Wheel of Time

When I got home yesterday a box with the 14th (and final) book in the Wheel of Time series was waiting for me. When book 13 was released, I plowed through it (for review) even though I had no previous experience with the series. This past summer, I read the first four books with the goal of "catching up" so all the blanks would be filled in.

I stopped at the 4th book - The Shadow Rising - because I was getting burned out on the characters, especially because the number of them was incrementally inflated to such an extent I really had to concentrate on the names and remember why certain characters might be important.

But when I saw the book, I was actually excited to read it. Coincidentally,  I'd just taken out out Tom Wolfe's latest "Back to Blood" from the library because I was looking for something to read during my commute.

"Back to Blood" grabbed my interest because I'd enjoyed his "Man in Full" a few years ago and thought I'd give this one a whirl... but I may take it back so I can drop into "A Memory of Light." I have eight (8!) Wheel of Time books on my "To Read" pile but I don't think I'll hold off on reading the 14th (and final - it says so on the cover) book in the series. Besides, this far in does it matter? Would I need to see Star Wars Episodes I-III, in order to appreciate the destruction of the second Death Star at the end of Return of Jedi?

This is a rhetorical question.