Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
T.McCormick
Well here's my story, back in November I sent an email to the
SF-Lovers asking if anybody had any questions they wanted Robert
Jordan author of the Wheel of Time asked as I was going to a book
signing of his, here in Glasgow.
However to my dismay, I discovered I couldn't make it to the book
signing in the afternoon, so I typed a small letter to Robert Jordan
explaining my situation and including a list of the questions which I
had received via the internet, asking if he could possibly answer the
questions at his leisure. I also give him a copy of the Wheel of Time
FAQ which I had received via email and which I had printed and
bound.
A couple of weeks later I received a reply.
I would have emailed this response to Sf-lovers sooner however my
rights to the network had been restricted, however my position has
now changed and what follows is the questions I posed then the
letter he sent me.
*************************************
Questions
*************************************
Question 1
When will the next book be released (UK & USA) and what will it be
titled?
Question 2
Do you currently think it will be 7 or 8 books total, also will the books
continue to remain as 'chunky' as tFoH
& tSR?
Question 3
In tFoH, in the chapters "The Far Snows" and "A Short Spear," was
the timing of events deliberately precalculated by him, or not? If the
first is true, I'm not asking for an explanation -- presumably we'll get
that in a later book. I'm just asking for a yes or a no.
(If he wants to know why the question was put, please just say the
two words "time zones.")
Question 4
Ask him if he knows about all the Jordan junkies on the network.
Tell him we love his books and are frenzied to know when the next
one is coming out. Get him to confirm that Verin is not Black. (not
that he will of course; then again, those of us who know, know
that she isn't) Please find out if Lews Therin balefired himself in the
prologue in EotW, or if he just drew too much of the OP. If it isn't
critical to the continuing plot, I'm sure he'll say.
Question 5
We don't want to pry however it was rumoured that you had suffered
a heart attack recently and your devoted readers are concerned for
your welfare;
Question 6
What is the name of the next book and will Perrin be in it a bit more
than tFoH.
Question 7
I have found and read your Conan books, however are there any
other books that you have had published and are there any other
books unrelated to the Wheel of Time that you are working on?
********************************************
Robert Jordans Reply
********************************************
I found the compendium fascinating. It is startling how much your
group has puzzled out correctly, but I have to tell you that some of
what you worked out is wrong, concerning both me and the books,
but I have it in mind not to tell you which parts. That way you can
have the pleasure of figuring out for yourselves where you went
astray. (Easy to say that when I'm four or five thousand miles away.)
With regard to the covers, both my editor and I have fought long and
hard to get them to be the way they should be. And obviously with a
high futility quotient. Countless descriptions of Trollocs, pointing out
that Rand is approximately 6'5"--'6" tall, descriptions of the swords,
of Perrin's axe, etc.
The "dwarf Moiraine on a pony" problem was only the first, along
with Lan being in armour and the Robin Hood clothes. I do not
assign blame. On those occasions when either my editor or I have
been able to speak directly to Darryl Sweet, the problems in
sketches have been solved handily for the most part. (You did not
realise that there were discrepancies in the sketches which never
made it onto the covers, did you?) Sometimes you just give up after
awhile; with Rand's height, for instance. After five books showing
him as maybe 6' tall, I've simply bagged trying for the extra 6". As
for the changing hair colours, I fear you must look to the printing
process for that blame. When we see the cover painting, all colours
are as we wish them to be, but then we must hope that the colours
are reproduced with some degree of faithfulness on the actual
covers. The expense of printing covers and/or dust jackets is such
that no publisher is going to throw away a set and reprint simply
because the characters' hair has changed colour.
Now for your questions.
l) The next book (#6; Lord OF CHAOS) should be released in the UK
in November 1994. I'd have it out quicker if I could, but it does take a
little time to write these books.
2) At present I am indeed hoping to complete the cycle in either
seven or eight books. I am 90% confident that I can do it in seven,
95% confident that I can by eight. The thing is, as a famous manager
of an American baseball team once said: "It ain't over till it's over." I
know the last scene of the last book and the resolutions of all the
major story lines. I have known these things since the very
beginning. It is just a matter of getting there. And I am afraid the rest
of the books very likely will be as large as SHADOW and FIRES.
Sorry. I've been thinking about asking the publisher to include a
shoulder strap. At least I haven't topped a thousand pages in
Hardcover yet.
3) Yes, the timing was calculated. I know how far to the west
Seanchan lies.
4) I know about the "Jordan junkies" (ahem! Blush!), now. Lews
Therin did not use balefire on himself; he simply drew as much of
the One Power as he could, then kept on pulling it in. As for Verin:
read and find out. Surely you agree with Oscar Wilde about the
suspense? I will try to keep you right a tiptoe as long as I can.
5) No, I did not have a heart attack, nor any sort of medical problem
whatsoever. My wife did have heart surgery, she has made a full
recovery); this may be the source of the rumours. Many
thanks for your concern.
6) LORD OF CHAOS is the title of number six at present. (See #1.)
A working title, but I like it. As for Perrin, he will definitely be back
sooner or later.
7) I have been a writer for seventeen years now, and have had a
number of other books published (Westerns, international intrigue,
historical fiction), as well as essays, dance review and theatre
criticism, but no other fantasy save the Conan novels. I've written
only one piece of short fiction in my life, aside from school
assignments, and it was never published. I will probably write in
those other genres again from time to time; I enjoy them. I am
working on something unconnected with THE WHEEL OF TIME,
though I have not yet begun writing it. (Books percolate about in my
head for a long time before anything goes onto paper.) It will be the
next thing after THE WHEEL is complete. It will be fantasy, in a
different universe than THE WHEEL.
My editor says it will be people's chance to see a society like the
Seanchan Empire, but that is simply because most of the action will
take place in a culture much like Seanchan. The main male
character, who is shipwrecked there, comes from a place that might
he considered a cross between Elizabethan England and the Italian
city-states of the Renaissance with touches of the seventeenth
century. I intend him to be a man in his thirties, a man of some
experience and worldliness in his own culture (though this does him
only occasional good where he finds himself), in contrast to Rand's
innocence and naiveti. The major female character is a
noblewoman of the land where he is shipwrecked; by the law,
whatever is cast up on the shores of her estates belongs to her: the
ship, its cargo -- its crew. Of course, a good many details will surely
change between now and the commencement of writing (they always
do), but that is the general form. No working title yet beyond
SHIPWRECK. I expect to do the story in two or possibly three books.
As far as any message to the folks on the net.... It is really quite an
honour to find out that so many of you want to discuss my books in
such detail. Frankly, I'm both pleased and amazed that you have put
so much time and effort into it. Well, I hoped Iwas writing something
that would hold people's interest; it seems maybe I have.
One thing -- don't think you've reached bottom in your digging. I tried
to make the books fairly simple on the surface, and quite complex
underneath. You've dug up a number of points that I thought I had
buried well enough that they wouldn't come to light for some time yet
(don't expect me to say which ones), and you've also
dug up one or two that I never buried in the first place (no hints
there, either). Jordan's Law, I think, can better be stated along these
lines: "Ah, you think you know how the game goes now? Very good,
gentlemen. what say we increase the bets just to make it
interesting?".
***************************
End of letter.
***************************
.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|Tom McCormick, Network Supervisor |
|Department of Computer Studies Tel : 041-331-3286 |
|Glasgow Caledonian University Fax : 041-331-3277 |
|Glasgow, G4 OBA Email: T.McC...@Gcal.ac.uk |
| "The Wheel Weaves as The Wheel Wills" R. Jordan |
`---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Edmund Henry Wong
Chad R Orzel <oil...@wam.umd.edu> wrote:
>In article <2poj3s$c...@gaia.internex.net>,
>Chris Russo <ch...@sonicsys.com> wrote:
>>Where's Jordan from? I'm assuming he's not an American, due to the spelling
>>of 'honour'.
More likely it's because the original poster if from the UK and those
people can't even spell their own language right ;')
>Would it help if I swore a solemn oath that I had nothing to do with this?
>"By the Light, and my hope of salvation and rebirth..."
Yeah, as if a Forsaken could be trusted... Moggy was left alive in the
last book; I don't think we should let the same mistake happen with
certain hoaxers.
--
_edmund h. wong__________________
| strm...@uclink2.berkeley.edu | Hypocrisy is the way of the world
| edw...@ocf.berkeley.edu |
|_ed...@ctp.org________________| Conform!
Bloody Bradley Flaming Peterson
[neat story about a letter from Robert Jordan chewed up and spit out]
It's another HOAX! Call the Whitecloaks!
Brad "Robert Jordan didn't say anything. Ever.
He didn't even write the books." Peterson
sl...@cc.usu.edu
David Wren-Hardin
>Hi there,
> Well here's my story, back in November I sent an email to the
>SF-Lovers asking if anybody had any questions they wanted Robert
>Jordan author of the Wheel of Time asked as I was going to a book
>signing of his, here in Glasgow.
>
>However to my dismay, I discovered I couldn't make it to the book
>signing in the afternoon, so I typed a small letter to Robert Jordan
>explaining my situation and including a list of the questions which I
>had received via the internet, asking if he could possibly answer the
>questions at his leisure. I also give him a copy of the Wheel of Time
>FAQ which I had received via email and which I had printed and
>bound.
>
>A couple of weeks later I received a reply.
>
Ha ! You expect me to believe this after the DCDFS hoax (DC DarkFriend Social) ?
I am not so easily captured twice, troller-san. I refuse to believe
_anything_ ANYTHING I read on the net now. A nice try though, subtle -- the
proper references to Verin; it was all there. But I won't get fooled again !
(rights property of the Who, of course.)
--
*****************************************************************************
David Wren-Hardin bd...@quads.uchicago.edu University of Chicago
Thousands of years ago the Egyptians worshipped cats as gods.
Cats have never forgotten this.
Chris Russo
Could be a fake. We're all sensitive to phonies around here, thanks to
certain darkfriends whom I won't mention.
In its favor, it's well written, unpretentious, and doesn't say too much that
would titilate the typical hoaxer's desire for chaos on the net.
Hmmmmm.
Where's Jordan from? I'm assuming he's not an American, due to the spelling
of 'honour'.
Oh well, I hope that after he's finished more (all) of the books, that he
comes back to us and we can talk about our speculations.
I liked the wording of the 'time zones' question.
later,
Chris Russo
Macintosh Software Developer
Sonic Systems, Inc. (408) 736-1900 Ext #107
Sunnyvale, California, US
Chad R Orzel
>
>Could be a fake. We're all sensitive to phonies around here, thanks to
>certain darkfriends whom I won't mention.
>
>In its favor, it's well written, unpretentious, and doesn't say too much that
>would titilate the typical hoaxer's desire for chaos on the net.
>
really believable manner, so everyone thinks it's for real...and then...
And I am offended at the implication that the DCDFS hoax was _not_ well-
written. Jeez, do you have any idea how much time we spent on that thing?
>Hmmmmm.
>
>Where's Jordan from? I'm assuming he's not an American, due to the spelling
>of 'honour'.
>
Nope. He's from Charleston, SC. Mentions it in the "about the author"
notes. Went to the Citadel, and served in Vietnam (if memory serves), so
I'm guessing he's an American...
Anyway, I'm guessing this one is for real. It's too soon after the Great
DCDFS Hoax to try something that obvious. And it's consistent with the
stuff that was going on here on r.a.s.w around the time of the Dublin
book-signing, so it can't be the work of a newbie who missed the last hoax.
(Though the "I lost my newsfeed" thing might explain that...).
Would it help if I swore a solemn oath that I had nothing to do with this?
"By the Light, and my hope of salvation and rebirth..."
Later,
OilCan
Cameron
(Pam Korda) says:
>
>In article <12055.94...@gcal.ac.uk> t...@glasgow-caledonian.ac.UK
>("T.McCormick") writes:
>
>morning, it makes it pretty clear that he reads r.a.sf.w through the
>SF-Lovers mailing list, and thus does not read the RJ posts. hence, I
>doubt he would gain any amusement from tricking us, since he would be
>unable to see the responses. But I'll let you all be your own judges:
>
> Well in short yes, I am telling the truth and I
>have the letter to prove it however that's no good to you as there's
>no way for you to see the letter. However time will prove that I am
>telling the truth as it won't be long before the publishers and
>bookshops get a list of the new books to be released in Autumn. When
>that shows you that RJ as you call him, Mr Jordan (most reverant) to
>me, new book is called Lord of Chaos, you will be able to trust what
>I've said. Does any of that make sense, I mean no-one in the entire
>world should no what his next book is going to be called unless RJ has
>informed them.
>
No-one so ill-informed as to think that the news about the title is a major
scoop is capable of deception. If this guy really thinks that we didn't know
about _LoC_, if he doesn't know that a TOR employee frequents this group, and
has confirmed the relevant details, then he is in no position to be hatching
malevolent schemes intended to deceive us. I think the letter is genuine; it
certainly is innocuous enough. That there is any question about this should
just serve as further reprimand to the hoaxing parties (you know who you are.)
This newsgroup has been poisoned by an unwholesome foetor, rising from your
feet. Bathe, You Bastards!
=======================================================================
Cameron Majidi "It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide"
cx...@psuvm.psu.edu
jh...@vaxc.stevens-tech.edu
>
> Now for your questions.
>
> 4) I know about the "Jordan junkies" (ahem! Blush!), now. Lews
> Therin did not use balefire on himself; he simply drew as much of
> the One Power as he could, then kept on pulling it in. As for Verin:
> read and find out. Surely you agree with Oscar Wilde about the
> suspense? I will try to keep you right a tiptoe as long as I can.
AHA! No mention about Verin's hips! and he didn't say
that she wasn't a DF!! She drinks her coffee black, and that is that.
It sounds to me that with all this discussion of secrets
and his question dodging that...
ROBERT JORDAN IS A DARK FRIEND!!!!
HAAHAHHAAHHHAAHHAAHAHAHHAAHAHHAAHAAAHAHA
=)
grif
"I dodge more balefire in a day than most people
in 2 lifetimes!"
_________________________________________________________________
*Jh...@sitvxa.stevens-tech.edu *
*Hail Eris! Hail Discordia! Follower of the Green Lady, Rogue!*
*And High Druid of Domania! *
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pam Korda
>Hi there,
> Well here's my story, back in November I sent an email to the
>SF-Lovers asking if anybody had any questions they wanted Robert
>Jordan author of the Wheel of Time asked as I was going to a book
>signing of his, here in Glasgow.
[Mr. McCormick's purported Jordan letter munched]
So, is he telling the truth? Here is a letter I got from the guy this
morning, it makes it pretty clear that he reads r.a.sf.w through the
SF-Lovers mailing list, and thus does not read the RJ posts. hence, I
doubt he would gain any amusement from tricking us, since he would be
unable to see the responses. But I'll let you all be your own judges:
--------------------------------
29-Apr-94 14:24:42-GMT,1702;000000000015
Received: from sun2.nsfnet-relay.ac.uk by midway.uchicago.edu for kor2 Fri, 29 Apr 94 09:24:37 CDT
Via: uk.ac.glasgow-poly; Fri, 29 Apr 1994 14:36:53 +0100
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 14:37:34 BST
Message-Id: <28917.94...@gcal.ac.uk>
From: "T.McCormick" <t...@glasgow-caledonian.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
To: Pam Korda <ko...@midway.uchicago.edu>
In-Reply-To: Pam Korda's message of Thu, 28 Apr 94 11:10:08 CDT
Hello there,
Well in short yes, I am telling the truth and I
have the letter to prove it however that's no good to you as there's
no way for you to see the letter. However time will prove that I am
telling the truth as it won't be long before the publishers and
bookshops get a list of the new books to be released in Autumn. When
that shows you that RJ as you call him, Mr Jordan (most reverant) to
me, new book is called Lord of Chaos, you will be able to trust what
I've said. Does any of that make sense, I mean no-one in the entire
world should no what his next book is going to be called unless RJ has
informed them.
I take it your an Wheel of Time Follower like myself then, however I
never seem to find anybody talking about WOT on the SF-Lovers, where
is everybody?
Gotto go,
Bye
Tom.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Tom McCormick, Network Supervisor | |Department of Computer Studies
Tel : 041-331-3286 | |Glasgow Caledonian University Fax : 041-331-3277
| |Glasgow, G4 OB Email: T.McC...@Gcal.ac.uk | | "The Wheel Weaves
as The Wheel Wills" R. Jordan |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
==============================================================================
Pam Korda | To get the jordanFAQ between
Keeper of the Chronicles (FAQueen) | postings, E-mail me, or ftp
ko...@ellis.uchicago.edu | it from faser.cs.olemiss.edu.
==============================================================================
David A Bergman
I think it was in the January (February?) Locus where I saw it first,
but it has been known.
Aaron
Don Harlow
>[Pam Korda's opinions regarding Mr. McCormick's letter crunched to save
> bandwidth.]
>
>No-one so ill-informed as to think that the news about the title is a major
>scoop is capable of deception. If this guy really thinks that we didn't know
>about _LoC_, if he doesn't know that a TOR employee frequents this group, and
>has confirmed the relevant details, then he is in no position to be hatching
>malevolent schemes intended to deceive us. I think the letter is genuine; it
>certainly is innocuous enough. That there is any question about this should
>just serve as further reprimand to the hoaxing parties (you know who you are.)
>This newsgroup has been poisoned by an unwholesome foetor, rising from your
>feet. Bathe, You Bastards!
>
This morning I sent Mr. "Jordan" a letter (snail-mail) c/o Tom Doherty
Associates in NY, to ask a few questions of my own about the series (I
phrased them in such a way that each can be answered with a simple "yes"
or "no" so that he won't have to waste too much time on answering me,
if he decides to do so). I also included a copy of Tom McCormick's
posting of his letter, along with a short explanation of why the "Boy
Who Cried Wolf" syndrome seems to be affecting some of the people on the
net. In a few weeks, other things being equal, I might conceivably
get some verification about the validity of the letter. (I was disturbed
by the consistent -OUR endings on words, as well as the phrase "to bag
it"; on the other hand, there were grammatical lacunae in Mr.
McCormick's writings that were simply not present in Mr. "Jordan"'s
letter.)
--
Don Harlow do...@netcom.com
Esperanto League for N.A. el...@netcom.com (800) 828-5944
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/elna/elna.html Esperanto
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/donh/donh.html
David DeLaney
Captains Outrageous, Roy V. Young, TSR (pb)
A "deliciously zany romp" ... but despite that, TSR stuff's usually worth
reading at least once..
Night of the Eye, Mary Kirchoff, TSR (pb)
Defenders of Magic (DragonLance) v.1; it's a triple-moon alignment in Krynn!
Crown of Fire, Ed Greenwood, TSR (pb)
Sequel to Spellfire, placed in The Harpers collection. Elminster & all...
Burning Bright, Melissa Scott, Tor SF (pb)
"..the biggest celebrities are those who can create new scenarios in the
Game..."; out in paperback
Hell's Feast, Greg Farshtey, West End Fantasy (pb)
A vampire/detective/magic noir novel from West End Games (check your local
gaming store).
Dave "also: a book of Magic Eye SIRDS postcards" DeLaney
--
\/David DeLaney: d...@utkux.utcc.utk.edu; "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. Disclaimer: IM(NS)HO; VRbeableDJK
http://enigma.phys.utk.edu/~dbd for net.legends FAQ+miniFAQs; ftp: cathouse.org
Hank Lee
CC> Where's Jordan from? I'm assuming he's not an American, due to the spelli
CC> of 'honour'.
He's probably from Ireland.
--
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Hank Lee 05/01/94 _|_ |
| _|_ Fido 1:125/217 10:47 | |
| | Internet: hank...@toadhall.com |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
* RM 1.3 00299 * "Peace favor your sword."
Don Harlow
>hank...@toadhall.com (Hank Lee) wrote:
>> CC> Where's Jordan from? I'm assuming he's not an American, due to the spelli
>> CC> of 'honour'.
>>
>> He's probably from Ireland.
>
>who transcribed it...
>
Or it could be an affectation of Jordan's in his private correspondence.
John Novak
>The british spelling of honour in the letter probably came from the guy
>who transcribed it...
Why the assumption.
I know several people who spell honour with an 'ou'.
I'm one of them, when I remember.
--
John S. Novak, III
j...@cegt201.bradley.edu
j...@camelot.bradley.edu
Joe Uno Shaw
> joe...@info1.cc.vt.edu (Joe "Uno" Shaw) writes:
> >The british spelling of honour in the letter probably came from the guy
> >who transcribed it...
> Why the assumption.
> I know several people who spell honour with an 'ou'.
> I'm one of them, when I remember.
Point taken. It was an assumption. Made because the guy who posted the
letter was posting from a .uk address, so IMHO a not too unreasonable
assumption. But Don Harlow's suggestion is equally possible.
But then, it doesn't really matter, does it? :-)
- Joe
--
Joe Uno Shaw
> CC> Where's Jordan from? I'm assuming he's not an American, due to the spelli
> CC> of 'honour'.
>
> He's probably from Ireland.
Nope. From the "About the Author" blurb at the end of all the WoT books:
"Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina, where he
now lives with his wife...."
The british spelling of honour in the letter probably came from the guy
who transcribed it...
- Joe
Rogelio Antonio Padilla
Yeah, but he wouldn't know that we know. We have that nifty PNH to let us know
these things, but the average joe schmuck doesn't have his information, so
this guy wouldn't know that (unless, naturally, that's just what he wants us
think) if he doesn't read rasfw.
Right, whatever, we'll just have to see.
Mech Eng Student
amazing, an American who can spell correctly B-)
TTFN
Roderick Easton
3rd year Student Edinburgh University SCOTLAND
John Novak
> amazing, an American who can spell correctly B-)
Once again, I lament the inadquecies of the ASCII environment to
accurately convey my highly dignified <SNORT>