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Here’s How Robert Jordan Built the ‘Wheel of Time’


In my new book Origin of the wheel of timehistorian Michael Livingston explores real-world myths and legends that Robert Jordan used to build his epic fantasy series wheel of time. Those influences include characters and motifs from Europe, West Africa, the Middle East, and Japan, among others.

“He’s not limited in any way,” Livingston said in Episode 532 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy audio file. “He has no defense. The world is his oyster, because literally anything can be a part of it wheel of time. It’s an incredible kind of thing to try to do.

Livingston lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and teaches at Citadel, which made it easier for him to study Jordan, who attended The Citadel and lived in Charleston for most of his life. Livingston said: “Living here and working where he went to school and that means a lot to him as alma mater, is definitely a huge plus. “When I read a book and read the name of an inn, I thought, ‘That’s the bar next to his house. I know that place.'”

Like wheel of time expanded to more than 10 episodes, Jordan was often accused of intentionally mutilating the series. But Livingston found nothing in the author’s voluminous notes to suggest that was the case. “I understand that skepticism, but it’s not really fixed in reality,” he said. “Then or now, they weren’t trying to extract more dollars from the fans. He wanted to tell a story, and he wanted to do it right, and he succeeded when he was able to do it the way he thought was best.”

Origin of the Wheel of Time impressed Jordan fans, but Livingston hopes the book will also reach a wider audience. “What I am talking about is his biography, how he did what he did, his relationship with tolkien, and just watch how an author grows as a writer and develops a project,” he said. “Just to see an artist at work – anyway I hope – there’s a point of connection with anyone.”

Listen to the full interview with Michael Livingston in Episode 532 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (above). And check out some highlights from the discussion below.

Michael Livingston on Origin of the wheel of time:

We recommended it to the estate, to Jordan’s widow and former editor Harriet. I sent the email expecting no—”No, you can’t do this”—and instead it was like, “I think that’s a great idea. You are the only one who can do it and I talked to the head Book of Tor, they’re expecting it.” It went from zero to a hundred really quickly. And yes, at that point everyone was involved in the work. It is wild to have the experience of a fully authorized person [project]. I can watch whatever I want, I can talk to whoever I want, and everyone over there and at Tor has a warm, welcoming openness. The person who edited the copy that the edit wheel of time book is my copy editor. We did everything we could to make it so that everyone who knew about it could touch it.

Michael Livingston on Robert Jordan’s desk:

Here in Charleston, we had a book signing session. It was the only real official book signing we did, and literally a lot of people came from all over the world – we had people flying in from the UK to sign books – and I did. there’s a little lecture, at this school. I was like, “God, you guys have come this far. Would you like to come see the desk? And they say yes, they really enjoy doing it. So they all arrived – in the end there must have been about 20 people crammed into the hallway, trying to take a picture of it. They were like, “Can we sit at the desk?” “Yes, you can sit at the table. I do that every day.” …As a professor, it’s not normal for you to have people lined up in the hallway to take pictures of your office.It’s a bit like, “I think I do. needs to keep his office cleaner than others. Now it’s a museum.”

Michael Livingston on heat sterilization:

It is a geographically unfamiliar area, and has in fact undergone major changes in the landscape. Where was the coastline in Leonidas’ day, when you get there you can hardly see the water. It differs by kilometers where the coastline is. The ground he’s fighting is at your feet. This is not just a depth of one meter – the Middle Ages was about a meter lower, the ancient world a few meters – this is a depth of tens of meters or more, because of the strange geography of the place. And that strange geography is why this place has been the site of the battle for so long, because that geography has made it such a choking spot. So yeah it’s totally different today. You have to do a fair amount of work to try to recreate that as best you can, to try to understand what happened.

Michael Livingston on JRR Tolkien:

He said in one letter at one point — I’m paraphrasing — but he said, “As to where I got the word ‘hobbit’, I’ll leave it to future students, I don’t want to take it away. their joy. .” It’s like he threw this gauntlet down, and everyone just ignored it. … Tolkien loved to make jokes with language that only those who saw behind the structure of the language would understand. Like the fact that it was “King Theodin.” It was the head of Rohan, “King Theodin.” Well, “Theodin” means “king”, so his name is “king king”. Or “Bree Hill.” “Bree” is the Welsh word for “hill,” so it’s “hilly.” He knows it, and he just thinks it’s funny, he thinks it’s a riot, which most people can’t see, but he can see it. And I think the same is true for “hobbit” and “Bilbo Baggins” and a few other things.


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