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Amazon reveals Tam's sword

Amazon's official WoTonPrime social media accounts revealed today a brief video showcasing Tam al'Thor's iconic heron-marked sword. The video showed how the sword went through its design phase to becoming an actual prop seen in the show.
 

 
 
This is the first official glimpse of a notable prop seen in the show. 
 
The sword seen here is almost certainly the heron-marked sword that's prominently featured in the books.
 
About Tam's sword (spoilers for books 1-2)
In the Wheel of Time books, Tam al'Thor, Rand's adoptive father, received a heron-marked sword during his time as a soldier. Tam al'Thor is played by Game of Thrones alumni actor Michael McElhatton. (View all of the announced cast here.)
 
The heron marking on the blade indicates that he reached the rank of a blade master. At the beginning of the book series, which takes place approximately 20 years after he earned the sword, Tam has long retired the blade to his attic. He gives it to Rand on Winternight because he fears ominous danger lurking near their remote home. Rand keeps the sword for the duration of his adventures in the first two novels. The sword is ultimately destroyed during his battle with Ba'alzamon over the city of Falme. 
 
The sword seen in this video is likely to feature a prominent role in season 1 of Amazon's Wheel of Time TV show. 
 
 




 

  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Amazon's official WoTonPrime social media revealed a short video featuring Tam's sword.

Jason Denzel
Jason Denzel

A Message from Wilson Grooms

The following is a message from Wilson Grooms, Robert Jordan's cousin ("Brother/Cousin"). For those unfamiliar with Wilson, he plays an essential role in the family, most especially back in 2007 when he provided regular updates to fans regarding Robert Jordan's illness. 
 
Wilson Grooms:
 
This tale began almost a year ago, thinking I might have a sinus issue. Wrong!  It took a while, but in February of 2020 it was determined that I have a cancer on the extreme rear of my tongue.  The cause, HPV, Human Papilloma Virus. You see Television ads urging you to get your kids inoculated against this. Do it please. There was no such vaccine back in the day.
 
The cancer was a squamous cell.  Doctors called it a “garden variety” and were all confident that with radiation and chemo they could render me cancer free. For the next seven weeks our daughter Marisa picked me up at 8 am Monday through Friday for radiation.  Chemotherapy was once a week for the same seven weeks. The doctors were honest that the treatments are intense. The last two weeks of treatments and the first two weeks of “healing” I spent curled up in a ball.
 
We had to wait months to repeat the tests that would let us know whether the bad actor had be eradicated. Waiting isn’t my strong suit.
 
In late August a PET scan indicated “something” was still there. Doctors were divided as to what it was. It could be residual cancer.  Most thought it to be inflammation as part of the healing process. But I wasn’t feeling better. In fact I had been suffering intense headaches which began in late June. The site was visually scoped (also not fun) frequently to monitor any changes. Nothing. So in November we repeated the biopsy.
 
It’s still there. Worse, it has compromised my tongue and larynx. And it has mutated. It is now a very rare and aggressive Sarcomatoid spindle cell tumor.  The only option offered was a drastic surgery to remove all the tongue and voice box. Before making that life altering decision a full Tumor Board of specialists reviewed my case.
 
Because of the type of cancer it has become, the drastic surgery proposed by my Surgical Oncologist is no longer a viable option.  Surgery would make day to day life difficult, would not reduce the pain I am dealing with and would not extend life.  Studies show that with a sarcomatoid cancer and this surgery, patients do not live beyond 12 months. And a painful 12 months at that.
 
The treatment deemed to give me the best chance is chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy. I will have my first infusion on the 30th of November. The regime is two weeks on, one week off for as long as the treatments are working. I am not certain as of now how often I will be taking the immunotherapy drug.
 
This specific treatment for this type of cancer has been only used for about four years. There are patients who were in the study when it began and are still doing well. Thus it has not been determined what an average life expectancy may be. If my cancer does not respond, I am looking at six months to perhaps a year. Please pray that I see positive results. Even if results are positive, this cancer will never be eradicated by the treatments.  The best I can hope for is that it goes into remission and that the treatments keep it there. But if God wants to work a miracle, I’m okay with that too. I know it’s selfish, but that’s what I pray for.
 
I ask for your prayers for my family that they have the strength to help me in this fight.
 
This is being posted by my daughter/cousin Melanie Murray. I have asked her to be my point of contact. I ask you please, do not contact any other family members. Melanie will post any updates as needed. But remember, no news is wonderful news.
 
Every day is a blessing. Make sure that those who are important in your life know it. Tell them. And set goals. One of mine is that I plan to see all of you at JordanCon in April. In lieu of that, I hope God will excuse Jim, aka RJ, of his storytelling duties so that we can go fishing. 
 
Onward.
 
Wilson
Brother/Cousin
4th of 3
 
Photo, from left to right: Elaine, Jonathan, Janet, Wilson, Major Miles Grooms,Marisa.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Robert Jordan's cousin shares a family update with fans. 

MelanieEppsMurray
MelanieEppsMurray

Adam's Wheel of Television: A History of the Wheel of Time Media Rights

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.
 
It’s been two years since Amazon ordered The Wheel of Time to series, ending a long wait for fans who'd been wanting to see their favourite series picked up for the screen. That wait began on 15 January 1990 when the very first readers to finish The Eye of the World put the book down and said, “This would make a good movie, wouldn’t it?”
 
Such a long wait for such a hugely popular property to be adapted is unusual. The first Harry Potter film hit screens barely four and a half years after the first novel was published, and The Lord of the Rings got a BBC radio adaptation just two years after the book came out (and “only” twenty-three years for the first animated film version). Game of Thrones was optioned by HBO only ten years after the first book was published, although actually getting it on screen turned out to be an arduous task taking another five years after that point. Fans may be forgiven for asking why it took so long - thirty-one years by the time it airs - for someone to adapt what was, for most of its lifespan, the biggest-selling epic fantasy series since Tolkien.
 
The answer is that there’s actually been several attempts to bring the books to the screen before, some of them getting quite far and having quite a lot of money spent on them before the plug was pulled. Here’s the lowdown on a few of those attempts:
 
NBC
The American network NBC optioned The Wheel of Time for adaptation in 1999. Several network executives were fans of the books and – more to the point – of their massive runaway sales success which had already seen it score a New York Times #1 bestseller position (the first of six) and over 40 million sales by that point. The executives were enthusiastic and – for the time – highly ambitious, envisaging adapting each novel or perhaps several novels as mini-series in their own right, adapting the entire saga across several years. The initial plan was for a six-hour adaptation of The Eye of the World.
 
Their model was the 1998 mini-series Merlin starring Sam Neill (no relation to the 2008-12 BBC TV series), which adapted the Arthurian legend across three hour-long episodes costing more than $10 million each. The mini-series had concept art from legendary Tolkien artist Alan Lee (who would decamp to New Zealand the following year to help Peter Jackson shoot The Lord of the Rings) and a surprising degree of historical fidelity to the likely post-Roman, pre-Saxon setting of the stories. The casting director even tipped his hat to other Arthurian adaptations, by reusing castmembers from John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur. The mini-series also had an exemplary cast, including Miranda Richardson, Isabella Rossellini, Helena Bonham Carter, Rutger Hauer, James Earl Jones and Sir John Gielgud. NBC even tapped some of the writers of Merlin to possibly work on Wheel of Time.
 
Here's an audio clip of Robert Jordan talking about this adaptation effort, saying, “If what I get is what they did in Merlin, I’ll be perfectly satisfied.”

 
In a similar vein to the Merlin project was Dune, a mini-series which aired on the Sci-Fi Channel (about to return to NBC’s ownership at the time) to great success in 2000.
 
Alas, the Wheel of Time project at NBC was not to be. It foundered for several reasons (one imagines the sheer cost, the huge scale of the project and the fact that the books were not complete were all contributory factors), but the main one was that the executives backing it moved on from NBC by the end of 2000 and interest at the network dried up. They allowed the rights to revert to Robert Jordan.
 
 
Anime
Around the same time, a Japanese animation company – the identity of which has never been disclosed – contacted Robert Jordan to discuss the rights. Although Jordan had always envisaged a live-action adaptation, he was certainly not opposed to the idea and entered into discussions. Japanese animation studios are not unused to long-running adaptations and the use of animation would allow them to overcome the budgetary problems with effects and prosthetics that were daunting those interested in a live-action project.
 
Japanese animation studios are also well-used to the problem of adapting incomplete works. Bones Inc. produced a 51-episode adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa’s manga Fullmetal Alchemist in 2003-04, but the manga was not yet complete, so they made up their own ending. Five years later, after the manga was finished, Bones made a completely new adaptation from scratch called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood which adapted the entire manga very faithfully.
 
Unfortunately, the Japanese animation studio involved did not propose anything so ambitious. In fact, their proposal was that they would adapt only the first three books – The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn – and then adapt the ending of the third book into an ending for the entire story (so presumably the battle at the Stone of Tear would become the Last Battle, with Rand’s defeat of Ba’alzamon becoming the final defeat of the Dark One). They also seemed to be envisaging a single feature film to tell this story rather than a full TV series. Robert Jordan was rather bemused by this notion and turned the project down.
 
 

Red Eagle & Warner Brothers
In 2003 Robert Jordan sold an option for the books to Forsaken Films, who wanted to get the books on screen at either HBO or the Sci-Fi Channel. This was moving to capitalise on Sci-Fi’s success with the Children of Dune and Battlestar Galactica mini-series that aired that year (the latter leading to a long-running regular series). However, after a risible response to Sci-Fi’s (absolutely awful) Earthsea mini-series the following year, Sci-Fi’s interest in adapting original SF or fantasy novels dried up.
 
Forsaken Films was founded by Wheel of Time fan and budding film producer and director Eben McGarr specifically to adapt the Wheel of Time property. They partnered with DZYNZ Inc., a visual effects company who were working on Team America: World Police, to produce possible ideas for a mini-series project (presumably not using puppets!). DZYNZ’s owner, John Naulin (an industry veteran who’d worked on the Star Wars franchise, as well as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) brought on board Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage to advise on the project. After some months developing the property there was a re-organisation, with Naulin, Mondragon and Selvage founding Manetheren LLC to develop the film and then a parent company, Red Eagle Entertainment, to oversee a wider rights-handling project.
 
In March 2004, Red Eagle struck a larger deal with Jordan that superseded the deal with Forsaken (who promptly left the picture altogether). This was for rights-handling rights, including comic books and video games, for The Eye of the World alone. The price paid was $35,000 which, given the popularity of the series, was an incredible deal. This deal was extended several times until early 2008, by which time Red Eagle had paid an additional $130,000 to secure an option on the entire series. Then in May 2008 Red Eagle exercised the option, purchasing the film rights to the entire series for $465,000 on a deal that required them to have a project released by 11 February 2015.
 
Almost immediately Red Eagle ran into problems by pairing with redoubtable comic book company Dabel Brothers in producing first a limited series based on New Spring and then a longer comic series based on The Eye of the World. Both projects were beset by unexpected delays, controversies and unrealistic timescales (Dabel Brothers had form for this on several earlier projects, it has to be said).
 
The comic book furore was so notable that Robert Jordan took time out of his medical treatment to make his displeasure with the situation clear. Unfortunately, just a month later, Robert Jordan passed away.
 
As early as 2004 Warner Brothers showed an interest in a film project based on the books, possibly to bolster their fantasy film portfolio which also included the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises. However, after some speculative development work was done, Warners passed on the project. It was around this time that they began spinning up the work that later led to the Hobbit movie trilogy, and may have chosen not pursue that and not muddy the waters with a superficially similar fantasy project. This Wheel of Time project was dead by 2006.
 
Universal Studios
Red Eagle continued to develop the property and in August 2008 it was announced that Universal Studios had bought an option with a plan to develop the first book in the series, The Eye of the World, as a high-budget feature film. Film producer Jeff Kirschenbaum was put in charge of the project and spent time developing it with writer Chris Morgan (the Fast and the Furious franchise, as well as 47 Ronin, Wanted and the long-gestating Legend of Conan movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger), but they were sidetracked when the Fast and the Furious movies started blowing up in a big way and refocused on those. Other writers came on board, but no-one could get a script in place that they liked.  (Disclosure: Dragonmount founder Jason Denzel also contributed to the project at the time).
 
Kirschenbaum left Universal and Universal’s interest in the project dried up. Red Eagle noted the pivoting of the industry towards television and re-pitched the project as a TV series, which ironically brought the property back to the attention of NBC and the Sci-Fi Channel – now called SyFy – as they were owned by Universal. After a brief perusal of the idea, the two networks passed. Normally you’d expect the biggest post-Tolkien, non-Rowling fantasy series in the world to attract more interest (especially since the prices involved seemed to be pretty low), but this process was coinciding with the biggest economic downturn the world had seen in seventy years and the project fell foul of Universal’s sudden reticence to commit to anything other than proven franchises. Although there were flickers of renewed interest at the studio after Game of Thrones (which began airing in 2011) hit the big time, Universal’s film option had finally expired by February 2014.
 
In the meantime, Red Eagle continued to develop the video game project. In February 2010 they announced they were partnering with Obsidian Entertainment, the developers of Fallout: New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Knights of the Old Republic II to partner with them in making a roleplaying game based on The Wheel of Time.
 
The game never materialised. Rather oddly, Red Eagle signed a distribution deal with publisher Electronic Arts, but did not want to sign over creative control of the game to them, as is standard in the industry. This meant that EA would not fund the video game, only distribute it. Red Eagle would have to find the budget for the game themselves. But with the budget for a video game of this nature being comfortably in the tens of millions of dollars (Skyrim, which was in development at this time, cost over $80 million to produce, not including marketing) and Red Eagle not having access to anything remotely approaching that figure, it was unclear where the money was going to come from, if not a publishing deal. In April 2014, Obsidian confirmed that the deal had fallen through because of a lack of funding and they’d moved on to other projects.
 
In the meantime, in 2012, Red Eagle set up a Kickstarter with Jet Set Games for a Wheel of Time mobile game called Banner of the Rising Sun. They asked for $450,000 to develop two games in the setting, and then failed to publicise the project. The Kickstarter was abandoned with under $3,000 raised. They would probably have had better luck with a Kickstarter for the proper CRPG, but had decided to focus on a mobile game as a smaller project to start with.
 
Sony & Amazon
After such a series of high-profile failures, it’s unsurprising that Wheel of Time fans had lost faith in Red Eagle to achieve anything with their option. However, in early 2014, (almost the second the Universal deal expired) Red Eagle entered into discussions with Radar Pictures and Sony Television about a TV adaptation of The Wheel of Time, following the huge success of Game of Thrones at HBO. These early talks would eventually lead to Sony and Amazon Television joining forces to take on the project, resulting in the project currently shooting in the Czech Republic, with Red Eagle as consulting producers (but not with any decision-making power). Even that was a strange saga, with Red Eagle self-funding their own pilot called The Winter Dragon starring Billy Zane to hold onto the rights a bit longer so they could claim a share of the Sony deal. Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan’s widow, took exception to this and expressed her displeasure publicly. A lawsuit followed, and Red Eagle counter-sued for slander, a move which obviously proved unpopular in the fandom. The two parties eventually settled out-of-court.
 
The saga of the previous not-to-be adaptations of The Wheel of Time is fascinating in its own right, and it’ll be interesting to see what the end result of this twenty-year journey is when Amazon finally brings the books to the screen next year.
 
As usual, let us know what you think and stay up to date with the latest news right here at Dragonmount.
 
Also, check out this video from our Wheel of Time Community Show team where they discuss the points I've made in this article. 
 

 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Getting The Wheel of Time onto the screen is a twenty-year saga of its own, with multiple previous attempts made and abandoned for one reason or another.

Werthead
Werthead

Book Review: Master of Poisons

Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston
 
The world we are living in is rife with crisis and bubbling with change. This novel landed in my lap at the perfect time. As I read, I drew many parallels to our unpredictable lives in 2020. The standalone novel, Master of Poisons written by Andrea Hairston is a richly diverse epic fantasy saga. The story is filled with familiar fantasy accoutrement that is woven together with African influences.  The book raised many poignant questions for me that are resonant with our lives today. What are you willing to give up in order to change the future? How do you stand up to corruption? How long can our planet withstand our blatant disregard for the warnings it's presenting to us? 
 
The African-inspired world Hairston created stands on the precipice of destruction. A poisoned desert is destroying their physical world and the world found in dreams and hearts, the Smokeland. The leaders who are supposed to be looking out for their people’s best interests only seem to care about their own gain. Djola, The Master of Poisons and the right hand of the Emperor is willing to give up everything to save their world. The rest of the council is unwilling to see past their own self-interests and limiting beliefs. Djola sets off alone in search of the cure for the poisoned desert but discovers so much more. 
 
In another part of the world there is a young garden Sprite Awa, who is trying to find where she belongs after being abandoned by everyone she ever loved. Her journey with the griots expands her knowledge of the world and its stories, but it also shows her the measure of her own inner strength. The epic journey of these characters was enough to pull me through to the end of the novel. Yet, at times I found myself referring back to the glossary, and rereading passages to gain further understanding. The world building was an immensely impressive feat that at times borders on overly complex. There were moments of brilliant prose that kept me aching for more. The chapters written from the view of the animals were always captivating, and the songs and spells woven into the text were beautiful. 
 
Master of Poisons is a novel that is worth a second read to fully gain an understanding of the layers of subtext. The magic system used is unique and unlike anything I have ever read. It gives me hope for the continued creativity of the fantasy genre. I truly appreciated the subtle way in which Hairston integrated issues of today without feeling as if I was being taught a lesson. Her ability to construct such a detailed world was inspiring to me as both a reader and a writer. I am looking forward to exploring her other works.
 
Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston is available from Dragonmount's store as a DRM-free ebook. You can also purchase it on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and your local independent bookseller. 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Crystal Fritz reviews Andrea Hairston's novel "Master of Poisons."

Eqwina
Eqwina

Rajiv's Threads In the Pattern: The Dad Also Rises

Rajiv Moté is Dragonmount's book blogger with a lens on the craft of fiction writing. When he's not managing software engineers, he writes fiction of his own, which can be found cataloged at his website.
 
For the son to rise, the father must fall. From mythology to Marvel Comics, from Shakespeare to Star Wars, and in almost every Disney story, the parental figure must die before the heir can fulfill their role. The trope is so familiar that participants of Amazon Prime’s book club for new readers of The Eye of the World were sure that Tamlin al’Thor was a goner after Winternight, when Rand was torn between leaving with Moiraine for Tar Valon and staying to take care of his father. Narratively speaking, good parents are obstacles to children facing real danger. They prevent the story from getting started. Clearly, Tam should have gone the way of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, following convention.
 
Happily, Robert Jordan had a different story in mind. Tam al’Thor is no obstacle to his son. While the plot contrived to keep Tam and Rand separated until a pivotal encounter in The Gathering Storm, Tam had more interesting things to do than opening the farm gate for Rand by succumbing to his wounds.
 
I started reading The Wheel of Time in college, as a young man preparing to set out into the world to make something of himself. I read about Rand and Mat playing for their supper, surviving by their wits, and getting out of scrapes with a sense of romance. Everything was potential. What could be. The open road, man. When I finished reading The Wheel of Time, I was a dad. I started looking at Tam with the sense of association I once had for his son. Strong. Solid. Stable. A man whose job was to raise a hero, but had some heroics of his own left to do. Tam was the kind of dad I wanted to be. I’d become a supporting character in a story that belonged to my daughter, but my own story wasn’t yet done. The two facts were not at odds. Tam al’Thor embodied that truth.
 
Tam's “N-shaped” story arc has two volumes. The first, told through flashback and exposition, took him from the Two Rivers seeking adventure, and then back again with a wife and child. The second unfolded in the 14 books of the main series, taking him out of retirement and back into military life, as a warrior and leader of men. But still--most importantly--as a father.
 
Tam left the Two Rivers as a youth, and joined the army in Illian. He fought in the Whitecloak War, two wars against Tear, and the Aiel War, learning a blademaster’s skill under a mentor named Kimtin. He received a Power-wrought, heron-marked sword from King Mattin Steppaneos himself, and rose to the distinguished rank of Second Captain of the Illianer Companions. But the Aiel War was a turning point for Tam in his career. 
 
 
Tam understood that the political machinations of King Laman of Cairhien caused the Aiel to invade, and the bloodshed was prolonged by the nations slow in their arrogance to unite. In the war’s final battle, Tam sought escape from the heat of battle and stink of death on the slopes of Dragonmount, where the Wheel would have him find the newborn baby Rand. Tam was at the pinnacle of his career, but disillusionment, weariness, and fatherhood led him to quit the Companions and take his wife and child to the obscurity and pastoral life of the Two Rivers.
 
Back home, Tam became a man of secrets and silence. None but his wife knew the story of their son, nor did he talk much of his career. His heron-marked sword remained locked in a chest under the bed until a Winternight 19 years later, when the Trollocs attacked Emond’s Field. Teaching Rand the “flame and the void” exercise, rescuing him from the Trollocs, and giving him his sword would have been enough of an ending for most epic fantasy dads. But The Wheel of Time is vast, and can accommodate the rise of many characters, including a comeback for a veteren sword master who retired to raise his son.
 
When Tam recovered from his injuries at Winternight, he and Abell Cauthon journeyed to Tar Valon to find their sons, where they were stonewalled by the Aes Sedai. They returned to the Two Rivers to find that the Whitecloaks used the Trollocs as an excuse to occupy their land and abuse their people. Tam coordinated the underground resistance until Perrin Aybarra returned. Then, something remarkable happened. He ceded leadership to the younger man. (This does indeed seem a fantasy to Americans looking to choose new blood for leadership.) Tam not only stepped aside, but he remained a part of Perrin’s active resistance, training village men to be soldiers and lending experienced advice. Call it ta’veren, or call it character, but there was no power struggle, no internal conflict. Tam, a military man, knew when to lead and when to follow. Under Lord Perrin, Tam became the First Captain of the Two Rivers army, leading them to defeat the Shaido Aiel at the battle of Malden. Tam folded in and trained refugees, amassing a mighty Two Rivers army that fought in the Last Battle. Tam enters the Fourth Age the military leader of a large and powerful nation.
 
 
In DC Comics, Superman has the power of a demigod, but was raised by good parents with humble, Midwestern values. Superman’s moral upbringing makes him the incorruptible hero he is. Since leaving the Two Rivers, Rand al’Thor shouldered the weight of the world’s hope, as the Dark One sought to tear down that hope with tragedy and pain. Tam al’Thor’s most critical contribution came as Rand was nearly consumed by a darkness born of the need to be hard, at the expense of his humanity. Tam reminded Rand of who he was, and though he nearly died at his son’s hand in that confrontation, he triggered a crisis that reached down through the suspicion and hurt, allowing the good son underneath to climb out. When Rand returned from Dragonmount, he was healed, whole, and an avatar of the Light. He was the man who, remembering who he once was, could win the battle of wills against the Dark One.
 
On his return, when Rand introduced Min to Tam, it was not just the loving rite between a father and his adult son. It was a healing of the wound that had opened back in the Westwood, so long before, when Rand believed that he didn’t have a real father. He had one in every way that mattered. Tam did more than just set the hero on his journey. He kept him true.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Conventional genre wisdom says that for the son to rise, the father must fall. But the Wheel has other plans. Rajiv Moté explores how Tam al'Thor was a dad with more to do than set his son on the path. He had an arc to complete that began long before he and his son saw a dark rider in the Westwood. (SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time and Bambi.)

MahaRaj
MahaRaj

LIVE November Guest Event: HARRIET McDOUGAL

We're elated to announce that our November special guest will be Wheel of Time editor Harriet McDougal! This LIVE EVENT will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2020 at 1 PM U.S. Eastern Time. 
 
Attendees will be able to chat directly with Harriet and ask questions.
 
Learn more and sign up here.  
About Harriet
Harriet McDougal is Robert Jordan's wife as well as the editor for the entire Wheel of Time book series. In addition to playing a key rollin the development of the series, she also guided Brandon Sanderson when he completed the final three novels in the series. She is the co-author (along with Maria Simons and Alan Romanczuk) of The Wheel of Time Companion. In addition to her work on WoT, she is a notable editor in the field of SF/F having edited notable titles such as Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
About the Event
This will be a LIVE virtual event, held over Zoom.
 
All Patreon supporters at the Heron-Marked ($10) level and higher are invited.  If you are a not yet a Patreon supporter, or if you are a supporter at a lower tier, you are welcome to sign up or "upgrade" to the Heron-Marked level for a single month to gain access to this event. 
 
More information about signing up is available on our Patreon page. 
 
The event will begin with a moderated discussion with our guest, followed by an open Q&A where you can freely ask questions and chat.
 
This is expected to be a small, intimate event, but if the number of attendees grows, we will moderate accordingly. But no matter what happens, everyone will have a chance to ask questions and be involved.
 
We hope you'll join us for this exciting event!  If you can't make it this time, that's OK. This event will be recorded and made available to Heron-Marked patrons and above. 
 
Learn more and sign up here.  
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Harriet McDougal, the editor of the Wheel of Time books, and Robert Jordan's wife, joins us for a Patreon-exclusive live chat event on November 7th. 

Jason Denzel
Jason Denzel

First Audio Trailer from the Wheel of Time Television Show

Exciting news dropped this past Wednesday: The official @WoTonPrime social media account released the first audio trailer from the Amazon Prime Wheel of Time television show.  You can watch/listen to the clip below:
 
audio_trailer_Oct_2020.mp4
 
There’s already a plethora of speculation about what scene and characters this can be.  Madeleine Madden (who plays Egwene al’Vere) confirmed on Instagram that the voices do belong to Egwene and Perrin.
 
But when does the scene take place?  The battle noises in the back suggest Winternight (or during Bel Tine as showrunner Rafe Judkins suggested last month).  We also know in the novels that Egwene and Perrin spend a large chunk of the book together, so it could be their flight from Shadar Logoth or in the Whitecloak campe.  Either way, we'll have to "WAFO" (Watch And Find Out)!
 
For more information on the Wheel of Time show, visit our TV page or follow the links below. 
 
Additionally, check out our reaction to the video on this episode of The Wheel of Time Community Show:
 

 
 




 

 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Exciting news dropped this past Wednesday: @WoTonPrime released the first audio trailer from the Amazon Prime Wheel of Time television show. 

Mashiara Sedai
Mashiara Sedai

Adam's Wheel of Television: Weekly or Binge?

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.
 
On 1 February 2013, Netflix changed the conversation about how TV shows are released when they dropped all thirteen episodes of political drama House of Cards on the same day. Since then, every Netflix original scripted show has done exactly the same thing. Rival streamer Amazon Prime adopted the same strategy, whilst Hulu adopted a mixed strategy, releasing some shows on the same time and others weekly.
 
It was a bold and innovative move, and for more than three years was wildly successful. Of Netflix’s first ten original dramas, six were massive hits, driving huge boosts in subscriptions and almost dominating the cultural conversation: House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Daredevil, Narcos, Jessica Jones and Stranger Things. Netflix seemed to be onto a winning strategy.
 
However, some rivals were not convinced. The two biggest shows of the 2010s were HBO’s Game of Thrones and AMC’s The Walking Dead, launched with regular, weekly release patterns and were rewarded with dozens of new articles and hundreds of thousands or even millions of Tweets every single week a new episode was released. It’s arguable if Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding would have had the same nuclear impact it did on TV discussion if it had dropped as part of a one-day release of the entire third season.
 
When Hulu released The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017, conscious they had a show that spoke to the cultural moment and also was awards-fodder, they opted for a weekly release schedule (after dropping the first three episodes at once), reversing the decision to release some of their prior shows all at once. Likewise, they were rewarded with eight weeks’ worth of constant coverage. CBS All Access launched its service almost at the same time, again favouring weekly release schedules for their first two dramas, The Good Fight and, a few months later, Star Trek: Discovery.
 

The Boys is the first Amazon Prime original to switch to a weekly release schedule, with strong results.
 
During this time period Netflix began to flounder. The rate of production of critically-acclaimed, conversation-starting shows dropped off sharply. Their constant drive of content and the need to produce a whole season of television for almost every Friday of the year saw them releasing shows with next to no marketing and then cancelling them: the high-budget second season of Sense8 was a notable casualty when its launch buzz and marketing was instead swamped by adverts for the already-concluded first season of 13 Reasons Why (which Netflix believed was a stronger show to generate new subscriptions). Netflix also appeared to reach its English-language subscription ceiling much earlier than expected, leaving it deeply in debt and unclear where future new customers were going to come from.
 
Both Apple TV+ and Disney+, perhaps seeing Netflix’s struggles, both launched with weekly release schedules for their shows and profited from them, with the Star Wars show The Mandalorian particularly benefitting from weekly discussion over the adventures of Pedro Pascal’s bounty hunter hero and his animatronic, Yoda-like friend.
 
Which brings us to Amazon Prime, and The Wheel of Time.
 
Amazon have been looking to differentiate their TV offerings from Netflix for some years. Although they had some hit shows – The Man in the High Castle was a modest success, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel a somewhat bigger one – they were still batting way behind Netflix, which was frustrating given how widely available Amazon Prime Television was (free for all Amazon Prime subscribers, a fact that surprisingly large numbers of them were unaware of). In 2016 they switched to a weekly release schedule for their hit car programme The Grand Tour, which was successful, and in 2018 extended the idea to drama with The Romanoffs. The latter bombed, but Amazon eventually decided this was more down to the quality of the show than problems with a weekly release schedule. They next decided to roll the dice with a show that already had a successful first season: The Boys. Showrunner Eric Kripke had already been lobbying for a weekly release schedule for the second season and Amazon agreed to give the format a go.
 
The result has been hugely successful. Each week for six weeks (the first three episodes were released on the same day), the show attracted a large amount of online engagement. Weekly reviews, articles and recaps, and regular interviews with the showrunners and cast helped drive the show to the top of internet TV discussions. Over the course of the run Amazon saw a marked increase in subscriptions as people tuned in to catch up on the previous episodes and watch the new ones.
 

The Expanse is switching to a weekly release schedule on Amazon Prime with its forthcoming fifth season.
 
The success of the format saw Amazon make the decision to repeat the experiment for space opera show The Expanse. The Expanse had already aired three seasons released weekly on SyFy, but disappointing viewing figures saw the show cancelled. Amazon bought out the show and transferred it to Amazon Prime for a fourth season in 2019, released on the same day. It did well, but Amazon saw a chance to improve its standings by switching to a weekly release schedule for the fifth season. This was helped by the fact that the fifth season will be the most explosive of the nine they are hoping to make: the fifth book in the series features a Game of Thrones-style, “Red Wedding” level shocking event, and if the TV show delivers on it, it could propel the show to a new level of success and achievement. We will find out if Amazon’s gambit pays off between December and February, when they air the ten episodes of the fifth season.
 
With Amazon switching to a weekly release schedule for two of its biggest shows, it makes it much more likely that The Wheel of Time will follow suit when it launches on Amazon in 2021 (as well as the Second Age-set Lord of the Rings prequel later in the year, or in 2022). The move will be divisive – people have gotten used to sitting down on a Friday and dedicating a day or a weekend to watching a whole season of a show – but I think will be more successful. One of the reasons Netflix’s model seems to be increasingly flawed is because a binge-release is an all-or-nothing proposition. The show has to be a hit out of the gate because, if it isn’t, then three weeks later everyone’s forgotten about it and something else has come along to replace it in the conversation. A weekly release schedule gives five to eight weeks’ worth of coverage and discussion and raises the profile of a show to higher levels, and generates more viewers of the earlier episodes in the season. It gives the show more of a fighting chance to be successful and get a renewal for more seasons.
 
From a more cynical point of view, it is also more profitable: people wanting to stay up to date on a new, zeitgeist-defining show have to subscribe for two or more months rather than a single weekend, but if they prefer the binge experience, they can wait until the whole season is available. That does of course mean dodging spoilers for several weeks in a row, but ultimately it does give them more choice about how to consume a new series.
 
Of course, Amazon may change its mind and decide to release Wheel of Time in one go, but it feels less likely. Anything which helps Wheel of Time get more viewers and more critical discussion can only be a good thing if the show is to survive the long term, but what are your thoughts? What strategy do you think is the best approach? Let us know in the comments and as usual keep at eye on the Dragonmount TV News page for breaking stories.
Werthead
Werthead

Facts about the original U.S. Book Covers

Ebony shares some little known facts about the original U.S. book covers in the latest episode of the Wheel of Time Community Show.
 

 
For more information on the Wheel of Time books, visit our books section. 
Tor.com tribute to Darrell K Sweet
Michael Whelan’s website
 

 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Ebony shares some little known facts about the original U.S. book covers in the latest WoT Community Show.

EbonyAdo
EbonyAdo

Spoilercon 2020

As is the trend this year, most conventions are going online.  For those of us who don’t have the resources to travel to all these amazing cons, this set up isn’t so bad.
 
Spoilercon—a convention celebrating the podcasts The Wheel of Time Spoilers, Mistborn Spoilers, and Broken Earth Spoilers—is hosting an online even next weekend, October 2nd and 3rd.  Registration for this event is free, though pre-registration is required.  You can sign up here.
 
Some notable guests for Spoilercon include our own Jason Denzel—Dragonmount’s founder and webmaster—and Thom DeSimone—host of The Wheel of Time Community Show.  Maria Simons from Team Jordan will also be making an appearance.  And a reoccurring event from last year, Michael Kramer and Kate Reading—who perform the audio books for The Wheel of Time and many other sci-fi/fantasy titles—will be doing a reading.
 
This convention offers a lot across the fandom board!  You can check out the complete schedule here.
 
 
EDITED:
In case you missed this event, you can see all the recorded panels, including the reading by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading here!
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Spoilercon 2020--a celebration of the Wheel of Time Spoilers podcast, the Mistborn Spoilers podcast, and the Broken Earth Spoilers podcast--will take place online October 2nd and 3rd.  Wheel of Time fandom greats, including Jason Denzel, Thom DeSimone, Maria Simons, Michael Kramer, and Kate Reading, will be making appearances.

Mashiara Sedai
Mashiara Sedai

LIVE October Guest Event: SARAH NAKAMURA

We're delighted to announce that our October special guest will be WOTonPrime Research Consultant Sarah Nakamura! This LIVE EVENT will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 1 PM U.S. Eastern Time. 
 
Attendees will be able to chat directly with Sarah and ask questions!
 
Learn more and sign up here.  
About Sarah
Sarah Nakamura is the Research Consultant for Amazon Prime's Wheel of Time TV Show. She has an active presence on-set during filming, in the writer's room, and in most other aspects of production. As a lifelong fan of the WoT books, Sarah is proving to be an indispensable representative of our fandom working on the show. 
About the Event
This will be a LIVE virtual event, held over Zoom.
 
All Patreon supporters at the Heron-Marked ($10) level and higher are invited.  If you are a not yet a Patreon supporter, or if you are a supporter at a lower tier, you are welcome to "upgrade" to the Heron-Marked level for a single month to gain access to this event. 
 
More information about signing up is available on our Patreon page. 
 
The event will begin with a moderated discussion with our guest, followed by an open Q&A where you can freely ask questions and chat. This is expected to be a somewhat smaller event, but if the number of attendees grows, we will moderate it but give everyone a chance to ask questions and be involved. The Zoom link will be emailed to all eligible patrons 24 hours before the event.  
 
We hope you'll join us for this exciting event!  If you can't make it this time, that's OK. This event will be recorded and made available to Heron-Marked patrons and above. 
 
Learn more and Sign Up!
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Sarah Nakamura, the Research Consultant for Amazon Prime's upcoming Wheel of Time TV show, joins us for a Patreon-exclusive live chat event on October 10th. 

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

Adam's Wheel of Television: 1 Year Anniversary of Production

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.
 
Today marks a full year since production of The Wheel of Time began in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Had things proceeded according to plan, shooting would have wrapped in May and the production would have been deep in post-production, ready for an early 2021 debut.
 
Unfortunately, fate had other ideas and instead we’ve had to endure a pandemic which has had far-reaching consequences around the globe. The Wheel of Time had to go on shooting hiatus in March with six of the eight episodes in the can and for a while it looked like completing the season would have to be held off indefinitely. Fortunately, shooting on the final two episodes was able to resume last week and the hope is that the series will be able to debut in 2021, hopefully not too far behind the original airing schedule.
 
For this anniversary post, I thought it would be fun to do a brief catch-up of the news covering production as it unfolded.
Back in April 2019, we had firm news that casting was underway. Two months later we had confirmation of our first castmember: Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, The World’s End) as Moiraine Damodred. Pike also signed on as a producer, part of a long-term interesting in working behind the scenes in film as well; she also recently signed on as a producer on Netflix’s Three-Body Problem, working alongside former Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
 
The floodgates opened in August 2019 when the main Two Rivers cast was announced: Madeleine Madden as Egwene al’Vere, Marcus Rutherford as Perrin Aybara, Barney Harris as Mat Cauthon, Zoë Robbins as Nynaeve al’Meara and Josha Stradowski as Rand al’Thor. We also got Brandon Sanderson to weigh in on the casting choices, and he had some wise words on audience expectations of a faithful adaptation versus the practicalities of delivering that with the practical and financial limitations of television production.
 
We then got news of Daniel Henney being cast as al’Lan Mandragoran, and an early preview of the cast in action due to a video of the first table read for the series. More casting news followed: Tam al’Thor; Logain, Loial, Thom Merrilin and Padan Fain; Alanna Mosvani, Maksim and Ihvon; Liandrin, Aram, Leane and Ila; Abell Cauthon, Natti Cauthon, Marin al’Vere, Bran al’Vere, Daise Congar and Cenn Buie; Eamon Valda and Geofram Bornhald; Master and Mistress Grinwell and Dana; Basel Gill; Raen; and Min Farshaw and Siuan Sanche.
 
Meanwhile, in other posts we discussed things to expect from the show, characters who might have expanded roles, the writers working on Season 2 scripts, the directors, the budget, the locations, and that pesky question of how many books will be adapted in the first season. We also had to address fan concerns over characters being cut, initially fears that Thom Merrilin was going to be axed (he wasn’t) and that Min wouldn’t make it into the first season (she has, although the jury is still out on Elaida, Elayne and the rest of the Trakands).
 
We even had a chat about the show at the virtual JodanCon back in April, which was gatecrashed by showrunner Rafe Judkins who kindly answered some of our questions about the project (and got some nice exclusives, like Seasons 1 and 2 being eight episodes long apiece).
 
It’s been a wild ride and it’s not quite over yet. Shooting on the final two episodes of the season is expected to continue well into October, if not November as well, and there’s still some castmembers we expect to see in the first season who should be announced (including Lord Agelmar, hopefully, and maybe a couple of those pesky Forsaken).
 
As usual, Dragonmount will continue bringing you news on the series as it comes in.
Werthead
Werthead

Winespring Inn Revealed

This #WoTWednesday had some major announcements.  First, the @WoTonPrime book club concluded its read of The Eye of the World.  This introduced so many new readers to this wonderful series we know and love.  Our fandom is growing!  The book club doesn’t currently have plans to start The Great Hunt, but we hope they will continue with this as the Amazon Prime show gets closer to completion.
 
To celebrate reaching the end of The Eye of the World, @WoTonPrime rewarded us with this snippet of a video, starting on the excerpt from The Eye of the World where it introduces the Winespring Inn, then we get our first real look at the epicenter of Emond’s Field.
 
 
Rafe Judkins also joined the celebration on Twitter and agreed to answer the first three questions about the Winspring Inn.
 

“To celebrate @WOTonPrime‘s first glimpse of the Winespring, I’ll answer the first three questions I get about it on here.  Go :)”
 
The first question focused on the smell:

Q: “Does it smell like honey cakes and fresh bread?”
A: “It mostly smells like ginger tea, which anyone who’s spent time on the WoT set would tell you ha. But there were honeycakes that the wasps and hornets couldn’t get enough of. So we had to spray them with a wasp repellent, but they didn’t tell me and I ate one.”
 
Hopefully eating wasp repellent isn’t harmful to humans….
 
The second question makes all of us long to be on the set.

Q: “What were your thoughts walking through it the first time”
A: “Absolutely one of the most emotional moments on the show for me so far.  Just standing in the center of Emond’s Field felt totally surreal, looking up at the red roof of the Inn, the trouble they’d gone to give each house and villager a profession and a life there. It was amazing”
 
I cannot want to see more of Emond’s Field!  These answers from Rafe makes it much more real and closer than ever to being a finished product.
 
The last one may spark some interesting speculation.

Q: “Do we see the bel tine celebration?”
A: “This one might be a spoiler, especially for Winternight enthusiasts, but yes.”
 
Wow!  We all know that Bel Tine was ruined by the Trolloc attack.  If the attack doesn’t happen on Winternight, when will it happen?  During the Bel Tine celebration?  If so, do we get to see Tam’s fever dream?  Will we not be aware Rand is adopted right from the start?  Will we still see Narg—the most intelligent Trolloc—trying to reason with Rand about going to the Myrddraal? 
 
So many things to think about just on one sentence!  It was a great #WoTWednesday.
 
Let us know when you think the Trolloc attack will come in the comments below!
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    This past #WoTWednesday had some spectacular announcements, including our first peek at the Winespring Inn from the Amazon Prime television show set.

Mashiara Sedai
Mashiara Sedai

Rajiv's Threads In the Pattern: The Chosen One’s Legacy

Rajiv Moté is Dragonmount's book blogger with a lens on the craft of fiction writing. When he's not managing software engineers, he writes fiction of his own, which can be found cataloged at his website.
 
 
So close. The series finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones could have “broken the wheel” of Houses warring for the Iron Throne with the introduction of representative democracy. But alas, the time had not yet come in Westeros for Samwell Tarley’s radical idea. It seemed like a nod to the audience, who had long speculated what kind of government could arise when the “Game” was over and everybody (knowing George R. R. Martin) had lost. The scene seemed to say, “we hear you, but this isn’t the kind of story that has room to explore how a society moves away from monarchy toward a government of the people.” Great shifts in political philosophy can’t be accomplished convincingly in the denouement. (Or even in the epilogue.)
 
Readers in these politically energized times are less satisfied with stories where the world’s problems are solved by the Chosen One claiming the throne, or defeating the Dark Lord in single combat. Readers want stories that acknowledge the complexity of the world they contend with every day. Destroying Emperor Palpatine does nothing to address the authoritarian impulses that caused the Republic to fall, twice. Destroying Voldemort didn’t free the House Elves or end pureblood racism. If there must be a Chosen One, readers demand he do more than kill his opposite number. The Chosen One must leave an enduring legacy.
 
In The Wheel of Time, Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, makes a decent job of it when it comes to legacies. He could probably credit the lesson of two other “Chosen Ones” in history whose legacies were failures. 
 
Lews Therin Telamon, Rand’s own prior incarnation, perpetrated the Wheel’s Original Sin of disunity by attacking the Dark One at Shayol Ghul without the support of the female Aes Sedai. The result was the male Aes Sedai going mad, Lew Therin earning the epithet “Kinslayer,” and the Breaking of the World.
 
The second failed Chosen One was Artur Paendrag Tanreall, the “Hawkwing.” During the High King’s lifetime, he succeeded in uniting the entire continent under his rule, which, for the common folk, was a peaceful and just rule. But after his death, his empire fell apart.
 
 
Elyas Machera’s story, told among the rubble of Hawkwing’s ruined statue, invokes imagery of the poem “Ozymandias,” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
 
 
The wisdom Rand al’Thor learns from his ta’veren predecessors (and through hard-learned lessons throughout the story) are that he cannot succeed on his own, and that facing his prophesied fate is not enough. He must lay the foundation for what will come after he is gone. This turning of the Wheel, he has to do better. 
 
Let’s look at some of Rand’s biggest political contributions to the Fourth Age.
 
The Black Tower
 
 
The Black Tower was the first step along the road of righting Lews Therin’s Original Sin. Men like him, men who could channel, had no place in the world following the Time of Madness. Even as Rand amassed his Asha’man as a weapon to use in the Last Battle, he wanted the Black Tower to outlast him, to become every bit the institution as the White Tower. Whether it was by design or a result of being spread too thin, Rand took no part in the Black Tower’s fall into darkness under Mazrim Taim, and subsequent redemption under Logain. By the Asha’man authoring their own fate, they established an identity apart from Rand, and beyond their role in Tarmon Gai’don. Given Egwene’s prophetic vision of the fang and flame, at last unified in the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai, it looks promising that the Black Tower will finally redeem Lews Therin’s sin.
 
Dragon University
 
 
Unlike the Black Tower, Rand’s schools were an effort of pure legacy. They would yield no advantage in the Last Battle; their fruits were for the Age after the Dark One was settled. Rand got to watch, in small but satisfying interstitial scenes, the inventors and scholars learning how to harness the power of steam and electricity. As readers, we know where this could lead, just as we know this is a thread that will go on to change the world beyond the Dragon Reborn’s story. The Fourth Age seems full of potential and possibility. Though Rand’s distance from the Black Tower could have been negligence (and bad delegation), Rand’s decision to play patron but not manager of the schools seem to come from a deliberate choice to let the experts do their work. Rand built not for his own glory, but for a better world after him.
 
The Sea Folk Bargain
 
 
The Wheel of Time is globalist in its ethos. Characters and nations discover strength in uniting disparate cultures and people. If the Dark One gains strength from chaos and entropy, the Light finds purchase in order and new, stronger ways of people coming together. The Sea Folk are but one of the isolationist cultures that Rand brings into the mainstream with the Bargain. It’s not an accident that, here too, Rand delegates negotiating the terms to the professionals, from the Gray Ajah Aes Sedai to skilled politicians like Queen Elayne Trakand. Rand is the catalyst for the world coming together, but he is intentionally not the glue that holds it together. All the participants are invested in working together.
 
The Dragon’s Peace
 
 
Rand’s meeting with the leaders of the nations on the Field of Merrilor was, like the schools, an act of pure legacy. He could have simply met his fate at Shayol Ghul and let the survivors of Tarmon Gai’don do with the Fourth Age what they would. But Rand al’Thor took a page from Peter Parker’s book, and decided that his great power entailed great responsibility to the world that survived him. And he was not above extorting the nations for a hundred years of peace.
 
This was not a compact that could be sold by Tyrion Lannister delivering a stirring speech in the Dragonpit of King’s Landing, or even handed down, fully formed, by the Dragon Reborn. The rulers correctly pointed out that unless the Seanchan were brought into the accord, it was worthless. Aviendha demanded that the Aiel be included, having seen a bleak future if the Aiel had no defined place in the new world order. And Perrin, with his knowledge of tools and blacksmith puzzles, suggested that the Aiel be the enforcers of the Dragon’s Peace. Egwene resisted, and Moiraine mediated. Faile saw political maneuvering in how the parties reached their agreement, but it may be that Rand’s guileless insistence on a unity that would outlast him won the day on its own strength. With a touch of ta’veren, perhaps. As Herid Fel said, “Belief and order give strength.”
 
Compromise with the Seanchan
 
Even the Chosen One must compromise, and bringing the Seanchan into the Dragon’s Peace proved to be the bitterest compromise of all. Within the lands they currently controlled, the Seanchan could continue their practice of enslaving women who channeled. Just as the Last Battle wouldn’t automatically rid the world of evils unconnected to the Dark One, cruelty, prejudice, and oppression were not banished from human hearts by the Dark One’s defeat. Chattel slavery was something the Fourth Age civilization would still have to wrestle.
 
Empress Fortuona herself, as a damane trainer, could be held by the a’dam. How would that truth weigh against centuries of Seanchan tradition, over time? Could Mat’s influence sway her heart? Will the Windfinders refuse to engage in commerce in Seanchan lands, putting economic pressure on the Empire? How would the united Black and White Towers deal with the Seanchan? The Wheel turns, and there are stories yet to be told, even if we’ll never read them. Rand al’Thor re-wove the universe to preserve human free will. With it comes the struggle to overcome the evil humanity has wrought, and to strive for new heights of nobility. Because that’s what free will means.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    These days, it's not enough for the Chosen One to defeat the Dark Lord and claim the throne. Our hero must leave the world a better place. Rajiv Moté explores how Rand al'Thor left a legacy for the Fourth Age in The Wheel of Time. (SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time and the end of HBO's Game of Thrones.)

MahaRaj
MahaRaj

Wheel of Time at Dragon Con

This past weekend, Dragon Con celebrated all the things we love in fandom.  The convention went online rather than in person, and that gave many people who can’t make the trek to Atlanta, Georgia the opportunity to see what this fantastic con has to offer.
 
There were quite a few Wheel of Time themed panels throughout the event—not surprising with all the recent updates with the Amazon Prime television show.
 
Jason Denzel, Jennifer Liang, and Thom DeSimone had a speculation hour in the “DragonCon High Fantasy Track Presents Wheel of Time TV Show Speculation.”  The topics ranged from how many of the novels will be included in the first season, to how well established the Wheel of Time fandom is to judge the show’s worth, to the maturity rating the show will receive.  You can check out all the speculations here!
 
 
 
Did you know The Eye of the World celebrated its 30th anniversary?  (You should, because we talked about it here, and here, and here…)  And, what every Wheel of Time anniversary celebration needs is an appearance by Brandon Sanderson!  And for an added bonus, Dr. Michael Livingston joined in too!  The panel “DragonCon High Fantasy Presents Wheel of Time 30th Anniversary” delved into what makes this series timeless and so beloved by fans.
 
You can join in all the festivities, even after the fact, by watching the video below.
 

 
It’s been a sad year for convention goers, but I’m so happy that every effort is being made to keep some of these events going.  We’re making the most of a bad situation, and this little taste of home, friends, and family can go a long way to making us feel not so isolated right now.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Dragon Con went online and offered many Wheel of Time themed panels for our viewing pleasure.

Mashiara Sedai
Mashiara Sedai

Adam's Wheel of Television: How Many Books in Season 1?

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.
 
As production resumes on Season 1 of The Wheel of Time, a familiar question has reared its head again: how much material from the books will the first season cover?
 
This is a key question because The Wheel of Time is, by some measures, the longest work of epic fantasy ever published. The series itself spans fourteen large volumes, a prequel and two companion works. The series is almost 12,000 pages long in paperback, containing more than 4.4 million words (approximately ten times the length of The Lord of the Rings) and taking twenty-three years to publish. Adapting it to a television series which might be lucky to last seven or eight seasons is going to require very extensive changes, far moreso than even the changes required to adapt George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire into its TV equivalent, Game of Thrones; although I suspect Rafe Judkins and his team will at least be very happy that they have a complete story to work from. This question became more challenging once it became clear that Season 1 of The Wheel of Time will only consist of eight episodes, which will almost certainly be the standard one-hour length of most Amazon television series. For contrast, Game of Thrones had ten episodes to adapt the first novel in that series, a novel which is only marginally shorter than The Wheel of Time’s first volume, The Eye of the World. It could be argued that The Eye of the World has a somewhat more relaxed pace and certainly a much smaller cast than A Game of Thrones, with a more linear story which keeps the characters together in the same location for much of its length, so there is scope to depict it more quickly, but even so there are limits on what I think will be possible in terms of compression.
 
We also know the names of the first six of the eight episodes in the season: Leavetaking, Shadow’s Waiting, A Place of Safety, The Dragon Reborn, Blood Calls Blood and The Flame of Tar Valon. On the basis of the titles alone (and the perceived overall need to fit in two books per season), some have suggested that the show will try to fit The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt into the first season. On this basis, Leavetaking will span most or all of the events of Winternight, our heroes meeting Moiraine, the Trolloc attack and the subsequent flight from the Two Rivers; Shadow’s Waiting will focus on the side-trip to the ruined city of Shadar Logoth; A Place of Safety could refer to Caemlyn and Egwene and Perrin’s adventures with the Tinkers; The Dragon Reborn would feature the events in Fal Dara and the Blight; Blood Calls Blood would feature the events in Fal Dara leading to the theft of the Horn of Valere and The Flame of Tar Valon would introduce the Amyrlin Seat. These all seem like fairly logical extrapolations. In addition, we know several characters have been cast who do not appear until Book 2, most notably Siuan, Leane, Alanna and her Warders, and Liandrin.
 
However, there are several problems with this interpretation. The first is the casting has been announced roughly in keeping with the table reads for the series. Maria Doyle Kennedy and her fellow actors playing Tinkers were not unveiled until the Episode 5/6 table read, suggesting that the Tinkers will not appear until these episodes. The second is that much of the casting for the show was leaked before it was officially announced, and we have had no indications at all of casting for key Book 2 roles such as Ingtar, Hurin, Suroth, Egeanin, Verin or King Galldrian (although we should also note we have still not had several key Book 1 cast announced yet, most notably Elayne, Galad, Gawyn, Morgase, Elaida, Bayle Domon and Lord Agelmar). We also have a reasonable list of filming locations so far and none of the places involved would seem to reflect key Season 2 locations, such as Falme or Cairhien (indeed, the shooting locations for this week seem more reminiscent of the Blight, or Tarwin's Gap). In addition, Johann Myers who plays Padan Fain has only been booked to appear in one episode of Season 1, with the potential to return for future seasons. I would submit that doing the start of The Great Hunt, let alone all of it, without Padan Fain is untenable. Finally, we know that the Eye of the World material will be supplemented by a new storyline focusing on Logain, his capture and his taking to Tar Valon for trial and gentling, with actor Alvaro Morte booked for multiple episodes of the first season. A rushed Eye of the World, which is only covered in four hours, doesn’t seem like it leaves much room for a major new multi-episode arc focusing on a different set of characters. We also know we are getting flashback scenes to Siuan’s childhood (as an actress has been cast to play Siuan as a young girl) and potentially to the events of New Spring (an Aes Sedai who only appears in New Spring and dies during its events has been cast); fitting in a large amount of new material when they are trying to cram two long, epic books into just eight hours would be very difficult.
 
Revisiting the episode titles with this knowledge, they can be given different explanations: The Dragon Reborn could focus on the battle against Logain and his capture, whilst in The Flame of Tar Valon he arrives in Tar Valon and is tried and gentled. During this storyline we would meet the Book 2 characters who show up early: Alanna, Siuan, Leane and Liandrin. This would also be a likely explanation for why Eamon Valda has been cast in Season 1. Although oft-mentioned in the first six books, he doesn’t actually appear in-person until Lord of Chaos. However, we do know that he was part of the detachment of the Children of the Light who helped defeat Logain (studiously avoiding all Aes Sedai contact in the process), followed them to Tar Valon via Caemlyn and generally made a nuisance of themselves outside the city. Blood Calls Blood is a trickier one, especially if it’s the same episode the Tinkers first appear in. It may be that the TV show has repurposed the saying from the Prophecies of the Shadow to be more related to the wolfbrother abilities. On the other hand, it might be that the dark prophecies will be quoted and appear earlier on than they do in the books, perhaps in one of the dream sequences that litter the first volume.
 
The curious issue of pacing is still a valid one. We know from Brandon Sanderson’s set visit that Episode 2 opens with the events in Taren Ferry. Perhaps the action cuts quickly from fleeing Taren Ferry to Shadar Logoth (potentially bypassing Baerlon altogether, with Min’s late casting announcement suggesting she appears somewhere else, perhaps Basel Gill’s inn) based on the episode titles, but that then leaves a fairly yawning chasm between fleeing Shadar Logoth (presumably at the end of Episode 2) to Perrin and Egwene meeting the Tinkers (apparently in Episode 5). One solution I’ve seen theorised is that Episode 2 actually does feature more material related to the flight from the Two Rivers and Shadar Logoth is presented as “a place of safety” they can flee to; the Shadar Logoth events take place in Episode 3 instead and then Episode 4 cuts away mostly to Logain’s story, picking our heroes back up in Episode 5.
 
A third solution also does raise itself. We’ve been focused very much on Season 1, but we also need to consider the bigger picture of the entire series. It’s extremely unlikely the series will go for much longer than seven or eight seasons in total due to the mounting cost of cast salary renegotiations (the expense of which eventually made even global mega-hits like Game of Thrones and Friends unsustainable at a certain point), so packing in the entire saga as it appears in the books is simply impossible, as that would take more like fourteen seasons. If eight-episode seasons are going to be the norm (as they are for many Amazon projects), Rafe Judkins and his team potentially have less episodes than Game of Thrones did to tell a story more than twice the length in the books. This requires a dramatically different kind of adaptation, one that simply cannot afford to be “faithful” to the text in the same way as Game of Thrones’ early seasons or Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. Trying to do that would likely result in the series being left incomplete. Instead, the approach may be to take the entire book series as one whole and then dramatically cut, compress, combine and streamline events into a shorter, more focused narrative, whilst trying to remain true to Robert Jordan’s themes and the general big picture. Taken from this perspective, trying to map which books will appear in which season may be futile, with the showrunners instead conflating storylines, characters and locations in a more dramatic manner than fans are perhaps expecting. On this basis the first season may draw on elements, scenes and characters from several books whilst still trying to achieve the narrative objective of introducing the characters and world and setting up the storyline.
 
With shooting due to resume in the next couple of weeks, hopefully we’ll get some shots and information from the Episode 7/8 table read which will confirm those episode titles, which should gives us some more information to work with.
 
As usual, let us know your thoughts and keep an eye on the Dragonmount TV page for more Wheel of Time news.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    As production resumes on Season 1 of The Wheel of Time, a familiar question has reared its head again: how much material from the books will the first season cover?

Werthead
Werthead

10 Year Anniversary of the Towers of Midnight trailer

10 years ago today, on September 3, 2010, Dragonmount premiered the Towers of Midnight book trailer. 
 
This promotional video was funded by Tor Books and made with the blessing of Harriet McDougal and Brandon Sanderson. It features Sarah Nakamura in the small role of Moiraine. Today, Sarah is a Story Consultant for Amazon Prime's upcoming Wheel of Time TV show. 
 
Making that video was a lot of fun. Be sure to check out our extensive behind-the-scenes feature about its making. 
 

  • Teaser Paragraph:

    A decade ago Dragonmount released the Towers of Midnight book trailer. 

Jason Denzel
Jason Denzel

How to Bake Wheel of Time Honeycakes - The Wheel of Time Community Show

In our latest episode of The Wheel of Time Community Show, Kitty teaches us how to bake Wheel of Time Honeycakes!
 
 
You can download the full recipe here: WoT_Honeycakes.pdf
 

 
Wheel of Time Honeycakes
 
Notes
* Remove any storage items from the oven before preheating.
* If using regular table/iodized salt instead of kosher salt, use half the amount of salt.
* In a hot kitchen, chill prepped ingredients and dough as needed.
* If you don’t want excess honey butter, halve the recipe for it.
* If working with a half batch at a time, wrap the other half of the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate. 
* Put a bowl of flour by your work surface when rolling the dough.  Pour it back into the container when done.
* Have fun.  It’s not a souffle. 
Ingredients - volume | weight
Dough
3 cups | 13.5 ounces all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dairy milk (any percentage)
1/4 cup | 2 ounces honey
1 1/2 sticks | 6 ounces frozen unsalted butter (freeze in wrapper)
Honey Butter
6 Tablespoons | 3 ounces unsalted butter roughly chopped into chunks
6 Tablespoons | 3 ounces honey
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions
Grate 6 ounces of frozen butter with a box grater (side with big holes).  Put back in the freezer. Place an oven rack in the center and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Make the honey butter.  Place the butter chunks, honey, and salt into a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave at 10-second intervals, stirring in between each one until the butter is almost melted.  Keep stirring until fully combined and set aside. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt for one minute. In a separate bowl, mix the milk and honey until completely combined.  Add the grated butter into the flour and mix until it's the size of small peas, or until uniform. Slowly drizzle in the milk and honey mixture into the flour and mix gently just until there are no dry spots. Lightly flour your work surface and plop the dough out. Gently pat it into a rough rectangle and then roll to about 1/2 inch thick. *If you don’t want to fold the dough, roll it to 1 inch thick instead and skip to step 7*. Get the honey butter and lightly brush it onto the dough. Fold it in thirds, like a letter, rotate 90 degrees, and roll it into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle again, sprinkling flour as needed for stickiness.  REPEAT THIS TWICE MORE for a total of 3 rounds of folding.  After the last round, roll it to about 1 inch thick. Slice off all 4 edges of your dough rectangle as close to the side as possible. Lightly roll/pat these into weird looking dough balls. Cut the dough in half the long way, and then evenly cut 4 times across to make a total of 10 honeycakes. Place them on the parchment paper/baking sheet, keeping them at least an inch apart.  Don’t forget to add the weird scrap dough ones!  Brush the tops and sides with more honey butter and bake at 400 degrees until the tops are nicely browned, 12-16 minutes with rotating halfway through.  Brush the hot honeycakes with more honey butter, and walk away. Let cool for at least 10 minutes.  Serve with… more honey butter! 
Please leave comments and suggestions below. We love hearing from you!
 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Wheel of Time Community Show host Kitty Rallo shows us how to bake honeycakes based on The Wheel of Time. 

Cataia Sylvianya
Cataia Sylvianya

Adam's Wheel of Television: Location, Location, Location

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.
 
Work on the Wheel of Time TV series is spooling up again after a long break due to the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the cast and crew is now back in the Czech Republic, more casting has been announced and shooting should be resuming fairly soon for the last leg of production so, hopefully, we can see the show early next year as originally planned.
Whilst that work continues, it may be interesting to consider something we haven’t talked about much so far: locations and places in The Wheel of Time and how they will be depicted on screen.
 
The Wheel of Time spans numerous cities, towns, villages, nations and areas of wilderness scattered across a landmass considerably larger than the United States, as well as (very) brief jaunts to other continents and islands. One of the weaknesses of depicting fantasy on screen for decades was how to depict such locations on a limited budget. Peter Jackson cracked that in his Lord of the Rings movie trilogy – aided by a competitive exchange rate – by scouring the entire nation of New Zealand for interesting locations and building towns and cities on naturally-occurring landforms, using a mixture of CGI, forced-perspective, models and actual physical sets, sometimes in a logistically challenging manner. The construction of Edoras, the capital of Rohan, was a major enterprise involving construction workers spending months building on Mount Sunday, a remote hill in a mountain valley several dozen miles from the nearest town, for just two weeks of filming. These scenes were then augmented in post-production with additional CG buildings.
 
Similarly, HBO’s Game of Thrones presented us many cities on a limited budget. The great city of King’s Landing, capital of the Seven Kingdoms, was built on sets but also through location filming, principally in the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, but also locations in Malta, Spain and on soundstages in Northern Ireland. Locations in Spain and Morocco, again backed up by a large amount of CGI, augmented these to build up other cities such as Qarth, Astapor, Meereen, Braavos, Volantis and Oldtown, creating distinctive environments out of a small number of filming locations.
 
The Wheel of Time starts small in the bucolic backwater of the Two Rivers but soon grows larger. In the first book alone we visit the large towns of Baerlon, Four Kings and Whitebridge, the ruined and crumbling metropolis of Shadar Logoth and the cities of Caemlyn and Fal Dara, along with half a dozen villages along the Caemlyn Road. We also travel the banks of the mighty Arinelle, cross the enormous plain known as Caralain Grass and risk the High Pass through the foothills of the Mountains of Dhoom to find the home of the Green Man, Someshta. Later books take us to the great cities of Tar Valon, Cairhien, Illian, Tear, Ebou Dar, Tanchico and Far Madding (among others) and the ancient, unfinished city of Rhuidean. The TV producers may also be tempted to include flashbacks to the Age of Legends and vast, vanished cities like Paaran Disen (seat of the Hall of Servants) or V’saine (home of the great floating laboratory known as the Sharom, where the Bore was created), or travel to the Seanchan home continent to behold the imposing Court of the Nine Moons. The Wheel of Time has hundreds of strange and evocative places, many or most of which the TV producers will have to recreate for the show.
 
We already know that The Wheel of Time has a generous budget and we will be seeing some of these places on screen. Emond’s Field, chief village of the Two Rivers, has been partially built as a physical set on location in the Czech Republic, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some economic redressing and shooting from different angles to sell this village as several different villages. Taren Ferry is also present, and it seems a waste to have the main soundstages located in the great city of Prague and not make use of its historic buildings and period architecture to depict the streets of Caemlyn or Tar Valon (or both!). Computer graphics will no doubt give us impressive aerial establishing shots of these places as well. CG will also likely be employed to depict the various mysterious and strange other dimensions our characters encounter: the Ways, the Portal Stone worlds, the enigmatic world of Sindhol (home of the Ael’finn and Eel’finn) and Tel’aran’rhiod, the World of Dreams.
 

Always know where the nearest post office is.
 
Depicting the locations is one thing, but you also need to make sure the audience knows where they all are. Fantasy novels almost always come with a map in the front pages of the book, or in the case of hardcovers sometimes realised as a spectacular full-colour painting, located conveniently for readers to be able to refer to as they read. This is less convenient for a TV show or film. The Lord of the Rings got around this by having maps appear in the film itself, with characters like Bilbo or Faramir pouring over them to decide their next move. Game of Thrones had, of course, a title sequence built around a map, with the locations appearing in that episode appearing on the map, with the camera swooping through them as they raised out of the ground. I suspect Wheel of Time will not copy that device, but getting the geography of the story across to the audience in a manner that doesn’t take them out of the moment is an interesting challenge.
 
What locations are you looking to appearing in the show? As usual, let us known in the comments and keep an eye on the Dragonmount TV page for further news.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    As well as the characters and the mythology, the Amazon TV show has to nail another aspect of the world: locations.

Werthead
Werthead

Rajiv's Threads in the Pattern: Unaffiliated Evils

Rajiv Moté is Dragonmount's book blogger with a lens on the craft of fiction writing. When he's not managing software engineers, he writes fiction of his own, which can be found cataloged at his website.
 
 
The Dark One is the source of evil in The Wheel of Time, and his army of monsters is formidable. Hulking man/beast soldiers, eyeless swordsmen, soul-sucking bat-men, unnoticeable assassins, evil hounds, Power-resistant gumbies, giant worms, and the giant insects they become. But the scariest monsters in the saga are creatures without a direct link to the Dark One, unaffiliated evils who haunt the corners of the Pattern, with nefarious purposes beyond the battle between the Dark One and the Dragon. Let’s look at five of them.
 
Shadar Logoth
“Suspicion and hate had given birth to something that fed on that which created it, something locked in the bedrock on which the city stood. Mashadar waits still, hungering.”
“Shadows Waiting”, The Eye of the World
 
Shadar Logoth is the name of a haunted city, but also of a triumvirate monster composed of ghosts, a mist creature called Mashadar, and a corrupting taint. Its evil has a complex and murky history, but its origin is human. It was initially kindled by people’s paranoia and ruthlessness against the Dark One. In some ways, it is like an echo of the Dark One himself, trapped in the prison of Shadar Logoth at the moment of its creation, needing human action to escape and touch the world with its corruption. But its evil “vibrates” at an opposite frequency to the Dark One’s, a pivotal piece of natural philosophy that caused Rand al’Thor’s wounds from the ruby-capped dagger and Ba’alzamon’s staff to war against each other instead of destroying him, and inspired Rand to cleanse the Dark One’s taint on saidin.
 
Though there are invisible watchers and the ghostly counselor Mordeth himself haunting Shadar Logoth, the evil manifests as Mashadar, a mindless, chthonic monster emerging from deep in the earth only at night, blindly seeking prey with its misty tentacles. Shadar Logoth is one of the scariest parts of The Wheel of Time, the place where Robert Jordan unleashed the horror-writing chops he hinted at in the dream-scenes with Ba’alzamon. But the monster’s human origins make it fascinating, and Robert Jordan’s cosmology more complex. Whatever the glossary says, the Dark One is not the source of evil in The Wheel of Time, or at least not the sole source. Evil comes from people’s hearts, and when it is sufficiently strong, it can manifest monstrously. Perhaps the Dark One himself was created by humans in the infinite turnings of the Wheel.
 
Machin Shin
“Something left from the Time of Madness, perhaps,” Moiraine replied. “Or even from the War of the Shadow, the War of Power. Something hiding in the Ways so long it can no longer get out. No one, not even among the Ogier, knows how far the Ways run, or how deep. It could even be something of the Ways themselves. As Loial said, the Ways are living things, and all living things have parasites. Perhaps even a creature of the corruption itself, something born of the decay. Something that hates life and light.”
“What Follows in Shadow”, The Eye of the World
 
The Black Wind could be a creature of the Dark One in the way the creatures of the Blight are: a product of the Dark One’s taint. But it seems to be a chthonic monster more similar to the evil of Shadar Logoth than the Dark One, a collection of voices confined to its domain, and happily gobbling up Shadowspawn as readily as any other intruder. Moiraine makes the likeness between Shadar Logoth’s evil and Machin Shin explicit when she describes the Mordeth-possessed Padan Fain’s encounter with it.
 
“The Black Wind caught him--and he claimed to understand the voices. Some greeted him as like to them; others feared him. No sooner did the Wind envelop Fain than it fled.”
“More Tales of the Wheel”, The Eye of the World
 
Machin Shin and the Ways are another wonderfully creepy horror flex by Robert Jordan, and it’s a shame that the in-canon conclusion of the series wasn’t able to resolve its threat. Out of canon, at least we have “A Fire Within the Ways,” a deleted chapter from A Memory of Light (jointly credited to Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson) appearing in the Unfettered III anthology. In it, Perrin leads a mission to disrupt the Dark One’s armies from using the Ways, and at the climax of the battle, Machin Shin attacks. Neither weapons nor the One Power harm it, but then they hear a pure rumble of Ogier voices raised in song. Something in the song allows the Asha’man and Aes Sedai to channel bright, uncorrupted light, and Machin Shin is driven back into the shadows.
 
If the evil of Shadar Logoth seemed like a primitive prototype of the Dark One in miniature, bound in its prison and reaching the world through human proxies, Machin Shin mirrors him in other ways. It is a formless but sentient evil that exists outside of the Pattern, known only because the Aes Sedai reached into the liminal space where it lurks.
 
Hinderstap’s Ghosts
“The road’s length squirmed with shadows, figures battling, screeching, struggling in the deepening gloom. In that darkness, the fights looked at times to be solid, single creatures--horrific monstrosities with a dozen waving limbs and a hundred mouths to scream from the blackness.”
“Night in Hinderstap”, The Gathering Storm
 
By day, the people of Hinderstap are welcoming, but they insist that visitors leave before nightfall. Because night is when the entire town goes murderously insane, and everyone fights each other to the death. By morning, they all wake up in their beds, fully healed, with no memory of the night’s carnage. Any outsider unlucky enough to be killed in the madness joins the cycle of violence, forever.
 
Hinderstap is an eldritch stopover that doesn’t seem to be connected to anything else in the saga, though it has a fun payoff during the Last Battle. The chapter icon suggests that what’s happening in Hinderstap is a result of the Pattern unraveling. But we’ve seen these localized, nocturnal curses before, and the above description tickles a memory.
 
“The waving gray tentacles of Mashadar blocked half the street, and the Trollocs were balking… The thickening tentacles of fog swung uncertainly for a moment, then struck like vipers… There was no sound from that cry, any more than from the Trollocs, but something came through, a piercing whine just beyond hearing, like all the hornets in the world, digging into Rand’s ears with all the fear that could exist.”
“Dust on the Wind”, The Eye of the World
 
Perhaps there was another deleted chapter in which Mordeth, in Padan Fain’s body, spent some time in Hinderstap, leaving his corrupting influence to seep into the bedrock. Certainly one can imagine that the nightly carnage in Hinderstap had some analogue in Aridhol at first, and over the centuries its undying people became little more than mist and shadowy watchers.
 
The Aelfinn and the Eelfinn
“The game is a remembrance of old dealings. It does not matter so long as you stay away from the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn. They are not evil the way the Shadow is evil, yet they are so different from humankind they might as well be. They are not to be trusted, archer. Stay clear of the Tower of Ghenjei.”
“To the Tower of Ghenjei”, The Shadow Rising
 
The Aelfinn (the “snake people”) and the Eelfinn (the “fox people”) are ancient folk who live in a different, geometry-bending world called Sindhol, accessible only through ter’angreal portals and the mysterious Tower of Ghenjei. They share similarities with genies and fae, granting wishes (if not always in the ways hoped for) and imparting truths (while exacting a price). They also feed on memories and sensations, and can watch the world through the eyes of those they’ve touched. If Shadar Logoth and the Ways gives readers a dip into chthonic horror, Sindhol is a foray into dark fairy tales. The Aelfinn and the Eelfinn even seem to share an origin with a creature in a Neil Gaiman story.
 
“‘And what do you take, for the gold you give them?’
Little enough, for my needs are few, and I am old; too old to follow my sisters into the West. I taste their pleasure and their joy. I feed, a little, feed on what they do not need and do not value. A taste of heart, a lick and a nibble of their fine consciences, a sliver of soul. And in return a fragment of me leaves this cave with them and gazes out at the world through their eyes, sees what they see until their lives are done and I take back what is mine.”
“The Truth Is a Cave In the Black Mountains”, Neil Gaiman
 
The ’finns are the perfect foil for Mat. While Rand contends with the political machinations of the lands he tries to unite, Mat plays a game against inhuman creatures with unfathomable desires. He has to discover the rules as he plays, the stakes are staggeringly high, and the only way to win is to cheat. Who better to take them on, than the Wheel’s trickster figure? Instead of being armed with prophecy and ta’veren destiny, Mat’s rescue mission is armed with folklore, lessons from a children’s game, and pure luck. Fortunately, Mat is the luckiest man alive.
 
The Children of the Light
“There are a lot of men coming, on horses. They came up behind the wolves, but the men didn’t see them… But Dapple says… Dapple says they smell wrong. It’s… sort of the way a rabid dog smells wrong.”
“Children of Shadow”, The Eye of the World
 
Shortly after the War of Power that sealed the Dark One and (most of) the Forsaken in their prison at Shayol Ghul, there were angry men who decided to take “justice” into their own hands. They rooted out and punished people they believed served the Forsaken. Their spiritual successors became the Children of the Light, dedicated to finding and destroying Darkfriends wherever they may be. 
 
The Whitecloaks are so fanatical (even before encountering Mordeth’s corruption) that, to wolves, they smell rabid. They see improper respect paid to them, or casual association with Tar Valon, the Power, or anything unexplained, to be proof of being a Darkfriend. Their Questioners seem modeled on the Spanish Inquisition. They’re bigots and bullies, so convinced of their own righteousness that they’re willing to cross any line to accomplish their goals.
 
If the evil of Shadar Logoth was human in origin, the Children of Light show that the same evil remains alive and well in humanity itself. It’s the most mundane evil in The Wheel of Time, but the most pervasive, persistent, and real. They embody what William Butler Yeats described in his apocalyptic poem “The Second Coming” with “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” The Fourth Age has cleared the field of many dangerous foes, but the danger of people like the Whitecloaks is always with us. Rand al’Thor remade the world to preserve human free will, which is why the struggle against the Shadow will continue forever, even if the Dark One is locked back in his prison.
 
What’s your choice of scariest monster from The Wheel of Time?
 
 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Rajiv Moté delves into the darkness of The Wheel of Time series, highlighting five evils of the world that aren't a part of the Dark One.

MahaRaj
MahaRaj

LIVE September Guest Event: MARIA SIMONS

We're proud to announce the first in our series of exclusive Patreon guest chats, featuring Maria Simons on Saturday, September 5, 2020 at 1 PM U.S. Eastern Time. This event is available to our Patreon supporters. Learn more and sign up here.  
About Maria
Maria is a member of Team Jordan as well as the long-time research assistant to Robert Jordan and Harriet McDougal. She's perhaps the world's foremost expert on Wheel of Time lore, as well as the co-author of The Wheel of Time Companion. You will not find a more enjoyable, humorous, and knowledgable person related to this franchise. 
About the Event
This will be a LIVE virtual event, held over Zoom. All Patreon supporters at the Heron-Marked ($10) level and higher are invited.  If you are a not yet a Patreon supporter, or if you are a supporter at a lower tier, you are welcome to "upgrade" to the Heron-Marked level for a single month to gain access to this event. 
More information about signing up is available on our Patreon page. 
 
The event will begin with a moderated discussion with our guest, followed by an open Q&A where you can freely ask questions and chat. This is expected to be a somewhat smaller event, but if the number of attendees grows, we will moderate it but give everyone a chance to ask questions and be involved. The Zoom link will be emailed to all eligible patrons 24 hours before the event.  
 
I hope you'll join us for this exciting event!  If you can't make it this time, that's OK, we'll record it and also host future chats with other special guests tied to The Wheel of Time franchise.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Maria Simons, a member of Team Jordan and the co-author of The Wheel of Time Companion, joins us for a Patreon-exclusive live chat event on September 5th. 

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

Casting Announcement: Min and Siuan

Amazon Prime's Wheel of Time television show had some major announcements for #WoTWednesday today!
 
Kae Alexander as Min Farshaw
Sophie Okonedo as Siuan Sanche
 
 

Kae Alexander is a BAFTA elevate actress. Kae recently filmed action feature INFINITE for Paramount Pictures and the MALEFICENT sequel for Walt Disney Pictures. Other recent credits include Fox thriller DEEP STATE, THE GREAT WAVE directed by Indhu Rubasingham for the National Theatre, ITV/Amazon thriller STRANGERS for Two Brothers Pictures, 4 part series COLLATERAL written by David Hare and directed by SJ Clarkson for BBC / Netflix, BBC crime thriller HARD SUN, Reb in Steven Spielberg's READY PLAYER ONE and Elaine in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's comedy FLEABAG.
 

Sophie Okonedo's credentials are too long to list here, so we'll name a few.  Sophie began her film career in 1991 in the British coming-of-age drama YOUNG SOUL REBEL before appearing as Wachati Princess in ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS (1995) and Stephen Frears' DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (2002). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in the 2004 film HOTEL RWANDA. Sophie also received a Golden Globe nomination for the miniseries TSUNAMI: THE AFTERMATH (2006) and BAFTA TV Award nominations for the drama series CRIMINAL JUSTICE (2009).
 
We are so excited to have these actresses join the Wheel of Time family!  
 
Today, three other cast members were officially announced.  We already knew they were involved, but it's nice to have it official.
 
Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin Guirale
Peter Franzen as Stepin
Clare Perkins as Kerene Nagashi
 

Kate Fleetwood is a Tony and Olivier nominated actress with a storied career on stage. Her extensive screen credits include leading roles in Harlots (Hulu/ BBC), Brave New World (Peacock), Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix), Victoria (ITV / PBC Masterpiece) and Macbeth (PBS). Kate’s film work includes Les Miserables, Beiruit, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
 

Peter Franzén is one of Finland’s most accomplished actors and has enjoyed a successful career both nationally and internationally. Franzén’s career has spanned 20 years and includes over 90 movies and series in several countries- in English, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, Estonian speaking productions. He has been awarded three Jussi Awards (Finland’s  Academy awards) and a total of seven nominations.  He has also received awards from international film festivals.
 

London born and raised and graduate of Rose Bruford College, CLARE PERKINS' is a British actress with almost 30 years in the business. Having performed at some of the most prestigious London theatres such as the Almeida Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court  Theatre and the Gielgud Theatre, Clare has more recently been making a name for herself on screen, soon to be seen in Netflix crime drama, YOUNG WALLANDER. She will also star in series 4 of popular Netflix series, THE CROWN and the second series of comedy drama FLACK with Anna Paquin.
 
Things are starting to come together.  Perhaps a ta'veren is involved.
 
We don't see Siuan in the series until the start of The Great Hunt.  Is the fact Sophie Okonedo's been cast now a sign Siuan will pop up earlier than expected?  Let us know what you think in the comments below.
 
And be sure to check out our team's reaction The Wheel of Time Community Show:

 
 




 

  • Teaser Paragraph:

    The Wheel of Time TV show on Amazon Prime has some exciting casting announcements today:  Kae Alexander as Min Farshaw and Sophie Okonedo as Siuan Sanche.

Mashiara Sedai
Mashiara Sedai

Jaymie's WoTEver: The Most Badass Aes Sedai by Ajah, Part Four

Jaymie here. I’ll be discussing a wide variety of topics related to The Wheel of Time. Like many of you, I’ve been reading WoT since the Age of Legends, so we’ll have lots to cover together…WoTever comes to mind.
 
WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS
 
Affecting change out in Randland or as Sitters in the Hall, who’s the biggest badass of them all?
 
In this series, I took a look at our own G.L.O.W. – the Glorious Ladies of WoT, specifically the smooth-cheeked, serenity-filled, skirt-smoothing, shawl-adjusting, butt-kicking Aes Sedai. I selected the most badass sister from each Ajah, as well as a runner-up for the title.
 
In Part One, we chose out the most badass Aes Sedai of the Green, Red, and Gray Ajahs.
The Blue, Yellow, White, and Brown Ajahs saw their badass representatives hailed in Part Two.
Part Three examined the dark side of badassery as the Black Ajah had their day.
 
 
In Part Four, it’s time to revere the ULTIMATE Badass Aes Sedai in all of Randland.
 
Of All Ajahs and Of None
Egwene al’Vere
Part One in our series took a look at the Badasses of three Ajahs, Green included. I received a LOT of feedback in the “BUT WHAT ABOUT EGWENE?!” category. I heard you. I did! But I had to save her for Part Four.
 
She may have identified as Green, holding her would-be Ajah in her heart, but her extraordinary circumstances created an Amyrlin like no other: they may all claim it, but only Egwene was truly and literally of all Ajahs and of none.
 
And she became  the absolute embodiment of Aes Sedai as she served, protected, battled, guided, maneuvered, and sacrificed her way to legend status.
 
So, let’s talk about Egwene – most of the good, some of the bad, and all of the awesome.
 
Maybe she’s born with it…
Canonically, none of the major female characters are ta’veren. However, we must allow that the Pattern provided Egwene a lot with which to work:
 
She’s one of the strongest channelers in a thousand years. She picks up channeling remarkably quickly and astounds other Aes Sedai by being able to split her flow of the One Power in 14 ways.
 
She’s a Dreamer. Obviously, this comes in super handy throughout the series. (And as often as she’s mentioned, who else thought we might somehow get to meet Corianin Nedeal? Perhaps weirdly trapped in T’A’R? Maybe just me?)
 
Genetics and family history also come through for the assist – mayor dad, Women’s Circle member mom (in a small village, true, but she’ll still pick up on politics and group dynamics), Wisdom’s apprentice (again, yes, for a small village, but the Wisdom is Nynaeve, yo), and she carries the blood of Manetheren in her veins (*acknowledges the ongoing Egwene/Queen Eldrene reincarnation discussion/debate*). Like her ancestors, she’s hard-working, resourceful, and tenacious. At its worst, that tenacity manifests as stubbornness (muley stubborn, the girl Amyrlin is!). But far more often, it shines as perseverance, dedication, and resolve.  Oh, and she happens to have grown up with the Dragon Reborn. That might help down the road.
 
Additionally, she’s wicked smart.
 
Boldly going where no Randlander had gone before
Along with her inherent traits and early-life experience, Egwene brings incredibly unique adventures to her interactions.
 
She’s traveled the Ways. She's sat at the fires of the Traveling People. She witnessed the “exorcism” of Shadar Logoth evil from Mat.
 
She’s been a Seanchan damane, where she learned their culture in the context of their greatest weapon, channeling; and was forced to rapidly develop her strength and dexterity in the Power (also coming in quite handily).
 
And, of course, she lived among the Aiel as an apprentice to Wise Ones. She went to learn Dreamwalking, but she also, thankfully and serendipitously, learns and eventually lives the Aiel code of honor and obligation, ji’e’toh, taking it back with her to the wetlands. Egwene’s training from, edification through, and intimacy with the Aiel is a turning point in her fascinating trajectory.
 
People…people who need people...
Like all of our badasses, Egwene is not perfect.
 
So much stuff has been crammed into this girl for the purpose of prophecy-fulfillment that her youth seeps out every now and then, usually in the form of immature self-preservation, and usually directed toward the people she grew up with. Examples: her early-series bratty treatment of Nynaeve (to which Elayne, of all people, puts a stop); her bullying of Nynaeve and Elayne so she wouldn’t be discovered sneaking around T’A’R; and her behavior toward Mat after he rescues the girls from the Stone of Tear.
 
Rand remains a blind spot for her through nearly the entire series, as she often regresses back to a village-Wisdom’s-apprentice-type role when dealing with him. Even as the Last Battle begins, while they stand on the Field of Merrilor and Zen Rand reveals his plan to destroy the seals of the Dark One’s prison, Egwene hears only Stubborn Woolhead Rand, and treats her childhood sweetheart—and his plan—as such.
 
And her relationship with Gawyn is, for some readers, nothing short of infuriating. That analysis would likely fill an essay of its own.
 
However. I’m gonna give our young Amyrlin a few passes in light of endorsements from some tried and true badasses.
 
Egwene has earned the respect of the Wise Ones, namely Sorilea, Bair, Melaine, and the incomparable Amys. When she announces she must leave, they are more than disappointed and want her to stay with them. Stay! In the Waste! A wetlander!
 
Blue Ajah Badass and Amyrlin-turned-advisor Siuan Sanche also believes in Egwene, recognizing that she will “be an Amyrlin to make thrones tremble,” especially after Egwene reveals her plans for the Tower. (Lord Of Chaos, Ch. 37, When Battle Begins)
 
When Egwene meets our beloved Gareth One-Of-The-Five-Great-Generals Bryne, he gives her his trust and his army. Do we, as readers, believe we can peg Eggy better than one Master Gareth Bryne?
 
Do we?!
 
And while she gains the respect of novices, Accepted, and finally Aes Sedai after her captivity in the Tower, her championing by Red Badass Silviana Brehon really seals the deal, for us readers and for the Tower.
 
She did it all for the Tower (c’mon!) the Tower…
Ironically, Egwene’s youth—or, lack of years—ultimately allowed for her greater vision, her grasp of the big picture.
 
She seemed to have unbelievable political savvy for her age, but Egwene was so focused on the right things that she could see through the wrong. Lelaine and Romanda? She’ll use their faults to her advantage, playing them against each other to achieve her larger goal of uniting the Tower. Siuan makes lots of sense and respects her? She’ll soak up the former Amyrlin’s tutelage like sponge, for it will do nothing but help her unite the Tower. You rebels raised me Amyrlin and remained loyal to me? Awesome, but I don’t actually owe you anything. In fact, YOU owe the TOWER an apology, for your part in the break. Hop to, so we can get back to work uniting the Tower.
 
Essentially, Egwene wasn’t bogged down by years and years of scheming and favors and grudges and personal goals. Her mind isn’t clouded with individual alliances, or “well, that’s not possible,” or “um, we don’t do that here.” When the Tower broke themselves, Egwene was able to respond with, “All bets are off. You ruined this. Now I’m going to fix it and you DO NOT get to tell me how.”
 
Homegirl’s a badass, pure and simple.
 
I’ll wrap this fourth Most Badass Aes Sedai installment with Egwene’s (arguably) Top Three Most Badass Moments:
 
Honorable Mention (because, so many moments)
Her overall maneuvering, first within the rebel camp, and then gloriously and so victoriously within the Tower. She shines when she gets the rebels off of their collective arse and cleverly declares war on Elaida in a beautifully written scene. Then she absolutely radiates as a prisoner in the Tower, as the culmination of every single positive trait Egwene possesses convinces the Tower Aes Sedai of their true goal.
 
3. The Seanchan attack on the Tower. “The woman stood like vengeance itself, the power of saidar like a storm around her. The very air seemed alight, and her brown hair blew from the wind of the open gap in the wall beside them. Egwene al’Vere.” - POV of Adelorna Bastine (The Gathering Storm, Ch. 40, The Tower Shakes)
 
2. The dinner that changes everything. When Egwene names Elaida coward and Elaida loses her actual damn mind, I’m ready to stand up and cheer. And then…

“They could all see the weaves, and they could all see that Egwene did not scream, although her mouth was not gagged by Air. Her arms dripped blood, her body was beaten before them, and yet she found no reason to scream. Instead, she quietly blessed the Aiel Wise Ones for their wisdom” …
“‘By the Light,’ Rubinde whispered.” (The Gathering Storm, Ch. 16, In the White Tower)
 
Yes, girl. By the Light, INDEED.
 
1. The Flame of Tar Valon. Egwene discovers and channels the counter-weave to balefire, then wields it during the Last Battle to defeat the Sharans, knowingly sacrificing herself to make the stand. We all have a picture in our heads of Egwene’s blaze of glory, and no summary provided here will do that image justice.
 
 
 
Do you agree with this Part Four assessment? Is Egwene al’Vere the ultimate Badass Aes Sedai? What other moments are her most badass?
 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Affecting change out in Randland or as Sitters in the Hall, who's the biggest badass of them all?

Jaymie Greenway
Jaymie Greenway

Book Review: The Collapsing Empire

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
 
I have reached an important conclusion concerning my identity as a reader. I am officially a science fiction fan. I can go on to add a willing and excited reader of science fiction. I am new enough to the genre to know I still have a lot to explore, but my first few forays in the world of science fiction have been a triumph. The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi is no exception. In fact, since finishing this book I have already gone on to begin book two. In my mind that is the highest compliment I can give to an author; to immediately read more of their works. 
 
I learned that for me to truly invest myself into the world a fantasy or science fiction author creates, there has to be a certain level of familiarity. A blend of what truly exists in our world and the unique features of the universe that they have created. It is a delicate balance to borrow and adapt without seeming to “steal” too much of our reality. It is a dance I face daily in my own writing, and one that I think Scalzi executes masterfully. 
 
Being a relative newb to this genre, I often find myself rereading passages to make sure I understand what is being conveyed. When reading The Collapsing Empire, the rules of the world were presented in such a fashion it was almost as if I had always known of their existence. I hesitate to give away too much of this gem, but the book is set up as the possible future of the human race after Earth has been lost, or at least deemed uninhabitable. The majority of the population is spread throughout the universe and living on planets that are not truly inhabitable. The only civilization that lives on a planet’s surface, is the End.  In order to survive they make use of The Flow, to sustain trade and keep each planet supplied with that they need to survive. The Flow, which is essentially a one-directional worm hole between planets is essential to the survival of the entire Interdependency. The question becomes, what happens when this pivotal network no longer functions as it should? 
 
Since its founding, the Interdependency has been led by the Emperox from the Wu family, and as the story begins the leader of the Universe is dying and his unwilling daughter is preparing to assume the weight of the entire system on her shoulders. As is true of any ruler, there are those who wish to control, or even replace her right from the first moments of her rule. While most of the story is told from only three characters' point of view, we are shown the deep impact of their decisions on the fate of the human race. 
 
This succinct and captivating novel can easily be finished in one midafternoon reading marathon, and Scalzi’s characters are so engaging that you truly won’t want to put it down. As I read the last sentence, I found myself feeling very grateful that I was able to immediately begin the next book in the series. I think having to wait for the next book would have been a reader’s torture. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book to have on hand for when you have a few hours to yourself. I can confidently say that you will enjoy this highly accessible Space-opera. 
 
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi is available from Dragonmount's store as a DRM-free ebook. You can also purchase it on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and your local independent bookseller. 
 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Crystal Fritz reviews John Scalzi's "The Collapsing Empire."

Eqwina
Eqwina

Rajiv's Threads In the Pattern: Prologues and Epilogues

Rajiv Moté is Dragonmount's book blogger with a lens on the craft of fiction writing. When he's not managing software engineers, he writes fiction of his own, which can be found cataloged at his website.
 
Spoilers below for The Wheel of Time books, and the prologues or epilogues of The Handmaid's Tale, A Game of Thrones, The Deathly Hallows, and The Return of the King.
 
The Eye of the World begins with one of the most memorable prologues in epic fantasy, a confrontation between a fallen hero-turned-madman and a villain who takes no joy in his apparent victory. It drops tantalizing hints of a world that is never fully explained, along with the idea that this battle has raged through an endless cycle of ages.

And in Chapter One, on an empty road, thousands of years later, the actual story begins.

I love prologues and epilogues. They let authors--and their readers--play at the edges of the story. They bridge the installments, expand the world, or just provide more emotional build-up and release. The early-release Wheel of Time prologues, beginning with “Snow” from Winter’s Heart, were like trailers for long-awaited movies. The epilogues of comic books--and the post-credits scenes of the movies they inspire--suggest possibilities sometimes more exciting than the stories themselves. “The Grey Havens” in The Lord of the Rings taught grade-school-age me the notion of beautiful melancholy.

In The Wheel of Time, the only books without a prologue are New Spring and The Shadow Rising. In the former’s first chapter, “The Hook,” Lan witnessing the end of the Aiel War feels isolated enough from the main story to feel like a prologue. In the latter book, parts of the first chapter were, in fact, a prologue in the advanced reading copy before being integrated. The Shadow Rising’s first chapter surveys a number of points-of-view, a technique both Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson used in subsequent prologues. “Snow” and the prologues that followed, seemed to be written specifically for advance release, checking in on several characters--major and minor--to tease the upcoming book.

By contrast, Lord of Chaos is the first book where Robert Jordan used an epilogue, a practice he did not pick up again until 2003-2004, with Crossroads of Twilight and New Spring. But even as early as The Eye of the World, when Moiraine told Lord Agelmar what must be done with the Horn of Valere, and spied on Rand while declaring “the Dragon is Reborn,” Jordan used the final scenes less to conclude the arc of the current novel than to set up the next one. The final chapter, “After,” of The Great Hunt, was even more explicitly an epilogue, switching to an omniscient point-of-view to describe how the ending of the Hunt reverberated across the continent. Prologues and epilogues, whether labeled so or not, are consistent features of The Wheel of Time. They give readers a look at the story’s place in the larger world, either through new point-of-view characters (in a story with dozens already), or sweeping narration across ages and geography.

Most Western notions of story demand that a story begins when the protagonists face a threat to their status quo, and ends with a new status quo. In big, secondary world stories, prologues and epilogues allow readers to break outside the structure of Aristotle's unities (action, place, time) and Gustav Freytag’s dramatic acts (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement). We glimpse people and events that inform--but are not part of--the story to come, or linger in the denouement, seeing how the story ripples beyond its bounds. For a bit longer, readers get to enjoy the world in which they are investing hours of imaginative immersion.

The Eye of the World’s prologue puts Rand al’Thor’s story into the vaster context of an eternal battle between the Dragon and the Dark One, where Rand’s struggle becomes Lews Therin’s second chance. This widening scope shares similarities with the epilogue of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. It occurs hundreds of years after the events of Offred’s story. An academic puts Offred’s harrowing and uncertain fate into the context of the rise and fall of the oppressive regime of Gilead. In both novels, these story fragments, separated in time, reframe the main tale. Both offer hope in the long arc of history. They imply other stories.

The “Dragonmount” prologue introduces readers to the saga’s real stakes. On the way to Tarmon Gaidon, though, there are hundreds of pages focused on the Aiel, the return of Hawkwing’s armies, the Shaido, the Bowl of Winds, Andor’s royal succession, and the schism and healing of the White Tower. The prologue keeps readers’ eyes on the prize. The prologue in George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones does the same, letting the readers know that the Iron Throne is a distraction from the real threat: the Others are coming (someday?) with The Winds of Winter.

The scope of epics means not every plot thread gets wrapped up when the core story ends. Falling action and denouement can be a narrow frame for the catharsis readers want. In “To See the Answer,” the epilogue to A Memory of Light, we know that the Light triumphed in Tarmon Gaidon, but we still want hints of what the future holds for our surviving heroes in the Fourth Age. The answers give us just enough to imagine the future. And like Sister Night stepping out onto a swimming pool at the end of HBO’s Watchmen, a mysteriously lit pipe suggests an entirely new set of possibilities that will only live in our imaginations. The Wheel turns.

Sometimes we want more than just assurances that the story goes on. It’s not essential to know that, at the end of The Lord of the Rings, the mallorn tree that Samwise Gamgee planted became famous, and the beer of 1420 was remembered for generations. But it feels good. And fans young and old were glad to know that after Voldemort’s destruction, Harry married Ginny, Hermione married Ron, they all remained friends, and their children attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, surely to have adventures of their own. After spending years invested in a story world, readers take comfort not only that the world continues, but that it’s a better place for the struggles of its heroes.

Readers need structure to navigate a sprawling epic. But they want emotional payoffs too, and everyone has a secondary plot line, character, or detail they hold especially dear. Prologues and epilogues, the stories around the stories, give the reader this richer satisfaction. When I return to these worlds, they’re the first parts I revisit.

What’s your favorite prologue or epilogue?
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    The prologues and epilogues of our favorite epic fantasies let us linger at the edges of the story and beyond, making the world live and breathe beyond the bounds of plot.

MahaRaj
MahaRaj