Seattle Signing Report (LoC Spoilers)
Tony Zbaraschuk
Well, here's the Seattle signing report from the University of Washington
bookstore. We had quite a lot of people (probably somewhere around 130-140,
according to one of the UW reps there; he didn't think it was quite 150).
Jordan was quite friendly and accessible, even on the factory line of
signatures. I met several other net.inhabitants, and told one guy (who
hadn't heard about it) about rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan; he said he'd
log on immediately he got home that night.
I got a number of questions answered, and heard the answers to many more.
Herewith the digest. (There ARE some LoC spoilers below.)
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Last chance to back out!
OK, the straight scoop. At least, as straight a scoop as could be gotten.
Following "answer" text is my paraphrase of Jordan comments. (I didn't have
a tape recorder, <sob>.)
1. Q: How does the Black Ajah recruit new members?
A: Very carefully. You have to understand that EVERY Ajah recruits
carefully and subtly. Generally, after all those years as novice and
Accepted, your teachers know your character and personality VERY well, and
you are guided to the Ajah where you fit. The Black Ajah watches too. And
recruitment is a one-shot offer: they offer, and you can accept or die.
There are a lot of ways to die that wouldn't lead to any suspicion; for
instance, it's pretty easy to kill yourself experimenting with the One
Power. Who would think that such a death wasn't accidental?
[I mentioned Katerine Sedai, 17 years Aes Sedai, 12 years Black.]
One thing they do, for instance, is watch new Aes Sedai. Sometimes
women get past the final tests and then discover that they _don't_ have
anywhere near as much power and freedom as they thought they would have.
2. Q: What were the female Aes Sedai doing during the Breaking? Surely
they could have got together in circles of six or 13 or whatever, cut off
one man from the Source, and gone onto the next.
A: Several things. Partly, you have to find the men before you can do
anything. Partly, by the time they realized what was going on,
it was too late. The massive geological upheavals were only a part (and not
the most important part) of the Breaking. There was also the cumulative
social collapse, breakdown of transportation systems, etc.. Imagine a city
like Seattle that suddenly loses ALL contact with the outside world. Also,
the women were (after a point) trying to preserve what they could, not fight
the men directly. Finally, in order to make someone _stop_ doing something,
you have to be able to threaten them. What can you threaten a madman with,
that he will listen to you and stop?
3. Q: Speaking of the Breaking, how did Dragonmount survive all that
rearrangement of geography?
A: Well, the Breaking had different effects in different areas. Some
areas were raised up, others lowered, others moved around... but the effects
were relatively mild in some areas; Dragonmount was one of them. [Which I
suppose makes sense, since nobody lived in the area, the men would likely
have been elsewhere.--TZ] Note that Shayol Ghul used to be a subtropical
island. The Tar Valon area was moved, but as an entire piece, so the
mountain, the island, and the river stayed in the same places relative to
each other.
4. Q: What about Mazrim Taim? Isn't his withstanding of the madness for 15
years something exceptional? [Short segue from there to Taim=Demandred?]
A: The duration varies from man to man; the circumstances are different,
and the men themselves. Nobody really knows how long the process takes (or
has to take), since once you start channelling the Aes Sedai usually find
you pretty quickly, and gentling stops the progression of the madness and
the taint (though it does not cure what's already happened). Channelling is
addictive; once you've done it, you can't stop. The Breaking took about a
hundred years before all the men finally died, though some of them did
shelter in the _stedding_ for a while. Nobody knows how long the process
takes, except that there is variation. It's all in my notes.
Q: But what about Taim? Isn't 15 years something really exceptional?
[Subtext: Is he Demandred???]
A: Read and find out.
4. Q: Can Thom Merrilin channel?
A: Absolutely not. I never intended anyone to think he could.
[Jordan also strongly implied that Thom was not Elayne's father. Oh,
well, so much for all our beautiful net.theories based on those two facts.]
5. Speaking of the Net, Jordan did say (as noted before) that he'd read the
FAQ, and was both impressed and amused by it. We got a lot of stuff right,
and a lot of stuff wrong. We also have based a lot of discussion on "facts"
we deduced that were actually wrong.
He DID say that he had done some things in response to net.speculations.
First, if we seemed to be getting too close to something he had intended to
stay hidden for a while longer, he would tone it done in later books. And
if we seemed to be going off on an incredible tangent (the "How could they
think THAT?" sort of thing) he would correct it. In both cases, however, he
only did this if it could be fitted unobtrusively into the book.
Naturally, he refused to provide specifics. I asked if the linking
discussion on the Net had led to the Glossary entry in LoC (which discussed
linking in some depth). He said no, the info about linking has been in his
notes all along, but he had to cut it out of previous Glossaries in order to
save space.
[I was discussing Moghedien's nature at this point, as an example of how
wrong some of our deductions were [specifically mine about Moghedien's exact
identity and the nature of her companions--see the FAQ, and compare with the
Salidar sections in LoC] and said that it was almost impossible to get a
straight answer (or any info) out of Moghedien, and Harriet Jordan said that
that was a lot like her husband; it was very hard to get info out of him.]
6. Q: What about Warders? I thought the previous Glossaries (up to tFoH)
said that Aes Sedai _couldn't_ sense the direction of their Warders?
A: The link goes both ways. Aes Sedai CAN sense the direction (and,
roughly, with some practice) the distance of their Warders. Those earlier
Glossary entries were an error carried over from a very early version of the
Glossary. If you read carefully, you will notice references in the earlier
books to Aes Sedai sensing the direction of their Warders.
[Anyone got a hint as to where those references are??]
[One of the other people at the signing mentioned the 'bonds' that
Moiraine tied to Rand, Perrin, and Mat early in tEotW. Those _were_
directional, and I speculated that maybe they were related, in a very small
way, to the Warder bond.]
7. Q: What about those Warders in Caemlyn around Logain in tEotW? Didn't
Moiraine say that they were all Red sisters? Reds don't have Warders!
A: 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. There is something
explaining this in LoC. Remember that the interleaving of plot threads goes
backward as well as forward.
[Side note: I _think_ I know the reference Jordan was talking about, but
I'm not sure I believe it. Remember when Logain was talking to those
Altaran nobles, mentioning all the Reds that had secretly supported him,
apparently under Elaida's direction. Mentioning this at Siuan's
instigation, we all thought. What if Logain was actually _telling the
truth_? Siuan Sanche will be the most surprised woman in the world. I sort
of hope I'm wrong on this one. Can anyone else come up with another
reference in LoC that might explain this? One mentioning Reds in Caemlyn
around the time of Logain's capture?]
[Note 2: If Jordan was planning this all the way back in tEotW-- I am in
_awe_. Pure stricken awe at the plotting consistency.]
8. Q: How many more WoT books will there be?
A: Several. Some. A few. I'm not even speculating now on how many
books I hope it will take, because every time I do mention a number I hope I
can finish it in, it turns out to take longer. It will be at least 8,
because I've signed the contracts for books 7 and 8.
[I got the strong impression that Jordan is NOT padding anything; the
WoT just keeps growing by leaps and bounds.]
9. Q: What about Gawyn?
A: Well, all the information he can find indicates that his mother's
dead. (First the rumor, then it apparently got confirmed when he reached
Cairhien. [Even Rand thinks that Morgase is dead.--TZ]). Rand probably
killed her. His sister is missing, maybe dead. Rand's involved again. He
_released_ the woman responsible for finding Rand because he loved Egwene.
Egwene is tied up with Rand, who killed his mother and is probably
responsible for his sister's disappearance. Why do you think he's under
any stress?
10. Q: Can the Power really be used to make you different? [This arose as
part of a discussion of Illusion ("Mirror of Mists" is an old name for the
same thing).]
A: Illusion is illusion. Doesn't fool the sense of touch, so you have
to be really subtle (such as Moghedien's disguise) to avoid detection.
Q: So Sammael couldn't make himself taller?
A: He could make himself _look_ taller, but he's not interested in
_looking_ taller. He wants to _be_ taller. Besides, any sufficiently
experienced man would be able to tell that it was illusion.
Q: So the Power really isn't capable of genetic reconstruction? (Like,
for example, making you taller.)
A: Maybe, in the Age of Legends, someone might have been able to pull it
off, if they were _really_ skilled. Might have.
Q: Like Aginor? He seemed to be the expert among the Forsaken on that.
A: Aginor was d**n good, but he wasn't that good.
11. Q: What about your characters? Are there any of them you don't like?
A: You have to like a character to get inside of them, to make them real
_to the reader_. Ever read a book where several characters felt _right_,
and one of them was just _wrong_, where your reaction is "That can't be a
real person?" If so, odds are that the writer didn't like that character.
I get into each of my characters. For instance, I'm really a mean SOB when
I'm writing Semirhage.
12. Q: Which of the three (Elayne, Min, Aviendha) do you like best? I'm not
asking which one Rand is going to get; which one is _your_ favorite.
A: All my female characters are based on my wife. Am I supposed to
dislike something about her?
13. Finally, Jordan refused to either confirm or deny
(a) if Bela was _ta'veren_
(b) that Bela was a Darkfriend
(c) whether Bela killed Asmodean.
Comments invited!
Tony Z
P.S. That isn't a Trolloc horn on his cane, it's an English ram's horn.
--
"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its
swiftness. I love that which they defend, the city of the Men of Numenor."
--- Faramir, _The Two Towers_
Joe Bezdek
> He DID say that he had done some things in response to net.speculations.
Hm. I certainly hope he's very careful with this. I'd really hate to
think that my or anyone else's wild ruminations about the series would
cause Jordan to change future books in some way. GACK.
Joe
Lews Therin
: In article <CyA3r...@eskimo.com>, to...@eskimo.com (Tony Zbaraschuk)
Actually, I think that's pretty incredible that an author will listen to
his fans and the feedback that they (even unwittingly) produce enough to
use them as a sounding board for how well he's doing his job. If you
recall, Jordan hasn't changed major plot devices, merely the treatment of
how much/little he foreshadows certain things.
Part of good writing is to not constantly be taking the reader by
surprise; things shouldn't always happen with no warning, just as they
should never always happen with lots of warning. For most of the series,
I've been able to sit back and point to subtle clues that add up to
enough info to tell me what's going to happen (next major plot device),
but there has been at least one scene from every book that just totally
took me in shock going, "What the???" And then I'd go look back and,
sure enough, there were the clues, but I missed 'em.
Besides, would you rather that Jordan changed the series in response to
his loving, devoted fans <grin> or to his money-grubbing publishers? <laugh>
-- Lews Therin