SPOILLER: Error reporting

[Luckers]

O_o

 

I see that our secret is out. We choose staff around here based on their learning disabilities

 

I'm mildly dyslexic, so....

[Terez]

I typed dvorak for years.

 

lol, you would!

[michael.clinton83]

My apologies if these have already been posted but a few issues that came up for me while reading:

 

1) Is it just me or was the description of linking butchered?

 

2) Isam's POV didn't make sense to me. Luc was raised in Andor, and Isam was born in Malkier. Agalmar's story indicated after his mother's failed attempt to take the throne for Isam, Trollocs took Malkier and she fled south with Isam.

 

Is it possible that she then double-backed and headed directly into the heart of the blight, close enough to see the Mountains of Dhoom, to raise her child amongst a village of twisted Aiel? Uh, I guess...

[michael.clinton83]

Here's the linking quote

 

 

"Men require women to form a circle," Pevara said. "In fact, a circle must contain more women than men except in very limited cases. One woman and man can link, as can two women and one man, as can two women and two men. So the largest we could create is a circle of three, with me and two of you. Still, it could be of use to us."

 

Given the conversation involved 1 woman and 3 men, it seems her examples don't show how it would be possible for 3 of them to link. Also, she was giving examples of when a circle doesn't require more women than men and the underlined is an example of more women than men. This should really read 'as can one woman and two men'.

 

 

[Gabriel Kross]

{ "The men are starving, Jarid," Davies repeated. }

 

It is in fact Karam who said "Our men are starving." Davies made no prior observation about hunger.

 

You can repeat something someone else says I'm not sure this one is an error.

[Neophyte]

2) Isam's POV didn't make sense to me. Luc was raised in Andor, and Isam was born in Malkier. Agalmar's story indicated after his mother's failed attempt to take the throne for Isam, Trollocs took Malkier and she fled south with Isam.

 

Is it possible that she then double-backed and headed directly into the heart of the blight, close enough to see the Mountains of Dhoom, to raise her child amongst a village of twisted Aiel? Uh, I guess...

 

From TEoTW ch 47:

 

Breyan fled with her infant son Isam, and was run down by Trollocs as she rode south with him. No one knows their fate of a certainty, but it can be guessed. I can find pity only for the

boy.

 

They were run down by Trollocs, and presumably carried back to the Town. Isam was not raised by his mother - he grew up an orphan child in the Town.

[claireducky]

Ok, I mentioned this to Terez the other day, because it's been bugging me.

 

 

Bayrd turned back to his stones. Snap, snap, snap. Slate and granite. It had taken work to find suitable sections of each, but Pappil had taught Bayrd to recognize all kinds of stone. The old man had felt betrayed when Bayrd’s father had gone off and become a butcher in the city, instead of keeping to the family trade.

 

Soft, smooth slate. Bumpy, ridged granite. Yes, somethings in the world were still solid. Some few things.

 

 

As somebody who dabbles in flintknapping, this bothers me a ton. Slate is not an acceptable material for stone weapons. It is super brittle; you can break it with just your hands. Granite, while not an optimal choice, can be used as a striker while flintknapping, so that material is ok. But slate is not. Flintknapping would be done with materials that do not have natural planes of fracture (like slate has). The stone needs to meet a certain hardness index and lack these natural planes so that it creates conchoidal fractures when you strike it. Types of materials that WOULD be used are flint, chert, quartzites, obsidian, and chalcedony types like agate and jasper.

 

"Flint and steel" is a term that has been used in the WoT verse before, so we know flint exists in Randland. If Bayrd truly knows anything about stoneworking, he'd know that slate will not work as a weapon. It would snap at the lightest pressure.

 

 

Bayrd looked back at the stone in his hand. Only one step left, the smoothing. A good spearhead needed some smoothing to be dangerous. He brought out another piece of granite he’d picked up for the purpose and carefully began scraping it along the side of the slate.

 

A good spearhead does NOT need smoothing, unless you're grinding a VERY HARD and non-fracturing stone like granite into a weapon (as was done for certain kinds of axe heads). For materials like flint, the fracturing process is what makes the edge so deadly sharp. You start with big flakes, then make smaller ones all around the edge. The edge will be razor sharp. Taking granite to the edge of a flint weapon would only dull that edge. Natives resharpened flint tools by taking new flakes from the edges, until they'd flaked so much off over the years they could no longer use the tool for its original purpose anymore. Then it might be turned into something else (ie a spear head becomes a knife or an arrowhead).

[michael.clinton83]

I agree with the above, slate would be a horrible stone for a spearhead. You'd honestly be better off just sharpening the end of a wooden pole. Maaayyyybbeee for an arrowhead, as they are generally a one-time-use weapon... but definitely not a spear.

 

I posted in another thread, but to consolidate here:

 

Description of circles/linking from Pevara:

 

"Men require women to form a circle," Pevara said. "In fact, a circle must contain more women than men except in very limited cases. One woman and man can link, as can two women and one man, as can two women and two men. So the largest we could create is a circle of three, with me and two of you. Still, it could be of use to us."

 

Given the conversation involved 1 woman and 3 men, it seems her examples don't show how it would be possible for 3 of them to link. Also, she was giving examples of when a circle doesn't require more women than men and the underlined is an example of more women than men. This should really read:

 

"Men require women to form a circle," Pevara said. "In fact, a circle must contain more women than men except in very limited cases. One woman and man can link, as can one woman and two men, as can two women and two men. So the largest we could create is a circle of three, with me and two of you. Still, it could be of use to us."

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Google search "slate spearhead"...they've been made for thousands of years. Plus if you don't have any flint nearby, you use what you do have.

[claireducky]

When I google search "Slate Spearhead", I find a eHow article on how to make a slate spearhead that reads like it was the instruction manual Bayrd was working off of. While I don't doubt that someone, somewhere has made a spearhead out of slate, I still feel like it's an oversight. Slate is for tiling, beads, pipes and effigies. It's soft, so it's easy to carve.

 

Flint and chert are common just about everywhere-- I just have a hard time believing that he would use slate.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

There are tons of hits for ancient slate spearheads. For example http://www.timelineauctions.com/lot/slate-inuit-spearhead-collection/6273/

 

Anyway, your point is taken. More research did go into this already.

[Tenesmus]

Just a minor observation. I believe it is the second (maybe third) snippet with Talmanes POV in the Prologue. In it Melten is treating Talmanes and calls him Dreadbane for the first time. Talmanes says something to the effect of, "it had about seventeen arrows in it at the time."

 

Shouldn't it be "bolts" instead of "arrows." I don't believe there are any archers in the Band, only crossbowmen, and they shoot crossbow bolts, not arrows.

 

Excellent Prologue, by the way.

[Sid]

In Aviendha's section, she mused that Kymer might speak with her uncle, Han, the Tomanelle chief.

 

I find it odd that she would call him her 'uncle'. Aiel have different names than the other for nearly every familial relationship you can think of, though I can't think of any specifically for 'uncle', it might be "father to her second-sister", or something similar.

[yoniy0]

In Aviendha's section, she mused that Kymer might speak with her uncle, Han, the Tomanelle chief.

 

I find it odd that she would call him her 'uncle'. Aiel have different names than the other for nearly every familial relationship you can think of, though I can't think of any specifically for 'uncle', it might be "father to her second-sister", or something similar.

Yes, we've covered that:

Bair referring to Aviendha's "grandmother" and Avi to Kymer's "uncle" Han.

 

I don't recall ever seeing anything about what Aiel call their uncles, so who knows, maybe the latter is right, but thought I'd point it out just in case.

 

"Grandmother" should be "greatmother" or "second greatmother" depending on if she is the maternal or paternal grandmother.

 

Uncle would be sister-father if the relation is by the mother. it would probably be brother-father if it's by the father, but that info is not explicitly given.

 

Source: Glossary of TFOH.

[Sid]

Ah, I missed that post. And apparently 'grandmother' too, lol. Sorry!

[Vassili]

Does anyone know if the Prologue published in the final book will actually be touched up? Otherwise, pointing out flaws is, well, pointless...

[Gabriel Kross]

Not sure if they will edit any of the ones that were pointed out that were legit mistakes, but instead of complaining we are trying to assist in making the mistakes accurate.

[Tenesmus]

I am not complaining. I have been nothng but impressed with how this series is being brought to a conclusion. It just struck me as odd when Talmanes mentioned the Myrdraal stuck full of arrows becasue in the snippet prior to that one he thought about how all his crossbowmen were guarding thier flanks. So I thought, who the heck shot the Myrdaal full of arrows, because there is never any mention of archers in the Band or later with Guybon.

[Terez]

Does anyone know if the Prologue published in the final book will actually be touched up? Otherwise, pointing out flaws is, well, pointless...

 

They're doing proofreads now, from what Peter said, so yes, it will be touched up. I think they'd rather get it right in the first edition than to have to go back and change it for later editions.

[yoniy0]

Ahm, according to Brandon (on Twitter) the book has already hit the presses, so I doubt the HC would reflect anything we say here. The ebook might, and future editions for sure. I think it's worth it either way.

 

On a different note, does anyone else think it's weird that Moghedien has made "kings" weep? Were there Kings in the AoL (and if there were, who were the Rods)?

[The Fisher King]

The main reason I found that line odd, YoniyO was more because it seemed like that had always been Semi's line and it was stolen for Moggy.

 

 

Fish

[Terez]

Ahm, according to Brandon (on Twitter) the book has already hit the presses

 

I wouldn't interpret his comment that way. He was just trying to let that guy know that his work on the book was finished, and Peter says it's in proofreads. "Getting printed" doesn't necessarily mean "being printed right now".

[Gabriel Kross]

Ahm, according to Brandon (on Twitter) the book has already hit the presses, so I doubt the HC would reflect anything we say here. The ebook might, and future editions for sure. I think it's worth it either way.

 

On a different note, does anyone else think it's weird that Moghedien has made "kings" weep? Were there Kings in the AoL (and if there were, who were the Rods)?

 

I'll start a discussion on my rods theory. It has to do with the multiple oath rods.

[a_lily_in_winter]

I am not sure if it is an error or not. But during the siege of Caemlyn someone mentioned about the area around the waygate being cleared with a firewall. It is not clear to me that anyone except perhaps Talmanes, due to Verin's letter, would know about the waygate. It is not even clear to me if Elayne knows about it. Rand set a strong guard, but there is no indication that he thought of letting Elayne know about it.

[Maleshub]

I am not sure if it is an error or not. But during the siege of Caemlyn someone mentioned about the area around the waygate being cleared with a firewall. It is not clear to me that anyone except perhaps Talmanes, due to Verin's letter, would know about the waygate. It is not even clear to me if Elayne knows about it. Rand set a strong guard, but there is no indication that he thought of letting Elayne know about it.

 

I think it was Black Ajah channelers who secured the Waygate area and destroyed buildings around it to allow them to continue bringing shadowspawn through.