What would you change if you were writing WoT?

[T00thbrush]

Hey, I'm brand new around these parts so... hi, I guess! I've been reading WoT for 8 or 10 years I guess, but never spent much time looking at message boards until now.

 

Anyway, back on track. We've all got bones to pick with WoT but what I was wondering about was: what would you change? Whether it's plotlines, characters, relationships... the idea is not just to criticize what we don't like but say what we would have done instead if we had been in RJ's wonderful writer shoes (not that any of us could compete, I know! :D). I'm pretty sure a thread like this must exist somewhere but search is not working for me right now, so... :)

 

What I'd change would have a lot to do with the bloody romantic relationships, which to me are about the only bit of the book that consistenly makes me want to bang my head down on a table ;) Off the top of my head:

 

****spoilers below obviously, what MAY be considered as ToM spoilers has been written in white so just highlight to read****

 

* Rand and Elayne. God. First I'm biased as I can't stand Elayne who strikes me as spoiled and having extremely poor judgment right from the beginning and through to the latest book (hey at least she's consistent!). Their "romance" kind of appears out of nowhere, that they've got horny teen hormones is understandable but that it should blossom into a full-on "real" relationship is just beyond me.

* Egwene and Gawyn. Again "out of nowhere" syndrome. What's worse here is that they don't even get along at all, nothing in common, and Gawyn like his sister is very consistent at making enormous mistakes (while thinking he's hot stuff). He also seems to think of Eg as some stupid, fragile, powerless little thing, which couldn't be more wrong. So yeah. I don't know what she sees in him.

=> basically, what I'd change is that these 2 relationships would not exist. I reckon it'd be a lot more interesting (and complicated) if Eg was Rand's 3rd woman instead of Elayne. I mean - impossible romance between the Dragon Reborn and the Amyrlin, that ought to be pretty exciting and have a big impact on the plot. Also, Eg would make much more sense than Elayne as Aviendha's sister wife. At least Eg & Avi get along, have endured some WO training together, Eg has a real understanding/appreciation of the Aiel. On the other hand, I always felt Elayne & Avi's friendship was contrived and groundless.

 

* Moiraine and Thom, Siuan and Gareth. The "beautiful young-looking woman ends up with grizzled old man who looks like her grandfather" bit is a bit too common in WoT for me, but what I truly dislike about those 2 relationships is the bit where smart, powerful women are suddenly stripped of most of their strength and position and turned into simpering shadows of themselves whose number one concern is marrying the grizzled old man. I mean, come on.

=> what I'd change: as far as I'm concerned, a Moiraine/Siuan relationship would be much more believable and interesting. Plus, it's time the "pillow friends" business got out on the main scene ;)

 

Apart from relationships, my other main bone to pick would be the reincarnated Forsaken business, which to me is a waste of time & space.

* Aginor and Balthamel were pretty useless to start with, Osangar and Arangar are even worse.

=> I would have left them for dead the first time around, that's it - no resurrection.

* Lanfear was a fantastic, charismatic character ; Cyndane is pretty uninteresting (not to mention we see very little of her anyway).

=> wouldn't have killed Lanfear. She could have spent some time in the Tower of Ghenjei then escaped later somehow (either freed by the DO or manage to run away as an accidental by-product of Mat and Thom's Moiraine rescue mission), remaining herself.

 

I would however keep Ishamael/Moridin. Moridin is a good character, and Ishamael having always been pretty special it would make sense for the DO to go out of his way to bring him back.

 

There were my 2 cents for now. Would love to hear some other ideas, tweaks and takes on WoT :)

[zshadez]

... heresy.

[username13]

Well I'm a longtime supporter of Gawyn, despite his shear stupidity at times, he will redeem himself I'm sure. Definitely agree with you about the Elayne and Avi relationship seeming somewhat... convenient.... Also don't like Elayne so that could kinda be it....

 

As for what I would change.

* I would try not to take the easy route and make people share information a bit better, it would ruin too many things, make it too easy, though it is bloody tempting at times.

* Get some recognition for Dobraine, some more land or something, seems like he's getting kinda trodden on

* So many things with the Aes Sedai that changing them would really affect the story, so can't go there... hmm...

* Some cool Logaine stuff

* Legion of the Dragon getting more screentime, and being proved worthy fighters. The trees they used for cover in PoD won't be there come Tarmon Gaidon

* I really want to see Two Rivers again, and to give the Two Rivers guys some uniforms. Will show them as more of a fighting force to the world instead of just farmers with bows.

* Main thing though would be putting a bit of fight into the Forsaken. Not the several one fight then death thing. Several confrontations that build up to something instead of being so anti climatic when one or another kinda dies, they're not seeming like worthy opponents at the moment. Would kinda ake the series go longer though

 

The thing about making any changes is that it will change the overall story too greatly

[Shaidar]

1. The most important thing I would is CUT. Cut cut cut like a madman. I love the series but it's too superfluous.

 

2. Remove Perrin, or have him die ASOIAF-style. Egwene can be the 3rd ta'veren with his Dream abilities, the wolves aspect can be entirely excised.

 

3. I think Verin's unveiling of the BA was a pretty lame deus ex machine. I'd have actually had the BA hunter plot reach a culmination, instead of fizzling out.

 

4. Cut most of the material in books 8-10. Actually do the series in about 10 books.

 

5. Have had Demandred fulfill the Dragon prophecies - of the Sharans! and proclaim himself as the true Dragon, in opposition to the false Dragon al'Thor. This would have been offstage, but would have been revealed in the epilogue before AMOL. This would provide a beautiful excuse for Shara to invade Randland from the east and unwittingly provide great aid to the Shadow.

 

6. Excise or kill off dozens of irrelevant minor characters.

 

7. Have fewer of the Forsaken, but make them actually badass instead of pathetic.

[OptimusPrime]

The main things I would change would be the way the Chosen handle themselves. I can understand why they were hyped up and then never meet expectations, its part of the rumor-getting-blown-out-of-proportion theme. But hardly any of them give justifications of the devlish tales being told in the first place.

 

Moghedien would have killed a main character before being captured if I had my way. Not Nynaeve though.

 

Semirhage, when she realized Rand had channeled the True Power, instead of TALKING about it, would have done something. Like attack Rand, Rand thwarts the attack, balefires Semirhage and Elze anyway, Semirhage saves a shred of dignity. Semirhage would also have created even more doubt among Rands following than she did. Indeed, her words on Lews Therin whether true or not, they began Rands fall from grace, but any chump could have come up with what she did. She could have done something really ballsy, like claim that Rand been present at a Chosen meeting, or implied to Rands Aes Sedai followers that he had been 13x13ed.

 

Demandred would have been shown briefly on screen to be plotting very, very hard to bring Moridin down. Without the help of the others.

 

Osan'gar would have deflected Elzas attack at the Cleansing and figured out that she was compromised-that would have been in his PoV at the Cleansing-but Verin would have killed him not long after to keep herself hidden so to speak.

[Lynchgrinch]

1. The most important thing I would is CUT. Cut cut cut like a madman. I love the series but it's too superfluous.

 

2. Remove Perrin, or have him die ASOIAF-style. Egwene can be the 3rd ta'veren with his Dream abilities, the wolves aspect can be entirely excised.

 

3. I think Verin's unveiling of the BA was a pretty lame deus ex machine. I'd have actually had the BA hunter plot reach a culmination, instead of fizzling out.

 

4. Cut most of the material in books 8-10. Actually do the series in about 10 books.

 

5. Have had Demandred fulfill the Dragon prophecies - of the Sharans! and proclaim himself as the true Dragon, in opposition to the false Dragon al'Thor. This would have been offstage, but would have been revealed in the epilogue before AMOL. This would provide a beautiful excuse for Shara to invade Randland from the east and unwittingly provide great aid to the Shadow.

 

6. Excise or kill off dozens of irrelevant minor characters.

 

7. Have fewer of the Forsaken, but make them actually badass instead of pathetic.

 

 

Verin?....Deus Ex Machina?......no way!

 

RJ had the Verin plotline thought out so well that he left loads of tiny clues all along the way leading up to her grand unveiling in tGS. No, there is no way verin was a cop out. We were all just too stupid to spot the verinisms.

 

Have Perrin die? You CLEARLY havent read TOM, thats all i'm sayin'.

Perrin has done some of the coolest things in the series...Save the two rivers, WOLFBROTHER???? that ring any gongs?

 

I like that no one has realy been killed off ASOIAF style, it wouldnt suit the series well.

 

But i do agree with you regarding the forsaken, They could be much, much harder and more badass....i mean we all know Rand is ridiculously badass, but they should at least be able to put up a fight....I'm hoping that Demandred and IsyDin will redeem the chosen in this way.

 

Actualy, wait....Graendal, Lanfear and Semi are all pretty damn well written and pretty damn badass in they're own right....it's the MALE forsaken that tend to be uninspiring...Rhavin got owned, Asmo got owned...even ishy got owned 3 times round when Rand was untrained...sammael got raped also. bel'al, aginor and balthamel were all complete jokes, the put up NO fight whatsoever....and aginor was supposed to be the strongest forsaken, bar ishy.

 

Messana so far has been pretty uninspiring too, as has moghedien...but we always knew that she was a coward.

 

I do like the FS getting reborn, though....but i still recon we've got more to see from that neck of the woods.

 

Also, i'd make WH and CoT one book, rather than two pretty damn boring ones.

 

tsk tsk.

[Shaidar]

@Lynchgrinch,

 

About Verin - yes, there were some clues about her double life. But I don't recall any about having the names of practically every BA in her possession. How exactly could she have gotten that information? The only person to have that kind of knowledge would be the Head of the BA. The only way I see she could have done it by is captured a former Head and tortured her for the info, but that is problematic because of both their Oath Rod promises to not betray the DO.

 

About Perrin - by far the more boring ta'veren. He was cool for a few chapters in TOM, but I'm afraid it doesn't make up for 6 books of lameness.

 

About Forsaken - the females get owned all the time too, they just don't die as much as the males. I reckon if that's the case then RJ might as well have made it like in the movie 6th day as long as it ain't balefire, resurrection is free and poses no problems. Would also make the Shadow channeler threat more credible if all their guys could just keep getting recycled.

[T00thbrush]

1. The most important thing I would is CUT. Cut cut cut like a madman. I love the series but it's too superfluous.

4. Cut most of the material in books 8-10. Actually do the series in about 10 books.

 

Yes, I agree with that. To me, APoD, ACoS and CoT were very, very weak books compared to the rest of the series (going from memory there, it's been a long time since I've last read them). Condensing them into the just the one, actually exciting, tightly written volume, would have been good.

 

Demandred would have been shown briefly on screen to be plotting very, very hard to bring Moridin down. Without the help of the others.

 

Demandred definitely needs a hell of a lot more screentime. So far he's been a ghost more than anything else :) I think ditching superfluous, worthless reincarnations such as Arangar/Osangar/Cyndane would have left more space and time to develop the one original, powerful, interesting Forsaken that Demandred should be by right.

 

In regards to Perrin, he's a lot more solid and in a way less exciting than Rand and Mat (who just have a lot of charisma going for them I guess!) but I enjoy his character, and he's been up to plenty of awesomeness in good old TSR as well as more recently in ToM. Nah, definitely like Perrin!

 

Also agree the Forsaken in general should be a bit more badass. I think Rahvin and Sammael did alright - they got their asses kicked but not before getting complete control of powerful countries. Actually this "period" in the book was probably the best Forsaken-wise, it was the time when they still sounded scary and suddenly seemed to be popping up everywhere, controlling many things from the shadow. And then... well, it sort of went downhill from there.

 

Something I might have changed as to do with one of the main (and defo most awaited) event in ToM, *spoiler*Moiraine's rescue mission. I admit I was a bit disappointed with that, it felt rushed to me - maybe because I've waited for that for so long that expectations were just too high to fulfill, I'm not sure. I felt it was a bit strange that everything suddenly happened in a few chapters stuck at the very end of the book. I think either I would have taken more care to do disperse chapters about that throughout the book (as is done with Perrin's arc for instance), or maybe just not bring back Moiraine at all (BLASPHEMY? ;)). Don't get me wrong, she's always been one of my favorites characters, but she really went out with a bang that made her even more of a legend. I worry that bringing her back will be a bit of a let down in the long run. We shall see in AMoL :)

 

By the same token, bringing Graendal back gets a "meh" from me, it's a kick to see how Rand could be so wrong about her being dead and done especially after he took such care and drastic measures to kill her, but... well... "Graendal is not dead. She does bugger all, then ends up getting punished." Not worth hearing about really.*/spoiler*

[dscott8]

@Lynchgrinch,

 

About Verin - yes, there were some clues about her double life. But I don't recall any about having the names of practically every BA in her possession. How exactly could she have gotten that information? The only person to have that kind of knowledge would be the Head of the BA. The only way I see she could have done it by is captured a former Head and tortured her for the info, but that is problematic because of both their Oath Rod promises to not betray the DO.

 

Verin's a Brown, used to researching minute clues and hints on obscure subjects. And Darkfriends, even Black Ajah, are only human -- they make mistakes. Remember the scene where Bors is summoned to the big meeting to see images of Rand, Mat and Perrin, and get instructions? He notes a lot of small giveaways among the gathered Darkfriends, clues that could be followed up. Verin would follow them up, and she's had years to winkle out the identities of Black Sisters. She's like those paleontologists who use collections of bone scraps to reconstruct what dinosaurs looked like.

[Darth Krewl]

Plotlines:

 

Lanfear vs. Moiraine. While this was an exciting, intense chapter, the end result was, IMO, much worse and totally unnecessary (at least at a point that ended up being way too early in the series) for losing two of the strongest female characters in the series. I agree that as Cyndane, Lanfear is a shell of her former self and Moiraine could've continued to be Rand's adviser, rendering Cadsuane totally useless (sparing us all who can't stand the obnoxious old hag, in the process).

 

If RJ wanted to use Moiraine's "passing" as a reason to harden Rand, this could've been done by sacrificing someone else close to him (one of his lovers, perhaps) and having Rand banish Moiraine for a few books (as he did Cadsuane) before his epiphany. I don't think this would've taken much away from the story. Also, if you're gonna nix Moiraine, then get rid of her for good. The "mentor archetype comes back from the grave" trick's has already been used up way too much, IMO.

 

Characters:

 

I would've had a few major characters killed off. Not in a ASoIaF or Godfather style butchery perhaps, but for the good of the story; to inject some drama and sense of danger every chapter, since the reader wouldn't feel like all characters are invincible and would be wondering if/who might just bite the dust next. And if you've killed someone off, don't keep bringing them back (Thom, Moiraine, etc.), especially the Forsaken!

 

Bringing back all the incompetent fools who got themselves killed after failing you so badly, paints the DO as a weak-hearted villain, who should recruit new people (such as Taim, assuming he's no alter ego of one of the Forsaken) to replace the fallen and use that to teach a lesson to the survivors: failure is NOT an option.

 

Example: Moridin. IMO, Ishamael had three chances to turn/kill Rand during the first 3 books and he failed miserably. And, not only does the DO bring him back, but he makes the guy more powerful and names him Nae'blis in the process? Doesn't work for me. I would've let him rot in the Pits of Doom for all times and, either named someone else who's proven more resilient, more fit to survive Nae'blis (like Demandred, for instance) or wait to see which one of my followers has earned him/herself the title.

 

Relationships:

 

Why can Rand have 3 lovers at the same time, but a big fuzz is made over Perrin's "infidelity" with Berelain? The guy's not the Dragon Reborn, sure, but he is Ta'veren. So, what would be so wrong if he were to have himself 2 lovers, instead of one? I'd change that. If only for the Ta'veren.

 

I agree that Rand's relationship with Elayne doesn't work in many ways. The only explanation for that would be that Elayne were Ilyena reborn (Ilyena is an anagram for Elayne) and that these 2 are soulmates a la Birgitte-Gaidal or some such New Agey type of thing, for it to work. Because, unlike Min and Aviendha (the former, especially), Rand doesn't spend as much time with Elayne for them to fall as madly in love as they're supposed to be. Oh, and I would've never have her bond Rand. He's the Dragon Reborn and has a job to do. Business before pleasure, IMO.

 

Still, I see Elayne as proud and ambitious as Faile, for instance, and have a hard time picturing a woman like that accepting to share her man with not one, but two other women. So, that's another reason why this doesn't work for me.

[Tom Sawyer]

I agree about Rand and Elayne - their relationship makes no sense. I'd add Mat and Tuon in there, too, since they're an even worse match. Just keep Semirhage in charge of the Seanchan and write Tuon out of the series entirely. The Sea Folk would go as well and the time with Valan Luca and the menagerie would be about a chapter. I agree with having the Black Ajah hunter plotline actually go somewhere and their tracking down Mesanna and figuring out who she was along with the other BA would be better than the truncated way her story ended and Verin just handing Egwene a list of people to execute.

 

I would also have Logain and Demandred actually be characters in the series as opposed to interesting potential characters who never quite manage to show up in the storyline and I'd have moved the character-building portions of Gawyn and Galad's plots to books six or seven instead of books twelve and thirteen. Also, Ishamael would have been the only Forsaken to come back and the rest wouldn't have wasted screen time.

 

Perrin rescuing Faile from the Shaido would have started and ended in one book and he could have then wandered back to Rand and maybe done something useful. Also, if Elayne ever took a bath, there'd be one sentence about it.

[Tiinker]

Kill of Faile after book 3..

[OptimusPrime]

Also, Ishamael would have been the only Forsaken to come back and the rest wouldn't have wasted screen time.

 

I agree except I would keep Lanfear returning as Cyndane still. I always thought there was some role she would end up playing after coming back, whereas Aginor and Balthamel returning seems fairly pointless. Why would the Dark One have his chief scientist act as a spy among the Dragon Reborns recruits? Why on earth didnt Osan'gar get True Power access again? If it wasnt for Aginor, Shaidar Haran wouldnt have been possible. Not as a Superfade anyway. Can you imagine what would have happened if Aginor managed to get hold of some Ogier or a Nym, and done some of his Shadowspawn experiments on them? Ogier that could enhance the Blight??? But instead, the scientist is told to spy on the Dragon Reborn.

 

Dark One: Hey Aginor. Wana spy on the Dragon Reborn?

Aginor: Dude Im a scientist, what the hell are you smoking?

Dark One: Menthol. Spy on the Dragon. If you think you got it bad, just wait til Demandred finds out hes guna infiltrate the Womens Circle at Emonds Field.

[raolan]

Above all else, I would remove all the padding in this series. So... reduce it from 14 books total to more like 3. (I'm exaggerating of course.)

 

Secondly, being my happily ever after ending hating self, I wouldn't write the ending in the way it will inevitably end. (Last Battle is fought, Rand *should* die, somehow survives, happily ever after until the Dark One pops up again)

Instead, I would make it awesome. For example, instead of the Dark One breaking free, it turns into a pun with the Dark One banging on a sheet of glass over his prison screaming for them to let him out.

OR, the Dark One breaks free and remakes the world.

OR, the Dark One breaks free, remakes the world for an age, and the Creator rocks up at the end of that age and imprisons him again (thus renewing the cycle.)

 

By the way, don't throw any 'the storyline objects to that!' at me. Lore can be bent as easily as string. Plus, my comments here except for the first one are just me wishing. It'll never happen.

 

 

The other thing that I just thought of that is annoying me is how nobody ever dies. No one important anyway. No single character actually feels like a badass in this because no one dies... All main characters, or even just characters that are associated with main characters, are bloody immortal.

 

If you've read Matthew Reilly books, particular ones about Jack West and Shane Schofield, you'll know what I mean. Those two characters feel like absolute badass soldiers because everyone around them is dying. Instead of their group being The Immortal Teletubbies, they're all epic in their own right but the Huntsman (Jack West) and the Scarecrow (Schofield) are both epic because of how they do things.

[Majsju]

The one thing I would like to change is the lack of dead major characters. Ok, we got Verin. But before that? Closest thing to a really emotional death was Perrins family, and that happened offscreen.

 

I want blood, I want agony. I want chapers so full of grief and pain that they make me want to toss the book out the window.

[raolan]

The one thing I would like to change is the lack of dead major characters. Ok, we got Verin. But before that? Closest thing to a really emotional death was Perrins family, and that happened offscreen.

 

I want blood, I want agony. I want chapers so full of grief and pain that they make me want to toss the book out the window.

 

I don't consider Verin a major character. She's just a recurring character. Her death doesn't shake the foundations of anything. Perrin's family? Not one of them got any time in the entire book. Perhaps of Tam or Abell had died it would have mattered, but Perrin's family? I don't recall them being involved in anything anytime ever.

 

 

This series really does annoy me on this topic. We've got all these 'miasmas' that appear out of nowhere, especially later on, and not one ever just so happens to come near a main character. I'm referring to the insta-death ones by the way, like that guard that melted.

Everyone important somehow manages to survive full on battles. Perrin and Loial. Both have survived battles where they should have died. Rand has been in countless fights he should have died in. Especially if the Forsaken were not such pansies.

I understand how the majority of the female characters avoid death, they're so bloody annoying no one wants to get close enough to kill them.

[T00thbrush]

Agree with the "need more deaths" sentiment, although it does raise the question or who should die and... oh boy, would that be opening a can full or worms! Nonetheless, JK Rowling had no qualms about killing off main characters in Harry bloody Potter. You'd think a long, convoluted, mature epic such as WoT could/would manage it too!

 

I agree that Rand's relationship with Elayne doesn't work in many ways. The only explanation for that would be that Elayne were Ilyena reborn (Ilyena is an anagram for Elayne) and that these 2 are soulmates a la Birgitte-Gaidal or some such New Agey type of thing, for it to work.

 

Yes, I've always thought something along those lines but we've now reached book 13 and Elayne is no closer to being presented as a fated reincarnation of the Dragon's lover. Also, I always felt that even that explanation wasn't really good enough to justify their "relationship". It's just too superficial. Also agree that Elayne didn't strike me as the type to share her man, if only because of how spoiled she is (used to getting what she wants, not used to sharing). Again, the sharing would have worked better with Egwene for me (as Amyrlin she wouldn't have been able to be in a full-on relationship with the Dragon Reborn anyway, plus having absorbed part of the Aiel culture... etc).

 

However I think the bonding was a good thing that helped prevent Rand from going completely ballistic, and as such was needed plotwise (plus, really, Rand deserves a bit of a break now and then, poor bugger).

 

I'd have moved the character-building portions of Gawyn and Galad's plots to books six or seven instead of books twelve and thirteen.

 

I don't really want to see any more of Gawyn, but Galad is an interesting character. I think I actually enjoy the fact that he's only come into his own in KoD. I mean, until then, we see him mainly through Gawyn and Elayne's eyes... that is of course an incredibly biased point of view (I mean, really: "Galad is a hell of a lot more mature, honorable and smart than either of us, so we hate his guts" is what it is). FINALLY getting to see through Galad's eyes was great, partly because it took that long and so goes a long way to showing how wrong other characters can be, and how much they can trick the reader into thinking as they do. I would however really enjoy seeing more of Galad in the last book (although I'm not getting my hopes up too much, there's just so many things going on he'll probably won't get that much screentime), especially considering his special position as Rand's half-brother, and last living relative. They're also both blademasters, it would be a blast to see them fight side by side.

[Talmanes]

I think the thing with no deaths is mostly because of RJ's writing style, and Brandon's as well. They both, though BS's writing moreso have a lot of upbeat tones to it. If it was slightly more dark, like the Malazan series, it would be a very different series.

I think a lot of the things most people complain about are things that, though seeming like a good idea to cut, would for the most part make the series not able to work as well.

 

Needless to say I totally agree with Perrin and Faile's superlong Aiel plot needing to have been shorter. I loved Perrin's plotline when he was in the Two Rivers, it was great. Then the next book he's nowhere to be found, although there was a reason for that too, and then we get nothing more but multiple book spanning same plot. I do definitely think Perrin redeems himself as of late, but it was still bad with the overextendedness.

 

I agree that the Forsaken were killed off too easy. I think that's one of the reasons the first few books had the best feel to them. Rand was going against an enemy he couldn't defeat, not for good anyway. The whole resurrection thing has become redundant.

 

I think that although in a way disappointing, it would be a much more moving end if in the last fight with the Dark One, Rand had to do something epic like use himself to seal the DO's prison for good, then die, then have the classic intro saying how there are no beginnings and endings, but have the wind blowing until it reaches a woman giving birth to a new child, a boy, and it says the child wasn't the begining, but it was a beginning. And BAM the cycle prepares to repeat itself.

[waffle]

Wouldn´t change a goddamn thing.

 

Things like Elaynes politicking/general uppityness, Egwene turning into Aes Sedai, Gawyn being a whiny emo whose only purpose in life is to be someones dog and the Malden storyline dragging out over several books were/are really annoying BUT i still wouldn´t remove them. Frankly, people whining about how they would of done better is disrespectful and stupid.

[T00thbrush]

I think you're missing the point, mate. It's not about whining and pretending we could make it better (as if!), it's just about having a little harmless fun sharing creative alternatives we would have been interested in. I respect James Rigney and his work, but I don't believe this admiration should prevent me from idly wondering about other possibilites for the series - quite the contrary.

[waffle]

Alright, i overreacted a little. Sorry. Shouldn´t of made blanket statement like that. There are only a few people here who constantly whine about how RJ did everything wrong and how they know so much better how to write.

 

Still wouldn´t change anything though.

 

Well... maybe a bit more of Bela wouldn´t hurt

[T00thbrush]

No worries. Message boards can be funny places. Where else in the 21st century can you still feed trolls and fight flame-throwing wars on a daily basis, after all?

 

Maybe Rand will ride Bela to the Last Battle. Bela never says die! What about the series ending with the DO eloping with Bela? Now that's a change no one could resist!

[Mr Ares]

*Glares at Toothbrush and waffleand decides to bide time*

(Ilyena is an anagram for Elayne)

No it isn't. I know it's pedantic to point that out, but someone had to say it, damnit.

 

Why would the Dark One have his chief scientist act as a spy among the Dragon Reborns recruits?

Because his scientific skills are useless in the era he finds himself in. He doesn't have the tools to make the tools to make the tools he'd need to continue his work from the AoL.

 

I want blood, I want agony.

*Sharpens knife* If you insist.

 

I find myself in agreement with those wishing for a few major deaths. More competence from the Chosen (and the AS). Better pacing in books 8-10. And include an all singing, all dancing musical finale! OK, maybe not that last one.

 

Oh, and one last thing, something you've all been waiting for....

 

...

 

...

 

*Kneecaps waffle and Toothbrush*

[waffle]

*Glares at Toothbrush and waffleand decides to bide time*

...

*Kneecaps waffle and Toothbrush*

 

Say what now?

[Darth Krewl]

(Ilyena is an anagram for Elayne)

No it isn't. I know it's pedantic to point that out, but someone had to say it, damnit.

 

"Pedantic" from you, Mr. Ares? Well, after the brief exchanges we've sustained since I joined this forum, who would've thunk it?

 

The only difference between Elayne and Ilyena is that the former has two "e's" and no "i". Not a perfect anagram, perhaps, but if you rearrange the names, you could get Ilayne or Elyena. Close enough for my taste.