So is it assumed that Randland is part of...? [SPOILERS]

[Adamantus]

our own world. From what I've heard from other people who have read the book (and I, myself, always thought this was the case), it seems pretty obvious that the series takes place on Earth in the distant future. From the talk of the second age in TSR, which describes technology very similar to our own, and other older legends from the first age - talking about Merk (which I took to be America) and Mosk fighting with spears of fire which I supposed were missiles and people going to the moon in the belly of an animal (a rocket) - I thought it was safe to assume that this was our world. I always read some people online that drew the same conclusions (Merk = America).

 

So can it safely be said that this is just Earth in the future, or is that still up for debate?

[Duskfire]

our own world. From what I've heard from other people who have read the book (and I, myself, always thought this was the case), it seems pretty obvious that the series takes place on Earth in the distant future. From the talk of the second age in TSR, which describes technology very similar to our own, and other older legends from the first age - talking about Merk (which I took to be America) and Mosk fighting with spears of fire which I supposed were missiles and people going to the moon in the belly of an animal (a rocket) - I thought it was safe to assume that this was our world. I always read some people online that drew the same conclusions (Merk = America).

 

So can it safely be said that this is just Earth in the future, or is that still up for debate?

 

No its definetly our world, it was always RJ's intention to make it so. And he pretty much told us that through the examples you gave like Merk and Mosk and whatnot. The debate is what Age our own time is in; whether its the first or the seventh or something else.

[Mr. Micawber]

Everything takes place on Sol 3 "Terra"

[Ewandrina]

I had never thought of that, I just guessed it was in another galaxy far far away.

[algspkr]

You forgot to mention that Mosk=Moscow.

 

It is definitely our future complete with left over Mercedes hood ornaments.  I have no idea how far into the future the Second Age starts, but personally I would guess that it was between  25,000 and 300,000 years long.  It had to last long enough for our time to be mostly forgotten which I would guess happened over 50 to 600 generations.  Given what we know of the Age of Legends  I would guess that it was closer to the 600 than the 50 because they seem to have progressed rapidly away from war and there are indications that they had the technology and motivation to keep excellent records.  I used a base of 500 years for a generation due to the life span of channelers who were likely to be the historians.

[Shadow Rider]

I thought that before but I have my doubts now. The time frame doesn't fit.....if an age in Randland was around 3000yrs an age, that equates to 21,000 + yrs of each turning, and we know The Aboriginals of Australia have been there for around 80,000yrs+.

I think that we in our world cold be one of the Mirror worlds, but not Randland.

[thevillagecouncil]

to be honest, we don't KNOW that they've been there for that long. We can accurately guess, but unless you were there 80,000 years ago then no one knows for sure :P

[Duskfire]

I thought that before but I have my doubts now. The time frame doesn't fit.....if an age in Randland was around 3000yrs an age, that equates to 21,000 + yrs of each turning, and we know The Aboriginals of Australia have been there for around 80,000yrs+.

I think that we in our world cold be one of the Mirror worlds, but not Randland.

 

But your assuming that an Age is always going to be the same timespan, which isn't neccessarily true. It wouldnt surprise me if the Age of Legends was vastly longer then the Third Age; the fact that war was forgotten except by scholars and whatnot suggests to me that the first age (if that was truly our age) was alot further then three thousand years previous.

[Shadow Rider]

I thought that before but I have my doubts now. The time frame doesn't fit.....if an age in Randland was around 3000yrs an age, that equates to 21,000 + yrs of each turning, and we know The Aboriginals of Australia have been there for around 80,000yrs+.

I think that we in our world cold be one of the Mirror worlds, but not Randland.

 

But your assuming that an Age is always going to be the same timespan, which isn't neccessarily true. It wouldnt surprise me if the Age of Legends was vastly longer then the Third Age; the fact that war was forgotten except by scholars and whatnot suggests to me that the first age (if that was truly our age) was alot further then three thousand years previous.

 

You are right in what you say, we only have a time between AoL and now which is over 3000yrs....other than that we got bugger all to go on.

[Senexx]

Australian Aboriginals in Australia 40-50000 years.

[Shadow Rider]

Last I herd it was 80,000yrs, but I think they change there mind alot.

[Juggler]

Estimated we came out of africa approx 60,000 years ago and migrated from then so 50,000 for aboriginals sounds about right. based upon Archeological and genetic mapping (time it takes for a gene to move round the world) approx 60,000 years to Mitochondrial eve.

[rcfleming4]

I thought there was a quote from RJ that this was a similar to world to ours . . .I believe he said that in the WoT world, the sun will never burn out etc etc.

 

Of course I could be misremembering so who knows.

 

Are all the Ages supposed to have humanity in it? If so it's not our world at all.

 

I'm fine with Ages being different lengths, but to have one be 3000 years and then another (previous to all life, or including dinosaurs etc) seems odd as those Ages would be millions or billions of years in length.

[Senexx]

All my Australian life it has been 40000 years.

 

In the last few years it has been common to hear 50000 years.

 

No other numbers have been mentioned or at least popularised.

[Ewandrina]

I really dont believe it is our world, something close but it just doesnt feel right. IF I was to believe it was our world I would be thinking it way in the future not the past, we would learn about channeling ect and after many times of the world being broken devolve in technology.

 

I do remember one of the forsaken (not sure who off hand) saying she remembered an elevator, so we know that they had more technology even just 3000 years ago so it is possiable.

 

BAh now I am rethinking this is a tricky subject I just dont know cry

[Coraxian]

First of all: it's fantasy, don't over-science it.

 

Personally I think it is our world either in the future or the past, because as you've read time and time again in the first paragraph of the first chapter, the Ages come and go and once all seven are past it all repeats itself in a somewhat simmilar way.

 

So, one could argue it is in the future, since they refer to America, Moscow, Mercedes, John Glenn and "the eagle has landed", but you could also argue that it is in the past, since it refers to so much of our mythology (Arthurian, Norse, etc...).

 

It takes place in another turning of the Wheel, how many turns foreward or backward doesn't really matter, since time is cycling and to a transdimensional being it would not really move foreward in time.  This would be an easy way to explain the everlasting sun, maybe? :p

 

But once again, it's fantasy, not science-fiction.

 

P.S.: I always explain this series to my friends as "imagine Jesus proving without a doubt he was reborn and that the apocalypse was upon us. How would the nations of the world react if he told them to follow his banner?  That's very roughly what these books are about."

[Nightstrike]

Yep, fantasy.

 

Marcon Interview Memorial Weekend 2001- Sorilea reporting

 

Q: At one point in the story we see Ishamael talking to Rand, and telling him that they have fought countless times in the past, but this is the final time. Is there anything about his Age that makes it special?

RJ: No . . . Every Age is repeated, there is nothing that makes this Age any different from any other turnings of the Wheel. The Wheel is endless. [And with any luck, that should quiet all of you 'Straight Line of Time' pests! - Raina]7 

 

scifi.com chat 14 November 2000

 

Star: What religions have influenced your creation of the Creator and the Dark One?

 

RJ: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and bits of heretical writing within those faiths. I hasten to add I'm not endorsing anything. I'm just a writer. I tell stories.

 

DragonCon 5 September 2005 - Tamyrlin reporting

Question Part 1: In the Wheel of Time there is focus on events occurring again and again throughout history. Is it just history which is circular, or is it time itself which is in a loop?

Jordan: If you think of history being in a loop, then time must be in a loop. The Greeks were the first, as far as we know, to think of time being linear which allows for change. Almost every other culture prior to them had believed in circular time. If time is a wheel there is no possibility of change. Whatever I change now, whatever injustices I correct, the wheel will inevitably return, the inequities will return, there is no possibility for change, therefore there is not impetus to change. So time and history are in a loop in this world, a large enough loop . . . that it is really quite immense.

Question Part 2: So, the sun will never go nova, will never die?

Jordan: In this universe, no.

 

Crossroads of Twilight book tour 18 January 2003, Harvard Coop - Tallis reporting

 

Rand has no direct connection with the Creator. The Creator is completely removed from the world; aside from ... creating ... the

Pattern, he does nothing else whatsoever to influence anything.

 

tarvalon.net Q&A 26 February 2003

 

Q: In the Wheel of Time mythos, how do extinct animals come back into existence when the Wheel comes back around?

 

RJ: Well, the world I created is based on the ideas and conceptions of the world from a roughly medieval viewpoint; time being circular and such. I didn't quite try to make it completely scientifically accurate, so there really is no answer for the question.