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The Wheel of Time Community Show: Interview with Clare Grant

The latest episode of The WoT Community Show is now online.  If you're not familiar with it, WoTCS is a variety-show style program featuring a handful of hosts who recaps the most recent Wheel of Time book, TV show, and community news.  
 
Visit the YouTube channel. Episode 7: "Interview with Clare Grant"
 
SHOW NOTES
Happy New Year!
 
Our intrepid team kicks 2020 off with the following:
 
* Kitty interviews actress, producer, and WoT super-fan Clare Grant.
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1740127/ http://www.claregrant.com  
* Thom discusses the new Wheel of Time cast members for Amazon Prime’s upcoming TV show:
 
Alanna Mosvani will be played by Priyanka Bose.  Ihvon will be played by Emmanuel Imani.  Maksim will be played by Taylor Napier.   
More info: 
https://dragonmount.com/news/tv-show/alannawarders/
 
* Ebony discusses JordanCon early-bird registration and the new merchandise license issued to Valyrian Steel. 
 
https://www.jordancon.org http://www.valyriansteel.com/  
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Love, Lanfear
 
Do you  want the Daughter of the Night to help solve your troublesome relationship issues? Email us: Show@dragonmount.com, or leave a comment in the comments or on our social media with #LoveLanfear
 
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The WoT Community show is released bi-weekly and covers the Wheel of Time franchise and fan community.  Since 1998, Dragonmount has been a top destination for anything related to Robert Jordan’s masterpiece. With Amazon Prime’s forthcoming adaptation, we’ll keep you up to date.
 
The WoT Community Show is sponsored by Tor Books and our generous Patreon Subscribers. For more info on becoming a Patron, visit: http://Patreon.com/dragonmount
 
Please leave comments and suggestions below. We love hearing from you!

 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Actor, producer, and WoT super-fan Clare Grant joins us for an interview about The Wheel of Time.

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

How Wheel of Time can Win a Hugo Award

Today, December 31, 2019, is an important deadline for the 2020 Hugo Awards. You can have a unique impact in being part of its tradition, and also potentially help The Wheel of Time and other worthy stories, earn a prestigious award. 
 
About the Hugos Awards
The Hugos are the premier awards for science fiction & fantasy literature. Each year, awards are given in multiple categories such as Best Novel, Best Short Story, Best Series, and more.
 
Written and dramatic works are awarded at the annual World Science Fiction Convention (“WorldCon”) by its members. Anybody can become a member whether you attend the convention or not. 
 
There are some notable benefits to becoming a WorldCon member, even if you don’t attend the actual convention.  Not only will you have the chance to nominate your favorite written and dramatic works from the past year, but with your membership you’ll also receive most of (if not all) of the nominated works.  ie, You’ll get free books. (Good ones, too!)
 
The Process
There are several notable milestones for participating in the Hugos:
 
Register by December 31, 2019 in order to nominate works. (TODAY) Submit nominations. (Sometime in January 2020) Nominees announced (Spring) Voting begins (Spring) Voting Ends Winners announced at the 2020 WorldCon in Wellington, New Zealand. (Summer)  
If you plan on nominating for the 2020 Hugo Awards, today is the last day to register for WorldCon and be eligible to vote.
 
Wheel of Time’s last chance
Despite its popularity and far-reaching impact on the fantasy genre, Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time have never won a Hugo Award. 
 
In 2014 the entire WoT series was nominated for (but did not win) the “Best Novel” award. The "Best Series" category did not exist at the time. WoT’s nomination caused a controversial stir, as some people didn’t feel it was appropriate to consider the entire 15-book Wheel of Time series as one single work. This helped prompt the World Science Fiction Society, which awards the Hugos, to add a new category in 2017, the “Best Series” award. 
 
At the time, it didn’t mean much for The Wheel of Time, but it did enable several other long-running and popular series (including Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive) to be recognized with nominations and awards. 
 
And now The Wheel of Time will have one more chance to potentially earn a Hugo Award. 
 
Earlier this year, in 2019, Brandon Sanderson published “A Fire Within the Ways”, a short story that was included in the Unfettered III anthology from Grim Oaks Press. This written sequence contained a lng set of “deleted scenes” from A Memory of Light. With Harriet’s permission, the scenes were lightly edited and submitted for publication in the Unfettered III anthology, with proceeds going to support health care needs for writers in need.  According to the WSFS bylaws, any new installment to a written series, regardless of length, makes The Wheel of Time eligible for the Best Series award. Therefore, A Fire Within the Ways makes WoT eligible for the first--and likely only--time.
 
It’s unlikely that Harriet will ever authorize the publication of any further Wheel of Time stories. This could be our last opportunity to ensure that Robert Jordan’s work receives the recognition it’s due with one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a fantasy series. 
 
To nominate WoT, and any other work of eligible fiction from the past year, you need to become a member of the 2020 WorldCon to be held in Wellington, New Zealand this summer. While many of us will not be able to attend due to the distance and expense, but you can purchase a Supporting Membership. This gives you the right to participate in the Hugos, to nominated, vote, and receive convention publications. It also helps support WorldCon, which has a proud tradition of being one of the longest running fan conventions. 
 
It costs money to become a member, but remember that you will not only become of a proud tradition, but you’ll be able to nominate, vote, and participate in the 2020 and 2021’s awards, ad you also receive all of the nominated books and stories in ebook format. That value alone pays for your membership. 
 
What To Do Next 
If you want to be a part of this, here’s what you need to do:
 
Register to become a WorldCon Member by the end of today, December 31, 2019. This will allow you to nominate WoT and other eligible works.  Tell a friend! (Send them to this article for info) Submit your nominations when the submission windows open (sometime in January 2020).  Vote! Optional: fly to New Zealand and attend the convention. Meet lots of amazing people and writers.  
What if I missed the December 31 deadline?
No problem! You can still register for a membership and vote for the nominated works. You just won’t be able to submit nominations. 
 
If you’re a fan of The Wheel of Time, you know how big of an impact the series has had on the genre and on people’s lives. By becoming a Hugo Member, you can help WoT receive a special place in history, and also become part of a long-running tradition and receive some great books in return. 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Today, December 31, is the deadline to register for the Hugo Awards. 

JenniferL
JenniferL

Alanna and Warders cast for Wheel of Time TV Show

Deadline.com announced today, via an exclusive article that Amazon Studios confirmed to us, that the roles of Alanna Mosvani and two of her warders, Ihvon and Maksim, have been cast for the upcoming Wheel of Time TV show. 
 
Alanna Mosvani will be played by Priyanka Bose. 
Ihvon will be played by Emmanuel Imani. 
Maksim will be played by Taylor Napier. 
 
In the books, Alanna is an Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah who has a significant, and sometimes controversial, role in the story. She's first introduced at the beginning of book 2, The Great Hunt. Interestingly, in the books, Alanna has two warders, Ihvon and Owein.  Of those warders, Owein has the lesser role and is only mentioned a few time before dying.  It seems he's been replaced by a character named Maksim. It's unknown if these are intended to be the same character, or if Maksim is a replacement for Owein with the intention of having a larger role. 
 
From the Deadline article:
 
 
Priyanka Bose IMDB entry Emmanuel Imani IMDB entry Taylor Napier IMDB entry
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Amazon Prime announced that Alanna Mosvani and her warders have been cast for the upcoming Wheel of Time TV show.

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

The Wheel of Time Community Show: New Actors & Pronunciations

For the last couple of months, Dragonmount has produced a bi-weekly YouTube program called The WoT Community Show.  It's a variety-show style program featuring a handful of hosts who recaps the most recent Wheel of Time book, TV show, and community news.  
Visit the YouTube channel. Episode 6: "New Actors & Pronunciations"
 
SHOW NOTES
Happy Holidays! In this week’s episode:
 
* Kitty recaps each of the 12 actors that’ve been officially announced for Amazon Prime’s upcoming Wheel of Time TV series. 
 
* Thom and Kitty discuss the 4 newest cast additions: 
Alvaro Morte as Logain.
Hammed Animashaun as Loial.
Alexandre Willaume as Thom Merrilin.
Johann Myers as Padan Fain.
 
More info: 
https://dragonmount.com/news/tv-show/castinglltp/
 
* Ebony goes over the proper pronunciation of some common WoT names.
 
* Special Guest:  Graendal! The Chosen sits in for Lanfear, who got in trouble with the Greatd Lord of the Dark after her breakdown in the previous episode.  Graendal answers a couple of fan-submitted questions. 
 
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Love, Lanfear
 
Do you want the Daughter of the Night to help solve your troublesome relationship issues? Email us: Show@dragonmount.com, or leave a comment in the comments or on our social media with #LoveLanfear
 
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The WoT Community show is released bi-weekly and covers the Wheel of Time franchise and fan community.  Since 1998, Dragonmount has been a top destination for anything related to Robert Jordan’s masterpiece. With Amazon Prime’s forthcoming adaptation, we’ll keep you up to date.
 
The WoT Community Show is sponsored by Tor Books and our generous Patreon Subscribers. For more info on becoming a Patron, visit: http://Patreon.com/dragonmount
 
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Show Hosts:
Thom DeSimone
Kitty Rallo
Ebony Adomanis
 
Guest (Graendal)
Amanda
 
Producer & Editor:
Kathy Campbell
 
Executive Producer:
Jason Denzel
 
Social Media
FB: http://facebook.com/dragonmount 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dragonmount 
IG: http://instagram.com/dragonmount_ 
 
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Please leave comments and suggestions below. We love hearing from you!

 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Episode 6 of our bi-weekly YouTube program is live. 

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

Adam's Wheel of Television: Keeping Up Appearances

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. 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. Please note this article contains very mild spoilers for The Wheel of Time novels.
 
To everyone’s relief, Amazon have confirmed that four important characters from the Wheel of Time novels will be in the TV series: Loial, Logain, Padan Fain and Thom Merrilin have made the cut!
 
The actors playing them will probably be not hugely familiar to audiences. Alvaro Morte (Logain) has appeared primarily in Spanish film and television whilst Hammad Animashaun (Loial) is a relative newcomer. Johann Myers, who is playing Padan Fain, has had a longer career and will be familiar to British viewers from series such as State of Play, Black Mirror and Luther.
 
Most of the casting speculation for the last few weeks – including our own – has focused on Thom Merrilin. Some fans and commentators even mused if Thom could be cut from the show altogether, or perhaps introduced later on in a different context. Happily, it seems that Rafe Judkins and his team decided they needed the gleeman up front and center, and cast Danish actor Alexandre Willaume in the role. Willaume has appeared in films such as Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and last year’s Tomb Raider, but is best known for playing Kjartan, one of the main antagonists in the first two seasons of the excellent historical drama The Last Kingdom (well worth catching on Netflix if you haven’t seen it yet). This is appropriate because some twenty years pass between Kjartan’s appearance in the first episode and his last appearance (note: both videos have violence and some strong language) in Season 2, and he is aged up for the role.
 
This leads to an interesting and wider question about adaptations of the written work. Fans of all franchises appear to be constantly bemused that producers don’t cast actors more precisely based on their book descriptions, sometimes choosing actors of a radically different height, age, appearance or, in some cases, gender. This leads to frustration that the producers “don’t get it” or are “changing things for the sake of it,” and to be fair unsuccessful adaptations like The Shannara Chronicles or Earthsea show that this sometimes happens. In other cases – such as the currently shooting TV series based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, The Watch – the producers have taken the view that the source material is something they can mix and match to produce something new. This sometimes works (as with Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency) but sometimes doesn’t (like SyFy’s Dresden Files).
 
Fans of Game of Thrones, particularly fans of the books who kept abreast of the casting news in early and mid-2009 as the show prepared to shoot its pilot, will remember this well. There was widespread dismay when it was announced that Mark Addy had been cast as King Robert Baratheon. Addy was a good ten years older than the character and, whilst Robert was six foot five and a giant of a man, Addy was almost a clear foot shorter. These concerns were eventually alleviated when the show hit the air: Addy received widespread praise for his dramatic, gruff performance. He made you believe he’d once been a powerful, formidable warrior now gone to seed.
 
The reason for not casting strictly according to the books is mainly practical: if you get down to five or six on an audition shortlist, do you go with the actor who gave the better, more convincing performance or the actor who is exactly the same height as the character in the book but was a less convincing performer? Producers and casting directors will always follow the performance first, the details later. In some cases, they know these details can be taken care of through costuming, or getting the actor some bigger shoes, or (in extremis) they can stand on a box in some takes.
In some other cases the author may give a description of a character in a book without fully thinking through the details: Tyrion Lannister is described as quite ugly in the Song of Ice and Fire novels, but he is also charming, charismatic, witty and good at talking to people and winning them over, all of which would be less convincing on screen if he was actively hideous to look at. The producers decided to the cast the decidedly handsome Peter Dinklage rather than staying true to the books.
 
In the case of Thom Merrilin, the producers had to balance practical issues with storytelling ones with faithfulness to the book. They were also helped by Robert Jordan’s vagueness over Thom’s age. We are told that Thom has white hair and people express surprise at his spryness “for his age.” Morgase also muses that Thom was “twice her age” at one point in their relationship (The Fires of Heaven), probably – from context – during the year between Taringail’s death and Thom’s departure to help Owyn (984-85 NE). Morgase was 27-28 during that year, so Thom would have been around 54, and thus 70 when the events of The Eye of the World begin in spring 998 NE.
 
However, The Eye of the World contradicts this by saying that Thom “was in his prime,” which I would submit would not be a descriptor for someone in their mid-to-late fifties. Robert Jordan’s voluminous notes, which he began developing in earnest around the time of A Crown of Swords, also show a later change of heart, noting instead that Thom is 19-20 years older than Morgase. This would have made Thom around 46 during their relationship and about 60 during the events of The Eye of the World.
 
It may even be that Robert Jordan considered making Thom younger. Thom is physically very capable, still doing tumbling tricks and more than holding his own in battle. Rather memorably, he takes on a Myrddraal in hand-to-hand combat and survives, something not even Lan can boast off (true, the Myrddraal was in a hurry and had no time to stay and fight, but still a notable achievement). Thom is also a big hit with the ladies, having relationships with women not only in their forties, but, in the case of Dena in The Great Hunt, in their twenties. Are there charismatic, handsome men in their sixties who can pull those things off? Sure, but making him even a few years younger does make all of those accomplishments more plausible. It's notable that Team Jordan did not canonise the information in Jordan's notes in The Wheel of Time Companion, perhaps preferring to keep things vague and up to the reader's interpretation.
 
In this case, the choice of actor is a good one. Willaume turns 47 this month and, as we saw in The Last Kingdom, can be aged up pretty well as required. More importantly, he’s a good actor and I’m sure will bring the required skills and more: he plays guitar and has been a musician in multiple bands. He’s also sung on stage in the Danish musical version of Shrek (he played Donkey), so he has those skills down as well.
 
Until next time, peace.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    When casting a show, do producers care about character descriptions or acting ability?

Werthead
Werthead

Casting Announcement for Logain, Loial, Thom, and Padan Fain

Amazon Prime's @WoTonPrime Twitter account announced today that actors have been cast for The Wheel of Time TV show. 
 
Alvaro Morte as Logain.
Hammed Animashaun as Loial.
Alexandre Willaume as Thom Merrilin.
Johann Myers as Padan Fain.
 
ALVARO MORTE  (Logain)
Originally from Andalucía, Spain, Álvaro graduated from the Superior School of Dramatic Arts of Córdoba and ECAM (Madrid Film School) with a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts. After finishing his studies in Spain, UTA's Actor Training Department awarded him a scholarship to research interpretation techniques at the University of Tampere (Finland), where he worked as an assistant professor of stage management. Álvaro is an actor with a long resume of experience, but has most recently appeared in La Casa de Papel, Durante la Tormenta El Embarcadero and The Head. He also served as Theater Director for his own company, 300 Pistolas, which was founded in 2012 and brings Spanish classics, such as El Perro del Hortelano, Tres Sombreros de Copa, La Casa de Bernarda Alba and El Lazarillo de Tormes to high school students in the region. His work on El Lazarillo de Tormes was awarded at the Almagro International Classical Theater Festival in 2018. 
 
 
HAMMED ANIMASHAUN (Loial)
Hammed recently starred in Fudge Park's feature film The Festival How to Build a Girl. His past television credits include Netflix's critically-acclaimed series Black Mirror as well as BBC's black comedy Flowers. Hammed is currently starring in Master Harold... and the Boys alongside Lucian Msamati at the National Theatre. Other notable theatre credits include the critically-acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre and the National Theatre's sell-out production of Barber Shop Chronicles. Hammed is represented by Lucy Middleweek at Middleweek Newton Talent Management.
 
 
 
 
ALEXANDRE WILLAUME (Thom Merrilin)
Alexandre Willaume trained at The Danish School of Theatre and has since enjoyed a varied career both on stage and screen. Alexandre’s most recent film credits include Tomb Raider, Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets, as well as lead roles in both Good Favour and Where Have All the Good Men Gone. Alexandre has played numerous roles in Danish television, including a supporting role in the award-winning show Rita (Series 2 & 3), a guest lead in Those Who Kill and roles in Follow The Money (Series 3) and Below The Surface (Series 1 & 2). Alexandre played series regular Kjartan in The Last Kingdom for two seasons. He has also had roles in Hidden, Deep State and Home Fires. Alexandre has provided voice over work on cartoons such as Batman, Megamind and The Lorax.
 
 
JOHANN MYERS (Padan Fain)
Myers’ recent TV roles include Small Axe, Temple, Man Like Mobeen, Guerilla, Snatch, In the Dark, Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories, National Treasure and Murder. His most recent film work includes Undergods, Yardie, The World We Knew, Mary Magdalene and The Lost City of Z. Johann also recently played Elwood in Small Island at the National Theatre. He is represented by Michelle Braidman Associates (UK). 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
These actors appear to be talented and well-cast by the KVH Casting Agency in London. Fore more information on The Wheel of Time TV show and cast, visit our TV section.
 
Tell us what you think of these casting announcements in the comments!
 




 

  • Teaser Paragraph:

    The Wheel of Time TV show on Amazon Prime has cast actors for Logain, Loial, Thom Merrilin, and Padan Fain. 

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

Writers gathering for Season 2 prep

Filming is only two months underway for the first season of Amazon Prime's Wheel of Time TV show, but that isn't stopping the studio and showrunner Rafe Judkins from preparing for season 2. 
 
Earlier today, Rafe tweeted a photo and a caption showing that the "S2 writers' room" was being prepped. 
Amazon hasn't officially announced that season 2 has been greenlit, but this is a sign that the studio apparently likes what they've seen so far and are feeling confident enough to let Rafe gather his team of writers to prepare for season 2. 
 
It's not unusual for TV shows to get greenlit for a second season before the first season airs. Netflix's The Witcher, which is set to debut on December 20, just had its second season greenlit today, just a short while before Rafe tweeted his photo. 
 
This is all a very good sign for The Wheel of Time. It doesn't mean that a second season of episodes have been ordered yet, but it means that everything looks good so far, and the production is moving forward with some level of confidence. 
 
We'll report more once we have it. In the meantime, be sure to check out out TV section to see everything we know for certain about the show. 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Rafe Judkins teases the writer's room for season 2 of Amazon's epic fantasy TV series. 

Jason Denzel
Jason Denzel

The Wheel of Time Video Game Celebrates 20 Years

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film, video games and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years. 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. Please note this article contains very mild spoilers for The Wheel of Time novels.
 
Way back in the day, the video game industry got surprising mileage out of video games based on novels. Cheaper than licencing actors’ likenesses for games based on films and not constrained by matching release dates (for “release synergy,” a term that destroyed many a promising video game adaptation during gestation), book-to-game adaptations provided a relatively cheap way of enticing fans to try out a developer’s latest project.
 
One of the first licensed video games from a novel was The Hobbit, published by Melbourne House in 1982. Based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, this was a text adventure which cast the player as Bilbo Baggins, embarking on the traditional adventure to kill the dragon Smaug. The game was a huge success and also sparked some very early memes such as Thorin’s rather frequent tendency to sit down and start singing about gold whenever he was bored. The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, released by Infocom two years later, was in a similar vein but had greater kudos because Douglas Adams himself worked on the title as a writer and designer.
 
Novel adaptations went huge in 1988 with War in Middle-earth, another Tolkien adaptation, this time by the visionary designer Mike Singleton. A dynamically-unfolding wargame, the title allowed players to refight the War of the Ring using a variety of different factions and characters, sometimes resulting in radically different results to the novel.
 
The 1990s saw Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series adapted as a trilogy of best-selling games, as well as a version of Terry Brooks’ Shannara series that is best ignored. Arguably the most successful such book adaptation of the decade was Betrayal at Krondor (1993), based on Raymond Feist’s Riftwar series. An expansive, semi-open-world CRPG, it worked as both a very good video game and a very strong adaptation of the books (although, ironically, Feist’s own novelisation of the game is arguably his weakest book).
 
It was in this time period that The Wheel of Time got its own video game adaptation. Released on 11 November 1999 by GT Interactive Software, The Wheel of Time took Robert Jordan’s expansive, vast world, cast of thousands and epic battles and turned them into a…first-person shooter? It was an interesting and bold choice, one that turned off a lot of fans who’d been hoping for a roleplaying game, but once they got over their shock at the design choice, they soon found a very interesting game.
 
The game was developed by Legend Entertainment, who’d previously made relatively straightforward adventure games. The team at Legend decided to make a much more ambitious title and, after their company was slightly oddly bought out by Random House, they decided to focus on a novel adaptation (even more oddly, of a non-Random House series). The design team tore through The Wheel of Time and began to design an adventure game that would retell the story of the novels. It would be expansive and large.
 
Robert Jordan had other ideas. He didn’t want the game stepping on his toes (he was still only halfway or so through writing the series) and he didn’t want the game to use other versions of his characters. The designers came up with the notion of setting the game in an alternate dimension, a Portal Stone world, where events could take place that echoed those of the books but were distinctly not the same. It was also decided to abandon the adventure design in favour of a first-person perspective similar to other games of the time, such as Doom. This was markedly ambitious for Legend, who’d never made such a game before, but they took it in their stride.
 
Budget restrictions meant that they had to look around for a customer engine rather than designing their own, and after considering the BUILD and Quake engines settled on the engine for a game still in development that was extremely obscure, called Unreal. The Unreal developers were surprised that anyone would be interested in licensing their engine and the Wheel of Time team got it on extremely generous terms. As development continued, the Unreal team saw the development of Wheel of Time and some of the ideas fed back into their own game in development. Unreal was released to massive success in 1998 and quickly became the go-to engine for first-person video games. The Unreal Engine today powers a vast number of games, from indie hit The Outer Worlds to the epic Mass Effect trilogy to the mega-successful Fortnite, which have collectively sold hundreds of millions of copies.
 
On its release, The Wheel of Time attracted glowing reviews…but not much sales. Barely 30,000 copies were shifted in the first three months on sale, shooter fans more energised by the then-recently-released Half-Life, SiN and Quake III. Legend’s expertise with the engine saw them hired to make Unreal II: The Awakening, which should have been a huge hit, but by then the excitement had moved onto the online version of the franchise, Unreal Tournament, and Unreal II was not a huge hit either. Legend shut down in 2004.
 
The Wheel of Time game is an odd beast, but a strangely compelling one. It casts the player as Elayna, an Aes Sedai who can barely channel (think of Morgase Trakand) but whose powers have been augmented by ter’angreal. A trusted lieutenant of the Amyrlin Seat, she is dispatched to Shadar Logoth in pursuit of an assassin, the Hound, who managed to penetrate the White Tower itself. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that the Forsaken Ishamael is looking for the seals on the Dark One’s prison. At one point there is a coup by the Black Ajah inside the White Tower which results in the death of the Amyrlin and Elayna’s rise to replace her, along with the revelation that Elayna is really the most powerful Aes Sedai born since the Breaking, her powers sealed off to protect her until she learns to use them correctly. In a final battle, the Hound, now bonded to the dark power Mashadar, tries to kill both Elayna and Ishamael but is defeated. Elayna unlocks her powers and uses them to protect the Seals, ensuring the Dark One cannot escape his prison until the Last Battle and the arising of the Dragon Reborn.
 
The plot is interesting but clearly at odds with the books, with the developers confirming that the game takes place in a Portal Stone world, a parallel universe similar but not identical to the books, and certainly the game is not taken to be canon in any way.
 
From an architectural level, the game is phenomenally well-designed, with some fantastic locations that look like they’ve come straight from the books. The darkness-shrouded streets of Shadar Logoth and the gleaming white walls of Tar Valon are rendered well and the storyline is intriguing, although confusing given the game’s setting in a parallel universe to the books (not something that’s made hugely clear in the game, it has to be said). The cast of characters is well-drawn, and it’s still refreshing to see a first-person shooter based in a fantasy setting with a female protagonist. The use of ter’angreal instead of the normal array of guns from a shooter is something that does feel contrived, but it works quite well and makes for an exciting action game. Trollocs, Myrddraal, Black Ajah and Whitecloaks make for fun enemies to engage in combat with, and there’s a nice feeling of dread in the battle of wills with the Hound, your character’s nemesis. Originally there was going to be a whole “evil campaign” with you playing the Hound, but this was cut for time and budget reasons.
 
The Wheel of Time is a surprisingly solid game (especially by the conservative standards of the time), but it can’t be denied that a Quake-style 3D FPS feel like an awkward fit for Jordan’s huge, narrative-driven fantasy epic. The game feels like it should have been an RPG with a lot more choice and consequence, drawing more on Jordan’s vast world. The ambition was there, but sadly the budget and required time was not. Arguably we wouldn’t get a novel-to-video game adaptation that really hit that spot until the release of The Witcher (based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s books) in 2007, and in particular its second sequel in 2015, almost certainly the greatest CRPG released this century.
 
We must pause, of course, and remember that although Legend’s Wheel of Time was the first official, licensed video game adaptation of the series, it’s not the only one. In 1993 The Wheel of Time MUD (multi-user dungeon) was launched, a relatively primitive, fan-made dungeon game with a text interface. It was quite popular with the MUD scene. More recently there’s been a number of “mods” – fan-made modifications of commercial games – focusing on a Wheel of Time theme. The most notable is The Gathering Storm, a mod for Mount & Blade, and there’s been various mods for Skyrim, introducing weapons and armour from the Wheel of Time world. There’s also been a number of abandoned mods, such as ones that were in development for several years for Civilization IV and Rome: Total War, and rumours of one for Crusader Kings II. The completion of the books seemed to erode fan enthusiasm for more mods, and the scene has been quiet for a few years now.
 
Of course, with The Wheel of Time now heading to the television screen, the question arises if a new video game could be on the cards. Given modern game budgets are now averaging towards the high tens of millions of dollars and development time is in years, it’s questionable, but if the Amazon TV series is a huge success it may be something we’ll see before too long. Hopefully this time it will be a game that gives the setting and Robert Jordan’s writing the scope and scale it deserves.
 
Further Reading: The Wheel of Time video game producer (and budding fantasy novelist), Glen Dahlgren, has published several interesting articles about the game: a 20th anniversary retrospective, a very in-depth account of the making of the game and the game's original design document. All well worth a read.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the official Wheel of Time video game.

Werthead
Werthead

Adam's Wheel of Television: How to Adapt a Saga

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. 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. Please note this article contains very mild spoilers for The Wheel of Time novels.
 
How do you transfer a story from the pages of a novel or comic to the TV or film screen? It’s an interesting question, one asked many hundreds of times over the last century or so, and one which has never really gotten a reliable answer. Some films have used the book only as light inspiration, with the same basic premise and maybe some character names but otherwise doing their own thing. This paid off with films like Jaws and The Godfather, but not so much with Shannara or Earthsea. Others have slavishly adapted the source text almost line by line, but this has also backfired with the likes of Zack Snyder’s Watchmen.
 
It appears that the best way of adapting a book to the screen is to take the story, characters and story and transfer them, but also being aware that a screen story needs to be more streamlined than a novel. Where a novel can sprawl luxuriantly and bring in dozens of new characters at will, a film or TV show can’t afford to do that. Where a novel can pause and delve deep into a character’s internal monologue to show their thoughts and reactions to an event, a visual adaptation can’t do that without resorting to cheesy voiceovers (viewers of David Lynch’s Dune will be aware that this doesn’t really work either).
 
One approach, favoured by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens in their adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, is to strip the story down to basic tacks and then rebuild it for the screen. For Rings, they decided first what was the story actually about: clearly, this was the Ring and Frodo’s quest to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. That wasn’t enough story to fill a trilogy, so they began with this story as the core and kept adding more elements back in from the book. They needed a major subplot, so just used that from the books: Aragorn leading the people of Rohan and then Gondor into battle and his quest to become king. A primary cast was needed, so the cast from the books was added, with a strong focus on the Fellowship, and subplots for each character. In this way they rebuilt the story using the same ingredients, but being aware of the limitations of the medium. By the time they got to the Scouring of the Shire and Tom Bombadil, they were aware they were exceeding the time limit and budget of each movie and made the painful choice to remove them. They also simplified other elements for time, such as using the Army of the Dead to save Minas Tirith rather than using them to liberate the port of Pelargir and then transport Gondor’s southern army to the battlefield; the latter idea (from the novels) would have required considerable exposition, more time and more money to work on screen.
This process was mostly successful, which makes it more disappointing that for the Hobbit trilogy it was abandoned (due to studio interference requiring three three-hour movies out of the very slim source material, to Jackson’s distress, according to some sources).
 
A similar process was used for the early seasons of Game of Thrones, although this was complicated by the source material being incomplete. In the case of Thrones, it seemed that the first half of the series, which adapted the first three novels relatively faithfully, was very successful and the latter half, which was based more on very loose outlines and chose to mostly ignore the fourth and fifth books, was much more critically mauled.
 
For such adaptations there seems to be a thin line between the necessary creativity and invention to transfer a story from one medium to another, and outright hubris where a scriptwriter feels he or she is better than a novelist who has already enthralled millions of readers for decades and starts making changes for changes’ sake and to put his or her stamp on the story. The upcoming Watch TV series, based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, has been open about using the books as a very loose inspiration for the show, which will feature Pratchett’s characters in dramatically different situations and roles to the novels. It will be interesting to see how both fans and general viewers react to such a reinvention.
 
How The Wheel of Time handles this remains to be seen, of course.
 

 
In other news this week, Amazon decided to confirm what they’d already revealed a few weeks ago, via the table-read for the series: Irish actor Ian McElhatton has been cast in The Wheel of Time. However, they also confirmed what role he will be playing: Tam al’Thor, Rand’s father and all-round good egg, a brave and honourable soldier, devoted husband and father, capable farmer and a skilled swordsman. It’s a nice reversal of roles for McElhatton, who for many years was best-known for playing the devious and sly Roose Bolton on Game of Thrones. McElhatton’s interpretation of the character was different to the novels (where Bolton is more clearly a villainous wrong ‘un, fond of being leeched to take away imagined toxins and treating everyone with disdain), but still a ruthless, amoral power-grabber whose biggest mistake was trusting his psychotic son, Ramsay, with too much power.
 
McElhatton now gets to play arguably one of the most upstanding, honourable and capable characters in the whole series. It is interesting they went with a known name for the role, as, if true to the books, it may be a couple of seasons before we touch base with the character again. McElhatton’s profile has increased since Game of Thrones, with him being cast in HBO’s critically-lauded mini-series Chernobyl earlier this year and I imagine he could take his career in any direction he chose.
 
Rafe Judkins did note that his first instinct was not to cast anyone who’d been in Game of Thrones, but he overrode that decision because McElhatton nailed his audition. Given how Thrones used up a sizeable portion of the English-speaking acting talent available in the UK (from where Wheel of Time is drawing a lot of its cast), it’s also unlikely this is the last time we see a doubling up of actors who’ll have been in both productions.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    It takes a lot to adapt a complicated book series to the screen. Our TV blogger Adam Whitehead goes over some possible approaches. 

Werthead
Werthead

Michael McElhatton cast as Tam al'Thor

Irish actor Michael McElhatton has been cast as Tam al'Thor for Amazon Prime's upcoming Wheel of Time TV show. This news was announced today as part of November's #WoTWedNesday on Twitter and Instagram. 
 
Here's his bio, as provided to us by Amazon Studios:
 
Michael was visible in the recent promotional video that Amazon released showing the Table Read of the first episode. Fans quickly noticed him and began speculating on which role he would have. Now we have our answer as we know he'll be playing the stable, kind-hearted father figure to Rand, played by Josha Stradowski.
 
For more information on the Wheel of Time show, be sure to visit our TV section. 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Game of Thrones actor Michael McElhatton has been cast as Tam a'Thor in the upcoming Amazon Prime Wheel of Time TV series.

Jason Denzel
Jason Denzel

Lian Crescent: Inktober

Dragonmount has some amazing members!  We'd like to honor those who have used The Wheel of Time as inspiration, or have contributed to the fandom, or who simply want to share their Wheel of Time story with others who love the series as much as they do. 
 
Today we are highlighting member @Lian Crescent who has worked tirelessly through the month of October to produce some amazing Wheel of Time artwork.  During the Inktober Challenge (a daily drawing prompt for each day in October) Lian referenced something from The Wheel of Time!
 
I had the opportunity to chat with Lian about his amazing artwork.
 

Day 10 - Pattern
 
1.  Tell us about your Wheel of Time journey.  When did you start reading the series?
 
My Wheel of Time journey started back in 2002 when the Lord of the Rings movies and fantasy was popular. My sister borrowed a book from her college classmate which was The Eye of The World. The cover of Lan and Moiraine caught my eye and I asked my sis what is it about. I then bought my own copy which was the version that was split into two parts, From the Two Rivers, that was published on that same year.
 

Day 16 - Wild
 
2.  Has Wheel of Time inspired other areas of your artwork?
 
The Japanese art for Wheel of Time has influence my work especially with the character designs. I also took inspiration from Disney and anime and mixed them with my WoT art. I would like to give credit to my dear friend, Mina U.(pettymotives online). Her Forsaken designs greatly inspired my work. Hope WoT fans would check her work as well!
 

Day 15 - Legend
 
3. After Inktober is over, do you plan on making more Wheel of Time fanart?
 
Definitely but I would have take a break since have a long queue of commissions that needs to be finish. haha     
 

Day 26 - Dark
 

Day 18 - Misfit
 

Day 23 - Ancient
 

Day 21 - Treasure
 
4. Some of your works have depth, like “Day 21: Treasure” with Elayne’s action pose or the symmetry used in “Day 23: Ancient.” Others are shown with humor; “Day 18: Misfits” fits this, as does “Day 26: Dark (One).” How do you decide on a tone for your current piece?
 
It's usually a challenge to find ideas for WoT characters to match the official prompts. I often go for a comedic tone as long as it fits which sadly ending up not using my initial sketches like on "Day 18: Misfits." My first drawing was the Two Rivers five staring in the distance in a serious look. I wasn't happy with it so I had to redo it with The Chosen in a wacky pose. So yeah, I have a couple of scrap Inktober sketches and some of them will never be finished or publicly seen.
 

Day 20 - Tread
 
5. So far, which piece has been your favorite?
 
My favorite so far is "Day 20: Tread" the one with Aviendha. I put a lot of effort and detail on it and happy on how it turn out. "Day 15: Legend" is a personal favorite cause I made it for someone.
 
6. Do you have any social media pages you’d like other Wheel of Time fans to know of?
 
Yes, I am active on Twitter @LianCrescent. I also have a tumblr of the same name where I post my old Wheel of Time fan art.
 
 
Thank you, Lian!  Your artwork is amazing and it was so fun to follow your progress throughout the whole month!
 
If you want to see Lian's other Inktober artwork, check out the DM Gallery here!
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    DM Featured Member: Lian Crescent

Mashiara Sedai
Mashiara Sedai

Book Summaries & Chapter Recaps now online

Over the years, Dragonmount has provided various chapter summaries and recaps of each book in The Wheel of Time. Now, for the first time, we've expanded that and published short book summaries, and complete chapter recaps for all 15 books in the series (main series + New Spring).
 
Take a look for yourself. Head over to Dragonmount.com/Books and begin browsing. 
 
The book summaries are a good way to recall what happened in each book, especially if you've not read it in a long time.  And the chapter recaps provide a bit more detail and depth.
 
Creating this content has been a multi-month project by a fantastic group of volunteer fans. Each writer and editor is credited on the individual pages. They are: Joan Albright, Rajiv Mote, Erick Walter, Jim Vogel, and Angela Carter.
 
Also, special thanks to Matalina (aka Alicia Wilkerson), a long-time contributor to Dragonmount, for creating a handy script to help automate the conversion of the original Google Documents into these web pages. 
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Our Books section just got a whole lot bigger

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

Adam's Wheel of Television: A Fandom Reborn

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. 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. Please note this article contains very mild spoilers for The Wheel of Time novels.
 
The arrival of the Wheel of Time TV series marks an interesting time for the fandom. The Wheel of Time has always had a passionate and fervent fanbase, ever since The Eye of the World arrived to strong sales in January 1990. It was one of the first epic fantasy series to benefit from the emergence of the Internet, with fans debating theories and swapping plot ideas on CompuServe and in early chat rooms before moving onto forums like Wotmania, Theoryland and, of course, Dragonmount.
 
For twenty years, fans were able to discuss their ideas, favourite characters and, of course, ships. A few times there were also able to discuss things with Robert Jordan himself, on the old Tor Q&A page and then a blog hosted on Dragonmount before his sad passing in 2007. In more recent years, they have been able to discuss things with Brandon Sanderson and, occasionally, Robert Jordan’s team of editors and advisors.
 
The Wheel of Time fandom has been traditionally friendly, welcoming and vibrant. Many couples have met through their fandom of the books and children have been born as a result. Other fandoms have splintered off: some of the earliest discussion of series like A Song of Ice and Fire, The Malazan Book of the Fallen and even Harry Potter can be found on ancient, archived Wheel of Time forums before those series acquired their own websites and followers.
 
The fanbase wound down a little after the final book in the series, A Memory of Light, was published in 2013. The years of theorising and musing came to an end and fans were able to see what they had guessed correctly and what they had not. Some fans have kept up some discussion, such as over the nature of the ending and how much material was in Robert Jordan’s notes and how much had to be created by Brandon and the editors, but for the most part the fandom entered a much quieter state.
 
Now it stands to be reinvigorated. Amazon’s Wheel of Time television series will bring millions of fresh fans to the series who have never heard the phrases “Aes Sedai,” “One Power” and, of course, “Easing the Badger.” Tor and Orbit will issue the books with new covers to tie in with the TV show, piled high at the front of your local bookstore or even supermarket, probably with some cover quote trying very hard not to mention Game of Thrones as a comparison point. Forums are bracing themselves for thousands, if not tens of thousands, of new members, and working out spoiler policies for newcomers. In some cases, this has already happened with early adopters rushing to read the entire series before the TV show hits (likely in early 2021).
 
This has happened before. The immense box office and critical success of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy saw even Tolkien’s supposedly-ubiquitous books sell an extra 50 million copies in just a few years (considerably more by now). When Game of Thrones debuted in 2011, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books had sold about 12 million copies. Last year, the books passed 90 million in sales, showing how having a huge TV show based on your books can impact their numbers. TV shows based on Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy and Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher series are due to arrive in the next two months (on HBO and Netflix, respectively), and the publishers of both are readying new tie-in editions of the books.
 
The Wheel of Time is already one of the biggest-selling epic fantasy series of all time. Its lifetime, worldwide sales are at around 90 million, roughly equal with A Song of Ice and Fire and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, so I’d expect the success of the TV show to catapult it over the 100 million line relatively easily. If the show is a success, Wheel of Time merchandise will become as unavoidable as House Stark bumper stickers and poster maps of Middle-earth. The Wheel of Time will go from that topic you keep trying to interest your real-life friends in to the hot show they’re eager to talk about every week (possibly whilst you lament the casting choice for Cenn Buie or the cutting of your favourite minor character).
 
We can expect new fan art, fanfiction and theories, this time about what or how the TV show is going to change things from the books. This might not quite be as intense as that for Game of Thrones – one benefit of The Wheel of Time already being complete – but it will still breath new life and new energy into the franchise and get the old fandom wheel turning again.
 
In other news, shooting is ongoing, although there’s been little to hint at what the cast and crew might be up to right now. Madeleine Madden did post a picture of her trailer door on Twitter whilst Daniel Henney (Lan) has been hitting up guitar shops and train stations in Prague on his days off and Josha Stradowski (Rand) has been getting into some classic literature. There’s also been a flurry of casting rumours, which we’re not going to get into until Amazon have confirmed the details.
 
Until next time, peace.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    The WoT fan community prepares itself for the arrival of new blood.

Werthead
Werthead

Celebrating Robert Jordan's birthday

Today, October 17, would have been Robert Jordan's 71st birthday. There've been a number of tributes to him on social media, but Amazon Prime's official WoT on Prime account is requesting fans to submit messages and video clips describing what the series means to you.
So please leave a message on WoT on Prime's Twitter or Instagram feeds, or you can reply to any of Dragonmount's social media accounts with your message. Bu use to use #WoTonPrime and #Dragonmount in your messages. 
 
Happy birthday, Robert Jordan!
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    October 17 would have been Robert Jordan's 71st birthday. Learn how to share a message with the WoT Community.

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

Book Review: Fate of the Fallen by Kel Kade

A good fantasy novel will have some familiar archetypes that avid readers of the genre know well. There are the endless battles between Good and Evil, Lightness and Dark, a Dark Lord and a scrappy Hero. Mix in a harrowing quest, a magical system, and a cast of mythical creatures, and you can create an epic novel that grips the reader to the very end. Good writers are able to reinvent these concepts in new ways again and again to keep fantasy readers hooked. Kel Kade presents us with a trope-subverting version of those archetypes in her new novel, Fate of the Fallen: Shroud of Prophecy (Book One). 
 
“What happens when the path of good and right, the triumph of light over darkness, the only path to salvation...fails?” This is the question Kade poses for us in the prologue of the book. I was instantly intrigued at the concept of evil winning out over good. I have come to expect heartbreak and tragedy as I travel along my fantasy journey, but however messy the journey becomes, I always expect the heroes to win the day. 
 
We are thrown immediately into a medievalesque world where a young handsome hero Mathais and his faithful friend Aaslo are bantering in the forest. We quickly learn the depth of their bond, and the book continually reinforces the lengths that “brothers in all things” will go to in order to honor that friendship. It isn’t long before our main characters have left the quaint life they once led, where their greatest worry was whom to take to the next town dance and are now venturing off into foreign lands. The duo are taking on a seemingly doomed quest to save humankind. In Kade’s world, the Greek-like gods take an active role in the manipulation of human lives. These ethereal beings exist in their own microcosms of the universe he created; and the lines between the realms seem less static than in other fantasy novels. As a reader you have to pay close attention to disentangle the many varied names and locations that are thrown your way as Kade gallops rather quickly through book one of this series. There are a few abrupt transitions that left me going back to reread the previous page, but I do not think that this was an accident. I believe Kade was intentionally trying to subvert the typical experience of the fantasy genre. 
 
She wove a tapestry of fascinating characters who were easy to love and that easily pulled me through the pages. In my opinion this book’s greatest strength is the witty banter that exists between its characters. There is a relatable and endearing comradery between Mathais and Aaslo that had me wondering if my best friend would go to such epic lengths for me? I finished the last page and was surprised to find myself so committed to seeing this journey to its end. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of book two, to hear more of Mathais and Aaslo’s banter and to see what other surprises Kade can conjure. 
 
Get a Free extended preview (ebook) on the DM ebook store
 
Other Links
KelKade.com Dragonmount eBook Store Amazon Barnes & Noble IndieBound.org / local retailers
Eqwina
Eqwina

Warrior of the Altaii now available

WARRIOR OF THE ALTAII, a stand-alone fantasy novel by Robert Jordan, is now available.
 
The novel is is published by Tor Books, the same publisher of Jordan’s U.S. Wheel of Time books.  The book is set in a unique fantasy world that is unrelated to the WoT universe except for some coincidental and thematic similarities. 
 
The book was originally announced in January 2019. 
 
Here’s the official plot description:
 
Warrior of the Altaii was originally written in 1977 by a then-unpublished Robert Jordan. It went through an unusual process of being acquired by a publisher, only to quickly have the contract cancelled when Jordan asked for more money.  It continued to receive interest from publishers for a while until Robert Jordan decided to shelve the project in favor of developing his WoT books.  Harriet McDougal, RJ’s wife and editor, describes the story in great detail as part of the novel’s introduction. 
 
An exclusive edition of the book with additional interior color artwork is available from Barnes & Noble.
 
The book is available in print and ebook formats. In addition, an audiobook is available and is read by WoT audiobook reader Michael Kramer. 
 
Barnes & Noble (exclusive edition)
Amazon
Indiebound.org
Dragonmount eBook store
 

  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Robert Jordan’s first and last novel is now available. 

Jason Denzel
Jason Denzel

Adam's Wheel of Television: Table Reads & Crafty Castings

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. 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. Please note this article contains very mild spoilers for The Wheel of Time novels.
 
Filming is now well underway on Amazon’s Wheel of Time TV series and for this month’s “WoT Wednesday,” Amazon gave us a special surprise: a clip of the table read for the first two episodes.
 
For those who are unfamiliar with the process of making television, a table read is held for each episode or, if the season is short enough, the entire season, with all of the actors present. The table-read helps actors learn each other’s voices, get into character and feel comfortable with the dialogue, and also helps the producers make sure they’ve got the timing correct for each episode. This is less crucial for a streaming service than it is for a network show selling adverts, which has to be 44 minutes on the dot, but Amazon still seems to keep things more strictly within a time limit than, say, Netflix or HBO. The table read is also often the first time the actors have read the script, rather memorably in Kit Harington’s case for the final season of Game of Thrones.
 
The clip is the first time that we get to hear the actors embodying the characters they’ll be playing on the show, confirming that they’re going with a fairly ordinary English accent as the default accent for the Two Rivers, and perhaps all of Andor (as Robert Jordan indicated many years ago). Moiraine also has a somewhat “posh” accent, as you’d expect from a noblewoman and Aes Sedai. Barney Harris gets the biggest laugh as Mat Cauthon, cautioning his friends to be wary of Moiraine as she can “shoot fireballs,” so they should heed her advice. Combined with a line about crossing the river, this seems to confirm that the first two episodes will, between them, cover at least all of the events of Winternight, the battle at Emond’s Field and our main characters’ flight from the Two Rivers by cover of night.
 
Exactly how much of the book the first episode – which we known has the working title Leavetakings – covers has been fiercely debated, especially as the second episode is called Shadow’s Waiting, suggesting it focuses on events in Shadar Logoth, although some have suggested that Episode 2 ends with the characters reaching the cursed city. Episode 3 is called A Place of Safety, which could be an ironic alternate title for Shadar Logoth itself. Of course, such speculation is not helped by the fact that, as of yet, we don’t know how many episodes there will be in the first season either. We do know there will be at least six, but not how many more than that. A nine-month shoot is more suggestive of ten to twelve episodes, but that remains to be confirmed.
 
The clip is also interesting in that it gives us a look at some actors who have not been officially announced yet. Immediately recognisable is Irish actor Michael McElhatton, best-known for playing the villainous role of Roose Bolton in Seasons 2-6 of HBO’s Game of Thrones before recently appearing as a Soviet general on Chernobyl. McElhatton is infamous for his menacing stare and voice so could be playing a villainous role, but has also appeared in far more lighthearted and comedic roles. Bearing in mind that the table read is for the first two episodes, the most immediately appropriate casting would be for the role of Padan Fain, the friendly peddler whom, it turns out, is not quite as friendly as first appears. Other likely possibilities would be Tam al’Thor or Thom Merrilin. Less-likely but also possible would be Geofram Bornhald, especially if they introduce him in Baerlon rather than later on, or Ishamael/Ba’alzamon if they get as far as the boys’ first shared nightmare.
 
Another possibility, that McElhatton might be playing Ishamael in the prologue, is discounted by Rafe Judkins’ Q&A of a year ago where he seemed to be suggesting that the prologue would not appear until later in the series (along with the events of New Spring), and an earlier statement that the first episode opens with Tam and Rand on the road to Emond's Field. The prologue is iconic and not using it to start the show might be considered sacrilegious, but there are at least two good reasons for not doing so. The first is that casting an actor as Lews Therin, using them briefly for one season, and then potentially not using them again for another two or three seasons is bad business practice, since it’s possible the actor will move onto other projects in the meantime and it’s expensive to put an actor under contract to not accept other work. Game of Thrones suffered from this problem, casting Ser Gregor in the first season and then having to use (two!) different actors later on because the original actor had been cast in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy in the meantime.
More likely, given the show’s determination to make the identity of the Dragon Reborn more of a genuine mystery to TV watchers, is that the segue from Lews Therin to Rand is a bit on the nose and they want to keep things vaguer.
 
One other actor who has been likely confirmed for the production is British actress Naana Agyei Ampadu, who recently appeared in a recurring role on British sitcom GameFace and in a minor role on the Steven Spielberg movie Ready Player One. Ampadu's casting was announced by her own casting agency on Twitter, who then quickly deleted the tweet, presumably because the release had not been okayed by Amazon.
Dragonmount has asked Amazon if they could confirm McElhatton's and Ampadu's casting in the show, but they declined to comment at this stage.
 
Tracking down other actors involved in the production is more difficult than you’d think, as several productions are currently shooting in and around Prague. Fear the Walking Dead actor Fernando Rojasbarr seemed a likely candidate, for example, until he revealed on his Instagram that he’s actually shooting a film called Zátopek. The movie Ophelia also wrapped shooting a couple of months ago, with some actors delaying posting any information to social media until recently, which briefly led to speculation that Tom Felton (Harry Potter’s Draco Malfoy) might be in Wheel of Time until the misconception was cleared up (he's not).
 
That said, northern Irish actor Stuart Graham (Michael Collins, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) is in Prague at the moment and may be the grey-hair guy briefly glimpsed at the read. A similar age to McElhatton, he could also be a good guess for Thom Merrilin, Tam al’Thor or Padan Fain. Or he might be in town for one of the other projects mentioned above. We'll see if we can get his casting confirmed as well.
 
As for the shoot itself, which is now about to start it's fourth week (of around 34-37 weeks, with shooting due to conclude in May), production has moved to western Slovenia where the Great Soča Gorge, near the Italian border, is being used to stand in for part of the Two Rivers. The spectacular scenery, with the  eastern Alps as the backdrop, certainly seems to fit the book descriptions. Actors Daniel Henney (Lan) and Josha Stradowski (Rand) shared some pics they'd taken from the shoot via Instagram.Eagle-eyed Wheel of Time fans are now scouring the video for more clues to the identity of the other actors, and we’ll bring you their findings as soon as we can.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    More casting news! Actual dialogue! Location news!

Werthead
Werthead

#WoTWednesday Table Reading Video

Amazon Prime released a new video for #WoTWednesday, their monthly scheduled day to release content related to the upcoming WoT TV show.
Here's a full transcript of the video:
 
Speculation has already begun as to who the other unnamed actors in the video are, and who they might be playing.
 
We'll have more speculation and info soon, but in the meantime, join the conversation on our forums or social media or the comments below.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Amazon Prime shared a 1-minute video for #WoTWednesday showcasing the actors and crew doing their first table reading.

Jason Denzel
Jason Denzel

Ta’veren Tees Final Sale

It’s an ending for our friends at Ta’veren Tees. After serving the Wheel of Time fandom for eight years, they are getting ready to close shop for good.
 
Until then, their remaining merchandise is 10% off!  Get your Wheel of Time merchandise while you can.
 
To read more about the changes you can check out Ta’veren Tees announcement here.
Mashiara Sedai
Mashiara Sedai

Interview with the White Tower Podcast Team

Wheel of Time podcasts have been popping up everywhere and one of my favorites is The White Tower: A Wheel of Time Podcast. The ladies of this podcast, Jenn Cobb and Jess Schutz, combine spoiler-free synopses of each chapter with real fan discussion and a large dose of humor.  This past week I had a chance to interview the ladies to learn more about them and their approach to The Wheel of Time and podcasting.
 
 
You can join Jenn and Jess on Wednesdays at 8 am central at The White Tower: A Wheel of Time Podcast.  You should also follow them on Twitter and if you like what you hear you can support them at Patreon.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Ebony Adomanis interviews Jenn Cobb and Jess Schutz from The White Tower: A Wheel of Time Podcast.

EbonyAdo
EbonyAdo

Adam's Wheel of Television: Shooting Begins...but where is the gleeman?

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. He'll be writing a regular column called Adam's Wheel of Television. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years. 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.
 
Please note this article contains very mild spoilers for The Wheel of Time novels.
 
Principle photography – or “the actual filming” – began today on Amazon Prime’s Wheel of Time television series. The shoot is expected to run through to the end of May 2020, with months of post-production to follow. When we will see the show on air is still open to question, but late 2020 to early 2021 seems reasonable.
 
Showrunner Rafe Judkins took to social media to both celebrate the news of filming beginning but also commemorate the passing of Robert Jordan, who sadly passed away on this day in 2007 at the age of 58. Robert Jordan had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, an exceedingly rare blood condition (affecting only one in a million people), and had spent almost two years undergoing experimental treatment. During this time, he had mustered as much energy and creativity as possible to create an outline for the ending of The Wheel of Time in the form of writings, draft chapters, dictation on cassettes and copious notes, which was later used by Brandon Sanderson to deliver an ending to the series.
 
Whilst millions of Wheel of Time fans worldwide remember Jordan on this day, they also have questions about the television adaptation. Last week, the cast shared their first group photo, taken in Prague on the day of the read-through of the script for the series. Notable by his absence was the actor playing Thom Merrilin, who hasn’t been announced yet. This led to a storm of controversy and online hot takes as people furiously debated if the character would appear in the show or if he’d been cut.
 
To be fair, a large number of other characters expected to appear in Season 1 also haven’t been announced, even those that Rafe Judkins has confirmed are in the script. According to Judkins’ previous comments, both Tam al’Thor and the false Dragon Logain Ablar will be in the show and neither actor has been confirmed yet. Assuming that Season 1 adapts at least The Eye of the World, we can also reasonably be expecting Min, Elayne, Gawyn, Galad, Elaida, Morgase, Gareth Bryne, Geofram and Dain Bornhald, Jaret Byar, Padan Fain, Agelmar, Ba’alzamon, Basel Gill and Mordeth to be cast. Sure, a few of those characters might be held back until Season 2 to save money (Min, Elayne, Gawyn and Galad have to be front-runners here), but certainly not all of them, and some of them fulfil important plot functions: without Padan Fain or Ba’alzamon, Season 1 doesn’t really have a primary antagonist, and calling the second episode Shadow’s Waiting without including Mordeth would be a bizarre choice.
 
[See our article "5 WoT Characters likely to have Expanded TV Roles"]
 
Thom Merrilin’s status on the show is likely to be leaning more towards a recurring role than a regular one. We know that episode two is called Shadow’s Waiting, which implies that the Shadar Logoth adventure will take place in the second or third episode. In the novel, Thom drops out of the story a few chapters later, which means that Thom will be leaving the series less than halfway through the first season (which is expected to run for 8-10 episodes at the lower end).
 
Hollywood crediting practices can be complicated, but generally speaking, a studio will announce the regular cast for a new show first and with a great deal of fanfare. On this basis we can expect that Barney Harris (Mat), Madeleine Madden (Egwene), Zoe Robbins (Nynaeve), Marcus Rutherford (Perrin) and Josha Stradowski (Rand) will get a billing as series regulars, with Rosamund Pike (Moiraine) and Daniel Henney (Lan) probably getting  the much-coveted “featuring” or “and” credits given to actors with a lot of experience and credits to their name.
 
The status given to secondary and recurring cast varies dramatically from project to project. In many shows, recurring and guest stars (actors in several episodes of a series but not all, or just one) would not be announced ahead of time at all. For Game of Thrones, HBO were keenly aware of the media and fan interest in the property and announced even relatively minor Season 1 recurring characters like Lysa Arryn and Ser Hugh of the Vale with a surprising degree of fanfare back in 2010. It’s unclear which route Amazon will take, although I suspect their marketing plans to announce something new about the series every month means we will get some more news before the show launches.
 
This does lead back to a bigger question though: is Thom even going to be in the series at all?
 
For fans, cutting Thom is unthinkable. He shows up near the start of The Eye of the World and is a useful font of knowledge and information for the young characters (and exposition for readers) about the wider world, especially useful given Moiraine’s secretive nature. He has his own secrets, which in time give us more information about the Aes Sedai, the Red Ajah and the royal family of Andor, not to mention his involvement in the Cairhienin civil war in the second book. In the third book he reluctantly teams up with Mat Cauthon once again and then remains an active part of the story until the very end. As one of the original “seven samurai” who sets out from the Two Rivers at the start of The Eye of the World (with Nynaeve “making the eight,” so to speak, when she catches up with them in Baerlon), Thom is an iconic character from the books and, for many fans, cutting him should be as ridiculous an idea as dropping Legolas from the Fellowship of the Ring.
 
That said, once the initial anger passes, an argument could be made that Thom doesn’t do a huge amount. He provides a fair bit of exposition, sure, but that could be provided through other characters, such as a more garrulous Moiraine. He spends entire books of The Wheel of Time as a background character, and even sits out the eighth book altogether. He does have some more important things to do at the end of the series, but for some readers these can come a bit out of left field and other characters could perform the same tasks.
 
That’s not so say that I honestly expect them to cut Thom as a character, but when it comes to the core cast, he’s arguably the most disposable. They could also split the difference and keep Thom, but not introduce him until the TV show reaches the events of The Great Hunt or even The Dragon Reborn. With shooting now underway, I wouldn't be surprised to see leaks and more hints getting out about other castmembers, so we may find out if Thom is in the show, one way or another, soon.
 
As ever, we will find out in time.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    Shooting has begun on The Wheel of Time...but where is our favourite gleeman?

Werthead
Werthead

5 WoT Characters likely to have Expanded TV Roles

I recently wrote about the 5 Things to Expect from the Wheel of Time TV show, and one of those “things” was expanded roles for minor characters from the books. We’re going to lean into that idea a bit further here and explore which characters I anticipate will seemingly be more important on TV than they were in Robert Jordan’s books.
 
First, the same disclaimer from last time: although I’ve been in touch with some folks at Amazon and from the production, I have no official association with the show. In the early 2010’s I was a consultant to the producers who were seeking to adapt The Eye of the World into a feature film. I helped them and their writers come up with story ideas, and helped pitch those ideas to various other executives. A long time ago I was an independent filmmaker, but today, I write books, among other things. And, of course, I’ve been closely tied to the WoT franchise for 20+ years. So if you’re asking, “Why are your ideas anything more than random speculation?”, well, I like to think I’ve seen enough to have a good instinct for this stuff by now. (Also, I haven’t been wrong yet with my 5 Things to Expect!) 
 
But who knows, maybe I’ll be off this time. ?
 
Adaptations, by their very nature, require change. And most of the time, it begins with the characters. The jury is completely out on how Rafe Judkins and his team will adapt the 7 characters who’ve been cast so far: Rand, Egwene, Perrin, Nynaeve, Mat, Lan, and Moiraine. All of those characters are most certainly going to change, and because their roles are so big (especially the Two Rivers 5), it’s practically impossible to predict what the team will do with them. 
 
So let’s focus on 5 secondary characters from the series that should have a bigger presence on TV than they did in the early books. I’m going on the assumption that season 1 will focus almost exclusively on the story events from The Eye of the World, with maybe some flashbacks or glimpses of later books in order to establish key ideas.  (For my reasoning on this, see my 5 Things to Expect… article).
 
(Book spoilers below!)
Logain
This is an easy one. We know Logain will have an expanded role because Rafe said so during a Twitter Q&A in September 2018:
The question is, how will his role be expanded? My hunch is that Rafe and his team showcase Logain as a terrifying example of what happens when you’re a man who channels saidin. The first book hints at this, but I fully expect the show to try and horrify us (and Rand) so that we really understand what a terrible thing it is to channel. I would not be surprised if we see him in chains, see him being beat up by the Red Ajah (Elaida!), and probably gentled on screen. Violently.  We don’t see Logain’s gentling happen in the books. We just meet him later after the deed is done. But come on, wouldn’t it be cool to see on screen?
 
“But he gets gentled in Tar Valon!” you say. “And the characters don’t go to Tar Valon!” 
 
Yes, that’s all true… in the books. But in this TV adaptation, there’s no reason Logain can’t be gentled in Caemlyn, and no reason Rand and his friends can’t visit Tar Valon instead. 
 
Episode 4 of the first season is titled, “The Dragon Reborn.” Good titles usually contain multiple meanings. If I were a betting man, I think we’ll see a lot of Logain in that episode.
Elaida
Elaida becomes one of the primary antagonists in the book series, and she has a very convenient cameo role in the first book. Not only that, but she steals the show and anchors one of the best scenes in the entire series is chapter 40 where she secretly whispers her Foretelling to Rand. 
 
She’s too good of a character to only use for a single scene, especially if the producers want to convince a talented actress to portray her for many seasons going forward. I fully expect Elaida to not only be in every season, but for her to be groomed as one of the show’s primary recurring villains. 
 
She also makes a great antagonist to Moiraine and to ….
Siuan
Count on the Amyrlin Seat herself, Siuan Sanche, to be present in this TV series from the get-go. It’s easy to establish her connection with Moiraine at any point.  Perhaps Moiraine sends her friend (and boss) a pigeon carrying a message to the White Tower. Or maybe Siuan is part of the caravan that gentles Logain, so we see her in that context. 
 
Whatever or however it works out, Siuan is Moiraine’s lifeline to the White Tower, and that’s an interesting story to explore in a TV adaptation. 
 
Having Siuan more present in the show would give us ample opportunity to see her square off with Elaida. It would establish their rivalry early on, setting up a much more powerful smackdown when Elaida stages her coup in a later season.
 
Finally, let’s not overlook the fact that episode 6 of the first season is rumored to be titled “The Flame of Tar Valon.”
Elyas
Of all the characters on my short list, this is the one I’m most shaky on. I could see the writers going in either direction with Elyas. On one hand, they could just cut him entirely from the show. There are plenty of other ways for Perrin to find the wolves and establish a connection to them.  Elyas could also maintain his brief cameo role in the books (and really, the series). But in the end, I think he’s just too interesting of a character to not expand for the show. Just as Logain represents a worst-case scenario for Rand, Elyas could be that same thing for Perrin. 
 
It’s a toss-up, but I expect we’ll see Elyas have an enlarged role, at least for the duration of season 1. The best odds are that he  first shows up in episode 3, “A Place of Safety,” which is the name of the chapter where he first appears in the book. I doubt we’ll see him beyond a full first season though. Perhaps he makes a great character to sacrifice in a noble, on-screen death?
 
Yes, I’m aware that he doesn’t die in the first book, but he also disappears for many books. It’s hard to convince an actor to show up, play a role, and vanish for multiple seasons before bringing him back. I feel like this could be a situation where the producers need to either decide if they can use him to his full potential for a single season, or greatly expand him across multiple connectives seasons. 
 
Geofram Bornhald
My favorite surprise character to likely get an expanded role for the TV show is  Bornhald (senior). He’s a Lord Captain of the Children of the Light, aka the Whitecloaks, aka Randland’s equivalent of the alt-right, women (channeler)-hating, witch-hunting, militant bad guys. His son Dain is also not a nice guy, and together, this father-son duo cause a lot of trouble in the first book for the heroes, most notably Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Moiraine, and Lan. 
 
My hunch is that we’ll see more about Geofram’s driving passion to kill darkfriends (or, at least, those he deems to be darkfriends), and an expanded relationship with Dain, who will eventually inherit his father’s mantle.
 
The reason I’m excited to see Bornhald is that he flies under the radar a bit in the book, but he’s also our first real glimpse of the Whitecloaks, which is a fantastic set of villains that the filmmakers can use through the TV series. Like Elaida, Borhald and his son represent flawed humans doing bad stuff for reasons that we (unfortunately) understand and see in our regular life, rather than, say, Ishamael or Padan Fain who are Pure Evil because… uh…reasons. 
 
Some quick honorable mentions for other characters who could see getting expanded roles in the first season of the Wheel of Time:  Loial, Aram, Aginor, Balthamael. 
 
And what about the characters likely to get diminished roles? Well, that’s an article for another day, maybe.
 
What do you think? Am I onto something, or do you have your own theories? Share below or on our social media.
 
Jason Denzel
Jason@dragonmount.com
 
Artwork
Siuan Sanche & Elaida
by Benjamin Roque
 
Logain & Elyas, Bornhald
by Gal Or
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    We examine five minor characters that might get expanded roles in the upcoming Wheel of Time TV show. 

Jason Denzel
Jason Denzel

Legacy 4th Age Podcast episodes now online

From 2006 - 2013, Dragonmount hosted a Wheel of Time podcast called The 4th Age.  Our intrepid podcasters covered a wide variety of topics across 112 hour-long episodes. 
 
After a long technical hiatus, all 112 of those episodes are now available for you to download and enjoy. 
 
We plan to launch a new podcast with new hosts to cover the upcoming Wheel of Time TV show. We have our crew, but are still planning our approach, which will include patterning with an established podcast network to create and deliver top-notch WoT TV commentary. We'll have more info about that in the future. 
 
In the meantime, enjoy these 112 legacy episodes! 
 

  • Teaser Paragraph:

    All 112 episodes of our 4th Age podcast are now online for download.

Dragonmount.com
Dragonmount.com

Adam's Wheel of Television: On Casting the Man Alone

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's new TV show blogger. He'll be writing a regular column called Adam's Wheel of Television. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for fifteen years. 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.
 
Casting for Amazon’s Wheel of Time TV series is in full swing. The latest to join the Two Rivers party is Korean-American actor Daniel Henney, who has been cast as al’Lan Mandragoran, the Uncrowned King of Malkier, Diademed Battle Lord of the Malkieri and an all-round, fan-favourite character.
 
In many respects, Lan is the closest analogue Wheel of Time has to Aragorn, the uncrowned King of Gondor in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings and memorably played by Viggo Mortensen in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation. Like Aragorn, Lan is the heir to a fallen lineage, who constantly questions himself and his abilities compared to his legendary ancestors. However, whilst Gondor still exists and Aragorn knows he can reclaim his throne when the time is right, for Lan he has no hope. Malkier has been destroyed utterly by the Shadow, absorbed by the Great Blight, and there is little to no chance that it will ever rise again.
 
Instead, Lan throws himself into his war against the Shadow, spending the first twenty years of his life in fierce combat training with Bukama Marenellin, the sole survivor of the band of Malkieri warriors who bore the two-year-old Lan from his homeland. Lan becomes skilled in the art of swordplay, eventually being acclaimed a blademaster, and declares war on the Blight. He wages his personal war for years, becoming respected and honoured for his drive. Only one event takes him away from his mission, when the Aiel cross the Spine of the World and the nations unite at Tar Valon to fight the Battle of the Shining Walls.
 
When Lan’s mentor Bukama is killed as a result of political machinations in Kandor and the manipulations of the Black Ajah (as related in New Spring), he is offered the chance to join Moiraine Damodred in her mission to find the Dragon Reborn and avert the end of the world. He agrees, becoming her Warder, and for two decades they scour every corner of the Westlands for any sign of the Dragon Reborn. Finally, destiny and the Pattern call them to the town of Emond’s Field in the Two Rivers district of Andor. Lan’s obsession with defeating the Shadow leads him to train the young men from the Two Rivers in the art of combat, but his mission acquires a new focus when he meets Nynaeve al’Meara, the village Wisdom, a resourceful and skilled young woman with a singular determination.
 
Lan is a major character in The Wheel of Time, although one (as with many) who sometimes sits out entire books in the series. His arc from The Eye of the World through A Memory of Light is one of finding hope and something to live for, and for finding reasons to live beyond pure revenge.
 
Daniel Henney is an interesting choice for the role. Born in Carson City, Michigan to a Korean mother and an Irish-American father, he was a star basketball player in high school and then a professional model. His career took him all over the world, but his South Korean heritage saw him picking up a lot of work in the Seoul film and TV industry. He crossed over into acting via the Korean TV drama My Name is Sam Soon, where he played Dr. Henry Kim. An acting career in South Korea beckoned, but was complicated by the fact that Henney spoke no Korean. He had to learn his lines phonetically whilst frantically cramming language lessons. Several successful roles in South Korea followed before he got his first acting gigs in the USA in 2009, on the TV series Three Rivers and in the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he played Agent Zero.
 
His US career has included guest star roles on Hawaii Five-0, Revolution and NCIS: Los Angeles, and voice-over roles in Big Hero 6 (which he reprised for the spin-off TV series) and Mowgli. He is best-known for playing FBI Special Agent Matt Simmons in the Criminal Minds franchise, appearing in 47 episodes to date. He also played the same character on the spin-off Beyond Borders, for a further 26 episodes. Henney was initially reluctant to appear on a long-running US drama series with a heavy workload (especially as he remains active in Korean TV and advertising), but was impressed by the scripts where his character was positioned as both an action hero and also a more sensitive family man in a successful relationship. He felt that Asian roles in US dramas tended to be less traditional and was happy to play a role that in the past would have gone to Caucasian actors.
 
At 6 ft 2, Henney is certainly tall enough to fill the imposing shoes of Lan Mandragoran and his acting resume is nothing to sniff at, including comedy, action and romance. At 39 (40 in November) he is also a reasonable fit in age for Lan, who is 44 or 45 when the events of the first book begin. Henney is also a big book fan (his favourite author is Japanese author Haruki Murakami) and a major geek, complete with his own He-Man action figure collection. He is also a huge dog fan, with his dogs making frequent, unexpected appearances on his YouTube Q&A videos. Henney's videos are interesting, as they show a lot of thought and contemplation has gone into his career choices and how he embodies the characters he's playing. It'll be interesting to see the inevitable video where he talks about the decision to take on the role of Lan.
 
So we now have our Lan Mandragoran, and I'm sure all Wheel of Time fans wish Daniel Henney well in the role. But there are still a lot of characters still out there to be cast, including Tam al'Thor, Thom Merrilin and Padan Fain, and we'll be waiting to see if we get any more casting tidbits in the next few weeks.
 
Until next time, farewell.
  • Teaser Paragraph:

    In the first of a new series, some thoughts on the latest Wheel of Time TV news.

Werthead
Werthead