Starting Shadow Rising and got spoiled about something that weirds me out

[Sirius124]

Ok, I have loved everything I have read so far. While some characters piss me off at times I still very much enjoyed reading them. Now today I was accidentally spoiled the whole Elayne, Min, Aviendha and Rand thing. It really weirded me out honestly and made me unsure. So far I have really liked Rand as a character. His progression from farm boy to ruler of Tear the Dragon has been great. I love the magic system, the world and cultures. Now I just want to say I have nothing on the Aiel, they are awesome and are very interesting. I don’t hate Elayne(though I am still early on). Mat is my boy already, Dragon Reborn made me appreciate him a lot more and he has grown on me. There are some truly epic moments in these books and I have enjoyed them so much. It’s just for some reason I just don’t love the whole sister wives Rand concept. Did anyone else have the same problem? I am still going to keep reading and as I still love these books, just wanted others thoughts.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Sirius124

[DojoToad]

Very strange concept for me as well, but it didn't bother me.  Different cultures...

[Thrasymachus]

Two things to keep in mind with the Three.  First is that these relationships aren't just imposed (though Min likes to complain about the Pattern doing just that).  Each are developed in a more or less natural way, so that this weird, polyamorous thing makes some sense as to why it's happening.  Elayne's relationship with Rand is the biggest outlier in that, and it's not really that far-fetched.

 

Second is, and I hope you've noticed this already, but Jordan likes to "borrow" names and ideas from ancient myths and legends of our own, alter them, and weave them into his stories.  For example, drawing the sword (Callandor/Excalibur) from the stone (The Stone).  Or Thom Merrilin/Merlin.  The three loves of Rand is borrowed from another myth involving the Tri-partite goddess, the Maiden-Mother-Crone triad.  So whatever you were spoiled about specifically with regard to Rand's women, I would say the best thing to do is try to read it with a bit of charity, and don't let pre-conceived notions of polygamy, even the Aiel version, cloud your judgement too much.  After all, part of RJ's exploration of gender-flipped power and social dynamics has to include non-traditional takes on the institution of marriage