[Wot-l] New here...

[Terez]

Hey Chris,

I've got good news for you.  You don't actually need any background to start
the series, but if you haven't gotten past the first few pages, you wouldn't
know that.  The prologue of The Eye of the World, "Dragonmount", is set
about 3500 years before the story begins.  It's a rather short prologue, and
it's not really necessary to know the backstory.  Just remember what you can
of it - the details of that event will be enlightened fairly thoroughly as
the series goes on.

Chapter One is set in the present, and from that point on, it's a nice, slow
world-building and character-building process.  You'll have all the details
that you need as you go, save for the few mysteries RJ plants along the way
that give you something to wonder about.

You're not the only one I've heard of that couldn't get past the prologue of
the first book - I've known of a few people that have only read the series
because they skipped it.  So if you want to skip to the beginning of Chapter
One, just remember to look back at "Dragonmount" once you know more about
who Lews Therin Kinslayer, Ilyena and Ishamael are.  :)

Also, there are some amazing companions to the Wheel of Time on the web, and
there is also a guide book that has been published by RJ, but I wouldn't
recommend perusing them until you've read the books, because much of the
plot will be spoiled for you.  You don't really need any of it to get
started on the series, though.

Happy reading,

Terez

On Sun, Mar 2, 2008 at 6:07 PM, Chris Johnson <chrisj80 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> My name is Chris.  I'm from Montana.  I just joined this list because I
> have tried to get into reading Eye of the World (and, eventually the rest of
> the WoT series) 3-4 times, and I just can't get past the first few pages.
> It's SO confusing because it starts right in the middle of a scene, and the
> characters, their history and their universe is already so established and
> complex.  Is there a reader's guide (a "WoT Companion," so to speak) or
> something out there to give me the background I need to start the series, or
> would the WoT Wiki site be my best bet?  I know Robert Jordan was planning
> an Encyclopedia before his death (which I just now read about, R.I.P.);
> that would've been perfect for me!
>
> I really want to get into--and enjoy--this series...it may sound cheesy
> and/or ignorant, but what first attracted me to EotW was 1) its cover
> (really beautiful and I could tell it was an adventure story, which I like);
> and 2) the thickness of the book:  something about LONG novels appeals to
> me; I prefer sweeping saga-like stories over the short and sweet variety.
> Not necessarily drawn-out, slow-paced books (*ugh*), but books that really
> DEVELOP stories and characters.   Nothing irks me more than really getting
> into a book and then being left at the end, hungry for what happens next!
>
> So anyway, hopefully you guys can help me out and get me hooked on Wot!
> *fingers crossed*
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
> _______________________________________________
> wot-l mailing list
> wot-l at wikia.com
> http://lists.wikia.com/mailman/listinfo/wot-l
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.wikia.com/pipermail/wot-l/attachments/20080302/8f91ae04/attachment-0002.html