Let's Read: The Wheel of Time discussion

Beware of spoilers. This is for chatting about the first 27 chapters of the first book.

I like the way he reuses symbols and names from the our world’s myths/religions/monsters for ideas in the WoT world. Potentially some reaching on my part...

Some of the Symbols – Aes Sedai symbol (Ying/Yang)(Male/Female), Great Serpent and Wheel of Time (Circle Ouroboros / Infinity)

Some of the bad guys - Trolloc (Troll / orc) Ko’bol (kobald), Dha’vol (devil), Ba’alzamon (sounds like a demon name Ba’al, Beelzebub, etc), Ishamael (Ishmael / Bible + Moby Dick = exiles)

Flame and Void (Tai Chi / mediation)


I don’t have an in particular in mind but I like the books use of analogy/metaphor. It is sort of forced sometimes but I still like them like I like a bad pun or dad joke.

The intro to the first chapter is a cool way to start a book about cycles.

“The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even 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, an age long pass, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.”




I also really like the fact that the two Dragon Reborn prophecies at the beginning of the book are contradictory. One says the dragon will come back to save the world, and the other says the dragon will destroy the world.

One of my main reason I am not a fan of modern super hero stories is part of this prophecy.





There is also a lot of name dropping and world building in some parts that may be important in future books. Again might be cool to dig deeper later.

Like the ideas brought up in the prologue, the history of Manetheren, Min’s prophecies, the different ruins / wonders the group sees on their travels, or the Tuatha’an seeking the song and the warning from the Aiel wastes, or the main character’s dreams.