The Wheel of Time

[Stephonit]

Anyone here familiar with the books or is watching the series?

For me, the books are the best fantasy series ever.

[Derka]

I've read the full series twice. Books 8-10 are tough to get through and the obvious change in tone from Jordan to Sanderson in Books 12-14 is noticeable, specifically with the characters' inner monologues. That said...for me its Middle-earth at #1 and Wheel of Time at #2.

I've only watched episode #1 of the show and I have no complaints to register. There are some very glaring differences, but I expected that. Its absolutely not possible to transpose The Eye of the World page-for-page into an 8-10 episode series while also making it something that would appeal to a larger audience.

[Patrick Chewing]

Saw episode 1. So far I'm getting a Females are more important than anyone else vibe from it.

[Derka]

Women channelers are more important than men for the first several books for a very specific reason. They'll get to it soon. That's 100% in keeping with the books, which were written by a conservative, religious, born-and-raised southerner decades before "woke" was a thing.

[bladefd]

I have had the series on my to-read list for a few years but haven't gotten to it yet. I keep seeing it's a long series and passing it for individual books.

[hold this L]

Should I read the books or watch the show?

[fsvr54]

Read the show or watch the books I'd say

[Axe]

Read the show or watch the books I'd say

[Stephonit]

Saw episode 1. So far I'm getting a Females are more important than anyone else vibe from it.

I'm surprised that some of the people associated with the show seem to be leaning into that aspect of the series in the promotions. It indicates to me they haven't read the whole thing.

Indeed I read somewhere that the cast or at least most of them hadn't finished reading the books.

There is a sort of gender reversal for parts of it and the treatment of it during banter in the books harkens back to a 50s 60s kind of approach like you'd see in I Love Lucy or The Flintstones. The books' gender politics are middle of the road or even traditional. Think Harry Potter. However, the showrunners might end up portraying things differently so one cannot make any conclusions about the show on that front.

I have had the series on my to-read list for a few years but haven't gotten to it yet. I keep seeing it's a long series and passing it for individual books.

Yes it is infamous for being a lot to take in. Some will even warn you away from reading it and there is some justification for that view. But if it hits the spot for you there is nothing quite like it. The series' highs are very high but wading through all the bland stuff might be too much for some.

Should I read the books or watch the show?

Since you've gone this long without reading the books I guess you might as well just watch the show. I find the first book in the series slow and rather banal myself and I wouldn't be surprised if I prefer how the show tackles it. The material in books 2-7 though will be the real test because I suspect it will require a really big budget to do justice and is one of the reasons the series hasn't been adapted for the screen earlier and why it has been thought to be unfilmable.

If for some reason the show doesn't finish and you find yourself invested in the outcome you can always read the books.

[nayte]

The books are awesome but if you are new to the world just watch the shows and enjoy otherwise you are gonna complain about the differences . They change shit up so it depends on how you wanna roll

[Stephonit]

The show started slow but the fourth episode was great.