the wheel of time

First of all, I want to say I am so thrilled to be rereading these books - and to my children! My first time reading them easily spanned 10-15 years. You tend to forget even the most basic things when that happens. I remember reading one of the books in the middle and going "who the hell is Egeanin and why do I care about her?!?" That was how spaced out my reading was. The second time through it took me a few years (which is understandable considering how many books there are) but I read it straight through (well, as straight through as I'm capable of reading considering I usually have 6 different books going at once) and walked away with a much better grasp of the story line.

This time I'm thrilled to not only be sharing my absolute favorite book series ever with my children, but I'm also looking forward to paying attention to certain themes. Specifically, I want to pay attention to all of the prophecies and symbolism as well as the Forsaken. I want to dive deeper into Min's viewings, Egwene's dreams, and Elaida's foretellings. The moments when someone says something either prophetic or foreshadowing without realizing it - and by these moments I don't mean Siuan sitting around musing how she can be stilled for what she is doing. That is a given. Rather, I mean Egwene sneaking Rand around so he can avoid the Amyrlin, and Moiraine thinking to herself that if Egwene isn't careful she will be Amyrlin herself one day. And, of course, the Forsaken. I always have a hard time following them around from book to book. I always forget where they are currently and when they pop up I am always caught off guard. Some of the male Forsaken I have a hard time keeping straight. The females I can always keep separate because their motivations are so diverse, but the men all seem to roughly want the same thing and be motivated by the same thing - half of them seem to be doing this because they are jealous of Lews Therin. Them I do have a hard time keeping straight. And, like I said, I always forget where they are and when they pop up I'm always wondering if I should have remembered something or if I'm even keeping them straight.

So, I will have the posts that follow 4-5 chapters each. However, it will not be the major breakdown that most other books get from me. The chapters are just too long and have too much crammed into them. I could probably do one post for each chapter and still feel like I'm leaving important information out. Plus, I'm sure I will be reading these books a fourth time again one day. No point in covering everything the first time through! As I read maybe I will see another theme I want to explore.