Two years not enough time for all the books

[Timbernme]

Does anyone else think that two years isn't enough time for everything that's happened? Rand goes from farm boy to mature ruler, Egwene goes from naive small town wisdom in training to a mature witty Amyrlin Seat. All the traveling that took months to do. Moving armies takes months if not longer. LOVE LOVE LOVE the books. Best ever written, but it just seems like it should have taken a few more years.

[szilard]

The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.

 

 

Rand goes from farm boy to mature ruler

 

?

 

Egwene goes from naive small town wisdom in training to a mature witty Amyrlin Seat.

 

?

-

 

The world is in peril, and there is no time for trainings.

 

 

 

 

 

[jack of shadows]

I almost laughed my head off when i read that egghead became a mature and Witty amyrlin seat.

[szilard]

I almost laughed my head off when i read that egghead became a mature and Witty amyrlin seat.

 

I will never be able to decide if Eg is just really stubborn, or she's really changing into the position of a leader. Even Faile is not just power-hungry anymore, she starts to see things a little differently.

 

 

OP, maybe you will find these quotes interesting and helpful:

 

Well...the first thing I thought of was what would it REALLY be like to be tapped on the shoulder and told that you had been born to save mankind. And somehow or other I suspect it wouldn't be very much like anyone had said it was so far...and about the same time, I was wondering about the sources of myth.

 

And why there are so many myths and legends that show striking similarities when they're paired with cultural references. Those two things are as clear to a starting point as I can show you. And they bounced around in the back of my head along with 40 odd years of reading everything I can get my hands on. History, Biography, Myth, Legend, Comparative Religion, Social Anthro, whatever I found. And out eventually came the Wheel of Time...but not until a number of years thinking about it.

 

He also talked about how the early stages of the story evolved, about Rand starting out as Tam, coming back to Emond's Field (although it wasn't Emond's Field yet back then) after 20 years, realizing he'd outgrown it. And then prophecy tapping him on shoulder with the message that he was fated to save the world, and oh yeah, he'd die in the process. He went for Rand instead, because he wanted an innocent character, a character who could realize how little he knew, and thus could grow a lot more

 

 

A number of idle speculations that percolated around in the back of my head. I thought about what it really would be like - really - to be tapped on the shoulder and told that you had been born to save humanity. Even if the danger was real and imminent and everyone knew that someone was... scheduled, you might say... to show up and take care of matters, how would they react when that someone stood up and said here I am?

 

I was thinking about the distortion of information over distance, whether distance in space or in time, and how that applied to both history and legends. The further you are from an event, the less likely you are to know what really happened. I was thinking about what the world would be like if there had never been any need for a struggle for women's rights, or if that struggle had taken place so long ago that it just wasn't relevant any longer. No one thinks it's odd to see women as high ranking politicians, or working on the docks. No one ever thinks that something is or isn't a suitable job for a woman.

 

There were fifty or more lines of thought, and suddenly I saw, in rough form, what turned out to be the final scene of the last book of the Wheel. When I realized that that was what it was, a conclusion, all I had to do was figure out where to start from and how to get from A to Z.

 

 

*sigh* And we will never know what he was talking about...

[Sabio]

There was a post sometime ago about way too much has happened to make the short time believeable.  Just look at the Seanchean.  They invade falme, get pushed back, regather their forces to the point where they can takeover 3 nations.  Have multiple armies of over 100,000 troops, etc.  All this in two years.  Just trying to regroup the Falme survivors should of been time consuming.

[randomh3r0]

Well, for one thing, we have no direct scale of a WoT year to our years, which could account for a difference in relative time. 

 

The major events don't strike me as what seems to inflate the time in the books - many of the large battles are described as taking place within roughly a 24 hour period, with other larger ones being a few weeks, maybe a month or two for the borderland fights during the Last Battle. For me, it's the travel over those distances at first that really would've taken time, prior to Traveling being rediscovered. 

 

Still, think about 2 years: What were you doing in October, 2014? I was living in a different state in the US, working at a different job, I had a girlfriend I no longer have, and SO much has happened since then. When your entire life is lived in those pages, traveling, meeting people, battling evil, consolidating power, etc, you get a lot out of your time. I could definitely see this much happening in 2 years. 

 

Finally, all that aside, remember how much of what's written is actually happening during other events. Things you're reading that follow one character in one chapter could be taking place during something you read about another character 3 chapters later. It's the only way to tell the story he wanted to tell, but it can make things seem like they're taking longer than they do. 

[jack of shadows]

You are wrong about the calendar.

The current calendar is the farede calendar,it sets 10 days to a week,28 days to a month and 13 months to a year,total

of 364 days to a year.

By the the way,the actual length of the story from start to finish is approximately 2 years and 6-7 months.

[szilard]

There was a post sometime ago about way too much has happened to make the short time believeable.  Just look at the Seanchean.  They invade falme, get pushed back, regather their forces to the point where they can takeover 3 nations.  Have multiple armies of over 100,000 troops, etc.  All this in two years.  Just trying to regroup the Falme survivors should of been time consuming.

 

Operaton Corenne is fu I mean very big. They don't just come to Randland for sightseeing. After huge preparations, they come in waves: Hailene + Rhyagelle.

 

It's believable, one must stretch their imagination, but it is doable.

[szilard]

My biggest problem with the short span of time is Rand's trail across Randland... He must do unbelievable things in front of millions to get himself a name to remember for thousands years.

 

in front of millions = putting the whole Jesus thing aside (I don't think there was any J. at all), a few apostles can build a 'new' religion, but there is no religion is Randland, so I think one or two 'spectators' is not enough to get him his fame

[Kesiera_Sedai]

You must remember that his reincarnation had been Foretold, and the Karatheon Cycle told exactly what would happen, so pretty only really stubborn people refused to believe who was who he said he was. For most the dragons on his arm, his OP strength, and his possession of Callandor were enough.

[ibliazquathe911]

Does anyone else think that two years isn't enough time for everything that's happened? Rand goes from farm boy to mature ruler, Egwene goes from naive small town wisdom in training to a mature witty Amyrlin Seat. All the traveling that took months to do. Moving armies takes months if not longer. LOVE LOVE LOVE the books. Best ever written, but it just seems like it should have taken a few more years.

I agree when i re-read the book and Rand met Siuan again she said something like "wow you have really grown since we met to years past. I was like "Shhhhhiiiiiiieeeet it only been 2 years.

[jack of shadows]

@ibliazquathe911,

"wow you have really grown since we met two years past."

hahaha,WOW,such a warm welcome from the former amyrlin seat to

the dragon reborn,unfortunately, it NEVER HAPPENED,in fact,rand had to reassure

gareth bryne that he means them no harm.

earlier,during a conversation between siuan and saerin,the latter said:

"reports call him(rand)mistrustful and erratic..."

"that what siuan had heard as well,though it had been two years since

she'd seen the boy".

a little later,siuan met rand and her impression was:"it appeared that the

boy had become a man".

[DojoToad]

FoH - when Egwene is dreaming of Galad (with Mo's help) she mentions not having seen Emond's field in a year and a half...  Don't know if that stays in line with Siuan's comments much later in the series.

[jack of shadows]

it is,more or less,the entire length of time of the wheel of time journey

is approximately 2 years and 6 months,not 2 years,egwene's dreaming

took place around september 999 n.e.,rand met siuan aroung may 1000 n.e,

add a year and a half to this and you get 2 years and 3 months,the field of 

merrilor happened a month later,now,how long was the entire battle?

[Sabio]

I will always think 4 - 5 years should of been the length. 

[Kesiera_Sedai]

it is,more or less,the entire length of time of the wheel of time journey

is approximately 2 years and 6 months,not 2 years,egwene's dreaming

took place around september 999 n.e.,rand met siuan aroung may 1000 n.e,

add a year and a half to this and you get 2 years and 3 months,the field of

merrilor happened a month later,now,how long was the entire battle?

[Kesiera_Sedai]

I think the battle itself last over a month, if not longer. Weeks passed while Rand was at Shayol Gul, and even Perrin was in TAR, to have to take supplies (u can't eat the food there, it's not real). That said, I think a little over two years, sums it up. Part of the rush in the books was that they knew the Last Battle wasn't far away, and they weren't prepared, and didn't even know what to expect, so of course it seems jam-packed. I think the fast pace of the story suits the urgency of their situation.

[Sabio]

As I posted before, just the sheer size of the Seanchean forces they amassed seems a stretch for the short time.  A force that size they could of easily of overrun Randland.  I agree it needs a fast pace but too much happened in such a small amount of time.

[Kesiera_Sedai]

As I posted before, just the sheer size of the Seanchean forces they amassed seems a stretch for the short time. A force that size they could of easily of overrun Randland. I agree it needs a fast pace but too much happened in such a small amount of time.

[Kesiera_Sedai]

Yes, this is true, but obviously they were more prepared than Westland was, so it's likely this was their standing army (I got the feeling the Seanchan Empire wasn't exactly war-free), and they were prepared not to lose.

[Sabio]

The seanchean empire is always in a state of war according to the BWB, rebellions and such.  But just look at how large their army was described during the Last Battle.  They had at least two armies of over 100,000 men before the LB.  Just seems a bit much to me.

[Kesiera_Sedai]

Yeah, but look at America's military...Biggest in the world by far (over 1.4 MILLION). A military of 200,000 isn't so big when we're talking about an empire that probably spans the greater part of a continent.

[Sabio]

True, but Lan even said the battle at with couladin was going to be the biggest fight since Hawkwing.  That was about 320,000 people involved.  None of Randland seemed to have huge standing armies, especially most the lands the Seanchean took.  I think both RJ and BS got a bit carried away with making the Seachean army so huge.