Introduction

One of my favorite things to do on the internet is to observe the endless discussion of popular works of fiction, an activity that has consumed the lives of millions of people across the world. People invest such energy and passion into defending or deriding one story or another that it was only a matter of time before commentary on entertainment became a form of entertainment itself. Whether it's a comedic affair dedicated to getting laughs at the expense of godawful entertainment, a more serious examination of complex, overlooked, or misunderstood works, or just a man sharing his exploration of a series for the first time, a website or blog subsisting on other entertainment media can attract its own fanbase, effectively coming full circle.

But just as books have fallen intro relative obscurity thanks to the popularity of movies, television, and video games, there doesn't seem to be as much exposure for people who write about books. So when I decided that I too would add my drop to the bucket, I decided to throw myself directly into the Wheel of Time.

My main inspiration for this project is Mark Oshiro, who started a similar blog out of curiosity and a desire to avoid making knee-jerk, uninformed opinions on the Twilight books. He didn't want to natter on like a broken record about the ridiculousness of sparkling vampires or judge the series based on the behavior of its fans. He looked for real reasons to hate the series, and by God he found them. After that blistering barrage of bullshit nearly killed his soul, he cleansed his palate by reading Harry Potter, which turned his disposition around from critical and infuriated to awestruck and enraptured so suddenly that readers got whiplash. Most importantly, he kept his writing interesting and varied, and channeled enough energy into it to make people care.

But the Wheel of Time is a different bird than Twilight or Harry Potter. There hasn't been a single movie based around the series (yet). You'd be hard-pressed to find a single cosplayer dressed as a character from the books. There's only one licensed, non-canon computer game with the series name on it, as well as an aborted attempt at a tabletop RPG. And while "Snape kills Dumbledore" has become a memetic, ubiquitous spoiler, you'd be hard pressed to find people who know any Wheel of Time characters' names, much less who kills who. No, the Wheel of Time belongs solely to hardcore bibliophiles, and fantasy bibliophiles at that.

So why do I choose it to read? Part of the reason is boredom, and the need to occupy myself with something besides looking for a job. But mostly it's because my father has the complete series at home, a collection that has only grown with time. Ever since I was a boy I've shared his home with a fantasy story that's nearly as old as I am, and yet despite being an avid reader I've never really opened these books and discovered what my dad saw in them. All I read was the prologue to The Eye of the World, years ago, before deciding to drop it and do something else.

I don't know if this series will be as bad as Twilight, as good as Harry Potter, or somewhere in between. I don't know if I'll be able to finish writing about the whole thing, a feat which I think will take at least two years to accomplish. I only know that the hero, Rand Al-Thor (sp?) struggles with dark magic, there's an order of bitchy women called the Aes Sedai and an evil dark lord somewhere in the story, and that this series has apparently suffered from pacing problems and purple prose.

My name is Bradley Armstrong, and I'm a recent college graduate. I'm going to read and write about one chapter each day, just like Mark did, until I finish the Wheel of Time or the Wheel of Time finishes me. Hopefully, the currently unreleased final book in the series will be out before it comes time for me to read it.

To those of you who comment, please refrain from posting spoilers. I want to be surprised and I think I've ruined too many other stories by getting spoiled ahead of time. And yes, I realize the irony and hypocrisy in making that request when my analysis will completely spoil the entire series for anyone who reads it first. Those are the breaks, my friend.

The Eye of the World starts tomorrow. Wish me luck.

NEXT TIME: Backstory, and the end of someone else's tale.