The Wheel of Time-

The Wheel of Time is an epic fantasy adventure tale written by the late Robert Jordan. It currently stands at eleven books in the series. Robert Jordan died prior to completion of the whole tale. Heroically, he made sure that the balance of the tale was handed down to his wife and others to insure the completion of the work. Refering to either (or both) of the links above will provide more details, should you be interested.

I met the author several years ago at a book signing here in Santa Cruz, California. I have a signed copy of the tenth volume in the series. These books are of unusual size, all of them exceeding the size of a standard novel by at least half, and often more. This is a lot of reading. A lot of really great reading.

I am currently reading the series again. I have read it several times over the years, mostly when a new volume was being released and I wanted to refresh my memory. With the next volume coming out in October or November, I want to be ready.

There will be three more volumes, bringing this series to a total of fifteen books. If they manage to produce one volume each year I might be able to rest on this rereading to simply read them as they come out.

If not, I will be reading the whole thing at least one more time. I probably will do so anyway, somewhere in the future. It is very good, and worth reading many times. As with Lord of the Rings, and even Harry Potter, reading an excellent work again is worth much more than reading a multitude of lesser works.

Perhaps I will become motivated to get back to my own writing. Not just the short stories over at

shortstoriesbymlockridge.blogspot.com

but also my novels. I have completed the one, but not yet published. I have begun a sequel to the first in what will probably end up a trilogy. I am currently stalled, but not forever. It calls me, and I can't stay away forever.

For now, though, I read. I have eleven volumes to get through in just a few months.

Ah, the sublime agony!