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This is the Wheel of Time Wondrous Masterpiece of Assembled Knowledge (aka Frequently-Asked Questions list). 'Tis edited and maintained, and copyrighted by myself, Pamela Korda, based upon discussion of The Wheel of Time series, on the Usenet group rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan. You may feel free to distribute this document, provided all citations and attributes are kept. This version of the FAQ contains lots of Spoilers for Lord of Chaos, so if you haven't read, don't read. There are versions of the FAQ from before LOC (i.e. no spoilers, but some out-dated theories) in the ftp archive and the WWW site.

The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan:

Hardcover editions:

• The Eye of the World, ISBN 0-312-85009-3, $24.95
• The Great Hunt, ISBN 0-312-85140-5, $22.95
• The Dragon Reborn, ISBN 0-312-85248-7, $22.95
• The Shadow Rising, ISBN 0-312-85431-5, $24.95
• The Fires of Heaven, ISBN 0-312-85427-7, $24.95
• Lord of Chaos, ISBN 0-312-85428-5, $25.95

• The Eye of the World, ISBN 0-812-51181-6, $5.99 ($6.99 CAN)
• The Great Hunt, ISBN 0-812-51772-5, $5.99 ($6.99 CAN)
• The Dragon Reborn, ISBN 0-812-51371-1, $5.99 ($6.99 CAN)
• The Shadow Rising, ISBN 0-812-51373-8, $6.99 ($7.99 CAN)
• The Fires of Heaven, ISBN 0-812-50974-9

Ask for them at your favorite bookstore, or order the paperback editions directly from:

  Publishers Book and Audio Mailing Service
  PO Box 120159
  Staten Island NY 10312-0004

If you are in Europe, it may be more expedient to pick up the British Editions published by Orbit (prices are listed in pound sterling).

• The Eye of the World, ISBN 1-85723-076-0 5.99
• The Great Hunt, ISBN 1-85723-027-2 5.99
• The Dragon Reborn, ISBN 1-85723-065-5 5.99
• The Shadow Rising, ISBN 1-85723-121-X 5.99
• The Fires of Heaven, ISBN 1-85723-209-7 5.99

The Eye of the World

• Don Harlow: It seems to me that early in the first volume Jordan took some time to decide whether the marsh-forest in the east of the Two Rivers was the Riverwood or the Waterwood.
• David Mortman and others: *In TEoTW, Thom teaches Mat and Rand to juggle. By the time they reach Caemlyn Mat can perform "six ball circles", which I interpreted as a six-ball shower. No way. You could probably count the number of people in the world today who can shower six balls to a performance standard on the fingers of one hand. Assuming there are any. I've only twice seen a five ball shower done well.
• Joe Shaw: [TEotW: Glossary, 790, entry "Farstrider, Jain", 663] Farstrider "vanished in 994 NE, after returning from a trip into the Great Blight which some say had taken him all the way to Shayol Ghul." While [TDR: Glossary, 696, entry "Travels of Jaim Farstrider, the", 593] says that he disappeared shortly after the Aiel War, which is about 20 years ago.
  Note that even in TEotW, all other indications are that Farstrider disappeared 20 years ago, just after the Aiel war: Ba'alzamon tells tells Rand [TEotW: 51, 760, Against the Shadow, 638] "Jain Farstrider, a hero, whom I painted like a fool and sent to the Ogier thinking he was free of me." The man that Loial said came to Stedding Shangtai telling them the story about blinding the Eye of the World came just after the Aiel War. 'Twould seem to be Farstrider since Ba'alzamon's comments followed a reference to the Aiel that told the story to the Tuatha'an. So, it seems that the 994 number is wrong.
• Q: What about those Warders in Caemlyn around Logain in tEotW? Didn't Moiraine say that they were all Red sisters? [TEotW: 42, 637-8, Remembrance of Dreams, 535] Reds don't have Warders!
  RJ answer, as reported by Tony Z: Moiraine never mentioned the sisters escorting Logain (not all of whom were Red). The ones with Logain weren't in Caemlyn at the time [evidently they stayed with the army, which stayed outside the city--TZ]. Moiraine was referring to those that _were_ in Caemlyn.

The Great Hunt

• Morgan Donald Scott: Ba'alzamon's goals: [TGH: 47, 665, The Grave Is No Bar To My Call, 563] "But this time I will destroy you to your very soul, destroy you utterly and forever." Maybe he forgot [TGH: 41, 588, Disagreements, 497] "Fool! You will destroy yourself!" where he stopped Rand from burning himself out. Ba'alzamon is either forgetful, confused, or trying to appear so.
• Damien Cole: Why does Moiraine wear her great serpent ring on her left hand in [TEotW: 2, 27, Strangers, 22-3] and [TDR: 3, 58, News from the Plain, 26] and on her right hand in [TGH: 4, 46, Summoned, 39]? I can think of four possible reasons:
  1. cunning plan by Jordan to make us believe sweet, innocent Moiraine was at the Darkfriend social.
  2. Moiraine has an evil, identical twin sister who wears her ring on the other hand.
  3. It's Moiraine's ring and she can wear it on whatever hand she damn well pleases.
  4. none of the above.
• Erica Sadun: When Rand returns Thom's harp and flute to the gleeman in Cairhien, Thom grumbles: "You could at least have kept it (the harp) in tune" [TGH: 26, 384, Discord, 323] For travel, harps (and many other stringed instruments) are always detuned - the tension on the strings is reduced to prevent string wear and possible snapping.

The Dragon Reborn

• Erica Sadun: In TDR, in the beginning at-camp scene, Perrin tells Min that he loves her like a sister-and that he has no sisters of his own. In TSR, his two sisters and his brother are killed. [TDR: 6, 99, The Hunt Begins, 63] and [TSR: 29, 466, Homecoming, 333].
• Gary Greenbaum: [TDR: 33, 375, Within the Weave, 295] "This road of hard-packed dirt, already called the Lugard Road now that they were approaching the River Manetherendrelle and the border of Lugard, had been paved once . . . " Lugard is a city, not a country, and is the capital of Murandy (to the extent that disorganized country has one). Since the city does not lie near that River, I doubt a province or such is meant.
• Aline Thompson and Joe Shaw: [TDR: 41, 477, A Hunter's Oath, 388] Perrin is remembering a confrontation between Moiraine and Zarine. "Once she learned the girl thought they would lead her to the Horn of Valere, ...then her cold blue stare had taken on a quality that made him feel he had been packed ..." Which left me wondering whose cold blue stare? Both Moir. and Zarine have dark eyes.
  The quote continues "The Aes Sedai said nothing, but she stared too often and too hard for any comfort.", implying that it refers to Moiraine. [TEotW: 2, 26, Strangers, 22] [TGH: 4, 45, Summoned, 38], [TDR: 6, 90, The Hunt Begins, 55], [TSR: 3, 99, Reflection, 71] and [TFoH: 2, Rhuidean, 68] all describe Moiraine as having "dark eyes", and [TDR: 33, 386, Within the Weave, 319], [TDR: 35, 402, The Falcon, 333], and [TSR: 2, Whirlpools in the Pattern, 40] describe Faile as having "dark, tilted eyes".
• Metallurgy Mistake, from John Palmer and Don Harlow: Maybe others have noted this metallurgy mistake, as a engineer this bugged me. In the Dragon Reborn, when Perrin takes a day at the Smithy, he notes the three quenching media: "As soon as he had made the hot-cut, he tossed the glowing metal into the salted quenching barrel. Unsalted gave a harder quench, for the hardest metal, while the oil gave the softest, for good knives." [TDR: 50, 595, The Hammer, 506]
  Wrong. In order of resultant hardness, it goes Oil, Water, Salt Water. with Salt water yielding the hardest blade because of best heat transfer and higher boiling point than plain water. Oil is softer because of slower heat transfer but is commonly used for cutlery because it causes less thermal stresses and a tougher blade. (won't break from shock) Salt water quench is definitely a harder quench than fresh water. Its due to the higher boiling point of salt water precluding the formation of an insulating vapor layer over the steel which slows heat transfer from the steel to the water.
• Dash Wendrzyk: Hey, what's the scoop with Shadowman steel? First, Thom Merrilin runs into a Fade and it left him "a little present of a stiff leg." Then after the fight where the Aiel come to the rescue of the girls: [TDR: 39, 455, Threads in the Pattern, 382] "Shadowman steel kills," Aviendha said, "it does not wound." Finally, Rand's thought while fighting a Fade: [TSR: 10, 188, The Stone Stands, 132] "That black metal could make wounds that festered, almost as hard to heal as the one that ached in his side now." Is there something that I'm missing, like it just kills Aiel, or does this qualify as a Jordan mis-step?
  [Pam: the obvious explanation is that the Fade did not stick Thom with its sword; the Fade just hit him, or something]
• Joe "Uno" Shaw: Jain Farstrider's first name is spelled as Jaim throughout the book, when its spelled as Jain in TEotW, TGH, and TSR.

The Shadow Rising

• Typographical Errors:
  • Unknow: [TSR: 8, Hard Heads, 111] Elayne states that she had let go of saidin as soon as Egwene stood to leave. It should be saidar. [fixed in the pb edition.]
  • Unknow: [TSR: 16, 262-4, Leavetakings, 183-5] Loial mentions an Ogier named Laefar from Stedding Shangtai who is in Tear, but later calls him Faelar a page later.
  • Courtenay Footman: [TSR: 33, 539, A New Weave in the Pattern, 377] Perrin calls Tam Al'Thor "Master Al'Vere"; Master Al'Vere being miles away at that time.
  • Jeff Smith: [TSR: 35, 576, Sharp Lessons, 401] "Egwene realized Nynaeve's blankets were empty." Unfortunately, at this particular time, Nynaeve was in Tanchico with Elayne. It should be Moiraine's blankets that are empty......Correct?
  • Unknown: [TSR: 54, 913, Into the Palace, 633] "If only Egwene had not run into any trouble, they might make it out of here [the Panarch's Palace] safely after all." It should be Elayne instead of Egwene.
• Michael Hanneman: [TSR: 47, The Truth of a Viewing, 531] During the Tower Coup, Siuan's Warder gets killed. She doesn't notice until she sees his dead body. [Perhaps she was shielded before he died?]

The Fires of Heaven

• In TFoH, on the Cover, we are told that "FLAIDA" (sic) is now Amyrlin.
• Courtenay Footman: Something very strange happened between 10 and 20 years ago. In [TGH: 4, 58, Summoned, 49] the Amyrlin says to Moiraine "I am the fifth in a row raised to the Amyrlin Seat from the Blue." Two pages earlier, we learn that Siuan Sanche has been Amyrlin for ten years. In [TFoH: 15, What Can Be Learned in Dreams, 214], Moiraine says to Egwene: "In a few months it will be twenty-one years since we began the search for the Dragon Reborn. Sieren Vayu was raised to Amyrlin shortly after, a Gray with more than a touch of Red in her." Were there really seven different Amyrlins in the space of a dozen years? (The Blue who held the seat when Rand was born, Vayu, and then the five Blues who ended with Siuan Sanche.) Or is this just a Jordan mistake?
• Unknown: In [TFoH: 36, A New Name, 409], Birgitte tells Elayne I will keep your secret, Daughter-Heir of Andor. But later in [TFoH: 47, The Price of a Ship, 550] Birgitte verbally scolds Elayne for telling Cerandin she was heir to a throne, and doesn't believe it until Nynaeve makes an offhand comment in [TFoH: 49, To Boannda, 570].
• Sean Hillyard: Rand balefires Rahvin, erasing his actions, etc. However, none of Rand's injuries, all sustained at the hands of Rahvin, disappear-they were instead Healed by Nynaeve afterwards. [TFoH: 55, The Threads Burn, 672-3] [Arguably an effect of either Tel'aran'rhiod or balefire.]

Lord of Chaos

Arguably the most humorous error yet: Perrin picks up a second horse which he calls "Stayer" [LoC: 54, The Sending, 677]. On the way to the Battle at Dumai's Wells, Perrin has both his horses, referred to, at one point, as "Stepper and Slayer."[LoC: 55, Dumai's Wells, 685]

In previous glossaries, it says that the AS cannot sense in what direction her Warder is. In LoC, Alanna does just that. What gives? Edward Liu says that, at a signing, RJ said that the ability is not exact, but something like they can only sense distance (and I guess) direction in that the feeling of the other person becomes stronger or weaker. Tony Z. said RJ said the Glossaries are in error, and that there are references in other books to AS sensing the direction of their Warders. (Anybody find such a thing? I can't think of one). Joe thinks RJ changed his mind, to put it charitably.

Judy G. gives us intelligent advice on treatment of Jordan fanaticism:

1. Stop calling the nice lady at you local bookstore, and harassing her about when the next book will be out.
2. Lay down.
3. Stay laying down.
4. Try to not think about things like wheels, knives, spears, swords, doorways, Piglets, fire, severed hands, plucked out eyes, tattoos, leashes, calendars, irons, pincers, still images, gentle breezes, FAQs, Towers, wolves, falcons, hawks, hammers, axes, Roy, and lastly, DON'T THINK ABOUT RIVERS!
5. Now, pick up a copy of _The Tao of Pooh_ and become an uncarved block.

(p.p.s. The idea of not thinking about Roy while laying down is just a generally good practice , and might be applied to all the rest of you who won't admit you have a problem ...)

No, you are not alone in having the cover fall off of your PB copy of TDR. What can you do about it? Patrick Nielsen Hayden says that you can send the book to Tor, and they will send you a new copy. You can also write a (snail- mail) letter of complaint to Tor. The address is on the inside of the books. Do not send mean e-mail to the nice Tor Books man! It is not his fault! If you want to repair them yourself, Ericc Ebinger provides instructions:

As a public service (and to annoy the anti-Jordan faction of the r.a.sf.w community), I have decided to publish instructions on how to reattach the (hideous) covers to the Tor paperback editions of the Wheel of Time books. This is the way that I did it. The covers are holding up nicely (so far). No warranty is expressed or implied. Your mileage may vary. Follow these instructions at your own risk.

Materials needed:

• dry sandpaper 220 grit
• Walthers Goo (available at finer model train stores everywhere)
• one or more Wheel of Time books, Tor edition with loose or detached covers

1. If cover(s) are not yet completely detached GENTLY and carefully detach them. A small, sharp knife may be helpful.
2. Take sandpaper and briskly sand the back of spine of the book (on the glue that failed to hold. Continue until the surface is slightly rough (don't over-sand). This should only take 10-20 seconds of sanding.
3. Lay the cover down on a flat surface with the outside DOWN. Gently sand the inside of the binding (see fig. 1) untill the wax coating is removed. Do not over-sand! The objective is to remove the wax coating so that the glue can get a grip.

           +----------------+-----+-----------------+
           |                | s g |                 |
           |                | a l |                 | 
           |                | n u |                 |
           |                | d e |                 |
           |                |     |                 |
           |                |  h  |                 |
           |                |  e  |                 |
           |                |  r  |                 |
           |                |  e  |                 |
           +----------------+-----+-----------------+
   

4. Following directions on the package of Goo, spread glue on the binding area of the cover. Orient the book so that it's orientation matches that of the cover. Press the book binding down on the cover, lift,wait two minutes,press the book binding back down on the cover, and hold for two minutes.
5. Let dry overnight. The book should be better than new.

In March, 1994, a bunch of net.jordanites met in a small restaurant in Arlington, VA. Collectively, they hatched a scheme to spread chaos and confusion throughout the internet, and other nets. They were six of the most powerful posters ever known, who went over to the Dark One. Their names-Bill "the Fain" Garrett, Chad "Ishamael" Orzel, Joe "Sammael" Shaw, Mike "Rahvin" Macchione, Judy "Mesaana" Ghirardelli, and Joe "Demandred" Morris-should be used to frighten children. As a result of their crimes, much false evidence was generated. Following is a summary of their false claims as to what Jordan said.

Remember-ROBERT JORDAN NEVER SAID ANY SUCH THING:

1. Somebody close to Rand will turn to the Dark Side.
2. There are clues in: _The Westing Game_, "What Lies Hidden," "The Gift of a Blade," "The Tinker's Sword."
3. RJ thinks we should get our own newsgroup.
4. RJ will put a character like Roy in the next book.
5. Anything about Cain, Jain, Tam, or Graendal's old man.
6. Aram is a Darkfriend (and was at the DFS in TGH).
7. There are hidden references to Conan in The Wheel of Time.
8. RJ said "Verin is more than just a simple, absent-minded librarian."
9. Thom is Elaynes' father.
10. RJ will wrap up the series in the book after _Lord of Chaos_
11. Mazrim Taim is somebody we have already seen, sort of (and related theories that Taim = Demandred, Taim killed Asmodean.)
12. Thom, Aviendha, Bela, & Marin Al'Vere are not what they seem.
13. Aviendha = Ilyena reborn.
14. Mat's memories are not real, but the ravings of a madman.
15. Mat and Tam can channel.
16. He would add a reference to our USENET discussions into a later book.
17. Jordan wants to put himself in there somewhere (ala Hitchcock).
18. He thought the lightbulb and telephone jokes were a hoot.
19. He likes the cover art

"Robert Jordan" is actually a pseudonym for James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he has written the "Wheel of Time" fantasy series as well as several books of the "Conan" series. (Conan the Invincible, C.t. Unconquered, C.t.Magnificent, C.t.Victorious, C.t.Triumphant, C.t.Destroyer, C.t.Defender) Other pseudonyms are Reagan O'Neal ("Fallon" series), Jackson O'Reilly ("Cheyenne Raiders"), and Chang Lung (contributions to various periodicals including Library Journal, Fantasy Review, Science Fiction Review). [Source: Contemporary Authors vol. 140]

RJ has told several people, at signings and in letters, that ifˆHˆH when he complete TWOT, he plans to write another fantasy tale set in a Seanchan-like culture. The main character will be a more mature figure than Rand, and the tale involves him being shipwrecked in pseudo-Seanchan, where whatever is cast up on the shores of one's state becomes one's property, even people. Doubtlessly, there'll be many changes from RJ's description to the actual story, but it gives us something to look forward to.

• Issue 4 of the Waldenbooks 'zine Hailing Frequencies had a little interview with RJ. (I believe this was pre-FOH)
• Nov 1994 Issue of the B. Dalton 'zine had an interview with RJ.
• Fan Club: If netting isn't fannish enough for you, there is a Wheel of Time Fan Club. They have a newsletter, which costs something like $1.50 per issue. If you are interested, contact Carolyn Fusinato [c.fusinato@mail.utexas.edu].

1. TANgent (SINe over COSine)
2. The Ajah who applies ruthless logic to quests after knowledge.
3. The color Bela is.
4. A Chinese unit of weight
5. A Japanese unit of land area
6. One of a boat-dwelling people distantly related to the Li
7. Oh, you mean wrt rec.arts.sf.written.r-j? Get thee to a rasfwr-j FAQ, then!