400 Days, 4.4 Million Words: Why You Should Read The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (Spoiler-Free)

the wheel of time turns and ages come and pass leaving memories that become legend legends fade to myth and even the myth is long forgotten when the age that gave it birth comes again in one age called the third age by some an age yet to come and an age long pass a wind grows in the mountains of mists [Music] the wind was not beginning there are neither beginnings or endings of the turning of the wheel time but it was a beginning [Music] [Music] 400 days 13 months 15 books 4.4 million words and 38 videos when I began my will of time journey just over a year ago I didn't think I'd ever reach the end now that it's over the question I get the most is should I read it listen to my journey and decide for yourself [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] hey what's up wheelies and dark friends Mike here one more time to tell you about the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan now if this is your first time cash in channel I have covered the wheel of time from beginning to end starting all the way back last year in April when I did my why I decided to read The Wheel of Time and I all the way through I decided I want to take a quick little break after I finish the last book and just kind of let it all marinate before I kind of did my reflection video is what this is is it's kind of more talk about my journey but I'm also kind of tying it into a series that doing this channel called why you should read or why I decided to read it's really a non-spoiler kind of deal to kind of help people who are on the fence about deciding if something is worth reading or not you just can I tell them what I made what the book maybe feel like what I thought were its redeeming qualities and why you should check it out with you know depending on how you feel about what I tell you so it is as much a sell job as they tell you kind of what my journey was like and for that let's sum it up by looking at my before and after let's let that tell the story so let's take a look back now if you're watching this you either are already a fan of Robert Jordans Wheel of Time or you're like me you were interested in starting the Wheel of Time you look at the series and you see this just 14 tomes if there's filled with walls of text with thousands and I do mean thousands of characters and locations and lore that makes Game of Thrones look minuscule by comparison and you think this might be a little too much I've already I planned on just recording like a video diary for each book to kind of just put like a one long video together of my journey through wheel of time because this fan community is huge and they love they love to talk to noobs that are reading this series for the first time they love to just to see their their experience so I thought I was gonna do that record 14 put them all together and recruit and just release one long video with all of them I'd realized now that video is probably gonna be too long so I am going to do one for each book this is an incredible ride ups and downs I'm not gonna be hitting here I'm not one of those who's going to tell you this is the greatest thing ever written you're gonna love every minute of it this is my first reading there's that many of these multiple rereads like a lot of people who say that and I'm sure if you have the time or desire to do that you will catch a lot of stuff because the foreshadowing is in the first book in this series can't really say much more than that it was about the journey and it was worth it it was worth taking it was worth making and I'm glad that Robert Jordan made this journey for us to experience because it is every bit as good as you've heard if you just commit to it and take your time like I did 400 days ended up being exactly 400 days from when I first started the prologue of I of the world to the epilogue of a memory light and it was a blast quite a difference from the beginning and the end right and as you can see you come through on the other side kind of changed just a little bit so now that I've gotten that out of the way we're gonna do my usual format with these reviews which is what I do is I tell you what it is about what makes it good or bad and why you should read it and usually at the end I do spoilers but I'm not gonna do that and I'll tell you why when I get there but let's kick it off with what is it about Robert Jordan himself once described this series as what would it be like to be tapped on the shoulder and be told you we're gonna save the world but you're also going to destroy it that right there is enough to get me a try any traditional fantasy story modern or traditional it doesn't matter I'll give it a try just based off of that right there because while some things may be considered tropes that's something I'll always be able to get behind right there so talking about what this series is about and this is gonna be as non-spoiler as possible so if it seems really vague because you've read it it's meant to be vague okay I'm trying to get new people to read this series and by doing that I got to tell you that the dark one this is the embodiment of all evil he is close to breaking free from his prison from a previous age now the protagonist of our story I'm not gonna tell you who that is but he learns that he is the reincarnation of the world's Messiah and he is destined once again to try and stop the dark one now in this world things are very much under the social system of a matriarchy the use of magic which is known as channeling I it's forbidden to be used by men and it's for reasons that are kind of detailed in the prologue of the very first book which at first you might be like what's going on here but it kind of explains why men are not allowed to use channeling or magic in this world and this means that the women who can channel are sent to the White Tower and taller valen to receive training to become an ice ax die and this is why I sad I basically run things in this set of the world and I think I think the Bene Jesuit from doing about how they're kind of they're the ones running the show and it's just kind of a similar form here and it's something that I think just about anybody could probably get behind now there's sections of the I sad I who are basically tasked with hunting down and doing what is known as and gentling or stilling these men who were channeling basically look at it as kind of like castrating neutering that's how you would like to kind of look at it they brood move their ability to use magic so that's kind of what their thing is but they want to hunt down especially these ones that become dangerous and they start to think that they are this mythical Dragon Reborn Messiah and you know try to stop them from causing havoc so it's one of those kind of things and you can see uh parallels to religion and things like that and it makes a lot of sense but the protagonist of our story as well as a group of his friends from you know the from his home they set out on a quest to seize his destiny just you know nothing you haven't ever heard of before but there are many twists and turns along the way so along the way they do split off into different groups they face different different obstacles different enemies both on the side of the Dark One in ones that are on the side of humanity or at least we think they are leading up to a prophesized battle that will decide the fate of this turning of the wheel so that's about as vague as I can make a 14 book 4.4 million word series sound and that is intentional but that moves us into what makes it good or bad now with most of these things I'm usually going to tell you this is why I think it's or this is why I would say skip it this the part where I feel like you're gonna have to make up your own mind because whether you got a series this long that are balanced to be ups and downs and this series does have both of those I'm not going to lie to you here I I had a great time with this series but there were some struggle points but they're also the highest of highs that maybe think I've never read anything that's brilliant before so yeah there's gonna be some times where you think I don't know what I'm doing here or there signs are like I can't believe I weigh this long to read it so I think this one's gonna kind of depend on the readers can depend on what you are looking for well i'ma tell you is how what worked for me here it had the ups and downs in spades but for me the good vastly outweighed the bad and the first thing I want to bring up is the fandom now you wouldn't think that would be anything of importance when reading a book series is the the the established fandom for me this is without a doubt the best fandom I have ever interacted with I deal with a lot of series you can see back here when I make videos about those it's it's kind of met with a new wave of fans that either appreciate the way I'm covering the series or they're very vocal about how they do not like how I'm covering series because I don't think the same way that they do with Willett I'm fans I have learned that they love to watch someone else experience this series for the first time see what they pick up see what they don't and just kind of be along their the journey and they are so good about not spoiling anything I want to tell you that this channel didn't exist before I covered will a time I really originally has set out to just kind of do like some video diaries like I said in that that old video and it ended up evolving into this so I'm always going to be very very nostalgic for this series not only because it helped build this channel but because it is an incredible journey as well and interacting with those fans the whole way made this journey so much more fun than just trying to talk to my wife about it who was this like I'm not gonna read anything that long shut up you know so it really believed did help but again as of today you wouldn't think that there was no as fan base as established of this for a fantasy series quite like some like Laurel the Rings but as of today this has had no live-action adaptation yes the TV series is supposed to come out sometime you know if they've been a production that got shut off because of the whole you know the the madness that's going on around the globe right now but you wouldn't think that this fanbase is that large but this is the most large and established and passionate fan base and a fancy media I found besides talking before the besides Lord the ring so if you don't think that this fanbase is larger insane I had no idea there were this many wheelies as I called him much too uh I should their chagrin I liked their our term wheelies I think it's a term of affection so uh yeah but they Willie's made this journey a blast for me because like I said they love to just watch someone else experience it for the first time and I didn't have a single one of them spoil anything for me along the way and by the end of this I was having four or five hundred comments on each video and none of them were spoiling anything for me so that is a just a hat tip to the fan of their that that is a very big part of what makes this series good is the fandom is there for you if you need help they will not spoil anything for you but all I'll say is do not google anything because you will get spoiled now actually for the actual book Robert Jordans gift of writing has to be up top I think mr. Jordan was one of the greatest writers we have ever had on this planet and that's both good and bad they can tend to get a little long-winded at times I can do the same when I'm talking right but this is evidenced by kind of how massive this series grew you know before his untimely death you can find all quotes where he talked about how he planned on wrapping the series up in seven or eight books you know before the eventual 1214 David I mean he would originally had planned for 12 to be the last one even if it was like this big we know now that brainless Anderson had to break those into three books for reasons I don't want to get into that is wildly debated among the fan and was that something that the publisher made him do was that something that he did was that saying I don't know I haven't researched all that stuff so I don't have an answer for you but if you are into world-building if you're into description of every might new detail within a world you'll be hard for us to find anyone that was better than mr. Jordan at this if you want to know everything about a dress that the character is wearing Jordan is your man now the characters are obviously a highlight here however there are two thousand seven hundred and eighty two distinctly named characters in this series but before you're like okay I'm out I'd argue there are only six primary characters here maybe five you got Randy got paired he got going he got Matt you got nine Eve and then he had maybe Elaine and I say maybe because she's only the only one of that that is it with that group at the beginning of the story the rest are there from the beginning so that's why I say maybe but she gets just as much page time as some of those characters juice that's why I'm gonna include her in the main six here but the the secondary characters get plenty of page time in here just not maybe not from point-of-view perspective but there's a lot that are there there are ever-present the entire series from go so there are a lot of characters here but as serious as long you're gonna find some characters that you love and some characters that you do not love not every story arc is going to work for you there's one big one that didn't work for me got a lot of lash back for it but that's okay I feel like everyone's going to experience this a little differently some characters arcs I didn't like other big book tubers have loved it just happens that way a story that's this vast I feel like it's not gonna hit everyone the same way and that is a positive that it's not a negative a story that's big with this many characters no two people on the planet are gonna enjoy it the exact same way you're gonna find specific points specific character specific locations specific little story arcs that you're going to click with more than the next person or might not click with you as much as a different movie that's what makes this story great there's something for everyone here but that's okay it's it's a cast as large you're gonna find someone that you identify with and you're gonna find yourself rooting for them or you're gonna be rooting against them I mean to me that's not always a negative thing if there are characters that you love to hate to me that just means that the author is doing something right because they're getting a reaction out of you the worst thing they can get out of you is indifference okay another one is the politics are highly immersive especially to day when folks have really cranked the gender politics up to 11 I certainly think that you'll find plenty here as the the divide between men and women is front and center in a story and Jordan flips the usual gender roles on their heads including abuse rape violence many other topics that political nuts of today will find intriguing and will completely eat up and they will think hey this is kind of something that I can talk about and put into today's you know hot plate discussions if that's something you're into awesome I think that you probably like that I like to keep my fantasy in my real world separatin but I don't ever feel like that took me out of the story at all so I mean this was written mostly in the 90s in the early 2000s so I don't think there's anything like that but you're trying to think but if you're looking for it you'll find it there but the idea that this has all happened before and will all happen again kind of thing kind of that Cylon Battlestar Gallactica thing that I like there based on the religious philosophies of Hinduism Buddhism and in others that regard time as cyclical and consists of repeating ages that is very much front center here in it is absolutely just fascinating to me I eat stuff like that up you know all the time like this is just you know a turning of the wheel you know if it goes this way this time it doesn't matter I'll get him next time kind of thing that's it really puts high stakes on everything in a way that I've never seen before so I love the idea of thinking hey this is all kind of happened a different way last time and it'll happen a different way next time it's just compelling to me I love stuff like that let's get into the big one why you should read it I said the beginning it is the journey in a series of long you will have those moments where you think you know you've never read anything better you'll also have those moments we were questioned if you can continue on you really will start to question your sanity at some points you'll find yourself laughing you'll find yourself crying with these characters while also wondering what in the world were the last 200 pages I read supposed to be all about but in the end if you're patient if you take your time you don't have to speed read these guys it took me 13 months to do this 400 days I took to do this took a large break between book six and seven just to refresh my batteries in the end if you're patient you take your time you're gonna find everything about this journey incredibly satisfying and to a point that when it ends you'll be suffering from the same profound sense of loss that I had because these characters will feel like your friends your family by the end for the Rings was probably the only ending that ever wrecked me as bad as this one did just because you know you've went on this journey to hell them back with these characters and then it's just gone it's just over and you don't know how to cope it's just over and you know Lord the Rings is my favorite journey of all time and that's three books you know this is 14 so while it might seem seem you know way more drawn-out and more - there's also more characters there's also more locations so I'm not going to do a one to one comparison of this in Lord of the Rings I'm just saying the reason I'm making that comparison is because Lord the Rings is my favorite series of all time and this is the only one that kind of got that emotional goodbye from me at the end much like the Lord of the Rings and that's no small feat it's considered by many to be the fantasy epic of our generation much like talking was for our parents or our grandparents you know it it's something that I think you're gonna be hard-pressed to find another fantasy world written within the last thirty years that's as in-depth and as lived in as this one feels I feel like only tokens been able to do it as good and is it just because the length you know Jordan hits all the right notes about those who carry on about how much they love world building and fantasy you're gonna be right at home here you're gonna have a great time and I don't think that you're gonna find another world as developed as this one ins as high functioning as this one feels but I I've joked before that reading and completing the Wheel of Time kind of feels like getting your bachelor's degree in epic fantasy alright because it seems like the list of people who have started this series and finished it that's much smaller than the group of folks who have started it enough and I've found so many people who flamed out in certain parts and the biggest most annoying thing about this fanbase and I just said how much I love this fanbase but the most annoying thing that I wish they would stop doing it's telling people oh well book seven through ten are super slow stop you're not gonna get anyone to read this series if you tell them that four giant tomes and the Miller series are slow yes they're different yes the story does go through a transitional period through the middle but stop telling them that they're boring there was a slog as they like to call it anyway that's kind of off of off of the task here but uh basically the sense of accomplishment did you feel when you get through this it isn't anything to gloat about but it certainly feels like completing a quest of your own maybe it's because I was I did go back to school at a later age and I did complete this complete the last book right before I took my last finals do to earn my bachelor's so maybe that's why I make that comparison there but it does it's an overwhelming sense of accomplishment that I feel like you'll get when you finish this but I mean in the end the main reason why you should read this man is it's a classic it is now a classic that I think students will be stuttering studying story will be studying in literature classes someday much like they do talking though and that's no small feat I think you owe it to yourself to read a phenomenal series like this so like me you can have an incredibly faithful phantom telling you that you have to reread the series as soon as you complete it but in for real though it is a journey worth taking and I feel like you will feel like it was worth your time if you make it through the whole thing but again I think if the thing readers these days is we live in a binge society now people Benj their TV shows they binge albums from new bands that they like things like that I think that this is not a binge series you read a few you take a break you read if you take a break you read other things if you just try to read fourteen fifteen if you count NewSpring you try to read fifteen of these in a row you'll probably get burned out it's a lot and I I mean I'm only speaking from my experience here my part of the journey was taking breaks and I thought that helped a lot for me because I took that break between the Lord of Chaos and Crown stores because I got worn so much about that slog through 7:10 to people just flat-out spooked me over it and I what that help do is it helped me to recharge my batteries and get that energy back that I felt like got burned out a little bit in books five and six in some places and I have really helped me I really have me so I tell you take your time you don't need to do more than one book a month for this if that I mean some people think that that's reading too fast doing a book a month or whatever but I think if you're a cosmic epic fantasy reader you're used to the big tomes to read and stuff like that you probably have a pretty lengthy reading pace or you listen to audiobooks I don't listen to the audio books but I'll go ahead and put that in there for why you should read slash listen to it everyone comments on my videos about how incredible the audiobooks are for these so I don't know I can't attest to that I haven't listened to them but they are we're very very highly regarded so if that's the kind of listen you want to go to apparently apparently that's something that is very very much in your wheelhouse and you probably could just do 14 um in a row like if you have a long commute or something like that anyhow for me I think it's a journey very much worth taking and I hope that you would know this is the part where I would usually get into spoilers but I'm not gonna do that here because if you want spoilers I have spoiler reviews for every single book on the channel including new spring I even did like wish list for something you want like something a transitionary period between each book I've had people come on this channel and tell me I'm so glad I finished blank book because I get to watch the review and your wish list for the next book and see if we're kind of thinking on the same wavelength year that is the most flattering thing I've ever heard that is amazing I have people that they're so excited to finish a book so they can watch my review on it that's great I hope that some people enjoy the ride as much as I did and you know just because you're critical on something because I know some people like towards the end I got critical on a few things and a lot of people who'd been with me since the beginning started getting a little sassy about it and that's okay that's okay this channel has always been about being okay with disagreeing I don't have a problem with that I think that constructive criticism is good and your constructive criticism to be had with this series but um if you watch those reviews you'll get a good view also of how this channel has grown over that time in the 400 days both in content and production quality as you saw with those older videos I flashed up earlier you know I was basically started this channel working off of an old webcam and a basically a headset microphone so uh things have changed very much but we'll the time I want to think it not only for help me build this channel into what it is today but also I want to thank mr. Jordan for the trip that he took beyond through these 4.4 million words and if you read it I think you're gonna feel the same way so guys piece a favor your sword and let the dragon write again on the winds of time enjoy the read [Music]

Channel: Mike's Book Reviews

Views: 149,559

Keywords: Review, Reaction, Reading, Books, recap, robert jordan, wheel of time, wot, fantasy, books, reading, book reviews, rand althor, dragon reborn, aes sedai, aiel, path of daggers, winters heart, crossroads of twilight, knife of dreams, new spring, the slog, eye of the world, great hunt, shadow rising, fires of heaven, lord of chaos, crown of swords, gathering storm, towers of midnight, memory of light, brandon sanderson, why you should read, recommendation

Id: A9411QooJ7M

Length: 25min 45sec (1545 seconds)

Published: Wed May 20 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/GlacindaTheTroll]

Love Mike's channel, thanks for posting this! I'm currently reading WoT for the first time (almost done with Knife of Dreams) and I really enjoy watching his review videos afterwards. As for the series itself, it really has been an enjoyable journey, with lots of ups and downs (mostly ups), but I'm very much looking forward to seeing how all this ends in the last three books. It's not a series for everyone, but it really clicked with me and has become one of my favorite series of all time.

[u/Kacims]

I first read (or rather listened to) Wheel of Time a few years ago when I had gotten a job that let me listen to audiobooks while working. I ended up finishing the series in a little over three months just going from one book to the next, reading nothing else in between. While I definitely liked it a lot, I strongly agree with the reviewer that you should take a break sometime after Lord of Chaos to kind of recharge and avoid burnout, as there were times around Crossroad's of Twilight that I felt I'd never finish the series. Listening to that book at times 2.1 speed did admitaddly help a lot in getting through it.

However I'm very much glad I stuck with it, as the final book, Memory of Light is probably my favourite of all of them and one of my favourite fantasy books ever.

[u/Zepp1978]

Hey, thanks for the shout out and the kind words (I'm Mike, btw). Glad you guys mostly enjoyed it. It was a fun trip through Randland with an incredible fan community.

[u/Yunie241]

Mike’s channel is amazing! I particularly love how open he is to debate when people disagree with him. He never speaks down to people who don’t agree with him.

I hope to give WoT a chance in the near future. I’m making catching up with the Cosmere my main 2020 goal, so it may wait until 2021. We shall see how much time I spend stuck in my house in the coming months.

[u/Nanderson423]

I started the series when the quarantine started. It was mostly just reading, but now I have moved to a mix of audiobooks (which are amazing) and also reading.

...I am currently on book 10.

[u/McMurry]

I just cant. I get into the middle books worth of bureaucratic insanity and I just cant...

[u/xRebirthx]

The wheel of time was and remains one of my favorite book series of all time. They're not without their faults, and while I think Sanderson did an admirable job finishing the series, I do think there were some characterization choices that I disagree with(Elayne, Gawyn, Mat, Egwene to name a few). Even with all of that said, I recently went back and did a re-read of the entire series from start to finish, and it still holds up. There is the slow section in the middle with Winters Heart and Crossroads of Twilight, but I still found them interesting overall. If they were to do an Age of Legends prequel or a sequel following the main characters in the future i'd read them in a heartbeat.

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Everyone has their own tastes and preferences in what they like to read, so its okay if you don't like them, but I dont hesitate to recommend them to any Fantasy reader. Especially if they're in the eternal wait purgatory for GRRM or Rothsfus or Lynch. Reading through the books will break off a good solid chunk of months in that wait.

[u/aquavenatus]

Kudos on the achievement!!! Will you do the same for Steven Erickson?

[u/ak2themax]

So glad this is getting love here. Mike's channel is one of the best on the web and this journey was amazing. Really cannot recommend subscribing and watching his other content either. He's open-minded and refuses to just love or hate a series just because the fantasy community loves or hates it. He forms his own opinions but never dismisses yours.