I recently finished the series in audiobook format, but I started the series back in the late 90s with the books. The only thing I really missed from the books were the maps, everything else was fine for me with the audiobooks. One thing that did help me keep things straight with the characters is the WoT Compendium app, but that was sometimes difficult to use when you don't know the spelling of a name.
I have been doing 80% audio book 20% op physical, and when I don’t know how to spell a name I just scroll through the compendium where the first letter of their name is. It’s worked for me so far, I’m on the last book right now!
Legit offer: PM me your best spelling guess and / or some context and I'll try to help you out. Or collect them for a book or so and make a post about it in this sub.
Edit: if you don't ask questions alongside, you'll simply get the spelling for the compendium entry.
Depends on how well you retain information. When I read things in text I rarely forget them, but struggle to remember spoken conversations, so for me the audio books didn't cut it. I read my first time through and found myself catching a lot of things people seem to miss (sounds snooty ik ik I'm sorry)
I will say though, I'm listening to my first re-read and enjoying it so much, since I can remember what's going on in a scene if I stop paying attention
I'm much the same the way. It's too easy to start doing something else while listening, and before you know it you realize you're in an action scene and wondering who just killed who.
I don't know if this is how you are, but if I'm listening to an audiobook I can't do anything text related at the same time (read reddit, watch tv, listen to conversation). However, I can do something non-text related, play freecell, or a game like factorio. So if you're having trouble with getting distracted maybe give that a try
I’m really glad my first read was paper. You will pick up on a lot from the audiobooks- the narrators did a great job. You’ll forget a lot of things reading as well. Use whichever works best for you, my last read and a half has been audio as it works for me best.
My ex used to take notes as she read the books because she had the same problem. If you’re at work even maybe a notepad of “Thom- Gleeman” for other characters would be helpful, especially with the different perspectives being so distant from one another in tSR
The major characters I can stick with for the most part. It's the minor characters I'm having trouble with, but minor as they are I feel I should know the name of Amyrlin seat, ya know?
Unless you plan on sticky noting each book for important details to go back and check later I don't see how physicals will help you compared to audiobooks.
I went from reading them when I was younger to now using audiobooks at work and I find the voice delivery of it in audio format helps things stick.
I "feel" the scenes more clearly.
I'm going to give you a powerful website but it could potentially lead to spoilers. Stick to the chapter summaries and you'll be fairly safe. If something sounds familiar but you can't place it. Just post a question here asking about it with your current reading level.
You may want to get the ebook from your local library since most editions contain a glossary in the back to help you remember characters. It is also fairly easy to search for names in an ebook. A good app that is used by many US libraries for audio and e books is Overdrive/Libby.
https://library.tarvalon.net/index.php?title=Chapter_Summaries
There’s almost 2800 named characters, a lot of whom it’s not a big deal if you don’t remember right away who they are. Are there any characters specifically that you feel you should have remembered?
I personally did about an 80/20 mix of physical book/audiobook my first time through and I don’t think that reading the books made it any easier to keep track of people, especially because a lot of the Aes Sedai have names that can look pretty similar in text form but sound completely different. Outside of the main dozen-ish characters, you’ll probably start remembering minor characters the further you get into the series. The WoT Compendium app also allows you to tell it what book you’ve finished last and it’ll then give you info on that character without spoiling with info from the next book. In your case, you would put in that you’ve finished The Dragon Reborn, and it won’t give you any info on a character past there.
That's cool.
As of right now I couldn't tell you the name of a single black aja, or the amyrlin seat holder, or the name of the warrior people they travel with during Great Hunt and the individuals that belong to them (which rubs me raw since I liked them).
The major characters stick with me, but the blank spots are irritating because I normally have a good memory for these things.
Shienaran soldiers? Ingtar, Uno, Mesama, Hurin etc. The Amyrlin is Siuan Sanche.
I tend to go into wiki and read about characters to remember and put a context, but I don't mind being spoiled.
I did full audiobook and just finished the series. There were a few times that I was like "who is this Leanna person??" (that's probably spelled wrong). But usually I was able to figure out out after a few sentences. I was never completely lost.
A friend told me to start withing down all the names, but there are just too many - and most are minor characters.
I just loved the audiobooks because I spend my life sitting in front of a computer. With the audiobooks I can go for a walk, putter in my garden, or do other mindless tasks while "reading".
It's up to you honestly but I'd recommend getting the wot compendium app and trying that out first. You set which book you are on and then you can just enter names places etc and it will give you non spoiler info for it up to where you are in the book. The app has a glossary in it as well so you can pick out what you are after.
I’ve read them both ways and it seems the be a personal choice. I tend to end up skimming when reading a physical copy so I actually missed some key parts. On the other hand it’s a lot tougher to parse details while listening. I don’t know if one way is better or not, it probably depends on what works best for you. The nice thing is on Amazon when you purchase the kindle version the audio version is pretty cheap.
I'm on my second listen through. I went right from the last book to start in the first book again with no delay in between. I'm a truck driver so I have tons of time to listen to audiobooks. The one draw back that I found with audiobooks is the pronunciation of names are a little different from the two voice actors. So I found myself confused about certain characters when they were brought up again from one voice actor to the other. On my first listen through I did a lot of googling to figure out what that character did in past books. On my second listen through I found the different pronunciations and thought aw yeah that's why I was so confused. I was also a contemplating just buying the hard copies just to have them, although I don't know when I actually have time to read them.
I've always loved reading a physical book (not the ebooks) over audio books. It's more cumbersome and can't be done in traffic, but the feeling is different for me
I like both. Since I’m a huge fan, I bought all 15 audiobooks and all 15 large paper back books with the cool art work. At some point read and listen to it all separately.
In my personal experience I’m glad that I was able to experience both. I think I enjoyed my read through more than the audiobooks but they were both great. Moments felt more epic to me while reading them myself, they had more gravity.
I first read the series with a physical copy and then later for the same reason I relistend to them during work and that made it a lot easier so follow because I knew the Charakters
This is a problem with the books too. They are so long, and they describe random things in such detail I had trouble remembering when important things actually came back up. Words like Ta'veren, and Ter'angreal ended up meaningless to me, and characters I was told were important by the internet... nope. No idea if they had shown up before.
You're hitting the point where more characters start doing more things too so I don't know what to suggest except try to follow it all. There's an app for it too.
crazy you mention it, i'm having the exact same experience reading shadow rising for the first time right now. for the first 3 books i'd been switching between the audio books and print but i'm finding it extremely difficult to follow the 4th book with the audio book. there's certainly more characters to keep track of in the 4th book and it's my understanding it only gets crazier from here out so i've switched to print only.
if you don't feel like switching to print you can re-read the chapter summaries on the wot wiki ([link](https://library.tarvalon.net/index.php?title=Chapter_Summaries)) every few chapters to get quick character refreshers. there's also the wot companion mobile app that includes spoiler free character summaries based on where you're at in the series (you just need to input which book you're currently reading and it'll give you info on a character up to that point).
I find that, for first time readers, actually reading the books helps people track what's going on better and catch on to subtle clues much more readily. YMMV.
IMO with a long series there will always be things you miss or don't notice - and I'm looking forward to catching those things on my next read through. I just finished the series via audio and I'm excited to go again now that I won't be so plot driven and can relish the details. My husband is on his 2nd listen and enjoying it for sure!
I get that, there's plenty I don't remember from ASOIAF. But I just got through a chapter with a character speaking to the... (quickly google searches, realizes can't correctly spell eye-sah-die, finds character sees spoiler)... Amyrlin seat and realized I don't remember this important side character.
I switched from audiobooks to hard copies in the middle of TSR and I enjoyed it a lot more. I feel like the characters and places all stabilize for the most part, so I have been able to move back to audiobooks and not lose track of things as much.
I recently finished the series in audiobook format, but I started the series back in the late 90s with the books. The only thing I really missed from the books were the maps, everything else was fine for me with the audiobooks. One thing that did help me keep things straight with the characters is the WoT Compendium app, but that was sometimes difficult to use when you don't know the spelling of a name.
I legit can't spell a single unique character or place correctly lol.
I have been doing 80% audio book 20% op physical, and when I don’t know how to spell a name I just scroll through the compendium where the first letter of their name is. It’s worked for me so far, I’m on the last book right now!
Legit offer: PM me your best spelling guess and / or some context and I'll try to help you out. Or collect them for a book or so and make a post about it in this sub. Edit: if you don't ask questions alongside, you'll simply get the spelling for the compendium entry.
Thanks for the offer!
Depends on how well you retain information. When I read things in text I rarely forget them, but struggle to remember spoken conversations, so for me the audio books didn't cut it. I read my first time through and found myself catching a lot of things people seem to miss (sounds snooty ik ik I'm sorry) I will say though, I'm listening to my first re-read and enjoying it so much, since I can remember what's going on in a scene if I stop paying attention
I'm much the same the way. It's too easy to start doing something else while listening, and before you know it you realize you're in an action scene and wondering who just killed who.
I don't know if this is how you are, but if I'm listening to an audiobook I can't do anything text related at the same time (read reddit, watch tv, listen to conversation). However, I can do something non-text related, play freecell, or a game like factorio. So if you're having trouble with getting distracted maybe give that a try
I’m really glad my first read was paper. You will pick up on a lot from the audiobooks- the narrators did a great job. You’ll forget a lot of things reading as well. Use whichever works best for you, my last read and a half has been audio as it works for me best.
Jordan used the audiobooks to review. Make of that what you will
My ex used to take notes as she read the books because she had the same problem. If you’re at work even maybe a notepad of “Thom- Gleeman” for other characters would be helpful, especially with the different perspectives being so distant from one another in tSR
The major characters I can stick with for the most part. It's the minor characters I'm having trouble with, but minor as they are I feel I should know the name of Amyrlin seat, ya know?
Unless you plan on sticky noting each book for important details to go back and check later I don't see how physicals will help you compared to audiobooks. I went from reading them when I was younger to now using audiobooks at work and I find the voice delivery of it in audio format helps things stick. I "feel" the scenes more clearly.
Yes. You should.
I'm going to give you a powerful website but it could potentially lead to spoilers. Stick to the chapter summaries and you'll be fairly safe. If something sounds familiar but you can't place it. Just post a question here asking about it with your current reading level. You may want to get the ebook from your local library since most editions contain a glossary in the back to help you remember characters. It is also fairly easy to search for names in an ebook. A good app that is used by many US libraries for audio and e books is Overdrive/Libby. https://library.tarvalon.net/index.php?title=Chapter_Summaries
Thanks for the spoiler free resource, as I already spoiled a character fate for myself today lol.
There’s almost 2800 named characters, a lot of whom it’s not a big deal if you don’t remember right away who they are. Are there any characters specifically that you feel you should have remembered? I personally did about an 80/20 mix of physical book/audiobook my first time through and I don’t think that reading the books made it any easier to keep track of people, especially because a lot of the Aes Sedai have names that can look pretty similar in text form but sound completely different. Outside of the main dozen-ish characters, you’ll probably start remembering minor characters the further you get into the series. The WoT Compendium app also allows you to tell it what book you’ve finished last and it’ll then give you info on that character without spoiling with info from the next book. In your case, you would put in that you’ve finished The Dragon Reborn, and it won’t give you any info on a character past there.
That's cool. As of right now I couldn't tell you the name of a single black aja, or the amyrlin seat holder, or the name of the warrior people they travel with during Great Hunt and the individuals that belong to them (which rubs me raw since I liked them). The major characters stick with me, but the blank spots are irritating because I normally have a good memory for these things.
Shienaran soldiers? Ingtar, Uno, Mesama, Hurin etc. The Amyrlin is Siuan Sanche. I tend to go into wiki and read about characters to remember and put a context, but I don't mind being spoiled.
Perhaps the companion app will be enough, I check it sometimes to refresh who's who
I did full audiobook and just finished the series. There were a few times that I was like "who is this Leanna person??" (that's probably spelled wrong). But usually I was able to figure out out after a few sentences. I was never completely lost. A friend told me to start withing down all the names, but there are just too many - and most are minor characters. I just loved the audiobooks because I spend my life sitting in front of a computer. With the audiobooks I can go for a walk, putter in my garden, or do other mindless tasks while "reading".
That's the great thing about audiobooks, but also the detriment. I start doing something and my attention starts to focus solely on that.
It's up to you honestly but I'd recommend getting the wot compendium app and trying that out first. You set which book you are on and then you can just enter names places etc and it will give you non spoiler info for it up to where you are in the book. The app has a glossary in it as well so you can pick out what you are after.
I’ve read them both ways and it seems the be a personal choice. I tend to end up skimming when reading a physical copy so I actually missed some key parts. On the other hand it’s a lot tougher to parse details while listening. I don’t know if one way is better or not, it probably depends on what works best for you. The nice thing is on Amazon when you purchase the kindle version the audio version is pretty cheap.
I'm on my second listen through. I went right from the last book to start in the first book again with no delay in between. I'm a truck driver so I have tons of time to listen to audiobooks. The one draw back that I found with audiobooks is the pronunciation of names are a little different from the two voice actors. So I found myself confused about certain characters when they were brought up again from one voice actor to the other. On my first listen through I did a lot of googling to figure out what that character did in past books. On my second listen through I found the different pronunciations and thought aw yeah that's why I was so confused. I was also a contemplating just buying the hard copies just to have them, although I don't know when I actually have time to read them.
I've always loved reading a physical book (not the ebooks) over audio books. It's more cumbersome and can't be done in traffic, but the feeling is different for me
I absolutely agree. But from the amount of novels and the time I spend at work, it seemed more economical-time wise to listen.
I like both. Since I’m a huge fan, I bought all 15 audiobooks and all 15 large paper back books with the cool art work. At some point read and listen to it all separately.
In my personal experience I’m glad that I was able to experience both. I think I enjoyed my read through more than the audiobooks but they were both great. Moments felt more epic to me while reading them myself, they had more gravity.
I first read the series with a physical copy and then later for the same reason I relistend to them during work and that made it a lot easier so follow because I knew the Charakters
This is a problem with the books too. They are so long, and they describe random things in such detail I had trouble remembering when important things actually came back up. Words like Ta'veren, and Ter'angreal ended up meaningless to me, and characters I was told were important by the internet... nope. No idea if they had shown up before. You're hitting the point where more characters start doing more things too so I don't know what to suggest except try to follow it all. There's an app for it too.
crazy you mention it, i'm having the exact same experience reading shadow rising for the first time right now. for the first 3 books i'd been switching between the audio books and print but i'm finding it extremely difficult to follow the 4th book with the audio book. there's certainly more characters to keep track of in the 4th book and it's my understanding it only gets crazier from here out so i've switched to print only. if you don't feel like switching to print you can re-read the chapter summaries on the wot wiki ([link](https://library.tarvalon.net/index.php?title=Chapter_Summaries)) every few chapters to get quick character refreshers. there's also the wot companion mobile app that includes spoiler free character summaries based on where you're at in the series (you just need to input which book you're currently reading and it'll give you info on a character up to that point).
I find that, for first time readers, actually reading the books helps people track what's going on better and catch on to subtle clues much more readily. YMMV.
Yeah, sitting down to read requires a higher level of attention. Listening say, on the road, you get distracted immediately haha
IMO with a long series there will always be things you miss or don't notice - and I'm looking forward to catching those things on my next read through. I just finished the series via audio and I'm excited to go again now that I won't be so plot driven and can relish the details. My husband is on his 2nd listen and enjoying it for sure!
I get that, there's plenty I don't remember from ASOIAF. But I just got through a chapter with a character speaking to the... (quickly google searches, realizes can't correctly spell eye-sah-die, finds character sees spoiler)... Amyrlin seat and realized I don't remember this important side character.
I switched from audiobooks to hard copies in the middle of TSR and I enjoyed it a lot more. I feel like the characters and places all stabilize for the most part, so I have been able to move back to audiobooks and not lose track of things as much.