1 Administrativia

Active Contributors & Articles Plundered From:

* Michael Arnett * Keith Aschinger * Will Baird * Glen Justin Balmer * Chris Barrera * Aaron Bergman * Alice Bergmann * Charles Buckley * Arthur Bernard Byrne * Paul W. Cashman * Christopher Lee Cavender * Randy Cerveny * Dennis Hohn-Chong Cho * Damien Cole * Amish Dave * Ruchira Datta * Dave "Walls of Books" DeLaney * Roderick Easton * Eric Ebinger * Jain Farstrider * Chris Flora * Courtenay Footman * Michel Forget * Carolyn Fusinato * Christian M Gadeken * Bill "Fain" Garrett * Helmut Geyer * Judy Ghirardelli * Bob Gibson * Jocelyn "who is not Kathleen" Goldfein * Stephen Graham * Gary Greenbaum * Michael Guenther * John C Hansen * Chris Hammock * Michael Hanneman * Stephen J Hardy * Don Harlow * John Hawkinson * Nathan Hendrix * Lord Captain Commander Sean Hillyard * Bob Hofmann * Melissa Horn * Eugene Hung * Matthew Hunter * John Ireland * Robert Kelley * Daniel John Kelly-Harrity * David "Wee Dave" Kennedy * Jacob Kesinger * Pam Korda * Hank Lee * Mike Lemons * Craig Levin * Shen Kiat Lim * Mark Looi * Mike "Sir MPS" Macchione * Tom McCormick * Cameron Majidi * Luke Mankin * Jim Mann * Stephanie Mason * Kelley Miles * Don Morgan * Joe Morris * David Mortman * Roy Navarre * Patrick Nielsen Hayden * John S Novak III * Emmet O'Brien * Michael J O'Malley * Chad "Oilcan" Orzel * Daniel "Zippy" O'Toole * Emma Pease * Thomas Petersen * George D Phillies * Jim Phillips * Piglet * Heikki Poso * Jeff R. * Chris Russo * Erica Sadun * Kevin Samborn * Jeff Schneiter * Morgan Donald Scott * Viren Shah * Joe-win Fairheart Shaw * Jeff Smith * Brian Sullivan * Martin Terman * Aline Thompson * Elayne Thompson * Carl Traber * Sven Venema * Jonathan Vessey * Ken Warkentyne * Olaf Weber * Dash Wendrzyk * Greg Wheatley * Windsor Williams * Aaron Wong * Edmund Wong * David Wren-Hardin * Tony Yoder * Tony Zbaraschuk * (Did I forget anyone? Is anyone on here twice? Anybody with a name starting with Q , U, or X want to contribute?)

I finally did it, so here's the first new WOTFAQ since we got the new group. I took out the humor section for now, because it was really big, and pretty old. I might revive it later.

Submission Requests:

• What topics have been discussed to death and should I include as 'calls-for-submission' for next month?
• Please help fill out the countries of RandLand
• anybody wanna do a bit on the old time zones, etc. discussion?

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, $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

Jeff R. reports:

Well, a little bit of research at a local Used Book Store has uncovered for me the fact that Robert Jordan wrote, not one, not two, not even four, but rather Seven Conan the Barbarian books-one of which was the novelization of Conan the Destroyer (the second Arnie Conan Movie). Having skimmed parts of several, I can conclude that this is definitely the same Robert Jordan we know here. As evidence: the opening sentences of five of the books:

Opening Sentence, Conan the Invincible

CtI, I, 9 "The icy wind whipping through the brown, sheer-walled chasms of the Kezankian Mountains seemed colder still around the bleak stone fortress that grew from the granite flank of a nameless mountain in the heart of the range." [NOTE: not only does Jordan begin this book with a wind blowing, but he manages to string an amazing total of four consecutive prepositional phrases at the end of the sentence.]

Opening Sentence, Conan the Unconquered

CtU, 0,9, Prologue "Storm winds howling off the midnight-shrouded Vilayet Sea clawed at the granite-walled compound of the Cult of Doom"

Opening Paragraph, Conan the Magnificent

CtM, 0,11,Prologue "Icy air hung deathly still among the crags of the Kezankian mountains, deep in the heart of that arm of those mountains which stretched south and west along the border between Zamora and Brythunia. No bird sang, and the cloudless azure sky was empty, for even the ever-present vultures could find no current on which to soar"

Opening Two Sentences, Conan the Victorious

CtV, 0, 1, Prologue "The Vendhyan night was preternaturally still, the air weighty and oppressive. No slightest breeze stirred, leaving the capital city of Ayodhya to swelter."

Opening Sentence, Conan the Triumphant

CtT, 0,11, Prologue "The great granite mound called Tor Al'Kiir crouched like a malevolent toad in the night, wearing a crown of toppled walls and ruined columns, memories of failed attempts by a score of Ophirean dynasties to build there." [All right, nothing about the wind here. But I include it anyway, because A. It's just such a ridiculous image, and B. Tor Al'Kiir is very reminiscent of Kari Al'Thor, which makes the image even more ridiculous. Besides, the next paragraph goes on to describe black clouds of a storm that included, among other things "lightning streaking the dark like dragons' tongues", so there's our weather reference.]

[The Opening Sentences of CtDef and CtDes are not nearly as distinctively Jordanesque, describing the sun rather than the wind.]

You don't. You post to rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan.

We did!

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.

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].
• 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, 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]

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.
  • 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 Trust 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]

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 :ˆ) ), 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 DS 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