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DRAGONMOUNT

A WHEEL OF TIME COMMUNITY

Aiyen kin Leary

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Posts posted by Aiyen kin Leary

  1. Wow.  Just, wow.  Finished last night (well, early this morning :wink: ) after reading for twenty hours straight.  There's so much that happened absolutely beautifully, either as I has expected or even better.  There's also a lot that seemed as though it would be awesome with the proper build up, but we didn't get that (the Wyld, the Wild Hunt, Lanfear, Moridin, Shaisam...)  I'm not certain what to make of this book.  So much wonder, so many answers and incredible moments, but also some things coming out of utter left field, or not being explained at all.  I've barely posted at all during the build up to AMOL-I was more interested in just finding out as much as I could.  But now that the Wheel of Time is well and truly over, well, it's great to have a place to discuss.

     

    The actual duel with the Dark One was epicness and confusion mixed together.  I was under the impression that the Dark One would leave absolute nothingness if he won-RJ implied it pretty strongly, as well as the idea that the "breaking the Wheel and remaking it in his image" was a misconception.  In the place that was not, though, it seemed that this was a low priority for the Dark One, and he really would rather keep the world going-just without love or Light.  Not sure if this is a Sandersonism or I just misunderstood RJ's intent.  That said though, the scene was amazing.  The obvious threat (though I'd always imagined a truly Shadow-controlled world to be far more oppressive), the obvious hope.  The world without Light, the world without Shadow.  The Nothing.  The final reality. 

     

    However, WTF on the True Power being used to seal the Bore?  I know it's been a popular fan theory, but it's never made sense to me.  The whole time, the True Power is portrayed as pure evil, vile as the Taint.  Using the Dark One's own evil against him seems strange.  I can imagine a build up and foreshadowing that would make that a wonderful ending, but the build up we actually got seemed to dismiss the possibility.  "Cast it away!  That is death we hold, death and betrayal.  It is HIM."  Doesn't sound like something one would want to use in the Sealing, and didn't RJ say that using True Power at Shayol Ghul would fry you instantly?  Of course, having a TP sa'angreal might change that.  How did they discover that about Callandor anyway?  It just gets mentioned, as though it's suddenly obvious.  For that matter, how did the Light end up with a TP sa'angreal anyway?  I always had the impression that there was nothing special about Callandor other than accidental defects until prophecy pointed out that it would be needed.  Can one attune an angreal to the Dark One by mistake?  Were there Darkfriends working in the factory that day?

     

    I loved the part about nobility, not strength, being the key.  It answers so many questions!  Why did the Dark One not simply go all out to kill the Dragon and anyone else important?  How can the Light keep winning if the Last Battle is endlessly repeated with a real danger each time?  If there isn't a real danger, how does the story not lose its poignancy and suspence?  So much that I'd longed to see answered, all answered beautifully at one stroke.  I'd guessed it might turn out that way, but the way it was written was glorious.

     

    The Dark Prophecies still don't seem to make sense.  Who "served [Lanfear] and died, yet served still"?  Perrin worked with her for a while, but he never died.  The Shining Walls never knelt.  The Broken Wolf seems to be Ituralde (the Little Wolf), but how has he known Death? 

     

    Really wish we knew more about the Sharans.  Bringing them in almost out of nowhere was an awesome effect, but the impact was dimished to a degree by question overload.  What is a Wyld?  Why is an entire nation perfectly alright with fighting alongside Shadowspawn?  It seems like a little more information would have increased the impact a lot.

  2. The hottest character? Depends. If you mean pure physical beauty then Lanfear was described as such. Probably Galad on the other side. If you mean who would I most want to get involved with (so personality and looks are both relavant) then Min. She's very loving, and the description sounded hot. Plus I have a thing for women who are strong, outgoing and "tomboyish" yet still distinctively feminine. Min fits that to a tee. :biggrin:

  3. Way too slow. The plot is wonderful, but the pacing is rediculously slow and the characters never feel real to me. And while the practice of giving little hints about the AoL, Shadow, Finnland, etc. and never telling the complete story is tantalizing (imagine the full story of the AoL: it would be sci-fi instead of fantasy, but not any more awesome than the Third Age. By doling it out in little pieces though, RJ made the AoL feel utterly badass :myrddraal: ), it would be nice if there were a few more tidbits. You get one scene with the wonders of the ancient past or the tricks of the Shadow that makes you go "AHHHH! This story is amazing!", but then you slog through 500 pages that feel like padding. If it was cut down to maybe eight or nine shorter books this would have been a much better series IMO. On the other hand, one of my WoT-reading friends points out that these books are all we get of this world, so them being long and detailed isn't nessesarily a bad thing...

  4. Yeah, I'm in trouble...

     

    Automatically say "Light!" and "Blood and bloody ashes!" even in serious situations. No one's ever commented on it, which is probably a good thing.

     

    Re-created Sha'rah, and played it a couple times. Won by giving my opponent control of the Fisher :cool:

     

    On the Forsaken from memory...

     

    Ishamael-Elan Morin Tedronai

    Lanfear-Mierin Eronaile

    Graendal-Kamarille Maradim Nindar

    Asmodean-Joar Adam Nessosin (or something like that; I'm going from memory, not wikipedia)

    Moghedian-Lillath Moiral? And wasn't she an insurance saleswoman? One of the Forsaken was at least...

     

    Never have nightmares because I balefire anything scary that shows up in my dreams (seriously! :wink: )

  5. Weird question, I know, but... Toy'varen started it with weird questions about noodles!

     

    I'm a PF (Pasta Fiend).

     

    Actually, the reason I asked this is because my friend and I were discussing the weird way technology developed in the WoT compared to Earth civilizations. I figured that if gunpowder was discovered in WoT, maybe they also had noodles (which were also discovered by the Chinese on Earth.) While WoT has steel and gunpowder, they don't have other inventions that were discovered at the same time or earlier, like the printing press. Other than steel and gunpowder, I would guesstimate their Earth-scale technology level closer to that of Ancient Rome rather than the Medieval period, and thus the question about pasta. Their armor level seems hundreds of years behind their weapons tech too. Now that cannons are invented, it seems weapons jumped another 300 years ahead, and they still don't use plate mail armor.

     

    RJ said explicitly that the printing press survived the Breaking, which was the reason why the language has stayed relatively consistant. Seanchan and Aiel can understand each other, despite having been separated for thousands of years and thousands of miles. RJ said the printing press was why. Don't remember the exact link, but it was him answering a question about language in the WoT, if that helps. I think I recall references to plate armor too, but not certain on this one.

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