The Path of Daggers - Chapters 5-7

In this section, the heroines make a desperate escape while plotlines converge around Perrin.

Both Aviendha and Nynaeve apologize for their recent behaviour, though neither is warranted in Elayne’s view. Elayne is the leader in the group for now. She will hide it when they arrange for Nynaeve to do the demonstrations of linking, but her leadership is what keeps the Sea Folk in line when they need to flee the hilltop.

Participation in the circle using the Bowl of the Winds is based on strength, which provides a handy list of who is on par with our heroines. Sea folk include Talaan, Metarra, Rainyn, Naime, Rysael, Tebreille and Caire. Kin include Garenia, Reanne, and Kirstian. The use of circles and linking and bonding will be important in future battles, so this is an opportunity to present everything the reader needs to know on the topic.

There is some funny sexual imagery as Elayne and the others are abruptly dropped from the circle: She felt tired, if not anywhere near what she would have felt had she done anything beyond serve as a conduit, but what she felt most was loss. Letting go of saidar was bad enough; having it simply vanish out of you went beyond thinking about.  

Nynaeve has spent too much time trying to assert her worth over that of Alise, who has already organized the escape from the Farm. Aviendha is simply no good at making Gateways. So it falls to Elayne to weave, and then unweave the Gateway.

Aviendha uses a novel tactic, launching fireballs from a point of origin in front of the Gateway without being in that spot herself. As soon as she tires, the Seanchan erupt from the Gateway and shield Elayne, which abruptly ends the unraveling of the Gateway. The collapse of the weave causes a shockwave which devastates both ends of the Gateway. Having shared the risks Elayne took, Elayne realizes she is ready to embrace Aviendha as a near-sister, sister-wife or in any other relationship. Aviendha has now also seen Elayne in battle, and has a good opinion of her. Their bond may now be stronger than their romantic interest in Rand.

Rolling like a gambling wheel, they fell. This is when the raken is tumbling out of the sky. All kinds of objects roll, but choosing one that conjures luck, poor odds and uncertainty is brilliant.

Before his name appears, you can tell it’s Perrin’s point of view, as we see the forested hills hammered by a fierce morning sun. Perrin has a chance encounter with Morgase and her little group. These two converging plotlines should streamline the plot. Perrin’s simple approach to defending right and ending wrong can’t help but win readers over, despite that he is setting up future trouble for himself. The author chooses to understate the horror of what the Prophet’s men do, saving the revelation  for the very last: At first, Perrin did not know what he was looking at, a long loop of rawhide thickly strung with what appeared to be tags of shriveled leather. Then he did know, and his teeth bared in a snarl. “The Prophet would have our ears you said.”

Perrin’s current problem is approaching Queen Alliandre without putting Faile in danger nor offending her by sending her rival. Perrin reminds us that nothing is more important to him than Faile’s life and her perception of him. That’s twice that a blatant statement to this effect has shown up in the early part of a book.

His other objective is to deal with the Prophet, but more on that in the next post.

Writing Lessons:

When crafting your similes and metaphors, use terms that convey strong imagery and associated ideas.

The Path of Daggers - Chapters 2-4

In this section, the heroines keep one step ahead of the villains.

The group makes a stealthy escape from Ebou Dar, except for Moridin secretly watching from a balcony, undetected. Moridin reminds us that he has agents in every significant locale. He foolishly leaves Ebou Dar before the Bowl of the Winds is used, or he would have been able to travel right to their location when he saw the weave. Aviendha wisely considers the possibility that someone can trace their location from the weave’s residue and unweaves the Gateway. While Elayne, Nyaneve, or some other character could have thought of this flaw in their escape plan, it makes the most sense coming from the person who is most used to thinking of tactics and scouting. The ability to successfully unweave the gateway is an exception to the rule that it can’t be done.

Elayne has to deal with the politics of who will be included in the circle that uses the Bowl of the Winds. Once again, it makes sense coming from the character best suited to understanding and dealing with political situations. Several descriptions of the fifty or a hundred coloured birds act as a metaphor for this strange column of travelers. All of the Sea Folk politics serve to inform the reader about the strict hierarchy they follow. Although all Sea Folk could be summed up in a sentence based on rank, a few tags are used that will later serve to establish the exceptions to the rules.

Elayne concedes the captive Black Ajah must be questioned. She is forced to this decision because the Kin and Aes Sedai have conspired to turn Ispan over to the Aes Sedai as soon as Elayne’s back was turned. Adeleas and Vandene take the questioning upon themselves after seeing that Elayne and her friends were ready to break the law. If the law is going to be broken, let it be by a pair of Aes Sedai who have little to lose when the punishments are doled out. This book is about the snake in your midst waiting to strike, so introducing the Black Ajah as a key story element shows an example of the agents that Moridin employs. Hidden agents like the Black Ajah are themselves exceptions to the supposed relationship with their leader.

Elayne finds enough ter’angreal and angreal to give to her friends and boost their power levels significantly. Elayne receives a powerful reminder of the dangers of experimenting with what you don’t understand, which in combination with Aviendha’s unweaving, sets up a great action sequence in the next section.

An example of how the author uses descriptions as metaphor: Elayne is angrily berating Merilille for suggesting the Kin cannot be trusted. It dawned on her that she was shouting. Some sort of gray-and-white birds went flittering past overhead in a broad band, and she was drowning out their cries.

Merilille is Gray Ajah, and described later in the paragraph as having her Cairhienin paleness turn dead white. She is gray-and-white. The only relevant reason to include information about the birds and their cries here is to elaborate the point through metaphor.

Writing Lessons:

Don’t waste a simple description on a single purpose, make it do more through symbolism and metaphor.

The Path of Daggers - Prologue to Chapter 1

In this section, sinister forces move in the background

The prologue shows scenes from the point of view of three characters. It is unclear what each of the situations means in the prologue, since no clear threat is presented in two of the three sections, and even the third is vague. The vagueness of the threat is the point being made; the heroes have no idea where the threat is coming from or what it consists of.

The first section, from the point of view of Ethenielle, Queen of Kandor, comes out of nowhere. A rumour of missing rulers from earlier is proven true, and they are joining forces to march south and do something with Rand. They commit to each other, a blood oath that none will break. We see the strength of their resolve and their dedication to this cause; they were willing to kill to avoid detection. What they intend to do when they meet Rand is untold, but they will not shirk in the slightest from doing it. The reader may have slight worries, after all these are Borderland rulers who have spent their entire lives fighting the Shadow. They can’t mean Rand any harm. Unfortunately they have acquired thirteen Aes Sedai in their travels, whose motives remain unknown.

The second section picks up on the vague threat posed by the Aes Sedai and shows Verin questioning Elaida’s Aes Sedai. Verin has gone to great lengths to convince her handlers Sorilea and Amys that she can bring value to Rand by learning what Elaida had planned with regards to Rand. She has been given slight trust and she works hard to keep it. We are shown that personal discomfort and distaste for the actions she must take are no deterrent to Verin. She gives Sorilea everything she asks for and is meekly compliant. She will do what must be done and seems to have accepted that she must serve Rand as she swore to. She expresses disgust that Katerine was allowed to escape, which was made possible by forces that infiltrated the camp. And just when it seems like she has proven her trustworthiness, Verin reveals a forbidden weave and Compels an Aes Sedai to do… something. Verin’s motives become suspect. Why is she compelling the Aes Sedai and for what purpose? Why is she so quick to consider killing other Aes Sedai? How should the reader interpret her desire to keep Rand alive until it is time for him to die?

The third section reveals Moridin gloating that in the struggle to control Rand, he is manipulating both sides so that Rand will ultimately do as Moridin wishes. A metaphor is presented suggesting that those closest to Rand, holding the Fisher, will drive him to where Moridin needs him. The implication is that Rand’s allies may mishandle him, but even if they don’t then Moridin’s agents will act to destabilize him. There is no mention of a link between him and Rand.

The three sections moved from the vaguest threat to the most specific, but none of them do more than menace.

In Ebou Dar, Nynaeve still has the ability to sense imminent metaphorical storms. Her demeanor recently improved, she reaches out to help Teslyn and is soundly rejected.   Aviendha fears she is growing into a soft-hearted wetlander despite that her immediate solution to every problem is to kill someone. Aviendha exhibits the uncanny ability to know when an enemy is watching her. She catches the gholam in her sights, but she may also have detected Moridin despite his special skulker outfit. Aviendha reveals that rank amongst the Aiel stems from honour, the first outright statement on the subject. She has a plan for her future involving Rand and Elayne. Elayne asserted her position among the Aes Sedai recently, which has the consequence of cementing the Bargain she made with the Sea Folk even further. No one can countermand the Bargain she made.

Let’s examine a few short descriptors the author uses when other words might have done as well and see what was accomplished with their use:

snagged at her eye: You might often see something pull your eye, or catch it. ‘Snag’ is a more visceral word. It is used to describe how the riches of the Wetlands attract Aviendha with a violence that she is usually the one to dispense. It is used in the 3^rd paragraph of her first appearance, setting the dilemma she faces.  

eye-wrenching cloak of a Warder: ‘eye-wrenching’ is a compact way of describing the cloaks readers have become familiar with.

Elayne could have made a roofmistress seem a goatherd: It is impossible to maintain dignity when goats are involved. The word ‘goatherd’ imparts an activity that is easily visualized: chasing after stubborn animals.

most with annoyance ill-concealed behind cool serenity: ‘ill-concealed’ could have been replaced with the synonym ‘visible’. Instead this compound word allows two words with negative connotation to be assigned to the Aes Sedai, helping set the mood and the relationship.

willowy, doe-eyed Chilares:  ‘doe-eyed’ describes not just her eyes but implies she is docile. Any number of eye adjectives could make her intelligent as in ‘bright-eyed’, crafty as in ‘keen-eyed’, useless as in ‘cow-eyed’. The reason she is doe-eyed is to describe the Kin’s general behaviour, not because the author preferred to describe her eyes over her hair, or had previously decided in his notes that Chilares was to be described that way.

Writing Lessons:

Use that thesaurus to find synonyms that convey mood, character, setting or action, or just cobble together your own with compound words.

A Crown of Swords - Summary

A Crown of Swords flows like my favorite book in the series, The Shadow Rising. Each handful of Ebou Dar chapters is followed by a handful of Cairhien chapters. Each section is just long enough to resolve the last obstacle, advance the plot, and introduce a new obstacle. The two plots are loosely connected by chapters showing Sammael meeting with other villains in both locations. Moridin is a second character whose actions affect characters on both locations.  A minor plot involving Morgase, the White cloaks and the Seanchan serves as setup for future books, having little impact on events in this one. A major plot involving Egwene’s tenure as Amyrlin has at least one important impact on the Ebou Dar story. By keeping the number of focal characters low and establishing a consistent pattern for several chapters spent in each locale, the flow and speed of the story are maintained at a fun pace.

The thrill of discovery comes from new characters instead of exotic locales. Cadsuane, Moridin, the Kin, the gholam, and others all have mysterious origins, abilities and motives.  Some introductions are strong, others disorient the reader.

The theme of A Crown of Swords is one of leaders and followers. Who leads, who follows them, and why do they follow? The theme was introduced early in the prologue with a smattering of examples of relationships. A series of leaders emerge in the Fortress of the Light, each seizing power from his predecessor. The question of who leads was central to finding the ter’angreal cache in Ebou Dar. The actions of followers pushing the limits of their orders affected the heroes several times, whether by Moghedien, Carridin, Alviarin, or Colavaere. Morgase abdicates since she is no longer fit to be queen. Egwene blackmails Aes Sedai to compel their obedience. The loyalty of the Asha’man is a question that continues to aggravate Rand. Galina has her role completely reversed as she moves from world-shaker to pointless labourer. The book ends with Rand conquering Illian without having to subjugate the population or the ruling lords. The people of Illian want to follow Rand because he has exhibited traits they desire in their King.

This book feels like more of a whole book than the last one, because several plot lines are resolved, providing a strong sense of completion. Along with several plot lines, a bit of the theme from the previous book Lord of Chaos carried through to this one, but the tone is very different. You could more easily say that Lord of Chaos has some of this book’s theme, since a good part of the chaos and humour in that book stemmed from the relationships between leaders and followers.

The personal threats faced by the heroes were more interesting than the plot-driven obstacles. Jordan easily transforms physical plot-driven obstacles into personality and character-driven obstacles. Elayne faced threats to her authority and identity. Nynaeve had to learn to surrender control and was instantly rewarded when she did so. Mat endured all manner of unfair treatment to finally earn respect from those two. Min convinced Rand to keep her near. Egwene began to assume the role of the Amyrlin as well as the title. Rand realizes he is an equal partner with Min, not the belligerent mauler he made himself out to be. Cadsuane places herself close to Rand despite his misgivings about Aes Sedai. Perrin fears what he has realized about the value he places on Faile. It satisfies the reader that each of the heroes had some pages dedicated to them.

The nature of ta’veren was presented as a tool to be used as Mat, Elayne, Nynaeve and Rand try to twist fate and make progress by keeping a ta’veren present. Although they rarely recognize when it is working, it does work to bring them the people they need to meet at the right time. The Sea Folk are handled on two different occasions by ta’veren, and dealings with the Kin and Cairhienin rebels are possible because of chance meetings wrought by the ta’veren.

The timing of many events was necessitated by the plot, but the reason given for the timing was couched in the characters’ relationships.

Overall, the happy resolution of many character-driven plots and a strong structure overcome a few problems with introduction of new characters, and contrived timelines.

Writing Lessons:

Resolution of plot lines provides reader satisfaction. Dangling plot lines induce reader dissatisfaction.

A Crown of Swords - Chapters 40-41

In this section, Rand finally completes the task he set himself nearly two books ago.

A Crown of Swords ends with a victorious moment for Rand, and has no epilogue, so a lot of outstanding plotlines must be resolved before he goes into his final battle.

First, the fate of one of the most important missing Aes Sedai is revealed. Galina discovers that whatever rank she held before her capture, she is now the lowest of the low. She is named a despised one, made an example of, taken away from Therava, and most importantly she will use her channeling so that Sevanna can have the same ability as her Wise Ones. The scene has a strong emotional impact in that the reader will fully embrace the justice that has been served to Galina. Yet almost every aspect of the scene could as easily have been shown from Sevanna’s point of view. Breaking it up between the two of them gives a sensation of speed that a ten page Sevanna scene might not have offered. It is also fun to learn a little more of the Black Ajah’s secrets. Revelations offer excitement and speed the reader along.

Once again, the introductory sentence symbolizes the character’s plight: Mountains rose all around Galina Casban, little more than large hills behind but snowcapped peaks ahead and higher peaks beyond those, yet she really saw none of them.

Sammael offers Sevanna piles of ter’angreal, including an Oath Rod. These recently came into his hands, so we understand that he is referring to the ter’angreal from Ebou Dar that the Darkfriends managed to escape with. The fact that this delivery needed to happen before his confrontation with Rand, and after the climatic battle in Ebou Dar explains a lot about the placement of chapters throughout the book. Many events took place in just that order so that the author could move Sevanna westward. Once you understand this, the events leading up to this moment seem contrived despite the earnest attempts to foreshadow them with earlier scenes involving Carridin, Falion and Ispan, and the Shaido. The author was limited in the order in which he needed events to occur, but he had flexibility in setting the timing of some of them, such as when Mat finally locates the cache, or how long Rand stays unconscious after Fain’s attack.

Maeric’s short scene showcases Aiel fatalism: Ah, the world had grown very strange since Rand al’Thor came. He reveals that Sevanna took all the Wise Ones who could channel with her, which is confirmed by Graendal shortly afterwards. Sammael tells her that al’Thor isn’t going after anyone, all he has to do is wait. What he means is that he knows Rand is grievously wounded, and he has the help of an incompetent horselord, who also happens to be a Darkfriend, to tear Rand’s army apart. Sammael is quite pleased with himself for finding a way to defeat a much more powerful force, and his ego demands that he personally involve himself in the destruction of Rand’s army. Luring Sammael out of Illian was Rand’s plan all along. He will have sacrificed some of his followers to achieve victory.

A brief point of view from Shaidar Haran reveals his unique nature and powers, and a weakness of sorts: it is tied to Shadar Logoth and cannot be far away from it for too long. Importantly, it is concerned that Sammael’s actions are outside the plan, implying that the Forsaken are not simply bumbling about hoping to defeat Rand; a plan exists, and it should bring the Dark One victory.

Rand wakes to an argument between his followers. He convinces all but the Asha’man to leave, yet they all know that whatever news Adley has brought is likely to lead Rand to leap into action he may not yet be fit enough to face. Even Dashiva has been frowning at Adley, but that is standard behaviour for Dashiva when he doesn’t know what is going on. He has plenty of opportunity to feel left out as Rand Travels to gather his other armed forces for a raid into Illian.

Rand’s plan works, and he is able to disarm Sammael’s wards throughout Illian. When the plan works it reinforces his belief that Lews Therin is real. Sammael returns, realizes how stuck he is, but lures Rand to a second location he has prepared. Shadar Logoth is not a place where any of his foes would set foot so it is a good place to secretly assemble a force of Shadowspawn. The waiting must cost his numbers terribly every night. Yet he can’t have them just hide out on the other side of the Waygate either or they could be eaten by Machin Shin. No, the poor Trollocs and Myrddraal have to camp near Shadar Logoth every night, torn between fear of Mashadar and fear of Sammael finding them if they leave their post. And every day the ones who came through a few days earlier will die. Did Sammael ever figure this out? Did he only set this location up after hearing of Rand taking to his bed because he is naturally cautious?

Sammael detects Rand channeling and a bolt of lightning nearly sends Rand falling to his death, until a mysterious stranger helps him. It is not exceptionally clear that this is Moridin, but if using the True Power is so rare, then it must be him. It is now obvious that his existence had to be revealed earlier in order for his appearance here to be believable.

Moridin and Rand use balefire at the same time. Moridin only ever used it once before, but he might now be trying to show Rand what a useful tool it is so that Rand keeps using it. The balefire streams touch. What does that mean? Balefire undoes actions of certain people and objects by erasing those people and objects backwards in time, but leaves the actions and memories of those not touched by the balefire intact. Rand and Moridin balefired portions of Mashadar. Those arms of fog never existed so the two men were never in any danger, but surrounding arms of fog would not have filled the gaps left since their dim intelligence would have perceived that that space was taken by the non-existent arms of fog that those men balefired. When one stream of balefire touches the other, the other weave is undone backwards in time. The balefire stream never hit Mashadar, so it should still be there descending! Except that Mashadar remembers being hit by balefire, and has decided to retreat with haste. The balefiring of Mashadar was undone, something that can only be accomplished by balefiring the balefire.

Once the streams cross, Rand believes he has been balefiring Mashadar for the last few seconds. In actuality, he has had his weaves severed for the last several seconds, then feels the accumulated effects of the snapped weaves reeling back into him all at once. His head rings, he sees double. The same happens to Moridin, regardless of the fact that he is using the True Power. You might think a philosopher and channeler would have considered what happens when balefire streams touch, does anything really exist?, but Moridin has no idea. When Rand thinks of the balefire streams crossing, his vision doubles again, and he can see Moridin’s face clearly. This is the first indication of a link between the two of them. The best explanation I can come up with is that when the weaves snapped back into each of them, some of them snapped back into the wrong person. Since Moridin was wielding the True Power, which is a gift of the Dark One, it is this gift which creates the link between them. Of course, no such event took place with Mat or Perrin, yet Rand will soon also be able to see either of them by concentrating on them.

The author wants more balefire effects as examples, so Liah gets balefired too. She was never there and never screamed, but Sammael is certain he heard a woman scream, which distracts him just long enough to be consumed by Mashadar. Fortunately Rand’s balefire did not touch Mashadar, or he might accidentally have brought Sammael back to life! Since he wasn’t touched by balefire, the Dark One could do the resurrection instead, but it’s likely that Sammael’s go-it-alone attitude was too much for the Dark One to put up with.

Rand finally has a nation offering to be led by him, due to his compassion for them when he forced Tear to sell them grain. That is one of the only decisions he ever made as the simple man Rand al’Thor. This is evidence that there is more than one way to gain followers; persuasion is better than force.

 Writing Lessons:

Complex events require lots of explanation or they risk confusing the reader.

A Crown of Swords - Chapters 37-39

In this section, myriad plotlines in Ebou Dar are resolved in a grand confrontation involving almost everyone.

Mat’s relationship with Queen Tylin becomes known to everyone, which leaves them either amused or offended. Mat’s discomfort allows the scene to play out humourously, with Mat getting more and more embarrassed with every snicker.

A great deal of effort is made to convince the reader that there is no conceivable problem in the Rahad that the women cannot handle. With over half a dozen channelers, many of them wearing Wise One belts that will scare would-be robbers into hiding, Mat’s soldiers are there for show, and to keep a promise made to Mat. After a few reminders, the reader may even begin to wonder why even have the chapter, if all that it involves is Mat getting more and more bored. It is all a set up.

The Black Ajah attack, and once Nynaeve is unshielded, it appears that there is still no point to the soldiers, who do nothing but get flung about by the channelers. However, Mat’s medallion spares him being tossed around, and he is therefore able to go to Elayne’s aid, and the only one who could provide any help against other channelers such as Moghedien, who can be assumed to be the opponent upstairs. Nynaeve’s plea moves Mat, because it is out of character for her, representing her recent inner growth, not poor writing.

Mat faces yet another mystery character: the gholam. It loves killing, and it is soon described as moving quicker than a Myrddraal in order to quickly impress its high skill level on the reader.  It bests Mat in combat even though we know Mat is almost the best there is at combat. Everything the Gholam can do is out of the ordinary. This is the help that Sammael promised Carridin. Luckily Mat discovers the creature’s weakness and is able to save Elayne, but the Darkfriends escape with some of the ter’angreal, which will provide some explanation for Sammael’s ability to whip several ter’angreal out of thin air before the book’s conclusion. Still no indication why Sammael would have used the gholam to kill Herid Fel. By no means a philosopher, Sammael should have had no interest in either keeping Fel’s guidance from reaching Rand’s ears. Instead the likeliest objective was the same as the one he was trying for in Ebou Dar: pick at Rand’s allies in any way possible that will slow down the army coming towards Illian or divert his attention elsewhere.

Mat is the third person to make a bargain with the Sea Folk. This scene would not have worked without the other two precedents establishing the reader’s expectation that budging the Sea Folk will cost the heroes something.  Mat’s unexpected approach is both funny and effective. Nynaeve reluctantly admires his feat while Elayne is impressed with his ability. Whatever mistrust they had for Mat and his ways at the beginning of the book has been resolved, he has their acceptance. He achieved this without specifically setting out to do so, yet it is the means that allowed him to accomplish his goals.

The Seanchan invade Ebou Dar, cutting off Mat’s escape while he searches for Olver. Once he can no longer leave the city, the dice in his head stop. He is now where the Pattern needs him to be. And also under a pile of rubble.

Writing Lessons:

Set the reader’s expectations by describing scenarios they will find plausible, the surprise them by having a different scenario play out.

A Crown of Swords - Chapters 33-36

In this section, Rand regains his confidence and uses his unique abilities

In earlier chapters, the nature of being a ta’veren was discussed. Perrin hopes it will work for him while Mat’s ability was actively exploited by Elayne and Nynaeve.  Rand now decides to try use his ta’veren event-twisting to gain allies.

Ta’veren usually works in subtle ways, providing what is needed and drawing it near the ta’veren for the moment when it is needed. Being ta’veren altered the chance Min would fall hopelessly in love with Rand, providing a means for Rand to get glimmers of what lies ahead. Her personality is familiar and comforting, since she had an upbringing very similar to his own. Whatever she says, Rand can accept it more easily than from anyone else except maybe Egwene.   

Min tells Rand about a viewing of two men merging and one surviving. Rand decides it must mean that Lews Therin is real and that he is not mad after all. Hot on the heels of Cadsuane’s warning about the voices, Rand’s cobbled-together explanation based on more hope than fact is presented as the correct conclusion. It is still possible that Lews Therin’s voice is not there and he really is mad. The author’s ability to pull the reader one way while the evidence all points the other way continues to impress.

Rand finally visits the Sea Folk who have been waiting on him in two cities since Lord of Chaos. The ta’veren effect sweeps Harine up, and she spends the next few minutes conceding things instead of bargaining for them. She would likely have booted Rand right off the ship, Coramoor or not, except once told Min’s Viewing everyone realizes it is a done deal. Harine will make the Bargain, be punished for it, yet still eventually become Mistress of the Ships. The Sea Folk are a culture with very rigid rules for the hierarchy, but unlike the Seanchan who also have strict rules, there is a lot of mobility within Sea Folk culture. An ominous warning about the Seanchan is given just in time for their reappearance in just a few chapters.

With the Sea Folk firmly in hand and about to capitulate, Rand walks away from the table. Not because of a sudden attack or other plot device, but because he feels confined and it reminds him of his captivity. Cadsuane soon learns the truth of the captivity and how it affects him and realizes how difficult it will make her task. This major obstacle is character driven instead of plot driven. The implication that Rand can make mistakes because of this new behaviour is concerning since he rashly decides to see how far he can next push his ta’veren ability with the rebels. His optimism is summed up: “I’m the Dragon Reborn, and today I can do anything.”

Rand randomly appears in the woods, only meters from Caraline Damodred and Lord Darlin who are drawn into the ta’veren web. Caraline realizes who Rand is while her companions all accept Rand’s alias without question, inferring that the Damodreds are all smart cookies, especially Moiraine. Right then Min reveals that she had a Viewing of Moiraine that failed even though they just left a situation where the outcome rested on the assumption that her Viewings never failed. Min does not realize that her Viewing means that Moiraine is not dead. From the reader’s perspective, this apparent loophole is important in undermining confidence in Min’s Viewings, since that will come into play in later books. Other loopholes such as ‘if’ statements or choices help reduce certainty. The reader has to decide whether Min’s Viewing is wrong or whether her Viewings are always right and the other evidence is wrong.   

Min also drops hints that she is reading Fel’s books, looking for clues about what he was trying to tell Rand. Despite this and other later indications, her insights in this area still have a feel of implausibility, but I can’t figure out why; something to keep an eye on.

Being ta’veren draws Rand to Padan Fain. The wound he inflicts on Rand in just the right spot to not kill him instantly is another ta’veren twist. Grady’s healing provides Rand with the most important clue he will need for his later effort to cleanse Saidin. More importantly, Grady infers that the Asha’man are learning new weaves all the time, even without permission. This is akin to when the Aes Sedai were first introduced and every spell cast had no explanation, it was just Aes Sedai work, and needed no further explanation. Now that readers are familiar with the powers and limitations the Aes Sedai have, it is useful to the author to have a wild card that can be played by the Asha’man. “Oh this? Just a little weave I invented.” And now many situations can be resolved with an all-encompassing explanation, much like ta’veren. To a lesser extent he did the same with the Kin and their ability to do one Weave with the greatest proficiency.

Rand’s wound allows Cadsuane the opportunity to become part of his inner circle of advisors. Dashiva is already there, and is quite intent on making sure Rand has every chance to live, but is ambivalent to the outcome. The Asha’man are content to serve, so far.

The author uses verbs to great effect, and some of his choices stand out as different from the expected word selection, and symbolize something other than what they are describing.

Narishma colored, jerking himself stiffly erect. (several arousal-themed words to match the verb)

She was ready to leap if he crooked a finger (crooked implies improper behaviour)

Long trestle tables groaning with food and drink (groaning reveals Rand’s mood in the rebel’s camp)

Something crooked and red spiderwebbed across the outside of the void. (spiderwebbed is a new Jordan trademarked verb)

The fog seemed to deaden sound (threatening circumstances seem to invoke the word ‘dead’)

Fain’s dagger scored across Rand’s left side (scored implies a victory for Fain, a defeat for Rand)

Her eyebrows climbed halfway to her hair (climbing halfway symbolizes she doesn’t know as much as she thought she did)

Writing Lessons:

Use verbs that symbolize as well as describe the action.