Rec | THE WHEEL OF TIME

Rec

📚

Rec'd on 📚 Favorite book as a kid/teen?

I actually reread them last year, and finally finished all of them (Robert Jordan, the author, died back when I was reading them as a young teen, so there was a long gap between the 11th book and the final 3 books while the publishers tried to find another author to finish the series using Jordan's notes and input from his wife/editor, hence why I never finished the series as a kid).
I was motivated to reread them because the Amazon WoT series is such complete and utter shit, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't misremembering the books, because I remembered really liking them. In fact, I was initially drawn to them as a teen because after reading LOTR and seeing all of the movies in theaters, I needed something new to fill that gaping hole of loss you feel after finishing a good series, and WoT did that nicely.
Anyway, turns out the books are still great, even as an adult. In fact, I appreciated them even more this time around. Which makes it such a shame that the Amazon series is just absolutely butchering it (they're following only like 5% of the books' plot and inventing the other 95% from scratch). Talk about a crime against art. I definitely recommend the books though! They were a fun, easy, and epic diversion during the depressing latter half of winter. So much so that I'm trying to turn it into a habit. Non-fiction during spring, summer, and fall, and fiction during winter.

@ruffianbandwidth

Feb 28, 2024

see likes

Comments

Make an account to reply.

@tortitude

Seriously the Amazon series is truly a crime, but I feel beholden to watching it after reading (most of) the books twice through after Robert Jordan died when I was 15. But wow the only time I’ve ever thrown a book across the room was when 10 devolved into all types of pregnancy nonsense. I’ve read pieces of the later ones and generally know how things end, but that was a disappointing turn only second to the drivel that Amazon is producing.

Feb 29, 2024

@ruffianbandwidth

tortitude haha yeah, that's understandable. I think the reason I enjoyed them so much the second time was because I read them all in like a 4-month sprint, and it was a nice form of escapism during last year's long, cold, and snowy winter. The first time I read them I remember thinking that Jordan had completely lost the thread, was treading water plot-wise, and didn't know where he wanted to go with it (The harsh critique and naive arrogance of a teen haha). However, the second time I appreciated the time he took to build it and fully flesh out certain concepts (I'm also quite verbose in my own writing, so that probably played a role as well, in terms of my appreciation lol). And as far as the last 3 go, they are different, but the fact that I had already committed so much time and effort to the first 11 helped me get through them and just look forward to getting some closure. Also, I have a new appreciation for an Sanderson stepping in, 11 books deep, and taking on the responsibility of trying to finish the series and capture another author's voice while still keeping his own artistic integrity. It was far from perfect or fully satisfying, but it was satisfying enough.

Feb 29, 2024

@tortitude

ruffianbandwidth That’s a really good point and I’m sure they would hit so differently now. lol gonna put that up my sleeve for the next time the seasons/my life feels like it could use some comfort reading. But idk it’s all such a balance between revisiting old comforts that will feel more fun in the moment vs. mitigating my own mortal coil as someone with a FT job and short attention span who wants to visit a lot of the classics for the first time. (Also I’m still on book one of Robert Carl’s LBJ, so I’ll be occupied for a long while 🫠🫠🫠)

Mar 1, 2024

@wiggsde

I'll never forget reading the ending and finally, after years of reading, gaining closure. Truly bittersweet.

Feb 28, 2024

Related Recs

Rec

⭐

decide to read 14 books

Not a huge fantasy novel person, but I read the Game of Thrones books. Waiting forever for the new ones to come out, as a joke decided to try reading the entire Wheel of Time series (14 loooong books) while I waited. I’m on book 7 of 14. Can’t/won’t turn back now.

@morganphillips

Feb 5, 2024

Rec

📚

The Wheel of time series

Super long but super well written fantasy series. I’m only on book 8 out of 14 lol

@abbie4l

Apr 27, 2024

Rec

🏹

The hunger games

I read the trilogy for the first time in 2019. I was really surprised and impressed by the complexity of these books. I think they were some of the last good YA books and also unknowingly were the precipice the publishing industry would topple from. It's not Suzanne Collins fault everyone said oh my god, we're doing districts.
The movies don't capture what makes these books special; they capture what makes it marketable. I enjoy them but don't approve. The distance between the two is too sad. For me, it's so pleasurable to trace the obvious lineage of this series. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, then The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (Stephen King), two of my favorite works, then The Hunger Games. Every author wanting more than the previous one gave.
If you haven't read in a while, these might get you going again. Digestible, approachable, and honestly deeply affecting. As a connoisseur of dystopia, this tastes just fine.

@killer

Nov 17, 2024

Top Recs from @ruffianbandwidth

Rec

🔎

being a poser has been normalized

I don't know how well this actually answers your initial question, I think it's more of a counterpoint to some of the stuff people have already said, but here it goes.
In the past (prior to social media or search engines) specific styles, specialized knowledge, and niche awareness actually took effort. You had to go out into the world and find a scene, be accepted, participate in it, contribute to it, and learn from others with specific knowledge within the specific sub- or counter-cultural scene. It took time, effort, and experience to craft an identity. Nowadays people cycle through various identities and trends like commodities because it takes no effort (they're sold to them by social media algorithms, influencers, brand accounts, etc.). It comes to you in your phone without you ever even having to leave the house or put in the time to discover it or participate in it (you just follow specific people or subscribe). You can be a passive observer or consumer, not an active contributor. As a result, you're not invested or tied down and committed to that core identity. You can cosplay depending on your mood or who you want to momentarily convey yourself as, because it's easy. Essentially, being a poser has become normalized. An identity is now something to be momentarily consumed and affected, rather than grown, built, and developed over time.
Granted, it's always been different in regards to "mass" culture and popular trends (both in the past and now). Those are impossible to miss and were always monopolized by specific trend setting institutions, but always by the time it gets to that point, the actual initial counter- or sub-culture that inspired it has already been coopted and has started to disintegrate under the weight and attention of mass consumption.

@ruffianbandwidth

Feb 18, 2024

Rec

⭐

When your cat crosses his paws like a perfect little gentleman

It's an action deserving of its own nickname. My cat's name is Gomez, but when he crosses his paws like this, he turns into Hodgkins Plumpersocks.

@ruffianbandwidth

Feb 2, 2024

Rec

🎨

Hair is an underappreciated art form (pt. Vii)

Please enjoy my attempt(s) to fill the void.
title: "pet; owner" medium: hair

@ruffianbandwidth

Jan 30, 2024