Active Users:365 Time:27/12/2024 09:53:33 AM
Re: I sure as hell hope this is an inaccurate report... - Edit 2

Before modification by DomA at 23/03/2010 07:27:10 PM

Because for Brandon to insist that his portrayal of the Tar Valon siege (and surrounding area) is correct must be described as... worrying, at best.


It's really no wonder Brandon evaded that question as he could.
The guy is barely coherent, so god knows how the "problems" got explained to Brandon in the first place! From the answer, it seems the guy lost him by explaining there was a problem with how the army was divided at the bridges. That's wrong. The problem is not that Brandon has barely mentionned the soldiers holding the bridge towns, it's that he put Bryne's camp somewhere else than Jordan had it last in KOD, when Siuan wakes up after Egwene told her she's been captured. He had it surround the Aes Sedai instead of being closer to the Erinin, among the 5-6 camps on the western shore.

That's really not the sort of thing I would tell a writer publicly at a signing anyway. It's rude and it makes him lose face and beside this is not RJ, who knew the world he created up and down and could answer any question about the locales with consulting notes and all. If Brandon isn't warned in advance (and provided with proper references or quotes), he can't answer questions like this. It's fairly obvious Maria and him overlooked the paragraphs in which RJ gave clues/indications (it's not always very clear) about the vicinity of the city and the location of everyone in COT/KOD.

It's not problems Brandon could easily solve for the paperback (it's not a matter of changing just a few words, for the most part it's not), so personally I don't really expect it will be changed.

The matter about the bridges is perhaps more one of perception. It seems that RJ and (a lot of) us were under the impression the TV bridges are arched and very high, to let big masted ships pass under. This would make it quite impossible for Egwene at the foot of one to see the gate on the other side. Obviously, Brandon's perception of the bridges was that they are fairly flat, making it perfectly possible for Egwene to see the gate, only half a mile from where she stood. I'm not sure there is a quote describing the bridges as arched. Perhaps in NS or something, as Moiraine/Siuan ride on one. Perhaps I got this mental image from the NS comic, where the TV design approved by RJ showed the bridges as arched. Perhaps it's the White Bridge that misleads me, or perhaps it's just a logical guess based on the fact big ships go under those bridges. Anyway... that's the sort of details that need to be double-checked before going to Brandon and telling him "you made a mistake with this and that", out of respect not to make him lose his time over nothing. Several "mistakes" like this have not stood after deeper research (one example: some argued that the number of Younglings with Gawyn in TGS didn't match the number he had after Dumai's Wells. Further research showed that indeed those numbers didn't match, but there's also a brief mention by RJ in one book that Gawyn had left a good chunk of Younglings not far enough advanced in training at TV, and Elaida has kicked them out and sent them to Dorlan - so Brandon's numbers were right).


Return to message