Suggestions for Reading Schedule

[Jon]

I reviewed the contents of The Eye of the World on my Nook Color and discovered there is a Prologue and Fifty-Three (53) chapters. Roughly divided by four (weeks) that comes to thirteen (13) chapters per week for the month of April.

Is that too much to read in one week? That's about two chapters per day.

Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Tentative Reading Schedule for The Eye of the World:

Week 1: Prologue plus first 12 chapters
Week 2: Chapters 13-26
Week 3: Chapters 27-39
Week 4: Chapters 40-53

[Traci]

I know there's some hesitation regarding the length of this series. I will probably be reading ahead of the group, making tons of notes for the group read itself, but maybe the actual schedule should be longer than a month for this one? Would that entice more readers? I read pretty fast but for some members thirteen chapters a day might be as much or more than they can handle. Scaring off some who want to read other books too.

[Jon]

Traci wrote: "... but for some members thirteen chapters a day might be as much or more than they can handle. "

It would only be about two chapters a day, with a total for the week of thirteen chapters.

Thanks for the suggestion of lengthening our reading time beyond a month. It's one possibility I had thought of.

[Traci]

Oops. Mistype. Thirteen pages a day for a month would make one HUGE book.
:-)

[Katie]

I'm a fan of an aggressive one book per month schedule. The discussion remains up after the group has finished a book so people can still consume and contribute discussion if they fall a bit behind. While these books have a lot of chapters, they are about the same page length as a lot of the other books read in the group.

[Traci]

I looked on my nook in-between posting. The first section is about 170 pages. I think that's doable for most people here. But whatever is decided.

[Maggie, The Malazan Queen of Chaos]

Katie wrote: "I'm a fan of an aggressive one book per month schedule. The discussion remains up after the group has finished a book so people can still consume and contribute discussion if they fall a bit behind..."

I agree with Katie!

[Sandra]

I don't plan on rereading this as the first time was quite enough, but as a reader, I loathe discussions that are too slow. I can never pace myself and read ahead always.

[Suzanne]

I'm ok with one book per month; however, this is a series I've been attempting to re-read/read (I stopped originally when it was taking too long between books), so I'll be ahead of the group, at least to begin with. I'm happy this will be a group read though, because I suspect at some month the group will catch up with me and I will have incentive to keep up! Plus, it'll be a great place to share some thoughts.

[Katie]

Yeah, and with long series it's nice to read them fairly quickly so they stay fresh. Plus the discussion can help point out connections and things that as an individual I might miss.

[Jon]

So far the consensus seems to be a book a month. Unless I hear more outcry for a slower pace, I will strive to achieve that goal.

Thanks for all your suggestions and comments!

[Alex]

I've been wanting to start the series for a while. Doing it as part of a group sounds interesting.

[Tarot]

I'm good with one book per month, although I kind of wish we could start after May so I can snag those nice re-releases :]

[Jon]

Gally wrote: "I'm good with one book per month, although I kind of wish we could start after May so I can snag those nice re-releases :]"

Don't worry about starting late. The discussion threads will be here, ready for you when you are.

Glad to have you with us, Gally. Welcome to the group.

[Heidi]

One book a month sounds great! I could probably read the books faster on my own but I'm currently reading Roger Zelazny's Amber series which seem to be a bunch of short, fun books so if I finish a WoT book before the end of the month I can just read an Amber book in the meantime.

[Jim]

I'm a bit ahead of you guys (currently on Book 11), but on another discussion I suggested you did the prequel New Spring in publishing order (i.e. between books 10 and 11). After trying this myself I would like to retract this recommendation! The storyline really slows to a crawl from the start of book 10 (Crossroads of Twilight) and only starts picking up halfway through book 11 (Knife of Dreams). The last thing you want to do (imho) is go off on a prequel tangent in the middle of this! I guess you can read the prequel any time after the first book, but New Spring does give you a bit of back story for a major new character who is introduced in book 7, so maybe around that point would be a good time to read it. (Or you could miss it out altogether, really.)

[Jon]

Jim wrote: "I'm a bit ahead of you guys (currently on Book 11), but on another discussion I suggested you did the prequel New Spring in publishing order (i.e. between books 10 and 11). After trying this myself..."

Good idea, Jim. I've been trying to decide when to insert New Spring into the Wheel of Time reading mix.

[Jon]

I meant to do this back in July, so I apologize for the last minute insertion of New Spring into our reading schedule. Since Path of Daggers seems to be a shorter Wheel of Time novel, I decided to slip in the prequel for the latter half of November. It's short (around three hundred pages) so perhaps we can all read it over some pumpkin pie or turkey sandwiches during the Thanksgiving holiday break.

[Kathi, There’s no such thing as too many books!]

A question for those who have read this series before, since I have not. How vital is New Spring to the series? I realize it's a prequel, just wondering how important it is to understanding the whole story. I don't own it and would need to acquire it before I get to that point in my reading (I'm just starting A Crown of Swords now, so I'm at least 2 books behind.

[Jim]

Hi Kathi. I don't think it's that important. Its main point is explaining how Lan became Moirraine's warder and how the two of the them started their search for Rand. It also gives a bit of backstory on the Black Ajah, and establishes Cadsuane, a "fill-the-Moirraine-void" Aes Sedai who is introduced into the main series in ACoS (I think). Skipping it certainly won't make any of the main series books unintelligible.

[Jon]

Jim wrote: "Hi Kathi. I don't think it's that important. Its main point is explaining how Lan became Moirraine's warder and how the two of the them started their search for Rand. It also gives a bit of backsto..."

What Jim said. :)

[Vaughn]

Kathi wrote: "A question for those who have read this series before, since I have not. How vital is New Spring to the series? I realize it's a prequel, just wondering how important it is to understanding the who..."

Kathi, I would suggest reading it last. It will give you an "oh" feeling. But if you never read it, you wont miss out on anything.

[Kathi, There’s no such thing as too many books!]

Thanks, all, very helpful! I'll put it on my list of books to acquire sometime but won't worry too much about it for the overall series read.