The Wheel of Time Series should be read at least once!

Finding The Wheel Of Time

I remember picking up the first book of this series in an airport while waiting to board a plane to Aruba. I had just gotten married the day before and was ready and waiting to embark on a wonderful two weeks of sun, sea and sand, aka my honeymoon. Like many travellers with little to do while waiting for a plane, I had three choices: drink, eat or shop. Alcohol and food can cause havoc with my digestive system - a different story but check out How I began the Paleo Diet for a little more information if you wish. I did not need stomach issues on an 8 hour flight with small toilets shared with all the other passengers, if you know what I mean... Therefore, I chose to shop. Happy as an Alex in a book shop, I went book shopping. What else does one do on one's honeymoon but read a good book? Book lovers everywhere are nodding right here.

The Eye Of The World, or Book One of The Wheel of Time, stood out because it was the thickest book in the shop in the fantasy genre. With an eight-hour flight ahead, size matters!

Let's Begin With Book One

The day after the flight, I had the cobalt blue of the Caribbean before me, a brand new wedding ring on my finger and my husband, previously known as 'the bf' or 'the other half', happily perched on a stool at the beach bar experiencing the 'drink-of-the-day'. I sat on the white sands in my uplifting, super-slimming bikini and proceeded to speed-read the whole book. It took most of the first week, but I was a Wheel Of Time fan by the end.

Usually, I would reread such an excellent book immediately, but I was newly married and feeling generous then. Instead, I immediately set about denying the beach bar of an enthusiastic customer by passing the book along to my husband. By the end of the honeymoon, Robert Jordan had another fan of his book series.

Let's End With Book 14

When 'A Memory Of Light', this is Book 14 of the Wheel of the Time, and the very last book in the series, came out, my new husband, while still my husband, was no longer new, my bikinis had been exchanged for swimsuits with maximum coverage, and we had celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary.

About The Wheel Of Time

Before I go further, I will summarise 14 huge books into one sentence and not give away any spoilers. Here goes… A young farmboy goes forth into an inevitable battle with Shaiitan, the universe's greatest evil, which threatens all worlds and times on a semi-regular basis. Ta-da! Now we all know what we are talking about, let's continue.

Many people consider the wheel of time one of the most outstanding fantasy series in the genre. It's an epic high fantasy series that will keep you occupied for a very, very, very long time.

It was the life's work of the author Robert Jordan who unfortunately could not finish it before his demise. After completing book 11, he made detailed notes for another author to complete his life's work. His widow asked a then up-and-coming author, Brandon Sanderson, now a fantasy genre heavyweight himself, to complete the series using Jordan's notes. Sanderson did an excellent job completing books 12, 13 and 14.

The Best High Fantasy Series Of All Time

Do I think The Wheel Of Time is the best high fantasy series? Possibly. Up there at the top of the epic fantasy charts holding its own? Definitely! 14 books and ten years, say yes!

Maybe No

Truthfully, however, it does have a few flaws. There is nothing perfect, not even The Wheel Of Time.

Who?

First, let's tackle what I consider the most frustrating one. The array of characters. There are thousands of them – seriously! They often have very similar-sounding names. Let's also add that some characters come back from the dead with a name change and a sex change. Confusing? Oh, yes! A few enormous books into the series, and trying to remember who's who is bewildering. Numerous times, I would frustratingly attempt to trace a name back through the books to figure out who they were. This resulted in a few not-so-high fantasy swear-word moments when I failed.

What happened?

The second, possibly similar issue, is that small events, long forgotten, come up in later books, making for numerous 'Eh? What did I miss?' moments as well.

Let's Move on

There are a couple of other minor points that I believe are not flaws exactly but rather personal preferences of mine as a reader. For one, I considered the main hero one of the least exciting characters; I considered him a bit boring. However, there is a large central core of characters, so this minor problem is not as crucial as it might seem. And it wasn't so much that he was boring, he wasn't, but the others were far more interesting in comparison.

I Want Romance

My second point was that the romantic in me was left a little unsatisfied. I would have liked a few more pages dedicated to romantic writing. Jordan doesn't omit the romance; his characters do fall in love. However, they seem to skip from the beginning of their romance to the end. They lack a satisfying, exciting middle part to justify their attraction and make those little heart flutterings of anticipation I love to feel when reading.

Maybe Yes

So now, what's great about it? Oh! So many, many things. Too much to include and so I'll pick a few.

The Most In-depth Characterisation - Ever!

Jordan obviously put a humongous amount of thought into each character. All the characters, the great, the small and the in-between, have had their looks, personalities, emotional reactions, quirks and traits so well thought out that you'll get to know them better than your own family.

The Most In-depth World Building - Ever!

Jordan's world-building has such incredible detail it surpasses that of J.R.R. Tolkien's middle earth. Oooh! Nevah! You say! Yes, I'm afraid that, unfortunately, it is so. There is more world to the world of The Wheel of Time than earth in middle-earth.

The Most Intricate Plots

When it comes to the story, Jordan weaves plots within plots within plots within plots. Try to imagine plots within plots a few hundred more times before placing them all within the plot. There's always a ton of things happening, so much so that there isn't much chance you will ever be bored. Frazzled and confused, yes - bored, no.

Bang For Your Bucks

Lastly, with its length, this series provides bang for your buck. You'll be entertained and reading for a very long time.