DRAGONMOUNT

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!   Are you a huge, mega, massive Wheel of Time fan? Oh, yeah?! What do you have to prove it?   In case you're wondering what I'm referring to, it's Wheel of Time merchandise! The internet is full of various Wheel of Time related things for purchase. A little while ago you may remember we discussed where you could procure a heron-marked sword, should you so desire (and if you don't desire, why on earth not?!)   There is so much more available though. One leading Wheel of Time merchandise website I wanted to bring to your attention is Ta'veren Tees.   As you would expect, they sell Wheel of Time T-shirts, such as one with the Golden Crane of Malkier below, which is the one that caught my eye.     But they also do a lot more. From posters to maps, coins to ornaments, calendars to playing cards, they have a wide range of themed merchandise from our favorite series. The artwork looks pretty good on the clothing range. A colleague of mine at the White Tower Social Group here on Dragonmount has a few of their T-Shirts and she really looks spiffy in them. If you have any of their other products, drop us a line below in the comments to let us know what you have and what you think of it!   Me? Well, the spare money I have for such things is still going into my piggy bank to be able to afford that heron-marked sword which I know is coming to me!   That's all for now! Have fun!   Until next time, friends!

Welcome back to another edition of "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog.  We are going to continue our reread of The Eye of the World, only chapter 9 this time, but there's a lot to talk about.    Before we start, I do want to say that there will still be SPOILERS!  With the ending in sight, much of what I point out could allude to things that happen in A Memory of Light, so keep that in mind as you read.  Don't continue if you don't want to be spoiled.   Synopsis Chapter 9, "Tellings of the Wheel"   In a dream, Rand is running through a desolate landscape, unseen pursuers behind him.  He scrambles to the top of a cliff with a long drop below him and no other place to go.  In the valley below the cliff is a single mountain reaching far into the sky.  He doesn't know the mountain, but he remembers it.   Unseen things begin to pull on his body, drawing him towards the mountain.  A familiar voice tells him he must serve.  Rand struggles to resist the pull of voice and fingers and uses his stubbornness and anger as the source.  He curses Shai'tan and suddenly sees a figure hovering over him, a figure in a blood red cloak and a face that is horrible, but not described.  Terrified, Rand throws himself off the edge of the cliff.   He lands in some grass with a different mountain looming over him.  Beside it, there are a river, an island, and a city out of a gleeman's tale.  Rand knows that safety waits in that city, but as hard as he runs, he cannot reach it.  The city gets smaller and smaller and the things chasing him get closer and closer.  He screams, and trips.   He is on paving stones within the city.  Around him are happy faces, people urging him forward, toward the tall tower in the middle of the city.  Rand wants to see a bit more of the city before going to the tower, so he turns down a side road, and sees the tower before him.  He turns down anther road, and the tower is still there.  He tires to run from it, but the people around him gesture him forward.  They need him to go.  He obliges.  He walks to the tower and the crowd sings and dances around him, giving him garlands around his neck.  He dances with them.  He gets to the square outside the tower and the crowd stops.  He continues on alone.  He enters the tower and a Myrddraal waits inside for him.   Rand wakes up at the inn.  Mistress al'Vere has left him some food, so he eats it quickly, then stands beside his sleeping father.  As he touches Tam's forehead, Tam opens his eyes.  Rand tells Tam everything Moiraine had said about the Dark One being after him, Mat, and Perrin.  Tam reluctantly agrees that Rand needs to leave.    Lan arrives and says there is trouble.  Rand starts to take off the sword, but Tam tells him to keep it.  Rand hugs Tam—and unable to ask about the fever dreams—leaves with the Warder.  Mat is waiting outside in the hallway and they all go downstairs together.   In the street in front of the inn, a mob has gathered.  They threaten the inn and the Aes Sedai.  Moiraine raises her wooden staff, which shoots fire out the ends, and tells the villagers about Manetheren.  At the end of her story, the villagers apologize for their behavior and leave.    Lan leads Rand and Mat out to the stableyard and Rand realizes he is actually leaving his home.   My take:   When I read this part the first few times, I felt that the dream sequence was a waste of time.  I wanted to continue with the story—especially the part when Moiraine tells of Manetheren.  Many agree that scene is one of their favorites.  But looking at the dream now, looking at it closely, there is a ton of information we can pick up.   First off, there's a very subtle hint that Lews Therin is present inside Rand.  We typically don't think of Lews Therin emerging until The Fires of Heaven—when small phrases start showing up in Rand's conversation (like calling Moiraine "little sister" (Chapter 2, "Rhuidean")).  But he is clearly here now, if you look close enough.  I'm surprised I've never noticed before.   During the dream sequence, when Rand's looking at Shayol Ghul and the Bore, he thinks:     Just a quick side note on Shayol Ghul.  My understanding of it is that it was created when Mierin and Beidomon drilled into the Bore—we see in the glass-column ter'angreal that the release of the Power from within the Bore brought down the Collam Daan.  So, the land around became barren after it was opened.    Therefore, Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions would have seen Shayol Ghul as it is in Rand's dream.  The source of the memory had to be from Lews Therin!  One strange thing to think about is that Mat and Perrin are seeing these same dreams—after all, Ba'alzamon isn't sure which of them is the Dragon Reborn yet.  To them, would it be just another mountain, since they don't have that "memory" to guide them?   Another thing Rand remembers is the voice calling him.  It says:     Notice that this voice is "familiar" as well.  After this, Rand sees a figure.  He doesn't describe what the figure's face looks like, but we can assume that it's the flame-filled eyes and mouth that Ishamael uses.  It's the form of Ba'alzamon.    Whose voice is it actually?  It isn't really the Dark One—because he speaks in ALL CAPS.  So, this has to be the voice of Ishamael.  His voice would only be familiar to Lews Therin.  And Rand knows that if he listens hard enough, he would remember the voice.  This could be the first time that Lews Therin's personality is trying to dominate Rand's.  What would have happened if Rand had let him, if Rand would  have listened hard enough?  Would he have realized that Ba'alzamon was really Ishamael?  Would Lews Therin and Rand merged sooner?  Would it have cause peace or sown more chaos?   And that makes me wonder about Rand's childhood.  There's many studies that suggest that children are more sensitive to supernatural presences—or more perceptive to things that are unseen.  Would Rand have been more susceptible to Lews Therin's personality as a child?  Would it have made things easier if they had merged back then?  Or would it have erased the good ethics Rand learned from Tam and the Two Rivers?  Did Rand every have an imaginary friend who was actually Lews Therin?   I know these questions sound silly, but reading this one scene made them all likely possibilities.   When Rand dreams of Tar Valon, I wonder about the purpose of it.  Was Ishamael trying to scare him away from the Tower by showing a Myrddraal inside?  Rand actually does take a lot of the things Ba'alzamon says as being true—mostly about Aes Sedai and the Tower.  This could be the beginning of that seed of doubt.   Also, when he's going towards the Tower, he thinks as he dances with the crowd that, "his feet were lighter than they had ever been, dancing with... He could not remember the name, but it did not seem important."  I wonder who he was thinking about dancing with.  Could it have been Egwene, or maybe Ilyena?   There's one last thing about these dreams.  We didn't really find out about dreamshards until A Memory of Light (prologue), but it seems to me that all this time Ishamael has been using them when he pulls Rand, Mat, and Perrin into his Dreams.  In my opinion, this is confirmed when Rand realizes he's in a dreamshard, and it leads him to Ishamael (Chapter 4, "Advantages of a Bond")—the same way he was usually called into Dreams of Ishamael's making during The Eye of the World through The Dragon Reborn.   Moving on past the dreams, and I know I've brought this up before, but I'm still completely flabbergasted that Tam didn't even suspect the Rand might be the Dragon Reborn.  Tam says, "What would Trollocs want with you boys? Or the Dark One, the Light help us?"  I know, and I think Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson have both commented on, how no one really believes they are a part of prophecy, but when Tam finds out Shadowspawn are after his adopted son, why wouldn’t he think back to where he found Rand?  That should have stirred some memory.  He should have some idea, even if it's only a gut feeling.  The Dark One wouldn't be hunting people just for the hell of it.   I still tear up when I read Moiraine's account of Manetheren.  Wheel of Time—one of its major themes, at least—is about bravery in the face of defeat.  We see this continually with many of the characters, and nations.  The Borderlanders, the Aiel (past and present), the people of Manetheren.  All show unspeakable bravery when called upon.  And I love that this tale is our first taste of what the people of the Two Rivers are capable of.   But Moiraine's speech has more purpose than just inspiring us—the readers—and captivating the Two Rivers' folk.  This hidden piece of their history prepared the Two Rivers to pick up their bows, pitchforks, and axes—this made them ready to follow Perrin.  If they never learned about how ordinary shepherds and farmers fought for Manetheren, they never would have found that inner vein of bravery and courage.  They would have assumed the troubles of the world would pass them by.  But Moiraine rekindled that part of the Old Blood within them.  In just a few pages, she turned them into warriors.   And one last bit about Manetheren.  When Moiraine is speaking of the hoard of Trollocs and Dreadlords, she says:     Besides the prologue, "Dragonmount," this is the first evidence we see of Ishamael not being completely sealed within the Bore.  He brags later that he caused all sorts of chaos along history's timeline—making Hawkwing hate Aes Sedai, forming the Black Ajah, etc.—but here is proof.  Notice Moiraine's use of the word "some evil."  There had to be more than just Dreadlords there.  In fact, Ishamael would be necessary to recruit Dreadlords.  With only shadowspawn working for him, how could the Dark One let channelers know he was looking for help?  People would need to be convinced or coerced.  And that would most likely require Ishamael.   I'm really hoping the Encyclopedia will give us more information on the nature of Ishamael's half-caught abilities.  It's hard to sum up all he was capable of.   But that's all I've got for today.  It's incredible how much you can squeeze out of one chapter.  Join us next time for more of The Eye of the World.  Thanks for reading!

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!   Just a quick one this week folks, as I haven't had much time to write. I wanted to briefly draw your attention to something which might just slate your thirst for that bit more Wheel of Time goodness, if--like me!--you were not aware of its existence, and perhaps have finished the series and are looking for something else to fill your fan needs!   I came across it recently and found it fascinating. To cut to the chase, it's a little background story, written by Robert Jordan himself, which better explains the attack on Shayol Ghul and the sealing of the Bore by the Hundred Companions. If you're a hard core Wheel of Time fan, you probably know of it already! And shame on me for only just having found out about it. If you haven't heard of it before, though, then I'm doing the world a service by spreading the word about this extra bit of Robert Jordan goodness.   You can read it on Dragonmount itself by clicking on this link.   Below is the excerpted forward Jordan wrote for this little background story. It's such a shame his ideas for future tidbits of extra information will never fully come to fruition.     I hope you enjoy reading it! Let me know if there is any other parts of the series I have somehow managed to live my life without up until now!   That's all for now! Have fun!   Until next time, friends!

Welcome to another Edition of Dragonmount’s Fantasy Review. This review will contain slight spoilers.   Night’s Rose By Annaliese Evans   Synopsis: Rosemarie Edenberg, who is known by the name Briar Rose, hunts down the ogre tribes who hunt the humans of the earth. Like Sleeping Beauty, she slept for (almost) a hundred years. She did not wake up to a kiss from a perfect prince, however, but to something much darker.   From that moment, she worked to eliminate the ogres. She has two men who hunt with her: Ambrose, her fey advisor, and Gareth, a vampire. The story is more mature than what I’d expected to find: the romance starts within the first chapter.   Hot Button Issue/Spoiler: In her past, Rose was raped, and one of her two men involved in her love triangle ‘let it happen.’ It made the romance between the two a little more sordid, a little less appreciable.  This issue right here made it harder for me to complete the book.   Pros: The story does is an interesting mix of history and Sleeping Beauty, a fairy tale with romance. The relationships are complex, and the adaptation of the fairytale are intriguing. Rose herself is a strong woman, and I think she was a fascinating character.   Cons: The book was really hard to get into. While I ordinarily enjoy historical fictions, and I love the story of Sleeping Beauty, it was very hard for me to get started with reading the book. Perhaps it is because of the inclusion of vampires in the tale. I have recently read far too many vampire stories in recent years. Or, it could be that the tale hit into the steamy romance almost from the beginning.   My Rating: 2/5 Mostly because of the hot button issue.   If this book seems to spark your interest, you can purchase it through Dragonmount’s eBook store.

Below you will find a short interview of the immensely powerful, the personification of organized chaos, the Dark One himself by the esteemed John Lipton..       (Source)

The Wheel Turns, and November has passed. I trust we all had an excellent Thanksgiving! The Holiday season is upon us, and the year is drawing to a close. That can only mean one thing: time for another Weekly Roundup!   Have you seen Catching Fire yet? Do you like Jennifer Lawrence? Visit the Movies and Games Discussion and talk about it!   Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? If so, did you reach the 50,000 word goal? If so, the ACW Tuathan’an have a NaNoWriMo Brag thread!   Are you anticipating Christmas? If so, the Band of the Red Hand has an amazing Advent Calendar, sponsored by the Band’s own BFG and tonnalea!   Finally, an update from the Dragonmount Twitter feed:     Remember, you can get daily updates on Dragonmount and Wheel of Time related news by subscribing to Dragonmount’s Twitter and Facebook pages!   And a final note, as it is now December: don’t forget to go sign in at your social groups and have a fantastic Holiday season!

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!   We're almost halfway there! Where you ask? To the next season of the hit television series A Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice And Fire books by George R. R. Martin. It airs once per year, for ten weeks only, and then it seems like such a long wait till the next season! But it should be back beginning of April 2014 so we're getting closer.   If you know anything about the books or the series, you will know that it is one of the most brutal stories you will come across. It seems no character is safe from serious injury or some form of untimely demise. This reputation caused one fan to create the following image:     That, is the series of books so far and each of those colored pieces of paper represent the point of death of a named character within the series. It's quite a body-count. All in all, if you get the chance to fulfill your dream of living within a fictional world, Martin's may not be your wisest choice.   I wonder how that body-count stacks up against other works of fiction, or our own dearly beloved Wheel of Time series. In the comments below, see who you can name who died--permanently!--within the series. (Beware of spoilers in that list if you haven't yet completed the books) and let's see how many we can collectively come up with.   As a bonus feature after such a morbid topic, here is a selection of Game of Thrones heroines as art nouveau paintings.   That's all for now! Have fun!   Until next time, friends!

Ever wanted to know how much planning and discussions go on during meetings between the members of the Black Ajah? Just read below.     (Source)

Welcome back to another edition of "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog.  We are going to continue our reread of The Eye of the World, chapters 7-8.    Before we start, I do want to say that there will still be SPOILERS!  With the ending in sight, much of what I point out could allude to things that happen in A Memory of Light, so keep that in mind as you read.  Don't continue if you don't want to be spoiled.   Synopsis Chapter 7, "Out of the Woods"   As dawn approaches, Rand is happy to smell the chimney smoke from Emond's Field.  However, there's too much smoke on the air.  As he exits the woods, he sees that half the town is in ruins.  Villagers are poking through the charred rubble and Master al'Vere's horses are pulling Trolloc corpses down the road.     Haral Luhhan, the blacksmith, shows up and leads Rand to where Nynaeve is.  They run into Egwene, who quickly goes to get the Wisdom.    Rand notices that Mat's house has burned down and inquires if his friend is all right.  Master Luhhan says Mat is fine.   He also mentions that the Trollocs raided his house as if he had "gold and jewels in there."  When Rand wonders what they'd do if the Trollocs come back, Master Luhhan replies that the Two Rivers folk will survive.  Rand realizes that the villagers are moving with purpose; they're already starting to rebuild.   Nynaeve comes out and says there is nothing she can do for Tam.  Rand tries to convince her, but she refuses.  Rand decides to take Tam to the Mayor.   At the inn, Thom helps Rand carry Tam inside.  The Mayor gets him settled in a bed and sends Thom off to get Nynaeve.  Rand tells Bran that Nynaeve won't help, but he thought the Mayor could make her.  Thom returns and says Nynaeve will not come.   In desperation, Rand asks what he can do.  He can't just watch his father die.  Thom mentions that the Dragon's Fang has been scrawled on the inn's door, which prompts the Mayor to remember that Moiraine is an Aes Sedai, and Aes Sedai can Heal.   Rand runs to find Moiraine and asks her to Heal Tam, saying he will pay any price.  Moiraine agrees and returns to the inn with Rand.    Chapter 8, "A Place of Safety"   In Tam's room, Moiraine tells them all to leave, but Rand asks to stay.  Moiraine allows it.  Lan asks Rand about the heron-marked sword while Moiraine begins to work on Tam.  Rand confesses that he saw a man in the woods the day before, a man who wore all black and the wind didn't touch his cloak.  Lan berates Rand, saying he should have told them.  Moiraine chimes in that knowing wouldn't have given them much of an advantage.   Rand asks if his father is okay.  Moiraine tells him the blade the Trolloc used was tainted by the forges of Thakan'dar, and the taint is inside Tam's body.  She pulls out an angreal to Heal him properly.    Lan tells Rand that the dark rider was a Myrddraal.  Rand then confesses that he spoke to a Trolloc at his home.  He explains to Lan everything that happened the night before, and Lan tells him that few men south of the Borderlands have killed—or even seen—a Trolloc.     Moiraine completes her Healing and Rand is so happy he repeats his early promise of paying any price. She then tells Rand that he must leave with them.  She explains that his house, Mat's house, the blacksmith's house, and the Aybara farm were the first places to be attacked.  This means that the Dark One was after Rand, Mat, and Perrin ("In one of you or all three, there is something the Dark One fears").  Rand doesn't believe her right away, but understands that to refuse her offer would be putting his village in jeopardy.  He also feels a bit relieved that Perrin and Mat must leave too.  Moiraine and Lan leave to find the other two boys.   The Mayor and his wife come back into the room.  Circumspectly, Rand asks the Mayor about which houses were struck first.  Bran confirms that the Forge and the Cauthon's house went up in flames before anything else.  Since she didn't lie about that, Rand thinks she didn't lie about the rest.   Rand tries to stay awake in Tam's room, to be there when his father wakes up, but he falls asleep.   My take:   Chapter 8, in literary terms, is referred to as the "call to action."  In it, Rand willingly agrees to start out on this journey.  He could have said no, and stayed (or could he?), so this is where the real journey starts.  From here on out, the plotlines thicken and expand.  I love reading these parts.  It's so easy to get captivated by the thrill of the beginning.   A few things to point out about these two chapters.  Some just idle thought, others really interesting ideas.  First, the idle:   Why would the Trollocs bother burning Fain's wagon?  He's the one who led them there—we find out later—so why go through the effort of burning all his things?  At this point, Fain is still the Dark One's "hound," but wouldn't it have been easier on him—and the Shadowspawn—to still have his wagon?  They had to carry him most of the way, so why not let him have some of his supplies to help make the trip faster?     I could maybe see that they wouldn't want to leave any clues for the Two Rivers folk, but that doesn't seem like something a Trolloc, or a Myrddraal, would even think about.  Why would they care if the Two Rivers though Fain was a Darkfriend—not that anyone would have made that connection, I'm sure.  Maybe it was just the battle frenzy that overwhelmed the Trollocs?  Either way, it seems unnecessary.    And what of Thom and his hinting about Healing from an Aes Sedai?  I understand his point about being a stranger, but it seems sad that he wouldn't even offer the advice to save Rand's father.  The Mayor got there eventually, but it could have been the difference between life and death for Tam.   I think this is one of the many miraculous ways Robert Jordan worked in foreshadowing.  We see Thom being very manipulative in this scene.  Rand isn't able to see it, but we sure can.  And later, we learn that Thom is a master of daes dae'mar, used to making people dance to his tunes.  How awesome it is to go back to these early chapters and see that Thom is Thom, even then.  The Thom we know later would have done the same thing.  His character is established from the start, and he remains true to it all throughout the series.   And just a little bit of clarification on the whole ta'veren thing.  Robert Jordan said this in an interview:   Last time, I did argue that Rand was ta'veren from birth, but it seems Robert Jordan said otherwise.  He also states that Rand only became ta'veren shortly before Moiraine arrived.  That means, a few days, a week, before Bel Tine.  That would explain Rand's luck with the Trolloc, and his easy evasion of the Fade on the road.   However, I still think there's more to it than that.  Rand's whole life has been strewn with coincidences that led him to where he is—where he is needed.  If ta'veren-ness ebbs and flows, perhaps Rand was ta'veren earlier, and then it went away.  It took some mighty big yanks for the Pattern to get Tam up on that mountain right as Rand's mother died.   Oh, and more proof that Rand is ta'veren in these chapters is that Moiraine mentions dreams.  She means the dreams that aren't dreams—which will be coming up in the next chapter.  And we know that Ishamael is responsible for these dreams.  We also know—much later in the series—that Ishamael is able to find ta'veren and that's the only reason he was able to start the dreams so soon after escaping the Bore.  Since Rand has these dreams, he has to be ta'veren.  Otherwise, Ishamael wouldn’t have been able to contact him, Mat, or Perrin.   Another curious thing here is Rand's insistence to pay a price for Tam's Healing.  I'm thinking and thinking, and I can't find a single time when Moiraine uses this to her advantage.  When Rand starts misbehaving, why doesn't she remind him that he owes her a debt?  A debt he can "never repay"?  It seems to me this would have been the best way to manipulate him.  He would have honored his word to her—especially since he really is eternally grateful that his father was saved—so why didn't she use it?  That seems like an un-Aes Sedai thing to do.   As I mentioned last time, Rand's first channeling is coming up later this night.  So, it's understandable that he might already be feeling the effects of saidin—one of which might be the ability to sense Shadowspawn.  But in chapter 8, Rand shivers and rubs his arms when Moiraine channels.  Again, this is a subtle clue left by Robert Jordan, to hint at something we don't really discover until The Dragon Reborn.     Here's something I've never really picked up on before.  When Moiraine tells Rand he has to leave and Rand says he doesn't want to, Moiraine looks at Lan, and the Warder "said suddenly" statistics of whose houses were attacked first.  We learn that Aes Sedai cannot lie, but Warders can no problem.  One of the reasons they keep the Warders around, I'm sure, is to have someone who can lie at any moment.  And the obvious shift—with Moiraine's look and Lan's sudden speech—definitely points out that something suspicious is going on.     While reading through this, I can't see an outright lie.  But perhaps there's one buried deep in that statement.     When Rand finally decides he will go, Lan sighs in relief.  That sentence makes me wonder about what would have happened if Rand had refused.  Would the idea of price be brought up then?  Or would Moiraine be desperate enough to use Compulsion—or something similar if she doesn't knows the weave?  Would Lan knock him out and carry him over his shoulder?  How much would change if Rand hadn't willingly made the first step outside of the Two Rivers?  I think the story would have ended quite different if that had happened.   Well, that's all for this week.  Not too many answers, and just a bunch more questions.  Please join me next time for the next few chapters of The Eye of the World.  Thanks for reading!

Just in time for the Holidays, Ta'veren Tees is releasing a bunch of new items!