Seattle Signing
Edward Liu
fresh) and I was able to find out a few interesting things. I was able to
ask him 10-15 questions--anyone top that?. It seems most people didn't have
questions for RJ and so I was albe to stay near RJ after I got my LoC signed
and listen to what he said and occasionally ask him something. I was able to
do this for about an hour and a half and I even got to help him stack up books
that he signed! Alright, I'll get to the point now.
Channeling saidin and the taint:
As some of you know, there was a pretty big debate over this topic, especially
whether Thom could or couldn't channel, which I participated in. Well, I'm
happy to say that I was mostly correct in my theories. What RJ said was that
once a man channeled he will inevitably die (if nothing else kills him first)
as a result of the taint, whether from going mad and getting himself killed or
from the wasting sickness. When I asked him if continued channeling only
speeded up the tainting, he said yes. So the theory that tainting only occurs
upon channeling is incorrect as well as the conclusion that a man will only
go mad or waste away after years of frequent channeling. The important thing
is that once you've channeled, you're doomed. I'm not sure whether if it's the
first time you grasp saidin or the first time you channel that counts. He said
yes when I asked him something to the effect of, "When a man channels early in
his life and never channels again, will he go mad or die from the wasting
sickness?" I'd guess it's the latter, but I'm not sure. He pointed out that
once a man channels he basically cannot stop himself. He (the man) becomes
addicted to it; RJ made an analogy to a junkie: he might want to stop but
can't. I know some of you might think, "Well he eventually dies becasue he
can't stop himself from channeling, thus it doesn't mean tainting is a process
unaffected by the amount you channel." Realizing this I asked, "Theoretically
if he channeled once and never channeled again, would he still die?" The
response was still a yes.
Now, regarding Thom, those who argued that Thom could channel are correct. RJ
said a man will not go mad or sick away if he never channeled. Thus, he agreed
that a male channeler who could be taught to channel (as opposed to having the
inborn ability) and has never channeled would not die from the taint. BUT,
when I asked him if he ever intended to make people think that Thom could
channel, he said no. I brought up the hereditary point (i.e. Owen) but he
said just because your parents have a particular gene doesn't mean you'll
receive that particular gene. Also he made a point that Owen was his nephew
so therefore not necessarily very similar gene-wise. When I pressed him again
on it, he said (I'm quoting) "There is no way in hell Thom can channel."
All he offered for explanations is that Thom is a "mysterious man." Enough
said.
I told him about the theory, which someone posted, that Taim is Demandred who
will eventually be discovered and killed with Logain replacing him. He sounded
interested at first, but then he laughed (I think about the part of Logain
replacing him as the teacher of the Asha'man). And ofcourse he said, "Read and
find out."
He said the amount he writes on a single day varies widely. He said slow days
could be 8-10 pages and fast days up to 30.
Someone asked him about bonding between AS and Gai'shan. He said that the
ability to locate the other is not at all an exact ability. He said something
like they can sense distance only in the sense that the feeling of the other
person becomes stronger or weaker. I suppose this is nothing new.
I asked him of the three women in love with Rand who he (RJ) preferred, he said
because all the women characters were based on his wife, he couldn't say
which he liked most. Maybe I was getting too personal. Dunno.
Oh yes, this is interesting. I asked him if what he has read on the net has
ever affected what he writes. He said if many people correctly theorizes what
will happen latter on, he tries to put less clues of what will happen in the
future. Also he said that if he finds out that too many people have a totally
wrong idea of something, he occasionally tries to put in a clue hinting to
what is actually right.
Well, that's all I remember at this point maybe I'll remeber something later.