Recommended Thing of the Month: The 'Wheel of Time' series by Robert Jordan
Several thousand years after the Dark One is finally sealed back in his prison by the Dragon and his soon-mad companions, the world is in a state closely resembling peace. The Aiel War having ended twenty years before, swords and armour is left to rust in the attics of the returned soldiers as they work on their farms and raise their families. But the seal is weakening, and the Dark One's closest disciples, the thirteen Forsaken, are emerging from their own prisons and are gathering covens of Darkfriends, to work towards victory in the on-coming Last Battle that will end the Third Age. The peace is shattered as political intrigues, twisted by the Darkfriends, starts war between many of the countries. It all comes down to one man. Can the Dragon Reborn re-unite the continent, make peace with the invading force from a country long-forgotten, and put a final end to the Dark One's machinations?
Now I know what you're thinking. 'This is just a rip-off of Game of Thrones!' But actually its the other way around - the first book of WoT was published in 1990, and 'A Game of Thrones', the first of 'A Song of Ice and Fire', was published in '96. It's just that since George RR Martin is still alive while Jordan died in 2011, and a very disappointingly bad pilot, GoT has been converted for TV first. Which means I was nervously excited when I heard that WoT is finally being televised soon!
This series is the first actual 'traditional' fantasy series I got into, really. I'd read LOTR a few times already before I picked up 'Eye of the World', but it was just a story to me, whereas WoT really immersed me. True, it can be frustrating at times - no-one communicates, and the phrases 'tugged her braid/smoothed her skirts' have become almost memetic in the fandom. But I've always enjoyed the stories.
I'm going to be reading the series, starting with 'New Spring' (a novella that's set twenty years before the main storyline), in a series of Livestreams, so tune in! If you're willing to stay up for a 1am AEST start, that is... At least you can watch it afterwards!
