Was the prologue a spoiler?

[RAND AL THOR]

The prologue in the Eye of the World clearly states that the Dragon will be reborn etc....

As the first book progresses, it becomes increasingly obvious that one of the trio is the Dragon.

 

Was the prologue a spoiler for the suspense in the whole book?

 

(Unfortunately I cannot answer this because I had mistakenly first picked up Book 3 in the bookstore and read the blurb which said something like "Rand al'thor, the Dragon Reborn must now reunite the nations etc..."

So that, like, spoiled the whole first book for me. My mistake.

 

Thoughts?

[Guest Toad]

Not for me.  Rand was obviously going to be something big.

[Bob T Dwarf]

Yeah.  With fantasy it's never a question of whether.  After all, we wouldn't be following the guy if he wasn't destined to be the hero.

 

The suspense for me is always about the how.  Firstly, "How is he going to become the hero?"  and then, "How is he going to prevail?"

[Guest Dreadlord]

I didnt think it was a spoiler at all, when I first read it and it said the Dragon would be reborn, I obviously thought it would be about the rebirth or the next guy or something especially because Lews died, but as said earlier you still didnt know how it all would happen. I was intrigued when I read that Lews would be reborn, Ive never read any other books where the rebirth of a soul is such a big thing. I think its great.

[RAND AL THOR]

Another think I would like to add is: Did any of you fall into RJ's Mat-diversion-trap. For a time, it seemed that Mat was the important one cos of the old tongue thingy.

Again I cannot answer here cos  I spoiled book 1 for myself.  :'(

[Guest Toad]

No, I always thought it was Rand.  The old-tongue thing was just a 'skill' picked up.

[RAND AL THOR]

No, I always thought it was Rand.  The old-tongue thing was just a 'skill' picked up.

Yes but at one point both Rand and Perrin wonder whether it is Mat whom the DO seeks.

 

Come to think of it, someone would have to be really dumb to fall for that, considering Tam's fever talk.

;D

[Guest Toad]

No, I always thought it was Rand.  The old-tongue thing was just a 'skill' picked up.

Yes but at one point both Rand and Perrin wonder whether it is Mat whom the DO seeks.

 

Come to think of it, someone would have to be really dumb to fall for that, considering Tam's fever talk.

;D

 

Yep, it was a pretty weak attempt at misdirection.  But an author's gotta try, right?

[D24g0n]

Yea, the only thing the prologue did to me was get me hooked.  It was pretty obvious that Rand would be the Dragon, but like Bob said, I was intrigued by the HOW.

[Generic Aelfinn #2]

ya, it was pretty freaking obvious rand was the dragon reborn, to i didn't even notice how mat's old-speak was supposed to be a misdirection.

[Leopoled Boothe]

I didn't think the prolouge spoiled anything.  I did, however, think it was a bit too obvious that Rand was The Dragon Reborn considering that the majority of the chapters were told from his POV.  I think it might have been more fun if RJ had told more chapters from Mat and Perrin's POVs and really kept us guessing at which of them was the DR (Mat had zero POV's in EtoW and Perrin only had POV's when he was separated from Rand).

[Guest Dreadlord]

QUOTE

Yep, it was a pretty weak attempt at misdirection.  But an author's gotta try, right?

UNQUOTE

 

That is being said about the guy who had Osan'gar right in our faces for all of at least two books without knowing? Come on. If RJ had really wanted us to wonder which of the three then we would have wondered. RJ was the master at misdirection.

[RAND AL THOR]

QUOTE

Yep, it was a pretty weak attempt at misdirection.  But an author's gotta try, right?

UNQUOTE

 

That is being said about the guy who had Osan'gar right in our faces for all of at least two books without knowing? Come on. If RJ had really wanted us to wonder which of the three then we would have wondered. RJ was the master at misdirection.

 

The Dashiva/Osan'gar thingy was really weird. Dashiva had no Forsaken attitude at all and I frankly don't think anyone could be like that. Most of the Forsaken went over to the Dark on some personal reasons-possibly touching on Lews Therin. I really don't think that a Forsaken could stand to take orders from LTT reborn and not react in any way. The only place where we see his true character is when he claims that saidin is weird in Ebou Dar area.

 

I don't think Osan'gar was disguised by the author there. The author presented him as a completely new character. That is very easy to do. It isn't hard to bring in a new character and then say: Poof, he's actually HIM!

 

There was little misdirection there.

[trakand_01]

I dont think it spoiled anything either. Mainly because my mum introduced me to the books, and when I said 'What's it about?' she said 'A Man called Rand who's the Dragon Reborn'. The only thing I had to figure out was (I was 13) 'is it a real dragon, or the name of a man?'

 

I think personally, if I'd just picked the book up without reading the prologue (or the synopsis on the back) I'd have got about half way through and thought "What's the point of the story? Where am I going here?"

 

Also if we'd gotten to the part where Rand is proclaimed Dragon Reborn, and I hadnt read the prologue at the front, I'd have been thinking 'Dragon Reborn, who's that?'.

 

I didnt fall into the Mat trap either - I've learnt it's always the first main character they introduce who's going to be the main protagonist. If I remember rightly, we start with Rand walking Bela and their goods to Emonds Field with Tam.

[RAND AL THOR]

I dont think it spoiled anything either. Mainly because my mum introduced me to the books, and when I said 'What's it about?' she said 'A Man called Rand who's the Dragon Reborn'. The only thing I had to figure out was (I was 13) 'is it a real dragon, or the name of a man?'

 

OMG, this is just hilarious!

[Mr Ares]

The Dashiva/Osan'gar thingy was really weird. Dashiva had no Forsaken attitude at all and I frankly don't think anyone could be like that. Most of the Forsaken went over to the Dark on some personal reasons-possibly touching on Lews Therin. I really don't think that a Forsaken could stand to take orders from LTT reborn and not react in any way. The only place where we see his true character is when he claims that saidin is weird in Ebou Dar area.

 

I don't think Osan'gar was disguised by the author there. The author presented him as a completely new character. That is very easy to do. It isn't hard to bring in a new character and then say: Poof, he's actually HIM!

 

There was little misdirection there.

Aginor didn't join the Shadow through any personal dislike of LTT. As for no misdirection, there were clues scattered throughout that there was something different about Dashiva. Some examples from encyclopaedia-wot: When Rand says he will cleanse saidin, Torval, Narishma, Morr and Hopwil look at him with wonderment and hope. Dashiva looks poleaxed. (TPoD,Ch14); Dashiva and seven other Asha'man hold gateways as Rand's army pours through, preparing for the final battle with the Seanchan. As the Asha'man join Rand, Dashiva rides up and weaves a barrier against eavesdropping. He tells Rand in very precise terms that saidin is misbehaving. His weave vibrates instead of holding steady. Rand belittles the problem and Dashiva's experience whereupon Dashiva gets angry. During the battle, Flinn and Dashiva stay with Rand. When Rand says that not even the Forsaken stand against the Dragon Reborn, Dashiva flinches. (TPoD,Ch24); When Rand wakes, Dashiva holds nearly as much of the One Power as Rand can. Dashiva accompanies Rand on his strike at Illian. When Rand announces that Sammael is dead Dashiva sighs loudly with relief. (ACoS,Ch41); ACoS,Ch3 - Dashiva is awkward and does not seem to know one end of a sword from the other. He talks to himself a lot. Nevertheless, he is arrogant and insolent.

 

See? Several instances of Dashiva being marked out as different. Not conclusive, easy to miss, but present.

[42Bonzo88]

    Of course the prologue is going to be somewhat of a spoiler, you need to get people interested to buy the book. I agree with many of the people on this thread that it's the getting there. But not just that. If they got there and taken care of the forsaken and dropped it, the book would be over and done. Now in the beginning of (ending of) Books 1 and 2 you have Rand freaking out over what he did. Nynaeve and Egwene looking at him differently, etc. and BOOM! you have the series.

[trakand_01]

I dont think it spoiled anything either. Mainly because my mum introduced me to the books, and when I said 'What's it about?' she said 'A Man called Rand who's the Dragon Reborn'. The only thing I had to figure out was (I was 13) 'is it a real dragon, or the name of a man?'

 

OMG, this is just hilarious!

 

Is it?

[RAND AL THOR]

I dont think it spoiled anything either. Mainly because my mum introduced me to the books, and when I said 'What's it about?' she said 'A Man called Rand who's the Dragon Reborn'. The only thing I had to figure out was (I was 13) 'is it a real dragon, or the name of a man?'

 

OMG, this is just hilarious!

 

Is it?

 

Yes it is. I can't imagine a better spoiler than that!

[trakand_01]

Haha, well, I've always been one to flick through the pages when someone appears to die, to see if they pop up again anyway so I guess it didnt spoil it too much for me!

[Guest Dreadlord]

I only do that with a character I like. If Faile died, for example, Id look BACK to make sure it really happened

[trakand_01]

Lol  ;D

[Spirit1025]

I didn't think it was a spoiler. I think it got me really interested in the book from the beginning. If a book doesn't catch my attention in the first few pages, I tend to get bored. If it started with "Rand and his dad spent ten pages walking down a road talking...." I might have been less inclined to read. I had that problem with L.E. Modesitt's The Magic of Recluce. Pretty much three fourths of the book can be summed up with "And they rode horses (incorrectly, too!) down a road in the rain."

 

That said, I am glad I did not read New Spring before The Eye of the World. I think it would have taken some of the mystery out of Moiraine, and Aes Sedai in general. We start with a very vague and mostly incorrect idea of what an Aes Sedai is, via the point of view of the Emonds Fielders. If we came in knowing more about it than the characters, I think it would not have been as interesting.

[RAND AL THOR]

I agree that you shouldn't read New Spring before the WoT. It is definitely better that way. I was actually doubting Moiraine for, like, 25 % of the book because of the doubts of Mat/Rand/Perrin. It was so much fun!

 

Trakand, dreadlord, you need to get a hang on your emotions!  ;)An author spends so much time making it look like the character is going to die and then save him miraculously, so you people should fall into his trap! I tend to read much faster in such situations, but never have i looked forward just to see if he's still alive!!!!!

[Leopoled Boothe]

I agree that you shouldn't read New Spring before the WoT. It is definitely better that way. I was actually doubting Moiraine for, like, 25 % of the book because of the doubts of Mat/Rand/Perrin. It was so much fun!

 

Trakand, dreadlord, you need to get a hang on your emotions!  ;)An author spends so much time making it look like the character is going to die and then save him miraculously, so you people should fall into his trap! I tend to read much faster in such situations, but never have i looked forward just to see if he's still alive!!!!!

 

I agree "New Spring" is best read between COT and KOD, right where it was published.  If you read it before ETOW it will spoil much of the main sequence.  In fact, I think New Spring should have a warning printed on the dust jacket (LOL).  And I never look ahead in a book for any reason.  Its bad enough when someone else drops a spoiler on you, but to drop one on yourself is just dreadfull.