Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

Hey Jason and Dragonmount!

David Funke, the MiserableRainGod, here, establishing my tradition of reporting on Robert Jordan's appearances in New York City. When Crossroads of Twilight came out, your friendly-neighborhood MiserableRainGod was there with a tape recorder and an ingenious question to ask Mister Jordan. I later typed up a transcript and sent it in to Dragonmount. It can still be found at this address. Well, today I forgot my tape recorder and didn't prepare any questions to ask Mr. Jordan. I had a pad and pen, though, ready to take some notes for this report. The signing, at a midtown Manhattan Barnes and Noble, would start at 12:30. I got there at 11:50 or so, to get a good seat. At the front door, I was notified that Mr. Jordan would only be signing 2 hardcovers at a time. No surprise there, but I felt a pang of worry over my 2 issues of the New Spring comic book, which I really, really wanted to get signed.

I went to the front cashier's counter, behind which were a gajillion copies of Knife of Dreams. I purchased one, and the poor lady behind the counter proceeded to drop it on her toe. A bubble of evil, perhaps—or a moment of clumsiness. It hurt...it's a heavy book. After getting the book in my hands, I went upstairs to where the signing would take place. The B&N bag holding the book (and only the book) broke. Yes, it's that heavy. Double bag, people. Double bag.

I took a quick look at the area set aside for the signing—no chairs, no podium. Nothing to suggest that Mr. Jordan would grace the crowd with a few words. Which, compared to the CoT signing, was certainly unfortunate.

I found my way to the back of the line, wich had about 30 people. There, I waited. A few people chatted, some answered cellphones (this RainGod included!), but most were unsurprisingly reading the Prologue to Knife of Dreams. (Personally, I still had 60 pages of CoT to go...bad time managment on my part!)

At 12:30 on the dot, the line started moving, but not to any wide space where Mr. Jordan could address us. We went straight to the signing table. It turns out that my lack of a tape recorder didn't matter; Mr. Jordan did not say a few words in front of the crowd. No pronunciations, no words of wisdom, and no questions from the audience.

Certainly it was a big disappointment after the big fun of the CoT signing.

As I starting moving towards Mr. Jordan, I prepared my books to be signed, by turning to the title/author page. I had with me: Knife of DreamsNew Spring: The Novel, Lord of Chaos, and issues one and two of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time: New Spring comic book. My plan was to go around the line 3 times in order to get them all signed. I chose New Spring: The Novel and Knife of Dreams for the first pass through.

As I got close, I heard Mr. Jordan answering other people's questions. Mentions of "Aes Sedai" and "Seanchan" whispered through the air, though I couldn't hear much more than those. When I rounded a corner and was in sight of Mr. Jordan, (only 3 people in front of me), I got to hear more conversation.

One gentleman told Mr. Jordan that his books are being read by our troops overseas. Mr. Jordan seemed pleased about that, and mentioned that he tried to go across to the Mideast to appear with the USO, but no dice (from what little I heard).

The next guy took a picture with Mr. Jordan, seeming pleased as punch when the author asked him to step around the table so they could take a picture together. This guy also thanked Mr. Jordan for "the blog," and I think we all can extend those same appreciations. It's really wonderful of him.

He reiterated, though, that his recent high activity there was not representative of the time he'd spend at the blog once he was writing full-time again, after the tour. One post a week, maybe once every 10 days, is what he expects. Personally, I still think that's plenty.

Then came a lady who told Mr. Jordan that she was there because her husband loved his books, but unfortunately he couldn't make it himself. "Thanks," RJ said, "but you should try the books yourself!" During this exchange, I asked one of the assistants if Mr. Jordan would sign issues of the comic book today. She told me, "It's not hardcover, so I don't think so." I asked her, "Is that a 'no,' or should I ask him?" And she responded, "It's a 'no.'"

So that was that. No talk to the crowd. No signing of the comic books. Nothing special at all (except, of course, meeting the man and exchanging a few words with him, and having him sign my books). I was so disappointed that I decided not to go around the line a second time to have him sign my quite-battered copy of Lord of Chaos. I would bring it next time. If he'd have been signing the comics, I would have stayed, certainly.

So yes, I was disappointed. However, I would NOT let my disappointment sully my chance to exchange a few words with this excellent author. I welcomed him to New York, and then told him I hoped he'd had a nice weekend here, even though it did nothing but rain.

He said he always liked New York; he'd taken in a show, had some nice meals, and visited his godson in New Jersey. "That's good, I'm sure it's nice to be able to see family on these things," I said. Then, I once again wished him enjoyment on his tour, and I left.

So that was the signing. It was quite nice to exchange words with the man, and to have his sign my copy of his books. But, compared to the CoT signing, which was at a much better time of day (6:30 or 7:00) and in a much bigger Barnes and Nobles, this one was a disappointment. And, the fact that he did not sign the comics really was sad for me. Even though I'm not thrilled with them so far, I think that having the comics signed would be quite special, as they are already rare and signed copies of his hardcover novels are pretty easy to come by.

Do I recommend going to your local signing? Sure - it's Robert Jordan, after all, and we're all obviously fans. I just hope that you have a bit of a better show than I had, something more akin to what I experienced at the CoT signing. And if you get him to sign the comic books, well, then I'm a jealous RainGod!

Enjoy the books, guys and gals. And Mr. Jordan, if you read this...Thanks!