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Fellow Wheel of Time fans, hold onto your shawls and raise your Warder bonds, because something absolutely epic is happening!
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The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories...that won't leave you alone even after you've put the books down. This week is all about those things we encounter in our everyday lives that connect us to the world of Wheel of Time. For instance, this gem posted on reddit: imgur I definitely like the idea of the Green Man chillin' out, protecting the Eye of the World, making his own microbrew in his spare time. I think we've all seen the yin/yang symbol before and lovingly thought of the Aes Sedai, but how about on your dietary supplements? knifeeared Is the Fang and Flame on your supplement? That's how you know it's balanced. Here's another: "In the First Age, Mazrim Taim sought power by running a craft store, rather than becoming head of the Asha’man. Where did you think they got their supplies for making sword and dragon pins?" - Kelson on hyperborea.org hyperborea.org Ok, last one, and this one isn't quite so funny as it is maybe a little disturbing (or super cool, depending on your perspective I suppose) but I saw these bracelets called BOND Can't help but feel like these are eerily similar to a'dam? I wonder if maybe the inventor has read Wheel of Time? Or they could be the inventor of the a'dam reborn! What if these are invented in our Age and then get modified as a'dam in another Age? My mind is reeling with possibilities, someone slap me before I really go off the deep end. What have you seen in real life that reminds you of Wheel of Time? I think we've all had something, whether it's that woman who walks by you on the street who looks exactly like how you pictured Faile, or that "Mother's Milk" tea that you can't help but mumble "in a cup!" under your breath every time you see it. Artifacts of the Third Age are everywhere, you need only look.
Welcome back to another edition of "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog. We are continuing our reread of The Eye of the World, with chapters 24 and 25. Synopsis: Chapter 24, "Flight Down the Arinelle" Rand is in a dream, and knows it is a dream. He wanders around a dark place, with roads that lead directly above him, or to places that seem close at first, then far away. Ba'alzamon chases him, and Rand wonders if Mat is seeing the same thing—if there are two Ba'alzamons and two mazes, or if Mat is somewhere in the same maze. Rand continues through the maze and accidently touches a thorn on the wall. His finger bleeds. After that, he runs into Ba'alzamon. Rand shouts that it is a dream, and it changes into something else. Now, Rand is in a place full of mirrors. He can see his image thrown back at him, and the image of Ba'alzamon too. As Rand looks into a mirror, he sees his own face, then it begins to merge with Ba'alazmon's face. Only one face remains. Rand wakes up on the Spray, relieved that the dreams are over for one more night, then realizes his finger is bleeding from a pick of a thorn. Life aboard the Spray has been difficult since the night after Shadar Logoth. Due to fear of the Shadowspawn, Doman has the crew heading full speed down the river. Gelb has been trying to convince the other sailors that it was all Rand's fault, but no one listens to him. Thom warns them that Gelb is harmless, for the time being, but they need to watch out for a mutiny from the crew—they aren't pleased with how hard Doman has been working them. Thom tries his hardest to distract the crew with his entertainment, as well as teaching Rand and Mat their lessons for the crew's enjoyment. As they travel, Rand notices artifacts in the quickly passing landscape. They pass through a rent in a cliff that is carved with men and women—kings and queens of an old nation. He also sees a tall tower seemingly made of metal. Doman tells him that it looks like steel, but there's not a spot of rust. Doman then tells Rand of all the wonders he's seen. Of the Panarch's Palace in Tanchico that has the bones of extinct animals, of lightsticks, razorlace, and heartstone. Doman says the wonders of the world will pull Rand on. Rand argues, saying he will go home as soon as possible. A few days later, Rand has a sort of giddy fit, causing him to climb the ship's mast. He balances atop the swaying mast, until Thom comes up and asks him to come down. Rand does, dangling from a rope and swinging down, ending with a bow and a flourish. As he lands, he realizes that Mat is stroking the ruby hilted dagger they had seen in Shadar Logoth. Mat insists Moiraine's warning doesn't count because it hadn't been a gift, Mat had just taken it. Rand says they can sell it if they need the money and Mat reluctantly agrees. Thom comes over and scolds Rand for his stunt, and Rand realizes what he had been doing atop the mast. He suddenly feels dizzy. He wonders what's happening to him, if he might be going mad. Chapter 25, "The Travelling People" Perrin, Egwene, and Elyas travel through the wilderness. Egwene tries to get Elyas to ride Bela as well, but he refuses. She is unsuccessful at bullying him into doing it, too. Hopper, Dapple, and Wind appear every so often, but the other wolves are keeping farther away. Perrin can feel a tickle, and knows the direction they are, but he tires to deny it. On the plus side, he has not had any dreams of Ba'alzamon since meeting Elyas and the wolves. After three days, they find a group of Tinkers. Elyas is known by the Seeker of this band, Raen, and his wife, Ila. Ila wonders if Elyas' "other friends" would stay away since they frighten the dogs; Elyas impatiently tells her they will. The group is welcomed to the fires for a meal. Raen's and Ila's grandson—Aram—appears and begins to talk to Egwene. Perrin interrupts, saying how big the dogs are. Aram sizes him up as competition and says the dogs will not harm Perrin, as they follow the Way of the Leaf. Egwene asks Aram what it is, and he explains. Perrin wonders how they could live like that, always afraid and always running. Raen begins to explain, but Elyas cuts him off, saying he didn't bring Perrin and Egwene there to convert them. Perrin and Aram have an argument, and Aram takes Egwene to eat with his parents. Perrin apologizes to Raen and Ila, but they dismiss it offhand. After dinner, they sit to smoke their pipes. Raen tells of a story—passed from Tinker to Tinker—about a band that travelled into the Aiel Waste. A group of Maidens were attacked, and all but one dead. It took the last bit of her strength to pass on a message: "Leafblighter means to blind the Eye of the World." Raen wanted to know if Elyas could tell him what it meant, but he claims not to know. Egwene comes back and Perrin asks her if she had fun. He also compares Aram to Wil al'Seen, and notes that Egwene had more sense to fall for Wil's antics. Abruptly, Egwene throws her arms around Perrin and cries, wanting to know that Rand and the others are still alive. Awkwardly, Perrin reassures her that they are. She kisses him on the cheek, then goes to the wagon with Ila. Perrin wonders how Rand is able to know so much about women when Perrin knows nothing. My take: First off, when we see this dream of Rand and Ba'alzamon, it very closely resembles the Ways. I don't think we've talked about this before. We know that these dreams most likely take place in a dreamshard of Ishamael's making—giving him more power over the surrounding than just Tel'aran'rhiod would offer. So, why would he choose the Ways? It seems a curious place. The Ways were created after the male channelers had started going insane, so it would be after Ishamael was sealed (or partly sealed) within the Bore. Would he have been able to access the Ways during his brief periods of freedom? He must have, or how else would he have known what they look like? Or is it more likely that although the Ways weren't grown until later, the Talismans of Growing were well-known and studied? Perhaps Ishamael had even worked on them before the War of Power, and knew, in theory, what the Ways would look like? This could be an interesting question to pose to Brandon Sanderson or Maria Simons. Going back to my "Moridin always knew he was working for the Light" theory, he could be using the Ways as a tool to prepare Rand for later in the book, when they actually use the Ways. This little bit of experience doesn't do much, but it does get Rand, and possibly Mat and Perrin, used to the idea of the unsettling landscape, and the near-solid darkness (though of course you can't make it dark or light inside Tel'aran'rhiod). He's giving them help, maybe without even realizing it. To keep your enemies in ignorance is the best way to beat them, but Ishamael seems to be arming Rand with all the knowledge he'll need to have a victory. Moving on, another thing we see in this dream is the idea of Rand and Ba'alzamon merging. I don't know about you, but I am flabbergasted that the foreshadowing of this is all the way back in book one. And looking at the recent article about Robert Jordan's notes, he might have had this idea all along. Every time I reread this series, I am struck with how brilliant a writer Robert Jordan was. And I'm sure there will be other such surprises as we continue through all the books. Another interesting thing mentioned is the tale of the Aiel Maidens meeting the Tuatha'an. I particularly like this story because of the conflict it causes. We know after The Shadow Rising why the Aiel call the Tinkers "Lost Ones." And the Tinkers, who have no idea of their crimes, are blamed for the sins of their ancestors. It seems so funny that the Aiel would judge others based on this, when they themselves have abandoned their own oaths to the Way of the Leaf. It's like the Aiel feel they can call the Tinkers "Lost" only because they quite their charge before the Aiel did. It's completely illogical. But I love the dynamic it gives to both factions. The Tinkers themselves are fascinating. The Way of the Leaf is an interesting concept, and I wish more could have been done with them throughout the story. At JordanCon last weekend, Brandon did a panel where he answered all our Wheel of Time questions. One thing he talked about was how he freaked out Team Jordan, trying to think outside the box in regards to the storylines and characters. One of these ideas was what would happen if Perrin had eventually found the Way of the Leaf. Maria, and Harriet McDougal, who were both in attendance at the panel, laughed and agreed that Brandon had freaked them out. One of them also said that they absolutely refused to let Perrin choose the Way of the Leaf. Personally, I don't think Perrin could have ever fit in as a follower of the Way of the Leaf. He believes too much in justice, and sometimes that involves corporeal punishment—I mean, he even spanked Faile once. But I love thinking of the idea that he could have joined them. It adds so much depth to his character to know that there was even a chance he could have evolved into a follower of the Way of the Leaf. If anyone in the story was to convert, it would be him, I think. Also, with the Aiel story, Raen speaks of men who go alone to kill the Dark One. Again, very early on, we get a hint of some major events that happen during the Last Battle. For one, the use of the Samma N'Sei for the Shadow. This was a huge revelation—though we did think about it once we learned that the Black Tower was turning male channelers already. We knew since The Great Hunt—and Egwene's test for Accepted—that it's possible to Turn a channeler, but I really don't think I suspected the male Aiel channelers as targets until much later in the series. For what we see of them, the Samma N'Sei are scary. Looking at the Wheel of Time Wikia page for them, it implies they are cannibals. It also talks about how they are protected from the taint, due to their oaths to the Dark One. I don't know if there is any evidence for that. If they were given a barrier—like the Forsaken—why do they act so crazy? But, maybe now isn't the time to speculate on them. I do wish we had more information about them, and their culture; hopefully it will be in the Encyclopedia. I think we will go ahead and end it here, today. Join us next week for more tales from The Eye of the World. Thanks for reading!
Over the weekend we reported that the" rel="external nofollow">http://www.dragonmount.com/index.php/News/events/the-wheel-of-time-nominated-for-hugo-award-r752'>the collective Wheel of Time saga has been nominated for the 2013 Best Novel Hugo Award. The Hugos are one of the most prestigious awards in the Science Fiction & Fantasy community. Congratulations to Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal for this honor. In response to the nomination, Harriet said: Brandon" rel="external nofollow">http://brandonsanderson.com/the-wheel-of-time-nominated-for-a-hugo-award/'>Brandon posted his thoughts onto his website. Be sure to read the whole thing. Brandon’s message is especially important. The Hugo’s, along with other awards such the Gemmell" rel="external nofollow">http://gemmellaward.ning.com/'>Gemmell Legend Awards, are an important part of the SF/F community. It’s important that we treat them with respect, and participate in the spirit for which they’re intended. That means reading all of the nominated works, and voting in as many categories as possible for the nominees you feel are best, even if it’s something other than The Wheel of Time. Here are some FAQ’s asked by fans: Who votes for the Hugos?The Hugo Awards are voted upon by the members of WorldCon. This means anybody who attends the WorldCon convention that year, as well as “supporting” members who cannot attend but have paid the supporting membership fee. Information on how to attend, or how to become a supporting member can be found here. Can I vote for the Hugos?YES. In fact, we invite and encourage you to do so. But please read all of the nominated works and vote for your favorite, even if it turns out that it’s not the Wheel of Time. Like Jenn posted" rel="external nofollow">https://twitter.com/dragonmount/statuses/458387519407546368'>posted earlier on our Twitter feed: “Don’t be a #wheeloftime fanboy. Be a Hugo voter. Read everything & vote in every category you feel confident in. & sign up to do it again.” What’s the cost to vote?Please" rel="external nofollow">http://www.loncon3.org/memberships/'>Please see the WorldCon webpage for specific information on becoming a member. A Supporting membership allows you to vote without attending the convention and costs US $40. What do I get for signing up to vote?You get to contribute to a prestigious part of the SF/F community and help determine the recipients of one of the genre’s highest honors. In addition, all voting members receive a digital packet which contains ebooks of all the nominated works, including The Wheel of Time. Wait, did you just say that for $40 we can get the entire Wheel of Time saga in ebook format?Yes. That, as well as all of the other nominated books, short stories, novellas, etc. Best. Deal. Ever.Agreed. Now" rel="external nofollow">http://www.loncon3.org/memberships/'>Now go sign up. What’s the voting period? When will the winners be announced?The ballot will be available online soon and voting will end in July. The awards will be announced August 17th at LonCon, the 72nd WorldCon and will be livestreamed for those of us who can’t attend.
Good morning once again! Now that all the post-JordanCon dust has settled, we return to the Weekly Roundup with several moments of exciting news stretching all across the world of the Wheel of Time and Dragonmount. Because it has been a few weeks since we’ve had a Weekly Roundup, this one is super sized, packed with all sort of exciting information! First, and perhaps the most exciting is that The Wheel of Time series has been nominated for a Hugo Award! The entire series is nominated as a single work because it is (finally) a complete set. This award is the most prestigious Science Fiction writer’s award. To be eligible to vote, you must be a member of this year’s World Con, taking place in London from August 14-19. Second, we have two brand-new shiny Social Group leaders. The Black Tower is now led by the one and only Panchi! The Wolfkin are now officially led by their long serving former Beta wolf Davrick. With the new Social Group leaders, the Social Groups are sure to make some amazing new changes. The ACW Tuathan’an Camp is also undergoing some changes: to help track their new Way of the Leaf System the Tinkers are restructuring the Showcase to track the Way of the Leaf ranking system. Tinkers are encouraged to check out the new pinned threads in the Showcase to learn more details about the new ranking system. Game of Thrones fans: After last week’s exciting episode, many of you might want to know where you can go to discuss the television series and the book series that inspired it, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Never fear! In the Entertainment board, there are two Westeros-centric threads: the Spoiler Thread and the Non-Spoiler Thread. The Aiel have posted their new monthly discussion on Markets. What is it like to shop in your area of the world, in the small, local markets? Read here to find out the interesting places where some of your fellow Dragonmount members spend their money. In the slow times of JordanCon, the Band of the Red Hand discussed alternate places to host a meet-up, other than the famous convention. Where would you host a meet-up for fellow Dragonmount members? The Kin have some excitement as well! First, they have a wonderful discussion on Herbology. Do you have any herbal remedies you use for your illnesses? Discuss it here! Also, the Kin have announced a new Council Member: Ryrin has agreed to help the Kin as a staff member responsible for membership (including new members) and the sashes. In Shayol Ghul, the Ghoulie Voting season has begun! This is your chance to tell us who, of those nominated, you think is most deserving of these elite awards. And finally, from the Dragonmount Twitter feed: Remember you can get up-to-the-minute updates for Dragonmount and Wheel of Time related news by following the page on Twitter and Facebook! That wraps it up for this week’s Weekly Roundup. Remember, you still have time to sign in to your Social Groups!
We are very pleased to announce that the entire Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and completed by Brandon Sanderson was nominated for a 2014 Hugo Award in the category of, “Best Novel”. The Hugo Awards are science fiction and fantasy's highest honor. They are awarded each year by the members of the World Science Fiction Society at WorldCon. These awards have been given annually since the 1950’s and are often referred to as “the Oscars of science fiction.” We are incredibly pleased at this nomination and would like to congratulate Brandon Sanderson and Team Jordan, and especially Harriet McDougal, for their incredible work seeing the series to completion after Robert Jordan’s death. We only wish he could have lived long enough to see his masterpiece honored this way. We’ll have more thoughts on the nomination and what it means in a few days. To vote on the Hugo Awards, you must be a member of this year’s WorldCon, taking place August 14-19 in London. For information on the convention and a complete list of nominees, please see their website. http://loncon3.org
We all know that Brandon Sanderson completed The Wheel of Time based off of Robert Jordan's notes. We know that those notes were so extensive that Harriet McDougal, RJ's wife and editor, claimed there were easily more words in the notes than words in all the books. Many of those notes, along with many original items from Robert Jordan's office were donated to The College of Charleston Special Collections department. An entire blog exists to showcase some of the items in that collection. From their website: Recently, our good friend Terez had the opportunity to explore these archives. In particular, she had the opportunity to read many of Robert Jordan's detailed notes and early outlines for the series. While she's unable to share everything she saw (out of respect to the College, and to Harriet), she was able to give us a peek at several exciting things. Here's what Terez had to say: Here's a look at that page from Robert Jordan's notes. (Click to enlarge) Here's the text from the page: The title of the document is "Notes on Books Two Through Six." As Terez mentions above, this document was written well before the publication of The Eye of The World. Back then, Robert Jordan had been given a six book deal from Tor, so this outline was his vision for the entire series at the time. Note that the last paragraph closely resembles the ideas used by Brandon in the final books. There are other many interesting tidbits found through these archives. Rand was originally named Ryhs. Elayne was originally named Elyn. Galad was originally going to turn to the Dark One. Morgase was going to be Rand's lover for a time. To read a little bit more about what Terez found at the archive, visit this link from Theoryland. If we're able to post more photos or information like this, then we'll do so. In the meantime, tell us what you think, and be sure to visit the resources above. A Wheel of Time Encyclopedia is currently being developed by Team Jordan. Much of the information from Robert Jordan's notes will be included in it. No release day has been announced, but the common expectation is that it will be completed this year, and possibly be released in early 2015. Dragonmount will have more information as it becomes available.
Happy Wednesday everyone, it's time again for some Wheel of Time laughs. I think we all remember, some fondly and some not-so-fondly, the countless pages dedicated to the Aiel confusion and incredulity with Wetlander customs, and vice versa. I thought this week I would share a couple comics and images that poke fun at this constant back-and-forth befuddlement. First off, Wetlanders seem incredibly slow to catch on that every Aiel game somehow involves knives and spears. image from roflwot Poor Bad Luck Brian. Reminds me of the time Mat Cauthon made a similar mistake with the Maidens when he agreed to play Maiden's Kiss in The Shadow Rising, hilariously illustrated by aiconx (whose Deviantart account has unfortunately since been deactivated). On the flip side, the Aiel never can seem to understand the Wetlander's more, um, let's say non-violent brand of humor. Who can forget Rand's attempt at a joke in Lord of Chaos that bombed harder than the Guild of Illuminators Chapter House in Cairhien (oooo burn)? Here's a discussion about Rand's joke, if you don't remember. The deviantart user johnplaystuba pokes fun at the Aiel's incomprehension of Wetlanders in a couple hilarious comic strips. johnplaystuba Rhuarc...didn't find that so funny, I guess. Maybe Rand will have better luck? johnplaystuba NOPE NOPE NOPE never mind, sorry Aviendha. You know nothin', Jon Snow Rand al'Thor. The ways of ji'e'toh are as mysterious to Wetlanders as rivers, lakes, and oceans are to Aiel, and so it goes with their humor as well. This concludes Wetlanders vs. Aiel, a case study. Who do you find funnier? See you all next week!
JordanCon 2014 has come and gone. The three days of the convention were packed with so much excitement, it felt much longer. Or perhaps it was staying up so late to spend just a few more minutes talking about Rand, Mat, and Perrin, that made it seem that way. Either way, it's over. But it's not the end, because there is always next year. Sunday was a bit more laid back than Saturday. Things were winding down, but there was still a ton of events. Since I was eliminated on the very first question during last year's trivia contest, I decided I would try even harder this year. For the "Daes Dae'mar" trivia contest, we were able to be in teams of up to five, and my team was filled with dread because of Terez's mighty knowledge. Would you believe we nearly tied for first place? In the end, due to the Tarmon Gai'don round, we wound up losing. But still, second place is better than being the first one out. Sunday was also the kaffeeklatsch with Brandon Sanderson. We were lucky enough to get in to see him. It was an amazing hour, just talking about anything and everything. The winner of the costume contest--she had dressed up as Syl from Brandon's Stormlight Archive--was also in attendance and pondered on the nature of a Spren's bond with a human. Interesting stuff, but I won't go into it here. My questions tended to focus on The Wheel of Time--like if the very last scene seemed a bit too happy to fit in with the darkness of the rest of the book--and what Ajah Brandon would chose if he were an Aes Sedai--his answer was Blue, surprisingly. Numerous people wore costumes, and most didn't even enter the costume contest. This picture of Min was among my favorites costumes. Though, a cosplaying Lews Therin and Ilyena--whom lay unmoving on the floor while he tired to feed her chips--was probably the funniest. I completely missed the Blademaster Tournament, but have every intention of seeing it next year. I'm not even sure who won, but it looked like everyone had a fun time. Supposedly, during an earlier JordanCon, a cardboard cut out of Rand (the one from A Crown of Swords) disappeared in the night. Well, by some miracle of the Light, he reappeared this year. Everyone was pleased to see him, though he was taken to the safety of a locked hotel room during the night. Here he is, punching my sister. I honestly had more fun this year than last year. And that means I'll have an even better time next year. I cannot wait for JordanCon to come around again. I want to thank everyone who helped with this event, including the honored Guests, the Directors, the volunteers, and the hotel staff. Everything went smoothly, everyone was friendly, and the environment was so welcoming. Wheel of Time fans are the best! If you want to see more of my photo gallery, please click here. And if you want to share your pictures, put a link below in the comments!
Here we are, day two of JordanCon. So far, the Con has been a blast, full of activities and events. There's been panels, the Blademaster tournament, vendors, art shows, and costume contests. In short, anything and everything you could hope to experience in relation to The Wheel of Time. If you're following Dragonmount on Twitter, you've already seen some of the events that have unfolded, as well as pictures of our favorite people--authors, artists, and fans. If you don't follow Dragonmount on Twitter (and you really should), here's a quick update of some of the goings on. First off, the Toast Masters (who actually ate toast during the opening ceremony) are none other than the tWoT Cast--known for their foul-mouthed antics. Hilarity ensued, complete with an airhorn to make their rants viewable to a wider audience. Our own Jason Denzel, and past JordanCon Toast Masters, Leigh Butler and Richard Fife, were called from the past, to the present, to save JordanCon from the tWoT Cast's grip (a al Back to the Future. For panels, there are several tracks with a wide veriety of purposes. Writing workshops, Wheel of Time discussions, gaming groups, and even speed friending. Something for everyone. Naturally, I gravitate towwards Wheel of Time related events, but even people who haven't read the series--and there are some here who fit that description--can have fun and enjoy the company of like-minded nerds. Of the Wheel of Time panels I've attended so far, "Loonie Theories" has been the funniest. The winner this year: The Wheel of Time series is a metaphor for childbirth. And a close second, Rand al'Thor is Santa Claus. Patrick Rothfuss--of The Kingkiller Chronicles fame--is the Author Guest of Honor. It's been incredible seing him around, and seeing his willingness to speak with fans. He even took part in a Q&A session for Waygate Foundation's Write-A-Thon (hosted by Brandon Sanderson. The two greats talked shop, reminisced, and answered questions from audience members and those following along online. Brandon's illustrators, Ben McSweeney and Isaac Stewart also helped out, donating some drawings to help the event raise money. There's plenty more going on. Currently, a silent auction is being held, and a masquerade ball shortly to follow. There's still one more day left, we we're going to party like it's our last night!
It's Friday, and that means fan art! For all of those going to JordanCon (and those of us deadly jealous we can't go), I've got a real treat. We're taking a look at the artists participating in the art show, and I've also got an interview with one of the artists. Edsel J. Arnold Edsel is a dad to three, he lives in Atlanta, and his favorite Disney characters are the blue fairy and Pocahontas. He also makes, really, really awesome art, strongly influenced by Art Nouveau. You've probably seen some of his Wheel of Time art before! How about we look at his awesome art first, and then on to the interview! Pink Ribbons - Mat and Tylin Selene Graendal Semirhage The Ecstasy of St. Nynaeve the Healer I think Edsel's art is so special and precious. The Mucha-inspired style is very unique when it comes to Wheel of Time fanart, and it is a style he truly masters! My personal favorite is the one of Selene, but I find it very, very hard to choose. I'm very much looking forward to following this artist in the future and see what he comes up with next! Now let's get to know him a little better shall we? Interview time! 1. What is your own personal favorite Wheel of Time fanart artist/piece? There are so many, because I'm such a WOT fan… I love all the e-book covers, especially the New Spring cover by Jason Chan, Moiraine by Dan Dos Santos and the Bowl of Winds by Julie Bell. I also like Seamus Gallagher's character sketch of Faile. 2. What will be your next Wheel of Time project? I plan to finish the Nouveau Female Forsaken… including one wielder of saidin <>. I also have major ideas for Lan, Mat, and Rand. 3. Who's your favorite characters, and moments in the books? Nynaeve and Mat are my favorite of the Fab Five… mostly because I relate to both. Like Nynaeve I come from a small conservative town and strike a balance between keeping my old values while being attracted to the trappings of exotic cultures. Like Mat, I always complain the whole time while I'm doing the right thing! LOL My other favorites are Verin (BIG fan) and Moiraine. 4. How long have you been doing digital painting? Probably about 3 or 4 years. 5. Did you do traditional art before going digital? Yes, I used to paint solely in Watercolor. Pink Ribbons is watercolor which has been scanned and placed on a darker background than the original white paper. However, digital painting works best for me these days because of my scattered available working time between 3 very busy kids and my regular job and my wife working full time, too. I can put it down and pick it up as often as I need to, and nothing's ruined in between! 6. What can those going to JordanCon expect to see from you? Are you bringing prints etc? All the paintings from last year plus 2 new WOT pieces and a new non-WOT piece. I'll be selling pieces in the silent auction and will also try to make a few open edition prints available as a pre-launch to the print page I'm adding to my website around May 1st. 7. If you could go back in time and talk to Robert Jordan, what would you talk about? I want more information on Alanna… was she a dark friend… and especially more information on Verin's letters to see if my guesses are correct. In a general sense, I'd like to talk to him about the Seanchan, who I find fascinating, and also about his personal religious beliefs and how they influenced a world without a specific religion. 8. Is there one thing you've always wanted to paint (WoT or not) that you've never been able to do? I have so many ideas… but some are beyond my current Digital skills. They stay on the list though, and I'll eventually do them as I learn what I need to create them. I have an idea for a Galadriel piece I need to get working on soon. 9. What others books do you like beside Wheel of Time? Lord of the Rings was my first love, I was enthralled with the history book Warriors of God by James Reston, Jr., and Devil in the White City, and Song of Ice and Fire. 10. Do you have any tips for new artists? Practice, practice, practice. No fear in art… experiment. Not necessarily the best advice in life, but certainly the best advice in art and design. If art is really what you want to do, don't give up on it even if life throws you roadblocks… unlike a sports career, you can draw until you die. I'm coming back to it at the end of a successful Architecture career. Honestly look at what's unique about your work and enhance it to strengthen your personal style. If you have the cash, I'd absolutely recommend buying a print from Edsel! And someone stop by and say hi to him from me! Let's take a look at some of the other artists showing! Larry Elmore The Artist Guest of Honor this year in the art show is Larry Elmore! If you haven't heard the name before, you must be pretty new to the fantasy genre! His art is iconic. I was introduced to his art through the Dragonlance books (shown here, Raistilin and Crysania from the Twins trilogy.). He's made art for Dungeons and Dragons amongst others, and his career is spanning 40 years! You can see more of his art at his website. Melissa Gay She works in several mediums; acrylic, oil paint, digital art, pencils, and watercolor. Her art ranges from book covers, to t-shirt illustrations. Her works has been in a roleplaying book for the Dresden Files, among other things. Check her out at her website. Sam Flegal A specialist in oil paintings, Flegal has made art for Warhammer, among other things, and he specializes in epic fantasy and graphic horror. His works have been used both as book covers and game art. View more at his website. Ariel Burgess Our well known and beloved Wheel of Time artist, the maker of the card deck and the calendar for sale through Ta'veren Tees. Burgess is a natural to find at JordanCon! Among other things, you can buy a poster of the image featured above (The Dragon Reborn)! Here's her website. And for those of us unable to go to JordanCon, the print will be available at Ta'veren Tees after the Con! Now this is just a small amount of the artists you'll see at the JordanCon art show! So for those that are going, the art show is absolutely worth your time! So, are you going? Which artist's work are you most looking forward to see? And if you're not, how are you gonna spend your weekend? Until next week, my darlings!
...unless one has a kick ass map! Hello, friends! The Wheel has turned all the way around to Thursday again, which means two things: the weekend is not too far away, and it's time for our Rotating Features blog! This week, all the fandom nerdling rage in fantasy fiction land is of course centered on the return to television of HBO's adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. However, I won't focus on that in this article because not too much happened in in the first episode of Season 4, although it was good, and also because I have written a couple of articles about the series already. What I did want to bring to your collective attentions, however, is a little project which a certain Frodo Baggins would have found useful on his epic quest on foot across Middle Earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings books, had he had a computer and the internet to use it with, of course... I digress. There is a website, or a project, rather, which all Lord of the Rings fans should be aware of--simply and aptly named LotrProject. It is a compilation of resources and researches based on Tolkien's masterpiece of fantasy fiction, currently including genealogies, statistics, timelines, and references. But a particularly cool feature is this interactive map of Middle Earth! It shows you, for example, the route taken by the Company of Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit, and you can select a whole host of locations in Middle Earth to get all the pertinent information about that area or city. It's quite fun to have a look at. The Project is still being worked upon, expanded and updated, I believe, but as well as the fun map there is definitely plenty to check out and have a look at, especially if you are an ardent Tolkien fan. Take a look! That's all for now! Have fun! Until next time, friends!
Greetings all! I'm Minnie and I'm your new Humor Blogger! I haven't had much of a Dragonmount presence up until now other than a passive one (reading posts, blogs, etc.), but I am active on Tumblr, from where many of you might know me. On Tumblr I am also known as minnielikes and I run the blog asthewheelturns. My way of interacting with the Wheel of Time community has been primarily to make silly graphic art or doodles which you can find at my deviantart account minniearts (some of my better known ones are the advertisements for Sea Folk Porcelain and Two Rivers Tabac). Now that introductions are out of the way, on with the show! I want to share with you some "Alternate Universe" posts, and I think this might turn into a monthly feature because there are so many great ones. Alternate Universes, or "AU" as they are more commonly referred to, is the idea of placing a character from one world into another world, or placing them in another version of the same universe--think the flicker-flicker-flicker chapter from The Great Hunt. A popular AU that I've seen in the Wheel of Time community is the "modern" AU: if the characters lived in our current world, what would they do? Here are a few: provided by knifeeared and failemyfalcon Wish I could give credit to whoever this was! Or another in which Moiraine and Siuan use Snapchat to catch up, also by failemyfalcon. For anyone unfamiliar: Snapchat is an app you can use to send pictures or video to people which then automatically delete themselves after a few seconds. Great for sending top-secret information...like news of the Dragon Reborn perhaps? Or just, you know: Siuan to Moiraine. *Insert fish metaphor here* Moiraine to Siuan, looking terrified of some Darkhounds. You can see more of these Snapchats at karaburrito.tumblr.com, where there are even more Wheel of Time sketches to enjoy (fair warning, one of them contains nudity). Although today the funnies come from Tumblr, I will also feature things I find from other sources in the future. I've been known to lurk around the Wheel of Time subreddit from time to time. By all means, if you have created something or found something funny that you'd like to share, please send it to me and I will most likely feature it. I hope you've all enjoyed my first post! I'm looking forward to getting to know the community here on Dragonmount.
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