Courtesy of Seven Inches of Your Time
Now that the 14th and final volume of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is out in paperback, I figured it was time to start reading them again. I got to book 7 or 8 when they came out, but eventually gave up. Each book is an 800 page brick, and so much time went by between instalments, I couldn’t remember the names of the characters, much less the convoluted plotlines.
I started applying the same strategy to other book series, too, and loved it. Among other things, I never had to wait for the next book to come out after a torturous cliffhanger!
And it’s even better for TV. Not only are there no commercials when you binge-watch, but you don’t have to arrange your life around TV schedules. Or buy a PVR.
What about you? Do you keep up or binge-watch? Or use different strategies for different series?
Definitely wait and binge — for the reasons you name. I can’t remember details between protracted publication dates on books; I become much too annoyed at commercial breaks in TV episodes. For a TV series, I’d rather get the DVDs from my library and watch them from my treadmill. I can do an entire season in a weekend and get a good workout at the same time.
I never finished the Wheel of Time series either. Now that I know the final volume is out in paperback, I may have to go back and pick those up again. Yes, starting at the beginning.
I like being immersed in a world I love, too. Another advantage of binging.
I started with the prequel and am now on book 4 of the main series. The writing could benefit from a good line edit, but the depth of the world building and the scale of the story is really inspiring.
There was one book in WoT where Rand made only a two- or three-page appearance from some 3rd person PoV. That’s around the time I decided that there was no way I was going to keep reading these until he finished the series first. It’s been a decade since (!), so I guess I would have to start reading them from the beginning, and I don’t know if I can stomach that.
If reading a big fantasy series is your thing, Steve Erikson’s “Malazan Book of the Fallen” is about as epic as it gets (and complete). I also found it to be better writing than the eight or nine Robert Jordan tomes I made it through.
I guess that makes me a binger!
It might have been the highly-ironically named The Dragon Reborn (book 3). Rand was barely in it, which was OK with me, as I find him less interesting than some of the other characters (also kind of ironic, as he’s the purported hero).
I haven’t tried Steve Erikson before – thanks for the tip! My latest fantasy addiction is Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns series. Talk about your tortured protagonists.
Thanks for stopping by!