It’s been a while since I’ve checked in on my progress in reading the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan. I started reading the series over a year ago—I admit for entirely sentimental reasons. I’ve never been a huge fan of swords and sorcery high fantasy—Lord of the Rings is one of my most hated books and movies—but Todd read The Wheel of Time when he was a kid and loved it. When he reread it in college to prepare for the end of the series, he still loved it. Sometimes, when you love someone, you want to know what made them the person you love today. I needed to know what young Todd was reading all the way back when.
So I started reading the series, and blogged about it a bit when I first began. Now, I’m 2/3 through book five, The Fires of Heaven, and still enjoying it, shockingly. Here, in no particular order, are my continuing thoughts on the Wheel of Time Series.
1. The Wheel of Time has a bizarre take on gender politics, and I fluctuate on how I’m feeling about it on any given day. At the beginning of my WoT journey, I praised Robert Jordan for not falling into the trap of blatant sexism in fantasy, but I’m starting to wonder if he swung too hard the other way. It’s not uncommon for Nynaeve or Egwene to angrily mutter “Men!” after a particularly trying interaction with Rand, and it’s equally common for Rand to ponder if he’ll every really understand women. It’s clear that Jordan has a bit of—we’ll call it—a thing for strong, domineering women, which is why the Aes Sedai are so stoic, so powerful, perhaps. To begin with, it was great seeing women in positions of power. Sure, the chosen one was a man (or a boy, really), but women controlled everything, from politics (what up, Queen Morgase) to magic. In fact, women were the only ones who could use magic. By book five, things have changed slightly. The queen is being controlled by a man (sort of, I won’t get into it) who she presumably loves, and the Aes Sedai are fractured, the Amyrlin seat dethroned and stilled. More importantly, the tiny microaggressions that the characters throw at each other have become increasingly obvious and hard to read without rolling my eyes. Yes, I get it, Nynaeve, you hate men. Sure, Rand, maybe one day you’re going to understand women. I’m all for a more equal gender landscape in fantasy novels, but I think Jordan’s writing reveals he was trying to work out his own thoughts on gender while writing this series. I’m curious how Brandon Sanderson (who finished the series after Jordan’s death) chose to deal with the (at times) weird tone in regards to gender.
One of the most interesting, gender related issues that’s come up in The Fires of Heaven deals with Birgitte, a hero of legend that suddenly finds herself in the real world, in the middle of a circus. Elayne binds Birgitte to her as her Warder—a position previously only afforded to men (as far as readers have seen). Birgitte seems unusually fit to work as Elayne’s sworn protector. This is the most exciting upset of my gender expectations so far, and I’m curious to see where Birgitte’s storyline goes.
2. There are so many names in these books. Fantasies are often sprawling epics, and the 14 book WoT series isn’t an exception. Over the course of that many novels, one is bound to build up a massive cast of characters, and that is fine. What’s confusing for me is the sheer volume of side characters, like the court nobles in Cairhien (who play the “game of houses” that seems very similar to George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones). It’s not uncommon for me to text Todd and ask him, “Should I know this person?” only for him to respond, “Oh, we met them in the first book for maybe a paragraph!” My brain doesn’t work well with tiny details. I’ve even forgotten some of the details of my favorite books, like the Harry Potter series (which I’m due to reread anyway), so I can’t keep up with every citizen of the Two Rivers. That being said, I think the WoT is like a lot of other sweeping epics in that it’s better to let the little details wash over you. Chances are, you’ll still be able to understand and enjoy the novels just fine.
3. I want less Rand. There. I said it. This is a feeling I think some people felt once they got to The Order of the Phoenix in Harry Potter. There’s only so long a chosen one can not be annoying; they’re going to get on your last nerve eventually. I’m tired of Rand’s moodiness, and his inability to lead people without being a total dick. He thinks he’s always right, and he thinks he’s the most powerful and exercises that power accordingly. Then, on the flip side, he’s completely baffled by women and instead of—oh I don’t know—talking to them or communicating his feelings, he sighs to himself and wonders if things will ever work out for him romantically. Rand is the type of person you just want to shake until they start behaving better. Here, in book five, we’re seeing a lot of Rand, and frankly, I’d rather have Mat instead.
4. When I started reading the WoT, I read on my own. I made it through four whole books on my own, but it took me a while. With each book clocking in at around 1,000 pages, they’re hard to get through in a timely manner. With book five, Todd and I started trying something different: reading out loud. My fourth thought on the series doesn’t really have anything to do with the books at all; it’s about how we’re reading them. Reading out loud is a game changer. Yes, this is coming from me, an avowed hater of most audiobooks. Reading out loud conjures up memories of childhood, of bedtime stories and my first chapter books. It makes me think of how proud I was when I learned to read and could read to my parents, or how dramatic and powerful I felt when reading Shakespeare out loud in high school. Reading out loud together also affords the opportunity to discuss the book in real time, as we’re both experiencing it. It’s a nice way to spend time together, and it’s greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the series. I highly recommend reading out loud with a loved one!
5. One thing from the WoT that seems different from other fantasy novels I’ve read is the importance of dreams. As someone who’s always had weird, vivid dreams, I place a lot of importance on dreams. They’re your subconscious’s way of reconstructing things you’ve been thinking about into a format that’s easier to process—or at least that’s the way I see it. I’m not a dream scientist or anything. In WoT, there’s an entire world of dreams, Tel’aran’rhiod, where characters go to meet and discuss important events, but also to spy on their enemies and explore the world. In Tel’aran’rhiod, characters can get hurt, can die even. Venturing there isn’t something everyone can do; sometimes people just happen to dream themselves into this special dream world without realizing it. The idea of a dream world isn’t exactly something new, but the way the WoT uses it presents the idea in a new way. Dreams are weird, and dangerous, and it’s good to see that represented in stories.
In short, I’m enjoying reading through the Wheel of Time. In a world where we’re all so pressured to stay up to date, to read the latest novels, to exist in the NOW, it’s fun to go back and read a series that’s almost thirty years old. I expect more people to revisit this series as the date of the Amazon TV show approaches, but for now I’m happy to be reading in my own little world—out loud or by myself—transported to Robert Jordan’s weird, intriguing fantasy world.
