Origins of the Wheel of Time (new book coming in November!)

[Arinna Katal]

https://www.tor.com/2022/02/15/book...-and-mythologies-that-inspired-robert-jordan/

Tor is releasing a new book about all the stuff that inspired WoT. It looks VERY interesting! It'll be out on November 8.

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

Ooh this looks fascinating, especially the "real world glossary" part!

 

[Arella Mathara]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Teavin Calayna]

I'm super excited about this book and to get my hands on it when it comes out. The history lover in me is screaming right along side the WOT lover

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

^ THIS.

 

[Arinna Katal]

I'm super excited about this book and to get my hands on it when it comes out. The history lover in me is screaming right along side the WOT lover

lol I preordered IMMEDIATELY

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

This means my special knowledge as a History Major and WoT lover won't be as special anymore :cry :P

I need this book

 

[Leala ni al'Dareis t'al'Caleum]

Waaaaaaaant. mg

 

[Delara Morellin]

That letter made me sob. Magic is definitely real.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

It's so cool to learn that Michael Livingston found WoT at a bookstore here, where I live. That letter made me tear up, too.

 

[Imzadi Hopewind]

I want it too! So I've asked the lokal bookstore if they're taking it in, since they have all of the Wheel of Time books (Outland).

 

[Ibon Caseï]

Meh. Am I the only one who isn't excited about this?

It feels like trying to milk the hype of the tv-series. A way to make more money of a property that isn't, and never can, producing anything new.

If you want to look up Arthurian myths, there are already great books on that. Same for Norse mythology or whatever other real life subject you want.

 

[Laurien Achaur]

Yet looking at those real life things through the lens of a book series we know and love might increase our interest in those myths and legends all the more - for some of us, at least. It might even introduce some of us to new interests that we might not have even known about before, and therefore compel us to pick up some of those other awesome books. Personally, I'm looking forward to it because while I love mythologies, I'm always up for a new take on them, especially if it shows me something new. All the better that I get to see how they influenced WoT, which I'm still having my eyes opened to!

 

[Veluene al'Myr]

I love mythology. After seeing Star Wars as a child I learnt a lot of it was based on Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey, which got me delving deeply into comparative mythology and just folklore, legends and stories in general. Thus this book is something I am eagerly awaiting and in times like these, with the pandemic and everything else going on, I for one desperately need a rekindling of magic and myth in my day to day life.

 

[Teavin Calayna]

Michael Livingston writing such a personal and heartfelt letter does not make this book feel as though it's a money grab. It feels like a passion project written by a longtime fan about a series he holds close and is special to him. I agree everyone could go and read on what clearly inspired Robert Jordan but that wouldn't go into how those tales and history inspired him or how he put those inspirations into the story he wanted to tell

 

[Viktara Fen]

It is possible, IMO, that it might contain a good bit of insight from his notes, and the chance that there's any new information or material has my interest. For example, although we might reasonably infer that

Spoiler

Lenn and Salyra flying to the moon in the belly of an eagle made of fire is a reference to John Glenn, Sally Ride, and the Apollo lunar program

, we might have definitive, published confirmation of the fact with this book, which changes our relationship to that information. In such a case, it would go from speculation to certainty. That sort of thing alone makes it interesting for me from the perspective of knowledge about and insight into the material.

Facilitating these sorts of publications is likely one of the reasons the James O. Rigney, Jr. collection at Charleston College (i.e., the archive of RJ's papers) has some very tight restrictions on materials access and reproduction until 2037. The estate will want to be able to publish and control certain material for a time to be able to benefit from its publication, so these books may be the only way we will get such things, if we get them at all, until the access restrictions are lifted in 15 years.

Not everyone will care about that, of course, but in my case, that's behind much of my interest in it.

 

[Elucia Nileran]

Oooooooooo thank you so much for sharing. I love lore books.

 

[Thaddius al'Guy]

I don't agree with the sentiment that this is trying to milk anything. I've sat in on panels Livingston has done at JordanCon. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to Mythos of the Wheel of Time. He is definitely a fan first when it comes to this and it's great they're letting him do this. Being a professor of Medieval Literature I would say he's a pretty good candidate for laying out things for people more interested from where Jordan pulled a lot of his references from.

Having a companion glossary for this will save the common person a lot of time having to look it up themselves especially if they don't really know what they're looking for. But then again, it's a book and you don't have to buy it if it's not your jam. I'll very likely get a copy. I'm interested in the new world map they're doing using Jordan's unpublished notes and an alternate scene from EotW early draft.