Thisguy's Topic on Brandon's Work

[BFG]

Ignoring all trolls :)

 

This is my attempt at adding a 'neutral' pov to add to the debate.

 

I understand that the Perrin and the WC arc was filler introduced by BS, but I think it was needed. To take Perrin from how he was rescuing Faile to tFoM something needed to happen. The WC sequence worked to take Perrin on his 'accept being a leader' arc. Within it there were some bits that could have worked better - the Morgase reveal was one, the WC rescue at the end of ToM was quite cheesy, especially the (lifted straight from LotR) charge at the end, but it worked. Without the WC sequence either Perrin would enter tFoM as a leader still doubting himself, a (by WoT standards) one dimensional character that focuses soley on Faile, or there would have to be a massive character shift with no real explanation. RJ may not have planned the WC sequence, but I don't believe that he wouldn't have had something that did the same literary job. Without knowing what that was, the WC sequence worked well and imo is an example of really good writing by BS.

 

Similarly the extended Eg arc. If we take this in two stages, pre union and post union. By tGS the Tower has been broken since tSR, and, to me, it would have felt (not sure of the right word) rushed/disappointing/too Mary Sueish(?) to have Eg fix everything in a few chapters. So I like the additions pre union, again I think they were well written and fitted the story really well. Post union I'm not so sure. The meeting with the Hall in some ways felt like a repeat of the meeting where Eg managed to get them to declare war. But I like it because it shows that people don't change so easily and I like that Eg managed to solve one of the big problems with the AS political structure. It may be an example of lowest common denominator plotwork, but I still want to shout yes and punch the air when Saroiya comes out with:

 

"No!" Saroiya said, climbing to her feet. "Don't you see? He is a king! He holds the Laurel Crown. You've just given the Amyrlin sole responsibility for dealing with the Dragon Reborn!"

There was silence in the Hall.

"Well," Romanda said, "Surely she..." She trailed off as she turned, seeing Egwene's serene face.

 

There are problems with the way Mat has been written, he reads as more of a fool now than I imagine and the chapter release doesn't leave me with much hope that that's changed.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the retcon that seems to have happened in Chapter 1, why is Perrin now questioning Rand, the explanation that Rand gives is no different to the one that Perrin gave, so if Perrin needs convincing, why is that enough? When did Eg accept that the seals might need breaking? I can accept the research, there was a meeting after Rand left and we don't know what was discussed in it. There were a few other minor things that seemed off, Eg travelling straight to Elaynes tent - the theory of it is great, secret meetings and all, but what if Elayne had been standing on the other sife of the tent? The POV failure in Rands chapter was a bit to glaringly obvious as well.

 

There is a change in the style of writing as well, BS is more direct and his pacing feels faster. RJ is more descriptive and I think it's open for debate as to how fast his pacing would have become - I know it's the end of the story and that the pacing naturally speeds up, but the last few books 'felt' slow, Knife of Dreams did speed up, but if as Suttree suggests you read CoT and KoD together as one book, then you're left with one large book with average pacing, RJ may have been able to finish in three or less books, but as I've said some of the 'filler' that some have said could be cut, actually feels necessary to me.

[batcaver]

This topic just reminds me of how important it is to get off of this fansite now and then. I feel like I need a long shower.

 

Likewise. I can't believe I just read this whole thread. But since I did, let me throw my two cents in on a couple of points.

 

Someone mentioned RJ's masterful grasp of human psychology as a strength of his writing, and while I'd definitely agree as far as all scenes related to combat are concerned, I'd personally qualify that against some serious exceptions, foremost being his baffling ideas about male/female relationships, and really the psychology of his female characters in general. I don't want to open that can of worms per se, but I know I'm not the only one who's cringed repeatedly over the years at that. Of course, the effective and realistic rendering of human psychology in literature is obviously highly subjective, as is what makes for good prose, so I doubt we'll settle that. If it works for you, then far be it for me to knock it, but I know many others have felt as I do on this point.

 

Also, I'd have to agree with Wert on the RJ writing just one more book thing. I still got me news through Wotmania back then I think, but if I recall correctly, at the point when he made that statement most people there were pretty irritated about how little had happened in WOT during the last several years. Even if he had somehow accomplished piling the remainder of the story into one book it would have been quite a pyrrhic victory, in my opinion. While I do agree the KOD was a big step in the right direction, it was hardly a return to the form of the first four or five books. I know by that time, I was having some serious doubts about how the series was going to progress from there. The problem for me with a quick one book wrap up would have simply been that there's been far too much build up through the course of the previous books to be resolved satisfactorily in one final novel without it feeling very rushed by comparison (the idea that it could have been a super long 1000+ page book is ridiculous; obviously it's not possible to even bind a book much longer than WOT books already are). I expected a HUGE scope for the portrayal of The Last Battle, given the huge scope of everything WOT by that time. This point is probably irrelevant now, of course. My main disappointment in not having Jordan around for the end is that there's no chance for another sequence like Rand in Rhuidean or Dumai's Wells. Those and others like them were the moments that really made WOT stand out for me, and I enjoyed reading them as much as I've enjoyed reading anything.

 

This is all beside the point of Sanderson, who I agree hasn't handled the series as I had hoped. My initial excitement at the books being finished has faded to disappointment now. I've done 2 or 3 rereads to prepare for new books at times, but perhaps you could call me a casual reader compared to some. The minor plot points tend to fade for me between books, which is one reason I come here. If so, then as a casual reader I HAVE noticed the flaws. I'm still glad to have the books, but if I were to recommend the series to a friend now, it would have to be as a wonderful but flawed epic.

 

BTW, to those of you who keep up with WOT news and post here regularly about it, I appreciate it. I don't post much, but I love being able to come here and find out what's going on.

[The Fisher King]

Awesome, awesome post, Batcaver.

 

 

Fish

[Hopefire]

I feel that the events of A Storm of Light match up well to Dumai's Wells.

 

The Trollocs surged forward, charging across the ground. Hundreds. Thousands. Ituralde gasped. Bashere uttered a quiet prayer.

 

Al'Thor raised one hand, then thrust it - palm forward - toward the tide of Shadowspawn.

 

And they started to die.

 

It's not

 

"Asha'man, raise the barricade two spans!" At Taim's command, the edges of the dome rose all around. Surprised Shaido who had been pushing at what they could not see stumbled forward. They recovered instantly, a black-veiled mass surging forward, but they had time for only a strike before Taim's next shout. "Asha'man, kill!"

 

But it's still worthy.

 

Jordan's battle of Dumai's Wells was an epic event seen from ground zero, amid the blood and guts and gore. Standing next to human artilery as the cut apart the attacking force. Jordan writing here actually went colloquial very quickly – the next line is “The front rank of the Shaido exploded. There was no other way to put it.” Jordan refers to it as a meat grinder, has people vomiting and shielding their eyes. Dumai's Wells constrasts the terror and chaos of normal war to the horrific consequences of what channelers can do on the battlefield, and people who have learned to deal with “normal” war are stunned by the carnage.

 

Sandson writing a Storm of Light (and here, I'm presuming it was Sanderson writing the event; it'd be kind of funny to me if it was Jordan, especially since the word “tempest” is used in the chapter) instead went for people watching a wrathful god from a distance. It's an event that inspires awe and hope, not disgust. And like Dumai's Wells, the scene is in deliberate contrast to “normal” war earlier in the chapter, as Ituralde's conventional battle provides a counterpoint to Rand's slaughter. The climax of Dumai's Wells was graphic and personal, while the climax of A Storm of Light was remote. A different method of handling a diffierent event, but no less epic for it.

 

Sanderson has a tendency to go heavier on prepositions and verbs than is really necessary (whereas Jordon's prose is almost always surprisingly lean), but he conveyed the epic nature of the event quite well in my opinion, and used structural techniques similar to those that Jordan used to magnify the significance of the event. The tone shifts in the chapter starts gritty and terse

 

He used the smoke and the fire. Almost everything on a battlefield could be an advantage. In this case, once Yoeli had accepted that the city was lost, they'd stopped defending it. Now they used the city as a killing ground.

 

And it becomes flowery and epic.

 

Waves of Trollocs broke, the drums faltering. Entire legions of them turned and fled, stumbling up the hillside and over one another, fleeing back toward the Blight. Some remained firm – too angry, too intimidated by those driving them, or too stupid to flee. The tempest of destruction seemed to come to a peak, flashes of light blasting down in time with howling wind, thrumming waves of burning flame, tinkling shards of ice.

 

This is Sanderson writing against his weaknesses, and I thought that it turned out pretty well.

[Luckers]

Someone mentioned RJ's masterful grasp of human psychology as a strength of his writing, and while I'd definitely agree as far as all scenes related to combat are concerned, I'd personally qualify that against some serious exceptions, foremost being his baffling ideas about male/female relationships, and really the psychology of his female characters in general. I don't want to open that can of worms per se, but I know I'm not the only one who's cringed repeatedly over the years at that. Of course, the effective and realistic rendering of human psychology in literature is obviously highly subjective, as is what makes for good prose, so I doubt we'll settle that. If it works for you, then far be it for me to knock it, but I know many others have felt as I do on this point.

 

An interesting thing to note is that this was partially (or perhaps even entirely) and intentional theme Jordan worked into the novels. One of the primrary goals he had with the Wheel was to explore old, set in their ways cultures encountering new thoughts, stumbling, and finding their feet again. There is that amazing quote Terez had in her signature from when he was asked to describe his work in six words or less and he replied... "Sheesh! I've written a few million words so far, and you want me to summarize in six? Well, here goes. Cultures clash, worlds change; cope. I know; only five. But I hate to be wordy."

 

 

Specifically with the gender roles, he was intentionally creating a world where the highest authority in the land, and the greatest power, was feminine, and part of what he developed was how that power strata in the culture would filter down through the thoughts and prejudices and reflect in the greater culture at large (in much the same way many mysoginistic ideals can develop in cultures with strict patriarchies). And you can tell that he was aware of this--for all that he may have taken it too far at times--in the way that cultures where the gender power balance remained more fair differ from the westlands major--in particular re-read Aviendha's reaction to Elayne and Nynaeve's treatment of Mat, or Birgitte's for that matter. It's also reflected in Seanchan culture though less noticeably pointed out.

 

(I'm not arguing, I just find gender construction in the Wheel fascinating, lol)

[The Fisher King]

Lux...that's all true and very astute but I always got the uneasy implied sense that the flip-flopped gender attitudes carried an element of "punishment" towards the men folk for the destruction caused by all the Mad Male Aes Sedai at/after the Breaking and that whole element of the men being punishment for thousands of years never sat well with me as a reader.

 

Think about this: if the situation had been reversed and the women had caused the Breaking and then had their ears continually threatened to be "boxed" for the next two thousand years in some retaliatory power shift....weeeell...the female readers of this series would have revolted years ago ...

 

Just my two cents.

 

 

Fish

[Bluedust9]

Lux...that's all true and very astute but I always got the uneasy implied sense that the flip-flopped gender attitudes carried an element of "punishment" towards the men folk for the destruction caused by all the Mad Male Aes Sedai at/after the Breaking and that whole element of the men being punishment for thousands of years never sat well with me as a reader.

 

Think about this: if the situation had been reversed and the women had caused the Breaking and then had their ears continually threatened to be "boxed" for the next two thousand years in some retaliatory power shift....weeeell...the female readers of this series would have revolted years ago ...

 

Just my two cents.

 

 

Fish

 

Welcome to sexism? You're right, and now you understand what a lot of women have to deal with everyday.

[batcaver]

Awesome, awesome post, Batcaver.

 

 

Fish

Thank you!

 

Someone mentioned RJ's masterful grasp of human psychology as a strength of his writing, and while I'd definitely agree as far as all scenes related to combat are concerned, I'd personally qualify that against some serious exceptions, foremost being his baffling ideas about male/female relationships, and really the psychology of his female characters in general. I don't want to open that can of worms per se, but I know I'm not the only one who's cringed repeatedly over the years at that. Of course, the effective and realistic rendering of human psychology in literature is obviously highly subjective, as is what makes for good prose, so I doubt we'll settle that. If it works for you, then far be it for me to knock it, but I know many others have felt as I do on this point.

 

An interesting thing to note is that this was partially (or perhaps even entirely) and intentional theme Jordan worked into the novels. One of the primrary goals he had with the Wheel was to explore old, set in their ways cultures encountering new thoughts, stumbling, and finding their feet again. There is that amazing quote Terez had in her signature from when he was asked to describe his work in six words or less and he replied... "Sheesh! I've written a few million words so far, and you want me to summarize in six? Well, here goes. Cultures clash, worlds change; cope. I know; only five. But I hate to be wordy."

 

 

Specifically with the gender roles, he was intentionally creating a world where the highest authority in the land, and the greatest power, was feminine, and part of what he developed was how that power strata in the culture would filter down through the thoughts and prejudices and reflect in the greater culture at large (in much the same way many mysoginistic ideals can develop in cultures with strict patriarchies). And you can tell that he was aware of this--for all that he may have taken it too far at times--in the way that cultures where the gender power balance remained more fair differ from the westlands major--in particular re-read Aviendha's reaction to Elayne and Nynaeve's treatment of Mat, or Birgitte's for that matter. It's also reflected in Seanchan culture though less noticeably pointed out.

 

(I'm not arguing, I just find gender construction in the Wheel fascinating, lol)

I have always thought that gender/power themes were a fascinating element of WOT, and I always figured it must have been intentionally made prominent. I think it was pretty evident even in TEOTW, and I remember that being an early signal to me that this was going to be different from other fantasy I'd read (not that I'd read it widely when I started WOT), which normally wouldn't even approach such heavy territory. One thing I've always wondered about is how many younger women Jordan had in his life during the period when he was working on the books. Was he just unobservant of them particularly, or were they just one dimensional people? Did anyone close to him ever challenge him on any of his younger female characters? My main issue with them is that all younger women who are characters of any importance always seem to be minor variations of essentially the same person. Maybe other people found them more distinct, but I always found their differences mostly circumstantial.

 

From a story centered perspective, my personal instincts are that a minority faction of vastly more powerful females would not be sufficient to reverse the power dynamic of the genders as a whole. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but we're talking maybe several hundred Aes Sedai which most people would never personally encounter unless they were royalty or lived near Tar Valon, and most other female channellers remaining largely incognito because of the Tower? That's a serious minority. Then again, myth is very powerful and WOT cultures are very myth driven, so maybe you'd have to allow for a lot of stigmas to ripple out from the Breaking. When you get into power it gets even more complicated because issues outside of gender relations effect them and vice versa, i.e. all of the most powerful people in Seanchan are women but are also slaves. It is pretty interesting to think about, and it adds depth to the series even where I find Jordan's depictions awkward.

[Sid]

In answer to your question in the first paragraph, RJ was married to Harriet in 1981, and began writing the series in 1984. He's said numerous times that every female character in the series has part of her in them. And she was his editor too...

[Bluedust9]

I notice that posters in Dragonmount are more critical of Brandon's works in general.

I had been to other forums and the people in other forums are more accepting towards Brandon than the people here.

I wonder if this is due to the people here being hardcore fan of wheel of time, while people in other forums just tend to read wheel of time in a lighter manner.

 

In before another 3 pages of rehash. Cueing Suttree and Mike D to the floor.

[batcaver]

In answer to your question in the first paragraph, RJ was married to Harriet in 1981, and began writing the series in 1984. He's said numerous times that every female character in the series has part of her in them. And she was his editor too...

Right, sorry. I'm familiar with that much, but I should have excluded her explicitly since that was what I had in mind. I'm assuming obviously she didn't have a problem with any of it, or at least never said so. I always assumed that their relationship was probably the general archetype for the relationships in the story, which is only natural.

[Luckers]

Lux...that's all true and very astute but I always got the uneasy implied sense that the flip-flopped gender attitudes carried an element of "punishment" towards the men folk for the destruction caused by all the Mad Male Aes Sedai at/after the Breaking and that whole element of the men being punishment for thousands of years never sat well with me as a reader.

 

Think about this: if the situation had been reversed and the women had caused the Breaking and then had their ears continually threatened to be "boxed" for the next two thousand years in some retaliatory power shift....weeeell...the female readers of this series would have revolted years ago ...

 

Just my two cents.

 

 

Fish

 

In it's own way its not so different to the way the role of women have been depicted in medieval cultures across the fantasy genre, but inverted, which is in a large way what fascinates me about it. Mind you Jordan did have his oddities--though I do like pointing out that the first of the joint bathing situations was all the boys in Baerlon whenever someone gets too caught up in the often repitition of women being clad in the Light or the sweat tents. :)

[The Fisher King]

Lux...that's all true and very astute but I always got the uneasy implied sense that the flip-flopped gender attitudes carried an element of "punishment" towards the men folk for the destruction caused by all the Mad Male Aes Sedai at/after the Breaking and that whole element of the men being punishment for thousands of years never sat well with me as a reader.

 

Think about this: if the situation had been reversed and the women had caused the Breaking and then had their ears continually threatened to be "boxed" for the next two thousand years in some retaliatory power shift....weeeell...the female readers of this series would have revolted years ago ...

 

Just my two cents.

 

 

Fish

 

Welcome to sexism? You're right, and now you understand what a lot of women have to deal with everyday.

 

chuck - you complained before about my post using too many caps and large font and all of that so to show you how much i am trying to adjust to your needs this post will hopefully demonstrate corrective measures in my posting style sufficient to your satisfaction. regarding your comment to me about sexism, feminism does not belong in a fantasy series, and, even if it did, it seems you missed my remarks concerning the ''flip-flopped'' roles and the implication i made how if it were re-flip-flopped in wot how you would have what used tobe the case in this worls for women back in the old days.

 

 

fish

[Bluedust9]

Lux...that's all true and very astute but I always got the uneasy implied sense that the flip-flopped gender attitudes carried an element of "punishment" towards the men folk for the destruction caused by all the Mad Male Aes Sedai at/after the Breaking and that whole element of the men being punishment for thousands of years never sat well with me as a reader.

 

Think about this: if the situation had been reversed and the women had caused the Breaking and then had their ears continually threatened to be "boxed" for the next two thousand years in some retaliatory power shift....weeeell...the female readers of this series would have revolted years ago ...

 

Just my two cents.

 

 

Fish

 

Welcome to sexism? You're right, and now you understand what a lot of women have to deal with everyday.

 

chuck - you complained before about my post using too many caps and large font and all of that so to show you how much i am trying to adjust to your needs this post will hopefully demonstrate corrective measures in my posting style sufficient to your satisfaction. regarding your comment to me about sexism, feminism does not belong in a fantasy series, and, even if it did, it seems you missed my remarks concerning the ''flip-flopped'' roles and the implication i made how if it were re-flip-flopped in wot how you would have what used tobe the case in this worls for women back in the old days.

 

 

fish

 

[fionwe1987]

Someone mentioned RJ's masterful grasp of human psychology as a strength of his writing, and while I'd definitely agree as far as all scenes related to combat are concerned, I'd personally qualify that against some serious exceptions, foremost being his baffling ideas about male/female relationships, and really the psychology of his female characters in general. I don't want to open that can of worms per se, but I know I'm not the only one who's cringed repeatedly over the years at that. Of course, the effective and realistic rendering of human psychology in literature is obviously highly subjective, as is what makes for good prose, so I doubt we'll settle that. If it works for you, then far be it for me to knock it, but I know many others have felt as I do on this point.

 

An interesting thing to note is that this was partially (or perhaps even entirely) and intentional theme Jordan worked into the novels. One of the primrary goals he had with the Wheel was to explore old, set in their ways cultures encountering new thoughts, stumbling, and finding their feet again. There is that amazing quote Terez had in her signature from when he was asked to describe his work in six words or less and he replied... "Sheesh! I've written a few million words so far, and you want me to summarize in six? Well, here goes. Cultures clash, worlds change; cope. I know; only five. But I hate to be wordy."

 

 

Specifically with the gender roles, he was intentionally creating a world where the highest authority in the land, and the greatest power, was feminine, and part of what he developed was how that power strata in the culture would filter down through the thoughts and prejudices and reflect in the greater culture at large (in much the same way many mysoginistic ideals can develop in cultures with strict patriarchies). And you can tell that he was aware of this--for all that he may have taken it too far at times--in the way that cultures where the gender power balance remained more fair differ from the westlands major--in particular re-read Aviendha's reaction to Elayne and Nynaeve's treatment of Mat, or Birgitte's for that matter. It's also reflected in Seanchan culture though less noticeably pointed out.

 

(I'm not arguing, I just find gender construction in the Wheel fascinating, lol)

The most fascinating thing about gender issues in WoT is that the most gender adjusted group in the whole series is... the Foresaken! People don't always realize it, but read all their PoVs together, and not once do the women or the men have any gender specific statements to make. The Foresaken harbor no gender stereotypes. There are gender related quotes from them regarding the OP, but even there, there's an attitude of different but equal.

 

And it makes perfect sense from the standpoint of the story. The Foresaken represent a time when gender issues hadn't permeated human society. And as such, their very balanced interaction is the strongest proof that Jordan's representation of male female relations in the current Age is intentional.

 

But intentional as it may be, his repeated use of certain phrases ended up totally botching the point for many people. That, and the few genuine instances of sexism in WoT (only the Female Foresaken get raped, female villains typically get raped or enslaved, but never the men, etc.) end up diluting the rather powerful theme that Jordan built based on gender. It was a great idea that was lost in execution.

[Luckers]

I don't necessarily think it was completely lost in the execution, though certainly it was deeply tarnished. Beyond that one quibble I agree with everything you just said.

[Agitel]

I just want to state my two cents on the whole issue. I've done it before in other topics, I'm sure, but I don't believe in this one. I'm not here to argue. This is just the way I feel.

 

I'm incredibly thankful to Brandon for the time and effort he's put into finishing this series. The work hasn't always been perfect, but I don't doubt how dedicated he is to finishing this project. Could Brandon have done a better job? I think so, but I also think that would have required far more years of work than I would call reasonable. So could Brandon have done a better job in the current time frame? I really can't say. Brandon, Harriet, Team Jordan, and Tom Doherty all put a lot of hard work and effort into finishing this, and in working on this project they likely all had different priorities. I can't say what went on between them all, what conversations and cooperation or difficulties they may have had. I don't want to speculate on any "blame" here. I just think this process of finishing someone else's massive work is more difficult than most understand.

 

I know that most of you are posting out of concern and love for Jordan's legacy. However, the criticism that Brandon didn't put significant effort into this is just something I can't agree with. Brandon was asked to write 250,000 words. If he wasn't concerned about doing the series justice he could have done just that and had his name stamped on the cover of one of contemporary fantasy's most beloved epics. Instead he dedicated extra years to writing 1,000,000.

 

Again, there have been mistakes along the way, and I'm sure that when Brandon, Harriet, Team Jordan and Tom look back, there are things that each of them is just aching to have done differently. Hindsight is 20:20. They've had a lot of time to reflect on tGS and ToM by this point.

 

I'm not calling your criticisms wrong or baseless or challenging you guys to defend yourselves. I just wanted to put my thoughts out there. To repeat the first line of this rant: I'm incredibly thankful for the time and effort everyone involved in this project put into it. Thank you, Brandon, for your dedication to completing Jim Rigney's legacy. Thank you Harriet. Thank you Maria and Alan. Thank you Tom. Thank you to anyone else involved who I have not mentioned.

 

Thank you not just for completing The Wheel of Time, but for the dedication you all have shown. For all the hard work and effort and time. I just can't make that clear enough.

[ArveduiEreinion]

I'm re-reading The Shadow Rising, for probably the 7th time now lol (not because I'm re-reading the books in order) and one comment made in this thread really stuck me upon reflection: TGS, ToM and what we have so-far of AMoL generally read as if they are a first draft. "He goes here. She says this." I would agree that there are passages that attempt to punch up the prose but I often find myself wondering if those sections were written by BS or Jordan (or perhaps touched up by BS by largely written by Jordan.)

 

I find myself mentally skipping more egregious sections only to be jarred by wondering "who wrote this?"

 

One last thing: please, please stop using italicized lettering for emphasis. Used sparingly, it can be effective. If you use it in every other paragraph it demonstrates poor writing.

[Agitel]

One last thing: please, please stop using italicized lettering for emphasis. Used sparingly, it can be effective. If you use it in every other paragraph it demonstrates poor writing.

 

Who is that directed at?

[ArveduiEreinion]

One last thing: please, please stop using italicized lettering for emphasis. Used sparingly, it can be effective. If you use it in every other paragraph it demonstrates poor writing.

 

Who is that directed at?

 

Sorry, I thought it was obvious. Brandon, of course.

[yoniy0]

Sorry, I thought it was obvious. Brandon, of course.

I can't decide whether you're serious or not. Just in case: that's how one represents internal inflection, not necessarily emphasis.

[ArveduiEreinion]

Sorry, I thought it was obvious. Brandon, of course.

I can't decide whether you're serious or not. Just in case: that's how one represents internal inflection, not necessarily emphasis.

 

Yes, I'm serious but are you? I'm not saying this to be mean but do you know what an "internal inflection" is? Perhaps you meant a different term?

 

Normally, I wouldn't cite to Wikipedia, but maybe this helps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophony. Also, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but please provide a source...

[Luckers]

I know that most of you are posting out of concern and love for Jordan's legacy. However, the criticism that Brandon didn't put significant effort into this is just something I can't agree with. Brandon was asked to write 250,000 words. If he wasn't concerned about doing the series justice he could have done just that and had his name stamped on the cover of one of contemporary fantasy's most beloved epics. Instead he dedicated extra years to writing 1,000,000.

 

Brandon put in considerable--indeed I'd go so far as to say insane--effort, but within a constrained field. An act which resulted in production speeds beyond what the fans had any right to expect, but which also left elements of the work grievously under-developed.

 

One last thing: please, please stop using italicized lettering for emphasis. Used sparingly, it can be effective. If you use it in every other paragraph it demonstrates poor writing.

 

I agree. The over use is lending itself to an almost sarcastic reading, as if mocking the thoughts and actions of the characters.

[ArveduiEreinion]

Also, let me take my own medicine. I'll give some examples from Chapter 1:

 

He’s become harder, Rand thought, but somehow he hasn’t lost that innocence of his. Not completely. To Rand, that seemed a marvelous thing. A wonder, like a pearl discovered in a trout. Perrin was strong, but his strength hadn’t broken him.

 

So, here we have an example indicating internal dialogue. No problems so far. But then, we get:

 

“Well,” Perrin said, “you know how Marin is. She somehow manages to look at even Cenn as if he were a child in need of mothering.

 

Had Perrin been about to say “smell” instead? “You haven’t changed that much.”

 

It was who he was. He had not changed, he had not transformed. He had merely accepted.

 

What if the answer wasn’t to seal the Dark One away again?

 

Pregnant. Pregnant with his children. Light! He had only just learned of it. Why hadn’t she been the one to tell him?

 

And on and on. I don't have a problem with italicized words used for emphasis. My point is that it can be overused. "Look! This is really important! You should notice this word!"

[yoniy0]

Yes, I'm serious but are you? I'm not saying this to be mean but do you know what an "internal inflection" is? Perhaps you meant a different term?

I was serious, I just have this thing where sometimes what I mean to type and what actually gets typed are two different things (with quite odd results). I meant reflection, not inflection.