Welcome to the first installment of The Reading of The Wheel of Time! I’m Sylas Barrett, and despite my lifelong love of high fantasy and the fact that I have fantastic librarian for an aunt who was largely responsible for my education in both science fiction and fantasy, I somehow never managed to pick up any of The Wheel of Time books before now. So rather than a reread, this series is going to be me reading Robert Jordan’s novels [insert dramatic announcer’s voice here] For The Very First Time!
I’m going to try to avoid spoilers in these articles as much as I can, but feel free to talk spoilers in the comments. That way those who already know and love The Wheel of Time can have fun of watching my reactions as I discover the mysteries, the characters, and the magic of these books. This week’s installment covers Chapters 1 through 9.
When I was in undergrad, my favorite writing teacher said something about fiction that has always stuck with me, both as an aspiring writer and as a reader. All stories, she said, start one of two ways: a stranger comes to town, or a boy leaves home.
Now of course, when my teacher said “all stories begin one of two ways” she didn’t literally mean [insert hashtag here] all stories. But I still find the observation to be particularly relevant to high fantasy novels, especially questing tales like The Eye of the World. Whether it’s Bilbo’s departure from the Shire in The Hobbit or Frodo and the gang’s subsequent departure in The Lord of the Rings, Richard’s journey out of the Westlands in Terry Goodkind’s The Wizard’s First Rule, or Tristran’s adventure across the wall in Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, the adventure requires that the young protagonist leave the only home they’ve ever known to travel out into the wide, wild world beyond. And whether our hero is leaving out of a desire for adventure or because they have no choice, certain facts remain fairly constant.
Firstly, the hero is young. They’ve been raised on a farm, or in a small village, or in some other relatively backwater part of the world. That home can be idyllic like the Shire or difficult and dangerous, like Katniss’s 12th district in The Hunger Games, but in either case the hero has never left home before, and the outer world is completely new to them. This is a trait shared by fairytales like The Wizard of Oz or Alice and Wonderland and even in the old classics like Cinderella or Jack and the Beanstalk. In these tales we see a clear correlation between becoming an adult and learning about the larger world; knowledge is gained, and innocence is lost, and the protagonist is transformed into an older, wiser person.
In Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World, Rand al’Thor is a young farmer who has lived all his life in the village of Emond’s field, in the Two Rivers, a far-flung backwater part of the world where the people are simple and the more complicated politics of other countries are largely matters of story rather than reality. Rand and his friends, Matrim Cauthon and Perrin Aybara, have no real ambition to ever leave the Two Rivers, but they do enjoy dreaming about adventure in far-off lands, about warriors and the old legends of Ages gone by. Meanwhile Rand’s crush, a young woman named Egwene al’Vere, does dream about going outside of her sleepy little town, telling Rand that she intends to train as a Wisdom, a sort of wise woman and healer, who heads the women’s council and guides village decisions. She suggests that she might move to another village to pursue this goal, and when Rand points out that only strange people do that, she simply responds that perhaps she is strange, too. Where Rand thinks of his longing for adventure only as a daydream, Egwene really believes that she can go see some of the places she has only heard of in tales.
After a long, cruel winter that still hasn’t quite given way to spring, Rand and the people of Emond’s field are terribly excited to have not only a gleeman, or traveling minstrel, come to town for the spring festival of Bel Tine, but to also discover the arrival of two strangers, a lady and soldier who appears to serve her. The Lady Moiraine shows a special interest in Rand and his friends, telling them that she is collecting stories about things that happened in the Two Rivers; she is interested in odd details about people, like how old they are and if they have always lived in the area. To make matters even more strange and exciting, there is the arrival of a peddler bearing news of war in distant lands and talking of a man claiming to be the reincarnation of the Dragon, the ancient and powerful magic user who was responsible, through his struggle with the Dark One, for the male half of magic becoming tainted with darkness and insanity. It has long been prophesied that the Dragon will one day be reborn, but despite the fact that all others who claimed to be the Dragon have always proven to be fakes, the idea of even a false Dragon stirring up war and thoughts of the Dark One and his followers is enough to upset the entire village.
For Rand, Mat, and Perrin, the news is particularly important, as the three boys had all witnessed something odd that same morning; a strange man in black on a black horse, whose cloak didn’t seem to move in the wind, and who appeared to be watching them. With all the talk of wars and false Dragons and with a watch being set around the Two Rivers, the boys decide that they must tell the Mayor what they have seen, even if it sounds ludicrous, and Rand confides the information in his father, Tam.
Rand and Tam’s farm is attacked by Trollocs, creatures that are half man and half animal, and who serve the Dark One. Rand and Tam escape, but Tam is grievously wounded, and when Rand manages to get him to the village, he finds that Emond’s field has been similarly attacked. But there the Trollocs were driven off by Moiraine and her companion, Lan, and Rand learns from witnesses that Moiraine is a wielder of the female half of magic, an Aes Sedai, and that Lan is her Warder. Many are distrustful of the Aes Sedai, believing them to be tricky at best and evil at worst, but when Nynaeve, the Wisdom of Emond’s field, declares that Tam’s injuries are beyond her ability to heal, Rand decides that he must turn to Moiraine for help—he cannot let his father die, no matter what price Moiraine may ask for her assistance. Because as the stories say, the help of an Aes Sedai always comes at a price.
But the price is not at all what he expected. Moiraine tells him that only certain houses were purposefully attacked, that although the village seems to be in chaos, most of the destruction was merely cover for a few deliberate acts. The targets in question? Rand’s home, and those of his friends Perrin and Mat. With some difficulty she convinces Rand that the Trollocs were after the three boys, who are all the same age within a few weeks of each other. Although she claims that she doesn’t know what the Dark One wants with them, she explains that the only way to keep their families, and all of Emond’s field, safe is for the three of them to leave with her and travel to Tar Valon, the city of the Aes Sedai, where they will be protected and the mystery of the situation can be unraveled.
* * *
Thinking back on my teacher’s observations, it occurs to me that the “boy leaves home” narrative usually also has a smattering of “a stranger comes to town” when it comes to questing stories. The quest itself is presented, at least in part, when an outside force thrusts itself into the hero’s little world and drives him to action: Gandalf chooses Bilbo to be the Dwarves’ fourteenth companion; Frodo flees from the evil the one Ring draws to the Shire. And so it is with Rand and Mat and Perrin; they receive both a guiding figure in Moraine and a driving force in the evil of the Trollocs and the dark-cloaked man, who Lan explains is a Fade, another part-human servant of the Dark.
Using events of the early chapters of The Lord of the Rings to illustrate my points is, of course, an easy route to take, since Robert Jordan intentionally wrote the first section to evoke the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. We’ll see more of this in later chapters (Okay I admit, I read ahead just a little. You caught me.) when we have a flight to a ferry and Egwene joins the party, giving us four young people from Emond’s field, just like the four young hobbits from the Shire. But for now, let’s talk about what kind of boy leaves home on a quest.
In Stardust, Tristran is propelled into the world beyond the wall by a desire to find the fallen star, but there are other forces at work that he is not at first aware of. Although his father rather cryptically explains his relationship to the faerie who gave him the snowdrop, Tristran doesn’t realize what is actually being told to him about his heritage. And he certainly doesn’t know that his faerie mother was descended from royalty. But as it turns out, there is much more at work than chance, and Tristran is not an ordinary village boy at all, but in fact a half-faerie prince who will one day reclaim the throne of his forebears.
Frodo, on the other hand, is fully aware of the greater influences on his destiny. The Bagginses are a “good family,” basically Hobbiton’s more low-key version of nobility. (Like an English squire or something.) In addition, Frodo is heir to Bilbo by virtue of having a similar temperament; a bit of elvish in him, I believe the narration says at one point. And then finally there is the one Ring itself, his by chance or maybe by fate, but either way he knows that it is his destiny from the beginning, despite the fact that he cannot comprehend the full scope of that destiny until the Council at Rivendell.
Rand does not know why he would be important to the Dark One. He actually has difficulty believing that it could even be true, but Moraine seems certain that all the boys are important to “the pattern” that is spun by the Wheel of Time. In addition, Rand learns while Tam is injured and feverish that he is not from the Two Rivers, or even Tam’s biological child; Tam found him on a battlefield, of all places. And although Rand does his best to dismiss the idea as nonsense, a feverish delusion not based in any real truth, deep down he still wonders if it might be true.
So you have, in these examples, a simple village boy who is really faerie royalty, an innocent from a distant farming country who is still a blue blood and marked by an almost otherworldly grace beyond that of his peers, and a country shepherd who is almost definitely the son of some mysterious lady warrior. Barring some kind of truly epic red herring, the reader can assume right off the bat that Rand, our point-of-view character with the mysterious origin, is the Dragon reborn (and I’m barely resisting the urge to read ahead so NO SPOILERS FRIENDS). In none of these cases is the hero truly a country bumpkin; Frodo is nothing like the Sackville-Bagginses or even like the Gamgees (Sam, of course, being elevated to a more noble stature by the sacred bond of servant and master), and Rand is nothing like the Congars or Coplins, who are held up in the narrative as examples of ignorant, uncultured country folk. This same is true of Richard in The Wizard’s First Rule; he appears to be just an ordinary tracker, but in reality he’s descended from powerful wizards from another land.
And so in Rand (and perhaps in the others, as I imagine I will learn in later chapters) we are presented with an idealized country boy, one who has the innocence of the sheltered farmer, but the strain of destiny and nobility from somewhere more important. It isn’t chance that leads him on his adventure. It is his true identity catching up to him.
This is even true of Egwene (yes again with the reading ahead, I know, I know.) who turns out to have the Power, and is considering following Moraine into the life of an Aes Sedai. Magic elevates one to nobility in the eyes of a story, and so she is not just the a simple peasant girl she appeared to be. Right from the beginning, before the action starts, she is something more.
I guess the question I have after considering all this is; why is this nobility important to the hero’s character? If the Dragon is to be reborn, why could he not be actually born to Tam al’Thor and his wife, Kari? What is it about magic that so often it is an innate, special gift rather than a craft one can learn like blacksmithing or sculpting? Will a mysterious past truly add something to Rand’s character that wouldn’t be there if his origins were truly humble?
I am reminded at this juncture of the evolving origin of story of Robin Hood. In the older tales, Robin is a violent yoeman; he was first gentrified in the Tudor era, and the version of the disenfranchised landowning nobleman is the one that was more commonly embraced in the late nineteenth and through the twentieth century. Robin stands up for the peasants and the everyman against the rich robber barons and greedy churchmen, but the pairing of his moral nobility with a nobility of birth is one that we find difficult to shake, even today. In The Sword of Shanarra, Terry Brook’s hero Shea is also led to a predetermined destiny and a magic sword by virtue of his bloodline. Even in Y.A. novels like Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy, the main male character turns out to have his gifts because he is descended from the greatest Grisha who ever lived, the one who was also the villain’s grandfather. Even our peasants, even our simple trackers and grizzled rangers, our innocent sheepherders, all reveal a bloodline that leads them to great deeds, even as their humble upbringing has left them pure and innocent. And I ask you, can one not be a pure and innocent child of a port city? Maybe an innkeeper’s daughter or palace footman? And conversely, cannot one’s nobility be ingrained without being inherited, one’s destiny bright without a mythic history to back it up?
Coming up next Tuesday on Reading The Wheel of Time, we’ll talk about being chased by the agents of the enemy, how there always has to be at least one fool of a Took in any questing party (lookin’ at you, Mat) and what it means for your worldbuilding when you separate the fabric of reality into two parts based on gender. Until then, feel free to discuss my thoughts and yours down below!
[Note about comment moderation: While Tor.com asks that comments focus on responding to the contents of this article, users should nevertheless feel free to discuss spoilers for The Wheel of Time, marking them as you see fit. Thanks!]
Sylas Barrett is a Brooklyn-based writer and reviewer, who would probably do fine on a epic traveling quest right up until he had to walk a week in the rain. (Wet feet are for suckers.) You can follow him on Facebook and Instagram as inland.sailor.
That’s a great point about many of fantasy’s heroes descending from nobility. That’s true of Rand, but its for a reason, *SPOILERS* he never would have gotten the Aiel to follow him had he been a pure wetlander. Heck, many of the Aiel still struggle with his upbringing despite his heritage. Also, the other heroes in this series, Mat, Perrin, and Egwane, really are the simple village people they appear to be, they just have the ability to lead also *END SPOILERS*
Side note, I like the format of this read through and the way you compare this to other fantasy and sci-fi works. I’m looking forward to this.
Well as we saw in The Last Jedi the hero not being a descendant of someone important is unacceptable to many.
@1 It would be good to have a more literary approach to WOT. We’ve done the world-building and related geekery several times already
I suspect I’m going to spend a lot of this reread cackling.
I think that’s one reason why Kove of Patrick Rothfuss’s Name of the Wind is such a compelling character. He is a poor kids who has a troubled past. As far as the reader knows, he has no “noble” blood. Just his traveling troupe parents.
@Sylas K Barrett Did you skip the prologue describing what happened to the original Dragon, or is that not in every edition of the book? I know it’s in the audiobook.
This is one of my favorite series- and I’ve been contemplating a reread. So it seems fortuitous that I get this read-along to accompany me!
The question of bloodline – not necessarily of nobility, but of traits and sort of racial memories passed down through the ages – is an important one in Jordan’s world. As one character says later “The Old Blood sings”.
@@@@@2 Lucerys:
True to an extent, but for me I was bothered not because she wasn’t connected, but because it seemed like they abandoned the setup of the 1st movie where it was implied she did have some family connection. If they had never implied that, I wouldn’t have cared either way – in fact, it’s kinda cool to have her be her own thing as it seems like most of the Jedi of old were just from all over the place. Again, I just feel it was handled poorly.
@@@@@ The post: ” And I ask you, can one not be a pure and innocent child of a port city? Maybe an innkeeper’s daughter or palace footman? “It is interesting that children in stories (especially the protagonists) seem to be broken down into two camps. If you grew up in a small village, you are optimistic, naïve, innocent, etc. If you grew up in the city you are jaded, savvy, cool, etc. I do feel like there is this standard bias given to city kids in stories that they are “cooler” and “tougher” by nature which I think shows up especially in authors who themselves live in a bigger city. I’m trying to think of a protagonist who grew up in a city but wasn’t cool/tough-as-nails. Captain America comes to mind. He still had “grit” if not “cool”, but he does fit the innocent/optimistic mold. Anyone have good examples of optimistic/innocent city main-characters?
Going to try breaking this up because it’s not wanting to let me post.
@1 Jason: *spoiler
I would even argue that Rand is still really a commoner. Being Aiel bestows no special abilities per se. He is brought into a warrior heritage, but most of the peoples in the land don’t think of the Aiel as being noble, just kinda weird. (It’s been a while since I’ve read it but I feel like that is how they are perceived – though also respected/feared as warriors). End spoiler*
Anyway, I would say that while there is a definite slant toward family background in many high fantasy books, there are cases where the protagonist isn’t all that noble. But…the fact that there is some sort of prophecy or “chosen one”, being that one inherently makes you into something special. Case in point – Harry Potter. While to muggles he comes from somewhere special (having magical parents sets you apart), to the Wizards he isn’t all that grand. He has a dad from an older line ( I guess that line does go back to somewhere pretty cool, but most of the wizarding lines go back to someone pretty cool), but his mom is muggle born. So, I just don’t feel he is all that special. That’s part of why Neville was another option. Rather, the prophecy and then Voldemort’s actions make him “special”. In fact, Neville is a good case in point for someone who isn’t “chosen” but still grows throughout the stories and ends up performing a big heroic act (destroying the last Horcrux).
Yaaaaaay! I’ve been so eager for this.
I guess Kelsey won’t read the comments due to spoilers, but does anyone else know how much material each post will cover? I know a first-time reader who wants to follow along, and I might want to reread as we go.
So glad to see this content on tor.com. Looking forward to each installment.
One thing I find interesting about the “hero leaves home” trope is how there’s often a telling of how the hero has outgrown the standard parental figure – either by the time they leave or shortly before. And the acceptance, to some degree, of that parental figure in the hero leaving.
Frodo’s journey is truly begun when Bilbo leaves (though of course in the books it is several years before he truly goes out the door). Luke Skywalker wasn’t ready to leave with Obi-Wan until Owen and Beru are found dead. Rand was almost going to have to leave without Tam knowing, but thankfully Tam wakes from his sleep and gives Rand a bit of fatherly advice before their quick flight from the village.
By way of separation, then, Egwene falls into a different trope, of the hero who leaves without having really outgrown parental figure(s) and does so without their acceptance/approval (or death). Because she was more of a believer in a future outside the village than the boys?
I guess Kelsey won’t read the comments due to spoilers, but does anyone else know how much material each post will cover? I know a first-time reader who wants to follow along, and I might want to reread as we go.
Good question. I can answer that!
Successive installments in this first-read series tackle smaller portions of the book, averaging around 3 to 4 chapters depending on how the viewpoints jump around and how smaller sequences conclude. That range will always vary but thus far this first installment covers the longest string of chapters.
Thanks! I think I’ll reread four chapters in advance of each post, and then do more if the post turns out to cover more. As a rereader, I have no fear of getting spoiled, and little fear of mentioning something in the comments that hasn’t happened quite yet in the post coverage.
One small nit to pick from the first reading. Tam *is* from the Two Rivers. He left for his adventures as a young man ultimately becoming a soldier, blademaster and finding baby Rand on the slopes of Dragonmount. Rand’s mother was an outsider whom we later learn was closely tied to the nobility in Carhien. Tam’s wife, (Rand’s stepmother and the only mother he ever knew) was also an outsider who ultimately has very little to place in the story aside from Rand’s blurry childhood memories of her.
9. whitespine, but remember, Rand is not only descended from the Clan Chief Janduin, but also from the then-Daughter-Heir of Andor, Tigraine, so he is very much of Noble blood.
I kind of like the way Brandon Sanderson handled this trope in the Mistborn series. In that, Allomancy was gifted to the noble class a 1,000 previous, so one had to be of noble blood in order to inherit the power.
I would have read New Spring first. It’s the prequel introducing Moraine and Lan. I’ve read the series through twice and plan to read it again shortly. The only other series I have enjoyed more is Frank Herbert’s Dune series.
I think at this stage it was to hide Rand, and because the town where Tam lives is quite out of the way Rand may be able to remain safer.
Does anyone else think it kinda stretches belief that Moiraine didn’t know it was Rand right away? She knew he was born after a battle against the Aiel. Everyone remarks that Rand looks just like an Aiel. Rand and Tam live by themselves while Perrin and Mat have large families. It’s pretty obvious, but she doesn’t know Rand is the DR until the end of the book.
@9 You pulled out a great example in Harry Potter, that book series really went out of the way to make a point in that Harry was only Chosen because Voldemort picked him out, and is was following prophecy that lead to Voldemort’s own undoing. Of course this begs the question of whether a One would be chosen for him if he had done nothing. But you know, prophecy is only a plot device
****MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW*****
Wheel of Time does take a similar approach to nobility being the hero/villian but elevates it even further than earthly nobility, the pattern itself takes characteristics crucial to moving the world forward in an endless loop and picks out individuals to imbue those characteristics. Rand is the dragon reborn simply because the pattern itself dictated the terms of his heritage (with prophecy) and that the dragon must always be reborn to fight the last battle. But this isn’t a vague idea that prophecy might be fulfilled or might not depending on a choice, Mat is constantly struggling with free will and will find barriers left and right throughout the series because the pattern will only allow for so much. And I like how the WoT even re-purposes the word Chosen, to self-describe the forsaken. The forsaken wanted to serve the Dark One and wanted to be called Chosen, only Ishamael was a requirement, and the Dark One plays on their vanity this way. But yeah, Rand actually has no claim on material possessions since his mother gave up her titles to become a maiden of the spear (plus who the hell would believe him to be Tigraine’s son anyways?) and his father Janduin, while an Aiel clan chief, the Aiel don’t pass down possessions like that
In the case of Egwene, other than containing enough of the old blood to sorta make out words in the old tongue there’s nothing noble about her upbringing unless you count being an innkeepers daughter or the fact that she was born able to channel. But she basically started from the ground up and ended with being a totally critical character to the series and the Amerlyn Seat
@18 You make a good point, and I also always wondered why Moiraine chose, this time, to go by her real name instead of “You may call me Alys.” Plot reasons, I suppose – we need to know the character’s real name. Also maybe because the village was SO remote that she didn’t expect to see anyone who had the slightest clue who Moiraine Damodred really was? Then Thom came along…
One wonders if she didn’t, perhaps, deduce rather quickly that Rand was indeed the DR, but spirited away all 3 because:
a. Rand would be more likely to go if his friends were with;
b. The Shadow was after all 3, and Moiraine wanted to stop any plans the Shadow had (thank the Light, or else the “tripod” would have fallen due to one leg being cut, as the Fade stated);
c. She had to be absolutely certain, and why risk it when you can take all three?
I still hold to the theory that Kylo is lying about Rey’s parents being nobodies in Last Jedi.
That being said, it does seem rather a trope that a character’s bloodline has such a bearing on their destiny and power, but I have seen stories where a protagonist’s power was inherited through a bloodline, and the ancestor the power was inherited from did come from nothing and was elevated to nobility due to having said power. It’s a bit of a roundabout, but they’re out there.
Donna Theiss @16: I personally prefer to read New Spring in publication order (between CoT and KoD), but that may just be because I read it there to begin with. When I re-read the series, the only thing I read out of publication order is the extra prologue that came with From the Two Rivers (which could easily be skipped, although it does give an interesting window into Egwene’s personality), which is where I start reading.
@18:
I would think Moraine’s Cairhein prejudices might blind her to the fact that the Dragon Reborn would be Aiel.
As far as the hidden noble… we’re not all that far removed (if we are removed at all) from having it pounded into our collective psyche for thousands of years that “blood will tell.” But even more than that, this tradition goes back to pagan and proto-greek traditions of the Children of the Gods. The blood of the Gods became the blood of the nobles under monotheism.
In reality, it is far more common for “quality” families, the blue bloods of our society, to achieve greater things. Not because of blood, or intelligence, or talent. They simply have a better starting place, and a better chance at a more stable upbringing.
I might have to do this reread too. I am pretty certain that it is made pretty apparent by someone that Mat and Egwene are both descended from Manetherin nobility. Someone (Moraine maybe) mentions the Manetherin nobility and then glances over at them.
#4. JohnJayLWard:. It has been a while since I read the Kingkiller Chronicles, but you are wrong. Rothfuss’s hero Kvothe does have Noble blood on his mother’s side. She ran away rather than live a courtly life. I am certain you can find the detail if you look for them.
What is hilariously ironic about the series is that in the beginning you love Rand, hate Mat, and Perrin is meh. But later you despise Rand, Mat is awesome, and Perrin is still meh.
Yeah, in terms of bloodlines, Rand is about as noble as possible without actually being the son of a king, and then being the Dragon Reborn essentially gives him that much power and then some. It’s impressive how well he handles it, really, his insanity notwithstanding, as that’s due to the magic; I’m talking about how he handles being in command of others and making decisions. His rural upbringing wouldn’t have prepared him for that. Of course, Lan spends a lot of time later on teaching him things, and it had to have been more than just bladework. I think WoT is one of the most impressive series I’ve read at showing character growth over time.
Anyway, I’m very excited to continue following along with this reread. I’d like to read along, if I can make the time.
@12 TorChris: If the amount of chapters covered each time is going to vary, would it be possible for each post to mention somewhere how many chapters the next post will cover, for the benefit of people reading along at home?
#22. Bad_Platypus: That makes perfect sense for you. I prefer to read New Spring first, because that is how I read the series. I read the novella in Legends and then decided to read the series.
Having read the series from its initial publication I am very excited that others are finding it. My heart was broken with the loss of Robert Jordan and feel that Brandon Sanderson completed the work retaining the characters extremely well. You will find that once started you will look forward to the next book and in the end find yourself starting again. I followed this series for 20 years, still have it on my iPod, kindle and phone. Not to mention each book in 1st edition. Please read and enjoy an awesome series and do not be to hard on Moraine.
I’m a little confused. Will Kelsey be participating in the comments or not?
Spoilers are okay, yet this is a first read. That’s a mixed message.
Is this aimed at new readers, or letting us veterans be voyeurs on the journey?
Re: Leave town / stranger
There is also the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey. While the series has expanded greatly since the first publishing of the Heralds of Valdemar, Many of the books start with a journey and a stranger. Sometimes that stranger happens to be a magical horse. And in half her books, it’s a girl who leaves town.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/50054-valdemar-chronological
AlerieCorbray @@@@@ 30: And your method makes sense to you. :-) I think in this case either works. For me it’s neat to see how the hints in the text got fleshed out, but I can definitely see how it could also be neat to know what happened and watch for hints later.
“All stories, she said, start one of two ways: a stranger comes to town, or a boy leaves home.” — I was taught that there are only two stories told over and over again in different ways: the Odyssey, and the sacrifice at Golgotha, I was actually surprised to realize that the Odyssey for one does begin with a boy leaving home.
Re: Nobility and noble blood, I definitely agree with @23 that there’s the element of it’s ingrained into the collective consciousness, even Jesus, if I’m remembering correctly, it’s not enough that he’s the son of God, but that his adoptive father has to be from a line of kings as well. I also think that it’s something much like the idea of Beauty=Goodness, that outward appearances reflects inner character and vice versa.
“What is it about magic that so often it is an innate, special gift rather than a craft one can learn like blacksmithing or sculpting?” — I think often in fantasy books Magic=Power, and the problem with it being a craft that anyone can learn is that it would mean more social mobility for the lower classes, which would threaten the power of the ruling class.
@32
I agree, mixed messages all over the place. I bet if a coin were flipped to resolve the issue it would land on its edge. Or was that reference too spoilery? I
#33. Bad_platypus: It’s complicated. I was a new fantasy reader in my sixties, coming away from being in a rut with ASOIAF and several years of blindness caused by cataracts. Then I gradually started reading mostly the series spotlighted in the Legends Anthologies. I used those two volumes as guideposts in what to read. Anyhow, I read new Spring and loved the story and the characters. Luckily, in my adventures, my daughter has an extensive library of fantasy books, which she gladly loaned me her Wheel of Time copies. I remember reading through the series four times, one after another. Each time I started with New Spring. In my case, it has been three or four years since I read the series.
Sorry. For some reason it doubled on me.
@Kelsey Jefferson Barrett: .Excellent write-up. It brought a bunch of book memories back to mind. I studied accounting in college and never had a literature class with all those fancy terms. But your comparison went well because I had actually read many of the volumes that you cited.
The series should start with the Dragonmount prologue, not the new ravens prologue or New Spring. Ravens is extra characterization for Eg after you already know the characters. The long version of New Spring gives extra information about the AS test and should come after Ny’s Accepted test, when you want to know more about the AS but there is no fitting character in the present of the story to show the AS test.
I´m happy to be here, even if just for the nostalgia – and cackling, like @3 noblehunter said. I discovered the Reread when it was nearly over and the Reread Redux, sadly, didn´t last, so I´m looking forward to have – finally – something WoT-related I can follow from start to end.
As some pointed before me, the First Read/Spoilers allowed sends very mixed message. If Kelsey Jefferson Barrett writes each week about his reading experience, but then doesn´t read our comments, what is the point?
Also, not even one sentence about Prologue?
As for the “noble hero” – Narnia had some ordinary kids as heroes. (Which also answers @whitespines question: Lucy is naive and optimistic and she´s from London!) Other than that, and maybe Rey (I hope) …wow, there really aren´t many fantasy heroes with no blue blood at all!
@@@@@ 4 johnjaylward
Kvothe is definitely compelling on that point on the surface but every indication in the books so far are that he actually is descendant of royalty and not by much of a generational gap either.
In terms of this article and those to come, I really enjoyed reading it. The format is excellent, I love the comparison to other stories and I adore WoT so this should be great fun.
I read the book when originally published (2-3 decades ago) and made it upto 7th or 8th book before the duration between books, the numerous characters , and complexity were too much for me to keep in my mind’s eye!
When I heard about a production of the series I was over the moon. So I vowed to read it book1-14 straight through (thus eliminating the problem of keeping the story & its many threads in mind. In 2017 I read books 1-10 completely (about 3 Million words)! I managed to start #11 but then life bogged me down. I need to complete the saga. So perhaps your read-along will spur me on!
I like your analysis of adventurer leaves home. I never really thought about it. I started to recall (the books you mentioned many of them) plus others like the Illiad by Homer. I guess he invented it. Toss in Gilgamesh & Beowulf too. Even the venerable Bible’s Moses/Exodus fits the pattern. By the way, I toss Paul Atreides/Dune into this too!
#NICE ! Enjoy!
Pug the magician was a regular guy with presumably normal parents (who abandoned him).
@19: Chosen. Ugh, that’s the first time I’ve realized it! In the whole story, the Forsaken are the ones going around calling themselves the Chosen ones! Thanks for pointing that out. That’s the most subtlely writen pun in the whole series, right up there with Warder cloaks (they’re made with a ter’angreal that produces them if you pour the OP into it. In short they’re ‘woven with the one power’).
I’m personally interested in finding out where our new reader comes down on the Egwene thing. If you don’t know what I mean, I’m marking down your name and watching your reactions. For everyone else… let’s cackle away at these young ‘uns, who unlike us didn’t need to march 5 years to get their latest WOT book (and it was snowing and uphill both ways, and we had to do all our commenting on dialup modems that too forever…).
Confession, I started reading WOT in the middle of the Animorphs series (remember those?), and some of my feelings towards Cassie might have mixed with my feelings with Egwene. At the very least, in hindsight my reaction and stance on both is functionally identical, which is the urge to scream hypocrite and club them like a baby seal.
Yeah, I wish this chapter had dealt with the Dragonmount prologue too. For the record though, how much will this read through be relying on the glossary? I remember figuring out the big twist of the first book from reading the glossary alone, back in the day. Really, its a different experience if you rely only on the text itself, read the glossary every time you don’t understand at term or reference, and reading the whole glossary first, then reading the story.
The Prydain series (best known for The Black Cauldron) also falls directly into a couple of the points here. It is about the simplest example of the hero leaves home start. He has to go catch Hen Wen (the pig) when she runs off. Everything springs from there.
On the other hand, I love what the author did with the heritage trope.
*SPOILERS* He spends an entire book trying to figure out if he has any royal blood so he can court the princess. By the end it’s revealed that his heritage is not only unknown, but absolutely unknowable, which is important because he is the only one by the end of the series that can unite everyone. He can’t be put in a box that’s opposed to any faction.
Lucerys @2- I have been avoiding spoilers for that movie with great success by avoiding all articles about it, waiting for my brother to return from deployment in March.
I’m sure I will still enjoy the movie, but that is a big question I would’ve preferred to learn myself.
This should be fun and I’m sure I’ll cackle a few times myself.
That said, I’m a bit sad that Kelsey didn’t mention Moiraine’s story of Manetheren at all. That was a beautiful moment from the early book to me.
Noticing the question of noble birth, and asking why can’t a main character be of humble birth, and not (yet) seeing Jordan’s prevailing them of balance. Egwain is of humble birth, the yin to Rand’s yang. They have a parallel journey.
Interesting points about the hero tropes. There’s a book I read years ago called ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’ by Joseph Campbell. Not an easy read by any stretch, but basically explains that there are only two types of hero stories… although slightly different from Kelsey’s two… and I apologise profusely for explaining this terribly, but… you’ve got the character who knows nothing and needs to leave their home to adventure, the reader learns as they learn etc… and you’ve got the character with a past who come back from adventure, and the reader slowly gets told about their past. I always think the best examples of this come from David Eddings… in ‘The Belgariad’ you’ve got Garion – the typical boy in a small village who doesn’t know his heritage or what he will become (basically Rand), and in ‘The Elenium’ you’ve got Sparhawk, the grizzled knight back from distant lands.
Hello friends!
First I just want to say how amazing it is to have such a response to the read! Of course I know how big the WoT fanbase is but I’m still gratified to find that you interested in what I have to say! I love engaging in a detailed, scholarly way with the books and media I consume, especially the things I really love, and it seems like you all are the ones to do that with. :)
Also, thanks so much to those who have been careful about spoilers! I want to try to engage with y’all in the comments as much as possible and that is super helpful.
@Braid_Tug To clear up confusion, yes I will be participating in the comments! The first round got a little away from me (learning a new rhythm!) but I intend to be on more regularly in the future and to keep up with the conversation. Avoiding/hide comments that would be much appreciated. Even just the *SPOILERS* that people have been using allows me to scroll away before I read anything.
Also to those who have been asking, I think mentioning which chapters will be covered in future installments is a great idea. I will try to do that going forward!
@9 whitespine: You are completely correct. Rand is still a commoner. SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER! Lots of them. He is really a “country bumpkin” (as KJBarrett says, or rather says he isn’t). And that is what saves him and everyone else. In TOM, he says the difference between himself and Lews Therin, and the reason he didn’t lose himself on Dragonmount, was is upbringing, and that he had better parents. He also mentions to Min, when he fears she is wondering if she is the same person she fell in love with, that the real “him” is still the sheepherder from Emond’s Field. And yet, when the situation is appropriate, such as when he confronts Fortuona the second time, he also reminds us that he is Lews Therin; that he once had the authority to summon the nine rods of Dominion, and that he was highest of the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends (what a fantastic goosebump reading moment). The character dichotomy is magnificent.
I think that it will be fun to read these articles. KJBarrett is so…, I don’t know what word to use here. “Naïve” is so condescending, and I don’t mean to be so. But it is fun to see how she describes things, like the male and female half of the “magic.” Such a simple, little, and insufficient word for the One Power. I want to comment on so many things she wrote but just can’t because of time.
Has anyone perchance read the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant? There is a decent fantasy story where the main character is neither young nor innocent. Or at least, not very nice.
To answer tim_s’s question (#5) and I think a few others mentioned it as well, I decided to skip the prologue because I didn’t really feel like I had much interesting to say about it yet. Perhaps because the book is quite dense and perhaps also because there is an air of mystery around the unveiling of the world and it’s rules, I found that while I enjoyed the prologue I didn’t really know what to make of it. I think that it will be better to engage with it more in context of the story at large. The perils of deep analysis on the first read, I guess, but a future installment will go back and engage with the prologue, never fear!
@lucerys and @whitespine I don’t think that Ray was implied to have an important family lineage as much as the question of family and being alone were important to her. I personally felt like this called back to Anakin’s mysterious, lonely origins more than anything. (Not to get off track too much, but Emmet Asher-Perrin draws that analogy beautifully in her article “Thanks to The Last Jedi, We Finally Know What ’The Force Awakens’ Means.” In it she compares Ray to a force-created antibody to the Palpetine-created virus that is the Skywalker SuperJedi. It’s the ‘why’ or Ray’s existence more than the ‘how’ I think, more of a ‘where does she belong’ than a ‘where does she come from.’
I love the example of Cap as a city-born hero with the idealism but not the stereotypical “country-boy” naiveté. And yes Neville!!!! Neville is one of my favorite fictional characters and I think that is partly why.
@Jakorosin: referencing “The old Blood sings” bit I think this is also a super relevant point in epic fantasy. It was Tolkein’s big thing, (“Mister Frodo, look. The king has got a crown again.”) the idea that the old world and old people were the strongest and greatest and most nobel. I don’t hate it by any means, and I think it comes very naturally to fantasy, since it is an older genre and built on the fairytales of times gone by. But I’m resistant to it, sort of like I am resistant to the way that Robin Hood began as a poor man’s hero and was reinvented to be a member of the nobility. The suggestion starts to become that greatness is inherent in bloodlines and that the way to make the world better is to backwards in time, rather than forwards. Of course, (and I am just thinking of this now as I type my responses, so thank you all for this gem to muse on) if time is a wheel than that becomes a very different idea!
@DJ When I said “he” is not from the Two Rivers, I meant that Rand is not. Sorry for the confusion!
@Andrew Hines Yes to hide Rand! Kinda of like the ring is “hidden” and Hobbiton. Not entirely intentional yet there is some sense of people knowing more than they let on/fate lending a hand. And I kinda sense that I might agree with @Austin’s comments about it being odd that Moiraine can’t tell it’s Rand right off; but then I may be leaning too heavily on my outside knowledge and I don’t understand Moiriane’s powers yet, so will probably come back to that.
I’m interested reading what all of you have to say about my “boy leaves home” analysis. I think the real reason that these stories have always existed this way is because protagonists need a catalyst. Leaving home or having someone new arrive changes their status quo, brings them new perspective, and challenges them to new action. Otherwise the story is just someone at home doing what they’ve always done. @Andrew, I think Campbell’s two types fit into this as well.
@Jason Buck: I look forward to discovering that! Incidentally, part 2 is already done and I do talk about yin and yang in it. Great minds, eh?
@oquirrh: You may be right that “magic” is the wrong/insufficient word, but don’t forget this is my first time reading the book, so I don’t know much about the One Power yet. Also I’m a guy. :-)
I always thought that this was a device that allowed the reader to be introduced to the world of the novel alongside the protagonist step by step.
I’ll take any excuse I can find to reread WoT. It’s a close race between this and Harry Potter for most submersive worldbuilding.
But Jordan elevates the simple, stupid countryfolk, as well. They’re not just any old backwater peasants. They’re actually the descendants of fallen Manetherien. They’ve a noble heritage and an ancestry filled with glory, honor, and legendary heroic sacrifice. It’s just that they’ve forgotten it, over the intervening years, until Morraine Sedai conveniently reminds them all of this, just before the village of Emond’s Field (coincidentally the site of noble Manetherien’s tragic, heroic end,) is attacked by Trollocs — the same enemy which ended Manetherien all those years ago.
So, basically, what we have is a village where nobody is what they appear to be, while at the same time everyone is exactly what they appear to be. Rand isn’t at all alone in being descended from warrior stock. Everyone in the village is, including the Congars and the Coplins, for all their faults. If anything, Rand’s warrior heritage is less glorious, if more recent. And he’s trained by a warrior, too — His adopted father taught him the underpinnings, if not the craft itself. Jordan cheats quite a bit, setting this novel up, before setting his first chapter into motion.
I just want to say that the Mat = Fool of a Took comparison actually made me laugh out loud! I ADORE Mat, but there are many times when I just want to slap him upside the head. :D
Also, relatedly, @26 spasticon1 – I hated Rand from the very beginning. I literally threw the book across the room when it was revealed at the end that he truly was the DR. I wanted Perrin to be the hero. At least by the end of the series, they all have their moments to shine and be heroic.
“yeoman”
“Manetheren”
Ok, thank you. Had to do that. You wouldn’t understand.
I nearly quit the book when it became obvious that Rand had abilities taught beyond the rest of the village by his mysterious father. Moraine arriving did nothing to quell my discomfort.This was right out of Shannara, Wizard’s First Rule, and every other fantasy story told at the time. It presaged nothing good.
Yes, I love the fool of a Took (wonderful analogy there), and I can endure Perrin for the most part. Rand does nothing for me. Nynaeve irritates the tar out of me, and the braid pulling, arms crossing, frowning, sniffing, foot-tapping fishwives that make up the majority of women in the series is also something to be endured. Mat, Thom, Verin, Lan, Loial, Tuon, Talmanes… all wonderful.
But I stayed because of the story of Manetheren in that first book. That story was beautiful, well told, and compelling. It got me through the dark times of books 8-10. It got me through endless discussions of Tel’aran’rhiod. It was epic.
Why wonder about family traits? It’s common enough to see a child to display the strengths of the parents, isn’t it? It is much harder to imagine that a certain characteristic will be present in a child whose forebearers never presented it themselves. Rand’s heritage gives him the strength to go through with what has to be done and as it has been pointed out before Mat and Perrin have no such heritage. Nor do I remember for the Egwene or Nynaeve. So there is your balance.
@20 If you closely read the series you’ll see that the Prophecy of the Dragon says he’ll be born on the slopes or Dragonmount to someone of the blood who is not the blood. It never says Aiel. In fact the White Tower sends Accepted into all the surrounding villages to seek out male children born at a certain time. All of those children were to be followed up on to see who was the Dragon Reborn. In the prequel Moiraine meets Lan while she’s eliminating other children from her list in the boarderlands. So she wasn’t certain it was Rand, Matt or Perin because they were all born so close together.
The series follows what my teachers called the Noble quest trope. A boy that will be important, often a king in hiding, has a caretaker but is ultimately called from obscurity. He usually has a magic weirder as a protector as well as a thief of sorts, a warrior, etc in his entourage. Same thing you see with King Arthur, Garion in the Belgariad series. Greek myths have them as well.you could go down the list and place the names in the roles in most of the series.
I had read this years ago, and recently read the early chapters again. My observations:
– the prologue sets up the genre: epic fantasy. This is necessary because the story begins in a small village and the heroes then go out and explore the world. By establishing it is epic fantasy, we get a sense of how big the stakes will eventually be: the world.
– the prologue also sets up the magic rules of this story. Certain men and women have the skill of tapping into the “one true power”. But this power is separated into a male and female stream, and the male stream is tainted, so anyone male who taps into it will eventually go mad(lol, this would not be a politically correct way of doing things in today’s gender-confused world!). A shrewd reader can sense one of the coming tensions: our male hero will have this ability to tap the one true power, and he will need to, but then he will face a fearsome enemy: madness
– in fact, the more the hero who uses the one true power tries to resist the Dark One, the more mad he will go and the bigger a threat he himself will come to all he loves. That’s a sophisticated part of the plot for a story that generally doesn’t aim to be too sophisticated.
– as noted, the story sticks to Lord of the Rings and Hero’s Journey archetype’s. Rand is the reluctant hero, but he is the Chosen One; and he is an orphan, always popular in these(“luke, I am your father!); plenty of mentors; one of them who brings the gift of magic;
– I went through and enjoyed several books in this series. The reason I gave up was I was sick of the way he portrayed the female characters. Almost all of them continuously bash the “wool headed” males, and the wool-headed males always seem too weak and helpless against these barrages. It was fine to start out that way, but after multiple books it never changes. It’s like the male writer has an extremely narrowly defined understanding of women and girls and forces them all into that mold. I’m not talking about political correctness of lack of it here, I’m talking about variety. Not all women view men as dimwitted children whose ears need to be “boxed” every day. The male characters, after several books and years of aging, still have no understanding of women. It’s like some 70s version of Battle of the Sexes.
– but overall the series is worth digging into and when this came out it sent me on a fantasy kick for years. Other than Game of Thrones, I never found anything close to it in quality
@Kelsey: Knowing exactly what to reread in advance of a post would be great. Thanks!
Being obsessed with Shadowspawn (Trollocs etc.), I’m a smidge disappointed but not at all surprised that they’re mentioned so briefly in the post and so rarely in the comments. Nobody shares my priorities. :-p
Been thinking about the extensive fantasy I’ve read, and…it really does quite often begin shortly before or after one or more young people leave an isolated home for the first time. That home can be rural or urban; some city kids are sheltered and naive or have simply lived with a small area. @55: I agree that this helps readers experience and learn about the world as the POV person does, which reduces the need for infodumping and can increase the potential influence of an unreliable narrator. Alternatively, or additionally, a protagonist or secondary character can be an older person with a Dark and Mysterious Past, embarking on a new phase in their life. I guess that sometimes overlaps with “a stranger comes to town.” I’m not so into heroes always secretly having noble or supernatural ancestry; they can know they have it, and sometimes not know they have it, but to make them always extraordinary undermines their relatability to readers who feel thoroughly ordinary in our inherent abilities and ancestry. (Not me, though — my unknown sperm-donor father could have been anyone or anything humanoid. :-p )
@26: I never especially loved or hated any of those people. Or Egwene, for that matter. I’m into the books because of some of the other characters. (And the setting, the dialogue, the wildlife, and occasionally the plot)
I was recently doing some research on opening the third eye, and was looking at a lot of information on you tube. All of a sudden it hit me, years after reading the wheel of time series… Eye of the World…. Entering the void…. Controlling the flame… Suddenly I had a whole new understanding of the Wheel of Time series. Guess I’m a bit slow.
Thanks for the free book. It is amazing so far. Great writing.
Kelsey Jefferson Barrett, I hope you might get TorChris the moderator to send you a spoiler redacted set of comments. Otherwise this will be a detumescent read. Wishing you joy in the journey.
Paksenarrion is different. She’s a girl leaving home. :-)
And she’s as common as possible.
And so is Gird.
Love your insights.
Hope you enjoy the WoT series, it is my favourite series
Bloodlines and heritage is important in WoT and this will be shown in more detail latter but what will become clear over the series is how Jordan links events. How small events lead to great ones. It one of the things I always enjoyed about the series, that a mention of a small event links to something so much greater and without that small event the greater would not of happened. The Wheel weaves small threads to create a great tapestry.
Kelsey missed my favorite bits in the opening chapters – Tam’s fever dream statements when being lugged by Rand back to town in which it becomes clear that Tam is no simple farm guy and Rand no ordinary farm-birthed kid; and Lan’s “Hey, that’s a very nice sword – is there a heron mark on it? In some places, the heron mark is the sign of a master swordsman” discussion that carries forward similar themes on Tam’s part. Lots to unpack in a few pages of text that will play out over the course of the series.
Also Mat’s “I like battles” which becomes hilarious in retrospect.
As one of the original heavy posters on Leigh’s re-reads, I look forward to hanging out with the group on your journey.
@34:
You remember correctly. The book of Matthew recounts the lineage of Jesus through David back to Abraham. The Gospel of Luke recounts a lineage of Jesus through David and Abraham all the way back to Adam. The arguments over those two genealogies are mind-numbing to take in.
@63:
Your accounting of RJs writing of women and gender-dynamics is… fair. It may be worth pointing out that 30 years ago in the American South, where RJ is from, and when this story was conceived and the characters developed, that stereotype had a pretty strong hold. Its also not universally true across different cultures in Randland. The Aeil, the Seanchan, the Borderlands, etc, all had very different dynamics. Also, the nobility in Randland itself had a completely different dynamic. Its mostly the rural commoners amongst whom this stereotype was rampant in the Wheel of Time.
As far as our main characters not growing beyond it.. The entirety of the Wheel of Time took place over three years. Rand went from 18-19 to 21-22. Same for Mat and Perrin. Egwene went from 16 to 19. Nynaeve was already a settled hen-pecker when we met her as a 27 year old. Why would she change? For the most part, in real life, people don’t change. They are a product of their environment and stay that way at their core. They only shift when society as a whole shifts. Which, prior to the internet and the information age, didn’t happen all that often.
@Kelsey I am so sorry. I am embarrassed and apologize. Thanks for calling me out on it and doing so kindly. As for the use of “magic,” I do remember that this is your first time reading these. That is what makes it so fun, and much better than just another re-read. Seeing how a new reader reacts to the story is fascinating. It reminds me of my first time reading. It shows how well Robert Jordan started small and simple and grew his story into what it became.
As for your “boy leaves home” analysis, it is interesting how much insight you have on the import of the subject (especially concerning Rand but also regarding other characters) without having read the books. I suppose it is, as you said in the article, a common theme in fantasy, but I think it is a subject that is explored in greater depth and in various ways in this story. For example: at one point, Rand sees multiple possible lives he might have lived, and in many, he didn’t leave home (and consequently did not fulfill his role). He did need the catalyst to start him on the path that would lead to saving the world. And yet (and I think this is beautiful), as I mentioned before, it is the Emond’s Field simple shepherd part of him that saves him at a critical point in the story. Perhaps at multiple critical points, considering Rand’s introduction to an unknown Borderlands prophesy and his interactions with the Seanchan at several points. I’d love to say more on the subject, but I don’t know how much spoiler talk you really want to read. But to summarize my thoughts on the subject, the catalyst to become something more and to gain a new perspective was absolutely necessary to the salvation of the world. Not only was the catalyst important; the resulting perspective was, too. But equally important was his pre-catalyst self and perspective.
Kelsey Jefferson Barrett, as far as the “boy leaves home” trope goes, I think, among other things already talked about in the comments, it is a way for the author to connect to the reader. The journey from ignorance youth to a wiser adult speaks to a lot of people. Most of us went through a similar process of growing up, minus the OP and swordfights. That sets up a stronger connection to the characters and makes us more likely to want to keep reading.
Re: the “noble hero” – I second tbgh@44’s comment re: Taran from the Chronicles of Prydain as the best example of challenging (or maybe just winking at) that trope that I can think of. His parentage and whether he is noble is one of the core points of the series. To me, the answer is… neither satisfying nor disappointing.
Also I am really curious to see if/how Kelsey’s opinion and perceptions of the main characters evolves over the course of the series (fool of a Took, indeed). I’m sure it’s not a spoiler to say that our heroes go through a lot in these 14 books.
@73 – thank you! I’m one of the many who got bogged down around book 7 or 8 or so and stopped reading, with the intention of finishing it… maybe… when the series was complete. In my case, there were three issues: First, all that skirt-smoothing and braid-tugging was irritating at best. Second, too often a new culture felt like an improbable clunky mash-up of two or more Earth cultures (I guess that might be appealing to some readers?). And third, the narrative style bugged me – each point-of-view character seemed to have the same internal pacing and the same degree of awareness of setting, etc. – just different information and motivations.
However, for whatever reason, your observation that the whole thing takes place in only three years makes the idea of picking it back up again feel a lot more inviting. So, thanks!
As another veteran of Leigh’s re-read I will also happily hang around and read post and comments. More than a little nostalgic, actually.
@@@@@ 26 – That made me laugh. I totally agree with Rand and Matt, but I actually love Perrin throughout the series. I also adore Nynaeve and Egwene, though, so I know my opinions don’t tend to be the same as everyone else’s.
This is such a fun idea, and I loved reading this. It also gives me an excuse to reread the books and appreciate small details I didn’t notice the first time around (for example, Matt’s comment about liking battles and Rand’s aversion to marriage)
I completely agree that the prologue is hard to unpack at first. I remember reading it the first time twice in a row and still feeling pretty lost. It wasn’t until later in the series after we learn more about the Dragon’s previous life as Lews Therin Telamon and his relationships with the Forsaken that I really felt I appreciated it properly.
#51. Kelsey Jefferson Barrett: I saw where you talked about skipping the Prologue. How do you feel about the prequel? Do you plan to cover New Spring? In my case, it was my introduction to the Wheel of Time.
I look forward to this. And I recommend Joseph Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces” (mentioned several times in comments above) to anyone interested in mythology, theology, literature, and/or metaphysics. About spoilers: I certainly hope that KJB’s narrative can be kept relatively unpolluted by spoiling from fan commentary, BUT I do not think an open discussion of the material by a fan-base familiar with the series can possibly be spoiler-free. The attempt at this in Leigh Butler’s “Read” of ASOIAF did not work at all IMO, leading to a separate commentary thread, constant griping within comments about what was or was not spoilage, and me stopping reading the comments. A possible solution would (as one commenter above suggested) be for a TOR “censor” to screen comments and provide KJB with an edited version for his response. Maybe there’s a better way. But let’s not, please, try to have a “spoiler-free” comments policy. It (a) doesn’t work and (b) worse, leads to a tedious and boring commentary.
Actually it’s more like three boys and a girl leave home, along with an aggressively protective neighbor.
Yay! I haven’t had time to comment on this, but as somebody who followed Leigh’s first re-read (it’s actually how I discovered Tor, not too long after it started), and then also the re-read redux, I’m excited to follow along with a first time reader!
The prologue was what really hooked me in, so I am sorry it didn’t get covered, but I really enjoyed your various analyses and comments on typical hero’s journey tropes. The tropes around ‘nobility’ and secret kings especially – they do have some troubling implications even if in story they can be a decent explanation for it (even in Scripture for example, it had to do with the various prophecies and promises made regarding that line). In Tolkien, for example, his beliefs in ‘older is better’ seem to be more about the idea that the world, as created, is now marred and fading. But the blood purity of the Numenoreans was always something that I didn’t totally love (even if, again, in story it kind of makes sense do to having elvish ancestors. Guess those Elvish genetics are strong).
I actually love the idea of Rey as a nobody in part because of that- while I LOVE the Skywalkers in general (I actually vehemently disagreed with that specific part of Emily’s piece on the subject because if anything, my theory is that Anakin himself is the Force’s antidote, and I also reject anything that implies the idea that certain lines/people need to be exterminated) I don’t think the Force is beholden to them or restricted to them.
Anyway, a lot of this is getting off track, but one thing WoT has going for it is how much these characters grow and change. I can’t wait to see what you think of them :)
SPOILERS!
You will have to forgive me, for I read the series when it came out and memory is not perfect
@73
1.
I must beg to differ from one or two of your opinions. As I am a Southern lady, who can accurately respond to your comment on Mr. Jordan’s poor opinion of woman being a commonly held belief by all Southern gentlemen 30 years ago… it is simply not true.
2.
It is not just the women from Emond’s field who show overt hostility to and hold a generally poor opinion of men. All Aes Sedai with the exception of one ajah (green?) treat men like woolheads – some include their warders in this treatment. Moraine seems to be an exception, as does Elaine. Even Forsaken women share this trait.
The Aiel women warriors have a deadlier form of man-bashing, as do the Seanchan (sp?)
You can flame me now, but I always thought RJ’s idea of a strong female protagonist was someone who did what she wanted and actively disliked men until the protagonist fell in love. That would obviously soften her position on men in general and a specific man in particular. Examples include: Min, Nynaeve, Fael, etc. There are so many more, I just can’t remember how to spell all their names.
Frankly, after book 7, the men-bashing got tiring, so I took a break from the series for a few years to get it out of my system, I caught up and went back to reading as they were published.
3.
As for our characters growth throughout the series, while it was only three years in time, it was a lifetime of experience to pack into those three, short years. They all changed – some more dramatically than others, Rand most of all. We expect our protagonists to grow, especially over a series as lengthy as this, unfortunately some things don’t change, hence, #2.
I’m so happy about this Wheel of Time read! I just recently finished book four, and I always need more WoT content in my life that isn’t completely stuffed with spoilers. Not that I’m not already thoroughly spoiled by having read a lot of Sanderson interviews and such while making no effort to avoid information about WoT (in my defense, I thought at the time that I wasn’t going to read the series).
I really enjoyed these chapters when I first read them. I like small, domestic stories, so the quiet normal life bits appealed to me. I also felt that they were done somewhat better than I’m used to in most other books. I kinda wish I could read a book that just chronicled what everyone’s lives would have been if they hadn’t been anyone special.
At the moment, I am quite fond of Rand and don’t think I’ve gotten to the part where Mat gets good. He’s improving, but I still find him rather off-putting. And Perrin is the best character ever and I love him so much.
I also appreciate normal characters, who aren’t prophesied to be some hero and/or have some secret noble blood or something, but are just regular people who are awesome and important anyways.
@@@@@ 18 and others discussing why Moraine didn’t know who was the Dragon right away – the Dark One/Ishamael didn’t know either (SPOILER: Ishamael appears in the dreams of all 3 trying to determine if they are the one), so in-world it must not be as obvious as it is to the reader.
I think she suspected pretty heavily though, especially as they ran away due to Bela’s unexpected strength and endurance.
Also don’t forget that Rand’s mother was known to be an Outlander and to have red hair, so that could explain some of Rand’s characteristics, and that SPOILER Nynaeve lies to Moiraine and tells her that all 3 boys were born in the Two Rivers. Therefore, it seems somewhat unrealistic to assume Moiraine should know right away.
I’m so excited for these updates! I’m rereading The Eye of the World in April, but I’ll have fan reading your reactions in the mid time.
I’ve read 3 of this series, the 1st was entertaining, the 2nd interesting enough, the 3rd descended into the plodding down the road repetitiously from incident to incident with no clear purpose. It seems to me that 3 books is probably the best length for a series. How many times have you read the same descriptive paragraph in book 1 that then appears in book 3,4,5. David Weber’s Harrington series is a prime example of that, Zelazny’s Elric series is another example. The only example of who pulls the world building off, and doesn’t bore me to death after a few books is Pratchett’s in Discworld. I like the familiar as well as anyone but after 3 books I know where the author is going, Jordan is so predictable, give this series a miss, life is too short.
@Kah-thurak (and others who have commented on the use of the leaving home as a device) Oh definitely! Although I do think that as a device it takes a very deft hand to weave the story; it can sometimes be too easy to see the strings when the author is using a character as a device to introduce us to an unfamiliar world. But it can also be really well done, too.
@Dubhain I guess this still sort of speaks to my point, though? I don’t dislike the history of the Emond’s Fielders, it’s actually real cool, and in the grandest Tolkien-esque tradition. But there is (accidentally or not) a suggestion that greatness and nobility are inherent in this old blood and therefore not in anyone else, if that makes sense. The fact that they’re not really stupid country folk but decedents of great people suggests that “real” country folk are stupid and ignoble.
@warderwannabe: Thanks I’ll keep an eye out for that. I am interested to learn more about how prophecy and timelines work in a world for which time is cyclical, not linear.
@kevin lenihan: I am interested in seeing how the gendered aspects of the story and the character portrayals unfold. I can tell I am going to have some issues with it, but I think it will be interesting to explore and discuss with you all.
@AeronaGreenjoy: I am sure I will be exploring and talking plenty about the Trollocs and Fades in post to come!
@oquirrh: I’m glad you’re interested in the first-time perspective. I’ll keep an eye out for Rand’s views on the subject of his own journey going forward.
@AlerieCorbray: I am unfamiliar with the prequel. I just googled it and it sounds interesting, so maybe in the future it will be something to look at. But for now we’re going to stick with the main storyline.
For those who have been asking about spoilers!
Please feel free to have spoilery discussions amongst yourselves. The comment section is here for you to talk about anything, including your interpretations of my interpretations, based on your superior knowledge of what is to come! But if you want to engage with me in your comments, please try to avoid the spoilers as much as you can.
For those having those juicy and delicious spoiler-filled convos, all we need is for everyone to mark their spoilers clearly so that I (and any other first-timers reading along with me) can avoid them. The best way to do this, I have been informed, is to change those parts of your post to white text, so that it can only be seen if you highlight over it with your mouse. Another option is to simply write **SPOILERS!!** a bunch of times at the top of the paragraph so I know to scroll away.
This has been a lot of fun so far, thank you all for your thoughtful engagement and comments! I am looking forward to seeing what you all have to say about tomorrow’s article, and to all our adventures to come.
For those of us doing a reread, one passage stands out to me (having read the whole series),both for its poignancy, and for showing us no matter how far Rand travels in the 14 books, what he wants in the end is remarkably the same.
1) Chapter 5 (Winternight) of Eye of the World: “Here it was possible to forget the chill beyond the walls. There was no false Dragon here. No wars or Aes Sedai. No men in black cloaks.” 2 pages later, a Trolloc is breaking into the house and about 5 pages later Rand leaves his home forever, little does he know it. He will never be able to return. I often wonder if Tam does after the Last Battle. Maybe he moves closer to the Center of Andor to be closer to his grandchildren, but even if Tam comes back to this house, I don’t think Rand can or will. And, of course, Rand deals a lot with Dragons (and false Dragons) and Aes Sedai and men in black coats in the outside world in the next 14 books.
I did not read all comments beforehand, so sorry if I repeat. Re: your question, “If the Dragon is to be reborn, why could he not be actually born to Tam al’Thor and his wife, Kari?”
I think one reason for the requirement of finding an irregularity in his origins, at least in The Wheel of Time, is found in the Prophecies of the Dragon. There have to be markers, elements of his life that people could point to, that would indicate that he is the TRUE Dragon Reborn, and not a False Dragon. If there is nothing noteworthy about his origins, who can tell if he is the one described by prophecy? A bland or featureless life cannot be satisfactorily described by prophecy, which is always fairly vague anyway.
One of the markers noted by prophecy is his birth on Dragonmount, and for us, it is one of the defining elements for him. He is born at the foot of the mountain; the Foretelling of an Aes Sedai proclaiming his birth there sets in motion the search for him, by agents of both Light and Dark; and his “reforging” many books later (Gathering Storm?), where he learns to laugh and cry again–which we might call another rebirth as a Dragon who can actually succeed at his task–takes place on that mountain too.
Also, he is connected by his father’s blood and prophecy to the Aiel, and by his mother’s blood and Elaida’s Foretelling to the Royal House of Andor.
Prophecy, prophecy everywhere, and unless there are discrete hooks to lash it to, you can’t tell who it describes.
#90. Kelsey Jefferson Barrett: Thanks for getting back. I broke my reread and decided to first reread the Prequel, New Spring over the weekend. What it does for me. It goes back twenty years when Moiraine and Siuan are nearing the end of their White Tower school experience. It gives you an opportunity to meet many of the future characters and it gives you a chance to see how they are put together. A secret incident happens and it sets a deadly path to the future. Among the people we meet is a young Lan and his mentor. The prequel nicely defines his world prior to becoming a Warder for Moiraine.
When I first mentioned New Spring, some of the posters figured the best time to read it was when it was published. Then there are those, who like me feel that it sets the scene nicely if read first. You do gain the benefit of watching the early March of evil into their world. As to reading it in the order published, I couldn’t speak. By the time I first read the series, it was completed including the prequel and the three volumes that Brandon Sanderson helped finish. And as I said before, I read the prequel in Legends first, and then read the series.
I recall my first reading, and how my feelings were ‘tarinted’ by my history as a huge Tolkien/LeGuin fan. One of the first things that got me was that the main character’s two close friend were M and P. Could be a total coincidence, praps – but at least Samwise didn’t show up too. unless that was Dannil? :^o
great insight and comparisons to other works. You’re instincts are dead on.
Have read the series many times from its original release. At least you don’t have to impatiently await the next books arrival!
I will enjoy the viewpoint of a first timer.
I hope you enjoy it as much as many others have
The beginning of EotW is deliberately similar to LotR. Later the story becomes different.
I’ve read more than once in different sources about the so called woman issue, ie poor treatment of them. I have to say I just don’t get it! Other than the three Ta’veren characters the most powerful people in this world are all women. Aes Sedai, Queens of Andor, Merchant Council in Far Madding, Empress of the Seanchan, etc. I could go on. I think there is a lingering mistrust of men that’s so old no one remembers why (men were responsible for the Breaking) I get it that there’s a lot of skirt smoothing and all, but this is an agrarian society after all. For every man saying “women!” there are just as many opposite. I think Jordan is poking fun at both sexes and their respective misunderstanding of their opposites. If it seems colloquial at times I think we have to keep it in perspective given this societies overall development. The little we learn of the Age of Legends seems to suggest that women were completely equal with men in every way.
I’m excited for this! I actually just started WoT for the first time also. Just finished eye of the world last night. I’ll be following this
What, no love for the Prologue? When I was a kid (10-12, maybe?) and first fell in love with this book, I read that thing backwards and forwards. I had my mother read it, and learn who Lews Therin Telamon is. In addition to being just a powerful episode, it is also one of only three brief glimpses into the Age of Legends we get in the entire series, our only experience with Lews Therin alive, and a pretty efficient overview of what’s at stake and who’s playing the game.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned in the comments yet is the Wheel and the ages. It is suggested that our time is two ages before the one presented in the books. Our important events and people are the basis for some myths in the books and the events in the books are the source of some of our myths. You will recognice names and people from slavic and Nordic myths as well as from the Arthurian saga. There’s a twist to “the sword in the stone” that took me a couple of re-reads to get.
The reason I mentioned this is because of Thom’s Little speech about the stories he could tell here in the first chapters.
Egwene wants to hear about Lenn who flew to the moon in the belly of an eagle made of fire – which refers to John Glenn.
Thom also mentions the Giant Mosk with Lance his of fire that could reach around the World who went to war with Elsbet the Queen of all – which pobably refers to Moscow with nuclear weapons and Queen Elisabeth.
He also mentions Materesse the healer, mother of the wondrous Ind – probably a reference to Mother Teresa.
There are some hints to this later on in the books as well.
Hi all, I have not been around because I’ve been sick in the hospital with lung congestion. They just let me go this evening, so it will take me a while to catch up with comments. I still have a ton of meds and treatments to continue, including O2. So I am a little slow on the uptake. I didn’t forget WOT. I had moved into book two, while I was sick. Finished it, and flipped it over when I ran out of reading material. It kept me very good company. Although with this being my sixth or seventh reading of this mass market paperback, plus the at least once or twice my husband and daughter read the same copy, once in the day. Let us say, that it is getting well loved. It is a very good novel to look forward tooooo.
I hope you are feeling better soon!
#105 Lisamarie: Thanks. Me too. This being sick is the pits. Couldn’t sleep last night, still haven’t got half the meds. The Pharmacy needed to order them. The O2 is a definite drag. But better days are coming. In the meantime, I have Wheel of Time to keep me occupied.
.Wheel of Time and our clever young monitor, Kelsey Jefferson Barrett.
Tomas@103
That’s been mostly debunked. I’ll give one reason that I don’t think is particularly spoilerish, so no white out.
MILD SPOILER WARNING – FUTURE WORLD BUILDING CONVERSATION REFERENCED
In TGH Verin tells Rand that the Portal Stones are from an Age before the Age of Legends. Since we don’t see Portal Stones in our time, it could not be the First Age.
One could argue that since we haven’t finished this particular Age, maybe they will still be invented; however they work with the True Source and I find it hard to believe that the (yet to happen) discovery of that would be in the same Age as now.
What about books/characters that turn Chosen One=Noble bloodline trope on its head? Where actual nobody fulfills all qualifications, prophecies, saves the world through hard work and good heart, while secret prophesied one though gifted, and coming out from same lowly place/family turns out to be a villain and a jerk though his Noble bloodline is revealed. the only work I remember doing it is old anime Mai-Otome, where the actual secret princess turns out to be misguided villain and the person who everyone thought to be the lost heir who does save the world, turns out to be nobody, daughter of the Queen’s servant.
@73 “Its also not universally true across different cultures in Randland. The Aeil, the Seanchan, the Borderlands, “
As much as I remember, when it concerns men, even the Aiel woman, though not saying so outright to the men, but between themselves they consider their circle and decissions on another scale then their male counterparts. Seanchan – Female rulers. Borderlands – maybe, but remember that even the ruler of this books ahh castle (?) is afraid of his sister… So I don’t see it differring outside little towns. Not mentioning Aes Sedai regarding all nations and even looking down at male one power wielders…
Thank you so much for mentioning both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series. A double thank you for the rarely acknowledged Terry Goodkind series the Sword of Truth. As this series is also published by Tor, I cannot understand why it gets so little recognition by this website.
I feel like it is treated as an unwanted child instead of the quality series series it is. After starting both series, I found that reading Terry Goodkind first then going to Robert Jordan second it was much easier to follow The Wheel of Time.
The claim about there being only two types of stories is a quote most clearly attributed to John Gardner, who is quoted in 1987 by May Morris as having said that “…there are only two plots in all of literature: You go on a journey, or the stranger comes to town.” Others have been given credit for the quote, including Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, but there is no documentation to support this.
Also, I love these books and have read the whole series multiple times, as well as listening to o the audiobooks.
Hero of simple birth from my favorite book series ever (Last Herald Mage) Vanyel Ashkevron. If you prefer female heroes I love Talia’s story and several other Valdemarians. My newest favorite hero characters are the trio of Rhapsody, Achmed, and Grunthor from Symphony of Ages, all of very low station.
On the subject of “ordinary” heroes, Dragon Age: Origins offers two really great examples in the form of the City Elf and Dwarf Commoner Origins you can play as. The first is a resident of a Renaissance-era European Jewish ghetto/Jim Crow-era sundown town set smack-dab on an island in the middle of Ferelden’s capital and major port of Denerim, while the latter is part of a high-fantasy take on the “untouchables” of the Hindu caste system, and you begin the game as the muscle for a local crime boss. While all the Origin stories in that game are great, these two are probably my favourite, simply because they start you off at the bottom rung of your respective societies and give you the chance to claw your way up as part of the Grey Wardens.
(The Circle Mage Origin also deals a bit with the same themes of discrimination and social alienation, but in that instance, you do get cataclysmic magical powers to make up for it).
Even in Indian Epic of Mahabharata,
One of the central players in the Story… Krishna – the Charioteer Guide of Arjuna the Warrior Hero, was born of noble parents but was baby-swapped for Protection in an Idyllic Village of Gokul near Vrundavan Forest. He grew up among Village Boys almost like their Band-leader, a Bold Persona, romanced village milkmaids and was known for his Pranks and Mischiefs. When he is on the cusp of Adulthood, a man from City State of Mathura comes and reveals his heritage and leads him up to The Tyrant Kansa , His Uncle whom he kills according to the Prophecy before Krishna’s Birth.
A very interesting question… Cannot Dragon be Reborn as a Common Man in the Story.
But, after Book 4 , you will realise the conditions of Rand’s Birth had to be specific in order to have him Central to the Story… Connected with Aiel, Andoran heritage of Westlands, and Also Sea Folk and Seanchan. Rand had to have connections with Old Blood of Manetheran as well as Ancient Blood of Aiel People so that The Central Character of our Story is truly interwoven in its Fabric as Centre of all the Threads and a Taveren.
Thank you so much for this series of articles! I am attempting to read this book again (got halfway through Audible version 3 years ago) and having these articles is like having a discussion with a friend as you progress through the story.
4 years ago,, you asked “And I ask you, can one not be a pure and innocent child of a port city? Maybe an innkeeper’s daughter …”
How about Éponine in Les Mis? Daughter of an innkeeper. Initially a spoiled child, her love for Marius begins to improve her character when she sabotages a robbery for his sake. In her dying confession, she performs the selfless act of giving Marius to the girl _he_ loves.
(But! Éponine is hardly a saves-the-world high fantasy protagonist. While a tragic figure, she is neither pure nor innocent. And she dies.)
Fantine is is more innocent and driven by pure loves. But, again, not the savior triumphant. And she dies, too.
I wonder where Anna Tromedlov will end up on the central-protagonist scale when Natalie Zina Walschots finishes the character arc she started in Hench. (Well worth reading BTW.)
Maybe we should be looking at Neo in The Matrix. He is a naïve in the big city. There is some talk about him being a reincarnation, but none about his parents or his social status.
Or, how about Guy in Free City? Another character of undistinguished status that is transformed by what he finds out in the world. Perhaps these recent works are providing the everyday Joes and Janes that 20th century fantasy did not.