Figs and Mice

Well you could cut out a lot of stuff and still get to the end of the story... But what would be the point ? It would no longer be the book series Jordan wrote , which has so enthralled all of us that we spend time on here nit picking about every tiny detail 🙂 Any long book - or series thereof - is likely to contain some fluff that might be done without : but opinions would differ as to which bits are best removed. I for one am happy to take it as it was written ... minor flaws and all...

Rather an important little medallion , no ? If he doesn't meet the Finn , Mat's story is surely going to be pared back in several areas. I know they have to cut things , etc , etc ... but I do fear the whole show is going to be "simplified" to a degree that most book fans will not be particularly happy about. It may well end up decent enough TV , especially for more casual viewers ; but I think it is a pity they look like dropping so many of the most interesting (to me , anyway) magical details . But will watch anyway and maybe I'm wrong and season three will continue the trend of a (mostly) improved second - except for again rather messing up the season finale. To be fair , from here on they don't have to deal with book endings which themselves were a bit untidy ... Crossed fingers.

Hey Dojo Toad ... I agree with you on almost everything in your list of likes and dislikes above... But : I hated the "Moiraine using stones from the inn to blast trollocs" thing. Struck me as an illogically complicated use of force . Just fry the wretched creatures surely ? Why wreck the infrastructure in the process ? Too gimmicky for me. Which I guess just goes to show you can't please all of the people all the time 🙂

About ten years ago I first picked up EOTW (had read some comments about the series on a mainly sports chat site so thought would give it a try). Was hooked very early on and resolved to follow to the end - which I have done , whole series twice and the early books multiple times. I never get bored. I see a lot of critical comment about the first three books - from people who obviously have a deep fascination with the series ; and it frankly puzzles me a bit. Sure , the first in particular is very much the well trodden path of relative innocents being uprooted from a mundane existence and propelled into a world of magic and earth shattering events : but IMHO it was done rather well ; and the detail that RJ has gone into brings the world alive beautifully. The ending was a bit messy but other than that I don't really see much to complain about : thought it set a lot up for the future story lines and certainly ensured I for one would be back for more... Characters seemed real : far from perfect , sometimes - well quite often - infuriating. But isn't that true in our own lives ? They manage to have you caring what happens to them which is surely the important basis for the start of a long narrative. Some probably find the constant minute detail a bit much , when they want to get on with the story. Each to his own : but I really enjoyed the details supplied every time the characters walked into the common room of a inn ... the host , the waitresses , the musicians : they all seem to live , so that you feel you are actually in the room observing whatever takes place. I think he does this as well as any author I can think of - not just in the fantasy genre either. Oddly enough I don't go nuts over all the grand action events ( Emonds Field battle , Dumai's Wells etc ) . I mean they are obviously important but you sort of knew how they were going to end even before you read the first time : it is the slow build up , the foreshadowing , the whole way in which you can immerse yourself in this complex other world , for all of 14 books , that keeps me fascinated with it enough to come on here and devote a fair deal of time seeing what others think about it all. That's probably enough rambling on from me but I think you get the picture : I am a fan 🙂

She is also fully clothed so they are certainly introducing some "variations" from the books...what a surprise 🙂 I am holding out some hopes for Mat and the Finn. But fearing the worst...

There is also the reference in TSR to Gautama Buddha and his attaining enlightenment sitting beneath the Bodhi tree : Rand , seeing Avendesora in Rhuidean : "I can believe the stories . Ghoetam , sitting beneath Avendesora for forty years to gain wisdom. Right now , I can believe". More ,I am sure , even some that I haven't found yet.

Yes indeed ... and " filtering through the Ages" distorts the details : as "Lenn" would seem to refer to John Glenn - who was the first American to orbit the Earth - and whose Mercury capsule seemed to him to be enveloped in fire on re-entry due to issues with the heat shield , which thankfully survived OK ; while of course it was Armstrong and the Eagle who landed on the Moon. There are other historical figures mentioned in gleeman's tales which I am sure you will also pick up... Just another fascinating detail of RJ's world.

Have to agree about Lanfear : surely the best of the villains . Although Moggy has her moments and Ishy a lot of importance in the story , her appearances - in a number of guises - are all highlights. There are a lot of relatively minor characters who are nevertheless interesting. I like Aludra : her dry humour in dealing with Mat appeals to me.

That would be my take. The medallion stops him being affected by channelling ; but if channelling sets secondary forces into action (be it lightning , stones or lumps of mud) they can hit him like anyone else.

After many years resident in Australia I have rarely seen a Koala move at all unless it has to , let alone "waddle" ; though they do a lot of placid leaf chewing...also I'd call them grey more than brown. Though heaven knows what Aginor might have done in the way of modifications ! This big eyed creature sounds more like some sort of Lemur to me .