Knife of Dreams - Chapters 5-7

In this section, Faile and Mat advance their romantic relationships.

Faile is steadily recruiting help, faster than she would like. Rumour travels quickly among the gai’shain, and some of her new followers may not be very reliable. Faile marches inexorably closer to her death at Galina’s hands when some of her followers are able to steal the Oath Rod. Readers have been told Galina’s plan is to get the Oath Rod, then kill Faile. She is unknowingly charging towards her own murder. This has the effect of creating anxiety over Perrin’s recent treaty; instead of beginning the attack now before Faile gets killed, Perrin is heading the other way to gather Forkroot. What looked like progress now costs precious time that Faile may not have. Reversing expectations like this is a wonderful way to keep the reader invested in the story.

Rolan makes his romantic intentions towards Faile known. His is the third possible means of escape she has before her, the other two relying on Perrin and Galina. Accepting Rolan’s help may end up with her sleeping with him. She further realizes that all of Rolan’s spear brothers would know if she did sleep with him. Despite his claim that what happens when you wear gai’shain white is forgotten when you put it off, she still recognizes that secrets are hard to keep: “If Rolan could be believed they all knew! Hope and danger, all tied together inextricably. What a tangle.”

The very next paragraph is a metaphor for her decision regarding Rolan. This is not only a description of the search for the Oath Rod, but also a description of Faile feeling exposed and dirty, hoping to keep her secrets as best she can when so many know. Covering herself as best as she could with her hands, Faile huddled together with other women wearing Sevanna’s belt and collar – they had been made to put those on again straightaway - huddled for a scrap of decency while Shaido rummaged through the gai’shain tents, tossing everything out into the mud. All Faile could do was think about her hiding place inside the town and pray. Hope and danger, and no way to untangle them. As Rolan advised, Faile will not speak of it again, even to herself, and neither will the other women in her situation, each of them complicit in keeping each other’s secrets.

A disadvantage of participating in Theoryland is that we tend to only give credit to information that is given in the text of the story, so in the past I did not believe Faile had slept with Rolan. In this case, Faile has become an unreliable narrator, refusing to even broach the topic of her affair with Rolan within her internal point of view, and certainly never alluding to it in the text. If what happens while she is wearing white can be forgotten, she has already done so to the extent that she can, and the reader will be none the wiser unless they read between the lines. It’s a wonderful piece of writing that says so much while appearing to say so little.

Mat is having much less luck with Tuon. He buys her a gift of a zebra-like horse, a rare and valued breed. Before he can give it to her, he gives Tuon a nickname: Precious. Mat asks Noal about Jain Farstrider, since he is oddly knowledgeable about his ‘cousin’. Even after keeping his identity secret for this long, it still feels contrived that Jain Farstrider is in the story. It would have been obviously worse had readers been told who he was right away. Tuon cuts through Noal’s melancholy, and just like that, another of Mat’s followers is as much under her control as his. The back and forth tug of war between Mat and Tuon for anything and everything is entertaining, and despite Mat seeming to achieve his goals as the relationship develops, he loses as much or more to Tuon’s influence.

Some Seanchan show up outside the circus tents, and after a brief scuffle, the circus folk pack up and move on before the soldiers come back to cause more trouble. Mat is alarmed that the Aes Sedai are channeling with soldiers right outside, and a confrontation with Joline results in Mat learning part of Setalle Anan’s secret: she was stilled. Learning that she has secrets at all feels only a little contrived, because readers still don’t know whether she was an important Aes Sedai or a run of the mill one. Once again, the brilliant ta’veren mechanism can be used to explain away any number of incredible coincidences such as the high profile list of Mat’s followers.

Writing Lessons:

Create tension by having progress in one plotline result in greater danger in another plotline.

Crossroads of Twilight - Chapters 23-26

In this section, Rand reappears and makes the first of several fateful decisions to come

The title of the book, Crossroads of Twilight, implies a choice of roads, either of which could be leading toward darkness or light. Rand is the first character faced with a decision that involves major concessions on his part. Readers have already been warmed up for this since the Rebel Sitters voted to enter talks with the Black Tower, and Tarna has proposed a course of action that is anathema to other Red Ajah.

Cadsuane’s introductory paragraph describes a dividing line “The air in the room was just sufficiently warmer than outside…”, and uncertain outcomes “…to put a mist on the glass panes set in the red-painted casements, and the glass contained bubbles besides, but Cadsuane stood peering out as if she could see the dreary landscape clearly.” Descriptions of the farmers outside and the weather also act as metaphors for the situation she and Rand are in. It’s one of the more obvious uses of this technique in this book, which has had subtler than usual metaphors worked into the descriptive text. So subtle I often can’t tell if one is even there.

Cadsuane ponders everything she sees, perceptively picking up on many subtleties, and continuing to represent the Light itself. She still can’t figure Verin out completely, another clue that the Brown has some Shadowy motivations. Cadsuane tells Merise that however she decides to handle her Warder is probably right, implying that such matters are not affairs the Light mixes in. Cadsuane judges Nynaeve, who acts as Rand’s conscience, as a frivolous girl, full of passions, who only rarely demonstrated that she had a brain. Nynaeve is still wearing her angreal and ter’angreal, either to protect Rand or out of wariness of him. Cadsuane remains uncertain about whether saidin has been cleansed of the Dark One’s taint, trusting more to Merise’s bond with Narishma than to either of their own observations from linking with one of the men. She would have more faith if she had that bond herself, leading her to reflect once again on the wilder in the Black Hills who taught her that what must be endured, can be endured, and who may have given Cadsuane her collection of ter’angreal. Is that the same lesson Cadsuane must teach Rand? Since this reminder has come up, it seems likely to be so. She wonders at the affinity between Rand and Alivia, not knowing of Min’s viewing regarding her helping Rand to die. Rand himself is in a poor place, hardened, tired, and nearly disabled from the sickness caused by the taint.

As has so often been the case, Robert Jordan uses the sun to describe a character’s mood and situation: Midafternoon sunlight should have been slanting through the windows of Rand’s bedchamber, but a hard rain was falling outside, and all the lamps were lit to hold off a twilight darkness.

Rand too can almost see visions of his fellow ta’veren when he thinks of them. Other times an almost familiar face appears, accompanied by dizziness. Rand grasps saidin and we get the first description of clean saidin, for once not accompanied by a description of the taint. He has begun thinking of his weaves as webs, as Lews Therin does.

Logain has traveled to Rand’s hiding place, accompanied by several warders, Asha’man, Bashere’s men and Loial. Logain’s aura still speaks of glory to come.

Loial managed to have the majority of Waygates closed and guarded. This isn’t quite attacking the Shadow’s supply lines, but it is the only defense humanity has put up as of yet.

Rand and Cadsuane learn about the bonded Aes Sedai with Logain. It was a very nice and unexpected twist to have the Aes Sedai become the Warder. Rand worries that the Tower will want to balance things by asking to bond Asha’man, a suggestion Tarna has already brought up and Cadsuane has independently decided should be done.

Logain warns about Taim’s influence on the Asha’man, and the orders he gives which supposedly come from Rand. Rand is irritated that Logain isn’t thankful for the cleansing he performed. Rand gets philosophical about the Creator, thinking “A gardener did not weep for each blossom that fell.” He is trying to convince himself that is true.

Rand puts the Black Tower to the side, and broods upon the attempts to acquire the seals on the Dark One’s prison. He can’t fight the Shadow and Seanchan at the same time, so he sends Logain, Bashere and Loial to arrange a truce with the Seanchan.

His decision is based on recent conversations with Alivia, but also on his failed attempt to stop the Seanchan from invading Illian. He set them back for a few months, but their way is to learn and adapt and overcome. A useful trait to have on his side, if he can get it. Making a truce with an enemy to fight a greater enemy is the choice that each character will have to make in the lead-up to the Last Battle.

Perrin needs food for his troops, so he is setting off to the walled town of So Habor. While this is a realistic problem a commander might face, it is also mundane, making it likely readers will find it uninteresting as a focal point of the story. As it happens, the town of So Habor is one of the most interesting locales in the book, which is unfortunately a poor reflection on the rest of the book.

His first view of the area is abandoned fields and seemingly uninhabited houses. Empty. Men manning the town’s walls are filthy and unkempt. They ask how they can tell whether Perrin is alive. It seems a foolish question but it points to the moral turmoil from which he is suffering. We don’t get an immediate answer to what happened in the town, but the consequences are plain enough. Fear, living in filth, distrust. Perrin sees that the clean grain samples are kept in sealed jars, with well-cut threaded lids.  Their best is kept hidden away unless they need to show it off to someone. He demands to see the rest of the grain. It is heavily contaminated with vermin, crawling with weevils. Each sack is almost half weevil, half grain. The grain can only be cleaned by sifting through it carefully, winnowing out the insects. It is a metaphor for Perrin’s fate. He is at the halfway point, like a sack of grain, teetering towards being devoured by the weevils, needing to be winnowed to preserve the grain. He judges that ghosts and weevils don’t explain all that is wrong with the people of So Habor; they have simply given up, and in doing so the badness has been allowed to fester and grow inside them as it has consumed their warehouses. It’s all explained away as the Dark One’s touch, but the scene was placed here to show a possible fate for Perrin. So Habor serves a similar purpose as Shadar Logoth did in The Eye of the World.

Writing Lessons:

Location, weather, events, behaviour: anything can be used as a metaphor.

Mundane problems make a mundane story.

The Path of Daggers - Summary

The Path of Daggers ends on such a weak note, it’s hard to think of it as a complete book. The Hero gets ambushed in dramatic fashion, and survives, but is unable to deliver any retribution. A similar attack on an Aes Sedai is treated without emotion or build-up. And the final chapter covers a handful of plotlines from other characters that haven’t been seen for the last half of the book, only one of which involves any action or genuine excitement.

While the book moved rapidly and had several rewarding moments, the failure to deliver a strong conclusion can’t help but wear down a long-time reader.  As with the previous two books, which read better as a pair because of the lack of resolution, I expect the most satisfaction will come from treating The Path of Daggers as the first half of Winter’s Heart, instead of a complete book in its own right. As with Lord of Chaos, the other half-book, this book uses a sudden plot twist near the end to try provide some excitement, hoping to make up for the lack of resolution of the main plots. It was much less successful here because the threat to Rand was much more physical than character-driven, and it involved foreseeable events instead of something never before seen let alone imagined.

The layout of the chapters has each character’s point of view chapters clumped together, mimicking the most successful pacing of the earlier books in the series. This layout delivers strong results once again, allowing a situation to be introduced, built upon, and if necessary to come back and complete the resolution in a later set of chapters.

The centerpiece of the book and the high point of the story is Rand’s epic war against the Seanchan. Rand knows the war was waged at a great cost to his own forces, with most of the losses coming at his own hands when he mishandles Callandor. He learns Callandor is flawed, but it is the war itself which was flawed. Rand is learning firsthand that the Tuatha’an saying is right; doing violence damages him and his people as well as the people he strikes.

In a similar vein, when the tools and people he relies on begin to let him down, whether Maidens rebelling or Asha’man going mad or trying to assassinate him, Rand builds up walls. Even if he can’t trust, he still intends to carry on as before.

Up until now, Rand had been presented simple solutions to all the problems: raise an army, and his opponents will surrender; kill a Forsaken and he can take over a nation. But his early successes are beginning to drag him down. He is learning through difficult experience that his tactics aren’t working any more, but he insists on pushing harder instead of examining whether other tools may produce better results. Rand has only recently achieved manhood and begun to take his responsibilities seriously, but he is fumbling with how to do it.

The metaphor of the sha’rah game in the prologue best depicts the book’s central theme. It can be more dangerous to have control than to give it up, the tool you hold can work against you, and the unseen pitfalls are many and hazardous.

Writing Lessons:

A book’s conclusion demands resolution and reader satisfaction. Failing to deliver it will cost you.

Lord of Chaos - Summary

100^th post! I am averaging two posts every three days. Slower than hoped, but satisfactory.

Other books in the series have dabbled in humour, while Lord of Chaos makes it a central theme, with a focus on who gets the last laugh, usually through trickery. In a pair of sequences bookending the novel, the principal villain Demandred has never been known to smile, but finally tells a story that has the Dark One himself laughing.  

Between those bookends, a multitude of other characters scheme and plot to get the upper hand. There are layers of subterfuge, beginning with Rand’s use of the world’s largest army to distract Sammael from the true attack. This is one of two major plots in the book, but this one remains unresolved, as though it was a distraction itself, a piece of patter meant to lure the reader one way so the punch line of the second plot line can surprise them to the fullest.

The second major plotline is the competition between the two Aes Sedai embassies to see who will recruit Rand to their cause. The setup implies he will choose one or the other, but the resolution is something else entirely, where both end up serving Rand instead.

Both of these plots, and myriad smaller ones, involve deceit and trickery, but are not presented as a question of the trickery surprising the reader. Often the trickery is exposed, but determining who benefits is the question, given that there are several reversals of fortune. The ultimate example is that in the end Rand’s victory has been the goal the Dark One sought, against all logic.

The injustice done to Rand is such that his victory provides immense satisfaction, so much so that the reader hardly notices that other plotlines involving other heroic characters or the battle with Sammael have been left unresolved. Since the following book, A Crown of Swords, ties these up, the two novels might be viewed as halves of a whole.  

Writing Lessons:

Reader satisfaction comes from emotional reaction, not from the resolution of the plot itself.

Lord of Chaos - Chapters 32-37

In this section, the Rebels cement their position by making Egwene their figurehead.

Egwene makes a failed attempt to board the Sea Folk ship. Her bruised ego leads her to antagonize the Sea Folk until she realizes what she has done is foolish. That event gives her an opportunity to consider how keenly she understands ji’e’toh now.  She worries, and then accepts that she will now have to pay the consequences for her past actions. She promises the Aes Sedai to come to Salidar quickly, and despite regrets about leaving the Aiel, she does not hesitate. The corporal punishment she endures is symbolic of the cost to be paid for deceit. The bigger the lie and the longer it is told, the greater the cost. There is incentive to keep your misdeeds small. Egwene had to make this mistake and pay the price so that her later feats in the White Tower as a novice will seem believable. Already small references begin to creep in about her refusal to surrender.

In a simple and partly coincidental plot twist, Rand learns the location of Salidar from that meeting. Eavesdropping is a frequent and useful mechanism to give your characters new knowledge that advances the plot. This time, eavesdropping as a plot device does not feel blatant and out of place, as it did in The Dragon Reborn when Mat overheard Gaebril in Caemlyn’s Royal Palace. Oddly, it is the fact that the location in question is difficult to access combined with Rand’s unique abilities to get there that makes it feel plausible. Two improbabilities combine to make a plausibility. It also helps that a precedent was set when Demandred observed Elayne in Tel’aran’rhiod in Chapter 7.

Mat observes a truth about dealing with the Snakes and Foxes, taken from a board game: you can’t win if you follow the rules. This will turn out to be true both in regards to the rhyme, and also with the rules governing time and space themselves.

Mat is asked to fetch Elayne back to Andor, since Rand hopes to lessen his burdens by passing a couple of nations off to her. It doesn’t work since Elayne contrives to be sent off to Ebou Dar to look for a stash of ter’angreal including one that can correct the weather.

Egwene’s method of travel, in the flesh through Tel’aran’rhiod, was used for evil, is evil, and will cause her to lose part of herself according to the Wise Ones. As inferred by the theory posted yesterday, there has to be some way that this action meets those criteria, even if it hasn’t been made obvious by Rand’s use of it or by Egwene’s use of it this time.

Egwene weaves flows of spirit to create a place where the interior of her tent is so similar to its reflection in Tel’aran’rhiod that there was no difference right there. One was the other. This should be place that is both Tel’aran’rhiod and waking world, a place both malleable and permanent.

Despite being there in the flesh, changes made to herself do not stay when she re-enters the waking world. Changing things in the waking world by altering their reflection in Tel’aran’rhiod should not be impossible when they are one and the same.

Siuan’s plan has come to fruition, she has a new Amyrlin to control, a group of rebels who believes the lies told by Logain and wants to pull Elaida down, and a spot near the center of the action as she runs the eyes and ears. Egwene quickly crushes Siuan’s ideas of manipulation, and sensing a kindred spirit, Siuan pledges to help her become Amyrlin in truth as well as name. Egwene had already started by making small decisions on her own which are questioned by her three factions of advisors. Promoting Elayne and Nynaeve to full sisters places them near the top ranks of Aes Sedai, though it is mitigated by them never having held the Oath Rod or being tested.

Egwene promises to be harsher than Moghedien’s previous captors. She very quickly establishes the rules Moghedien must follow with severe penalties for lying. Again, Egwene’s hardness would seem out of character had we not just seen her embrace the harsher side of Aiel life. Now it simply feels like she is being a Wise One to the Aes Sedai around her, and through sheer force of will and the help of her handful of allies, she is getting the results she expects.

The discovery of Traveling by Egwene opens up many story and plot advancing possibilities, but also introduces the complications of overreliance on it. Rand has only been using it himself in this book, and it is about to get him in big trouble.

Writing Lessons:

Make improbable coincidences more believable by setting up the linkages between them before revealing the coincidence.

The Great Hunt - Chapters 18-22

In this section, Rand tries the enemy’s path, and doesn’t like it.

Selene has been exhorting Rand to retrieve the Horn from Fain’s Trollocs, to seize the glory he deserves. Rand, drunk on the attention, does it. If he can just get that chest, he can have Selene too. Shrouded in the void that masks him from Fain’s senses, he and Loial enter the camp, and escape with the Horn. The loss of the dagger immediately wakes Fain, since its power makes his mind whole. Are the Forsaken done with Fain now that Rand has taken the Horn?In the void, the Power of saidin beckons to Rand. Desperate not to embrace it, Rand sticks to swordplay to defeat the handful of Trollocs barring their way. His desperation is such that he invites death in battle before he will touch it. And with each Trolloc he cuts down, he realizes that he can make do without it. The pressing need he has to touch saidin, to seize the Power, can be put off. And that triggers his revelation that he doesn’t want the Horn, or the glory it comes with. Selene is not happy; their honeymoon phase is over.

The swordplay imagery is an example of a few words telling the reader several different things. In three or four words, each form paints a motion, gives a feeling of defense or offense, and engages the reader’s imagination. The whole reveals a part of the world’s culture, and harkens back to the relationship between Rand and Lan.

By placing the ruby dagger inside the horn’s curl, Rand leaves himself a reminder about his purpose, in case he is ever tempted again. Selene contrives to stay in Rand’s company for a few days longer, hoping to have him cast away the dagger. She may want the horn, but she wants the Dragon more. When Rand accidentally taps into a sa’angreal’s power, he risks being consumed by the sheer power of saidin, causing Selene to promise anything, even giving up the Horn, to get Rand away from this danger. To win the struggle with that immense Power, Power to Break the World, Rand falls back again on his sense of self, and forges a link between his two ancestries.  Adoptive Manetheren, a bramble to the Dark One’s hand; and the Aiel, who spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last day. In this world, under many circumstances, knowing one’s self is a source of power and control.

By the time Selene leaves Rand’s side, he is more in control of his destiny than at any previous time in the novel. This is a high point, maybe the first in the book, where it feels like everything could work out fine. Getting the Horn and the dagger this early is a bit of a surprise, if not a plot twist.

Nynaeve learns that she too is exceptional. Readers already knew she could become one of the strongest Aes Sedai alive, but she can also recreate any weave that she sees. However, it is not strength the Aes Sedai value most, it is fortitude, which is the quality that Novice and Accepted training is designed to promote. Nynaeve and Egwene should have no problems in that regard, their personalities dictate their greatest risk will come from failing to accept the reduced freedom, lower rank, and restricted privileges of Novices and Accepted.

The scene where the Amyrlin teaches Nynaeve and Egwene is fun, because the heroines are faced with a challenge, and come out on top, with greater knowledge and power than they had before. Even as the future challenge of the White Tower looms, the reader is developing confidence in their ability to meet it.  The training of the girls is an effective way to also explain what Rand will be able to do with the One Power, and the types of weave he may face.  

Egwene’s dreams continue to be prophetic. Dreams are generally a contrived plot device in fiction, used for foreshadowing or to let the reader know what the character is concerned about. Once the rules of the World of Dreams get established, they feel less contrived. For now, Egwene is having dreams which show her exactly what is going on with Rand. Ba’alzamon sees her in the dream, and laughs at her. Laughs! Not only does Egwene see true in the dreams, she is filled with certainty about actions she should take, such as not telling Anaiya certain details of the dream. This certainty is part of the Pattern’s corrective mechanism, the same plot device that allows Elaida’s Foretellings, Min’s Viewings, Nynaeve’s Listening to the Wind, and the various ter’angreal that give visions of the future. These free-willed creatures require a lot of guidance.

Liandrin sends a warded Draghkar after Moiraine. Moiraine is after information that can help her, and her questions casually remind us that Toman Head waits in Rand’s future. Lan reflects on the reasons he has built a protective relationship with Rand, not realizing it may have to do with his love for Nynaeve. Moiraine knows, and has made arrangements for Lan to be taken care of, and have the possibility of his bond passing to Nynaeve if all works out. Protecting the Dragon is her end goal, but she is satisfied that she can also help out her Warder in doing so.

Writing Lessons:

Brevity forces you to use words that have more impact, and which can serve more than one purpose.

The Great Hunt - Chapters 3-6

In this section, a host of secondary characters are introduced, and a major plot twist defines the quest.

Through viewpoints of Moiraine, Bornhald, Liandrin, and Fain, a dizzying array of plot elements and events are presented.  The reader learns the whereabouts of many secondary characters encountered in The Eye of the World, including Elaida, Elayne, Morgase, Child Byar, and Dain. We are further introduced to a multitude of new secondary characters: Liandrin, Ingtar, Siuan, Carridin, other Aes Sedai, Amalisa, and more. This would not have been possible staying within the main characters viewpoints. In order for later events to make sense, it was necessary to use other credible viewpoints to present information.

The major plot twist begins with learning the Amyrlin, Siuan Sanche, is Moiraine’s best friend, and she is heavily involved in the quest to find and protect the Dragon. The threat from her is replaced by a new one. With the Amyrlin’s backing, Rand would have nothing to fear from any Aes Sedai, except that Siuan’s hold on power is tenuous. Other factions within the White Tower seek to topple her, personified by Elaida and Liandrin, both of whom fit the Red Ajah stereotype of man-haters, bullies, and having poor social skills. Siuan is still stuck on bringing Rand to Tar Valon, which has now also become the objective of her opponents. In Tar Valon, Rand would be well and truly trapped, within easy reach of the Black Ajah. Liandrin wastes no time in trying to snatch the young men to carry back to the White Tower. Moiraine’s new quest is to get Rand and the Horn of Valere to Illian. The plot twist concludes with the theft of the Horn and Mat’s dagger. Rand will surely chase after them, but will that lead him to Illian as Moiraine hopes, or to Toman Head, as Fain has predicted? Wherever Rand goes, the multinational gathering of Darkfriends made it clear that people will be watching for him, and trying to set his path according to Ba’alzamon’s wishes.

Toman Head is where Hawkwing’s armies have landed. Rumour of their arrival has spread, despite efforts to conceal it. Bors keeps confirmation of these rumours from his Lord Commander Niall so that no one will oppose them. While the Whitecloaks go about trying to conquer Almoth Plain, the strangers will gain a foothold on the mainland, as per Ba’alzamon’s wishes. Their invasion will prove to be an important distraction to the nations of men while he rallies his own forces for the Last Battle. He crafted this plan for returning forces to divide the mainland’s attention a millennium ago! But Ba’alzamon doesn’t want it to be a complete secret: Liandrin raises the rumours to Moiraine, and is surprised at herself for doing so, as though she were under a Compulsion to speak of it, should certain circumstances arise. Is the objective to get Rand to Toman Head?

Fain could have been told about his role in this plot through dreams, or by the traitor who freed him. He is still a pawn being moved around at this point. He could have been told to leave the message for Rand, telling him where they will next meet. How else could he have chosen Toman Head? Was the Horn meant to be the bait, or did they know Rand would chase after the dagger, for his friend’s sake?

Funny how the first concern Siuan expressed to Moiraine was about their old ‘mentor’ Elaida. Elaida must really feel that she didn’t do enough to help Siuan and Moiraine reach their potential, or they wouldn’t be messing with ta’veren so irresponsibly. Elaida’s strength in the Power, her credibility, and her bullying manner as depicted in New Spring, are still enough to shake the confidence of the Amyrlin.

Are Aes Sedai pledged to obey the Amyrlin as Moiraine suggests? Past coups and later events would indicate that this pledge of allegiance is in custom only.

To introduce the concept that each Ajah follows certain philosophies, the first Aes Sedai of each Ajah met is a stereotype of that philosophy. Browns are learners blind to all else, Whites are cold and logical, Greens are fiery and emotional. It is a bit more difficult to show an atypical behavior for that culture the first time you meet them. Loial is an atypical Ogier, but even so he well represents the stereotypical Ogier.

A long-term plotline is sown, as Moiraine understands that proclaiming Rand to be the Dragon will not cause any less chaos and destruction than when any False Dragon proclamation has. Even success carries a cost.

Liandrin feels her skin prickle as unseen eyes watch her. None of it makes any sense until later, but this is Lanfear again

The White Tower, presumably led by Tetsuan at the time, Tetsuan who betrayed Manetheren out of jealousy, lost the last of the Seals in the Trolloc Wars. With epic fails of this magnitude, it’s no wonder the Reds can’t get a break.

Salvation, not glory. This prophecy about the Horn of Valere is bound to play a role in A Memory of Light, as well as this novel.

Writing Lessons:

Plot twists don’t just strike out in a new direction, they somehow make the situation worse.

The Eye of the World - Chapters 40-43

In this section, all of the build-up around the quest to reach Tar Valon is tossed aside in favour of a new quest.

There have been several important reasons given to make the reader think that reaching Tar Valon might be the climax of this book:

- The Aes Sedai in Tar Valon can explain why Ba'alzamon is after the boys.

- Egwene must reach Tar Valon if she is to be taught how to use the One Power safely.

- The dangers the group faces have been barely overcome by desperate moves; more Aes Sedai means more protection.

- Moiraine has stated that her goal is to bring the boys safely to Tar Valon.

- The group has covered more than half the distance to Tar Valon, and spent over half the book on this quest.

- Other notable characters are traveling to Tar Valon: Logain, Elayne, Gawyn seem like surefire participants in a high stakes conflict to end the book.

- Mat needs Aes Sedai healing to be freed of the Shadar Logoth taint.

Balanced against that are the risk of Rand or Perrin being mishandled by the Aes Sedai due to their special abilities. In New Spring, Moiraine already considered this possibility regarding the Dragon’s ability to channel the One Power, and obviously feels confident there is no risk (readers do not yet know who the Amyrlin Seat is).

There is also the difficult obstacle of getting out of Caemlyn undetected by Ba'alzamon's forces in the countryside. The obvious solution is to join up with the other Aes Sedai. Moiraine's strength should allow her to travel with them while stonewalling any curiosity on their part.

So it is one of the first major surprises when she tosses the quest aside in favour of taking them to the Eye of the World. She could complete the original quest right now if she asked Loial to take them to Tar Valon by the grove and Waygate there. Why does she feel such urgency over stories that are years old? Do the boy's dreams and Ba'alzamon's threats make the danger so immediate that she must alter her plans? After 17 years of disappointments that must have shaken her faith, has she suddenly realized that the Pattern has taken a hand by making the boys ta'veren, and she should trust in that?

I feel that while a plot twist is all fun and good, this one comes off awkwardly. Moiraine can justify any action over another by saying it will oppose the Shadow better, but it’s just not clear to the reader what the Eye of the World is or why it matters more than reaching Tar Valon to either the characters or the readers. Moiraine still comes across as a bit of a flake, because she refuses to tell anyone what she knows, and leaves thoughts have spoken so as to imply menace without actually explaining what the menace is. If you had told me that it was actually the female half of the True Source, saidar, which was tainted, I’d point to Moiraine as proof that she’s been channelling too much.

Moiraine reminds the boys that the Dark One cannot make them his own, unless they let him. It's all a matter of denying him, and never surrendering, never yielding, for even a moment. The idea of unyielding opposition to the Dark One keeps coming up. It’ll play a role at the end of this story, and again in A Memory of Light, I am sure.

Odd to see Gareth Bryne and Morgase in the same old romantic quandary they will later be in with other people. Perhaps the author intended for them to remain an item, and later changed it? I normally am quite comfortable that Robert Jordan had meticulously planned the minutiae of the story, but the similarities with their later romantic plotlines are eerie. I'll just call it consistency of character.

Given how Elaida treated Moiraine as a novice because of her potential, can you imagine how she would have been overseeing Elayne, knowing the royal line of Andor is key to winning the Last Battle? Maybe the Amyrlin gave specific orders for Elaida not to meddle in novice affairs. Siuan and Sheriam should remember enough of their own misery to shield all the novices from Elaida, especially those showing promise.

Rand's resemblance to an Aielman is reiterated by Elaida and Gawyn, and even Loial. Everything Rand hears reinforces what Tam said in his fever. So many knowledgeable characters say the same thing, they can't all be wrong. Readers probably didn't need these additional clues, but when you have a point to make, use a hammer to drive it home. Since it pertains to the threat to Rand's identity, I guess it can't be made as subtly as when first introduced.

I recall theories and perhaps confirmation regarding the identity of the man who stumbled into a stedding to tell of a threat to the Eye of the World. Jain Farstrider? Noal Charin?

Was there anything particular during the War of the Hundred Years to make the Ways go dark? Just the usual Ba'alzamon influence? Something Guaire Amalasan did? Or just the passage of time?

I noted that Ba'alzamon claims the Black Ajah is two thousand years old. Were the Three Oaths originally given as a means of rooting out Darkfriends, only to be defeated a millennium later by the clever inclusion of the Fourth Oath?

Writing Lessons:

Make your important points more strongly, save subtlety for clues and lesser points. A plot twist has to be believable to work, lay the clues and rationales for it ahead of time. Subtly.