The Wheel Of Time
The Wheel of Time är en serie på 12 böcker, wait hold on, innan ni drar förhastade slutsatser, these aren't just any books =P. Det är väldigt sällan jag tipsar om saker här i bloggen, huvudsakligen för att alla har olika smak och så vidare, men lita på mig när jag säger att de här böckerna är en av de bästa i världen ^^
Böckerna handlar, precis som titeln, om The Wheel of Time that have seven spokes (vet inte vad spokes är på svenska =P) men det som är skitcoolt, förutom böckerna själva och händelserna där, är historien bakom allt! =D
First Age
Among the stories told of this Age include those of the giants Mosk and Merk, who fought with spears of fire, and Elsbet, the Queen of the World and her sister Anla, known as the Wise Counselor. [TSR-H-231]
Other stories from the Age of of Legends include Lenn, who travelled to the moon in the belly of a fiery eagle, and his daughter Salya, said to have walked among the stars.
NOTE: In case it isn't obvious, "Mosk" would be Moscow, "Merk" would be America, "spears of fire" would be nuclear missiles, "Elsbet" would be [Queen] Elizabeth, "Anla" would be advice columnist Ann Landers, "Lenn" would be astronaut John Glenn, and "Salya" would be astronaut/teacher Sally Ride. A strong case that the First Age is our own time. Robert Jordan has confirmed these identities in interviews, and notes that the stories told of these characters and their actions have obviously been changed and altered over time.
That is freakin' cool =D
Men nu till handlingen!
In the beginning, the Creator made the Wheel of Time, which spins the Pattern of the Ages using the lives of men and women as its threads. The Wheel has seven spokes, each representing an age, and it is rotated by the True Source from which the One Power, a source of energy, is drawn. The One Power is divided into male and female halves, saidin and saidar, which work in opposition and in unison to drive the Wheel; those who can use this power are known as channelers. One organization of channelers is the Aes Sedai, a name meaning "Servants of All" in the Old Tongue.
The Creator imprisoned Shai'tan (notera att Shai'tan är själva ordet på djävulen på arabiska ;D), known as the Dark One, a powerful, evil being, at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel. At some point, however, the Dark One was given purchase in the world through the machinations of people who opened his prison, and began his efforts to conquer the world, creation, and even the Wheel itself. In response to this, the Wheel spun out the Dragon, a channeler of immense power, to be a champion for the Light. Due to the cyclical nature of the Wheel, there has been no definitive victory for the forces of the Light; the war has been fought innumerable times since the dawn of Creation. The Dragon would defeat Shai'tan and seal him from the Wheel, only to have him break out (or be released) several millennia later, forcing the Dragon to be reborn and repeat the entire process.
Jordan's novels concern themselves with one particular incarnation of the Dragon. About 3000 years have passed since the last war between Shadow and Light. This war ended when the Dragon, then born as Lews Therin Telamon, led a daring raid to Shayol Ghul and sealed the breach in the Dark One's prison with the help of a group of other male channelers known as the Hundred Companions (female channelers, due to recent gender politics and the extreme risk of the strike, refused to assist). Though Lews Therin succeeded, the Dark One managed to spread a taint on saidin itself, bringing madness and a wasting sickness to any who channeled it. The taint quickly overcame nearly every male channeler in the world, including Lews Therin and his companions, with catastrophic results that radically changed the face of the earth (also known as The Breaking Of The World). From then onwards, Lews Therin was also called the "Kinslayer", as one of the last results of his madness was to destroy everyone who carried his blood as well as everyone he loved.
For these reasons, the return of the Dragon is a cause for both hope and fear amongst the populace. On the one hand, the Dragon Reborn is the only person capable of defeating Shai'tan, who will inevitably begin to escape his prison. On the other, the Dragon Reborn will still be prey to the madness caused by the taint of evil in saidin, and is a harbinger of the horrifying fact that Shai'tan is once more breaking free. The only man who can save the world is also the man most likely to destroy it.
Sedan har vi igen mer saker som författaren har vävt in i historien så jäkla bra!
Jordan's Wheel of Time concept and art, while fictional, recalls common circular motifs from world religions and folklore. Buddhism has the Wheel of Rebirth, Hinduism the Wheel of Law. Taoism and other major and minor religions make use of the wheel symbol, in the round or twisted, to symbolize eternity. The snake or dragon swallowing its tail is found in folklore as a hoop snake and in fiction and elsewhere as Oroborus. In a similar borrowing, Jordan's symbol for the One Power is similar to the taijitu, a Taoist icon representing the harmony of opposites.
Religious parallels
Jordan's intricate religious, philosophical, political constructs can be interpreted, if one is so inclined, as parallels to real world religious beliefs. Jordan's recurring fight between good and evil echoes common religious and folkloric themes of recurring conflict and resolution. Jordan retells the legend of Armageddon or the Last Battle, a religious or folkloric final confrontation between good and evil. His Creator, the idea of the Dragon Reborn, and the Dark One echo God, Messiah, and Devil. The Children of the Light (Whitecloaks) share many similarities with the officers of the Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church. In the books the stages required for Aes Sedai induction share names with the stages of induction into the sisterhood of Roman Catholic nuns. Some of the Forsaken share names with fallen angels, such as Sammael (often spelled Samael) which is believed to be the true angelic name of Satan. It also uses the words saidin which is plural for man in arabic and saidar which if changed to saidat is plural for women. More importantly Shai'tan is literally the word for devil in Islam, to the point of being spelled in exactly the same way.
Och sen har vi min personliga favorit; The Prophecies!
Om ni inte vet vad det är =P, så är det profetior om hur vissa händelser kommer utspelas, oftast extremt svåra att tolka och täckta i gåtor, men en sak vet man säkert; Alla profetior kommer uppfyllas, till punkt och pricka.
"And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered, and the Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age, and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man. Women shall weep and men quail as the nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth. Neither shall anything stand nor abide...
Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow, born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end. The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation."
"The lions sing and the hills take flight
The moon by day, the sun by night
Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool
Let the Lord of Chaos rule!"
Andra är min favorit, notera hur omöjligt det är att lejon sjunger och marken flyger iväg, hur månen är på dagen, och solen på natten, och just därför the Lord of Chaos shall rule =D
Böckerna har jämförts med tolkiens eftersom de är så detaljerade och så bra, tro mig när jag säger att ni inte kommer ångra er om ni läser dom. This is more than just Fantasy, this is history
