River of Souls: WoT PoV

[Agitel]

Deleted post. It was basically what everyone else has already said. I'm deleting it out of hopes that this thread can get back on topic.

 

I'm excited to see this arc and development. The rather sudden changes to Demandred's character made it clear that something was missing from AMOL. Even if people still disagree with having the changes, I'm hoping that this at least offers some good development and isn't just action-padding.

[NitroS]

Doesnt true power have the same effects as Meth? makes sense then if he got access to the true power after LOC :P

[mike hunt's here]

Is it going to be a "short story" or a novella?

 

I'm wondering how many words will do Big D justice in giving him fair airtime to explain who exactly is Bao and how he became crazy meth head.  (my own words.)

 

Ideally I would like to see D start his integration into the Sharan society and up to the big gateway part at dasher knob, not just a snippet of time of his rule as Bao.

 

Im thinking at least two or three WoT type chapters.

[Guest Guest]

There could possibly be a transition to the meth from the discipline.

 

 

Is it going to be a "short story" or a novella?

 

I'm wondering how many words will do Big D justice in giving him fair airtime to explain who exactly is Bao and how he became crazy meth head.  (my own words.)

 

Ideally I would like to see D start his integration into the Sharan society and up to the big gateway part at dasher knob, not just a snippet of time of his rule as Bao.

 

Im thinking at least two or three WoT type chapters.

 

There could possibly be a transition to the meth from the discipline.

 Yes, exactly.  In fact don't we see both one of the oldguard Forsaken and the newbie comment on how much his behaviour has changed in this regard? So clearly Sanderson was aware of the departure in tone.   At the time I must admit I found the apporach to Demandred's much anticipated presence to be one-dimensional, but in retrospect, I suppose I buy his all-consuming aggresion and obsession with Lews Therin.  As Tarmon Gai'don approached he saw his chance to match his steel against his rival and resolve his self-imposed raison d'etre.  Even that in itself didn't explain the sheer recklessness and myopic fixation with Lews Therin in AMoL, but then when you begin to factor in the massive amount of True Power he is channeling near the end and the possibly not-inconsiderable influence of his powerful sa'/ter'angreal, all of the properties of which we don't know, except to say that he is somehow "bonded" to it and it is imesnely powerful (possibly the missing third most powerful sa'angreal after the Chodan Kal and Callandor - I also like the idea that, since Demandred knows it's name and expresses a kind of familiarity with it, that it is also one the "Nine Rods of Dominion, the only one to survive the breaking and a sign of one of Demandred's AoL offices, but this of course is all wild, wild speculation not at all supported, that I know of, by further evidence in the books themselves).  But getting back to central point of mental strain under circumstances of using massive amounts of One Power and True power while dealing with emotional baggage, our lead protagonist almost burnt the world to cinder under similar circumstances a few books back because he was having a really bad week, can we really expect more from a Forsaken with second-best syndrom who once went out of his way to feed to full cities worth of people to trollocs because he felt slighted by them?

 

Is it going to be a "short story" or a novella?

 

I'm wondering how many words will do Big D justice in giving him fair airtime to explain who exactly is Bao and how he became crazy meth head.  (my own words.)

 

Ideally I would like to see D start his integration into the Sharan society and up to the big gateway part at dasher knob, not just a snippet of time of his rule as Bao.

 

Im thinking at least two or three WoT type chapters.

I doubt that we'll see the whole of his tale in Shara; since these chapters were written in the context of the larger AMoL story, I suspect it will be more a case of POVs during the Last Battle, during which there will be some reflection of how he came to dominate the land, how he waited so long and established his powerbase with careful planning as his fellow Forsaken pursued their own agendas and were whittled away while he gained every weapon he'd need to bring to bear against his arch-nemesis and how he pulled it off without the collective forces fo the Light every suspecting a thing.   It's a pretty empressive accomplishment, really - no wonder he was dying to get the show on the road.  

[Suttree]

Even that in itself didn't explain the sheer recklessness and myopic fixation with Lews Therin in AMoL, but then when you begin to factor in the massive amount of True Power he is channeling near the end and the possibly not-inconsiderable influence of his powerful sa'/ter'angreal, all of the properties of which we don't know, except to say that he is somehow "bonded" to it and it is imesnely powerful (possibly the missing third most powerful sa'angreal after the Chodan Kal and Callandor - I also like the idea that, since Demandred knows it's name and expresses a kind of familiarity with it, that it is also one the "Nine Rods of Dominion, the only one to survive the breaking and a sign of one of Demandred's AoL offices, but this of course is all wild, wild speculation not at all supported, that I know of, by further evidence in the books themselves).

The Nine Rods of Dominion were political titles, not items of the OP. They were essentially regional governors. As for the TP we know that Dem was very cautious with it(more so than any other forsaken) and so didn't use except at the greatest need. Certainly not enough to count for the change in his character.

 

I doubt that we'll see the whole of his tale in Shara; since these chapters were written in the context of the larger AMoL story, I suspect it will be more a case of POVs during the Last Battle, during which there will be some reflection of how he came to dominate the land, how he waited so long and established his powerbase with careful planning as his fellow Forsaken pursued their own agendas and were whittled away while he gained every weapon he'd need to bring to bear against his arch-nemesis and how he pulled it off without the collective forces fo the Light every suspecting a thing. It's a pretty empressive accomplishment, really - no wonder he was dying to get the show on the road.

BS has already said the story takes place in shara. It also should be noted that he didn't unify all of shara, not by a "long shot". It was Graendal's meddling that started the chaos there and Dem seems to have been opportunistic at the right time in getting some of the factions to follow him. Should be interesting as apparently the prophecies were really about him even though Dem thought they were about Rand.

[Guest Guest]

 

Even that in itself didn't explain the sheer recklessness and myopic fixation with Lews Therin in AMoL, but then when you begin to factor in the massive amount of True Power he is channeling near the end and the possibly not-inconsiderable influence of his powerful sa'/ter'angreal, all of the properties of which we don't know, except to say that he is somehow "bonded" to it and it is imesnely powerful (possibly the missing third most powerful sa'angreal after the Chodan Kal and Callandor - I also like the idea that, since Demandred knows it's name and expresses a kind of familiarity with it, that it is also one the "Nine Rods of Dominion, the only one to survive the breaking and a sign of one of Demandred's AoL offices, but this of course is all wild, wild speculation not at all supported, that I know of, by further evidence in the books themselves).

The Nine Rods of Dominion were political titles, not items of the OP. They were essentially regional governors. As for the TP we know that Dem was very cautious with it(more so than any other forsaken) and so didn't use except at the greatest need. Certainly not enough to count for the change in his character.

 

I doubt that we'll see the whole of his tale in Shara; since these chapters were written in the context of the larger AMoL story, I suspect it will be more a case of POVs during the Last Battle, during which there will be some reflection of how he came to dominate the land, how he waited so long and established his powerbase with careful planning as his fellow Forsaken pursued their own agendas and were whittled away while he gained every weapon he'd need to bring to bear against his arch-nemesis and how he pulled it off without the collective forces fo the Light every suspecting a thing. It's a pretty empressive accomplishment, really - no wonder he was dying to get the show on the road.

BS has already said the story takes place in shara. It also should be noted that he didn't unify all of shara, not by a "long shot". It was Graendal's meddling that started the chaos there and Dem seems to have been opportunistic at the right time in getting some of the factions to follow him. Should be interesting as apparently the prophecies were really about him even though Dem thought they were about Rand.

 

 

Yes, I was aware (or rather I assumed but couldn't recall reading anywhere specifically) that the Nine Rods were political/social positions, simply from the way they are referred to in the TEotW prologue, but it's rather an odd name for an office and I have to wonder if it's not unlike the Amyrlin Seat; an office named after an object closely associated with the position.  

 

Demandred only subjugated a small portion of Shara? I must have missed that part.  Or does this come directly from Brandon Sanderson?  Bear in mind the last time I posted on a WoT message board was close to 14 years ago (when there were maybe three or four WoT message boards on the whole of the internet, to put things in perspective, lol), so if it's not in the books, or maybe referenced in Encyclopedia WoT, WoT FAQ, or some way ancient RJ interview, I'm probably woefully ignorant on the matter.  :)  It's an interesting fact regardless, though I still contend that it was not an unimpressive feat, bringing the bulk of the Shadow's new dreadlords to the fight, plus extensive auxilaries, all without warning to their advesaries, who just assumed that the Shadow's channelers would come from traitors in their own ranks.  Honestly, balancing the forces of the two sides at Merrilor, it seems like the Shadow would have been on the defensive from the start if not for what Demandred brought to the field, even if it was only a fraction of Sharan channeling/military strength.  As to the TP, perhaps I'm conflating him with another character, but I thought it was explicitly said that Dem was pulling more of it by AMoL than any other Forsaken aside from Moridin?

 

In any event, I'll be looking foreward to the story; like many, I have some gripes about Sanderson's approach, but on the whole I think he did as good a job as anyone could reasonably from any author under the circumstances and I'm as content as the outcome as I was ever likely to be with the product of any author but Jordan.   And this short story could very well be the last of any WoT content that is directly informed by RJ's notes (aside from the Encyclopedia, anyway).  That makes it something to savour, even if the transition from stately Demandred to frothing-at-the-mouth Bao doesn't come off as particularly convincing.

[Frost Wynters]

Brandon had 3 books to show Demandred's back story.  Had he figured out how to structure the books better, he could've had this content as part of the book.  I don't plan on buying a book full of authors i could care less about and i feel its an insult for fans to be put in that position (despite  the fact that some people don't mind throwing their money away, on something that should have been part of the series anyway).  

[mb]

well, if you read the statement that BS posted about why he did´t incorporate this bit in AMOL then you can draw the pretty obvious conclusion that this will be about one or both of the tow followoing alt a) his adventures in Shara - how he became Bao and became to love the people there. or /and b) a discussion about his millatery tactic and his thoughts on the other chosen

Robert Jordan told that there would be no on-screen scenes in Shara.

Flashbacks (which the former would be) I would count the same as on-screen.

The earliest scenes would be sometime after Sharans came to the main area.

[Suttree]

That most likely was changed by Brandon mb.