DRAGONMOUNT

We have just two weeks left of our cage matches. The fights have been getting more intense, and this week is certainly no exception. Who do you think the winners will be? Make sure to let your voice be heard by voting in the relevant polls.   The denizens of our General Wheel of Time Discussion forum are in a playful mood this week. They want to hear your thoughts on what self-help books written by the Forsaken might look like. I had a ball just reading this thread. Would you actually buy any of the self-help books listed in the thread? I think I'd buy Lanfear's guide to catching and keeping a man.   Some people from our TV Show and Sports Discussion forum have been placing bets on NFL games. The Super Bowl was yesterday, so head to the thread I just linked to discuss it. Did you correctly predict who won?   Purity is this month's theme for the Artists, Crafters, and Writers Guild's monthly challenge. Since this is a common theme in art, I'm hoping that many of you will take this challenge.   The Aiel Social Group will be hosting a Spears and Hearts Week from February 7th through 14th. Love and romance will be in the air, and you can participate in games, poems, and even a dance. Everyone is welcome to come play!   The Kin Social Group has plenty of activities planned to celebrate February, including a Valentine cards exchange. Keep an eye on this thread throughout the month for updates.   What happens when a fine warrior agrees to teach sword fighting to a merchant's clumsy son? Find out in the role play Of Swords and Sons.   Would you like to see goofy pictures of Brandon Sanderson from his recent Taiwan trip? If so, they can be found on this Facebook page.   That's all for this week!

Welcome to Week 4 of our Wheel of Time Cage Matches!   For those of you who are dying to know who the winners were for last week, here they are:   1.) Nynaeve vs. Lanfear (Winner = Nynaeve) 2.) Moridin vs. Logain (Winner = Moridin) 3.) Padan Fain vs. Lan (Winner = Lan) 4.) Mat vs. Birgitte (Winner = Mat)   We are now down to four fighters: two channelers and two non-channelers. Our first match for this week is in the channeler bracket, and our second match is in the non-channeler bracket:   1.) Moridin vs. Nynaeve 2.) Mat vs. Lan   Please head to this forum in order to participate. You will need to register for our forums in order to post and vote. Votes posted in the comments section of the front page or anywhere other than the appointed thread polls will not count! Also, please read this before posting in the other threads. That thread has a lot of information in it, including our tournament schedule.   Who will win? Who will have made it this far only to fail spectacularly? You decide!

Starting today, Tor.com will be posting exciting new tidbits for fans to enjoy on Wednesdays.   The first type of content to which they will be treating us involves none other than Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson will be posting informal "musings" on every Wheel of Time book. You can read his first entry, which is on The Eye of the World, here. The plan is to have Sanderson post one of these every other week, but given his understandably busy schedule, this plan is not set in stone.   During the weeks between the "musings," Tor.com will post eBook art wallpaper for each of the Wheel of Time books. They will feature The Eye of the World next Wednesday.

Tor Books announced today that From the Two Rivers, the first half of the first Wheel of Time novel, is available immediately in eBook edition for $0.99. This price promotion will last until the release of A Memory of Light, sometime later this year. (Read our speculation on the AMOL release date.)   Originally released in this form in 2002, From the Two Rivers is an illustrated edition of The Eye of the World up until Shadar Logoth.   The $0.99 ebook edition is clearly geared towards encouraging new readers, as well as giving old fans a launch point for a re-read. From the Two Rivers contains an additional prologue, written by Robert Jordan, called "Ravens". It focuses on a 9-year-old Egwene and foreshadows much of her future personality.   Buy it Now: Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | iTunes (iPad)

Yes, as I've been wont to do at the start of my roundups lately, I am going to point you towards our Wheel of Time cage matches. This is the biggest event we have had in a long time, so don't miss it!   Egwene is not in our cage matches this year, but that doesn't mean we aren't fond of talking about her. This thread is part of the Structured Wheel of Time Discussion forum, so be sure to read this before posting.   If the Aiel had pets, what would they be? The Aiel Social Group would like to hear your thoughts on this interesting question. I've certainly never thought about this before.   The Black Tower Social Group is hosting a Wheel of Time Trivial Pursuit Game. Sign-ups are in this thread. Even if you do not play, this looks like it will be fun to watch.   The Shayol Ghul Social Group is putting together an elite team of thirteen people to help make their group a better place. Visit the thread I linked above to see how you can apply for the team.   The Green Ajah from our White Tower Role Playing Group is going on a field trip! See what adventures befall them in All the Right Moves.   Finally, as always, keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook accounts for links to more interesting things.

Welcome to Week 3 of our Wheel of Time Cage Matches!   For those of you who are dying to know who the winners were for last week, here they are:   1.) Birgitte vs. Min (Winner = Birgitte) 2.) Lan vs. Thom (Winner = Lan) 3.) Padan Fain vs. Shaidar Haran (Winner = Padan Fain) 4.) Selucia vs. Mat (Winner = Mat)   We are now down to eight fighters: four channelers and four non-channelers. Our first two matches for this week are in the channeler bracket, and our last two are in the non-channeler bracket:   1.) Nynaeve vs. Lanfear 2.) Moridin vs. Logain 3.) Padan Fain vs. Lan 4.) Mat vs. Birgitte   Please head to this forum in order to participate. You will need to register for our forums in order to post and vote. Votes posted in the comments section of the front page or anywhere other than the appointed thread polls will not count! Also, please read this before posting in the other threads. That thread has a lot of information in it, including our tournament schedule.   Who will win? Who will end in glory, and who will end up gory? You decide!

The nominating period for the Hugo Awards, given out annually by the World Science Fiction Society, has begun. To be eligible to nominate, you must be a registered member of either the 2011, 2012, or 2013 WorldCons by January 31. Nominations close on March 11, 2012.   While there is no eligible Wheel of Time book this year, there are still plenty of related works that are eligible for an award. We've taken the liberty of listing a few of these below for your consideration.   Best Related Work: Writing Excuses- Brandon Sanderson hosts this podcast along with several other excellent writers. It's full of great tips for improving your writing and breaking into publishing. Dragonmount.com- As there is no Hugo Award for "Best Fan Website", we've determined this is the most appropriate place to place ourselves for consideration.   Best Fan Writer:   Linda Taglieri runs the excellent 13th Depository blog which features the most detailed analysis of the Wheel of Time series online. Leigh Butler is the host of the Wheel of Time Re-Read and A Song of Ice and Fire Read for Tor.com. Aiden Mohr is a long time friend of Dragonmount and hosts the popular review and commentary blog A Dribble of Ink. Adam Whitehead maintains The Wertzone, a popular review and fantasy site. He is also a frequent poster to our forums.   Best Professional Artist: While there are many artists who have contributed art to the Wheel of Time series and are eligible for this award, we'd like to draw attention to Sam Weber, who designed Tor.com's new A Memory of Light logo and who will be JordanCon's first Artist Guest of Honor this year.   Best Fan Artist:   Again, there are many wonderful fan artists in our community. However, we'd like to recognize Seamas Gallagher and Jeremy Saliba, who are consistently cited as fan favorites and who have both generously allowed Dragonmount to use their artwork on multiple occasions.   Best Fancast:   The 2012 WorldCon will be recognizing podcasts and videocasts in a special category this year. Eligible works include our own The Fourth Age podcast, Wheel of Time Video News with Kristen Nedopak, and our friends over at TWotCast, a popular Wheel of Time discussion podcast.   Additionally, Brandon Sanderson has posted a list of his eligible works this year on his website. And we have a couple threads on our forums discussing eligible novels. For those curious, The Wheel of Time becomes eligible for Hugo nomination again next year after the publication of the final book.

Sorry for the absence, guys, but we're back! Hopefully.   One thing I have always wondered about but never really did much research on was Wheel of Time games. So, this week, I snooped around the Internet (as per usual) and found quite a few interesting things. There is of course the first-person shooter video game, which was released in 1999 by Legend Entertainment. In this game, you play an Aes Sedai by the name of Elayna who is also the Keeper of the Chronicles. As I mentioned before, it is a first-person shooter, but rather than having weapons like guns and swords, the character is armed with ter'angreal that have different abilities such as an offensive action or healing. The storyline is not like the books at all, but rather Elayna Sedai chases after Darkfriends and protects the seals on the prison of the Dark One.   A site that caught my eye was the Wheel of Time MUD (Multi User Dungeon). It seems to me that joining in on this MUD game could involve a lot of fun in a Wheel of Time themed virtual world. It is possible to create your very own character and choose where they are from, what sex they are, and whether they're a Hunter, Rogue, Channeler, or Noble. I've only just started finding my way in the game, but it shows promise. There are various other MUD games that you could also try, including Age of Chaos and The Great Hunt.   Red Eagle and Obsidian are said to be working on a new adaptation of a Wheel of Time game, although the only information that I could find on a release date is said to be at the end of this year, at the earliest estimate.   Other than those games, there's always the Role-playing forums that can enable you to dive into the world Robert Jordan created. Our very own Role-playing groups come highly recommended. Have a look and see if any games catch your fancy!

For the first time since their original publication, the first three Wheel of Time novels will be published with new artwork on the covers.   Tor Books announced today via Tor.com that The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, and The Dragon Reborn will be re-released in trade paperback form with new cover designs.   From Tor.com:   The new editions will be released this summer, beginning with The Eye of the World in May, followed by The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn in June and July, respectively.   Each cover features artwork originally introduced for the eBook editions. Check our eBook Gallery for the complete set of covers.   So, what do you think? Will you pick up these fresh copies for your latest re-read? They make great gifts for friends who would appreciate a good story and compelling modern book covers. src='http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_166/gallery_2_166_61535.jpeg' alt='The Eye of the World' />   src='http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_166/gallery_2_166_1415.jpeg' alt='The Great Hunt' />   src='http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_166/gallery_2_166_9742.jpeg' alt='The Dragon Reborn' />

I am pleased to announce a brand new shirt from Ta'veren Tees. This one looks like it is extra special. Take a look at the press release:     If you've been around our boards recently, you may recognize some of Seamas' handiwork in the art from our cage matches.