Are you re-reading the previous 13 before the finale?

[Velda]

I have finally purchased A Memory of Light, and now, some 19 years after first reading the first book, am thinking about finally ending my reader relationship with the Wheel of Time. For the previous five or six books I've re-read all previous books before reading the new one... but can I bear to do that with this one? Anyone else got any ideas?

[Jeni]

A suggestion: when a new book in my favorite, yet extensive series comes out, I re-read them all or just the last one, depending on time factor. If you don't feel like reading all of them, I would go for the last one, just to refresh the ending in your mind so when you pick up the next one, it will make sense.

[infael]

That was what I did when I knew for sure AMOL was the last book. I read 1 book a month, and finished Towers of Midnight in mid-December.

[Velda]

I am tempted to go straight for AMOL, but I know I won't then go back and re-read the lot, so I think I'll have to be disciplined and do what you did!

[Fatin]

I've been thinking of hitting the site instead. The wiki page for Wheel of Time.
A Memory of Light is still not available in my country, so I have some time, but the thought of reading all 13 again is exhausting. But I have a terrible memory, and have even forgotten the names of some of the less significant characters. So I'm thinking of catching up by reading the summaries and character portrayals online.

[Velda]

I re-started The Eye of the World last night, and I think it's the right decision - I am enjoying the stuff I have forgotten, and as always, am enjoying marvelling at the set up for things which I know are coming, and re-reading things (like Thom Merrilin and Moiraine's first exchange) in the light of things that I know are to come. It is going to take a long time, but the other thing is, I always regret getting to the end of the newest book, and this is the way to make it last the longest.

[Bryan]

I have a special relationship with this series, as I suspect a number of you do, as well. I was a teenager in the mid-nineties when I picked up this series, and I absolutely devoured these books. When I had finished reading all the ones that had been released, I was raving about the series to my younger brother, who was maybe 11-12 at the time. He was interested in the storyline, but at that point in his life had never read a book for pleasure, and it seemed extremely unlikely that he would pick up The Eye Of The World. And so, since we shared a bedroom, I began reading it to him.

Life intervened, and we sort of fell out it somewhere in the middle of Lord Of Chaos, which, when you think about it, is actually a lot of bedtime reading. Now, largely because of this series, my brother is an avid reader like myself.

Anyways, the point of me relating this anecdote is to say that because I read these to my brother, these are some of the only books that I have ever re-read. Jordan's writing certainly has it's share of flaws, but the man was a superb technical writer, and there is a lot in the way of subtle details which jump out at one upon revisiting the series. Things like Min's viewings reward the re-reader and make it very worthwhile to do so.

However, I was impatient and ignored my own advice. As soon as AMOL came out I bought it and gobbled it up, and that was pretty enjoyable too!

[[deleted user]]

Bryan wrote: ...However, I was impatient and ignored my own advice. As soon as AMOL came out I bought it and gobbled it up, and that was pretty enjoyable too!
I did that too! I did a reread of the previous 13 books, but I skimmed through 12 and 13 so I could start my lovely new book. :)

[Scott]

I didn't exactly re-read them. I used encyclopaedia-wot to get through most of the story and where everyone was before I was able to read A Memory of Light.