Welcome to the final discussion for the Eye of the World read along! It’s been a great run and thank you to all of you for making this book so much fun to read!! I hope you continue with us on to the next one (or join up if you are new :D). We have decided to take a one week break to give everyone a chance to get their ducks in a row (ie get the book) since Nrlymrtl’s hubby and I both are having slight issues getting copies to actually show up when they were supposed to (gah postal service, why do you hate meeeeeee). But the format for the next book is going to be basically the same as this one, reading about 100 pages a week and bouncing between Dab of Darkness and here :). The schedule is up here and I’ll have a reminder for you next weekend as well.

As for this week, Linky is working again, so we’ll be using that :D.

Here is the Linky:

-A

Sunday sunday sunday! This week we are over at Dab of Darkness so make sure to link up :D. Also, of course, there will be spoilers for most of the Eye of the World up to this point!

1) Out of all the minor characters we have come across so far, Lamgwin and his body guarding (of inn and cats) has made me laugh the most. I do hope he gets swept up into things for a bigger piece. Who has been your favorite or most interesting minor character so far? 

I suppose Loial doesn’t count as a minor character anymore huh? The Princess Elayne is pretty awesome I have to say. The was she is found Rand in the garden and reacted was great, since she seems just the kind of girl I would want to be friends with. If I didn’t already want Rand and Egwene to work out, I’d think he would be really cute with Elayne…. I do hope we run into her and her nicer brother again!

2) Hooray! The reunion has finally happened, and the only stain is Mat and his dagger. How do you think Mat’s long-term relationship with his dagger will affect things? 

Hopefully in the next book, we will get Mat to Tar Valon and get him permanently fixed! It did sound like there was hope as soon as more Aes Sedai could work together. And fortunately Moraine seems to have mostly fixed things for now…. I’m just hoping that this doesn’t make any sort of wrinkle in the final battle….

3) Finally, on page 641 (of my book anyway), the boys break and start to tell all to Moiraine. Do you think the Two Rivers folk will trust Moiraine with things more easily in the future? Why didn’t Moiraine strangle the boys there and then (I know I would have!)? 

Finally!!! Hopefully they will, there really isn’t any reason to hold back now after all. She hasn’t threatened them recently and has done plenty to protect and help them (even saving Mat’s life directly). She probably didn’t strangle them because she knew that she needed them ;-). And it seems she might understand that they were very frightened of the dreams and didn’t quite know what to do.

4) The party kicks around several theories about the Waygates. Which was your favorite, or do you have one of your own? How about those things that lurk in the Waygates? 

I was never really sure about the theories everyone came up with. I understand the idea that time goes differently in the Way so that you can travel quickly, and that they grow naturally almost. It would also explain how the magic got polluted and twisted of its own accord. The Wind was freaking scary *shivers*. Maybe it’s the insanity from all the male Aes Sedai that broke the world?

5) This section introduces the knowledge of the Green Man. How do you think he will measure up to your cultural knowledge of the legend of the Green Man? 

I have a lot of mixed stories of the Green Man in my head, so I’m wondering if he’s going to have antlers ;-). I think it’s really interesting that he normally can only be found once in a lifetime, but Moraine is determined to find him again. I’m curious if the Green Man is going to react to that at all, haha. I just hope that he can help them in time! Or they him….

6) The Lord of Fal Dara, Agelmar, seems to have some previous business with Moiraine and Lan, Lord of the the Seven Towers. What do you think their collective past dealings have been?

It seems likely that Lan fought with Agelmar in the past, though perhaps Moraine has helped them as well. Agelmar does tell us a bunch about Lan’s past and wow what a past it is! Perhaps it really is just that Agelmar knows about Lan’s past, since Lan probably didn’t have much time to do anything besides his Warder duties…. 

Next week is all the way to the conclusion and an epic battle! :D

-A

Yey, it’s Sunday! Time for more Eye of the World awesomeness! As always, this is an in-depth discussion so there will be spoilers for the book up to Chapter 40. Since Linky doesn’t work with WordPress nicely right now, just post your link in the comments :).

Also, we’re doing a poll over at Dab of Darkness for how long of a break to take/gauging interest in the next book, so even if you didn’t read this book with us, feel free to vote if you are interested in reading along with The Great Hunt.

On to the questions :D.

In other news, congrats to Matt P. for winning the audiobook giveaway! We’ve already contacted Matt and got his prize sent out (he picked the Eye of the World, so maybe he’ll be able to catch up and join in with us :D).

Remember to just post your discussion link in the comments since the Linky isn’t going to work and try to visit everyone’s discussion to, you know, discuss :D.

-A

It’s time for another edition of the Eye of the World read along :D. As always, this is an in-depth discussion so there will be spoilers for the book up to Chapter 33. Head on over to Dab of Darkness to link up this week :D.

1) Perrin, Egwene, Elyas, and Bela had quite the intense ride. What did you think about the ravens and what dark magic could motivate birds, even carrion birds, into such behavior?

Gah, so creepy! I actually kept being reminded of the three-eyed raven from Game of Thrones, haha. But seriously, this just went all Birds on us D: and while I was on the edge of my seat, I’m glad they didn’t get attacked by the birds. Who knows what else would have showed up if the birds saw them?? It seems possible that the Dark One is able to control the ravens mentally even though he is still bound. For the most part, it seems like these poor birds are completely mind-controlled though, since I don’t think that’s normal raven behavior *watches skies suspiciously*.

2) In Chapter 29, we hear part of the legend of Artur Hawkwing. How do you like Robert Jordan’s nod to such an ancient legend and his use of it and other mythologies in building his world? 

I have to admit that I’m not super up on my King Arthur knowledge, though Artur Hawkwing ended up sounding like kind of a jerk. Are there stories with King Arthur acting that horribly to anyone who disagrees with him? It was a nice touch though, since it makes it seem like their world is just a little ways away from ours :D. At the same time, it pulled me out of the story a bit because I started thinking about King Arthur legends, and in some way would have preferred to stay engrossed in the EotW world ya know?

3) Do you think Lord Captain Bornhald and Child Byar capture the two ends of the spectrum for the men who make up The Children of the Light?

I’m going to go with I hope not, because Bornhald is still a real prick! Because the Children of the Light are supposed to be good, even though we clearly don’t agree with them, it seems likely to me that many of the men that join really do want to do something good with their life. Perhaps they get corrupted by hate, or perhaps that is just a necessary quality to ascend the ranks. In any case, I’m rooting for a nice foot soldier that doesn’t think Perrin should be put to death and helps him escape :D.

4) Mat and Rand have a little fight over whether to sell Mat’s dagger, as they are running out of food. How do you like the solution they came up with?

Awesome! It makes a lot of sense too, since they did learn some useful skills traveling with Thom. I wish that Rand had been able to convince Mat to sell the freaking dagger, but Mat did make a good point that they really weren’t in the right area to sell it anyway. Makes me wish I lived in a world where I could travel anywhere for free if I sang at the inn….

5) At Four Kings, Mat and Rand play for food and bed at a dive of an inn run by Saml Hake. During the course of the night, Rand spots a man, who turns out to be a Dark Friend, Howal Gode. And this naughty Dark Friend disturbs their sleep in a locked room. What do you think happened there?

From the way that Gode was rushing from inn to inn, it seems like he was specifically looking for the boys and didn’t just stumble across them. Maybe the Dark One sent Dark Friends to every town along the road in the hopes of finding them? But again, it seemed very pointed that Gode was looking in this town. More likely a Dark Friend at another town saw them performing and guessed who they were, then got word to Gode to bring reinforcements to the next city down the road. It seems unlikely that we’ll ever find out for sure though, the boys will just have to keep watching their backs!

Awesome questions this week! All right everyone, remember that the next section is 34-40 and we’re back here next weekend :). Also, I’m so excited since we’re getting towards the end of the book and something epic is bound to happen right??

-A

Welcome to week 4 of the Eye of the World read along awesome people! This week goes through Chapter 27 so there will be spoilers for those who haven’t read that far. As usual, if the linky isn’t working when you stop by (because it likes to torture me like a Trolloc!) then just throw your link in a comment and we’ll do this the old fashion way ;-).

1. Moraine and Lan were discussing how the Trollocs could be amassing such large numbers and other strange occurrences such as the Forsaken and possible opposition from the White Tower early in this section. What do you think about all of these revelations?

It seems like magic that hasn’t been around for a while might be coming back, since otherwise how could the Trollocs have been transported? As far as the opposition from the White Tower, is worries me that Moraine may be alone in her firm opposition to the Dark One, or maybe just in her belief that the boys are connected? Though it seems that our magic guides are always standing alone doesn’t it? ;-)

2. Turns out a side effect of using magic is taking foolish chances and acting giddy, sound like any boys we know? What do you think is happening to Rand? Mat?

It seems like Rand must have been suffering a side effect of using magic, but I just can’t think of what he used the magic for…. Since it would have had to happen a while before the incident with the Whitecloaks and have been something he desperately needed and “magically” got to happen…. That doesn’t bode well for when Moraine figures it out though. Mat, however, may not have that excuse, since he could just have been being giddy and foolish as he normally is. And now we know that this dagger he stole may be affecting him…. Oh Mat :(.

3. Egwene and Perrin end up wandering very far afield, why do you think the land is so thoroughly abandoned? Not just of people, but also of animals, if we assume that Perrin isn’t that horrible of a tracker ;-)?

I’m not quite sure, but did they venture into land that was closer to where the Trollocs had been troubling? Maybe the people moved away because they couldn’t deal with all the violence any more, but that doesn’t explain why they couldn’t seem to find any animals at all. There definitely seems to be some deathly influence scaring things away, though I’m not sure why Elyas didn’t mention it, or didn’t have trouble finding game. Maybe Perrin is just a horrible tracker, ha!

4. Elyas and his wolves! What do you think of this new type of magic and Perrin’s new skills? How about what Elyas said about “Old things coming again” and the Aes Sedai not being happy about it?

Generally I don’t approve of there being too many types of magic in one world because it gets confusing, unrealistic and convenient. However, I like the explanation that there was an older magic there before the Aes Sedai came and that the wolves have been separate from the humans for a long time, and for some reason the wolf magic has come back. I’m not sure how Perrin’s skills are going to integrate into the plot as a whole, though, since it seems like that won’t allow him to be a part of some crazy Aes Sedai magic plot. I love the “Old things coming again” line, since it starts to explain why the Trollocs invaded when they did and why everything is happening now for the boys. Something major is coming and has been building for a while, and by something, it seems to be something that has to do with the very magic of the world.

5. Rand had another dream, but we can’t be sure if the other boys did or not…. In it there was mention of the Eye of the World serving him, what do you think the Eye of the World is? Any other ideas for what this dream meant?

The Eye of the World might be some sort of magic device? It seems likely at least, though it must be semi-sentient or have some programming on it that enables it to choose who it will serve and who isn’t worthy ;-). From what we read of the other boys, it sounds like their dreams have been fine, at least Perrin mentioned that he didn’t have any of those nightmares. Maybe it was proximity to Rand that was causing them? At the end of the dream, it seemed to Rand that his face became the Dark One’s, which makes me worry that the Dark One is trying to possess him or something similar…. Just tell Moraine!!!

6. Domon told many tales about fantastic sights across the land, which was your favorite? :D

The crystal lattice covering the island that hums when the moon is up! I would totally go study that and try to figure out if it was alive or not >.> but I’m not a nerd or anything haha.

7. The Tinkers’ had an interesting and scary tale to tell. What do you think about this new omen about the Dark One? Why do you think the Tinkers’ thought Elyas would know more?

I think it’s safe to say that Elyas doesn’t want to reveal his past yet, but it will be important to Perrin and Egwene’s journey in the next couple sections. Perhaps he fought against the Trollocs himself at one point? The tale is further confirmation that the Dark One is stirring and up to no good, and Perrin and Egwene need to find Moraine to tell her this even more now.

Your turn! What did you think of this section? We learned a lot more about the world that the boys and Egwene have been thrown into and what a world it is! I just hope Thom is okay… he wouldn’t really have been killed already would he?? But no spoilers if you’ve read ahead! ;-)

-A

Welcome to week 3 of the awesome Eye of the World read along :D This week is hosted by Nrlymrtl at Dab of Darkness so pop over there for the linky :D. Also a reminder that this week goes through Chapter 20 so there will be spoilers!

1) In this section of the reading, we learn that Perrin and Mat are also having wicked dreams. Add to that, Min’s visions for each of those in the small party. Prophesy, portents and dreams are playing a bigger and bigger role in this epic tale. Are you enjoying this plot device?

Yup, I am loving all the foreshadowing! Though I have to say that I don’t have much of an idea what it all means yet :D. I think it’s hilarious, though, that I said last week “wouldn’t it be funny if we found out the other boys were having the same dreams” and then just that happened. Mr. Jordan certainly wrote that plot development well to trick my brain into it ;-). Min’s visions were certainly an interesting edition though, since they went beyond the subtle portents that only the reader realizes are important and basically smacked us over the head with foreshadowing, however strange a lot of it was. Those will certainly be paragraphs to refer back to in the future though! Rand should have written them down, haha.

2) The Whitecloaks (AKA Children of the Light) make their first real appearance in the tale and of course, Mat has to play one of his tricks. Funny? Dangerous? What did you think of Rand’s reaction?

Of course Mat had to go and get himself noticed, he wouldn’t be Mat otherwise right? ;-) However both of the boys seemed to be acting a bit less terrified than they should have been. This was of course most noticeable with Rand’s reaction since we were privy to his thoughts and there was definitely something strange going on there. Some sort of possession starting perhaps? If so, then by whom? I really wish that he trusted Moraine enough to tell her, since this seems like something she should be aware of….

3) Nynaeve found them! What do you think Moiraine and Nynaeve said to each other behind that closed door at the inn?

Haha, I agree with the children, not a conversation I would want to be there for! Though it seems like the women have developed a grudging respect for each other as they have spent more time in each other’s company. I mostly assume the conversation was along the lines of Nynaeve saying stupid things and Moraine working very hard not to throttle her ;-).

4) The party has to do a swift exit from the inn because of the Fade Rand saw during his milk run. How do you think they were found?

Excellent question. I’m worried it was because of the peddler that Rand ran into on the streets and so wonderfully told everything to. Especially since nothing else came of that encounter that we found out about, and that would be a horrible oversight on Jordan’s part if it was just a random encounter, it seems possible that the peddler sold them out. I thought he would sell them out to the Whitecloaks, but I suppose he could have decided to let something slip to a Darkfriend *shiver*.

5) Moiraine burns a lot of power in these chapters: appears to become a giantess to step over the city wall; a wall of flame to hold off the Trollocs; laying a false trail; setting wards in the spooky city. Do you think this shows the limits of her powers, or has she got more to give?

No way, there is definitely going to be more in some epic battles in the future :D. For one thing, it sounded like her powers are stronger when she works with the female elements of water and air instead of fire and earth (those are the correct ones right?) and so I think when she is working with the correct elements and in the right setting she will show even more epic power. I mean, from a literary perspective, you can’t show all the cards in the first half of the book ya know ;-).

6) A lot happens at Shadar Logoth, where the party hopes to hide from the Trollocs and Myrddral. What do you think Mordeth is? And the misty Mashadar? As Lan contemplates, the Myrdral must drive the Trollocs into the city to search for them, but what is driving the Myrddral?

It sounds like Mordeth is some spooky ghost that has hung around cursed since he brought about the fall of Shadar Logoth right? And Mashadar is the embodiment of the evil that got created/called through all the bad things Mordeth caused…. Maybe? I was a little hazy (haha) on all the bad voodoo stuff from the story, but got the gist of ahhhh bad place! ;-) The question of what is driving the Myrdraal is an important one though! I’m wondering if the Dark One has become able to exert his will again, even if he is trapped somewhere still.

7) This section certainly leaves us on a cliff-hanger with the party separated. Worried? Perrin and Egwene found each other, but then galloped headlong into the river. Mat, Rand, and Thom made it onto a boat, The Spray, captained by Domon. Now Captain Domon makes a comment about the Trollocs following him; why do you think that is?

I’m pretty sure no one is going to die yet, it just seems too early in the book and Jordan doesn’t seem like that kind of an author (don’t break my heart man!). It could be that the party stays separated for a while (Moraine should really learn the first rule of dungeon crawls….), but Moraine did say that she could find them all, so I’m thinking she’ll be able to reunite everyone as long as Egwene can make it to a shore without Trollocs. I’m hoping that Domon has just been in country where the Trollocs are roaming a lot, but perhaps there is more going on with them than we realized in our little farm boy adventure!

And with that, let’s discuss :D. Let me know what you think of the chapters this week and whether you agree with my answers ;-). Next week we are back here with chapters 21-27, yey!

-A

Hello everyone and welcome to the second week of the Eye of the World Read Along! I’m hosting this week and I hope your holidays and travels were wonderful if you were doing such things ;-). A reminder that this week’s questions cover through chapter 14, so there will be spoilers for all chapters up to that chapter. Also, Linky hasn’t been behaving, so if it doesn’t work, just throw your link in your discussion comment and we’ll do this old school until I fix it :D.

Also I mentioned in the email that there was a map of the new areas in my book before chapter 13. Did anyone else’s copy have this map? I’ve never actually seen an author do this before (putting partial maps in as new areas are entered by the characters), but I kind of like it. I get overwhelmed by big maps, so it allowed me to focus on the specific area that was currently relevant. What do you think of this formatting strategy?

Remember, if the Linky below doesn’t work, just post the link to your answer post in your discussion comment and we’ll hop around old-school :D.

-A

Welcome to first part of The Eye of the World read along! This week is hosted over at Dab of Darkness and I’m just playing along with Nrlymrtl’s awesome questions :D. If you’d like to join in, feel free, and the banner above links to the main post for the read along. And remember that because this is a read along post, there will be spoilers for up to Chapter 7.

1) The prologue is a pretty bleak and dark place. Then we enter Two Rivers and meet the young folk, mostly farmers. Do you think these two very different scenes show the bookends of the spectrum we can expect for the book?

It seems likely, though I hope most of the book is more on the Two Rivers end! The prologue gave a good idea of the intensity of the “bigger things” that are going on in the world, but there is only so much of that that a girl can take, haha. I much preferred the peek into the lives of Rand and his friends and the start of the adventures in Two Rivers, though it’s getting pretty dark there too….

2) Overall are you enjoying the level of description and the portent telling (the crow, the black-robed man on horseback, etc.)?

Yes! The description makes Eye of the World feel a bit Tolkien-esque, but hasn’t been too over the top ;-). I am, however, a big fan of portents. I love guessing what they might mean and trying to intuit whether they are good or bad. I find it adds another layer of richness to a story and Eye of the World is living up to my expectations on that front already :D.

3) What do you think the story is for Rand and Egwene up to this point?

Haha, oh those two are so cute. I’m guessing they were childhood sweethearts, but when Rand started getting nervous around girls, he stopped being as obvious in his affection for Egwene, which has obviously caused some confusion between the two. Some of Egwene’s references to how he hasn’t been paying attention to her lately make me suspect that they have a history that just never got fully played out, and Rand obviously doesn’t know what to do about his feelings, poor guy!

4) The story takes a most serious turn once the trollocs attack the al’Thor farmstead. It also raises plenty of questions about Tam’s past. Care to guess on what some of that past is?

Oo, such a good question! I was hoping you’d ask something like this ;-). He must have been a soldier of some kind, since he was in battle in order to come across another soldier. I suspect that he has also traveled and adventured much more than he even told Rand. While I think Rand guessed his father had traveled some, (since wasn’t his mother an outsider?) I would be surprised if Tam had told Rand everything about what sounds like a very exciting past.

5) Chapter 7 leaves us with many questions, like Rand has many questions: Why trollocs? What was his father going on about in his fever? Who are Moraine and Lan and why are they really in Two Rivers? Will Tam survive? Which of these (or other) questions are you most anxious to see answered in the coming chapters?

I’m worried that the Trollocs and the man in black are in Two Rivers for Rand, like his birth was somehow connected to all the bigger things going on. It seems like the main force of Trollocs came through the town on their way to the farm, as if they were looking for Rand or Tam…. So I’m definitely wondering what is going on with the trollocs and the man in black (though it seems likely he is the same man in black from the prologue?) and how Moraine and Lan are connected. My other biggest question is can we trust Moraine? She seems really nice so far, but all the stories say otherwise… and it seems like it will be really important in the future!

I’m so excited to keep reading and to see what everyone else thinks :D What do you think of the start of Eye of the World? If you’re not doing the read along with us, have you read Eye of the World already?

-A