In agony and ecstasy, with The Wheel of Time

I guess you'll know what this is going to be about.

You can all stop here and go back. But if you do read, I hope you read me completely, even if you haven't a whit of a clue what this is about. And this is going to be a L-O-N-G post.

THE WHEEL OF TIME, written by Robert Jordan and later co-authored by Brandon Sanderson.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades 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 past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

If you've read these lines somewhere, anywhere, you're reading the first paragraph of the Wheel of Time. Unless the cover says otherwise, you've absolutely no idea which book you're reading as all the books start with this stanza.

2004.
I passed my boards, avid reader by then, haven't read any fantasy except Eragon, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

2006.
Passed my 12th. Same shit.

2007.
Came to Chennai. Saw huge bookstores for the first time and found myself staring at a book called "Wizard's First Rule" by Terry Goodkind. Thus, began my moving over to the dark side.

So smitten I was with the book {book 1 of Sword of Truth}, that in no time I zipped through the next 4 books. Richard and Kahlan and Cara became inseparable from my life. [I guess Nimue knows what I'm talking about. She loves these guys as much as me]. As months passed, the later books became harder to find. And I needed more fantasy. During that time, I noticed the Wheel of Time books. Book 3, 4 in a shop, books 5, 6 in another. And yet, the elusive book 1 was nowhere to be found. And 4 years ago, I haven't even heard of online shopping. Forget about Flipkart.

2008.
While home during vacation, I happened to find myself in a quaint little bookshop. And there neatly arranged in a shelf were the books of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Book 1-6. 2 hours, an irate dad and a debit of 3500 INR later, I relieved the shop of those 6 books. Little did I know the author passed away a year earlier without completing the series.

And thus my foray into madness began.

December 25th, 2011
13 books and countless re-reads later, I sit here today waiting for the final book to be released in 2 weeks. 22 years after the first book was published, The Wheel of Time is coming to an end.

January 8 will be a bittersweet day for me and millions of other fans. Up there, Robert Jordan must be smiling from his heavenly abode.

I don't want to read it. I want to read it. But if I do, I know its the end. There will be no more Wheel of Time books. This will be the end. The Final Battle. Tarmon Gaidon.

Rand, Mat, Perrin, Thom, Egwene, Lan, Moiraine, Nynaeve, Aviendha, Elayne, Min....they will be trapped within those pages forever. I'm not ready. I am. I'm not.

Countless re-reads, thousands of hours of stalking Tor.com for teasers and excerpts and voice notes, hundreds of hours of browsing youtube videos for fan made tracks compiled from the original lyrics from the books, making sure I don't read spoilers on forums, joining tens of websites dedicated to Wheel of Time fans, sleeping with those huge volumes near my pillow, cheering as Rand cleansed Saidin, breaking down uncontrollably when Nynaeve bids adieu to Lan on a suicide mission in front of my mom, smiling like a fool whenever my playlist plays the track "dance with jack o' shadows", re-reading again, making my girl read the books [she's still stuck in page 51 after 3 months!!!], vehemently opposing views of people who hate Jordan, sticking to the author when the later books went downhill, screaming my heart out on learning Brandon Sanderson will complete the series, partying with beer on knowing that the final book will be split into 3 books [which means more to read :D], waking up at 6 in the morning to be the first one to reach the bookstore whenever the last two volumes were released, *sigh*, it all comes down to one day and one fact. January 8, 2013.

A Memory of Light releases on January 8, 2013. A fitting name to a series that has spawned millions of fans. No matter what happens in the Final Battle, people are going to cry. I'm going to cry. Unbashedly. 

Wheel of Time fans are mad. They're extremely hardcore. And I'm proud to be one of them. I'm hardcore about only three things. One is Manchester United, second is Joss Whedon's cult but short-lived show 'Firefly' and the third is the world of 'Wheel of Time". I'm even going to get myself a WoT tattoo next week. And I swear I'll disown my child/children if they don't love WoT.

13 days to go for the 14th book to be out. I'm shivering like hell.

If you ever, ever, ever want to foray into fantasy, read this series. And if you've no fucking idea what I'm talking about, read my review's of the series ---> HERE

That reminds me, I need to review books 10-13 before Jan 8th.

Until Tarmon Gaidon,
and as Mat says,
Dovie'andi Se Tovya Sagain