The Wheel of Time Review

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is the greatest epic fantasy series written, and will be embraced that way for decades to come because it is not simply about one hero’s battle against evil, it is the inspirational tale of how to battle evil.

The story centers on Rand al'Thor, a kind, intelligent and responsible youth from a remote farm. Narrowly escaping a brutal raid on his home, Rand learns that the malevolent Dark One is seeking him, and he ventures into the world to save his village and ultimately, to fulfill his prophesied destiny and save the world from destruction.

For Rand is the reincarnation of the most infamous man in history, the man titled the Dragon, who pridefully led mankind against the Dark One in a past Age and brought the curse of insanity upon all men who would use the One Power. As his own innate abilities with the One Power grow, Rand too will eventually go mad and endanger everyone he loves.

Rand travels to faraway cities and through hostile wilderness where he meets dozens of complex and well-realized characters from a wealth of distinct cultures.   The Children of the Light see only another madman to be put down, while the factions of One Power wielding women of the White Tower intend to control Rand or sever him from the One Power forever. Kings and Queens seek to capture Rand, subjugate him, exile him, or follow him. Opposing him, the Dark One’s forces include half-animal Trollocs, eyeless Myrddraal, otherworldly tricksters, and thirteen powerful beings released from an ageless prison, all of whom knew Rand in his previous incarnation as the Dragon.

Only a small group of childhood friends and a handful of dedicated allies can help Rand stave off the forces of the Dark One: Perrin, an apprentice blacksmith whose quiet loyalty is continually tested; Egwene, an ambitious young woman who strains against any limits placed upon her; Mat, a rascal who disregards as many rules as he can; Nynaeve, a wilful healer whose stubbornness is matched only by how much she cares about people; Moiraine, a mysterious sorceress from the White Tower who set aside a fortune and a throne to find Rand; Lan, a warrior king sworn to serve Moiraine and avenge the destruction of his kingdom; Thom, a despondent bard who can't resist helping some boys who are in trouble well over their heads. Some of them develop special abilities of their own which combine familiar myths in original ways.

The Wheel of Time balances the narrative between these heroes and many others, expanding to bring in hundreds of characters, all of whom struggle to control their lives against insidious opponents and the tumultuous forces leading Rand towards his ultimate confrontation with the Dark One. Robert Jordan skilfully intertwines the heroes’ quest to shape their identity with the epic scale of a war that puts all of reality at stake, Even the structure of the series matches the characters’ development, as they come face to face with a world that is stranger and more diverse than they ever imagined.

Men and women are equally prominent in principal roles, each sex certain having abilities which are restricted to the other, relationships between the sexes acting as a pivotal part of the plot. Romances play straightforward roles, and are resolved well before the series conclusion, allowing each character to concentrate on defining themselves instead of being defined by their love life.

Robert Jordan developed wonderfully subtle tools to make his world believable, including a highly structured and understandable magic system, repertoires of lost knowledge, inexplicable magic devices with near limitless variations, and characters that bend the laws of probability. Using these tools deftly and sparingly, resolving problems is almost always a matter of character, not magical ability.  Readers have engagingly filled in the blanks where explanations aren’t presented, crafting elaborate theories based on the pieces secreted in the text. Brandon Sanderson brings the series to a resounding climax, easily maintaining the story’s original themes and successfully capturing the elements that made the series beloved to readers.

Each character’s journey mirrors parts of the others’, and each must face the Dark One’s might in their own way, learning the true nature of evil and how to overcome it. Through their violent thrust into adulthood, their loss and fear, their victory and hope, readers will thrill to the adventures of these heroes. The Wheel of Time is rich and exciting, thought-provoking and engaging, and surpasses other epic fantasy stories by being not only enjoyably rewarding, but by establishing a successful model for how to overcome obstacles in life.

This reader’s life turns with The Wheel of Time.

A Memory of Light - Chapters 44-49

In this section, Rand defeats the Dark One.

Perrin awakens after the battle is done. He argues with Chiad about why she won’t bend the rules for gai’shain, given that it is the Last Battle. “What good is honor if the Dark One wins the Last Battle?” Perrin snapped, pulling up his trousers. “It is everything,” Chiad said softly. “It is worth death, it is worth risking the world itself. If we have no honor, better that we lose.”

Perrin’s surrogate father Master Luhhan comes to check on Perrin’s health, and formally acknowledges that Perrin has grown into a man, one he is quite proud of.  Upon learning of Fain’s role in the murder of Perrin’s family, Luhhan says “What? Are you certain?” Questioning the truth of Perrin’s statement is odd on the heels of everything else Luhhan said. The author could easily have substituted other incredulous statements such as “The Peddler? How did you learn this?” or “Fain? How could he?” Either of these would have supported Luhhan’s faith in Perrin and allowed further discussion of the Whitecloaks, or even segued into Fain’s nature, which would surely have been useful since Fain’s appearance is imminent.

Masuri offers to Heal Perrin, but she must first confess and receive Perrin’s absolution for her actions with the Prophet. This again presents Perrin as a fully grown man of power and moral character, standing in judgment of high-ranking figures. His character arc is now complete.  

Thom protects the entrance to Shayol Ghul, sitting in for the author since they have the same concerns about how to describe the events unfolding around them. These pages offer a peek directly into the author’s mind as he wrote this final chapter of the Wheel of Time. ‘Epic’, ‘momentous’, ‘climactic’, ‘perilous’ and ‘terrifying’ aren’t right, but he eventually settles on ‘exquisite’. That’s a wonderful word to describe completing this epic.

Mat gets a Gateway opened to bring him near Shayol Ghul. Bringing Olver is part of the tugging he feels, but there is more, some greater role he must play.

Shaisam is a new name for Padan Fain, which means Destroyer of the Shadow. Shaisam is a creature vaster and far more powerful than before, living in every tendril of mist. And no wonder, for Rand’s intent to destroy the Shadow is greater than ever before. Shaisam kills friend and foe indiscriminately, for only one thing matters to him. As much as killing Rand and the Dark One balance each other as goals, he can accomplish both by rooting himself deep in Rand’s breast, in a host which can destroy one enemy and be destroyed in the process. Even now as the end approaches, there is a vagueness to Shaisam’s motivations, since the author has never, even now, come right out and explained them directly. This deliberate sidestepping of a key fact that provides context has been used throughout the series, and has provided the most fertile ground for fan theorizing, for both good and ill.

Gaul and the wolves defend the entrance to the Pit of Doom against Slayer in Tel’aran’rhiod. Perrin arrives, then Slayer monologues to fill in plot and character gaps. Seeing the look in his friend’s eyes,  Gaul senses it’s time to skedaddle.

Mat flies a to’raken into the valley of Thakan’dar, and senses Fain in the mist below. He crashes, and Olver blows the Horn. The clouds above form the ancient sign of the Aes Sedai, reflecting that Rand stands even with the Dark One at the moment.

Rand re-enters the Pattern, and swipes Callandor at Moridin. He tells Moridin that he doesn’t matter any more. Moridin responds by flinging a knife at Alanna.

Nynaeve’s herbs gave Alanna enough awareness to release the bond. This is a symbol of Rand being free of what Alanna represents. Since she bonded him forcefully, it simply means Rand is free of influence, and is free to choose his path. His ploy foiled, Moridin stabs his own hand causing Rand pain through the bond they share, and Rand drops Callandor, losing access to the torrents of the One Power it provides.

Perrin and Slayer battle, flipping between worlds. Perrin recently became a full-fledged adult in Luhhan’s eyes, and is therefore more confident and more sure of his identity than ever before. He has the confidence to truly unleash his fury on Slayer, and also has superior control over Tel’aran’rhiod. The killing blow sends Perrin spinning through Mirror Worlds. Unlike his past experience with the Portal Stones, when he saw variations of himself, in this instance all versions of Perrin act the same, and achieve the same victory as a result. All possibilities collapsed into one, the one where Perrin knows exactly who he is. Perrin brings survivors of the battle to the cave entrance to defend against the Darkhounds. Even as they face certain death, hope springs about them in the form of growing plants. The Horn summons wolf Heroes as well as human to fill out their ranks, and the odds are no longer so grim.

Mat approaches Perrin, who is concerned about Faile. Mat lies and offers Perrin hope, for what else could he say? As he reveals Fain’s presence, Mat is stabbed through the chest by Fain’s tendril. Mat’s death is so sudden in comparison to Egwene’s, and the manner of it so final based on all prior evidence, that readers are likely to be shocked out of the complacency that has been building since the Shadow was routed at Merrilor.

Aviendha holds off Graendal’s shield. She takes a chance, unraveling her Gateway despite that the effects are unpredictable, and may not help her at all. Graendal casts her Compulsion just as the Gateway explodes. Aviendha actually made a mistake in her haste, picking the wrong thread, which is a poor turn of phrase since she would have to botch the unweaving deliberately in order to have a chance of achieving the effect she is looking for. The threat of Compulsion is terrifying, and enthralls the reader with the horrible story possibilities that may come about if it succeeds.

Fain comes across Mat, who is not dead after all. Mat grabs Fain by the throat and stabs him with the dagger. Fain and Mordeth die, and not coincidentally, this embodiment of the all-consuming desire to achieve the end goal at any cost meets its demise just before Rand makes his decision on how to defeat the Dark One for good. Mat’s explanation that if you catch a disease you cannot catch it a second time is an awkward introduction of modern medical knowledge into the story in an attempt to have the reader accept this unforeseen immunity. Perhaps Mat is merely paraphrasing what the Amyrlin told him after he was healed of the dagger’s influence, or what Nynaeve has told him at some point, but the wording used suggests a strong level of in-world familiarity with disease that just hasn’t been featured before. Taking out the word ‘disease’ and having Mat speak in terms of his own immunity rather than a general statement about illnesses would have been more believable.

Perrin abandoned Mat on a gut feeling from the look Mat gave him. ‘Look’ may not have been the best word, given that Mat only has one eye, but the meaning is understood. Interestingly, Perrin had no angst about leaving Mat whereas he has wrung his hands over many of his friends and followers throughout the series. It is partly his newfound maturity, partly that he is more concerned with Rand here and now than he can allow himself to be for anyone else, even Faile. Perrin finds Gaul and returns him to Merrilor to rest. Then, acting against his desire to seek out Faile, he returns to guard Rand’s back yet again.

Moridin picks up Callandor and attempts to channel with it, falling into Rand’s trap. Moiraine and Nynaeve, duty and conscience, take control of Moridin, then link with Rand. Rand is shielded from any taint by combining the powers and using Moridin’s link to touch the True Power. The three powers are combined and wielded against the Dark One, turning the Dark One’s own power on himself. Rand holds him fast in a gauntlet of Power. In terms of Rand’s identity, he is turning doubt and negativity against his own doubt and negativity, looking at them with scorn and dismissal.

The following sections together show how Rand’s final victory and assertion of his identity affect the world. Rand’s past, present and future all figure, as well as his chronicler, and his successor.

Elayne surveys the carnage. The nearby plateau collapses, like the foundation of Rand’s old identity.  The bond lets her sense Rand’s strength, control and domination. She sees a beam of light far to the north, marking the end.

Thom sees the light up close. If Thom still represents the author, then he is in awe of the ending.

Min sees a brilliant lance of light, clearing the clouds. The wounded shield their eyes from the bright future Rand is making.

Aviendha sees the light and senses Rand winning, and it revives her. Graendal has been self-compelled by the unraveling gateway and begs to serve Aviendha. Since Aviendha represents the past, this is an indication that reverence for tradition and memory of this light and what it means are part of what the future holds.

Logain lost his prize in the collapse of the Heights, but saved the refugees, and they accept and welcome him, aspire to have their children join him. The Asha’man are no longer cursed for Lews Therin’s sins, but are seen as talented for Rand’s redemption of those sins. The light reminds Logain of his duty. He breaks the seals, another symbol of the old making way for the new.

Perrin sees the light in Tel’aran’rhiod, and observes the World of Dreams disintegrating and collapsing. Dragonmount is being drawn towards Shayol Ghul, all points coalescing into one, and then this realm of possibility will be gone. This was an unexpected development, which pertains to Rand’s transformation.

Perrin encounters Lanfear in the cavern. Her words still carry a sense of wonder that leads us to think she’s on the good side. “It is the end. Something amazing just happened. This might be the most important moment for humankind since we opened the Bore.” Perrin is compelled by Lanfear to help her kill Nynaeve and Moiraine, yet he resists. Lanfear has been working towards her true objective all along, at whatever cost. This is a trait shared by all of the Forsaken, the Mordeth-like motivation to do anything at all to achieve their heart’s desire.  Focusing on Faile, a far more powerful motivation than any dislike of Moiraine, Perrin’s will is stronger than Lanfear’s mere Compulsion weave. In Tel’aran’rhiod, this means he is able to reassert his identity and change himself back to the way he should be. He kills Lanfear, yet still loves her, she who represents the thirst for glory and power. Perrin may still want those things in some fashion, but not at the expense of the one he loves most.

The Dark One is freed yet cannot escape as Rand has him clutched tightly. He sees the Dark One as pitiful, tiny, insignificant, and above all, a liar. Rand pulls the Dark One into the Pattern, where he can be killed. But before he can kill him, Rand remembers that the vision he created with no Dark One was no better. Realizing his error, he thrusts the Dark One back outside of the Pattern and reforges the prison using braided saidar and saidin in a pure form and the True Power to keep the Dark One’s touch at bay by shielding the Bore.

He understood, finally, that the Dark One was not the enemy. It never had been. Rand’s own heart was the only enemy that could harm him, for as all the heroes have learned, ultimately, whatever befalls them is by their own choice.

Moiraine pulls Nynaeve out of the cavern. Looking back, she sees silhouettes of Rand and Moridin, Light and Shadow, vanish in the all consuming light. The last thing she sees, the last words which end the book, is the Bore being closed, a metaphor for Rand locking away in his heart the Dark One and the dark desires and ambitions he promotes, never to torment him again.

Writing Lessons:

End your story on a high note, right after the critical moment. 

Towers of Midnight - Chapters 54-57 and Epilogue

In this section, Mat saves Moiraine! And the final confrontations are set up.

Rustling and motion at the edge of their vision makes Mat, Thom and Noal jumpy. They find the slagged remains of one of the redstone doorways, leaving them only one other doorway or a bargain with the Eelfinn as possible escape routes. Mat compares himself to a cow behind led to the slaughter by captors who know and control all.

Eelfinn appear, urging them to set aside their iron and fire, vanishing into shadows if threatened, threatening Mat in turn. Dozens of them! Mat has his dice stolen, losing a tool to help them find their way. Attempts to hit the Eelfinn with weapons fail, unless they are iron. Music stops affecting the Eelfinn. The Eelfinn are swift and cunning, taunting Mat’s group, getting Thom to expend knives. The humans quickly find themselves overwhelmed, being toyed with by the Eelfinn.  

Mat uses a trick of his own, setting off a firework, then decides to run in a random direction, and commits to it, finding a hidden passage, which leads to a bargaining chamber where they find Moiraine.

Mat makes his bargain. Will Mat ever see life the same way again? Half the light that he’s given up represents the way he sees the world, and this sacrifice on his part means he’ll accept the rules society imposes on him, particularly Seanchan society. Sometimes. The Eelfinn frown during the only part that actually gives them a loophole to exploit, which is a clever way to keep the reader from noticing the loophole themselves. As though anyone could slow down and think during this frantic sequence! The loophole is quickly pointed out, forcing Mat to give up the quick and simple path to the exit which he bargained for. Only more cheating with fireworks buys the group enough time to make a hasty plan.

Noal will hold back the Aelfinn long enough for Mat to be able to reverse his path at the next chamber. Noal’s farewell speech mirrors Ingtar’s from long ago. Can you tell which parts are from which? These corridors are narrow. Good choke points. A man could stand there and only have to fight one or two at a time. He’d last maybe a few minutes. We knew this place would demand a price. One man could hold fifty here. One man holding fifty at a narrow passage.  There has to be a price. There is always a price. Perhaps I can pay it here. Neither Noal or Ingtar were who they seemed, they both redeem themselves, sacrificing their lives in a vain attempt to let their friends escape safely.

A bit if extra time allows Mat to make his way to the chamber where the redstone doorway should take him back to Tear, but it has been destroyed, reduced to rubble. Now there is only one exit left, far away and inaccessible. Mat is forced to play by the rules, and closely scrutinizing the rules and gifts from his previous visits, realizes that he holds a key to leaving.

Mat Cauthon wins again, but the last opponent he’ll face at the Last Battle has great luck of his own, and still holds a ter’angreal that twists luck in its favour.

Moiraine recounts her captivity, revealing that she got three wishes, as did Lanfear. Moiraine did not wish for freedom and since Moridin or Slayer came looking for her, it seems plausible that Lanfear did ask to be released or saved from their realm. Another wish may have been to speak to Rand, anticipating the Dark One’s punishments. Moiraine and Thom decide to wed, and bond, surprising Mat. Mat says he’ll never allow himself to be bonded, then is reminded that his wife can learn to channel. If he can adapt to some Seanchan cultural behaviour maybe she will adopt some from his land?

Rand has an immediate effect on the weather wherever he appears.

The Black Tower is still impervious to Gateways. Androl and Pevara find they are all too willing to take a chance on each other to escape the Black Tower.

Graendal is revealed as Asmodean’s killer when Shaidar Haran attributes three deaths to her actions. We would have argued lengthily over whether the third was Asmodean or Sammael, except that the Glossary states it outright. No matter how gloriously some readers chortle over this, the mystery is diminished by stating something as fact outside of the story that is a matter of conjecture inside it. The identity of Asmodean’s killer is not central to the story, but it was central to the early interactions with fans, and has taken on added importance because of it. The Wheel of Time may not be in the mystery genre, but I still expect the answer to an important mystery in the story, not in the dust jacket, appendix or index. Whenever the answer to some question was too sensitive to answer without giving away more than he wanted, Robert Jordan responded ‘RAFO: read and find out’, and a few more decades of RAFO is more respectful than closing the discussion this way. A simple insertion of it as fact in the story could have mitigated these feelings.  The obvious place to insert the fact in the story is between these two lines:

“Three Chosen, destroyed by your actions. The design builds, a lattice of failure, a framework of incompetence.”

Three? The Great Lord knew of her hand in killing both Asmodean and Aran’gar? Who was the third? Of course!

“I had nothing to do with Mesaana’s fall.”

A little bit of introspection on Graendal’s part could have easily made her role in the deaths more clear in the story, and still allowed the fact to be repeated in the Glossary. But, since the author can’t satisfy everyone, they might as well satisfy themselves and maintain a thick skin.

Perrin meets Boundless, who appears as a wolf in Tel’aran’rhiod, and learns that he is a wolf by choice, not from losing control. Perrin has been freed from all doubts about himself, just in time for the Last Battle.

Olver wins the game of Snakes and Foxes, which is a nice way to mirror the fact that Mat won, but may also be yet another sign that the regular rules governing the world are breaking down. Reminders of that were less intrusive in this book than in The Gathering Storm.

Olver opens Verin’s letter to Mat, revealing a plot to invade Caemlyn from within. Mat defied expectations once again by not acting as curious as Verin had hoped, and as a result Caemlyn is aflame.

Picking up exactly where the prologue ended, a merchant escapes the Trolloc hordes which have overrun Heeth Tower, but is then murdered by a trio of red-veiled Aiel with filed teeth.  Ending the section by calling them ‘something terrible’ veers slightly into omniscient narration.

Rand is sequestered in his dreams, pondering his meeting on the morrow, when something perturbs the dream. Only the Mistress of Tel’aran’rhiod could have done this, and she is revealed as a desperate woman, regretful and pleading for release from the Dark One’s torments. This development disturbs Rand in a way that nothing else does, bringing up conflicting emotions. It was this section that provoked me to consider that Rand’s role is to break all bonds and save all humanity, even the Forsaken. Casting Lanfear as Pandora or Eve means she can be redeemed at the Last Battle. There is no doubt that she is truthful here, and used a narrow window of opportunity to attract Rand’s attention, only to be discovered almost immediately.

Lan prepares to make a fateful charge into Tarwin’s Gap, certain to be overwhelmed. Help never came to Malkier, or Manetheren, and only just in time for Maradon. Will Lan and the Malkieri fall alone?

The dark prophecy which Graendal read is presented, and confirms that the Towers of Midnight from Egwene’s dream are the Forsaken. And that they will kill Perrin. Then the Dark One will kill Rand.

Writing Lessons:

An author can’t please every reader. Write your story the way you want, with passion, and readers will respond.

Knife of Dreams - Chapters 11-12

In this section, Mat and Perrin are targeted by Darkfriends.

Tuon has the idea to visit a rough tavern of the lowest sort, a hell. Setalle may have given her this idea, so that she can see Mat in his natural habitat. Thom wagers that Tuon has let a sheltered life, winning a gold coin off Mat when she falls for their deceit that a tavern full of merchants is in fact a hell. Little examples about Mat’s petty wagers on just about anything are a good reminder of that aspect of his character. The same applies whenever he assesses the defenses of any location he enters, or the cleavage of any woman he encounters.

Mat plays a game of dice, winning as usual, and raising suspicions that he is cheating. When the stakes are raised to gold instead of silver, he knows that winning will trigger the accusation, and so would refusal to play. He rolls the dice, and luckily loses. Mat may not read, but he can count, and always knows the score: Laughing just as if it were not just their own coin won back, Camrin and Kostelle began dividing their winnings. His calmness and eye for subtle danger impresses Tuon.

Thom learns that Seanchan soldiers are looking for Tuon not to rescue her, but to kill her. She reckons it could be a plot by one of her sisters. Sending a secondary character off-page to gather information is a convenient way to introduce new elements quickly. Thom walks away, and returns with a plot twist in hand, no explanation required. Just in case the convenience of Thom learning about the plot to kill Tuon seems too far-fetched for readers or Mat, he adds he heard this from three different sources. Once again, almost no effort is expended to make the new information more credible. No convoluted explanations, just a simple one.

Moridin’s earlier orders to kill Mat and Perrin come to fruition, when a Darkfriend recognizes Mat, and leads a dozen men against him. Faced with tough odds, Mat takes action he deems will increase his odds of survival, no matter how odd they seem. Some of his memories come from nasty, efficient killers, and he never hesitates, once again displaying the rare traits that are suitable for life in the Imperial Family. His only lapse is to call Tuon by name, so that she can say she won the game after the battle is done. Mat has yet to find anything she will shirk from.

One of the Darkfriends is a local merchant, and Mat concludes he can’t explain away this man’s death in a satisfactory way, so they need to leave Valan Luca’s circus as soon as possible. In the next chapter, amid a swirl of colours, Perrin sees Mat leading a group on horseback into the forest, providing not only an idea of when Perrin’s actions take place in relation to Mat’s, but linking the chapters that makes the separate storylines seem like parts of a whole. The ta’veren viewing mechanism has not yet been explained, other than to say it is ta’veren, but it creates this link effortlessly, which is useful for the author, and will later be useful to the characters. I suspect A Memory of Light will involve concurrent events depending on each other’s success in different locales, such as Perrin waiting for Rand to do something before entering the Wolf Dream. The ability to monitor each other’s progress and actions will create links between the separate storylines, making them feel part of a whole, and allow for rapid pacing as the Last Battle reaches its climax.

Another link to Mat’s storyline and the earlier scene with the Forsaken is provided when Perrin is also set upon by Darkfriend assassins. There is also the man who turns into bugs, the fourth bubble of evil/failure of the Pattern shown in this book, providing another link between different storylines.

Perrin isn’t romancing Tylee Khirgan, but she as impressed with his toughness as Mat is with Tuon’s.

Balwer serves the same purpose as Thom in the previous chapter, wandering off to return with important information later, no further explanation required. It’s just what Balwer and Cha Faile do.

As a nannycrat working with the blind cord police, I love Tylee’s nervousness about dealing with an Imperial functionary. Almost every character in the story to date can be reasoned with by arguing about need, affiliation, honour, or some other ideal. Functionaries care about process. The fact that the manufactory has been successful at producing Forkroot is of no consequence, the functionary would have been just as dedicated to the correct process and procedures if the project was failing. Just one of the Goat’s thousand heads.

Robert Jordan sometimes uses uncommon words which make his prose richer, even though a simpler word may have worked as well.  

A farm on rolling ground hove into sight

I’m afraid there’s no jaunt into Maderin for you, Precious.

Small piles of gold and silver admixed with a few gold coins lay in front of each of the players.

In this next one, he repeats the fact to emphasize it, adding a word for even more emphasis: She hissed at him. She held the entry flap open, but she purely hissed like a cat.

Writing Lessons:

Look for ways to cut back on explanations while retaining their credibility, like having a competent character state a fact, learning things off-page, or using a simple explanation instead of a lengthy one.

Knife of Dreams - Chapters 8-10

In this section, Mat unites his followers.

In other posts I’ve pointed out how the books are most entertaining when they follow a character for a few chapters, then jump to another locale for a few more chapters, and so on, so that each locale is seen three or more times, and enough time is spent in each locale to advance the story. This section takes us to the fifth consecutive chapter from Mat’s point of view, with one more to come after. That’s a significant chunk of the book, and a sign that either some characters will be cut out, or have abridged sections. Nonetheless, Mat’s uniquely funny voice and a sense of advancement in the relationships among his followers make these chapters entertaining and flow smoothly.

A number of other ongoing plots are advanced: Mat and Aludra make a deal regarding her cannons, Bayle and Egeanin get married, the sul’dam begin to learn how to channel from the Aes Sedai, more of the Prophecies concerning the Last Battle are revealed, and continual references to the Snakes and Foxes keep cropping up.

Tuon educates Mat about the finer points of reading omens. Most omens are related to animals’ behaviour. The Pattern could have a wonderful control mechanism for the Seanchan Empire with the fervent belief in these superstitions. The Empress and High Blood take them very seriously and appear to alter plans based on seemingly random events. I wonder if Robert Jordan was detail-oriented enough to have known some of these omens when he wrote the earlier books and insert them before readers had any context to interpret them. Even he wouldn’t have. Right? Funnily, things that Mat knows to be true, she derides as superstition.

Mat finally gets Tuon to take a horseback ride with him, and while visiting some ruins he makes a startling realization: the Aelfinn and Eelfinn have established a lasting connection to him and may know exactly what he is doing.

Egeanin tells Mat more about Tuon and what she knows of life in the Imperial Family. Mat has slowly been falling for Tuon, despite starting out as him simply trying to learn more about his fated wife. Setalle Anan is also helping him as much as she can, and trying to correct his roguish ways.

All in all, Mat leaps from misadventure to another, slowly getting to know Tuon, slowly gaining the confidence of followers, and slowly letting other followers get out of hand. Amongst these, Joline loses her temper against Tuon, and then finds an a’dam clapped around her neck. Tuon provides a taste of her effective training methods. Then Mat steps into the fray, unlocking the a’dam despite Tuon controlling the Aes Sedai to weave flows of air around Mat. The Aes Sedai and Tuon had already seen the foxhead medallion in action, so this is the second time Mat is able to do what no man should be able to do, earning the respect of everyone involved. It has taken a while, but Mat’s ragtag band is forging links of trust, dependence, and mutual respect.

A bubble of evil or breakdown in the Pattern has an ancient village materialize, then vanish, taking a peddler with it. Once again, this stands out as a little contrived, seeming to serve no direct purpose other than to provide another example of the signs heralding the Last Battle. It does serve an incidental purpose as a motivating factor for Egeanin and Juilin to make peace between them, and vacate the tent, leaving Thom, Noal, Olver and Mat alone.

Thom has been reading a letter over and over, subtly making Mat curious about the letter, hoping he will ask about it, as Moiraine insisted he must before he can show it to him. Mat, oblivious as always, has taken months to finally ask Thom about it, and at last we get confirmation that Moiraine is not dead. Mat agrees to undertake a perilous journey back to the realm of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn to rescue her, with Thom and Noal in tow. This gives some satisfaction that a long-awaited plot will be resolved, but its resolution is yet several books away.

Writing Lessons:

Create suspense and tension by telling what must happen, then dragging out its resolution.

The Fires of Heaven - Chapters 13-17

In this section, new allies give refuge from old acquaintances, and Egwene surpasses Nynaeve.

The lengthy focus on Elayne and Nynaeve means the book is following a format more like The Dragon Reborn than the quick switches of The Shadow Rising. So far, it has been to the detriment of the story. Short bits with Siuan, or Bryne, or Min, or Moiraine have not increased the pace, particularly when those bits share a common element with the two main storylines: length treks across the land.

Nynaeve’s strong façade is developing cracks. Elayne gains the upper hand in several conversations. Thom and Juilin are right when they should be wrong. Egwene knows more than she does. Nynaeve tries very hard to convince herself that she is doing no wrong even as her mistakes pile up around her. After a few chapters of shrill annoyance, she finally lies outright to Egwene and is made to apologize. Watching Nynaeve get put in her place is a relief and pleasant outcome. Never before has anyone so clearly had the upper hand over her. Now that she has been forced to recognize her shortcomings, and realizes that while everyone else moves forward, she is falling behind, she will have to find some way to pick herself back up.

Egwene’s quiet serenity is a good juxtaposition with Nynaeve’s bad attitude. Having Wise Ones and Moiraine and Nynaeve herself all recognize that she is gaining maturity is itself a pleasant change from her playing Mistress Snip in The Dragon Reborn. Moiraine’s realization that to control, you must first surrender has been borne out by Egwene’s performance. She can hope it will bear fruit for her as well, now that she can surrender to Rand’s plan to move beyond the Dragonwall.

Birgitte has been helping Nynaeve and Elayne regularly. Her knowledge of Moghedien and the Forsaken lets her play the role of knowledgeable mentor.

The utility of Tel’aran’rhiod is shown as it is learned that Elaida is Amyrlin, and they can read all her personal messages. The strange characteristics of Tel’aran’rhiod are prominently displayed, including time elasticity with regards to Birgitte, the abode of the Heroes, how to control the environment, controlling your appearance, nightmares, and the lack of weaves in the real world being mirrored in Tel’aran’rhiod (despite Elayne’s caution around Callandor). Birgitte can even sense ripples from Dreamers walking about her realm.

Galad has joined the Children of the Light, and coincidentally meets up with Elayne in Sienda. Not too big of a coincidence since Niall recalled all the Whitecloaks to… capture both banks of the River Eldar. Not long ago Niall was going to take Almoth Plain and clamp Tarabon in a vise. He had Geofram Bornhald and Eamon Valda in Andor in the last year, and sent Dain there as well to search the Two Rivers. He meddled in some border dispute between Sammael’s Illian and its neighbours. And now he is withdrawing into his own borders except for some excursions to take the border towns across the river? His ambitions have been curtailed, unless it’s Fain-fed paranoia making him want to keep his forces close.

Galad’s presence prods Elayne to make a hasty escape. He is the first heroic character, a potential ally, to switch over to an enemy of Rand’s. Aside from the shock of seeing a friend side with the villains, it provides a personal reason for Elayne and Nynaeve to avoid Whitecloaks. Random Whitecloak arrows give a sense of menace, but Galad’s interference is more dangerous to them if less lethal.

Luca’s menagerie and traveling circus will make the travels less monotonous than the wagon. With a Seanchan animal trainer introduced, a familiar Illuminator, and a host of other named characters, the plan to escape into Ghealdan is expected to work.

When introducing so many characters, it simplifies understanding to define them with tags and by their relationships to each other.

Petra: Strong and wide.

Clarine: Trains dogs, married to Petra.

Latelle: Trains bears, sneers, jealous of Elayne and Nynaeve

Aludra: Illuminator, lost her job because of Rand, helped Mat.

Chavanas: Acrobats, interested in Elayne and Nynaeve, distant nationalities: Saldaea, Sea Folk

Bari and Kin: Jugglers, brothers, worried about Thom

Cerandin: trains elephants, submits to Elayne

Luca: ringleader, greedy, proud, pursuing Elayne

Despite very quick appearances, there is enough revealed to make the reader anticipate some of the later interactions, mostly with respect to who will be angry at the newcomers, and who will become romantically involved.

Writing Lessons:

When introducing new characters, defining their relationships is as important as their appearance or occupation.

The Fires of Heaven - Chapters 7-12

In this section, Nynaeve butts heads with everyone, and makes a big mistake

Several times Egwene says she will work at something until she finds it out. Readers learn little except that Egwene is more determined than she is successful. Egwene comes across as the kind of student who submits extra work for credit.

Moiraine has a rare point of view that reveals little. There is confirmation that she has seen visions of the future through the ter’angreal in Rhuidean, allusion to her ultimate plan for Lan, and near certainty about her urgent need to guide Rand before it is too late. She also takes particular care to attach the redstone ter’angreal just so in the back of a wagon. Those must be fairly specific glimpses of the paths her life could take.

Nynaeve is reintroduced and portrayed as bull-headedly wrong about so many things. A Whitecloak encounter emphasizes the danger they are in, but is just an example to set the mood. The real Whitecloak menace lies ahead. Nynaeve falls for a simple trap, drinking from a cup she should not have to try put the woman dosing her at ease. Forkroot is potent enough that it should have been widespread as a poisoner’s tool, even without its ability to block channeling.

Vague threats make the reader wonder about hidden dangers, but the pigeon messaging in Mardecin is so vague it undoes any impact. A pigeon goes to the White Tower, to the main threat that the young women know of. A second pigeon sent by the same double-dealing woman goes west, towards Tanchico? Tremalking? Moghedien? And then yet another pigeon, telling what the first two messages were, is sent in a third direction. Amador? Salidar? Darkfriends? Does it matter at this point? The reader is left with the impression that everyone in every faction with any interest in any of the plots knows exactly where Elayne and Nynaeve are.

Nynaeve and Elayne have one of the Seven Seals on the Dark One’s prison. That makes six accounted for; three broken, three fragile.

Romance is still in the air. Three older man – younger women relationships are discussed: Lan and Nynaeve, Gareth and Siuan, Thom and Elayne. Elayne’s infatuation with Thom seems to stem from Elayne’s attempt to emulate her mother. Some readers get creeped out by Elayne’s behaviour, but she is just one character, the other young women are far more proper. To make room for Aviendha’s romance with Rand, Elayne needs to be preoccupied with someone else at the time, even if it amounts to nothing.

In the various encounters, we are now getting our first sense of just how much Aes Sedai dabble in people’s lives. Most people never see an Aes Sedai, and rulers may have Aes Sedai advisors. But it is now apparent that many people undertake jobs for Aes Sedai, either spying or other tasks. It doesn’t seem a very far cry from how Darkfriends operate.

Bryne needs a new pipe, his old one represents fealty to the Queen of Andor. The woman he is pursuing has a quest. Maybe she will give him a new pipe?

Many portions of these chapters focus on some detailed descriptions of daily activities. These are the kinds of paragraphs that raise the ire of many readers. Instead of a short description of making camp for the night, several long-winded paragraphs tell more than readers want to know. Unlike earlier passages in The Dragon Reborn with Perrin, where the actions revealed character, these sections are thinner or less obvious with in-depth characterization. This paragraph is one of many about the camp, and only on typing this up could I identify its purpose. It conveys Nynaeve’s organizational and observational skills, and how she is a busybody keeping idle hands at work.

Once Nynaeve had enjoyed a slow, cooling wash of face and hands, she set about making the camp ready, and put Juilin to breaking dead branches from the trees for a fire. By the time Thom returned with two wicker hampers slung across the gelding’s back, her and Elayne’s blankets were laid out under the wagon and the two men’s under the branches of one of the twenty-foot willows, a good supply of firewood had been stacked, the teakettle stood cooling beside the ashes of a fire in a circle cleared of leaves, and the thick pottery cups had been washed. Juilin was grumbling to himself as he caught water in the tiny stream to refill the water barrels. From the snatches Nynaeve heard, she was glad he kept most of it to an inaudible mutter. From her perch on one of the wagon shafts, Elayne hardly tried to hide her interested attempt to make out what he was saying. Both she and Nynaeve had put on clean dresses on the other side of the wagon, switching colors as it happened.

Nynaeve’s personality makes it hard to remember her recent accomplishments.

Writing Lessons:

Vagueness can create confusion and disinterest. If you are vague about important details, have a good reason to do so.

The Great Hunt - Chapters 23-26

In this section, Nynaeve becomes Accepted, while Thom declines to join the Hunt.

The viewpoint characters are getting ever more numerous. Some of the viewpoints, such as Min’s and Thom’s, are kept necessarily short to maintain the pace, even as they expand the scope of the story. One purpose of these viewpoints is to remind the reader that as ta’veren, Rand affects every character he encounters, Else, Gawyn, Elayne, random farmers, Min, and more, prompting them to move where the Pattern needs them. Verin and Moiraine have made this observation, just as Gawyn does right before Rand has an incredibly fortuitous meeting with Thom. The power of ta’veren is an incredibly useful plot device that satisfactorily explains away any number of improbable encounters and events. The more people Rand meets, the more this plot device can be used. The broad array of people from every walk of life that Rand meets also serves to illustrate that he is destined to save all humanity. Saving the World means more if you see more of the world you’re saving.

Through ta’veren, the Pattern uses people as pawns to allow Rand to fulfill his destiny, burn their freedom. The human equivalent is Daes Dae’mar, the Game of Houses. Every action of the Cairhienin nobility is aimed at gaining advantage, burn the wishes of the pawns. Perhaps the intensity of the game in Cairhien is due to the fact that the political structure is less rigid than other hierarchies, so scheming for advantage is worthwhile to anyone who plays. In a short time, Caldevwin has already demonstrated inordinate political acumen for an officer supervising an earth-moving project. Loial has heard King Galldrian is a disgrace, trying to buy prestige and stability with bread and entertainers. No sooner has Rand unpacked than letters to bring him into the game begin arriving. Rand’s determination to not be used by Ba’alzamon, Aes Sedai or the Cairhienin nobles will soon include his unwillingness to be used by the Pattern. Despite being a master at Daes Dae’mar, Thom cannot win the game the Pattern is playing with him.

Nynaeve also has little choice but to follow the path put before her. Her revenge, her pursuit of Lan, her desire to protect Rand, all depend on following the rules of the White Tower. She has already begun to bend those rules, taking satisfaction in passing the test for Accepted by cheating with her use of the One Power to make the exit arch reappear. The world inside the ter’angreal has properties of the World of Dreams, in which Nynaeve can create thorns to pierce her palms, in which force of will can alter the reality before her to bring the vanished archway back into existence. Were the thorns crafted of the Power, of dreamstuff, or were they real? Nynaeve’s test involved a number of never before seen oddities. Did these oddities happen because Nynaeve is a woman of extraordinary willpower and strong sense of identity, or is there some other force at work? The holes in Nynaeve’s palms are reminiscent of another saviour figure. As male/female parallels begin to show up more and more often, why shouldn’t the saviour of humanity have a female equivalent? Her testing involved a trinity of trials, threatening her body, her ‘family’, and her love; her past, present and future. I’ll keep an eye out for other subtle hints that Nynaeve is the female equivalent to Rand, the saidar to his saidin.

Egwene’s low key romance with Rand hits several bumps as Else, Min, and Elayne are reintroduced. Min knows she will fall in love with Rand and has dropped hints that Elayne might be in the same boat. Galad serves as the male equivalent in beauty to Lanfear, tempting Egwene just as Rand was tempted. After so much expectation built up that Egwene would be furious at Rand for his flirtations, Egwene’s encounter with Galad is a rich humourous payoff.

The threat of gentling is front and center again with two examples, Logain and Owyn, reminding readers that the only way to prevent the madness may be worse than the madness itself. Elaida’s interest in Rand reinforces the feeling of danger.

Writing Lessons:

Repetition of a plot element reinforces it, especially when revealed in a different way or coming from a different source.

The Eye of the World - Chapters 25-28

In this section, the heroes begin to make their separate ways to Caemlyn, gaining and losing allies.

Perrin and Egwene have found a mentor-type character to guide them. Elyas proves to be a fount of information on the world, gushing out little known facts about Maidens of the Spear, Wolves, Traveling People, and almost something about Aes Sedai, but no, he just doesn’t want to talk about them. Raen could have served this role easily, so it seems Elyas’ main reason to appear is to introduce the wolves. Ba’alzamon is mildly surprised Perrin has Wolfbrother Powers, and claims to know something of them, maybe just from haunting the World of Dreams so often, maybe because some cursory knowledge of them still exists.

To spare us wondering whether this Wolfbrother stuff is real, Perrin becomes the ominiscient narrator of the inner lives of wolves. Perrin feels it, therefore it is fact. Presenting the wolves’ biographies and feelings in this manner saves the author some effort, and makes comprehension simpler for the reader. When Perrin later deals with human scents, his understanding is never as clear as when feeling what the wolves feel. I should compare to see if the later wolf scenes flow as smoothly and clearly as these scenes do.

Elyas gets a funny feeling that he has learned to trust. Fantasy books are overrun with these fortuitous feelings and dreams. At least Nyaneve Listening to the Wind, Lan smelling the traces of a Myrddraal, or Moiraine tracking the magic coins she gave the boys all have some semblance of explanation with the One Power. What gives Elyas his sudden trustworthy feeling? Is it a reaction to Perrin’s dream? How does Raen read the sky and abruptly decide to change directions? Is he reading omens like a Seanchan might?

Similarly, does Moiraine muttering about the Dark One’s gaze on the world and her assessment that he is still watching mean she has some way of sensing it? It appears to be particular weaves she’s learned, but is this something fairly unique she’s picked up or do most Aes Sedai have these same weaves and just choose to not pay any attention to it? If she wasn’t being elevated as the Great Know It All to the reader, it would veer towards making her appear to be a flake, or a fraud.

With Perrin’s Wolfbrother powers, all three of the boys now have cause to believe they are the one the Dark One is seeking (remember Mat’s connection to the Old Blood). And while the reader has been led to believe that Rand is Ba’alzamon’s intended target due to his prominence at the beginning of the book, this sudden focus on Perrin might be enough to make them second-guess that assumption. More conspiracy-theory prone readers (like yours truly) may note that Mat has no point of view chapters, and wonder if the other boys are the diversion, and Mat is the true target. We’ll later realize that revealing  Mat’s point of view now would ruin the secret he’s keeping alongside that dagger under his coat.

Once Thom explains how Owyn’s death led him to help the boys with their Aes Sedai troubles, there really doesn’t seem to be any further reason to keep him around. The boys can be put in greater danger by removing their last mentor character. Thom’s apparent purpose has been served, and he died well, demonstrating that characters are at real risk of death. Just ignore future books for this discussion. 

Robert Jordan often makes a description do more than simply describe, it also reveals something about the object or person being described. I have two short examples.

In an entire paragraph describing the colors of Tinker wagons and the domestic chaos of the children, he concludes with: ‘They looked like butterflies in a field of wildflowers’. We don’t yet know about the Way of the Leaf, but this description is already preparing us for that revelation. What could be more harmless or less violent than a butterfly? The comparison to butterflies was  done to serve more than one purpose.

Elyas’ cloak is called ‘a crazy quilt of rabbit and squirrel’. There are two words in there that are associated with erratic behavior, which Elyas demonstrates as soon as he opens his mouth. The choice of adjectives and nouns introduces the concept that Elyas doesn’t behave like normal people do, even before we’ve seen any of that behaviour.

Writing Lessons:

With so many words to choose from, use the ones that best introduce or reinforce the concepts you want the reader to get.

The Eye of the World - Chapters 13-15

In this section, the boys get their first chance to interact with the outside world. The City of Baerlon isn’t a very alien culture to the boys, but they quickly realize that the differences may be minor, but are still large enough to put them in danger. Despite several warnings, they need to be reminded of the restrictions they are under, and manage to attract the exact sort of attention they were supposed to avoid.

Rand reveals too much to Master Fain, who he still classifies as ‘not a stranger’, and therefore the rules of secrecy don’t apply to him. Fain’s reappearance, and his mistrust of Aes Sedai, adds to the boys’ dilemma of deciding who to trust. With each of the Two Rivers strangers offering advice about who to mistrust, I expect the final decision when confronting the Dark One to be to trust others despite their differences and motivations. I relate this to Min’s viewing, the one she cites most frequently throughout the series: thousands of sparks trying to fill the shadow, while the shadow tries to swallow them all. A metaphor for trust and mistrust?

Along with the sparks and shadow, many other prophecies, viewings and legends are told over these chapters. To lightly paraphrase Thom, there isn’t much point in prophecies that are easily understood or fulfilled. None of them are related to each other that a reader could discern, aside from two different ones about swords that will turn out to be one and the same. This is where Robert Jordan yanked the sheets off the furniture and began to show off the wealth of legendary and historical references the series became famous for. The groundwork and expectations are laid here. With every one of them that comes true, readers flip back to look for clues as to the next that will be fulfilled. That also raises the expectation that every single last foreshadowing will be satisfactorily resolved. Once you start doing something, readers expect you to keep doing it.

Of interest to those of us waiting on the final book, is that Min describes these as the strongest images, meaning that these are the most important? If so, what is the meaning of trees flowering around Perrin or a Laughing Face over Mat? How are these images more important than others? Why haven’t they been fulfilled yet? Many variations of the bloody hand and white-hot iron have been offered, but how are they as important as the rest?

In any case, there are three sources of ‘prophecy’, each with its own trustworthiness. Min claims to never be wrong, Thom claims to know variations that may not all be true, and Ba’alzamon belittles and intimidates with his supposed intimate knowledge of the past and insight into the future. Add in Moiraine, and there are a number of options at the author’s disposal to reveal new information. The person chosen to make the revelation will affect how the characters and readers interpret its truthfulness. Why are the first words out of Ba’alzamon’s fiery mouth about the Eye of the World? Is he really worried about it, or laying a trap to lay hands on it as he will later claim? Probably both. Who is directing Rand towards the Eye, Ba’alzamon, or the Pattern? Probably both. How does Ba’alzamon kill those rats anyway?

The only person who can reveal reliable information about the One Power is Moiraine. Most of the discussion about the One Power so far is related to the madness that affected the men. We don’t yet know that Rand’s strange giddiness is related to the One Power despite other subtle clues. One way that the reader is distracted from these subtle hints is by placing them in a scene where there is an immediate threat. The unlikelihood of Bela’s midnight dash happens as the Draghkar circles overhead.  The Children of the Light command the reader’s attention and concern far more than Rand’s strange feelings. Even after the Whitecloaks leave, the urgency to find Perrin keeps the reader from thinking overlong on Rand’s minor problem.

Writing Lessons:

You can play up or play down certain events or pieces of information by placing them near or far from items that will command a reader’s attention.

The Eye of the World - Chapters 9-12

In this section, the heroes act on the information they have, and flee the Two Rivers. The party is rounded out by an adventurous Egwene and a potentially insidious and troublemaking Thom. They both have good reason for wanting to join, and Moiraine has good reasons for allowing them to. Her argument is one of necessity. She wants to leave as soon as possible, and with as little notice as possible. She’s eager to have dibs on Egwene, and figures she can deal with Thom later if he proves troublesome. Thom knows it too, but he’s in a mood to undermine an Aes Sedai despite the possible consequences. He’s the first of many who will purposefully do what they must, then pay the price.

We don’t need to know Moiraine and Lan’s and Thom’s backstory to understand what they are doing, and that they are highly motivated to do it. The motivations can be made clear in time. If you read New Spring, then you might have a slightly more trusting attitude towards Moiraine and Aes Sedai. We don’t know how Tam knows what he knows, but he tells Rand to watch the ‘tricksome’ Aes Sedai. It’s an effective way to build tension, when you have two or more mentor-type characters who are offering opposing advice, and the hero must make a decision lacking crucial information. Because of the openness and honesty of the relationships each of them fosters, Rand’s trust will quickly fall in the order: Tam, Thom, Moiraine.

Moiraine will get a strong last place finish due to her interest in getting Egwene to the White Tower for Aes Sedai training. Egwene would be a prize to attract Moiraine even if the Trollocs had not attacked. Making sure Rand knows she’s going to Tar Valon creates an extra motivation for Rand to complete the journey, but Moiraine does not realize it will come at the cost of her trustworthiness and credibility.

It’s practically inevitable that Rand would mistrust Aes Sedai. Even if he hadn’t been mistrustful of the legends in the first place, even if he wasn’t resentful of Moiraine dragging Egwene along, the very first thing the bad guys do after they’ve been routed by the Aes Sedai is to attack the boys in their dreams. It’s not a face-to-face attack, just an immediate attempt to discredit the Aes Sedai by showing Tar Valon as a place of danger. An attempt to separate the boys from their protector. Given the role that the World of Dreams plays in the series, I can’t accept that this is just some random nightmare, or that Rand would accidentally dream himself to Shayol Ghul.

The standout writing is in Moiraine’s telling of the Fall of Manetheren. Not just an info-dump, not just a means to escape an angry mob, Moiraine’s tale reveals the character of the Two Rivers folk, and situates them in a much larger world, historically and philosophically. Manetheren’s opposition to the Dark One is renewed by Moiraine’s tale, proving that you can’t kill an idea. Drawing on the tale of the Fall of Manetheren, the boys will find their own resolve to endure later perils.

Writing lessons:

Stories told by your characters are not only an effective way to reveal backstory, but to form other characters as they respond to the stories they hear. Make your stories reveal more than just past events.  

The Eye of the World - Chapters 5-8

In this section, the threat to the characters is revealed in the form of Trollocs. The jarring suddenness of the attack, happening as the heroes prepare a quiet domestic dinner also tells us about the enemy’s opportunistic and vicious mindset.   The attack on the farmhouse gives readers an idea of a victim’s expected treatment at the hands of the enemy. The Trollocs demonstrate a brutal desire to end human life, and wanton destruction of anything that might help humans sustain it. What they can’t break or burn, they render unusable, smearing it with their own filth if that is all they have at hand. Burning a village is still a bit of an abstraction, but Rand discovering how quickly and efficiently the Trollocs have made a ruin of the farmhouse is a more potent way to make the reader understand what the enemy does, and evoke an emotional response.  

It’s easy to lose track of this when later dealings with Forsaken give more human motivations to the Dark One. The Trollocs and Myrddraal should be more representative of the Dark One’s objective: the end of all life.

The introduction of the supposedly mythical Trollocs allows the characters to consider the idea of other mythical beings actually existing, such as Aiel, Green Man, and Ogier. Introducing a new concept can be tricky, you don’t want to bore readers with heavy exposition, but you need them to be familiar enough with it when it finally comes up later in the story. Contrasting the future idea with the current idea allows not only the opportunity to give the desired information, but to present it in a manner that is logical to the characters, and therefore more credible to the reader.

Two threats to Rand’s identity are revealed. Tam may not be his father, and the Trollocs may be seeking him out personally. Imagine what the story would feel like without either of these: just like our teenage D&D campaigns: Walk-fight-walk-fight-walk-fight.

Can you find the paragraph that is not told from Rand’s point of view? His back is turned, so it’s obviously not him seeing the expressions and gestures.

An important theme is brought front and center: Trust. The Two Rivers folk have a strong and intimate fellowship with each other, even with their least likeable neighbours, the Coplins. Strangers don’t benefit from the same trust, and none less than Moiraine, the Aes Sedai in their midst. Rand, Thom, and Bran can’t say whether she can be trusted, but Rand decides trusting in her is better than letting his father die. This may be the last time he can make such a decision without external forces trying to affect his judgment of who he can trust. Lack of communication is often pointed out as a common theme running through the books, but the reason for that lack is first and foremost a lack of trust between the characters. I expect  A Memory of Light to delve into how humanity must trust in itself, and each other, if they are to overcome the Dark One. In Haral Luhhan’s words: “the Light will take care of us all. And if the Light doesn’t, well, we’ll just take care of ourselves. Remember, we’re Two Rivers folk.” The challenge is getting the whole world to act like Two Rivers folk!

Writing Lessons:

Even when the story is epic, look for ways to make it personal to your characters, and more importantly, your readers.