I was gona start reading "The Wheel of Time" the other day and while in Waterstones I picked up the first book. I then noticed that there is also a book about the begining of time or something like that, a kind of background book, not actually concerned with the story itself, a bit like Tolkiens one.
I was just wondering if this was worth reading or compulsory to read before reading the books or what?

there are two prequels, one is a short story detailing how two of the more important characters from the first few books met (not critical for enjoying the series) and IIRC the next prequel expands on the short story and continues the journeys of the two characters.

Be ready for a long read! I read the first 4 or 5 books (about 900 pages each) and just got tired of it.Just started reading "Ship of Magic" by Robin Hobb.Wow great story ,great charactors etc.I have to thank whoever it was here on Ironworks for recommending it..

Was probably Moiraine who mentioned Robin Hobbs John. I still have not read any of those books yet, as I cannot find them in my local bookstores, not all of them including the first one, so I guess I'll have to order them online.

As for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, I read 9 of the books (and yeah each one is humongus!), but they got boring and I just could not get myself to buy another. All were good but I'd say 8, and especially 9, were disappointing and boring as hell.

I have also recommended Robin Hobb's books before, and as the proud owner of them all I can say they are brilliant. Ok, well il think carefully before buying theses books, although I do love a long read. At the moment I am reading The redemption of Althalus by David & Leigh Eddings, not far yet only about 30 pages so I dont know if its good or not, but it seems quite interesting.

Your best bet is to save yourself the time and not read any of them! [img]smile.gif[/img]

OK Djinn I'll just turn on the TV and melt my brain with some "reality" tv....

Don't forget C.S. Friedman, my favorite fantasy/sci fi author [img]smile.gif[/img]

The Coldfire Trilogy is a great read to start with this author (three books in the series). [img]smile.gif[/img] or the single novel In Conquest Born, which is an incredibly intense sci fi novel.

Great reads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you my long-lost sister?

I started WOT series on the second book and I do not regret it! The prologue to "The Great Hunt" has one of my favorite scenes in any book series ever. This scene and many others help me overlook the serie's several shortcomings.