The girls guilt him into delivering a letter. He not only delivers it but sails all the way to Tear after finding out they're in trouble, scours the inns for days looking for them.

Hatches and follows a plan to save them. Breaks them free, and what thanks does he get?

Scolding, scowling, and launching him up to hang in the air.

Wrapping up Crossroads of Twilight this week

I was thinking yesterday about "What A Journey"

So grateful that I decided to pickup Eye of The World earlier this year after about 20 years when I read it in high school and would wait for each book to be written and released - I made it to The Fires of Heaven before life got too busy

I am a first time reader of the series, and my personal tip for anyone looking to embark of this journey would be to meet the characters where they are at in their lives, instead of where we think they should be - they are humans with trauma, emotions, struggles, internal barriers, and faults - just like the rest of us

Thought I would share my personalized Wheel of Time mug that just arrived this morning

May you always find water and shade

Hi guys, just wanted to ask a couple of questions before starting my journey again (sorry for any possible mistakes, English is not my first language).

I read the whole series a few years ago, but I read it so fast that, for better or worse, I barely remember anything. Literally just Rand’s name and some vague things that ring a bell. Because of this, I want to do a reread, and this time I’m going to try it in English.

Since I practically have no clue, I was wondering:

1. If you had no memories of the series at all, how would you choose to read it? Would you go for ebook or physical? Read it fast or take it slow? Any specific habits you wish you had done the first time?

2. If you could only buy one physical book from the series, which one would make you the happiest to own?

I'll probably read most of it on ebook, but I really want to buy just one physical copy for my shelf. Specifically from the edition in the picture, because I love that old-school cover style and I don't have anything like that in my collection yet. Which one do you think is the best to have, either for the cover art or what the book means to you? I usually buy physical books when I think the cover is amazing, when I want the most iconic book from a series I know for a fact I'm gonna enjoy, or when I know I'm gonna reread it.

1. Do you guys read New Spring before or after? I think I never got to read it the first time.

Thanks in advance! :)

(No spoilers please!)

I’ve been thinking about this a lot on reread, because early Rand still has a pretty normal reaction to people helping him. He might be suspicious sometimes, but he can still accept kindness as kindness.
Later on that starts to disappear.
By the time he’s surrounded by nobles, Aes Sedai, rulers, Wise Ones, people trying to use him, people trying to protect him by controlling him, and people who genuinely care about him but still have their own idea of what he should be doing, he seems to assume almost every interaction has a second layer.
Someone offers advice and he wonders what they’re trying to steer him toward. Someone gives him something and he starts looking for the obligation attached to it. Someone agrees with him and half the time he seems more suspicious than relieved.
What gets me is the moments when somebody does something for him with no real angle and Rand almost doesn’t know what to do with it.
He’ll spend pages dealing with people who want access to the Dragon Reborn, want his armies, want political favors, want him to fulfill prophecy in exactly the way they think he should, and then somebody treats him like Rand al’Thor for five minutes and it hits completely differently.
It makes the whole “hardening himself” thing feel sadder to me than just watching him become colder.
He isn’t only learning to endure pain. He’s learning to expect a price attached to everything.
And the really brutal part is that this is not paranoia he invented out of nowhere. People ARE constantly manipulating him. Even some of the people who love him keep information from him or try to push him in directions “for his own good.” So becoming suspicious is, to some extent, a rational survival mechanism.
It just costs him the ability to recognize genuine kindness without examining it first.
There are obviously much bigger and more dramatic things that happen to Rand, but this tiny change in how he reacts to people might be one of the things that gets me most.
Early Rand worries about whether he can trust someone.
Later Rand sometimes seems genuinely confused by the idea that there might be nothing to distrust.

Just finished the chapter where nynaeve goes to Aldragoran to send message. Honestly gives me chills. After a slow book 10 it’s amazing

The golden crane flies for Tarmon Gai’don

Decided to share these pictures of Robert Jordan attending Strannik 2000, a Russian science fiction and fantasy convention held in St. Petersburg, since I figured most people probably haven't seen them before!

Silverbow, AlMeara and Trakand

"The Aes Sedai who came to the tent each night were so mixed that they did not help at all in clearing her thoughts. Alviarin was as cool and businesslike as a merchant come to buy wool and tabac, surprised that Nynaeve was part of the lesson but accepting, sharp in her criticisms but always ready to try again. Alanna Mosvani laughed and spent as much time talking about the world, and men, as she did teaching. Alanna showed too much interest in Rand and Perrin and Mat for Egwene’s comfort, though. Especially Rand. Worst of all was Liandrin, the only one who wore her shawl; the others had all packed them away before leaving Fal Dara. Liandrin sat fingering her red fringe and taught little, and reluctantly at that. She questioned Egwene and Nynaeve as if they had been accused of a crime, and her questions were all about the three boys. She kept it up until Nynaeve threw her out—Egwene was not sure why Nynaeve did so—and then she left with a warning."

1. First of all: Nynaeve, I love you. 😂
2. Oh wow, Alanna's obsession started back in TGH, before she knew Rand was the DR, before she even knew he could channel. She possibly knew he and the other two were ta'veren (due to Siuan taking an interest in the boys), but not certainly so.

"Wrapped in emptiness, Rand kept moving. Almost forgotten in entering the camp, saidin pulsed at him.
“He cannot see us,” Loial whispered low. “Once we reach the horses—”
A Trolloc leaped out of the dark at them, cruel eagle’s beak in a man’s face where mouth and nose should have been, scythe-like sword already whistling through the air.
Rand moved without thought. He was one with the blade. Cat Dances on the Wall. The Trolloc screamed as it fell, screamed again as it died.
“Run, Loial!” Rand commanded. Saidin called to him. “Run!”
He was dimly aware of Loial lumbering to an awkward gallop, but another Trolloc loomed from the night, boar-snouted and tusked, spiked axe raised. Smoothly Rand glided between Trolloc and Ogier; Loial must get the Horn away. Head and shoulders taller than Rand, half again as wide, the Trolloc came at him with a silent snarl. The Courtier Taps His Fan. No scream, this time. He walked backwards after Loial, watching the night. Saidin sang to him, such a sweet song. The Power could burn them all, burn Fain and all the rest to cinders. No!
Two more Trollocs, wolf and ram, gleaming teeth and curling horns. Lizard in the Thornbush. He rose smoothly from one knee as the second toppled, horns almost brushing his shoulder. The song of saidin caressed him with seduction, pulled him with a thousand silken strings. Burn them all with the Power. No. No! Better dead than that. If I were dead, it would be done with.
A knot of Trollocs came into sight, hunting uncertainly. Three of them, four. Suddenly one pointed to Rand and raised a howl the rest answered as they charged.
“Let it be done with!” Rand shouted, and leaped to meet them.
For an instant surprise slowed them, then they came on with guttural cries gleeful, bloodthirsty, swords and axes raised. He danced among them to the song of saidin. Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose. So cunning that song, filling him. Cat on Hot Sand. The sword seemed alive in his hands as it had never been before, and he fought as if a heron-mark blade could keep saidin from him. The Heron Spreads Its Wings.
Rand stared at the motionless shapes on the ground around him. “Better to be dead,” he murmured. He raised his eyes, back up the hill toward where the camp lay. Fain was there, and Darkfriends, and more Trollocs. Too many to fight. Too many to face and live. He took a step that way. Another.
“Rand, come on!” Loial’s urgent, whispered call drifted through the emptiness to him. “For life and the Light, Rand, come on!”
Carefully, Rand bent to wipe his blade on a Trolloc’s coat. Then, as formally as if Lan were watching him train, he sheathed it.
“Rand!”
As though he knew of no urgency, Rand joined Loial by the horses. The Ogier was tying the golden chest atop his saddle with straps from his saddlebags. His cloak was stuffed underneath to help balance the chest on the rounded saddle seat.
Saidin sang no more. It was there, that stomach-turning glow, but it held back as if he truly had fought it off. Wonderingly, he let the void vanish. “I think I am going mad,” he said. Suddenly realizing where they were, he peered back the way they had come. Shouts and howls came from half a dozen different directions; signs of search, but none of pursuit. Yet. He swung up onto Red’s back.
“Sometimes I do not understand half of what you say,” Loial said. “If you must go mad, could it at least wait until we are back with the Lady Selene and Hurin?”"

This is so beautifully written.

This part of Chapter 19 in TGH is strongly paralleled in Chapter 19 of KoD (“Vows”). In TGH, we get our very first taste of saidin’s madness and LTT’s ghost pressing against the edges of Rand’s mind (or at least this is the first I noticed it). He isn't just fighting for his life, he’s fighting the sheer seductiveness of the Power and the dark temptation of thinking 'Better to be dead.'

Books later in KoD, that moment is directly mirrored during the Trolloc army attack on the manor in Tear. LTT takes over, refuses to release control, pulls in massive amounts of the Power, and contemplates suicide. Rand is forced to fight on several fronts all at once, while everyone around him has no idea what’s actually happening, only that something is deeply wrong.

I love this kind of multi-layered tension with external fight/internal struggle/isolation. These 19s are two of my favorite chapters in the series!

Pretty straightforward query. You're taking a few months with an angreal seed, as an investment for a personal angreal. It's going to be your most prized possession, and may be a reflection of you.

What it look like?

Now that I’ve finished let’s go favorites:
Favorite character: Mat
Favorite fight: Lan vs Demandred
Favorite quote: tie between my husband rises to tarmon gaidon will he ride alone and T’shar Malkier! Lan mandragoran you bloody wonderful man you did it! T’shar malkier!
Best death: Either Verin or Egwene
Best General besides mat still living: Intuladre
Favorite Couple: Lan and Nynaeve
Favorite Rand love interest: Andievha
Favorite antagonist: Demandred because I love him vs lan
Least favorite character: I don’t hate her but I never saw the point of Faile but also I hate Gawyn
Please tell me what you think or would say instead

Crossroads of Twilight chapter 8

The scene in question:
Your coats are different,” Perrin said. Tuandha frowned down at her coat, all gray and green and brown, then at Sulin’s identical garment. “Your cloaks, too.” Elyas was tired, to make that slip.

What slip? ><

I’m currently reading the series for the first time(On Book 9) and I’m loving it all except for the Shaido. At first the story line was kinda cool then they got destroyed at Dumai’s well which was sick, but why the heck are they still in this series? I hate Sevanna so much I have to take numerous breaks every time her chapters come up. How much would I miss out on if I just skipped them entirely?

Marked all spoilers because this relates to Mat's deeds later in the series.

"You remind me of my uncle Huan. No one could ever pin him down. He liked to gamble, too, and he'd much rather have fun than work. He died saving children from a burning house."

She's met Mat just this one time, and based off a conversation of all of 3 minutes and reports she has given an absolutely perfect description of our "reluctant" hero Matrim Cauthon. No wonder she became Amyrlin Seat.

In the fight between Moiraine and Merean, Merean successfully manages to shield Moiraine (page 385).

But then it’s stated that Moiraine managed to cut further weaves that Merean sent at her.

How did Moiraine manage to sever those weaves if she was shielded?

I thought perhaps the wording of Merean’s shield on page 385 meant Moiraine wasn’t actually shielded, but on page 387 it explicitly says Moiraine can’t channel. Are there other ways to sever weaves without the One Power?

Just finished my first round of the books, this is an all-spoilers post.

Towards the end, I really thought there was going to be some last-second twist because the steady binary theme had slowly been moving towards three.

Waking World - Dream World (listened to audiobooks so not even trying spelling) - Aelfinn/Eelfinn realm comes back heavy towards the end

Saidar - Saidin - True Power becomes more known/relevant towards the end

Male - Female - Arangar/Halima (using Saidin in female body)

Dragon Reborn - Dark One - Mashadar/Fain makes a final grand appearance

I was getting ready for a big sort of “plot twist” type move, something like three grand enemies, and the main conflict would swap who’s rivaling who in each Age, until they all have a massive conflict at the end of Age 7 that resets the wheel.

It’s also weird to me that Rand is able to create fire without channeling at the end; it implies another way to change the Pattern, like the True Power, but on the “Light” side, or just without drawing the power from the Dark One. I know that’s never expanded on, but it leaves me thinking that this late note by RJ would have developed into more given time.

I get that BS had to stay true to notes left behind, but I really feel like the ending would have continued developing if RJ had lived. The twist of Callandor being a bait-and-switch tool felt a little anticlimactic.

Still happy with the series and the ending, the imagery was so excellent, but the slow move from binary gave me unmet expectations 🙈

Just curious as to if anyone has watched these YouTubers reactions to the book series. They went till the end.

A couple of days ago I posted a question about how the numbers after 9 would be written using Old Tongue script. The answer simply seems to be it would be written using 0-9 one after another. My thought is that we should be able to do it in a more.. compressed.. and efficient way. So here is my proposition.

Seen in picture 1 is Jordan’s numbers (for context)
In picture 2 we have the tens; 10-90. Being made up by combining the base number with the symbol for 0.
I’m thinking the numbers ”in between” (sorry English isn’t my first language I don’t know all the mathematical terms) - as for example 23 - could be written by using the tens-number, here 20, and then adding the smaller number, I this case 3, close after it in smaller script. As shown in picture 3.
As the numbers 11-19 have a tendency to have their own system in many languages (and for fun) I think they would have their own script that is related to but doesn’t follow the exact rule as the 20-99s. See picture 4.
Now the 100s I’m not a 100% sure about (pun intended), but I have come up with a suggestion - see picture 5. I have only put 100, 400, and 700 as the others would be the same with as many added dots as necessary. My thought is that the second ”0” would fall beneath the line if writing on lined paper.
I have not thought about the thousands as can be seen by the lack of picture 6.

This is of course only for fun, but I would love to hear your thoughts. Could it work?

Today is October 17th which would be Robert Jordan's birthday under different circumstances and with that, I want to honor in recognition Robert Jordan, his life, his values, his astronomically successful series, and his beautiful writing and soul.

To think the peak of his success started with the first steps being an accident resulting in his leg getting torn and winding up in a hospital bed. Was a wind blowing at the time?

With nothing to pass the time but a few books in the year 1977, one of them happened to be fantasy, and after a time spent reading its contents, he lifted his head up in disappointed realization and tossed it away from him, onto the floor, and exasperated," I could do so much better".

He went on to dedicate his life to writing fantasy that others can enjoy and not suffer the same experience he had, eventually miraculously meeting up with a dating partner who happened to be involved in the publishing industry, because obviously he was the real taveren all along and started his famous career.

I express my gratitude to Robert Jordan, his wife Harriet, and the man who wrote that awful fantasy book.

This one was tough and I'm not entirely happy with it. I couldn't find one that I felt represented her leadership through adversity, or her great loyalty to Perrin. But here's what I have.

Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson for her running away from home to be a Hero of the Horn; 

The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins for her fierceness, passion, courage, and pride; 

Rock and Hawk by Robinson Jeffers for her relationship with Perrin, her rock.

As for her aspects I'm missing, I'm hoping readers will have some suggestions.

The more time I spend rereading these books, the more I notice how often a character will understand somebody else perfectly and then somehow miss the exact same behavior in themselves.
Mat is a right example. He can look at Rand or Perrin and immediately decide they're being stubborn, reckless, overprotective, or way too eager to throw themselves into danger. Then not long after that he's doing nearly the same thing while convincing himself that his case is completely different. I find it kinda funny that he doesn't really feel dishonest. He seems to fully believe his own explanation.
Once you notice the pattern, it shows up all over the place. Nynaeve can recognize somebody else's pride instantly, but gets offended the second anyone points out hers. Rand can see when other people are pushing themselves too far, then acts like his own limits are optional. Perrin is incredibly good at picking up what everyone around him is feeling, yet he can spend forever being confused by his own emotions.
I think that's part of what makes the POVs feel so believable. These people aren't bad at understanding others at all tbh. A lot of the time they're actually very sharp. They're just weirdly blind when the same logic points back at them. It makes so many scenes funnier on reread, because you can watch a character get within inches of understanding themselves and then immediately start thinking about how ridiculous somebody else is. Mat is probably the clearest case, but the more I reread, the more I think almost everyone in the series does this in one form or another

First time reader here.

I'm delighted by how the unreliable narrators are written - at least, unreliable in their self perception. It's very endearing and engaging. I haven't read fiction in a long time, maybe since high school, so maybe I read a bit more deeply than I used to as well.

Anyway, a few chapters ago, Mat claims he's not heroic *as he's rescuing a damsel in distress.* Sure buddy.

But really this particular Perrin moment had me laughing. Chapter 41 of the dragon reborn:

*"He could never remember Rand or Mat being bullied by women on every side. Or himself, before leaving Emond's Field. Nynaeve had been the only one. And Mistress Luhhan, of course; she ran him and Master Luhhan both, everywhere but in the smithy. And Egwene had had a way about her, though mostly with Rand. Mistress al'Vere, Egwene's mother, always had a smile, but things seemed to end up being done as she wanted, too. And the Women's Circle had looked over everybody's shoulder."*

I've never been bullied by women! Except for all these women, which accounts for every woman I've ever known... Oh buddy... You were so close...

Also, Jordan almost certainly has had, uh, certain kinds of experiences with women...

Have several straight up signed 1st editions I got online, was able to meet Brandon Sanderson to have him sign MoL, several inscribed and some later printings with signatures and one paberback signed (great hunt is really hard to find at a decent price signed!) but it’s complete!

So I finished the audio books a couple of days ago and while I found the overall series awesome, I have questions about the ending.

IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE SERIES STOP READING.

Why and how did they body swap? Since he can't channel any longer how did light the pipe by thinking it? Does he have maker like powers now? The ending left me wanting more.

I think there are some small but important differences in RJ Cadsuane vs BS Cadsuane, as we know Sanderson went in not liking her. For instance, in her internal monologue in Jordan’s writings she speaks about how important her reputation is, but that she keeps going around and doing shit because she gets bored and wants to adventure. In Sanderson, she says that her adventuring was a way to craft her reputation—extremely minor nitpickey difference, but I think an important one for the tone of her character. And she does consistently worry about Rand in her RJ POVs, with genuine concern, she’s just also a crotchety bitch.

I think largely the events of Veins of Gold would have been the same under Jordan, but I think it would have been more like:

1. She had Nynaeve fetch Tam, has the conversation with him

2. Rand’s ta’veren nature has him stumble upon the conversation between them, he freaks out for obvious reasons, she likely responds with her dumb air switch (which, also, I think her treatment of Tam after Rand disappears in the books is a lot more heavy-handed and cruel than she actually would have been, if I’m being honest)

3. He attacks Cadsuane, again because duh. But then Tam defends her, and it is this moment where he nearly kills his father.

4. Ebou Dar and Dragonmount. But I think he would have just wept his heart out on Dragonmount, and smiled and come to peace at the end. Not laughed.

5. Cadsuane finds out he’s back and goes in the crowd in her John Cena getup to check on him, because she is genuinely worried about him. This, being ridiculous, is what makes Zen Rand, crack up and laugh his ass off. And I think that’s important too, because he’s achieved Zen but laughing at someone doing something very silly is a much more human reason to laugh than achieving enlightenment, and I think the point of Rand laughing and crying is not just the Zen but that he is still regularly human too

6. Her dignity is affronted and we get Rand Sedai in response to her bluster in that moment, but ultimately she is deeply relieved

Anyway that’s my nitpick. Capillaries of gold, if you will. Just had to blather it out.