My son might come home for a visit in June.

Hello, Zack. Glad you could join us. I too was married at the tender age of 21. My wife and I became empty-nesters in only our late 40s, still plenty young enough to enjoy the freedom of being childless.

Enjoy the rest of the series.

Hi, Leviticus. Glad you're enjoying the books. More than one reader dropped out long before this point.

Welcome, Eclipse. Don't worry about giving away your age. I first picked up a Wheel of Time novel in 1992, so it's okay to be a lifelong reader.

Reading is my pastime of choice. I also enjoy strength training, playing chess, and dreaming about my future aviation plans.

I agree the Forsaken didn't seem to live up to their monstrous reputations. They merely were each book's Boss to be defeated one-by-one.

They also didn't seem to live up to their legendary status. Just mentioning their names was supposed to induce thoughts of horror and dread in common folk. In the real world, I suppose this would be equivalent to Hitler, Stalin, and Jeffrey Dahmer. But so often all we see the Forsaken do is work in the shadows and spring traps against a select few.

Good choice, Laktoes.

Hello. Welcome to Dragonmount.

Pizza Pie Day.

My usual. Household chores. Online studying. Workout. Hopefully a nap. An Evening of escorting people around in my car (Uber.)

Every description of a woolen dress was "stout Two Rivers wool".

Something about always leading with 'stout' picks at me.

Well put. Thanks, kinswoman.

I'm intrigued by the Three Arches Ter'angreal that's used to test Novices and Accepted in the White Tower. Sheriam Sedai told Nynaeve, "It will bring you face-to-face with your greatest fears."

Naturally, I wondered what are my own greatest fears, and how would I respond to them inside what seems to be equivalent to the Star Trek Enterprise's Holodeck.

When it comes to Nynaeve, however, her first scenario was a battle with Aginor. Her second was seeing the Two Rivers fall into disarray without her being there as Wisdom. And her third was a possible future as the wife of Lan and mother of three children.

The first I can see as a fear, but is being chased by one of the Forsaken--admittedly one of the weakest of the thirteen--really something that would cause her fear, more than anything else? For example, I might not want to ever be killed by a grizzly bear, but the thought of such is not keeping me up at night. I'm far more likely to be killed in a car accident, but I wouldn't even list that as one of my greatest fears.

The other two scenarios, however, don't appear to me to be fears but temptations. The arches detected Nynaeve's current desire (restore the Two Rivers to its state before Moiraine Sedai arrived) and future desire (be the wife of Lan) and tempted her to leave everything else behind. I can see why that would make an acceptable test for a future Aes Sedai, but I can't see how that would be described as "your greatest fears."

I would think that more appropriate scenarios would be exactly the opposite. In the second arch, suppose Nynaeve saw the Two Rivers thriving and prospering with her gone. That seems like a more relevant fear--that Nynaeve is not useful to the Two Rivers folk as she believes herself to be. And the third arch might show her marrying Lan, and as a direct result of that causing him to suffer and die. Wouldn't that cause her more fear?

But then, if the purpose of the test is to ensure that one is committed to the White Tower, then showing me a future fear would only encourage me to stay. For example, if one of my greatest fears is indeed dying in a car crash, and the arch tells me, "If you don't go to the Grand Canyon next week, you will die in a car crash a year from now," then my response will be "Okay, then I will definitely go to the Grand Canyon next week." I might have been ambivalent about visiting the Grand Canyon, but if I'm told that not going will lead to my fiery death, then I will harden my resolve.

Likewise, if Nynaeve is afraid of losing Lan, and the arch showed her a future where she does lose Lan because she didn't finish her tower training, how does that test her commitment to become Aes Sedai? Seems cross-purposes, to me.

These are just some things I'm thinking about.

Perhaps that's one of the properties of the weave itself. By default, weaves naturally erode, but the weaver can construct the weave such that it will be permanent.

Isn't that how our world works? An architect can design a manufactured house that will be essentially be rubbish in a few decades, or he can design a cathedral that stands for more than a millennium.

Too much slack? Or too much flack?

Agreed. I meant no disrespect.

I do. I'll try to locate him there. Thank you.

Wolf introduced me to SCA back when we worked together (15 years ago), and I attended a couple of events with him, watched him spar a few times, which was fun. I was amazed I had never heard of it until then, because had I known about it when I was back in college, I would have been wholly into it.

Now, though, I'm afraid my limited free time forbids me from taking on a new hobby.

On the other hand, I would love to re-connect with Wolf. LadyWordSmith, would you be willing to convey a message to him for me?

Airaklee Wolf sounds right, although I'm not certain. His true name is Doug Turnage, and when last I spoke to him he lived in Denton, TX.

I have a former colleague who is a knight in Ansteorra who goes by the name of Wolf. Might you know him, LadyWordSmith?

Sorry, I didn't realize you were keeping everything on the first page. I see it now.

Not sure if it's me and my monitor, but I had a hard time reading the text. Dark text against a dark background.

Otherwise, nice collage. Although I'm not seeing any of the typical Matrim flirtatiousness, but then the ladies around here might disagree.

If Time is a Wheel, does that mean that Lews Therin Telamon was also the Dragon Reborn?

Hmm, could there be a reason I'm not seeing M'Lady's latest?

I don't recall what Rand needed to apologize to Hurin for.

Well done, reyler!