Here is the Article Linda Sedai wrote on the that subject at the Thirteenth Depository. It helped me put in perspective why the pace changes in the stories. I also found that on my first read, the awesome-ness as you have coined did come from the conclusion of our various story arcs, but upon my rereads, I appreciated the setup and beginning of them more than the conclusions. Case in point: The White Tower Eliada fiasco, The Wise One's using the power as a weapon, The Corruption of Rand, The forging of Matt's maturity, The early schisms of the Black Tower(awesome-ness still to come on this one). Book 7 and 8 establishes all the above subjects as battlegrounds for the Shadow vs Light and the Shadow wins for a while.



Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Path of Daggers Read-through #1: The Slowing


By Linda

With The Path of Daggers, the pacing of the books slows both in the amount of elapsed time within each book, and the pace of plot resolution. This is deliberate to show how the Shadow is stymieing the Light by miring them in chaos and obstructions and keeping them from communicating or coming together.

The slowing reached its nadir or zenith, depending on your point of view, in Crossroads of Twilight. As it was planned to do:

“And it shall come to pass, in the days when the Dark Hunt rides, when the right hand falters and the left hand strays, that mankind shall come to the Crossroads of Twilight, and all that is, all that was, and all that will be shall balance on the point of a sword, while the winds of the Shadow grow.”

- Crossroads of Twilight, Opening Prophecy

Jordan’s aim was to make this stagnation palpable.

At the same time, the reader is informed a little more of what the Forsaken have been doing, but not enough to convince that the Shadow is a long way ahead in the war. Too much of their plans has been held back for surprise or mystery, increasing the effect of the slowing. The lack of information on the Forsaken’s plans means the reader doesn’t fully appreciate how well the Shadow is doing. Consequently, some readers were surprised to read:

But look at the situation in the world as it actually stands, from the White Tower divided to crop failures caused by a too-long winter and a too-long summer and people fleeing their farms because the Dragon Reborn has broken all bonds, meaning still less food, and that spoiling at a fearsome rate, from chaos in Arad Doman to a large part of the Borderland armies out of position, from the arrival of the Seanchan focusing too many eyes on them instead of the Shadow to the strongest single nation, Andor, riven by civil war in all but name and Tear split by open warfare, from.... Well, take your pick. There are lots more to chose from. Take a step back and look at what the forces of the Shadow have wrought. The world and the forces of the Light are in bad shape. At this point, boys and girls, the Shadow is winning. There are glimmers of hope, but only glimmers, and they MUST pay off for the Light to win. All the Shadow needs for victory is for matters to keep on as they have been going thus far and one or two of those glimmers to fade or be extinguished. The forces of the Light are on the ropes, and they don't even know everything the Dark One has up his sleeve.

- Robert Jordan on his blog

and commented that they weren’t convinced. For instance, the above post on Jordan’s blog in 2005 was the first news that the Borderlanders’ trek south was at least in part a plot of the Shadow. Perhaps with more and earlier hints in the books the reader would appreciate both the delaying tactics and the threat of the Shadow more.

Jordan took a considerable risk slowing the pace for three and a half books even though it is artistically correct. It is rare to see the good guys flounder or struggle for such a length of time due to the possibility of readers becoming disappointed or impatient, as happened. Another reason is that subplots that almost stall can be difficult to accelerate smoothly again. In my opinion this occurred in a couple of places in Knife of Dreams, one of them being in Perrin’s thread.

What I like about the slowing is the realism that the struggle is great and world-wide and that Shadow truly has obstructed the Light’s progress with war and chaos. Unlike in many earlier series, the bad guys are a force to be reckoned with. Jordan was in the vanguard of writers of Spec Fic series attempting to describe planetary scale destruction and portray truly effective megalomaniac, apocalyptic villains. (Compare the Forsaken’s activities with those of the Nazghul.)

The detail and assurance in Jordan’s world and nation building in the later books adds to the realism and heightens the sense of a population clinging to normalcy while the world collapses around them. During Books 8 to 11 the emphasis was on the personal development of the major and many minor characters and on the building of sustaining or co-operative relationships. As The Gathering Storm showed, these will be as important as any external victory in the war against the Shadow. Maybe more. And they are something the Shadow hasn’t gauged.

The plethora of plot strands and their interweaving is realistic and fascinating, but a real drawback to such complexity is that there are too many strands to progress them all in one book. The Wheel of Time series is not alone in exhibiting this. George R. R. Martin’s series is one example that springs to mind, but there are others.

The slowing of the last four books makes the acceleration into Tarmon Gai’don all the more intense as the world potentially tips in to the abyss. However the reader’s blissful ignorance of the Shadow’s plans – indeed even merely of the location of some of the Forsaken – leads to complacency that the Light will win. With more knowledge of Shadow’s plots there would be more sense of danger. If a villain stays hidden and secret for long enough, eventually s/he is discounted as a threat.

Only with the completion of the series will the crucial role and full import of the slowing be appreciated.
Posted by Linda at 4:47 AM
Labels: The Path of Daggers Read-through, The Shadow
10 comments:

Chris said...

It occurred to me that Jordan could have done something truly interesting with this "slow time" that might have kept the interest of the readers a bit better.

Since the plot had effectively split into five nearly independent tracks (Perrin, Mat, Rand, Egwene, Elayne), he could have spawned five mini series from the main storyline. Each series might have been two or three books, which would have dealt with that storyline alone. There could have been connecting events - the cleansing of saidin, for example, or occasional meetings in T'a'R - but for the most part they would have been five independent sub-series under the Wheel of Time banner.

This would have been a good idea mainly because the five stories move at different paces, with their climactic moments not meshing together very well. Thus the irregular, forced feel of the books between LoC and KoD.

Once each series was resolved,they could be re-assimilated into the main story, which would resume under the Wheel of Time name alone.

I get Jordan's explanation for it, but I'm sniffing a bit of rationalization here. It's much easier to get through on the re-reads, but I can definitely understand why readership may have dropped off in this period.
February 17, 2010 5:50 AM
Dida said...

Actually in the 'The Shadow Rising' book Chapter 5 "Questioners", the Borderlander nations armies are directly suggested by the captured Black Ajah Joiya as being part of the Shadow's Plan.


Neither Nynaeve, Egwene nor Aviendha wants to believe Joiya's story, only Moiraine sent three pigeons to the White Tower as a warning to Siuan. That warning by pigeon mail never reached Siuan's eyes. Joiya claimed to repent her sins, similar to Ingtar at the end of the Great Hunt book.

Joiya was correct about Mazrim Taim level of channel ability, and the plan to break him free. Egwene, Nynaeve both listened to this. Has Egwene finally accepted at the end of tGS book, that Joiya was telling the truth as she knew it correctly?

We know from Verin Sedai that a Black Ajah can betray other darkfriends (tGS). But they cannot betray the Dark One himself until an hour within a darkfriends own death.

If Nynaeve, Egwene knew their [I]histories[/I] at the time, they would have known who these nations were, then:

"Those who do not shrink at such butchery will seek out the Rand al’Thor who seems to revel in blood. The nations will unite as they did in the Aiel War . . . ” She gave Aviendha an apologetic smile, incongruous beneath those merciless eyes. “ . . . but no doubt much more quickly. Even the Dragon Reborn cannot stand against that, not forever. He will be crushed before the Last Battle even begins, by the very ones he was meant to save."


After hearing this plan look at Egwene's own thoughts on the topic:

[B]It was a plausible story, more plausible than Amico’s tale of a few eavesdropped sentences, but Egwene believed Amico and not Joiya. Perhaps because she wanted to. A vague threat in Tanchico was easier to face than this fully fleshed plan to turn every hand against Rand.[/B] (tSR, Ch.5)


However next sentences of Egwene's thoughts show her not really wanting to believe want she has just heard from Joiya.

[B]No, she thought. Joiya is lying. I am sure she is. Yet they could not afford to ignore either story.[/B](tSR, Ch.4)


Towards the end of 'The Gathering Storm' book Chapter "The Tower Stands" page 705, Egwene's actions do suggest she not ignoring the dangers posed by the Black Tower. Finally, a change in Egwene's earlier judgment:

[B]"Mother," Romanda said, "I have made the inquires you requested. There has been no contact with those sent to the Black Tower. Not a whisper."

"Does this strike you as odd?" Egwene asked.

"Yes, Mother. With Traveling they should have been there and back by now. They should have at least sent word. This silence is disturbing." [/B]