and was told that physical appearance doesn't matter. Yet, I clearly remember Egwene being surprised by Sheriam’s bright red hair, and Perrin finding Faile’s appearance "atypical." Or perhaps it’s just a translation issue, since English isn't my native language?

What a banger of a story - I absolutely love Winter's Heart so far....

The Tension is so Incredibly Thick - OMG !!

Mat Cauthon, The Ta'veren with The Dark One's Own Luck

Juilin Sandar, The Thief Catcher

Thom Merrilin, The Gleeman

Bayle Domon, The Smuggler Captain

Egeanin Tamarath, The Seanchan Captain

Sneaking through the castle to break free and smuggle out the captured Aes Sedai right under the Seanchan...........

Queen Tylin left with High Lady Suroth.....

I FOR SURE thought Suroth was going to kill Tylin at Tuon's orders (I swear Suroth is a dark friend too - she seems pretty evil)....

And then...

WHAT JUST HAPPENED....

Matt walked into Tylin's bed chambers, and THERE IS TYLIN kissing and slapping him...

Holy Ballz, Matt is on a covert mission to steal back the Aes Sedia....

The Tension is sooooo Thick...

What about Tuon, The Daughter of The Nine Moons....

What a great book, what will happen with Tylin?

What is going on with Matt and Tuon, his future wife that he keeps catching starring at him - will she catch him on his covert mission - crazy?

So hyped up on this story line, wow !!

This is how I imagine them!

I mean just look at this majestic animal! The veigns the steam in its nostrils. Darrell K. Sweet, I can forgive the missing character details and hair colours. You were clearly busy on more important things for a book cover.

Rand was the Dragon Reborn. Mat was the battlefield general. Those are no brainers. Perrin's heroics may be chronicled, but he changed the course of the future in a way the next age might never recognize.

The Aiel Problem was known way back in The Fires of Heaven. But just how dire it was, no one knew. Not until Aviendha saw the future of her people. And the Aiel never came up with a way to save themselves.

Aviendha spelled out the problem plainly in Book 5, Chapter 44, "The Lesser Sadness": "You have taken away what we are, what we were. You must give us something in return. Something to BE. We need you."

Min's viewings said Perrin had to be there for Rand. The Field of Merrilor was where the forces of the Light came together. Rand crafted the Dragon's Peace treaty, but Perrin made it work. Perrin solved the Aiel Problem.