This week I have completed book 9 of the Wheel of Time. I’m definitely reading someone else next!
Book 2 – Winter’s Heart, by Robert Jordan. As I prepared to write this post, I realised I had no idea what had happened in this book; the storylines are so disparate and there are so many, and the books are so long that I am never sure where one ends and the next begins. I actually quite like that, but it makes it hard to think about each book in isolation. I did prefer this one to the last though.
This week’s WOT post is about the world building that I have enjoyed so much. I’ve based this on three particular elements but there are a number to choose from:
The One Power – this is, in effect, a hybrid of magic and life force. The One Power turns the Wheel of Time but also allows people to create fire, wrap people in air and heal the sick. Jordan has created particular rules about the use of the power and the way the male and female halves behave that make it very easy to accept in the course of the story. I find it interesting that the two main characters without the ability to channel find that they have other extraordinary powers through the course of the story.
Myths and legends – The whole world of the Wheel of time is imbued with myths, legends and half-histories. It is important to the development of the tale that somethings which seem to be myths or legends are in fact real history, even if some of the details change over centuries. It is also very clever to set up a society with particular norms and rules which unravel as their historical basis shows them for what they are: a lost way of life.
Society – This is probably the strongest world building element in the books for me, notwithstanding some irritation, as I have said before, at the casual domestic violence. Societies in the book live – they have their own rules, regulations, laws, fashions, attributes, civic pride and expectation. Nations fight nations, and communities vie with other communities. They are consistent, and the interactions between people of different nations are consistent. Yes, there are issues, but the constant mingling of different people to expose stereotypes for what they are is quite noble, really. Even where differences seem insurmountable, we are reminded that people are people – good, bad or indifferent – wherever they come from.
That’s it for this week. Next week won’t be a WOT book, and I’ll go for something completely different!
Happy reading,
EJ
🙂
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