Rand al’Thor is the son of the farmer Tam in a place called Westwood, where few farmers are brave enough to put their fields. It’s the night before the holiday Bel Tine, and they’re delivering booze to the town Emond’s Field, apparently the main center in this area called Two Rivers, and Rand sees a figure on a black horse, in a black cloak which is completely undisturbed by the wind. And after getting a feeling of pure hatred from the person, he trips over a rock and there’s no one there when he looks back. But I’m sure it’s not a Nazgul!
Upon arrival in Emond’s Field, they briefly run into Wit Congar, one of the town’s chief troublemakers who drops some ominous hints about getting rid of their current Wisdom, a woman who predicts the weather, maybe among other things. She said it would be a good spring, but after a month it’s still like winter and many crops are dying. Sounds like good grounds for dismissal to me, but Wit’s a bit too sleazy about what exactly that will entail. Then his wife Daise shows up and he reverts into Henpecked Husband mode so Rand and Tam make their escape.
Now Jordan pauses for a bit of world building for Two Rivers. Unfortunately, this largely comes off as the locals being a ripoff of Hobbits. They have an agrarian economy, love kicking back in the pub, and take any opportunity to sing and dance. Though there’s also a bit about a maypole ceremony that’s quite a bit more sexually explicit than Tolkien allowed himself to get. Also, Tam’s wife died soon after Rand was born, and for all that time he’s been one of the area’s most eligible bachelors, something they’re both quite uncomfortable with. It’s a nice bit of lighter material that’s quite natural to the situation. And Rand has a crush on Egwene, the daughter of Emond’s Field’s mayor Bran al’Vere.
And Bran’s also the town innkeeper, so we meet him next as Rand and Tam start unloading the cart. Rand meets his friend Mat Cauthon, who also saw the Black Rider (for lack of a better term, I’m sticking with it) three days ago and got the same evil feeling from him. But this doesn’t exactly help Rand prove the man’s existence, as Mat is an Adult Child who keeps pulling pranks, and isn’t exactly a trusted witness. We also meet Cenn Buie, an old man who fixes roofs, and who serves as The Eeyore, saying maybe the bad weather will never let up, and everyone in town will be dead within a year. But then Tam lightens things a bit by entrapping Mat into helping unload.
We meet a few characters, and it was pretty easy to get the hang of who’s who with quick labels I could assign; presumably they’ll get greater depth as the story goes on. For now, it’s all slow buildup, and all the descriptions of the weather and its effects on the land is very atmospheric, and makes me want to know what the deal is. Unfortunately, there’s the issue of the “borrowing” from The Lord Of The Rings. I know, the story influenced the whole genre and any fantasy written afterward is going to show some inspiration from it, but this is going a bit further than I’m comfortable with. Not quite to The Inheritance Cycle levels, but I’m definitely keeping an eye on this.
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