Beginnings of cast and crew

[Marek Mercury]

Has anyone else noticed there is the start of a cast list and crew for WoT TV on IMDB?

Some very interesting choices for cast. I'm going to have to go back to my old archive to makes some comparisons. Does anyone else remember a character named Maksim?

Also, looks like The Eye of the World will be run through in four episodes. If the the Witcher, there'll be tons of exposition to get through a thousand pages in so quickly.


MM

[Chucky@Work]

maanantai 30. joulukuuta 2019 13.32.48 UTC+2 Marek Mercury kirjoitti:

> Has anyone else noticed there is the start of a cast list and crew for WoT TV
> on IMDB?

Ooh, hadn't noticed that! Just been following assorted Twitter and YouTube updates about the show, and talking about it on my blog a bit:

https://hatboy.blog/2019/12/05/latest-wheel-of-time-news/

This was from the casting of Loial, Thom, Logain and Fain. Looks fascinating.

> Some very interesting choices for cast. I'm going to have to go back to my
> old archive to makes some comparisons.

The main comparison issue I've found is that most of the casting decisions we made back in the day are now 20 years too old, or too dead, to be cast anymore.

> Does anyone else remember a character named Maksim?

I'm 99% sure there was no character named Maksim. May be a random added guy but why the Hell would you *add* characters to this?

Seems like only one episode is marked in IMDB so far.

> Also, looks like The Eye of the World will be run through in four episodes.
> If the the Witcher, there'll be tons of exposition to get through a thousand
> pages in so quickly.

Maybe they'll just drop us in and let us figure it out as we go. Hopefully they'll be confident enough of a big viewership and a chance to fill in the lore as they get into later seasons.

Not much really happened in The Eye of the World, especially if you minimise the Lord of the Rings ripoffery - that'll shorten it. And four episodes is still a solid four hours. You can make a decent adaptation of a book in four hours.


C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog/

[Marek Mercury]

On Friday, January 3, 2020 at 3:57:28 PM UTC+8, Chucky@Work wrote:
> maanantai 30. joulukuuta 2019 13.32.48 UTC+2 Marek Mercury kirjoitti:
>
> > Has anyone else noticed there is the start of a cast list and crew for WoT TV
> > on IMDB?
>
> Ooh, hadn't noticed that! Just been following assorted Twitter and YouTube updates about the show, and talking about it on my blog a bit:
>
> https://hatboy.blog/2019/12/05/latest-wheel-of-time-news/

Had a quick read. Cool. I'll have to return semi-regularly.

> > Some very interesting choices for cast. I'm going to have to go back to my
> > old archive to makes some comparisons.
>
> The main comparison issue I've found is that most of the casting decisions we made back in the day are now 20 years too old, or too dead, to be cast anymore.

I found my old Wheel of Time Character Archive website and zipfiles that can be downloaded and used at home. I don't have anywhere to publish it online, and I built it mostly with 3.6 HTML, so it's very old. I have one for Path of Daggers, and one updated for Crossroads of Twilight in 2002. Unfortunately, I didn't think to save each book's version as I completed them at the time. The last update was December 2002 for Crossroads of Twilight, and there were 1761 characters. I planned to continue updating but then I got a life. Whoops!


Few characters have skin color mentioned - only 'light features', 'dark features', etc - so there were only my own biases and experience to suggest otherwise. Many of the Two Rivers folks were suggested as having 'dark features'. I kind of remember Caihrienen being described as dark haired (powdered) and pale skinned, Tairens being described as dark like ebony, some northerners having high cheekbones, and Andorians with their red hair.

Interestingly, Padan Fain is described as pale, but like you, I really don't care as long as the actor is good. In the end, it won't matter who looks similar to whom as its fantasy and all can be explained with the breaking of the world. That said, I've been in two minds about the Two Rivers casting. The actors look great, and I am quite excited by an Aboriginal Australian as Egwene. My only thought relates to source material noting a backwater people cut off for 2000 years with few additions from "outsiders". But then, as was argued to Margaret Atwood for Handmaid, given most of the main characters are from the Two Rivers, having all of them from similar backgrounds would be obvious and odd the long run.

Finally, height. This was important to RJ. Rand is supposed to be around 2m tall, 6'7" and very Aiel looking. The fella they have for him looks like an ordinary vaguely slavic European and is 6'2". How will they find Aiel that all look like him? How will he look with bright red hair?

As for Moiraine, she's supposed to be short. Very very short. It's part who her character is. Rosamond Pike is 5'8.5"(174cm). That's above average.

All the other characters look good to great. I don't know their work so who knows. Except for Thom. From my old site: "Tall, lean and long limbed with a stoop in his shoulders, he moved spryly, but not so much since a Myrddraal left him with a limp. He has shaggy white hair and thick snowy mustaches that sometimes quiver. His blue eyes can drill into a person, and are below bushy white brows on a gnarled face." And he can do backflips and juggle nine balls. I don't really see this in square jawed and swarthy Alexandre Willaume. Still, that's that I guess.

>
> > Does anyone else remember a character named Maksim?
>
> I'm 99% sure there was no character named Maksim. May be a random added guy but why the Hell would you *add* characters to this?

There isn't. I checked. I thought maybe he was a warder to Alanna, the Green Aes Sedai. But her warders are Ihvon (also cast) and Owein (not listed).

> > Also, looks like The Eye of the World will be run through in four episodes.

> Not much really happened in The Eye of the World, especially if you minimise the Lord of the Rings ripoffery - that'll shorten it. And four episodes is still a solid four hours. You can make a decent adaptation of a book in four hours.

Good point. Some of my favourite early WOT writing was Mat and Rand's travels from Whitebridge to Caemlyn, but that could be done fairly quickly in an audio visual. And RJ's chapters describing dresses and hair and sniffing will be background. Perrin's transition to wolf and experience with Whitecloaks will take longer if properly written. I'm still really hoping they have learned to show not tell - something they seemed to figure out slowly in the Witcher.


But I've gone on plenty, for now.


MM

[Chucky@Work]

lauantai 4. tammikuuta 2020 5.44.56 UTC+2 Marek Mercury kirjoitti:

> > Ooh, hadn't noticed that! Just been following assorted Twitter and YouTube
> > updates about the show, and talking about it on my blog a bit:
> >
> > https://hatboy.blog/2019/12/05/latest-wheel-of-time-news/
>
> Had a quick read. Cool. I'll have to return semi-regularly.

Excellent! I've mostly been reposting the Steal on there for the last few months after the TV series news went into full swing. But I also post stories and previews and stuff of my own work, and other stuff like political rants and movie reviews that sometimes turn into political rants.

Speaking of political rants, I hope you're doing okay and are not on fire. Did you say you'd moved to Perth? Seems slightly better than over east.

> I found my old Wheel of Time Character Archive website and zipfiles that can
> be downloaded and used at home. I don't have anywhere to publish it online,
> and I built it mostly with 3.6 HTML, so it's very old. I have one for Path of
> Daggers, and one updated for Crossroads of Twilight in 2002. Unfortunately, I
> didn't think to save each book's version as I completed them at the time. The
> last update was December 2002 for Crossroads of Twilight, and there were 1761
> characters. I planned to continue updating but then I got a life. Whoops!

Holy shitballs. And they're adding new ones?

> Few characters have skin color mentioned - only 'light features', 'dark
> features', etc - so there were only my own biases and experience to suggest
> otherwise. Many of the Two Rivers folks were suggested as having 'dark
> features'. I kind of remember Caihrienen being described as dark haired
> (powdered) and pale skinned, Tairens being described as dark like ebony, some
> northerners having high cheekbones, and Andorians with their red hair.

Right, that was my thought as well. I seem to recall the Sea Folk are mentioned as being dark too. But I do really like the way it just doesn't matter, and yet people have found other shit to hate about each other (because they're humans).

I still don't get how the Aiel are blonde and red-haired, but let's see how it all shakes out. I do like the idea that everything was scrambled up in the Breaking of the World, and the Age of Legends was high-tech (or high-magic) so there were people of all colours and creeds all over the place because travel was easy. Sort of like now, the latitude at which you and the thousand generations of ancestors before you doesn't necessarily dictate your genetics.

It also occurred to me that Ebou Dar, with its constant festivals and colourful traditions, was basically India. Never really thought about it before. I'm sure it's been mentioned many times.

> Interestingly, Padan Fain is described as pale, but like you, I really don't
> care as long as the actor is good. In the end, it won't matter who looks
> similar to whom as its fantasy and all can be explained with the breaking of
> the world.

Agreed, and exactly.

> That said, I've been in two minds about the Two Rivers casting. The actors
> look great, and I am quite excited by an Aboriginal Australian as Egwene. My
> only thought relates to source material noting a backwater people cut off for
> 2000 years with few additions from "outsiders". But then, as was argued to
> Margaret Atwood for Handmaid, given most of the main characters are from the
> Two Rivers, having all of them from similar backgrounds would be obvious and
> odd the long run.

Right.

> Finally, height. This was important to RJ. Rand is supposed to be around 2m
> tall, 6'7" and very Aiel looking. The fella they have for him looks like an
> ordinary vaguely slavic European and is 6'2". How will they find Aiel that
> all look like him? How will he look with bright red hair?

Yeah, maybe they'll just downplay that.

> As for Moiraine, she's supposed to be short. Very very short. It's part who
> her character is. Rosamond Pike is 5'8.5"(174cm). That's above average.

Not necessarily vital to her character, although "the little wee person who is super powerful" is a fun concept to play with.

> All the other characters look good to great. I don't know their work so who
> knows. Except for Thom. From my old site: "Tall, lean and long limbed with a
> stoop in his shoulders, he moved spryly, but not so much since a Myrddraal
> left him with a limp. He has shaggy white hair and thick snowy mustaches that
> sometimes quiver. His blue eyes can drill into a person, and are below bushy
> white brows on a gnarled face." And he can do backflips and juggle nine
> balls. I don't really see this in square jawed and swarthy Alexandre
> Willaume. Still, that's that I guess.

Yeah, they're going for "mature but still capable of convincing us he can do backflips". Difficult line to walk with live action.

> > > Does anyone else remember a character named Maksim?
> >
> > I'm 99% sure there was no character named Maksim. May be a random added guy
> > but why the Hell would you *add* characters to this?
>
> There isn't. I checked. I thought maybe he was a warder to Alanna, the Green
> Aes Sedai. But her warders are Ihvon (also cast) and Owein (not listed).

Maybe he replaces Owein for whatever reason? He looks like a Green Ajah Warder.

> Good point. Some of my favourite early WOT writing was Mat and Rand's travels
> from Whitebridge to Caemlyn, but that could be done fairly quickly in an
> audio visual. And RJ's chapters describing dresses and hair and sniffing will
> be background. Perrin's transition to wolf and experience with Whitecloaks
> will take longer if properly written. I'm still really hoping they have
> learned to show not tell - something they seemed to figure out slowly in the
> Witcher.

Yep. Budget limitations will probably mean there's not quite the depth of sets and wardrobe as Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, but a lot of it can go there (not that the first books were as guilty of padding as the later ones). Add in a few lines of doomy gloomy into text at the start to set up what's happened to the world, and you're good to go.

C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog/

[Cassie]

I missed the first announcements but I ame hyped for the series. I will
have to subscribe to Amazon though to see it.

Cassie

[Cassie]

I see that already there will be a lot of debate about how the series
will be and perform. Knowing American series it has to do well otherwise
it will be canceled in no time.

Almost the whole crew is new to me. So for me it would be a fresh start.

Also maybe a new re-read is in order now :)

Cassie

[Chucky@Work]

tiistai 7. tammikuuta 2020 15.33.48 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:

> I see that already there will be a lot of debate about how the series
> will be and perform. Knowing American series it has to do well otherwise
> it will be canceled in no time.

It's nice to see some life stirring in the old newsgroup because of this. I think Amazon Prime Video will be able to pull this off, they haven't (in my limited viewing experience and in my opinion) had a swing and a miss yet. The Expanse, Preacher and Good Omens have all been great, and now that Game of Thrones is gone from HBO and The Witcher is gone from Netflix, this would be a good time for them to step in.

But they can't rush it. There's a *lot* of work to do on this.

> Almost the whole crew is new to me. So for me it would be a fresh start.

Agreed. Even the ones who are sort of "known names" aren't really actors I'm familiar with. Should be interesting.

> Also maybe a new re-read is in order now :)

Maybe! I just have no time to be starting that sort of epic. So many other books to read. But at least editing and reposting the Steal gave me a bit of a refresher on what happened in the series. I may have to finish writing it as the TV show comes out.

C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog/
https://hatboy.blog/tag/steal-of-time/
https://hatboy.blog/2019/07/01/the-lie-of-the-world-part-1/

[Cassie]

On 9-1-2020 08:14, Chucky@Work wrote:
> tiistai 7. tammikuuta 2020 15.33.48 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:
>
>> I see that already there will be a lot of debate about how the series
>> will be and perform. Knowing American series it has to do well otherwise
>> it will be canceled in no time.
>
> It's nice to see some life stirring in the old newsgroup because of this. I think Amazon Prime Video will be able to pull this off, they haven't (in my limited viewing experience and in my opinion) had a swing and a miss yet. The Expanse, Preacher and Good Omens have all been great, and now that Game of Thrones is gone from HBO and The Witcher is gone from Netflix, this would be a good time for them to step in.
>

I have Netflix and they just released the Witcher overhere. I have not
looked at the trailer yet or anything. Looking at the title an
adaptation of the game series?

> But they can't rush it. There's a *lot* of work to do on this.
>
>> Almost the whole crew is new to me. So for me it would be a fresh start.
>
> Agreed. Even the ones who are sort of "known names" aren't really actors I'm familiar with. Should be interesting.

I find that series are doing better on 'fresh' crew than on people you
already know because you have certain expectation regarding these people
then.

>
>> Also maybe a new re-read is in order now :)
>
> Maybe! I just have no time to be starting that sort of epic. So many other books to read. But at least editing and reposting the Steal gave me a bit of a refresher on what happened in the series. I may have to finish writing it as the TV show comes out.
>
> C@w
>

I have to still read that as well. I read parts of it in the old days.
Was I in it? :)

Cassie

[Chucky@Work]

perjantai 10. tammikuuta 2020 20.54.05 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:

> > It's nice to see some life stirring in the old newsgroup because of
> > this. I think Amazon Prime Video will be able to pull this off, they
> > haven't (in my limited viewing experience and in my opinion) had a swing
> > and a miss yet. The Expanse, Preacher and Good Omens have all been
> > great, and now that Game of Thrones is gone from HBO and The Witcher is
> > gone from Netflix, this would be a good time for them to step in.
>
> I have Netflix and they just released the Witcher overhere. I have not
> looked at the trailer yet or anything. Looking at the title an
> adaptation of the game series?

Yeah, there were books first and they were made into a set of games, and now a TV series. Some fans of the books aren't happy with it (what else is new), but most people seem to have loved the show.

I went in completely blind, I'd heard of the games vaguely but never played them, and never read the books. I enjoyed the show a lot, and now we have to wait until next year for the second season. I'm glad it did well.

Janica just bought one of the games on Steam and when I listen to her playing it, it really sounds like the TV show did a great job adapting the story.

> > Agreed. Even the ones who are sort of "known names" aren't really actors
> > I'm familiar with. Should be interesting.
>
> I find that series are doing better on 'fresh' crew than on people you
> already know because you have certain expectation regarding these people
> then.

Agreed. It does risk those new actors always being seen as those characters (like Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow), but many of them manage to escape it. I've seen Peter Dinklage and Maisie Williams in a few things without thinking "Tyrion and Arya", although to be fair Dinklage was in a bunch of stuff before Game of Thrones anyway.

Not sure if these actors will be setting themselves up to be "Rand al'Thor / Perrin Aybara forever" ... I guess it depends on how well the show works.

> > Maybe! I just have no time to be starting that sort of epic. So many
> > other books to read. But at least editing and reposting the Steal gave
> > me a bit of a refresher on what happened in the series. I may have to
> > finish writing it as the TV show comes out.
>

> I have to still read that as well. I read parts of it in the old days.
> Was I in it? :)

Heh, I'm afraid not. I think the last bits I wrote were for "Winter's Heart" in the very early 2000s, you were around but hadn't been in enough arguments for me to be able to make a good caricature of you. I do recall that a lot of the newsgroup guys thought you were a girl, but I had already made that the main part of the joke for He Who Is Shannon[1].

But always room for you to be in the last four books or so! The Latter Day Guard of the Monkeyhouse deserves honourable mention.


- C@h
--
[1] And who now, incidentally, is named Thomas Ravencroft after legally changing his name ... long story, which you can find here:

https://www.amazon.com/Thats-So-Funny-Narcissistic-Mother-ebook/dp/B07NKWX5Q9/

[Cassie]

On 12-1-2020 08:30, Chucky@Work wrote:
> perjantai 10. tammikuuta 2020 20.54.05 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:
>
>>> It's nice to see some life stirring in the old newsgroup because of
>>> this. I think Amazon Prime Video will be able to pull this off, they
>>> haven't (in my limited viewing experience and in my opinion) had a swing
>>> and a miss yet. The Expanse, Preacher and Good Omens have all been
>>> great, and now that Game of Thrones is gone from HBO and The Witcher is
>>> gone from Netflix, this would be a good time for them to step in.
>>
>> I have Netflix and they just released the Witcher overhere. I have not
>> looked at the trailer yet or anything. Looking at the title an
>> adaptation of the game series?
>
> Yeah, there were books first and they were made into a set of games, and now a TV series. Some fans of the books aren't happy with it (what else is new), but most people seem to have loved the show.
>
> I went in completely blind, I'd heard of the games vaguely but never played them, and never read the books. I enjoyed the show a lot, and now we have to wait until next year for the second season. I'm glad it did well.
>
> Janica just bought one of the games on Steam and when I listen to her playing it, it really sounds like the TV show did a great job adapting the story.

I have seen videos of people playing it on YT but the game is not really
for me. I did not know that they were a book adaptation.

>
>>> Agreed. Even the ones who are sort of "known names" aren't really actors
>>> I'm familiar with. Should be interesting.
>>
>> I find that series are doing better on 'fresh' crew than on people you
>> already know because you have certain expectation regarding these people
>> then.
>
> Agreed. It does risk those new actors always being seen as those characters (like Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow), but many of them manage to escape it. I've seen Peter Dinklage and Maisie Williams in a few things without thinking "Tyrion and Arya", although to be fair Dinklage was in a bunch of stuff before Game of Thrones anyway.

True, some actors will always be known because they played a certain
carackter in a series. Also some actors are only good in certain roles.
For instance Vin Diesel in a Romantic movie. Nope! He will always be
cast for the certain type of movies he is known for.

>
> Not sure if these actors will be setting themselves up to be "Rand al'Thor / Perrin Aybara forever" ... I guess it depends on how well the show works.
>
>>> Maybe! I just have no time to be starting that sort of epic. So many
>>> other books to read. But at least editing and reposting the Steal gave
>>> me a bit of a refresher on what happened in the series. I may have to
>>> finish writing it as the TV show comes out.
>>
>> I have to still read that as well. I read parts of it in the old days.
>> Was I in it? :)
>
> Heh, I'm afraid not. I think the last bits I wrote were for "Winter's Heart" in the very early 2000s, you were around but hadn't been in enough arguments for me to be able to make a good caricature of you. I do recall that a lot of the newsgroup guys thought you were a girl, but I had already made that the main part of the joke for He Who Is Shannon[1].
>
> But always room for you to be in the last four books or so! The Latter Day Guard of the Monkeyhouse deserves honourable mention.
>

LOL! Then I deserve indeed a good part :). I remember the endless joke
of me being a she. The early 2000s were a bit of my dark days back then.
I did not really know then what I know now.

Cassie

[Marek Mercury]

On Tuesday, January 7, 2020 at 2:59:52 PM UTC+8, Chucky@Work wrote:
> lauantai 4. tammikuuta 2020 5.44.56 UTC+2 Marek Mercury kirjoitti:
>
>
> Speaking of political rants, I hope you're doing okay and are not on fire. Did you say you'd moved to Perth? Seems slightly better than over east.

Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you. My family were in the thick of it for New Years Eve, but all are out safely.

>
> > The
> > last update was December 2002 for Crossroads of Twilight, and there were 1761
> > characters. I planned to continue updating but then I got a life. Whoops!
>
> Holy shitballs. And they're adding new ones?

I wonder if they are agglomerations of many other characters. The many innkeepers are represented by one person

> > Few characters have skin color mentioned - only 'light features', 'dark
> > features', etc - so there were only my own biases and experience to suggest
> > otherwise. Many of the Two Rivers folks were suggested as having 'dark
> > features'. I kind of remember Caihrienen being described as dark haired
> > (powdered) and pale skinned, Tairens being described as dark like ebony, some
> > northerners having high cheekbones, and Andorians with their red hair.
>
> Right, that was my thought as well. I seem to recall the Sea Folk are mentioned as being dark too.

Oh yes. With many tattoos.

> But I do really like the way it just doesn't matter, and yet people have found other shit to hate about each other (because they're humans).

Indeed.

> I still don't get how the Aiel are blonde and red-haired, but let's see how it all shakes out.

Scandinavians?

> I do like the idea that everything was scrambled up in the Breaking of the World, and the Age of Legends was high-tech (or high-magic) so there were people of all colours and creeds all over the place because travel was easy. Sort of like now, the latitude at which you and the thousand generations of ancestors before you doesn't necessarily dictate your genetics.
>
> It also occurred to me that Ebou Dar, with its constant festivals and colourful traditions, was basically India. Never really thought about it before. I'm sure it's been mentioned many times.

Interesting thought. But not so much the knife fighting part.

>
> > Interestingly, Padan Fain is described as pale, but like you, I really don't
> > care as long as the actor is good. In the end, it won't matter who looks
> > similar to whom as its fantasy and all can be explained with the breaking of
> > the world.
>
> Agreed, and exactly.
>
> > That said, I've been in two minds about the Two Rivers casting.
>

> Right.

Well don't go on about it!

>
> > Finally, height. This was important to RJ. Rand is supposed to be around 2m
> > tall, 6'7" and very Aiel looking. The fella they have for him looks like an
> > ordinary vaguely slavic European and is 6'2". How will they find Aiel that
> > all look like him? How will he look with bright red hair?
>
> Yeah, maybe they'll just downplay that.

Yeah, height is more of a thing in the books, on screen we all forget after awhile anyway. Even Lotr movies had to constantly remind the viewer that the Hobbits were tiny


> > All the other characters look good to great. Except for Thom. From my old site: "Tall, lean and long limbed with a

> > stoop in his shoulders, he moved spryly, but not so much since a Myrddraal
> > left him with a limp. He has shaggy white hair and thick snowy mustaches that
> > sometimes quiver. His blue eyes can drill into a person, and are below bushy
> > white brows on a gnarled face." And he can do backflips and juggle nine
> > balls. I don't really see this in square jawed and swarthy Alexandre
> > Willaume. Still, that's that I guess.
>
> Yeah, they're going for "mature but still capable of convincing us he can do backflips". Difficult line to walk with live action.

Body double for backflips? And that was only in the first few chapters anyway.

> Yep. Budget limitations will probably mean there's not quite the depth of sets and wardrobe as Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, but a lot of it can go there (not that the first books were as guilty of padding as the later ones). Add in a few lines of doomy gloomy into text at the start to set up what's happened to the world, and you're good to go.

Sniff. *Smooths skirts*


MM

[Marek Mercury]

On Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 2:54:05 AM UTC+8, Cassie wrote:
> On 9-1-2020 08:14, Chucky@Work wrote:
> > tiistai 7. tammikuuta 2020 15.33.48 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:
> >
> >> I see that already there will be a lot of debate about how the series
> >> will be and perform. Knowing American series it has to do well otherwise
> >> it will be canceled in no time.
> >
> > It's nice to see some life stirring in the old newsgroup because of this. I think Amazon Prime Video will be able to pull this off, they haven't (in my limited viewing experience and in my opinion) had a swing and a miss yet. The Expanse, Preacher and Good Omens have all been great, and now that Game of Thrones is gone from HBO and The Witcher is gone from Netflix, this would be a good time for them to step in.
> >
> I have Netflix and they just released the Witcher overhere. I have not
> looked at the trailer yet or anything.

I came into Witcher completely cold. The first few episodes were full of confusing edits, big jumps in plot, and exposition dialogue that really weighed it down and made it all quite confusing. Once they got past that, it kicked into gear and was enjoyable and a bit of a romp.

> >> Also maybe a new re-read is in order now :)
> >
> > Maybe! I just have no time to be starting that sort of epic.

Not a difficult read, just a long one. I think there were about a thousand plot strands that weren't dealt with in the end.

MM

[Chucky@Work]

sunnuntai 12. tammikuuta 2020 18.57.34 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:

> LOL! Then I deserve indeed a good part :). I remember the endless joke
> of me being a she. The early 2000s were a bit of my dark days back then.
> I did not really know then what I know now.

True for all of us, really. Bloody Hell, 2020.

C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog/

[Chucky@Work]

maanantai 13. tammikuuta 2020 6.34.22 UTC+2 Marek Mercury kirjoitti:

> Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you. My family were in the thick of it for New Years
> Eve, but all are out safely.

Good to hear.

> I wonder if they are agglomerations of many other characters. The many
> innkeepers are represented by one person

Yeah, that could be. Also, on reflection I guess I'd be surprised if they went 1:1 on the cast of books and show. Like you say, there were over a thousand randos and they all want paying so - yeah, no.

Game of Thrones did a ton of rearrangement of characters, Lord of the Rings hardly any. I guess those will be our two benchmarks, if not our two extremes. And one character name we don't recognise ain't bad.

Just a shame we need to wait until the end of this year!

> > I still don't get how the Aiel are blonde and red-haired, but let's see how
> > it all shakes out.
>
> Scandinavians?

Giant Scandinavian ninjas, yeah.

> > It also occurred to me that Ebou Dar, with its constant festivals and
> > colourful traditions, was basically India. Never really thought about it
> > before. I'm sure it's been mentioned many times.
>
> Interesting thought. But not so much the knife fighting part.

True, I liked the marriage knife concept. If I'd been a bit more of a Wheel of Time geek (okay, that's not really possible but would you believe "if I had more money and time"?), I would have gone with something like that for my own wedding.

Hell, 20th anniversary coming up this year, maybe I can go with it after all?

And of course Nynaeve was sporting a dot on her forehead after marrying because that was a Malkieri tradition, so that was sort of India too (in my ignorant view)?

> > Yep. Budget limitations will probably mean there's not quite the depth of
> > sets and wardrobe as Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, but a lot of it
> > can go there (not that the first books were as guilty of padding as the
> > later ones). Add in a few lines of doomy gloomy into text at the start to
> > set up what's happened to the world, and you're good to go.
>
> Sniff. *Smooths skirts*

And he's away!

C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog/

[Cassie]

Yep. I would not like to go back to that. Already 41 years old. LOL.

[Cassie]

That's because then we would have to read 20 books more to see al those
endings first :)

Cassie

[David DeLaney]

On 2020-01-13, Cassie <cassi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> That's because then we would have to read 20 books more to see al those
> endings first :)

add. to. CART.

Dave, Brandon Sanderson seemed to have ironed out his Mat difficulties, but
he's now slowed down his book output for his OWN ten-book series, so we'd be
back on tenterhooks waiting again, but I say BRING IT ON
--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "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. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
my gatekeeper archives are no longer accessible :( / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[Cassie]

On 15-1-2020 11:43, David DeLaney wrote:
> On 2020-01-13, Cassie <cassi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> That's because then we would have to read 20 books more to see al those
>> endings first :)
>
> add. to. CART.
>
> Dave, Brandon Sanderson seemed to have ironed out his Mat difficulties, but
> he's now slowed down his book output for his OWN ten-book series, so we'd be
> back on tenterhooks waiting again, but I say BRING IT ON
>

I am halfway with his book 'The Way of Kings'. Part 1 of a series. Its a
good read so far.

Any thoughts about his books? I found that he did a good job ending the
Robert Jordan series and I find that his book is also a good book.

Cassie

[Chucky@Work]

keskiviikko 15. tammikuuta 2020 22.19.01 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:

> > Dave, Brandon Sanderson seemed to have ironed out his Mat difficulties, but
> > he's now slowed down his book output for his OWN ten-book series, so we'd
> > be back on tenterhooks waiting again, but I say BRING IT ON
>
> I am halfway with his book 'The Way of Kings'. Part 1 of a series. Its a
> good read so far.

Agreed, I really enjoyed them.

I have to admit, I stopped nearly-halfway through the latest one (Oathbringer) because I found it impossible to get into. Most of that was me though, I do not have a stable and peaceful home life that enables me to read 10-20 pages of a giant tome in a sitting anymore. I'm lucky to get a page read in between all the shit that's going on.

Apparently the book really picks up after the halfway point but I just couldn't get there.

https://hatboy.blog/2018/11/14/oathbringer/

They are all great, though.

> Any thoughts about his books? I found that he did a good job ending the
> Robert Jordan series and I find that his book is also a good book.

His young adult series (Reckoners) is also good, although I have only read Steelheart. If you saw "The Boys" - another Amazon TV series so you may not have caught it - it's basically a dark superhero story a bit like Watchmen.

Have yet to read anything by Sanderson I didn't like.

https://hatboy.blog/2018/08/30/arcanum-unbounded-a-review/



C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog

[Cassie]

On 17-1-2020 14:42, Chucky@Work wrote:
> keskiviikko 15. tammikuuta 2020 22.19.01 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:
>
>>> Dave, Brandon Sanderson seemed to have ironed out his Mat difficulties, but
>>> he's now slowed down his book output for his OWN ten-book series, so we'd
>>> be back on tenterhooks waiting again, but I say BRING IT ON
>>
>> I am halfway with his book 'The Way of Kings'. Part 1 of a series. Its a
>> good read so far.
>
> Agreed, I really enjoyed them.

I am still in book 1. How many are there in this series?

>
> I have to admit, I stopped nearly-halfway through the latest one (Oathbringer) because I found it impossible to get into. Most of that was me though, I do not have a stable and peaceful home life that enables me to read 10-20 pages of a giant tome in a sitting anymore. I'm lucky to get a page read in between all the shit that's going on.
>
> Apparently the book really picks up after the halfway point but I just couldn't get there.
>
> https://hatboy.blog/2018/11/14/oathbringer/
>
> They are all great, though.
>
>> Any thoughts about his books? I found that he did a good job ending the
>> Robert Jordan series and I find that his book is also a good book.
>
> His young adult series (Reckoners) is also good, although I have only read Steelheart. If you saw "The Boys" - another Amazon TV series so you may not have caught it - it's basically a dark superhero story a bit like Watchmen.
>
> Have yet to read anything by Sanderson I didn't like.
>
> https://hatboy.blog/2018/08/30/arcanum-unbounded-a-review/
>
>

I find him a good writer also. Hopefully I can read more of him these
years :)

Cassie

[Chucky@Work]

lauantai 18. tammikuuta 2020 0.09.23 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:

> >> I am halfway with his book 'The Way of Kings'. Part 1 of a series. Its
> >> a good read so far.
> >
> > Agreed, I really enjoyed them.
>
> I am still in book 1. How many are there in this series?

I want to say three in that series so far? Yeah, The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer. Fourth book is meant to be out in November 2020.

He has another series called the Mistborn which has seven books and people have good things to say, but I haven't read them.

In fact he has a *ton* of stuff, a lot of it set in the same expanded universe (the Cosmere).


C@h
--
https://hatboy.blog/

[Cassie]

Long way to go then :)

Cassie

[Chucky@Work]

sunnuntai 19. tammikuuta 2020 23.00.02 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:

> >> I am still in book 1. How many are there in this series?
> >
> > I want to say three in that series so far? Yeah, The Way of Kings, Words of
> > Radiance, Oathbringer. Fourth book is meant to be out in November 2020.
> >
> > He has another series called the Mistborn which has seven books and people
> > have good things to say, but I haven't read them.
> >
> > In fact he has a *ton* of stuff, a lot of it set in the same expanded
> > universe (the Cosmere).
>
> Long way to go then :)

Absolutely. I seem to recall he was confidently claiming the Cosmere set, or possibly just the Stormlight Archive (the Way of Kings series), was going to be 20+ books?

But then epic fantasy authors do go a bit nuts with those sorts of claims when they taste a little bit of publishing success.



C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog/

[Cassie]

If it goes that lenght I hope that he will finish it sooner but I hope
that it will not go that far. Max 6-8 books is fine for a series. I have
read some good series of only 3 books.

Cassie

[Chucky@Work]

lauantai 25. tammikuuta 2020 18.48.08 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:

> > Absolutely. I seem to recall he was confidently claiming the Cosmere set,
> > or possibly just the Stormlight Archive (the Way of Kings series), was
> > going to be 20+ books?
> >
> > But then epic fantasy authors do go a bit nuts with those sorts of claims
> > when they taste a little bit of publishing success.
>

> If it goes that lenght I hope that he will finish it sooner but I hope
> that it will not go that far. Max 6-8 books is fine for a series. I have
> read some good series of only 3 books.

Oh yeah, I am perfectly happy for a book series to have that many books (Pratchett's Discworld, arguably Stephen King's entire bibliography), but a continuous serial-style story? Not sure about that.

I would think that each of his series would be 6-8 like you say, then the total will be 20-30+ books. But who knows? That sort of assumes an end to the writing and no author puts a limit on that.


C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog/

[Cassie]

I just finished the first book and I now can see where the story is
going. Some of my mayor questions where answered at the end. Some things
I could not understand, like all those small snit bits at the start of
every chapter, until the end of the book.

Looking forward to part 2!

Cassie

[pand...@gmail.com]

My word, I look away for nearly two years and suddenly there's so much activity!

I think Stormlight is supposed to be 10 volumes, but the Cosmere in general is probably going to be far more than 20 - there'll be 9 just in the Mistborn world alone. All the Cosmere series are more or less stand alone, with some fun bits thrown in for attentive readers, though I expect there'll probably be a crazy crossover event some years down the road.

Oathbringer was much slower, I agree, but I felt it was worth it at the end.

Sanderson's output is just remarkable though - he's published something like a dozen novels (of varying length and complexity) since the last aSoIaF book, to put it in a perspective of pain that, at least, is more numb than it used to be.

S

[Chucky@Work]

keskiviikko 12. helmikuuta 2020 3.20.21 UTC+2 pand...@gmail.com kirjoitti:

> My word, I look away for nearly two years and suddenly there's so much
> activity!

It's funny isn't it, just a brief slip up and so much can change.

There's a TV show in the works and with any luck that will bring some activity back. The actual completion of the series didn't revive the group though, so my hopes aren't high. Usenet is a ghost town.

> I think Stormlight is supposed to be 10 volumes, but the Cosmere in general
> is probably going to be far more than 20 - there'll be 9 just in the Mistborn
> world alone.

Right, I seem to recall there was an article or interview something like that. Epic fantasy authors get pretty carried away.

> All the Cosmere series are more or less stand alone, with some fun bits
> thrown in for attentive readers, though I expect there'll probably be a crazy
> crossover event some years down the road.

*nod* Still not really familiar enough myself. Read the first couple of Stormlight books and really enjoyed them, and liked the short story collections too.

> Oathbringer was much slower, I agree, but I felt it was worth it at the end.

So I'm told. I'll get back to it one day.

> Sanderson's output is just remarkable though - he's published something like
> a dozen novels (of varying length and complexity) since the last aSoIaF book,
> to put it in a perspective of pain that, at least, is more numb than it used
> to be.

Heh, yeah. I realised a while ago that measuring myself against Martin is lame, and measuring myself against Sanderson is annoying.

Mainly because I know I could outproduce him if I didn't also have to work a full-time job. Professional authors are lazy dogs.



C@w
--
Buy my booooooooks

https://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Hindle/e/B008M6BBM0/

[Cassie]

On 12-2-2020 02:20, pand...@gmail.com wrote:
> My word, I look away for nearly two years and suddenly there's so much activity!
>

Yep. 3 whole souls atm. Where are the old days of Usenet :)

> I think Stormlight is supposed to be 10 volumes, but the Cosmere in general is probably going to be far more than 20 - there'll be 9 just in the Mistborn world alone. All the Cosmere series are more or less stand alone, with some fun bits thrown in for attentive readers, though I expect there'll probably be a crazy crossover event some years down the road.
>

If that is true it will be a long series I think.

> Oathbringer was much slower, I agree, but I felt it was worth it at the end.
>
> Sanderson's output is just remarkable though - he's published something like a dozen novels (of varying length and complexity) since the last aSoIaF book, to put it in a perspective of pain that, at least, is more numb than it used to be.
>

That is indeed a big output.

Cassie

[Marek Mercury]

On Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 1:54:05 AM UTC+8, Cassie wrote:
> On 12-2-2020 02:20, pand...@gmail.com wrote:
> > My word, I look away for nearly two years and suddenly there's so much activity!
> >
>
> Yep. 3 whole souls atm. Where are the old days of Usenet :)

It would be four, but I don't have a soul.

I'm sporadic, but around.

MM

[Cassie]

Ok. 4 souls :)

Cassie

[Chucky@Work]

torstai 20. helmikuuta 2020 18.53.00 UTC+2 Cassie kirjoitti:

> >> Yep. 3 whole souls atm. Where are the old days of Usenet :)
> >
> > It would be four, but I don't have a soul.
> >
> > I'm sporadic, but around.
>
> Ok. 4 souls :)

To be fair, the Monkeyhouse never had that many souls. Just soulless hooting apes of the highest quality.

C@w
--
https://hatboy.blog/

[Cassie]

Also very true! :)

Cassie

[David DeLaney]

On 2020-02-18, Cassie <cassi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Yep. 3 whole souls atm. Where are the old days of Usenet :)

{sfx: reverb} YOU RANG??2? {/sfx}

Dave, i vas there, shar-lie

>> All the Cosmere series are more or less stand alone, with some fun bits
thrown in for attentive readers, though I expect there'll probably be a crazy
crossover event some years down the road.

He's published a book of short stories set in various Cosmere worlds, including
some we hadn't seen yet - _Arcanum Unbound the Cosmere Collection_. I own 13 of
his non-WoT books, and have read one more from the library, so far.

Recommended.

Dave-Bob says two exclamation points up

[Chucky@Work]

keskiviikko 4. maaliskuuta 2020 11.23.15 UTC+2 David DeLaney kirjoitti:

> > Yep. 3 whole souls atm. Where are the old days of Usenet :)
>
> {sfx: reverb} YOU RANG??2? {/sfx}
>
> Dave, i vas there, shar-lie

Oooh, I remember you.

Still 3 souls.

> >> All the Cosmere series are more or less stand alone, with some fun bits
>> thrown in for attentive readers, though I expect there'll probably be a
>> crazy crossover event some years down the road.
>
> He's published a book of short stories set in various Cosmere worlds,
> including some we hadn't seen yet - _Arcanum Unbound the Cosmere
> Collection_. I own 13 of his non-WoT books, and have read one more from
> the library, so far.
>
> Recommended.

Yup, it's a good short story collection (https://hatboy.blog/2018/08/30/arcanum-unbounded-a-review/). I will probably finish the previous Stormlight book when the next one comes out (https://hatboy.blog/2018/11/14/oathbringer/). And I suddenly realised I'm talking in links, like Squiggle (https://hatboy.blog/2019/11/10/the-farce-of-heaven-part-8/).



C@h
--
https://hatboy.blog/