DRAGONMOUNT

It's almost time for JordanCon! I can barely contain my excitement. Since I will be at the convention, you won't be seeing a roundup from me next week. If any of you are going, don't be shy about saying hi when you see me.   For those of you who weren't aware yet, we have fantastic news to report: Moiraine has won Suvudu's 2012 Cage Match! She had a formidable opponent in Kylar Stern, but the votes of her loyal fans helped secure her victory. You can see the write-up and fight results here.   Speaking of characters we love, if you can't stop talking about Mat, we have just the thread for you in our Structured Wheel of Time Discussion forum. This forum is one that has rules for posting, so be sure to read them first.   The Aiel Social Group's current monthly discussion theme is cover art. What is some of your favorite cover art? Do you think that the cover art greatly influences whether you buy a book?   The Black Tower Social Group has created an impressive new scavenger hunt called The Search for the Holy Angreal. The game hasn't started yet, so head to the thread I linked if you want to sign up. It looks like it will be lots of fun.   April in the Kin Social Group is all about spring! They have contests, exchanges, discussions, and games for you to enjoy. Use this thread as a guide to the month's festivities.   Wait a second...it looks like the Highest of the Red Ajah and an Asha'man are going on a date! Is this madness? No, it's our role players with another unexpected story called Meh...It's Not REALLY a Date. Check it out to see what unfolds.   See you at JordanCon!

With 2,641 named characters, 13 volumes, 11,308 pages, 44 million copies sold worldwide, and audiobooks that would take 17 days, 11 hours, and 30 minutes to listen to back-to-back from beginning to end (and counting!) [source], the Wheel of Time sets a standard for immersive high fantasy that's hard to beat. In honor of Robert Jordan's prodigious mind and prolific pen, this week's theme is quality in quantity.       1. Wheel of Time Sketch Cards by Adam Masterman (Mahasiddha):   I love this artist's sharp, clean style. I also think the juxtaposition of the first two cards is pretty funny (It's pre-Towers of Midnight "Crazy Rand" and post-Towers of Midnight "Enlightened Rand!").       2. Wheel of Time Character Design 2 by Chase Conley (saintchase):   Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to Dabel Brothers Productions' comic book rendition of The Eye of the World in 2009. Chase Conley is one of the amazing artists behind these comics. Here's a sketch dump he did in preparation for his seven-issue run. I recommend checking out the original post to see the characters full-size.       3. Wheel of Time by Niklas Tarpila (Nether83):   This ambitious work was done for fun by a Finnish graphic artist. The characters aren't exactly how I picture them, but I really admire his coloring skill. I can't imagine how long it took to make this.       4. Teeny-Tiny WoT People by Forbis:   Forbis is one of my all-time favorite Wheel of Time fan artists. Her depictions of the Two Rivers folk early on in the series strike a nostalgic cord with me, both because they were just so darn young and innocent back then and because Forbis hasn't been active in the Wheel of Time art community for years.   Here's a sketch dump she did of Rand (the first three rows) and the Aiel (most of the last two rows). Again, you might want to follow the link to see this full-size--and check out the rest of her gallery while you're at it!

Ah! It's that time of the year again, when we can all eagerly anticipate the interesting happenings awaiting us at this year's JordanCon. For those of you who do not know what JordanCon is, let me give you a quick introduction. JordanCon is a yearly convention held in Atlanta, GA. It is a fantasy literature convention run in honor of the late Robert Jordan.   As I mentioned before, there's a lot of fun things happening this year. Rather than list all of them for you, I'll make a short list of the events I'd enjoy attending. On Friday night, they're going to be holding their annual Seanchan Texas Hold'Em Poker Tournament. You pay a $20 entry fee and a $10 buy in. Not only do you get to gamble like the Prince of Ravens, but you also get to participate in donating money to a worthy cause. On Saturday, not only are there fun looking art workshops to participate in during the day, but there are two events I'd definitely participate in later. One of those events is the costume contest. Who could resist taking part in that? You could dress up as an Aiel with spears or an Aes Sedai with her Warder...there's so many possibilities! The other event is "Dance the Spears". Wait, what? More Aiel?! Actually, no, this event is not warlike, unless you consider an auction to be so. It is the annual silent auction held by JordanCon for the benefit of the Mayo Clinic, just like the funds of the Poker Tournament, which also go into the clinic's coffers. Various generous people donate things to be auctioned off; in the past, we've seen Jordan's cane or special Wheel of Time notes under the auctioneer's hammer. Last, but not least, I'd end my JordanCon experience by hanging out in the workshops (again), learning all about costuming in fantasy.   Of course, for those of you who are more into discussing theories and possibilities in fantasy, or even those who would rather have a nice Kaffeeklatsch, there's plenty of oportunities to do that too! Have a look at the Program Panel and prepare yourself for a fantastic weekend!

Ta'veren Tees would like your help deciding on a new shirt design! They have a survey up in which you can vote for one of three potential Aes Sedai shirt designs. The survey also includes questions that will give them feedback on how they are doing and how they can improve in the future. If you take the survey, you will get a coupon for 20% off a purchase. If you haven't done it now, make sure you get that survey filled out by April 14th.

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?