I have been reading Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time (WOT) for the umpteenth time. It has become my most read fantasy novel of all time. Why do I read this book series again and again?
Is it Rand's deliberate steps into prophecy or Mat's random and unpredictable successes? Is it the diverse cultures explored and even the ones barely touched or the strange power that women seem to have over men in the world of the WOT?
I can't say what really brings me back to the series. It may be that all of the above together makes the novel series one of the best fantasy series that I have read and I have read some really good ones.
Although Jordan seem to give women something to celebrate in this womencentric series,
there are areas of discrepancy that kind of shrouds his aims and treatment of the theme of a matriarchal society or world.
For example, Rand's relationship with Elayne, a wielder of the one power, the daughter heir and later queen of Andor, Min the seer, who loves men clothes and Aviendha, the redhead spear maiden, later wise one of the Aiel. He manages to be married and be bonded to these three women without any raucous from them.
How was he able to be a lover to three women, in such a society? Was it because of the visions of Min that made it necessary or was it the Pattern that predetermined the necessity for three wives bonded to one man in a world where women had more power than men? Especially when the three women are powerful in their own right.
Although Jordan makes it seem as if Rand has no choice in the matter, it worries people like Nynaeve and Egwene who are sticklers to the ideology of women being supreme over men. What pattern makes it necessary for him to have three wives?
Another is Mat's forays with women before he finally marries Toun, the empress of the Seanchan. Mat is my favourite character in the series. I love his irreverence, his fun loving personality and his reluctance to get involved in any heroic exploit. I also loved the fact that unlike Rand and Perrin who only have a relationship with their wives, he has the opportunity to have different women in his life before marriage ends his philandering ways.
It is not common to find a man or woman who has had a relationship with only one man or woman in their life. Most men tend to go through a slew of women and vice versa before they finally settle on one person and some even after marriage, they still rove. Mat stands out in this aspect among the major characters by acting like a real world man in a world that didn't seem to encourage such kind of life. In fact, Nynaeve and Egwene found his way of life irritating. A gambler and a womanizer, the characteristics most women will not take in a man, they thought to curb his excesses but he is who he is and Jordan gives us the impression that Tuon might be able to settle him down but I doubt that. Mat was born for mischief. In another story, he would be the god of luck and mischief, a veritable Loki. Intact, the loss of his one eye can be compared to Odin's loss of his one eye.
Among the different cultures explored in the series, only the Aiel encourage polygamy and I suspect polyandry as well. They call them sister wives. Considering the Aiel's height, their use of only spears and their view on marriage, they can be compared to the Zulus of Southern Africa in a manner of speaking. But the land they occupy and their style of dressing and living make them more like the desert tribes of Northern Africa and the Middle East.
One thing I find most interesting in the novel series is the total absence of gods in human form as most fantasy novels tend to do. It is a human failing to demand that his gods look like him. That his gods be weak like him. In another world, the wielders of the one power as well as the wielders of the true power would be considered to be gods and goddesses and may be, among the simpler folks, some of these men and women were worshipped in secret but in the general scheme of things, they were seen as men and women with power, power which no one seemed to like except when there was need.
God or the creator as he is known in the series is a faceless entity and this entity is so far removed from the lives of the people that they do not even pray to it or swear by it or seeks its blessings. The closest they get to mentioning him is calling on the 'Light'.
It would seem the wheel of time, the Great pattern, the Age Lace, is reverred and feared more than this far removed creator. As far as the battle against the dark one goes, at no time is anyone found praying to the creator for help to fight, to win the war. At no time, do even the ordinary humans seek their God to help them. They fight evil with physical things; swords, spears, blood, sweat, tears and powers that they sometimes did not understand.
Why is there this far remove from the creator in a world were miracles were performed every day, where people could call thunder from the sky and destroy whole kingdoms with a thought? It would seem that after creating this world, the creator gave them power to determine their destiny and then left them to their own devices. Did Jordan mean something by this? At least we get to read of Shaitan battling Rand at the last battle. We get to understand Shaitan's motivations, though this entity is not given a face.
It is the beauty of the story that gods are left out of it and man is allowed to find his path admittedly along a predetermined direction. Basically a man had freedom of will, to be or not to be as well as to face the consequences of his or her decisions.
Left to their own devices, the wielders of the one power, unsatisfied with what the creator had blessed them with bring about their own destruction. This aspect of the story, to me, feels like a warning to the science community to be wary of how they seek and use knowledge. Some things are best left alone, Robert Jordan seems to be saying. If the seeking for an alternative energy source had not come up, the Age of legends would not have ended with the boring of the hole into the prison of the dark one.
WOT speaks a lot on issues that are relevant in our time but it also delves into some philosophical issues like predestination and reincarnation as well as culling. For Mat, Perrin and Rand, it would seem that they were predestined to walk a certain path without deviation or risk dooming the world. Is this as a result of their special natures or is everyone to some extent predestined to do and be something?
Another question whose answer I seek within the pages of the series with regards to the story itself is the repetition of the fight against the dark one. For the Forsaken especially Baalzamon , the battle between The Dragon Reborn and the dark one has been fought again and again over time with different outcomes. It begs the question, will there be another rebirth, another boring of the hole into the dark one's prison, another rejection of the light, another breaking of the world?
Then there is a part of the story that may be glossed over by some, the culling of men who can channel. Because men who can channel go mad as a result of the taint placed on the male half of the one power by the dark one, the women who can channel have taken it upon themselves to kill any man who can channel. As a result, the gene that gives humans the ability to channel the one power has been slowly culled out of the world. Those who come have become weaker and weaker and many of them novices brought into Tar Valon are not strong enough. This is why the coming of Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve makes the White Tower excited. It is not until the rules guiding the acceptance of novices onto the White Tower are changed by Egwene when she takes the stole of the Amyrlin Seat did they discover far stronger women than believed existed. Are certain abilities being culled out of the human race? Did Robert Jordan seems something in the future?
The novel is an inexplicable journey that sometimes feels dark and scary and later bright and joyful. It opens my eyes to beauty as well as the deception hidden between. It makes one question his reality and identify how easy it is to fall into darkness.
To read about 13 books over and over again and still find it an interesting read is quite a feat. Robert Jordan does for me what Tolkien could not do. He showed me a world bleak and beautiful, cruel and broken, powerful and humble, pulled towards the brink.
I wonder about the end of time as prophesied by different faiths and I wonder if as I type this, there's a man diving into a ship heading for a distant country in order to battle those who lie in the shadow just so I can relax and sip my beer in peace. I do have a vivid imagination eh?
Once again for those who find the fantasy genre to be worth their time, I suggest the Wheel Of Time. If you are a man who sees women as second class citizens or weaker vessels, it is going to be hard reading but I think it is worth it.
In other news, Tor has announced that Amazon has the rights to shoot WOT as a series on television. I hope the TV series is as awesome as the book and not a flop like Goodkind's copy. Good afternoon.
©warpedpoetic, 2019.