DRAGONMOUNT

The organizers of JordanCon, the annual convention for fans of the Wheel of Time and other fantasy literature, released the following announcement today:       For more JordanCon discussion, check out our forums.

Welcome back, everyone! With Moiraine in the Suvudu finals and JordanCon on the horizon, the fandom has a lot to be excited about.   The General Wheel of Time Discussion forum has a creative twist on a tired topic. Instead of waxing philosophical about why they hate their least favorite characters, posters are challenged to say something nice about a character they dislike. Even if you're skeptical, try it!   The results are in, and we've already begun announcing some of the Empy Award winners. Watch this space to discover the winners, congratulate them, and read the comedic stylings of some of the award presenters.   It's time for the April Challenge in the Artists, Crafters, and Writers Guild. This month's theme is Foolishness. If you think you can create something that represents this theme, do share it with them!   The Aiel Social Group has unveiled their new Oosquai Drinking Game. The game tests your knowledge of countries and cultures. Can you hold your oosquai?   The Empy Awards aren't the only awards being handed out this week. The Shayol Ghul Social Group is in the middle of honoring its members with the Ghoulie Awards! Watch this space to see who takes home the prizes.   For those of you who haven't had much luck in our audiobook giveaways so far, you now have a chance to increase your probability of winning one! One of the other main Wheel of Time sites, TarValon.Net, is giving away audiobooks alongside their countdown reread of the series. Go here for more information.

You may remember that we recently reported on the Suvudu Cage Matches. I am thrilled to announce that the finals are upon us, and that Wheel of Time fan favorite Moiraine Damodred is one of the two characters who will be duking it out this week. Her opponent is Kylar Stern from The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. Kylar most recently beat Granny Weatherwax from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Moiraine most recently defeated Anomander Rake from Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series.   The final battle starts tomorrow (Monday, April 9th) at 10:00 a.m. EST. Go here to vote in the fight. Be sure to get out there and vote!

As a fan artist, there's nothing more daunting than trying to capture the emotional intensity and technical complexity of an action scene. For my first week as the new "Fan Art Friday" blogger (hello, everybody!), I thought I'd hit the ground running by featuring some of the most action-packed artwork in the Wheel of Time fanverse.     Without further ado, here are five of my favorites.       1. Wheel of Time color composition by Thadeoradicarlous:   This color study perfectly captures the intensity of the scene in The Great Hunt (Chapter 19) in which Rand sneaks into the Trolloc camp and (a bit too calmly) walks out with the Horn of Valere (As Loial says, "If you must go mad, could it at least wait until we are back with the Lady Selene and Hurin?").   I love the bold, quick style and contrasting colors of this work.       2. Perrin and Gaul by liruichen:   This artist is great at capturing action scenes from the Wheel of Time (including one of Rand filching the Horn from the Trollocs). Here's one of Perrin freeing Gaul in Remen (The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 34).   I particularly like the guy flying in sideways from the right.       3. Mat vs. Couladin by Hamdiggy:   Poor Mat just wants a kiss and cuddle. Instead, he gets dragged into a fight to the death with a False Dragon, and an Aiel clan chief to boot (The Fires of Heaven, Chapter 45). Just once, he wishes the Wheel would weave as he willed.   I'm a big fan of Hamdiggy's comic book style. The perspective on Couladin was executed perfectly here.     4. Egwene al'Vere by Joe O'Hara:   Joe will be an Attending Artist at JordanCon this year. He's also one of the hosts of Twotcast, a Wheel of Time re-read podcast. Here's his painting of Egwene taking on the Seanchan with the help of Vora's sa'angreal during the raid on the White Tower (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 40). In an age of digital painting, beautifully executed watercolors like this one really stand out.     5. Channeling by melh2o:   Moiraine Damodred, back from the dead and ready to take on a Forsaken. Or five. I just love the intensity of her pose and the way the composition is balanced.   That's all for this week! Tune in over the next couple weeks for some of my favorite (conventional and not-so-conventional!) group portraits.

Although it is not a recently released novel, this is one I personally overlooked many times before I bought it, simply because it was in the teen fantasy section in my bookstore. But, once I did buy Sabriel by Garth Nix, I enjoyed it thoroughly.   If I were to summarize this book and the others of the trilogy in one sentence, I could go with this: It is about a fledgling necromancer saving the world. At this point, I had to take a moment to digest this information. You know, because of the common misconception that necromancers are generally evil with all that raising of the dead.   Sabriel is the daughter of the Abhorsen, a necromancer who guards the Old Kingdom from any dead wishing to rise beyond their bounds. She has not grown up within the Old Kingdom, though, and is sent to boarding school in Ancelstierre, where we have all kinds of modern things like etiquette, electricity, and cars. In most fantasy novels where the Real World and magic meet, we have the one generally being unaware of the latter. Ancelstierre is more than aware of the Free magic on the loose beyond its borders while they are teaching Charter magic to the girls in the school and having specially trained border postings that are not only armed with guns, but swords and chainmail too.   After the disappearance of her father, Sabriel has to cross the wall and attempt to find him, for she believes he is in trouble. She walks in his footsteps as the Abhorsen and uses his sword and eight bells to practice magic and wade the waters of death. A cat by the name of Moggy becomes one of her companions, along with a Charter Mage named Touchstone. The speaking cat seems a bit boring, but fitting for simple teen fantasy. Nix manages to create a less boring side to it later in the story, though, and the overall ending to the book was quite a surprise to me.   Overall, this book is an easy and enjoyable read. Sabriel creates an interesting balance between reality and a magical world, with them bordering each other and tourists even visiting the border of the two. It is a great world of free magic that is really simple, yet seems very natural. Finally, all the characters are easy to understand, and readers can imagine themselves in their positions and emotional states quite easily.

It's time for more wallpaper! Remember, during the weeks between Brandon Sanderson's "musings" on each Wheel of Time book, Tor.com will post eBook art wallpaper for each of the books. Sanderson didn't get a chance to do his musing last week, but the wallpapers are still coming out on schedule.   This week, the featured eBook wallpaper is for The Fires of Heaven. The artwork is by Dan Dos Santos. Here is the image:         Go here to download different sizes of the wallpaper and to read more about how this art was created. How do you like the art this week?

It's the first Wednesday in April, so it's time for another audiobook giveaway! Here are the rules again for those who aren't familiar with our giveaways:       This month, we will be giving away a copy of The Great Hunt. Click here for a clip from the audiobook.   This month's question is: What is your favorite scene from The Wheel of Time? You have until Wednesday, April 11th to answer in the comments section. Good luck!

Good tidings, my talented guests of Dragonmount! Welcome back to "It Works in Theory", Dragonmount's intermittent Wheel of Time-themed theory blog. I'm sure I could come up with some playful banter to waste some time before the disclaimer, but since I'm guessing many of you might have been anxious for another dosage of "It Works in Theory", I'll go ahead and skip the theatrics in favor of getting to the proceedings (somewhat) quickly.   WARNING!!! Spoiler Alert!!! WARNING!!!   This blog is based on theories that will include facts and material from the latest books in the series, so if you have not read through Towers of Midnight, continue reading at your own risk! "It Works in Theory" is best enjoyed from multiple psychological perspectives within each individual. Dilution of the signal by perceiving it through only one personality or that of a relatively sane individual will only serve to diminish the strength and clarity of the signal, resulting in confusion and lack of comprehension. "It Works in Theory" assumes no responsibility for those rare cases in which the consumer actually claims that of competent and clear mental faculties.   We shall belatedly continue the "Darkfriend Appreciation (Month)" this week by examining a very peculiar character indeed, Mazrim Taim. He has long been a figure of much speculation and pondering, and he also seems to have a fairly strong role yet to play in the last book. Ever since he was first introduced into the storyline, multiple questions have constantly revolved around him. His blend of offhand casual insanity and calm calculation makes him an interesting character to theorize about because the reader always gets a sense he is plotting something rather elaborate. He also carries a good bit of power with his office, controlling a growing force of Shadow-controlled Dreadlords who will surely be very deadly in the Last Battle. Before we continue on the many ideas and questions regarding Taim, there is first one issue that we might as well go ahead and cover right out of the gate.   Taim is not Demandred. Many seem to have independently arrived at this conclusion after reading the series, and even after rereading and researching key parts. Indeed, this issue seems to have gotten almost as much attention over the years as the famous "Asmodean's Murder Mystery" spectacle got. There are many clues which seem to suggest this idea may be true, which I will get to a bit later. Nevertheless, we have had several times in which Robert Jordan himself discounted the theory:           I hope there aren't too many people out there who are disheartened by this information; I know it seemed like a perfect fit. After all, Taim is said to be extremely powerful in the One Power. He has been able to channel for far longer than most men and doesn't seem (completely) insane yet. Even his use of phrases and mannerisms seem to suggest that Taim could actually be a Forsaken, and Demandred to boot. Alas, it was not meant to be. We'll cover who Demandred's alter ego might be (or if he has one) in a future blog, but for today we can still discuss the questions concerning Taim's origins.   The easiest part to explain is Taim's ability to channel and not be completely maddened by the Taint. He is obviously a Darkfriend, and more than likely due to the strength of his power has the Dark One's protection from the Taint on saidin. Even with his protection, there are more than enough examples of Taim having little slips of insanity. His power level is somewhat irrelevant, as we've seen several Third Agers who have seemed to sprout out of nowhere with unusually powerful abilities with channeling. Interestingly enough, though, his decorum and phrasing are the most interesting aspects about the "Taimandred" theory.   Mazrim Taim seems to make some odd slips of the tongue throughout the series, and these vocal phrases and utterings have drawn a fair amount of attention from theoryheads on this and other websites. The most famous is probably the "So-called Aiel" line he drops in Lord of Chaos:     Only one other person in the series uses this same way of referring to the Aiel: Moridin.     There are other explanations for this phraseology, of course. Assuming Mazrim Taim was knowledgeable about history and translation of words from the Old Tongue, he would understand the irony in the People of the Dragon referring to themselves as Aiel. Aiel, as you may remember, means dedicated in the Old Tongue; however, the Aiel of today are no longer dedicated to the same set of morals and values that they once were. There are a couple of other important slips, though, that start to make this harder to explain away so easily.   When Taim is first learning more of how much Rand knows about channeling, he sees Rand demonstrate opening a gateway, and Rand describes what he's doing:     Yet later, Taim expresses astonishment at Rand's lack of knowledge of other channeling fundamentals:     Rand never mentioned Traveling, yet Taim obviously sees that the gateway Rand opened was used for none other than Traveling. Once again, this might be able to be explained away on its own, but together with the "So-called Aiel" comment and this last example, it really starts to become a stretch.   The last example comes from the book title of the last few quotes, an utterance that becomes both something of a motto and an order to anyone trying to further the Shadow's goals: "Let the Lord of Chaos rule." The directive is handed down to the Forsaken, and they mention it in passing several times in the span of a couple of books. Yet when the group of Red Ajah Aes Sedai from Elaida approach Taim about bonding some of his Asha'man for Warders, Taim catches both the Aes Sedai representative, Pevara, and the reader alike off-guard when he uses the phrase as well:     The other parts about this theory that interest me are Taim's choice of decor. He definitely seems to favor red and black, which Moridin also seems to favor, and the dais he uses to address the Asha'man, made of a strange black rock, seems like it might perhaps be able to trace its origin to Shayol Ghul. Even more interesting, when Pevara is first being brought into the Black Tower and is describing some of the details she notices, we catch something interesting:     There have been two other circumstances in which we have seen similar markings, and both were in adornment of something a Forsaken owned. The first was Belal's coach in The Dragon Reborn:     Then we see it again in the meeting that Nynaeve and Birgitte spy on in Tel'aran'rhiod:     There's really no easy explanation for this; the symbol is too similar to the ones used by the Forsaken to be mere coincidence. So, if Taim isn't Demandred, could he be another Forsaken? All the other clues would point to it being Moridin if he WAS one of them, but I find this highly unlikely because Taim would have to be present and active in the Black Tower affairs to keep a good eye on things, and Moridin is way too busy with other Nae'blis stuff. In all actuality, Taim is probably just Taim, not some other Forsaken's alter ego or avatar.   That still leaves some unanswered questions, however. Taim definitely seems to exhibit the habits of a channeler from the Age of Legends. I personally would be very excited if this was the case, for I have long thought that this could be the case. Perhaps he was a channeler from that Age but just wasn't infamous enough to earn the reputation that the Forsaken earned. If this was the case, though, there would need to be an explanation for where he had been the past 3,000 years. It's possible that he was Sealed in the Bore with the other Forsaken, perhaps near the surface, and stole out in time to become a false Dragon. This seems kind of unlikely, but other explanations start getting even more flimsy (he was stuck in a stasis box, or he was on another Portal World whose time moved much faster than ours). So, the Age of Legends channeler idea might be nixed.   A much simpler explanation for Taim's odd behavior and sayings would be that he is being controlled and directed by the Forsaken, and that their habits are wearing off on him. This explanation definitely seems to fit best with the whole "Let the Lord of Chaos rule" comment. Some even think Taim might be in the process of being groomed for a "new" Forsaken position, perhaps along with Alviarin (the head of the Black Ajah). This is speculated because of one scene in which a Forsaken meeting seems to have two extra chairs set out. I can see both sides to this debate: with some of the Forsaken balefired out of existence, I could see the Dark One wanting to "fill in the ranks" so as to better prepare the Shadow for the Last Battle, but I could also see the other Forsaken having a serious problem with this. They more than likely think that the less of them there are, the more power they will each get to split with one another, and I don't think they would show any mercy to a "new" Forsaken because of this.   Alright, we're several paragraphs in, have a bunch of quotes from both the series and the author himself, and we've established that Taim is not Demandred, but that he's still kind of odd. Well done so far, if I do say so myself. So the next question is, what shall be his fate in the last book? At this point, I think it's safe to say that his fate is intertwined with that of Logain's; those two have been gearing up for a showdown for quite some time. What will happen, though? At first glance, Taim seems to have a decidedly significant advantage. He has more channelers on his side, the Forsaken and other nasty foes in his corner, and also has had much more time with which to plan whatever it is he's been planning. But we know that Logain is destined for glory, so really the main query would seem to be how Logain ends up taking him down.   I actually LOVE an idea that one of my readers posted in the comments section for my blog on Logain, and in fact, I was fairly envious that I had not thought of it first:     Grifter7 was gracious enough to point out how I had forgotten to include Logain's ability to see ta'veren, and he points out a VERY good example of how this ability could become very significant. Really, I don't have much to add to his thoughts, since it really does seem like a very good possibility at this point. Great job, Grifter. It's good to see my theorizing and general prognostication are rubbing off on some of my readers (just kidding).   Don't worry, I'm not going to just leave it at that. Taim deserves a bit more, and seeing as how he is fairly loony himself, I don't mind borrowing a couple of theories from the "loony bin." Two things have always piqued my interest when discussing Taim. The first has to do with a very nefarious process we learned about early in the series when Egwene was completing her test for Accepted: the 13 x 13 trick. Just as a refresher, if 13 channelers use 13 Myrddraal to focus their channeling, they can initiate a ritual in which any channeler can be turned to the Shadow forcibly, no matter how strong the will of the channeler being converted. That's pretty nasty business. It looks like we already have evidence of it happening at the Black Tower:       One of the funny things is that although I have probably discussed 17 different ways that we could end up seeing Dark Rand 2.0 in the last book, I've never really focused on the 13x13 trick being the way that he is converted, even though it's probably one of the most feasible ways it could happen. More importantly, though, the method can be used on ANY channeler, so we could very well see someone else kidnapped and brought to the tower and be in danger of being turned to the Shadow. We all know the stage is set for a big battle scene in Caemlyn somewhere around the start of A Memory of Light. It's very easy to believe that when Elayne finds out about her city being attacked, she will want to personally Travel back there and try to restore order. Maybe we'll see her, or another major character that can channel, being carted off to the Black Tower in order to be converted to the Shadow. Even if the ritual is stopped before fruition, it would definitely help add a good bit of tension to whatever rescue operation ends up going down.   The second "out there" idea that I've always kind of focused on in my research has to do with something that Taim brought to Rand in their original meeting. He brought Rand one of the Seals to the Dark One's prison, claiming to have been given it by a random farmer on a trek back from Saldaea. Aside from how sketchy Taim's story is for where he got it, we first would have to wonder why a Darkfriend, one as high up as Taim, would be fine handing over a Seal to Rand. We know that several attempts have been made by those controlled by the Shadow to recover the other Seals Rand has in his possession, so it's obvious the Shadow has some small desire to get those back. One obvious motive for Taim could have been to try and earn Rand's trust by giving him such a token, and this actually kind of works to some extent. But this seems like a small reward for giving away one of the keys to Rand defeating the Dark One at Tarmon Gai'don.   Then I read something from one of our discussion threads in the Wheel of Time discussion forums. In this post, one of our intuitive readers suggests that the Seal Taim gave Rand is actually a fake, and that this is part of a semi-elaborate ruse on Taim's part to try and help undermine Rand's attempt to fight the Dark One. Basically, the theory goes that Rand has to "clear away the rubble"--that is, he has to destroy all the Seals on the Dark One's prison so that he can perhaps construct a new prison for the Dark One. However, Rand already knows that with every Seal that he destroys, the Dark One gains that much influence on Randland. And he also believes that to do it right he has to destroy the Seals at Shayol Ghul, which just so happens to be the strongest area of the Dark One's power.   What if Rand gets there, prepared to destroy the Seals and remake the Dark One's prison, only to realize at the last second he has only destroyed six of the seven Seals? Unable to continue his plan, he would suddenly be at the complete mercy of Shai'tan, and would have only a single moment to curse Mazrim Taim's name before being consumed by Darkness. A scramble would ensue, not only to try and keep Dark Rand 2.0 from terrorizing the countryside, but also to find the last Seal pronto so that Rand's plan can be finished. I, for one, find it to be a completely evil idea and a very interesting possibility indeed.   Well, that's all for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading today's blog, and I'll try my best to keep getting these out to you with somewhat more regularity. As always, let me know what you think in the comments section, and be on the lookout for the last "Darkfriend Appreciation Blog", which will focus on a very interesting Darkfriend indeed! Adios!

I hope everyone got through April Fool's Day unscathed! We had our share of pranks for the holiday, such as a pretend new Social Group and an elaborately created fake staff board. Take a look at these links quickly, since they will only be up for a few more days. Now that things have calmed down around here, let's look at what's going on this week.   The term "ageless" is thrown around a lot in The Wheel of Time when Aes Sedai are being described, but does anyone know what agelessness would actually look like? If this question intrigues you, head to the General Wheel of Time Discussion forum and share your thoughts.   The second season of the television show Game of Thrones has begun! Did you watch it last night? If so, what did you think of it? If you want people to discuss it with, we have the perfect thread for you in our TV Show & Sports Discussion forum.   Who knew that the members of the Shayol Ghul Social Group had a hankering for haiku? I certainly didn't, but it seems to be the latest trend over there. I see a few different threads, including this one and this one.   It's time for the Green Ajah's Feast of Fools at the White Tower & Warders Social Group. Check out the link for a full guide to the games, fun, and insanity.   The role play Of Swords and Sons has had several updates since I last reported on it. If you haven't read it yet, be sure to take a look.   If it's been awhile since you've checked our Twitter and Facebook accounts, you may have missed out on some interesting chatter. We'd love to see you there!

Welcome back, dear readers! We've updated and changed some things around the site since the last roundup, including the site skin. What do you think of the new look?   Now that nominations are a thing of the past, it's time to vote in the Empy Awards! Be sure to stop by and contribute with your votes. The more people we have voting, the better the results will reflect the true preferences of our site's members.   Here's an interesting topic I've never encountered before: Who is the most "tortured soul" in sci fi/fantasy? Come to our General Discussion forum and see if you agree with the picks so far. There have been some intriguing characters listed, not all of whom are predictable choices.   The Hunger Games (both the book and movie versions) is on everyone's mind lately, particularly since the movie just came out and seems to be a big hit. Have you seen the movie? If so, how was it? Be sure to stop by the thread I linked above in the Movies & Games Discussion forum for all the hype.   The Aiel Social Group is hosting their first ever Clan Wars! See who wins in this series of games, scavenger hunts, and more!   Have you read the latest entries in "The Gossip Ghul"? That's right, in addition to being evil, the members of the Shayol Ghul Social Group love tabloids. If you still can't imagine what their favorite tabloid is like, just head over and see for yourself!   Our role players have the Green Ajah out of the Tower because of a book. If you're wondering why the Greens would be going on an adventure that sounds more like a Brown Ajah member's idea of a good time, check out the role play And All for a Book.   Have fun with the goodies I posted above, everyone!