| Chat moderator: Welcome to the CNN chatroom, Robert Jordan. |
| Jordan: Hello, It's good to
have you all here, and thanks for having me. |
| Chat moderator: How did you develop the idea for the Wheel of
Time saga, and where did you get the name? |
| Jordan: The name comes out of Hindu mythology, where there is
a belief that time is a wheel. Many older cultures believe that time is
cyclic, that it repeats. In fact, I believe the best thing the ancient
Greeks gave us was (the idea) that time was linear and change was possible. |
| Infidel: What would happen to a gholam suddenly
deposited, one way or another, into a stedding? |
| Jordan: Read and find out. That is a common answer for me, by
the way! |
| Vercingetorix: Why do you think everyone has a
hard time figuring out who killed Asmodean? Graendal killed him. |
| Jordan: I don't know why people have a hard time figuring that
out. To me it seems intuitively obvious even to the most casual observer.
The reason I won't tell people though is that I am enjoying watching them
squirm entirely too much. It's probably bad for me. |
| Rhodric: What a kind of numbers militarily do the
Seanchan have on this side of the aryth? |
| Jordan: I don't want to answer this as it could be a spoiler
for those who have not read far enough. |
| logain: We know Taim isn't who he says, and so
does Rand. But wasn't Logain supposed to reveal him as a liar? What happened
to that? |
| Jordan: Read and find out. Don't you love it, guys? |
| Chat moderator: Were you influenced by the Bible book of Revelation?
Your works seem to have many scriptural allusions. |
| Jordan: There are a number of influences from the Bible, but
from other sources as well. My work is not overtly religious in any way. |
| Arsolos: It has been reported that you have confirmed
that Sammael died at the end of Crown of Swords. Could you confirm that
you have said this and elaborate on whether Rand was correct? |
| Jordan: Mashadar killed Sammael. Sammael is toast! |
| dawntreader: Why does it take you about a year
to two years to issue the next book? |
| Jordan: Because it takes that long to write it. The earlier books
also took a long time, but what was happening there was that the usual
space between handing in the manuscript and the book being published,
was shrinking in my case. Normally that is nine months to a year. For
my last four books, however it has been two months from me handing in
the manuscript to me being on tour. |
| hoping: Where are the Trollocs? I miss them. |
| Jordan: Read and find out! They're coming.
|
| Jonan: Mr. Jordan, is it possible that in another
age, another turning of the wheel, that Saidar could be tainted instead
of Saidin? This relates to the Female Dragon Theory. |
| Jordan: That is not something I intend to explore.
|
| RawShock: What got you into writing fantasy? |
| Jordan: Fantasy is an area where it is possible to talk about
right and wrong, good and evil, with a straight face. In mainstream fiction
and even in a good deal of mystery, these things are presented as simply
two sides of the same coin. Never really more than a matter of where you
happen to be standing. I think quite often it's hard to tell the difference.
I think that quite often you can only find a choice between bad and worse.
But I think it's worth making the effort and I like to expose my characters
to that sort of situation. |
| Telchar: Will the Choedan Kal be used again during
the series, and if so, will other access keys be found? Let me guess ...
read and find out? |
| Jordan: This is my answer: You got that one right, sport! |
| E_Tej: I see that many of the story lines are derived
(from) mythology around the world. Which culture do you draw from more? |
| Jordan: I'm not certain that I draw from any one culture more
than others. Many myths and legends of many different cultures are really
the same story when you get to the heart of it. They are often cultural
cautionary tales about how we should behave and how we should live.
|
| twayne: When you started writing the series, were
Osan'gar and Aran'gar in the original plotline, or were they added in
as you went along? |
| Jordan: They were in the original plot line. |
| Cameo_Vox: The Isle of Maddness is mentioned in
the coffee table book. Do you have any plans on incorporating it into
one of the next books? |
| Jordan: Read and find out! There are some things I might do that
might take place there, but those things could also just as well be done
in other places. |
| Uno: Has there been any serious discussion about
making a WoT movie? |
| Jordan: Yes. Not a movie as such, but a miniseries. NBC has purchased
an option to do a miniseries of "The Eye of the World." Most
options are not exercised, however. If you want NBC to make the miniseries,
write to them and say "make the miniseries of 'The Eye of the World.'
" |
| El-Loko: Did you have the entire storyline, bar
a few details, before you even started writing Book One? |
| Jordan: Yes. There were a good many details I didn't have, but
the story line, the major events; those were all in my head. I could have
written the last scene of the last book more than 15 years ago. And what
happens in that scene would not be any different from what I intend to
happen now. |
| Rodynus: Was the name of Far Madding a literary
allusion to An Elegy in a Country Churchyard? |
| Jordan: No. That straight-out answer shocked you, didn't it? |
| Chat moderator: Has this saga taken on a life of its own over
the years? |
| Jordan: I am not sure what you mean. If you are talking about
the claim by some writers that characters take on a life of their own
and begin writing the story then, No. I created the story. I created these
characters, and I am an Old Testament God with my fist in the middle of
their lives. The characters do what I want. The story goes where I want. |
| Elzabet: Does the healing of the taint reverse
its previous effects? Or does the victim have to live with whatever he's
gotten to that point and be grateful it won't get worse? |
| Jordan: The second. |
| Almindhra: Do you think literary critics take you
seriously as a good writer despite your writing of fantasy? |
| Jordan: Some do, and some don't. That's the way it always works.
But I would like to add there is a lot of fantasy out there that does
not call it fantasy. The magic realists are fantasists. (A.S) Byatt is
a fantasist. A good many mainstream literary writers are fantasists. So
maybe the critics won't put things down, just because they are fantasy,
quite as readily as they once did. |
| Chat moderator: Why do stories of the titanic battles between
good and evil seem to attract such a large and loyal audience? |
| Jordan: Because most people believe in good and evil, in right
and wrong. And I think most people would like to believe that they would
stand on the side of good -- of right -- however they happen to define
those things. |
| GH: Mr. Jordan, what are the most crazy reactions
you have received from your fans? |
| Jordan: I suppose it's the people who believe that I am telling
them the absolute truth: that there is a thing called channeling, and
that I can teach them how to do it. I'm not a guru. I'm not a sage. I'm
not a teacher. I am just a storyteller.
|
| MengLor: Where do you come up with the original
spelling of the names of the characters? |
| Jordan: Some of them come out of myths and legends. And others
come because the sound is somewhat familiar, or because I like the sound
of the name. |
| Sil7ver: Is it true that many of your chracters
are based on Norse mythos? |
| Jordan: Not many. Some. And no character is purely based on one
myth or one legend.
|
| Chat moderator: What do you want readers to see in your books?
|
| Jordan: A good story. |
| Chat moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Robert Jordan. |
| Jordan: Thank you very much for having me. |
