The Wheel of Time Spoiler Free Series Review 

You should recommend this series to Daniel Greene I think he'd like it.

Merphy: "The cast is HUGE. There are something like 25.." Me: Oh, that's not too bad. Merphy: "...hundred characters" Me: *surprised pikachu face*

"read it with someone" bold of you to assume i have friends

"Even after reading through all of it, I still am not sure if they are worth reading..." *𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒍 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕*

You finish reading Wheel of Time, walks blandly across the room, a voice asks: - What happened? You stare dramatically at the person. - *Braids were tugged*

First time reader of the series here. I'm on book #6, approximately halfway through. The lack of communication is KILLING me. I want to shake pretty much everyone.

Fun fact. Braids are tugged 60 times. 20 of those tugs were in book 3.

I don't know how many people smiled without it reaching his or her eyes.

The recapping of the series becomes less intense after book 7 which was released in 1996 when the internet wasn't fully mainstream yet. Prior to the explosion of Amazon, lots of brick and mortar bookstores didn't carry every book in a series and most people would just read whatever was available, which is why RJ did such intense recapping, it wasn't just to remind readers but some of those readers were brand new or missed a number of books.

I honestly found that the "slog" was much easier to get through with the audio books. Michael Kramer and Kate reading do an amazing job and reading this entire series.

Just started book 1. Man, that was one hell of a prologue!!

The braid pulling is basically one character that I always took as a signature quirk no different then a couple of characters martyr complex or a couple of other's fascination with cursing. I also thought it was a literary tool to show that no matter what changed about and around her she remained who she started as at her core. Just a better version as the books went on.

I am tugging my braids and smoothing my skirts indignantly at your claim that Jordan's writing style is repetitive! Edit: Just wanted to add that Nynaeve is life and I hope you make a character tier soon with her in her own tier.

I think the repetitive style can be good for someone like me, who tends to forget or not notice things unless they come up more than once

Its impossible to really express how much this series means to me.

Merphy's spoiler free reviews are just the best, thank you for introducing us to so many good books♥️♥️

Honestly, I think people only struggle with 'the slog' because they expect it to be a slog. I went into the series blind, not knowing I was supposed to struggle through books x-y, and I had no trouble at all. There was no slog for me. I accepted Jordan's writing style (very character driven, arcs are set across multiple books) and saw each and every page for the valuable information it gave, not skimming, not rolling my eyes and thinking 'these are the books people say are hard to get through, and I have four more bad books to go' WITHOUT HAVING EVEN STARTED THOSE BOOKS. When you go into a book expecting it to be a slog, it will be. So for those of us who have already read the series, for the love of the light, DO NOT INTRODUCE SOMEONE TO THE SERIES AND TELL THEM THERE IS A SLOG THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO 'GET THROUGH' BEFORE IT 'GETS GOOD AGAIN'!!!!!! Let them read the series and come to their own conclusions.

The best advice I can give someone who thinks they might enjoy this but are hesitating because of some of the negatives, is *_try the audiobook._* In my opinion the audiobook solves many of the problems; for me, the repetitive descriptions became pleasant ambiance, it kept me pushing through the slog at a steady pace so it took no time at all, and it made so I was never bored while driving or working out for about a year. Besides, Michael Kramer and Kate Redding are simply amazing narrators.

I think robert jordan's repetitive writing style is actually beneficial to me as a reader. I have an incredibly poor memory, so the more annoying braid pulling and arm crossing is something I naturally disregard over the course of a couple pages, as prevalent as it is. As for the repeating of story elements, I actually really appreciate it because I will totally forget important plot points and thankfully jordan will mention it somewhere else further along, personally this helps me pay attention to the story and push forward.

You should get together with Daniel, Elliot and Mike's books reviews to have a 2 hour stream to discuss the series I'm sure there would be a lot of buy in

No matter what the best(and cutest) thing in merphy's vlogs is : Sorry my battery just died.

Having gone through this series multiple times, there is STILL foreshadowing that I become newly aware of. It makes me happy that you enjoyed it, and I understand it not being your favorite. May you always find water and shade.

Brandon Sanderson just called out your first con literally verbatim when he was talking during a livestream. Sounds like he’s a fan 😀

I and a friend read this series together in high school and we didn't even notice the slog, but we were two of those that read the books while they were published, so every new book felt like an amazing gift.

Just stopping by as I do my pre-live action series re-read. Thanks for video, it helps keep me motivated to keep working my through this monstrosity of a series. My last time through was for book 14, and by then it was more of just kind of a skim-through. Since I don't have anyone in my local circle of friends who read fantasy, it is nice to come across channels and videos like these to help out my own thought processes as I chew through all the ideas going through my head.

Thank you for this great review! You're videos have definitely made me interested in reading this series so it was great to hear some pros and cons laid out to help me decide (still a bit on the fence but a little closer to maybe haha) Thanks!

I'm on book six and I often feel eager to be finished so I can move on to other series, but I know I'm gonna be devastated when it's all over. I've read this series (almost) every day for the past 5ish months, I've never poured so much time into any kind of media, and I can't imagine not having more to look forward too.

I'd read this books in my teenage years, and to me this books are like a dear childhood friend who surely has some quirks and tics, and you sometimes have to listen them repeat themselves a bit, and their view on this one topic grates you, but who's at the same time so incredibly _interesting_ to hang out with, and so insightful, and sometimes funny, and has this awesome stories, and whose early influence you can see in your actions to this day.

Listening on audiobook is the best cure for 'the slog'.

Started reading the series 25 years ago. Finally got a chance to reread the entire series and finish it yesterday. Certainly my favourite fantasy series of all time. The miscommunication and mistrust between characters really sell the characters for me, they behave exactly as I have found people do in life I'm sad to say - even among friends. The is doubly true whenever anyone gets into a position that in any way smacks of authority over others. Speaking of smacking, found myself wondering at times if Jordan wasn't harbouring a fetish. Man, I have never seen books with more thrashings, switching, paddling, flogging, strapping and people put over peoples knees in my life. By God, but these are books in love with corporal punishment and humiliation 😜

I highly suggest listening to the series as well. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading does such a fantastic job with these books and it brings a whole new element to them. It also makes it easier to get through the “slog”

“Nynaeve crosses her arms under her breasts and tugs hard on her braid at the same time somehow”

I'm really excited for the Amazon Prime adaptation. I've been in love with Rosamund Pike since she played Jane Bennett in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice.

I've completed the first book in like two days and was so full of emotions that I've decided to take a little break before the second. This series is my favourite already, absolutely love it.

Great summary. Happy to have you in the family! ❤️

I am in book 2 and so far I love it! Finished book 1 in less that a week, I was hooked.

I love this review! I started this series when 8 of the books were written and had to wait out the rest, what a SLOG that was. I hated waiting for the next book and then long behold it was during the slow story building portion of the series. But it was well worth the wait! I finished the book fourteen a couple weeks after it’s release and put the series down, then i got into Audible and downloaded one book after the next. It was a wholly different experience because not only did i have the “reread” aspect but things seemed to move faster and details really came to life hearing it. While the audio books have their own things, i found the pacing was much better and i was able to keep track of characters with much more ease. Give them a try if you ever want to delve back into this incredible series. ( and Sanderson is an absolute boss! Rhythm of War!!)

Wow - the weather there looks stunning, so jealous as we enter winter here in Melbourne Australia. Thanks so much for the review!

Great review, I've been through the series twice and it has to be my favorite. For people reading first time through, the Wheel of Time Subreddit has a great community that is very conscious of spoilers and will help to answer questions you may have

Around book 6 when all the political stuff started to happen, I realized that I'm not gonna be able to memorize most of those names or who they're affiliated to, or where they're currently located. So I had to start a chart where I wrote where everyone is, who these people are affiliated to. That list is so long now, around the last 3-4 books I just gave up on constantly shifting names of where everyone is located, I just used the list to keep track of who was still alive and who was dead.

I mean, the women vs men thing can actually be seen as a trope in of itself, and in WoT it's like a reversal. Because in Abrahamic religious mythos, which are big foundations to a lot of cultures, women "broke the world" through Eve and the serpent, and it is argued that a lot of the sexism that permeates society is based on that, so in WoT, it makes a lot of sense, because the Breaking happened "recently" (3k years is small in context), so it's like an open gaping wound, which would explain the divide. Also, I kinda feel like Jordan was trying to communicate sexism to he's mostly male fanbase, like "See this? This is how you sound talking to women. Stop it."

I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this series, and I appreciate you doing a spoiler free review, that is so difficult to do for a series! I have only read the first book, and honestly struggled through it a lot, but I definitely want to try again and commit to it. It’s such an important fantasy series, I know I would not regret reading it. I’m glad to know some of it’s flaws ahead of time, so I can know what to push through and what to look forward to. Great review!

I have just started this series. I have been listening to the audio book while working and sometimes I'll pick it back up on my e-reader. I can already feel it in my bones how excited I am to read it and literally what you are describing is what I am most excited to experience. I wanted something like this in my life and I cannot even begin to express my excitement to get into it.

I still remember my sister recommending WOT to me when I was 14. She stopped at the beginning of the Slog, so I finished the series before her. Later I was at another sister's birthday party, but the sister who recommended WOT brought our friend Lincoln, who had finished WOT. This was the 1st time I'd seen him since I finished WOT and as soon as we saw each other we just nodded at each other and began going over to one side of the party. My sister tried to follow but we told her we were going to talk about WOT... you'd think that would've encouraged her to finish it. Now with the series coming out next month, she's finally putting her nose to the grindstone. After I finished the final book... I felt empty... depressed even... it was over... the time I spent reading it every day? What would I do now? It was truly one of the most bittersweet endings I had ever read.

At the behest of my friends, I've finally started the Wheel of Time. I'm about 30% done with the first book, and so far I'm enjoying it. It's still a bit daunting that this is a 14 book series, and none of them are short, but I'm looking forward to completing it.

Thank you for your explanation. I'm reading them for years and I love them. Thank you for your time

This was a great review, and it pushed me to add this series to my TBR!

I didn't struggle with the "slog" so much as I struggled with one or two storylines in those books. Overall those books setup what is an amazing run through the last five books.

Thank you Merphy for an excellent and, IMO, what seems to be a balanced review. Myself, I have been thinking about reading some fantasy, and your video helps me to decide on which ones.

This is a fantastic review. Finished the series today and you hit the nail on the head with your points!

That’s an awesome little jingle at the end of your videos. I hum it around the house sometimes

I felt such a huge accomplishment when I finished the WoT. I look at those fourteen books sitting on my shelves and wonder if I'll do a complete re-read any time soon. I've reread the first 11 books once already before reading the final three books (I waited until I had all three because I got tired of the wait game lol). Maybe I'll endeavor into a reread when my kiddo is old enough for it! And, the fandom is pretty awesome! :)

Oh, I thought I was having trouble keeping up because I was listening to the audiobook. So apparently, most people feel the same way! I still want to continue, though. I just finished the first book. But although I got lost in some parts, I still think the world building and the lore are quite charming :) It was charming right from the prologue up to the end! 🥰

So glad you went through with it.I hope once you decide well if you decide to do a re-read you post it and engage more with the fandom since spoilers can't hurt you anymore.Plus can't wait for New Spring review.

So glad you made it. Loved your reaction to the overall story.

Great spoiler free review Merphy! I just finished Eye of the World for the first time and really liked your thoughts in that book review as well. The WoT community seems fantastic and I'm excited to continue on this journey. Will you be doing any other WoT-related content?

Ah! I've actually got the first 3 books in this series! I read the first all the way back in high school. And I never got around to finishing book 2 but I'm working on starting the series over and intend to get through all of them this time around

That raised deck looking out over some woods with the birds chirping in the background looks like a great place to sit down and read some WoT.

Thank you for this honest review. I am on book four of the reread.

Currently going through the series and on the third book. If there is something I like so far is that you are on your toes the whole time trying to think who could be the bad guys. I am getting really paranoid thinking everyone is bad and I love it.

I'm so happy you made this video, especially since I am starting the WoT by Saturday. You addressed the biggest issue I know going into the series I will probably have (the female/male treatment of each other) so the fact that you had little issue with it by the end makes me feel better about it going in! I plan to watch your review videos as I finish the books, which I am hoping will help with "The Slog" part of the series. I'm also happy that you ended it with a positive note, which also makes me feel better about committing to such a long series now.

Great fair review! It's my favorite book series and I totally agree with all your "pros" and I understand your "cons" (though they didn't bother me as much). I'm glad you ultimately liked and appreciated the series as a whole!

Love hearing your thoughts. I am on book 4 inspired by you and Daniel talking on it

This may sound weird to most folks but, I watched a spoiler video Before each book I read. I want to know how the story goes as a whole before i start reading, that way i can set the imagination for the story and the world better in my mind and see the journey it takes to get there. It also helps me to not have to re-read because i can pick out the subtleties the first time through, which to me makes each book just that much more interesting. I think that's why I didn't see so much of a slog in the later books, (maybe 8,9,and 10 or whatever it was), as most people did. The nuance wasn't lost to me. The Wheel of Time was awesome by any measure to me.

Hello, I haven’t read WoT but this will probably give me a reason to want to read it

Loved your review! I am on my first re-read (currently finishing #9) and you've basically put all of my own thoughts into words. Even with the many downsides, the payoff is just too good.

I've wanted to read this series for a long time, but was somewhat intimidated by the sheer size. Your video really makes me want to finally commit to it, thank you!

RJ designed this series to absolutely to be reread over and over. Love it

I needed this I just started reading and didn't want any spoilers but still wanted to hear your opinion on the series

Can I just say that you saying that it took you over a year made me feel that much better. I watch Daniel Greene's vids and I feel like he reads super fast, whereas I take longer sometimes, especially since I only get to read on Saturdays for the most part

I really appreciate your review of this! Many of the issues you brought up are issues I am also having with the series (in the middle of book 4, atm). The MANY conflicts caused by misinformation or misunderstanding grate at me. Despite the frustration I feel at times that make me question if I should continue, there are moments that just WOW me, so I know I will finish the series. Someday. Again, thank you for sharing both the PROS and CONS!

I just finished book 7 and I must say there is a definite dip in enjoyment.

I've read through wheel of Time so many times I broke all my paper backs, whoops, if you want another really long series I really recommend the spellmonger series currently eleven books in and the author is planning on keeping going for awhile

thank you! just started the first book. subbed!

First one of your videos I've been able to watch since March. X.x It feels great to be back. XD

You can hear the police helicopters coming halfway into the vid to arrest her for criticising the book

This was the most conflicting reading experience I've had. On one had, the twists on the typical chosen one and fantasy trappings was very refreshing. It was an awesome world and really cool magic system. On the down side, there are (if I'm being nice) at least three books you could cut out of this series. Jordan let's his cast get so big that some books basically just check in with each character and hardly advance the plot. And yeah, his writing style is super repetitive. Honestly though, I'm really interested to see this series adapted because I think it would be massively helped by being limited to say, seven seasons, and have people go through the books with a hacksaw to condense and focus the narrative.

Thanks so much for a fair review of one of my favorite works. I was part of the fandom that had to wait book to book, and I was part of the online administration for one of the early internet fan chat sites over Telnet, called a MUSH - Multi-User Shared Hallucination. Fully text-based game, way early precursor to the MMORPGS today, I guess. Anyway, it was called Tales of Ta'Veren MUSH, version II. My admin handle was 'Balefire', alongside Rhonda Peters, the author of the fanfic Wheel of Time Concordance, which was put together before the official encyclopedic works, back while Jordan was still writing Book IV. She was called Saidar, her coding partner Melissa Tabbifli was called Saidin. Anyway, to appreciate Jordan more, remember that Robert Jordan (James Rigney) was a veteran of the Vietnam War, and one of the things he was trying to convey were the horrors of war and the utter social chaos that armed conflicts cause in all areas of society. He also examines every trope and uses pop cultural references in a blender approach. It is very cool to pick through, I think, on re-reads, and examine just which historical mythology or real-earth reference he's pointing to with ruins from the Age of Legends, etc. He manages to steal a little bit from here and there, intentionally, and cobble it together into a sort of ur-mythology, and then projected it out into the One Power magic system. Your insights about picking up way more on the re-reads has been my experience. Don't be put off by the length of things or the breadth of the cast. Jordan was writing Jordan before George RR Martin set pen to paper for Game of Thrones. In the days before the internet when CGI was still being developed to modern standards of excellence and affordability, there was Robert Jordan, and other authors like him. We waited years, and we didn't mind, because we knew it would take years of rereads to digest what he was writing for us. A very different culture of reading expectations indeed. Working at Waldenbooks (ha ha) back in the day (or just watch Stranger Things) they were complaining that the modern fantasy novels were being printed in trade paperback wider than they were tall. If your new novel didn't weigh in somethere at least 3,500 pages long, did you even write one? A very, very different time, and a very, very different level of audience willingness to make long, in depth content commitments right out of the gate. Again, thanks for the fair review of his works, I agree 100% with everything you said, and hope you continue to enjoy Robert Jordan's literary masterpiece for years still to come! And a shout out to any other old farts still poking around out here from the MUSH telnet days.

Great review. I think I´m planning to read TWoT and it is real useful to have this info. Tanks a lot, Merphy.

I’ve read Wheel of Time 5 times all the way through and probably a like 10 times for the first 7 or 8 books. I’m ones of those people who enjoys ‘the slog’. It’s slow for sure and I’m usually pretty exhausted by then, but I still love every book of the series.

“False tension” perfect term

Just got to your channel.... Great video! Reading this series thanks to my cousin and I am almost done with book 7 .. Wish me luck on the slog!

I'm reading Winter's Heart now! I started reading the series back in 2017 and I've had to space it out because it's just so much information. I do plan on finishing it, though!

My brother read these books growing up, they were like his Harry Potter. Which is ironic because Harry Potter was coming out at the time but this was the book series he ended up becoming addicted and reading through. He’s been trying to get me to read it for years and honestly I feel like I’m probably old enough to comprehend it now, which sounds silly. But this seems like an amazing series.

Omg just as I'm about to start this series. This is a sign from the universe.

This is really helpful, and it’s making me want to check this out.

I'd never heard of twot before I found your and Daniels channels a few months ago, I just bought the first 5 books and I'm so excited to start reading them! But I'm trying to finish The Lies of Locke Lamora before I start a huge series.

There's a glossary at the back of each book that usually has any of the relevant characters/locations etc in each book

6:18 I saw that little kitty tail peep in on the left side!

I'd love to see a reread review series. If you're anything like me, you'll probably appreciate completely different characters with each read through, it's great

Your comment on reading all the books at once, or waiting for the next issue is spot on. I remember the anticipation of the next Harry Potter book. Today there is no sense of anticipation or suspense. They're all available to us

The real victim in the wheel of time is actually nynaeve's braid

It’s one of the best series I’ve read. I personally didn’t have a problem with repetitive aspect of writing tbh. Even if you’re reading the books continuously, it takes a while to finish each book (smallest book is at least 600 pages) and you end up forgetting some of the characters so the recap part is helpful. Re the braid tugging example, his writing style involves that level of detail. It’s vivid and you can exactly imagine how the characters are moving about and it’s almost like you’re there in person. So I personally didn’t have a problem with that. A good review though. To give a spoiler free review for such a huge series is pretty cool.

one of my friends is OBSESSED with this series. *things you do for friendship*

Started reading when my wife brought one home from the library in '97 or so. Read all available at the time and could not wait for the next one. Thought there would not be an ending when RJ passed away. Was thrilled when BS finished them. Definitely worth reading.

I finished A Memory of Light 2 days ago after about 3 years reading - I'm a slow reader and the slog took me a really long time to get through. My own thoughts are very much in line with your own. The character development is really something as there were characters I hated at the start and loved by the end. But Jordan's overly descriptive writing style is an acquired taste. As much as describing the buttons on a shirt in great detail helps with building the world and giving a sense of individuality, it can be extremely painful at times.

I'm about 20 chapters into the first audiobook and the two words that are stuck in my head are "Aes Sedai" and "The Gleeman" specifically in Michael Kramer's voice.

Excellent review. I got stuck in the middle of the 8th book. It happened a long time ago so I cannot remember why it happened, considering that I usually love long novels and sagas. I probably thought that I would give it another try some time later but it never happened, there are always so many books in my waiting list and, generally speaking, I think it's the writer job to keep my interest awake. I also think that perseverance in reading difficult books is in great part dependent from age. A friend of mine used to say: "There are books that you can read only when you are young." It's so true! The older I get (I'm 63yo now) the more impatient I get with writers' ramblings and info dumping.

Read the first 8 or so books growing up, looking forward to rereading and finishing it at some point :)

I'm re-reading currently. 4 chapters from the end of book 9. I'm finding the sheer number of supporting characters, and the similarity of their names to be a major pain. If I haven't seen a person for a book or two, I have to google the name to remind me what they've done up to that point. Bouncing between all the Aes Sedai, Kin, Atha'an Miere characters can be brain melting.