The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

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Overview

November 1997

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again."

For internationally acclaimed author Robert Jordan and his millions of fans around the globe, those words began one of history's greatest fictional journeys and the most extraordinary work of American fantasy ever published: the Wheel of Time series. To date, this series has topped the bestseller lists of The Wall Street Journal and the Times of London and recently inspired The New York Times to anoint Jordan the heir apparent to J.R.R. Tolkien.

The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time is the essential companion for the millions interested in the history and background of this incredible seven-book series. This compendium contains never-before-told legends, previously unknown peoples and lands, exotic beasts, and hints of events in forthcoming volumes of the series. With more than 70 new full-color paintings, including stunning new world maps, portraits of the central characters, landscapes, objects of Power, and national flags, this comprehensive guide is indispensable to any fan of Robert Jordan.

Also featured in this stunning volume are double-page spreads of the seven Wheel of Time book jackets, by renowned fantasy artist Darrell K. Sweet (so that these magnificent works can be enjoyed without type), and all the previously published maps, plus maps of the Seanchan Empire, the nations of the Covenant of Ten Nations, and the nations as they were when Artur Paendrag Tanreall began his rise to legend. With The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time, readers can enjoy the world and history of the Wheel of Time series in all its splendor.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781250171283
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Publication date: 05/30/2017
Series: Wheel of Time Series
Sold by: Macmillan
Format: eBook
Pages: 304
Sales rank: 211,608
File size: 169 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

About The Author
ROBERT JORDAN (1948-2007) is best known for his internationally bestselling epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time®, which has sold over 40 million copies in North America and is currently being adapted for the screen. A native of Charleston, Jordan graduated from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army and received multiple decorations for his service.

TERESA PATTERSON lives in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Date of Birth:

October 17, 1948

Date of Death:

September 16, 2007

Place of Birth:

Charleston, South Carolina

Place of Death:

Charleston, South Carolina

Education:

B.S. in physics, The Citadel, 1974

Read an Excerpt

The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time


By Robert Jordan, Teresa Patterson

Tom Doherty Associates

Copyright © 1997 Bill Fawcett & Associates
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-250-17128-3



CHAPTER 1

The Wheel and the Pattern


"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again." So begins each saga within the World of the Wheel, a universe in which the major controlling factor is the Wheel of Time and the Great Pattern it spins. A pattern in which light and dark, good and evil, male and female, and life and death struggle for balance within the weave of destiny.

What is the Wheel of Time? Imagine a great cosmic loom in the shape of a seven-spoked wheel, slowly spinning through eternity, weaving the fabric of the universe. The Wheel, put in place by the Creator, is time itself, ever turning and returning. The fabric it weaves is constructed from the threads of lives and events, interlaced into a design, the Great Pattern, which is the whole of existence and reality, past, present, and future.

Within the influence of this Lace of Ages are not only the earth and stone of the physical world, but other worlds and universes, other dimensions, other possibilities. The Wheel touches what might be, what might have been, and what is. It touches the world of dreams as well as the world of waking.

In this world there is no one beginning or one end, for each spoke of the great Wheel represents one of the seven Ages, receding into the past and returning in the future as the Wheel spins, the fabric of each age changing only its weave and pattern with each passing. With every pass the changes vary to an increasingly greater degree. For each Age there is a separate and unique pattern, the Pattern of the Age, which forms the substance of reality for that age. This design is predetermined by the Wheel and can only partially be changed by those lives which make up the threads within the weave.

No one knows the length of time it takes for a full turning of the Wheel, nor is there a set time for each Age. There is only the certainty that all will come around again, though surely long past the span encompassed by human memory, or even legend. Yet that knowledge provides the basis for the philosophy and history of the known world. No ending, even death, is necessarily final within the turning of the Wheel. Reincarnation is a part of the way of the world. Prophecies are believed and heeded, since they tell as much of what was as of what will be. The only questions are when and in what manner the prophecies will unfold.

In such a world change is simply a predetermined part of the mechanism. Only a few individuals, special souls known as ta'veren, can cause the fabric of the pattern to bend around them, changing the weave. These ta'veren are spun out as key threads around which all surrounding life-threads, perhaps in some cases all life-threads, weave to create change. These key threads often produce major variations in the Pattern of an Age. Such major changes are called, in the old tongue, ta'maral'ailen, or the "Web of Destiny."

Even the ta'veren and the Web of Destiny woven around them are bound by the Wheel and the Great Pattern; it is believed that the Wheel spins out ta'veren whenever the weave begins to drift away from the Pattern. The changes around them, while often drastic and unsettling for those who must live in the Age, are thought to be part of the Wheel's own correcting mechanism. The more change needed to bring the Great Pattern into balance, the more ta'veren spun out into the world.

The Great Wheel is the very heart of all time. But even the Wheel requires energy to maintain itself and its pattern. This energy comes from the True Source, from which the One Power may be drawn. Both the True Source and the One Power are made up of two conflicting yet complementary parts: saidin, the male half, and saidar, the female half. Working both together and against one another within the True Source, it is saidin and saidar which provide the driving force that turns the Wheel of Time.

The only known forces outside the Wheel and the Pattern are the Creator, who shaped the Wheel, the One Power that drives it — as well as the plan for the Great Pattern — and the Dark One, who was imprisoned outside the pattern by the Creator at the moment of creation. No one inside and of the Pattern can destroy the Wheel or change the destiny of the Great Pattern. Even those who are ta'veren can only alter, but not completely change, the weave. It is believed that if he escapes his prison, the Dark One, being a creature or force beyond creation, has the ability to remake the Wheel and all of creation in his own dark image. Thus each person, especially each of those born ta'veren, must struggle to achieve his or her own best destiny to assure the balance and continuation of the Great Pattern.

CHAPTER 2

The One Power and the True Source


The True Source is made up of two complementary parts: saidin, the male half, and saidar, the female half. Each has separate properties and affinities, working at the same time with and against the other. Only women can touch saidar, and only men saidin. Each is completely unable to sense the other half of the Source, except as an absence or negativity. Even the methodologies by which men and women utilize the One Power that emanates from the True Source are so completely different that no woman can teach a man to use the power, and no man a woman.

In some Ages, such as that called the Age of Legends, men and women used the complementary and conflicting halves of the Power together to perform feats that neither could accomplish separately. In the present Age, part of the Power, the male half, has been tainted, causing any man who channels saidin to go mad eventually and cause Power-wrought havoc unless he is killed or gentled.

Most people cannot sense or touch the True Source, even though its energy may be manifested all around them. Only a tiny portion of the population, about two or three percent, actually have the ability, once taught, to touch and draw on the One Power, and today many of those cannot utilize its power in any effective manner. The act of drawing and controlling the flow of the One Power from the True Source is known as channeling.

Channeling draws on threads of the One Power and uses them singly or in combination in a weave designed to accomplish the particular task at hand. There are five different threads to the One Power, known as the Five Powers. They are named according to the elements their energies manipulate: Earth, Air (sometimes called Wind), Fire, Water, and Spirit. In many cases only one of the Powers is required to accomplish a task. A weave of Fire alone will light a candle or control a fire. But certain tasks necessitate the weaving of flows in more than one of the Five Powers. For instance, one who wishes to affect the weather must weave a flow combining Air, Water, and Spirit.

Anyone who can channel usually has a greater degree of strength with at least one or two of the Powers, yet they may lack any particular ability at all with some of the others. For example, someone strong in Wind may be all but unable to weave Fire, or may be weak in Earth but equally strong in Spirit and Air. Some few rare individuals have been found to be very strong in as many as three, or in very rare cases four, of the Powers. But since the Age of Legends no one has had great strength in all five. Even then, such individuals were very rare.

Levels of comparative strength also vary greatly from one individual wielder of the Power to another, and from men to women. Using records gathered from the Age of Legends (current data have little usable information concerning the use of saidin), it is possible to state certain facts about the strength and distribution of the ability in those men and women who could channel. In general, men were stronger in the use of the Power than women — that is, in the sheer volume of the Power they could handle — though there were certainly individual women who had great strength and individual men who were comparatively weak. By the same token, though some men had great dexterity in the weaving, in general women outstripped men in this regard. Men usually exhibited greater ability with Earth and Fire while women more often excelled in the use of Water and/or Air. Equal numbers of men and women were strong in the use of Spirit. There were, of course, exceptions, but they were rare enough that Earth and Fire came to be regarded as male powers, while Air and Water were considered female powers. Even today women usually exhibit their greatest strength in Air or Water, or both. This probably prompted the popular saying among female channelers: "There is no rock so strong that water and wind cannot wear it away, no fire so fierce that water cannot quench it or wind snuff it out." Any equivalent witticism among male channelers has been lost.

Of the tiny percentage of the population who have the potential to channel at all, only a small number have the ability inborn. It usually manifests itself in adolescence or early adulthood, though in general women show the ability at a younger age than men, often much younger. These few talented individuals will eventually channel the Power with or without guidance, whether or not they wish to do so. In many cases they are not even aware of what they are doing. For such people, touching and drawing on the True Source is completely natural, and potentially deadly.

As far as is known, the One Power is not alive, but is a force of natural energy limited only by the strength of the channeler and the extent of his/her control. One warning must be emphasized: its use is extremely addictive. One unwary of the danger inherent in channeling can easily be seduced into drawing more than he or she can handle, or drawing on it too often. Such mishandling of this power usually exacts a terrible price on the body and mind.

Drawing saidar and channeling it without benefit of guidance or training results in death for four out of five women born with the ability. This death often takes the form of a lingering sickness that saps the individual of her life energy. Those who first touch the power unintentionally generally feel nothing unusual at the time, but suffer a violent reaction as much as ten days later. This reaction seldom lasts for more than a few hours. Headaches, chills, fever, exhilaration, numbness, dizziness, and lack of coordination are only a few of the most usual symptoms, often occurring simultaneously or in quick succession. These effects return after each incident of touching the Source. Each time, reaction comes closer to the actual act of touching, until the two happen almost simultaneously. At this stage the visible reactions stop, but unless some sort of control has been learned, death becomes a certainty. Some women die within the year, some survive as long as five years, yet without the control that is almost impossible to learn without guidance, all die. Their final days are usually marked by violent convulsions and screams of agony. Once the last stages are entered, there is no known cure, even with the use of the One Power.

Those women, often called wilders, who do manage to survive and train themselves in the use of the Power usually develop a mental barrier, probably as a survival mechanism, that makes it difficult for them to reach their full potential. Some think that these blocks are partially caused by the social stigma often associated with the use of the Power, and by the unwillingness of the individual to consider or acknowledge the fact that she can channel. Such blocks can sometimes be broken, though not easily, with assistance from those who have proper training. If the barriers are broken, wilders are often among the most powerful of channelers. Many of those who have undergone the training in what is considered the proper sequence look down on the self-taught, using "wilder" as a derogatory term indicating the unpredictability of a wild talent and the savagery of a wild animal.

Even those with training risk much every time they channel. If a woman draws too much saidar, or draws saidar too often, she can be burned out or overloaded, losing her ability to channel, or, at worst, killing herself. If she weaves powers she cannot adequately control, she may cause her own death and damage those around her.

Before the time of the Breaking of the World, men faced much the same risks as women when born with the ability to channel. After the Bore was sealed, that changed. The Dark One, in the last moments of the battle, managed a final counterstroke that tainted the male half of the One Power. Since the Time of Madness that followed, no man has been able to channel saidin without eventually going completely and horribly insane. Even those who do manage to learn some control die from a slow wasting sickness that causes the sufferer to rot alive. In either case, the danger to those around the male channeler is great. Those men who manage to live long enough to go mad usually end up wielding the power of tainted saidin in horrible ways, often destroying everyone and everything around them. During the Breaking of the World it was such men who completely destroyed the world and known civilization. It is because of this danger that men are not only not encouraged to learn how to channel; those who do learn, or even try to, are hunted down and rendered harmless or killed.

In the Age of Legends, the process by which a man or woman was rendered incapable of channeling was called "severing," as in "being severed from the True Source." In the present day, the process is given a different name depending on whether it is done to a man or a woman.

The severing of a man from the True Source is now known as "gentling." He can still sense the Power, but is unable to touch saidin in any way. He is therefore harmless to those around him, or "gentled." If he is gentled soon enough, the madness and the wasting sickness are also arrested, though not cured, and death by insanity or rot is averted. Unfortunately most who are gentled lose the will to live when their connection to the True Source is severed. They fall into a deep depression and often commit suicide soon after if not forcibly prevented. Those who do not kill themselves usually die within a year or two anyway, for without the will to live the body eventually fails.

For women, the intentional removal of the ability to channel is called "stilling." If the ability is lost by accident the process is called being "burned out," though the term "stilling" is sometimes used for this also, a deplorable loss of precision in speech since the Old Tongue fell out of use. In any case, the results of being stilled or burned out are much the same. The stilled woman, like the man who has been gentled, is cut off from the True Source, always tantalized by the sense of saidar, yet unable to touch or channel it. The woman who is burned out can neither channel nor sense the Power. Stilling is usually done as punishment for a crime, while burnout occurs through overload or misuse of the power, or is the result of losing to an attack by a greater power while channeling. It is assumed that men are susceptible to burnout as well.

Like the men who have been gentled, women who have been stilled lose the will to survive. In fact, less is known about them than about gentled men, who are held prisoner until they die. Women who have been stilled or burned out usually flee as far as they can from women who retain the ability they have lost. Women who can channel rarely make any effort to find stilled or burned-out women; the claim is that they should not be taunted in their misery by the presence of women who remain whole, but it should be noted that women who can channel often become queasy, or even physically ill, at the mere thought of the fate suffered by those others, a fate they themselves could also face. It is believed that stilled women live only if they succeed in finding something to fill the void left by the absence of the One Power. Few manage to find a focus that powerful.


(Continues...)

Excerpted from The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, Teresa Patterson. Copyright © 1997 Bill Fawcett & Associates. Excerpted by permission of Tom Doherty Associates.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Contents

Title Page,
Copyright Notice,
Dedication,
Preface,
Section 1: The Wheel and the Power,
Chapter 1: The Wheel and the Pattern,
Chapter 2: The One Power and the True Source,
Section 2: The Age of Legends,
Chapter 3: The Age of Legends,
Chapter 4: The Fall into Shadow,
Chapter 5: The Dark One and the Male Forsaken,
Chapter 6: The Female Forsaken and the Darkfriends,
Chapter 7: Shadowspawn,
Chapter 8: The Breaking of the World,
Section 3: The World Since the Breaking,
Chapter 9: Formation of the White Tower,
Chapter 10: Rise and Fall of the Ten Nations,
Chapter 11: The Second Dragon and the Rise of Artur Hawkwing,
Chapter 12: The Reign of the High King,
Chapter 13: The War of the Hundred Years,
Chapter 14: The New Era,
Section 4: Some Narrative Paintings of Questionable Authenticity,
Section 5: The World of the Wheel,
Chapter 15: The World After the Breaking,
Chapter 16: Shara,
Chapter 17: Seanchan,
Chapter 18: The Exotic Animals of Seanchan,
Chapter 19: The Sea Folk Islands,
Chapter 20: The Aiel,
Chapter 21: The Ogier,
Chapter 22: The Ways,
Chapter 23: Tel'aran'rhiod,
Section 6: Within the Land,
Chapter 24: The White Tower,
Chapter 25: The Children of the Light,
Chapter 27: Andor,
Chapter 28: The Borderlands: Shienar, Arafel, Kandor, and Saldaea,
Chapter 29: Cairhien,
Chapter 30: The Other Nations,
Chapter 31: Holidays and the Calendar,
Chapter 32: The Prophecies of the Dragon,
Index,
About the Authors,
Copyright,

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Robert Jordan has elaborated a fantasy world whose complexity and drama rivals Tolkien's... Rife with full-color paintings and maps. the large-format book covers the history, characters, flora, fauna, landscapes and objects of Jordan's fantasy world, and gives hints of upcoming events." —Publishers Weekly

Interviews

On Tuesday, November 11th, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Robert Jordan to discuss THE WORLD OF ROBERT JORDAN'S THE WHEEL OF TIME.


Moderator: Welcome to the barnesandnoble.com Live Events Auditorium. Robert Jordan, the mastermind behind the bestselling Wheel of Time series, is joining us online to discuss his newly released illustrated guide to the series, THE WORLD OF ROBERT JORDAN'S THE WHEEL OF TIME. Welcome to barnesandnoble.com, Robert Jordan. We are glad you could join us online this evening.

Robert Jordan: Thank you for having me.


Terry Miles from jtmiles@bigfoot: Is there any new information in the new book that has not already been presented in the existing books?

Robert Jordan: Yes. There's almost nothing that is in the new book that is in the other books. There are things that are mentioned in the books and greatly expanded, and they contain a great deal of information that are nowhere in the novels.


Lana Trezise from Columbia, MO: A recurring motif in the Wheel of Time series is the differences between men and women. Why did you decide to make this such an important feature in your writings, and why do you take such a bipolar view on gender?

Robert Jordan: I became fascinated with women at the age of three. It's a long story -- too long to go into here. But I quickly realized that for everything that was the same about men and women, there seemed to be at least two or three things that were different. Once I had decided that I wanted to use the One Power in the way that I was using it -- that is, divided into a male half and a female half -- it became obvious to me that the differences between men and women themselves should also play a part.


Bob from California: I hear you wrote a western? Is that true? If so, I'd love to read it. Any plans for any more westerns or historical novels in the future? By the way, I just got THE WORLD OF ROBERT JORDAN'S THE WHEEL OF TIME...what a gorgeous book. Great work!

Robert Jordan: Well, thanks. As far as the westerns go -- yes, I wrote a western once. A little out of the ordinary, set in the 1830s and with only one major character who was not a Cheyenne Indian. I might do a western one day or more historical novels. History and the American West in general interest me greatly. But for the moment, the Wheel of Time takes up all of mine -- time, that is.


Gautam Mukunda from Harvard University: Mr. Jordan, I'm a dedicated fan of your series who's bought all of the books in hardback, and first I'd like to thank you for bringing such a wonderful world to life for us. It seems to me that your work is something relatively new in fantasy -- you're exploring a situation where there is no known quest or goal to be fulfilled in order for victory to be assured. Instead it seems more like the real world: uncertain, with the heroes fighting a war without knowledge of the "victory conditions." Would you care to comment?

Robert Jordan: I wanted to write a fantasy that reflected the real world, with characters who reflected real people -- not specific people, but characters who were real people. And there are things about the real world that I wanted, such as that people who end up heroes very rarely set out to be heroes, and heroic journeys consist mainly of sleeping rough and going hungry, wondering how you are going to pay for the next meal and wonder exactly what it is you are supposed to do and how are you going to get out of it alive.


Linda from Sweden: I've only had a quick look at the guide so far, but I couldn't find much additional information on Mayene. Perhaps you could tell us which, if any, cultures you have based it on and what the people are like, apart from that they don't exactly seem to suffer from excessive modesty. ;)

Robert Jordan: Well, Mayene is based culturally on the cities of the Hanseatic league, as well as Venice and Genoa when those cities were world commercial powers and city-states in themselves. Of course, I didn't put anything into the guide that I wanted to come as a surprise in the books. You have to remember that. Which is one reason I gave quite as much as I did about the history of the world and considerably less about the "present day."


John from California: Why did you choose to use a pseudonym for your Reagan O'Neal novels? I love them every bit as much as the Wheel of Time series.

Robert Jordan: I wanted to put different names on different kinds of books so there would be no confusion. I didn't want anyone to pick up a book because they had liked my last book only to find that they had bought something they didn't want to read.


Nick Hersh from MVNC: Mr. Jordan, absolutely fascinating series -- I love it. How much do you feel you drew from the Bible in creating the Dragon character (i.e. Moses leading the Israelites from Egypt as opposed to Rand leading the Aiel from the Waste)?

Robert Jordan: I drew from everything that I have read in the past 40-odd years, including the Bible. It's very hard for me to say -- in most cases -- exactly what the sources were in any particular instance.


JRS Caudill from Minneapolis: Mr. Jordan, I believe you have stated in past interviews that you already have an idea for your next project. I wonder, have you begun to work on it yet? And will you work on both series simultaneously or will you complete the World of Time series first? Also, is there any source currently available for us to see your work written under the pseudonym of Chang Lung? Thank you.

Robert Jordan: Yes, I have an idea for what I intend to write after I finish the World of Time, but I have not put anything down on paper, and I will not until I have finished the Wheel of Time. Until then, the next work exists only in the back of my head. As for Chang Lung, I don't think there is any source anywhere except for my files, and I'd just as soon leave them there. There are few things more boring than 10-year-old dance reviews and theater criticism.


Kate from State College, PA: In a previous statement, I believe you had basically said that the action of the series would take place in the lands known to Rand and his friends, i.e. not Shara or Seanchan, and yet the new book has a lot of stuff about those lands. Have you changed your mind? Is action in either of these two lands a possibility now?

Robert Jordan: No. Except for the possible occasional divergence -- except for Rand's excursions to Seanchan when he chased after Aviendha. I was willing to put as much as I did into the guide because I will not be using those things in the books in the same way that I used Kandor or Saldaea.


Joel from Arizona: When you first started writing the Wheel of Time, did you have a set plan for the whole series, or were there some things you just thought up as you stumbled upon them in your writing?

Robert Jordan: I knew the beginning, that is, the opening scenes; I knew the final scene of the final book; I knew the very general line that I wanted the story to take from the beginning to the end. And I knew a number of major occurrences that I wanted to take place and a number of relationships that I wanted to develop. I left open how I would get from one major occurrence to the next to allow for fluidity in writing. I did not want to set anything in stone. Sorry for the pun, but that does lead to rigidity.


Lily from Florida: Do you have any short stories? I love your novels and am wondering if you have any short story collections out?

Robert Jordan: I've never done a short story, except that I am at the moment working on one which will be in a collection called MASTERS OF FANTASY, which Robert Silverberg has put together. Actually, I'm not certain it really counts as a short story -- more of a novella.


Larina from Minnesota: I'm just curious...do you ever get on the Internet and read any of the theories and ideas people post about the Wheel of Time? Were I in your shoes, I might be pretty entertained by that.

Robert Jordan: No. I usually avoid the net. It's too addictive and I don't have the time. Occasionally, though, people will send me printouts of the latest FAQ or send it to me on disk, and I do enjoy browsing through that. Let me add: I haven't seen one in about a year (hint hint).


Kjell from Sweden: In THE SHADOW RISING, Perrin was chasing Slayer in Tel'Aran'Rhiod. Slayer vanished at the Tower of Ghenjei. Did he enter it, or did he just step out of the Dreamworld?

Robert Jordan: Read and find out.


Sisay from Frostburg, MD: Rumor has it that you read 400-plus books a year. Is this true? What kind of books do you read? Any recommendations (besides rereading World of Time!) while we're waiting for THE PATH OF DAGGERS?

Robert Jordan: I don't manage to read over 400 books a year now. I'm not certain that I even manage to average a book a day. About half of what I read is nonfiction, half fiction. And the fiction takes in everything. As for recommendations, I assume you mean in the field, so try John M. Ford, C. S. Friedman, Guy Gavriel Kay, Terry Pratchett, George R. R. Martin, and a slew of others -- too many to name. You can find them.


Rhonda Peters from Toronto, Ontario: Would you be willing to tell us a little more about the limits of healing with the One Power, as they're understood in the present day and/or the Age of Legends? Could someone heal a genetic condition like Huntington's or color blindness? A chromosomal defect like Down's syndrome? A degenerative condition like arthritis?

Robert Jordan: Not with the form of healing that is generally known. With the newly rediscovered forms of healing, it would be quite possible, but with the newly rediscovered forms of healing people would learn how to do it because everything is healed differently with the new way.


Matt from New York: I love your Reagan O'Neal historical novels, the Fallon series. Did you have to do a lot of research for those?

Robert Jordan: A good bit. But on the other hand, history is a hobby of mine, in particular the American Revolution in the South and the southern move west, which went through Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.


Corey Elliott from Amarillo, TX: I have heard that you once said there are many things in your books that you were surprised readers hadn't discovered. And there were also things you were surprised we had "deciphered." Any comments?

Robert Jordan: Too true. Too true. But when I find out that something I wanted to be obvious isn't, I do look around to see if I can find another place to slip in a hint.


Robert from Nebraska: Robert, I'd love to meet you sometime. I love your books with a passion and think you are an incredible writer. Do you ever go to conventions or have any plans on touring to promote your next book?

Robert Jordan: I believe my publisher intends for me to tour for THE PATH OF DAGGERS. But I have no idea which cities will be included. As far as conventions go, I attend far fewer than I would like to because three days at a convention are three days I'm not writing.


Joel from Phoenix, AZ: Is there a complete language of the Old Tongue, and if so, how long did it take you to develop it?

Robert Jordan: There are some 880 basic words -- maybe 900. I got a list of what is considered basic English, which are the 800 odd words of a basic English vocabulary, removed the words that were of no use in the context of my world, came up with words in the Old Tongue in each of those English words, and then added those words that did have a specific context in my world.


Matt from Ohio: I know this is a tough question, but which character in the Wheel of Time is your favorite, and which character is most like you? I'm also eagerly awaiting THE PATH OF DAGGERS. Is there anything specific you can tell us about the plot?

Robert Jordan: About THE PATH OF DAGGERS: nothing. Read and find out (RAFO). As far as who I like best, it's whoever I happen to be writing at the moment. I try to get inside the skin of the point-of-view character, whether it's Rand or Nynaeve or Semirhaje. As to who I am most like, I think I am probably a combination of Rand, Mat, and Perrin. On the other hand, I'm afraid my wife says that I am Loial.


Sam from Sacramento: When it says at the end of THE FIRES OF HEAVEN, "death took him," in Asmodean's last scene, do you mean that he died? There has been much speculation as to whether or not "death" refers to Moridin, whose name in the Old Tongue means "death." Many think that Moridin's second Mindtrap is for Asmodean, but "death" was not capitalized in the scene where Asmodean made his last appearance. Can you tell me whether or not he was taken by Moridin?

Robert Jordan: Asmodean went for the long jump in that scene.


Josette from Pittsburgh, PA: Was it your idea for the Robert Jordan hot line? I think that's such a great idea.

Robert Jordan: The hot line at Tor was my idea. And you reminded me -- I have to record a new message. It's been a while since I've recorded one. A lot of what's on that is outdated now, I'm afraid. That is, if you mean the message that I've recorded at Tor Books.


Mike from Boston: When you create characters, how much do you know about them? Do they ever go off in directions you hadn't expected?

Robert Jordan: When I create a character, I know as much as possible about them -- as much as I can possibly conceive. Characters do not go in directions that I don't expect, because I am the writer, after all. Sometimes I will see a possibility that I didn't expect to use a character in a different way, and I do like to do that, especially if it's something I don't think people will expect.


Ayla Sedai from the White Tower: I am in two online guilds based on the World of Time series, but I heard you have officially approved one; I have also heard you approved no guilds. Which guild, if any did you approve? (And why did you let Darrel Sweet do your book covers? The Armylin wants to know.)

Robert Jordan: I have approved several fan clubs who wrote to me and asked me to endorse them. I don't approve anybody exclusively. As far as Darrel goes, he was selected by the publisher.


Joel from Phoenix, AZ: You have said several times that you based many of the cultures in World of Time on cultures of history. Do you have a favorite period in history, or a favorite culture?

Robert Jordan: The Enlightenment would have been a fine time to live, I think. And there are a few others. But by and large I am happy right where I am -- and when.


Joar from Costa Mesa, CA: You have mentioned that you intentionally tried to re-create some of the feel of Tolkien's Middle Earth, especially in the first book. Considering many of the similar elements between the stories and the fact that time in your world is cyclical, with heroes being reborn through the ages, did you intend to imply that Middle Earth could possibly be "An Age long past. An Age yet to come?"

Robert Jordan: Certainly not. In the first hundred pages of THE EYE OF THE WORLD, I did try to invoke a Tolkienesque feel. But after that I have certainly not tried to reflect in any way Middle Earth. As a matter of fact, beginning back in that very early part of THE EYE OF THE WORLD, I deliberately took off in a very different direction from Tolkien, and I've been running hard in that direction ever since.


Jonathon from Nebraska: Mr. Jordan, I play a one of the best telnet games based on your books (cshadow.net port 4000). It runs as close to your books as we can get. My question is this: I play a Seanchan character and have for some time. What was your basis when creating the Seanchan race and the structure of their society? I enjoy the race completely and love the structure of its hierarchy and was just curious as to what they are created from in your mind. Thank you!

Robert Jordan: Imperial China. Japan during the shogunates, with strong dollops of the Persian Empire and the Ottoman.


Nansen from Ithaca, NY: Hi, just curious -- in the last section of THE EYE OF THE WORLD, Lan says that the Bond does not tell him the direction where his Aes Sedai is exactly; it is just a general feeling. But then later in series, both he and Rand had the ability to tell in an exactly straight-line direction the location of whom they are bonded to. Is this an inconsistency, or is there an explanation? Thanks!

Robert Jordan: Yes. There is an explanation: a change that was supposed to be made in manuscript in THE EYE OF THE WORLD and did not get set into type and which I thought had been corrected. I have been trying to get that changed since I discovered that THE EYE OF THE WORLD had been published with the erroneous information. I hope they are still not printing the books with it.


Sally Hutchinson from CA: I have heard rumors that you confirmed the identity of the Daughter of the Nine Moons as Tuon, the Seanchan Empress's second daughter. Is this true or just a rumor?

Robert Jordan: A rumor. I very seldom confirm my very own existence.


John from State College, PA: The guide has a lot of stuff we have not seen before. But there are a lot of references made in the series that had no mention in the guide. As you have totally captivated me with your world, can I hope for another guide at the end of the series for more information on all those trivial bits we have come to love?

Robert Jordan: I do intend to do an encyclopedia, if you will, at the end of the series, but I don't want to do too much about what is in the books until the series is finished.


Rudi Nuissl from Colorado: When you first started writing, what was your first effort, and how long was it before you had anything published?

Robert Jordan: My first book was accepted by DAW and then rejected by DAW 20 years ago. Whereupon I immediately resigned my position as an engineer. The first year I made nothing, the second year I made $3000, and the third year I made twice what I had made in my best years as an engineer. I have been earning my living with my pen ever since.


Brandon from Mission Viejo: Mr. Jordan, it's fairly common knowledge that the Dark One was bound by the creator outside of the pattern at the moment of creation. Would it then be safe to assume, after concepts brought to light in the new release, that the world before the opening of the prison never knew true evil? If so, then was each age before the opening of the Age of Legends different facets of some utopia? As well, without major conflict between good and evil, what caused ages to pass? Thanks.

Robert Jordan: Given that time is cyclic, you must assume that there is a time when the prison that holds the Dark One is whole and unbroken. There is a time when a hole is drilled into that prison and it is thus open to that degree. And there is a time when the opening has been patched in a makeshift manner. But following this line, the cyclic nature of time means that we have at some time in the future inevitably a whole and unbroken prison again. Unless, of course, the Dark One breaks free, in which case all bets are off -- kick over the table and run for the window.


Rhonda Peters from Toronto, Ontario: Hi, Mr. Jordan, thanks for doing this. I've read the new book (and enjoyed it). I found it very surprising that the Red Ajah would have the largest membership. Could you expand on why that's so? The numbers of male channelers have been dwindling prior to the events of the story, and Aes Sedai from other Ajahs seem to be willing to help capture men. Do the Reds have another role in the Tower, or is there some other reason for their numbers?

Robert Jordan: Some facets of being Aes Sedai are being carried out by all Aes Sedai. That is, a Blue sister might dig out an old manuscript and old knowledge. A Brown sister might take on a man who can channel. And a Red sister might engage in political manipulation. But the fact is, to the world at large, one of the primary functions of Aes Sedai is to protect the world from men who can channel. That means that a fair number of young women who go to the White Tower go thinking that this will be one of their major functions as Aes Sedai. So the Red Ajah and the Green Ajah are the two largest.


Jason Verner from TX: Do you have any plans for introducing the land of madness into the World of Time series besides its mention in the guide, and if so, can you elaborate a little?

Robert Jordan: Read and find out.


Moderator: Mr. Jordan, thanks so much for joining us this evening. It's been a real pleasure. Do you have any closing remarks?

Robert Jordan: Well, thanks for having me. Thanks for coming, guys. It's been good talking with you. Goodnight.


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