Live Blogs The Liveblog of Time: The Eye of the World

Eegah2012-03-02 12:19:29

Rand, Mat, and Perrin meet Moiraine and Lan in the stable, with Rand taking his father’s sword, Mat a bow, and Perrin an ax. So they’re Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, then. Normally this wouldn’t get to me, but the “influence” of Lord of the Rings has been strong enough so far that I’m really on the lookout for it now.

Egwene suddenly shows up and invites herself along, just because she’s sick of being stuck in this town, laughing off the idea that she’ll need the men to take care of her and also revealing the clever detective work she did to figure out they were leaving. Still not seeing what’s so sexist about this series. Thom also reveals that he wants to go, so the Trollocs won’t get him here. I don’t think he quite gets the idea. Moiraine accepts them both Because Destiny Says So. That’s going to be her main thing, isn’t it?

This results in a pretty funny sequence where the two more people than they were counting on forces everyone to reconsider the logistics of who rides what. It’s a detail you don’t see much in this kind of story, and appreciated. As they set off, Rand spots another thing tracking them, a large batlike creature called a Draghkar. So, that’s the Crebain from Dunland then. Hey, it’s just too easy.

And finally we’re off. It took a bit longer than it probably should have, but the end result is that I have a very good idea of who all these people are and how they relate to each other right from the start of the journey, rather than having to figure it out as they go. And maybe this is just me being lazy, but I can’t find Tar Valon on the map at the start of the book, so I don’t think they’ll be getting there by the end of this one. Hopefully the way between will provide enough story until whenever it happens.

Comments

Arilou Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 2nd 2012 at 4:04:46 PM

The sexism in the series is really quite... Structural? It's pretty clear that Jordan *means* well. It's just that he has a very essentialist (and a bit weird) view on gender. The end result is a bit of a mess.

Also, he has a thing for spanking, and tends to include it a lot.

Arilou Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 2nd 2012 at 4:06:21 PM

Also, the cast is going to expand, and expand, and expand, and expand. This little adventuring party is going to stay the core of the story, but each of them is going to assemble a supporting cast larger than the original party... And that's not even talking about the villains and antagonists yet...

Eegah Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 2nd 2012 at 4:12:09 PM

Yeah, like I said in the introduction, part of my reason for writing this is to make it easier to keep things straight, with writing this stuff down myself doing more to keep it in my head than just reading it. I've gotten lost several times with A Song Of Ice And Fire and had to do some wary browsing through its wiki trying to avoid spoilers, and I don't want that experience again.

Sabbo Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 2nd 2012 at 6:12:57 PM

The Draghkar is mentioned already? Huh. I'd forgotten that bit.

As for the map, I'm going to assume you have the same version of the book I do (even though it's very possible you don't), so follow these directions:

To start, I'll assume you know where the Two Rivers are. Follow the road from there to the east, passing Whitebridge, Four Kings & Caemlyn until you hit Aringill. From Aringill, follow the river/border north, and you'll hit Tar Valon, right next to Dragonmount.

Eegah Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 2nd 2012 at 7:29:54 PM

Ah, I see it now. Yeah, just lazy then. I'm using the Ipad version, by the way.

Sabbo Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 2nd 2012 at 11:29:19 PM

I see. Well, there are three different maps, so I wasn't (and still aren't) sure which version you'd have. (in the newer (color) version, the directions are the same, but the River Erinin stretches a bit further east & west than in the other versions. In the oldest version (the one I've got), it barely goes east at all.)