DRAGONMOUNT

Ta'veren Tees has released a new Blademaster shirt, and a Blademaster iron-on patch!

This week I give you a modern alternate universe in which a few main characters go out for a night of singing, drinking, and merriment. In other words: karaoke night.   knifeeared   minnielikes (yup, that's me!)   failemyfalcon   knifeeared   Which led to this incredible sketch by karaburrito (aka failemyfalcon):   Sounds like a wild night!   I want to party with Moiraine...   That's it for this week. The Light illumine you!

Welcome back to another edition of Dragonmount's Theory Blog, "WoT If?".  We're continuing our reread of The Eye of the World, with chapters 33 and 34.   Synopsis, taken from Encyclopaedia-WoT:   Chapter 33, "The Dark Waits"   Rand and Mat are getting a ride from a farmer named Hyam Kinch. Mat's eyes are getting better and Rand seems to be feeling better, although it has not been mentioned yet when he was sick. A group of the Queen's Guard pass by going the other way. Hyam Kinch tells them the Queen's Guard rarely goes further than Breen's Spring. He is surprised that neither Rand nor Mat recognizes them. The farmer finally stops and lets the boys off when he reaches his road home telling them they are two days from Caemlyn. The next village is Carysford. Mat acts suspicious of the farmer as he drops them off.   The time shifts back to the night at The Dancing Cartman. They stagger away from the inn and find some bushes to hide in. They both fall asleep soon. Rand starts dreaming:   He is back at Four Kings. He goes inside The Dancing Cartman. Howal Gode is there, only recognizable from his clothes. His face is charred. Rand realizes Gode is dead. Then Ba'alzamon appears and the two start talking. Ba'alzamon sends Gode away to his fate. His final words to Rand are "You are mine, youngling, alive or dead. The Eye of the World will never serve you. I mark you as mine." A ball of flame explodes in Rand's face.   Rand wakes up and notices Mat is having a nightmare. Rand wakes Mat up. They do not sleep the rest of the night. They start walking at daybreak. They pass through a village and then past that, Alpert Mull gives them a ride in his wagon. Times are so hard he must buy hay from Old Bain. He lets them get off just as he heads off the main road, and gives each of the boys a woolen scarf. At dusk, the boys arrive at Market Sheran. There is only one inn. They go in and are greeted by the innkeeper, Rulan Allwine. Rand and Mat are shocked at the price he is charging. The next day they have breakfast in the common room when a boy comes in and sits at their table. His name is Paitr. Mat figures out that he is a Darkfriend. Paitr tries to get them to wait, but Rand and Mat get up to leave. Paitr then yells out "You won't get away. No matter how strong you are, the Great Lord of the Dark is stronger. The Shadow will swallow you!" An old man inside the inn hears Paitr and Paitr flees. Rand and Mat also leave quickly. They get six rides during that day and they hear rumors about what happened in Market Sheran. One farmer tells them it is the best story he heard since Ackley Farren got drunk. They enter another village (Andor Village 1) and enter The Queen's Man inn. The innkeeper, Master Inlow, at first thinks that they are on their way to Caemlyn to see Logain. Rand and Mat give their spiel to the innkeeper about performing. He gets ready to clear a room for them when Rand gets very ill. The innkeeper lets them go into the stable. Mat goes to find someone to help, but the local midwife, Mother Brune, is out. Rand sleeps fitfully and has nightmares:       Ba'alzamon and Myrddraal follow him.     Egwene tells him they are all dead.     Moiraine tells him only the Aes Sedai can save him from the Dark One.     Thom asks who will find him first, the Red Ajah or the Black Ajah.     Lan, Perrin, Marin al'Vere, Bayle Domon, Master Fitch, Min and Tam all seem to blame him for their troubles.   Rand wakes the next day when he hears the door open. There is a woman entering the stable. Rand wakes Mat up. She comes over and asks if Rand is all right. She bends over as if to help Rand and then she lunges toward Mat. She has tried to stab Mat and now her dagger is stuck in a post and Mat now has the ruby dagger up against her throat. Her dagger is blackening the wood around it. Mat prepares to kill her, but Rand convinces him not to. Instead, they lock her up in the tack room. They then leave town. About a mile out of town, Hyam Kinch gives them a ride.   Chapter 34, "The Last Village"   Rand and Mat are a day away from The Queen's Man. It is three nights since Four Kings, two since Market Sheran and one since the Darkfriend woman. They are approaching Carysford. The town is next to the River Cary and there is a bridge over the river. Rand and Mat pass through the village and spent the night in haystacks. The next morning they notice that the road to Caemlyn is filled with people going to see the false Dragon. Merchants and Queen's Guard pass them several times. They pass through two more towns. At the third town (Andor Village 2), which they reach at nighttime, they pause near an inn, the Goose and Crown. At one end is a man on a cart, and at the other end are two other men. One of the two men walks away, and Rand realizes that it is a Fade. The man on the cart is Almen Bunt and the man returning to the inn is Raimun Holdwin, the innkeeper. The two hold a short conversation and it is apparent that Bunt is suspicious of Holdwin. Holdwin says that his "friend" is looking for two young men, one of whom carries a stolen heron-marked blade. Holdwin goes inside his inn. Rand and Mat approach Bunt and ask for a ride to Caemlyn and Bunt agrees.   During the ride, Bunt tells the boys a little about Queen Morgase. She has an Aes Sedai advisor named Elaida. She has a daughter named Elayne and a son named Gawyn. Luc is dead and Tigraine is gone. Taringail Damodred married Morgase. Taringail is also dead. Rand falls to sleep and has nightmares. In one nightmare, Thom tells him, "The Dragon is one with the land; and the land is one with the Dragon." He awakes in the morning, and Bunt tells them that they have arrived at Caemlyn.   My take:   This is the chapter where we get the awkward flashback.  I think if you read from chapter 31 all the way through 34 in one sitting, it wouldn't be as awkward.  Robert Jordan established a liking for this sort of flashback all the way back in chapter 13, "Choices."  As a writing style, it's an interesting tactic: establishing that they wound up at their final destination, then explaining what happened along the way—I think the line is something like "the week-long trip to Barelon was uneventful" then Jordan goes into detail about what happened on all the days.  But, when used through four chapters, it gets a bit difficult to keep everything straight.   Here, chapter 31 starts with the end of chapter 33, with Alpert Mull giving them the scarves.  And on top of that flashback, chapter 33 starts with them riding with Hyam Kinch, then tells how they got to that point.  So, we get a flashback within a flashback.  It's understandable that some find it confusing.  But if you're still having a hard time getting your head around it, the WOT FAQ has a wonderful page that details the timeline of these four chapters.   First, we get the aftermath of Rand channeling the lightning at the Dancing Cartman.  He gets ill a few nights later before they are going to play at an inn.  The innkeeper lets them sleep in the stables.  Rand has a bunch of fever dreams.  But are they from his own mind, based on is own worst thoughts, or can these be influenced by Ba'alzamon?  The most important one being Thom talking about the Red Ajah after him. We talked last week if Rand might be wondering if he can channel.  We don't really have a good comparison to that sort of situation in our world, so it's hard to find something to use as an analogy.  We see Nynaeve go through that sort of denial earlier.  But it's a hundred times worse for Rand.  Some people think women who can channel are evil; everyone thinks men who can channel are evil.  But could this dream of Thom and the Red Ajah show that Rand's thinking about it?  Or is it another trick from Ba'alzamon, trying to force Rand into his clutches?    He has to be wondering.  Even if he's not thinking it about himself, he has to wonder why the Dark One would be after them.  He would have to contemplate why Moiraine would be helping him.  He and Mat have a bunch of time on the road together; a lot of time to reflect and think.  He may still be in denial, but I think the thoughts are in his brain at this point, that he might be able to channel.   He also brings up the idea of the Light's luck again.  He thinks, "He really was feeling better, he realized. It was a wonder to get over being sick so fast. More than that, it was a gift of the Light. It has to be the Light. It has to be."  This shows how much he's trying to convince himself that he's fine—and Jordan is trying to signal the readers that there's more than meets the eye going on here.   During the first part of chapter 33—pre-flashback—we find out that the Two Rivers is part of Andor.  We could tell that from the map at the beginning, but this is where it first comes into play in the series.  It seems like such a throw away comment—"Rand wondered what Master al'Vere would say if someone told him the Two Rivers was part of some Queen's Realm. The Queen of Andor, he supposed."—but this idea has such a huge role as the books continue.  We see Perrin struggle with this the most, but Mat and Rand also encounter it.   When the story finally gets back to chronological order, running away from the Dancing Cartman, I love how insecure Mat gets about being left behind.  The dagger from Shadar Logoth has really messed up his mind, for him to even think that Rand would leave him.  The paranoia he feels fuels that—and I've no doubt that Mat would have considered leaving Rand behind at some point if he wasn't so weak himself.  But these are some of my favorite scenes of Mat.  He is so helpless, so dependent on Rand.  After Rand—and I'm assuming Mat—had the dream of Ba'alzamon and Gode, Rand wakes up to find Mat having a nightmare.  When Mat wakes up screaming that Ba'alzamon took his eyes, and weeping against Rand's chest, it's one of the most touching moments between these two characters.  They are young men, trying to be adults, yet here they are so beat down, so broken.  Mat has to be nearly crushed to show so much weakness.   And later in the series when Mat and Rand meet up again, Mat mindlessly does what Rand says.  We see that Perrin maintains a bit of an argumentative nature with Rand—mostly over the treatment of the Aes Sedai—but Mat never shows signs of argument.  I wonder if a part of him, even with the holes in his memories, remembers how much he needed Rand during this part of their journey.  Mat owes Rand so much.   When they meet Paitr in Market Sheran, the boys get a rude awakening about Darkfriends:     This is a very good theme within the series, that people are not always what they seem, or that they can be more than what they seem.  It also takes the suspense to another level.  With Trollocs and Fades, you can tell they are monsters.  But with Darkfriends, you don't know who is who until it's too late.   When Mili Skane tries to kill Mat and Rand while Rand's suffering from his reaction to channeling in Four Kings, Mat seems to have no qualms about slitting her throat.  This is quite strange because he also struggles with the weakness of not wanting women to die.  It's only Rand's pleading that keeps Mat from killing the Darkfriend.  Could it be that the ruby-hilted dagger took away that value for a short time?  I can't think of any other explanation.    And chapter 34 serves little purpose besides backstory.  But, this backstory is very important.  Almen Bunt, who is the same farmer who witnesses Rand's apple miracle in A Memory of Light, blabs the whole night about the politics of Andor.  I love the way Jordan gets all the information into the story, so long before we know it's important.  It may seem like filler, but everything Bunt says is a clue about Rand, his past, and his future.     We'll have to stop there for today.  But we'll continue next time.  I was hoping we could get to Loial, but he'll have to wait.  Thanks for reading!

Congratulations to Ann Leckie, the author of Ancillary Justice, which won the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novel.  The Hugo Awards are one of the most prominent awards in the Science Fiction and Fantasy community. They are given out annually at the WorldCon convention. The Wheel of Time was honored as one of the five short-listed nominees for the award this year.  We’ve posted a lot of information over the past few months about WoT’s eligibility and subsequent nomination. Despite the fact that it didn't win, I believe the series is cementing its legacy as one of the most beloved and important fantasy sagas in the industry. For all its ups and downs, the simple fact remains that these books have positively impacted millions of readers across the world. They’ve inspired several generations readers, and paved the way for an entire sub-gengre of epic fantasy writers.  The series' success has allowed Tor (and likely other publishers) to stabilize their product line and invest in new writers. There’s never been a complete, literary saga this long, which, despite its flaws and low points, captured so many minds and kept us awake at night. Taken as a whole, the grand story arcs of a doomed man and a doomed world encompass all of the attributes that the World Science Fiction Society looks for when it presents the Hugo Awards each year. We would also like to wholeheartedly acknowledge the other nominees in the Best Novel category, listed below. Please take the time to check out these books, and share them with your friends. Robert Jordan’s books are familiar to us, complete, and always available for future re-reads. But we encourage you read these these contemporaries and enjoy the worlds that they present so well. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Orbit US / Orbit UK) Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross (Ace / Orbit UK) Parasite by Mira Grant (Orbit US / Orbit UK) Warbound, Book III of the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia (Baen Books) Congratulations again to Ann Leckie, for her historic win! 

The Hugo Award ceremony will be held this coming Sunday, August 17th, at 8 PM BST (which will be at 3PM EDT for viewers in North America).  The ceremony can be viewed live from your computer at the Hugo's UStream channel.   Want to watch it with other Wheel of Time fans?  Well, JordanCon is hosting a "Hugo Watching Party" in Atlanta, Georgia.  Details can be found on JordanCon's Facebook page.    You can also join in the discussion on Dragonmount, in our Wheel of Time Book Discussion forum, or in our live chat room.   Good luck to our beloved series, and to Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson!

Our friends at the Waygate Foundation have notified us of a charity auction they're hosting to benefit Room to Read, which is a worthy organization helping to promote literacy and gender equality across the world.  Up for bid is a unique set of medieval gauntlets, signed by an impressive list of authors and artists. Here are the names: Brandon Sanderson Howard Tayler Michael R Underwood Howard Andrew Jones Tobias Buckell John Klima Pat Rothfuss John Scalzi Courtney Allison Moulton Aimee Carter Kelley Armstrong Saladin Ahmed Jaime Ramsey Matthew Alan Thyer Jacqueline Carey Sandra Taylor Kameron Hurley Bradley P Beaulieu Myke Cole Michael J Sullivan Wesley Chu Brian McClellan Cherie Priest Seleste deLaney Sam Sykes Larry Elmore Jana Oliver John G Hartness Head over to eBay to see the auction. If you bring these awesome gauntlets home, be sure to let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

Ever wondered what the Forsaken would have been like in high school? This graphic was made by shorelle on DeviantArt (however, I think it has since been deleted). Please enjoy a hilarious reimagining of the Forsaken.         I hope y'all don't mind that this post is a bit short today. I haven't been feeling well this week but wanted to still get some laughs in! The Light illumine you!

Hello, all!  Welcome back to another edition of Dragonmount's Theory Blog, "WoT If?".  After a long summer break, the Theory Blog is back!  We'll pick up where we left off, covering chapters 31 and 32 of The Eye of the World.   Synopsis, taken from Encyclopaedia-WoT:   Chapter 31, "Play for Your Supper"   Rand and Mat travel the road from Whitebridge to Caemlyn. They hide when mounted patrols pass. Rand keeps hoping to see Thom come up from behind. Mat keeps fingering his ruby dagger. They spend their first night out of Whitebridge outside on the ground. They are running out of money and cannot afford to stay at an inn. Rand asks Mat about selling the ruby dagger, but Mat gets angry. They stay at several farms and get some meals in exchange for a few hours work. After several days they arrive at the Grinwell farm and Master Grinwell invites them to stay the night. The eldest daughter is Else Grinwell. She starts flirting with Rand. Mistress Grinwell has yellow hair, which Rand has never seen before. The Grinwells suggest that Rand and Mat play at inns. Mistress Grinwell is suspicious of Rand's intent for her daughter and is happy to see him leave. The next day, at dusk, they enter the village of Arien. There is only one inn, and the innkeeper lets them stay there and have a meal in exchange for them performing. The next morning, Eazil Forney gives them a ride out of town. Rand and Mat continue traveling in this manner for several days and then they arrive at Four Kings.   Chapter 32, "Four Kings in Shadow"   Rand and Mat arrive at Four Kings at dusk. The Caemlyn Road runs through the center of town. It is a rougher town than Rand and Mat are used to. They finally stop at the fourth inn, The Dancing Cartman. Saml Hake is the innkeeper. Jak and Strom are the bouncers. Rand and Mat have to bargain harder for their room and board than they have at any other place. They play for a very rough crowd. They figure out that Saml Hake is going to rob them. They take notice of a noble in the back of the room who is watching them. Rand overhears that he stopped and looked in all the other inns, including the Royal Inn, then came here. Rand steps outside and sees the man's carriage. The man's name is Howal Gode. Rand remembers seeing him in Whitebridge. Eventually all the patrons leave except for Howal Gode, who takes a room there for the night. Rand and Mat are shown to their room. After Saml Hake, Jak and Strom leave their room, Rand and Mat block the door. They try to escape through the window, but find it is nailed shut. Howal Gode comes to their room and tries to enter. Gode tries to get them to surrender. Rand and Mat look outside and see men outside, watching the window. Lightning then strikes their room. The wall with the window has a hole in it. Mat cannot see but he and Rand take their belongings and leave.   My take:   First off, let me apologize for taking such a long summer break.  I was still reading, but unable to get the time to write anything!  I'm sure you all understand.  Second, I apologize for taking my summary from an outside source.  I like to phrase my synopsis in my own words, paying attention to certain things I noticed while reading.  However, Encyclopaedia WoT is such a fantastic source, and all the major facts are there.  Using this is easier on me, which makes it easier to get the writing done.    Now we can get to the story.  With the last two chapters focusing on Perrin and his conflicts, it's a nice change of pace to see Rand's and Mat's woes.  Perrin's struggles are mostly internal—except the little Whitecloak problem.  With Rand and Mat, all their problems are physical—except the nightmares of Ba'alzamon.  This is a good juxtaposition of emotions.  Both groups are running, but Mat's and Rand's adventure is a bit more reactive; they constantly have the Darkfriends nipping at their feet, forcing them to move on.   I also like the fact that Perrin discovered some inner talents and ran from them, while Rand and Mat are able to use their talents to get meals and rooms at inns.  Obviously talking with wolves and juggling are two very different things, but it shows that Perrin is able to hide his skills, let them go unused because he is afraid of them.  Rand, on the other hand, uses all that he has.   This is very closely related to his attitude once he starts channeling.  He does try to hide from it, at first, but he quickly accepts that it's a tool, and he must use it.  Of course, Rand also gets to the point where he views people and friends in this same light.  And, of course, Perrin wouldn't use people or friends—especially Faile—even when it was the logical thing to do.   Looking at it this way, Rand and Perrin are almost complete opposites.  In literary terms, I think Perrin could be Rand's foil, a character that's used to highlight both their differences.  Only when you look at them side by side do you see how drastic their distinctions are, and how strong their characteristics are.  Despite growing up in the same town and raised on the same values, their innate personalities are nowhere near the same.   And where does Mat play into all of this?  He's just the comic relief.  At least, he is at this point in the story.  He gets more important as the story progresses, but he's not as developed as the other two in this book.  And I don't blame Robert Jordan at all for keeping Mat in the shadows at this point.  That's what makes his rise to stardom in The Shadow Rising all the more interesting and fun.   Actually, Mat does function as more than just the comic relief.  He's a red herring for the one Moiraine is looking for—when he randomly speaks the Old Tongue, we're forced to wonder if the Shadow wants him.  And he also serves as a companion for Rand, aiding in Rand's character growth.  The way Rand reacts to Mat's paranoia, and his blindness, and his weaknesses shows us more about him than about Mat.  Personally, I love the way Rand cares for Mat during the next few chapters (one in particular, we'll talk about next time).  This shows us Rand's true core.  How deeply he loves his friends.  Rand is so tender in these moments, and it's a great contrast to how callused and distant he becomes in later books.   Now, talking about all their troubles, we know that the Darkfriends are drawn to the ruby-hilted dagger from Shadar Logoth.  We'll talk about this more later when we reach the end of the book—remember Aginor's "An old friend, and old enemy" line?  But we can touch on it now.  It's curious that there are men who are so far in the Shadow that they can feel the dagger.  Gode says he can feel it coming off them in waves, that they are already halfway turned to the Shadow.  That's a very creepy thought.  Is the dagger so powerful, or is Gode so evil?  And could you imagine what would have happened if Rand had grabbed the dagger instead of Mat?  For him to be corrupted so much would definitely be a bad thing!   Also, this part of the journey is really teaching Rand and Mat about the real world.  Before, they were pretty sheltered in the Two Rivers.  When the innkeeper means to rob them, I think they learn some important lessons.  Poor country bumpkins need to grow up quickly.   Rand channeling is another main part of chapter 32.  I think it's interesting here that he's beginning to wonder where his luck is coming from.  After the lightning hits the window, he thinks, "Luck. The Light's own ... Is it?"  So even Rand is wondering if it's the Dark One's luck that's helping.  Or could it be that he's wondering about channeling?  Maybe that Mat is channeling?  Or that he is channeling?  It seems odd that he wouldn't notice the signs of the reaction.  But, we see Nynaeve's point of view when Moiraine tells her she can channel, and it's very easy to understand how they could be in denial.  But still, with Darkfriends and worse after them, wouldn't Rand begin to wonder a little?  To look at the weird experiences his body has had over the past two weeks or so?   Maybe.  Maybe not.  But I think we'll stop there for now.  I really like the next few chapters, with Rand's arrival into Caemlyn and the events that follow—especially meeting Loial.  See you next time and thanks for reading!

Welcome to another edition of Dragonmount’s Fantasy Review.   For this edition, I am examining The Emperor’s Blades: Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne (Part I) by Brian Staveley. The sequel, The Providence of Fire,  is due to be published in January, 2015.   Synopsis: The Emperor of the Unhewn Throne has been assassinated by an unknown murderer, leaving behind three children: two sons and a daughter.   His heir, Kaden, has been away for eight years, training with monks in a distant, remote monastery, learning the ways of the “Blank God” and the mysteries of the vaniate, or “nothingness.”  His training is spiritual and emotional, and deemed necessary to rule in the Unhewn throne. Mysterious creatures have returned, killing off monks and novices, and suddenly, the monastery is no longer a safe place for the new Emperor.   Meanwhile, during the last eight years, the younger son, Valyn has been training to join the Kettral--a group of fierce warriors who fly enormous birds into battle. After hearing of his father’s murder, Valyn becomes suspicious of the other Kettral Cadets, afraid for his life and that of his dearest friend. His driving goal throughout the story is to complete his training and go warn (and possibly rescue) his brother from would-be assassins.   While her brothers were away learning to be a monk and a soldier, the late emperor’s daughter Adare has become finance minister. She is bright, intelligent, and fierce. She holds the kingdom together after her father’s murder, and is seeking vengeance against his killer while patiently waiting her brothers’ return.   Pros: I like the shifting points of view between the three siblings of Kaden, Valyn, and Adare.   I enjoyed that Adare seems to be a strong, competent, independent girl. Yes, she’s a princess, and yes, she becomes a minister of finance for the Empire upon her father’s death, but she is competent enough an individual that no one seems to question the appointment as nepotism. It is through Adare’s POV chapters that we learn about the intricacies of the Empire.   I also enjoyed that there was a younger brother without overt “jealous of big brother” tendencies. Valyn has his own dreams, to become a Kettral, and he does not seem to care that he won’t inherit the Unhewn Throne.   Cons I wish that we had more of Adare’s perspective. Her POV chapters were scattered throughout.  The concept of vaniate is a little esoteric.  I really hate the idea of the “army without a family” like Staveley uses for the Kettral (or that George R.R. Martin uses with the Night’s Watch and the Kingsguard). That’s a personal preference, however, and does not interfere with my enjoyment of the story as a whole.   Rating 4/5.  I’m excited to see what happens in the next adventure of the story!   If you are interested in reading this book, it can be purchased from Dragonmount's eBook store here.

I'm sure many of you have already seen or briefly glanced at the Wheel of Time Wiki's Drinking Game, but if not I thought I would share the glorious hilarity of it here. Since this has been around a while, I suppose this is kind of another Throwback post? Throwback Thursday (on a Wednesday) Part 2!   First of all, the disclaimer:   Sounds like something Nynaeve would say.   Just that right there is enough to knock a person out in the first 20 pages! The wiki page goes on to mention events requiring two, three, and four drinks, but I won't list them all here.     Hopefully you got a good laugh today. The Light illumine you!