21st June 2025

Onto book four in my Wheel of Time re-read. There's a lot going on, and we open with a contrast to the previous book by skipping around the various main characters fairly quickly. After a while though, this settles into long chunks of the book following a particular character, and I found this quite draining, and that I wanted to get through it to get to the other characters. I think for me, the jumping between them works better as a style for keeping my attention.

This feels like the book where the author has realised it's going to be more books than he thought to get to the end of this story, and so things slow down a bit. There's more world to explore, and that's very much what's happening here. One storyline takes us off to learn a new culture, their entire backstory, and set up stuff for future books. Another storyline finds another culture to explore, and provides an action setting for two characters who I felt got a bit of short shrift in the previous book. And the third takes us back home to see how things are changing and provide key character and world growth.

It's one of the longest books in the series and really felt it. Particularly once I'd passed the halfway point it felt a real slog trying to get through to the end - I really wanted it to be over faster. And yet I'm already craving returning to the world and getting on with book five.

read more

7th June 2025

I've rapidly reached book three in my Wheel of Time re-read, and this one is strikingly different from the first two. As readers, we're now cut off from Rand, the main character we'd been with so far, and instead get long chunks of narrative following the other four lead characters of the series, before some faster chopping between them as the climax approaches.

This style I think makes the story feel slower. There's a lot to get through that feels like exposition, or just lining characters up for things, rather than developing them and their action.

Again, there's a new character who I didn't remember appearing this early in the series. It still gives that feeling that Jordan intended for a six-book adventure, not the 15 books that this became. The overall plot feels like it's taking a bound forward in each book, reaching a key milestone at the end.

I am considering a longer break now before re-reading book four, but we shall see how that pans out.

read more

1st June 2025

Having re-read the first book, I immediately wanted to continue. This second adventure feels a little slower going, but actually introduces a ton of the world building that I again had forgotten came so early.

The party splits, with one group following a trail left by a thief, and the other heading to the White Tower. What I had remembered is really liking the Tower parts of the story - it's the classic boarding school type of setting, so very familiar in that sense. Whereas the journey plot is slow and drawn out, and in places feels like some of the lore has come about just to make it work.

The climax then feels a bit rushed, with us barging through it in a small set of chapters. I suspect I've become used to Brandon Sanderson's style where the climax fills the final quarter of the book.

Overall though I'm still really hooked on this re-read and will be back for book three soon.

read more

24th May 2025

Inspired by the release of season three of the TV adaptation, I decided to revisit the books. I notice that the series has affected my thinking and I am now seeing the cast when picturing the characters, particularly Morraine, Lan, and Rand.

In some respects it's the classic story about the prophesied chosen one - with baddies out to get him, and a wise magic user wanting to guide him. However there are three candidates and neither side knows which one it really is.

I found I really enjoyed re-reading this. I knew the broad strokes of the plot, and the characters in some detail, but there are plenty of elements that I've forgotten, and others that stand out more in a re-read. I was also surprised by the amount of foreshadowing, and things that I didn't remember being introduced so early in the series.

There are a few moments that make me wonder if I'm reading sexism on behalf of the author, but those are all passages portrayed from the point of view of a teenage boy, so can possibly be judged as within that context. I was surprised that were stuck with Rand's point of view for the majority of the book, as the series is well know for multiple viewpoint characters, but it seems in these early days that was much less common, though we do eventually step into the shoes of two other characters as well.

Looking forward to revisiting book two, but probably not for a little while as it's a lot to do back to back.

read more

31st December 2023

Generally considered to be the best Discworld novel, Night Watch follows Samuel Vimes - a character we’ve watched grow for some years now - as he is transported back in time to encounter his much much younger self.

There’s a lot going on, and even on a second read I’m sure I’ve barely scratched the surface. At its most basic, it’s Back To The Future, and Vimes needs to make sure his future is waiting when he gets back. But it’s also a political thriller, it’s also Les Miserables, it’s also a commentary on society.

But it also feels long - longer than I feel is normal for Discworld novels and longer than I was expecting. I suppose really it’s only taken me four days to read but that feels like longer than it should have.

And while the jokes are there, I don’t think it feels as funny as other books in the series - there’s a lot of heavy, serious stuff, and that detracts from the humour. It’s certainly still very clever in the use of language and in its observation of the human condition, but I wasn’t laughing out loud.

read more

22nd January 2023

In my gradual re-read of Discworld’s Watch novels I’ve reached The Fifth Elephant, which is one that I have the least memory of from my previous reading which must have been around 15 years ago.

It’s a tale of diplomacy, as Vimes is sent to Uberwald for the coronation of the Low King. As such, it does that classic Vimes thing of putting him in an awkward situation and letting his character flow.

I found it a bit harder to get going than some Discworld novels, and it wasn’t until around halfway that I properly started to accelerate through. I don’t think it has quite the relaxed readability of some of the novels - there’s a lot starting to go on at a deeper level in this part of the series, and fewer quick surface level jokes.

Overall though, it’s a solid mystery story, with a fantastic amount of world building and proper exploration of several of the favourite Discworld characters.

read more

6th February 2022

My loosely focussed Discworld re-read has reached Jingo, a novel which I don’t think I was sure about the first time, but did enjoy on second reading.

Pratchett’s wit and insight into the human condition fill the pages, nothing here is more glorious than the character interactions, particularly between Colon and Nobbs, and it’s amazing how much is subtly communicated to the reader just in the dialogue.

I think where this one suffers a little is in the plot. It’s more complicated I think than many Discworld novels, with multiple layers of plot lasagne’d together in such a way that I’m not sure I really know what’s at the bottom.

But it does do well at holding up a mirror to roundworld, and pointing out the absurdities of war, property, and international relationships, while also condemning racism, a theme that runs throughout Pratchett’s work.

read more