Date: 1994-10-17
Type: Paraphrased
Location: Atlanta, GA
Reporter: Erica Sadun
No spoilers.
Heights:
Rand—6’6”
Perrin—6’2”
Mat—5’11.5”
Aviendha—5’8-5’9
Elayne—5’6”
Nynaeve—5’4”
Egwene—5’2”
Moiraine—5’0-5’2
Easing the Badger: An in joke between RJ and wife. “A ceremony.”
Chicago: “In Chicago, the bookstores were recommending hotels. They doubled their book order.”
Covers: Rand originally had Darrel K. Sweet’s build. Finally he’s tall enough. The monkey girl is Egwene. “They’re fine.” (the covers)
World Design: about 10 years before writing commenced. Stopped being a nuclear engineer to write.
Tam and Rand: Originally same character—the soldier comes home to a small town. He is not Farstrider. He is a blademaster and Second Captain in Illian.
Red Ajah: not all lesbians—just manhaters. RJ knows non-manhating lesbians. Not based at all on Agnes Scott girls. Based on some girls he knew as a child.
All women in Randland—based on his wife. “Does she tug her hair?” “No. Mine.”
Verin: “I don’t know what she’d drink but I drink very strong coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon and evenings.” (A description of exactly how strong the coffee is followed.)
Girl at Citadel: “She is a liar. She and the guidance counselor deliberately whited out all references to her gender.” (Followed by about 10 minutes of impassioned talk about how running in combat boots saved his life in Vietnam—fascinating, touching and irreproducible.)
Sniffs and Snorts—you have to decide which sounds sound like what. “Siuan snorts”. (Why do women sniff and men snort?)
How many books?—”I don’t know. Two, maybe three, maybe four. I know the last scene. But after I write the last scene that is all there is for these characters.” (No Eddings sequels) “Maybe a series in another Age.”
What other books?—”More books planned than I have years to write them.”
Language—It is planned. Based on Russian, Chinese and a bit of Spanish with a lot of Gaelic thrown in.
Cultures of influence—he’s real big on Chinese history right now.
Why the swords?—As in Japan, gunpowder is suppressed so martial arts are developed and are based on the sword and on agricultural implements.
When did you start reading?
Age four. Started with The Letters of Thomas Jefferson and Forever Amber . After, when he got a library card, he found the children’s section extremely limiting.
Will we see Jain Farstrider?
Read the books. If he’s not seen by the last page, he’s not in there.
The dagger—could Mat have chosen anything else?
Yes, but he wouldn’t be Mat then, would he? A dagger would attract him more than a chalice or whatever. It’s easy to stick it in the belt.
Is Bela ta’veren ?
He quoted John Novak’s Darkfriend Social scene. (He called it the “Darkfriend Social”. He got the name from Judy.)
Do you get to keep your frequent flier miles on this tour?
Yes. And he’s going to Sweden next year for the Swedish sci-fi convention.
Are the sword forms based on reality?
Sort of based on Taekwondo and Karate—but from books, not experience.
Isn’t Lord of Chaos half of a book?
Yes. He wanted to experiment. There’s something else which is experimental, but he won’t say what.
I asked Erica about this concept that Lord of Chaos is ‘half a book’, since it was mentioned a lot in reports of the period. I told her I thought it was odd, since now (2011) Lord of Chaos is by and far one of the fan favorites. It’s interesting, because the older fans generally tend to favor books 1-3, and Erica herself was most impressed by The Dragon Reborn . One has to wonder if RJ didn’t slow down to show them what ‘half a book’ was really like (aside from being worn out after completing his six-book contract with book-a-year deadlines).
What is the world called?
Earth.
What about Randland?
Chuckle.
The fandom calls it ‘Randland’, but this is not very helpful since it is used to refer to both the planet itself and the continent bordered by the Aryth Ocean, Blight, Dragonwall, and Sea of Storms.
Why did Mat’s battle happen off screen?
That’s the way battles really happen. You don’t actually see anything happen from the point of view, it’s all a matter of waiting and trying not to die.
What’s the title of the next book?
Haven’t decided.
Is the “binding like criminals” meant to be using the Oath Rod?
No comment.
Unasked but may be answerable by his rules:
When Morgase thought “two beautiful children”, was she thinking of Gawyn and Elayne or Gawyn and Galad?
Was the Verin “Moiraine sent me”/”I did not send her” incident a mistake or plot device?
Why did Ishamael split in two at the end of The Dragon Reborn ?
Who was Kari al’Thor? And what did it mean to be second captain in Illian?
Is Egwene the reincarnation of Eldrene of Manetheren? And is Eldrene’s veil significant?
Is Lews Therin Beidomon?
Is there organized religion in Randland?
What did your readers guess that you thought they’d never pick up on because you thought it was too subtle?
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