Wheel of Time - No Spoilers

[Parmandur]

Perhaps your retention is about how interested you are in the subject. I retain fantasy books and games better than I do boring real world subjects as well. Real world subjects I have an interest in, though, those I retain just fine.

That's probably accurate: hence my majoring in English literature.

 

[wicked cool]

im wondering if i overrated the books. i never finished the series as there was a book or 2 that nothing really happened. I think these came out in the early 80's-later and the competition for fantasy wasnt that extensive (Thomas Covenant was another long series). Is it unfair to put into the GOT book category.

 

[Parmandur]

im wondering if i overrated the books. i never finished the series as there was a book or 2 that nothing really happened. I think these came out in the early 80's-later and the competition for fantasy wasnt that extensive (Thomas Covenant was another long series). Is it unfair to put into the GOT book category.

The books were published from 1990 to 2013. Game of Thrones is a frequent comparison, but being long is about the main point of commonality. Robert Jordan giving Game of Thrones an enthusiastic blurb is generally seen to have helped GoT get off the ground, and the authors were on friendly terms.

 

[MarkB]

So with Moiraine’s Magic turning the tide in the attack on Emonds Field in episode one, I’m struggling to think of other examples of Magic being used like that.

From memory she hurls some fire bolts, calls down lightning from the sky, slices someone in half with the power, telekinetically flings an axe in a trollocs face, blasts a few with concussive blasts then flings half the Winespring Inn at the remaining warband. It was Magic deployed for combat in a really physical and spectacular way. You can see her in a defensive posture scanning the battlefield for her next target. One of the stand out parts of the episodes so far for me. Reminiscent of Gandalf and Sauruman’s duel in Fellowship of the Ring but more varied and substantial.

Im struggling to think of any other live action media which uses magic like this… essentially in the same way we see it in a typical D&D combat? I had thought that Wheel of Time might end up more D&D than the D&D movies for this reason… the cost and difficulty of quality special effects.

What are people’s thoughts?

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Not in live action offhand, but reminiscent of some of the battles in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

 

[Parmandur]

Not in live action offhand, but reminiscent of some of the battles in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Avatar: the Last Airbender borrows quite a bit from the Wheel of Time to start with.

 

[Rune]

My retention rate is inversely proportional to the real world applicability of the information: I retain every bit of minutua about D&D or Lord of the Rings, but less about say, physics or biology.

If you are implying that D&D and Lord of the Rings lack real world applicability, you must certainly have a far different definition of “real world applicability” than I!

 

[Parmandur]

If you are implying that D&D and Lord of the Rings lack real world applicability, you clearly have a far different definition of “real world applicability” than I.

I mean, ain't nobody ever paid me for the real estate THAC0 is taking up in my brain, and I only ever played two sessions of 2E!

 

[Rune]

I mean, ain't nobody ever paid me for the real estate THAC0 is taking up in my brain, and I only ever played two sessions of 2E!

As much as I’d like to let my joke lie, the half of me that wasn’t really joking insists on elaboration:

My experience as a DM made me a far better supervisor (and vise versa). And without alignments, how would I ever be able to describe which version of evil my bosses were?

As for Lord of the Rings, applicability was the author’s intent! If fiction is metaphor for Truth (I would argue there is always at least an element of that, though some works aim more directly at that than others do), Lord of the Rings tells its Truths in an especially effective and layered way that reveals ever more through repeated exposure.

The impressive depth of context Tolkien provided was important to the work, but the applicability lies in the recurring themes shaped by that context. Of all works of literature, I personally find it the most applicable to the real world.

But, then again, I am a cynical Gen-Xer who needs to be reminded from time to time that cynicism does not equal wisdom.

 

[Parmandur]

As much as I’d like to let my joke lie, the half of me that wasn’t really joking insists on elaboration:

My experience as a DM made me a far better supervisor (and vise versa). And without alignments, how would I ever be able to describe which version of evil my bosses were?

As for Lord of the Rings, applicability was the author’s intent! If fiction is metaphor for Truth (I would argue there is always at least an element of that, though some works aim more directly at that than others do), Lord of the Rings tells its Truths in an especially effective and layered way that reveals ever more through repeated exposure.

The impressive depth of context Tolkien provided was important to the work, but the applicability lies in the recurring themes shaped by that context. Of all works of literature, I personally find it the most applicable to the real world.

But, then again, I am a cynical Gen-Xer who needs to be reminded from time to time that cynicism does not equal wisdom.

Alright, I will grant applicability in the Real world of Ideal Forms, but that doesn't pay my bills in the here and now.

Though to be fair, my actual job largely consists of reading aot of material quickly and writing accurate and helpful responses, so the skill set of an Englodh major has served me.

 

[Ryujin]

But, then again, I am a cynical Gen-Xer who needs to be reminded from time to time that cynicism does not equal wisdom.

Though, when properly applied, it can lead one to wisdom