Tolkien's Succesor
It is common knowledge that there is a great quantity of intentional and digestible biblical themes in Tolkien’s works. However, many atheist authors who followed, although they did not intend for the themes to be biblical, still incorporated some of the concepts for plot reasons separate from their theological symbolism. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings both take place at the tail end of the world, just as Revelation is the end of the old earth. Robert Jordan adopted this idea of cataclysm and ancient artifacts in order to add magnitude and justify the degree of the character’s emotional response. Robert Jordan achieved this through the final cycle of a battle of reincarnation. Lews Therin Telamon has been fighting the Dark One for many thousands of years, and during each battle, the Horn of Valere is used, and each time it is used, another hero joins the ranks of the glorious dead. This mirrors the battle between the returned Sauron and the courageous dwarves, hobbits, elves, and men. Another author, Brandon Sanderson, reflects the decrease in the presence of magic in Middle-earth, in the form of Allomancy losing potency with every new generation. But Jordan, as a masterful weaver of words in his own right, of course, contributes much of his own style. Secret task: I plan to include a sentence from this article in another article, using the exact same wording. If you can message me the name of both articles, then I will send you another article exclusive to those who find this “easter egg.”
Robert Jordan is a perfect example of genre culmination. His ultimate goal is to utilize all seven methods of worldbuilding to integrate the greater wonder that exists in fragments within prior stories. The first and most prominent method to reveal worldbuilding is through the dialogue of knowledgeable characters. Moraine discusses the origins of the Aes Sedai and their significance to the world at large. Lan speaks about the honor code found at the borderlands, as well as the complex system of sword mastery. The Tinkerers speak about the philosophy that underpins the world. The spoken word, as it is tied to the people of the world, is transitively rooted in worldbuilding. The second primary technique is intonated actions. Characters like Thom Merrilin, by merely his demeanor and atmosphere, give deep insight into the world's effect on people. The third primary technique he employs is the creation of written works within the world, in this case, novels like Jain Fairstrider and written oracles, such as the Karaethon cycle.
The fourth and fifth primary methods of imparting worldbuilding are both related to the narrator. The first narrator method is characterized by the inclusion of relevant information dumps at the beginning of the novel, explanations of indigenous traditions specific to cities, and vivid descriptions that no character should be able to express with such eloquence, thus requiring the narrator to intervene. The second narrator-based method is rather rare, that being the hyperbolic narrator. This form of false amplification contrasts with common sense to create a wonder indicative of the author’s direct philosophy towards the world. The sixth method of imparting worldbuilding is the speed at which certain off-screen events occur. For example, the time it takes for Moraine to research in the Brown Ajah archives characterizes how extensive those archives are. The seventh method of conveying worldbuilding is the most ingenious one that I have classified.
Earlier, I stated that the first method of worldbuilding was the most widespread, but there is, in fact, a more common way to establish worldbuilding. In the still life era of art, painters realised that even with all their skill, they could not truly imitate life, and the harder they tried, the harsher the object looked on the canvas. And so a new technique was born: the undescription. By leaving some parts of something like a fruit blurry, the eye fills in with a perfection greater than the painter could produce. Without knowing it, authors for millennia had been practicing undescription. In fact, I believe it to be one of the biggest strengths novels have over films. It is impossible to create literature without unintentional undescription, without room for the reader to imagine, and why would you want to? The fantasy genre thrives on the concept of the inexplicable because the reader's attempt to grasp it is unending bliss, the kind that many around the world still manage to experience after reading Harry Potter for the thousandth time. In Jordan’s work, however, the room he offers for imagination is no accident. Near the end of The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan intentionally omitted the torture that drove a character to commit their own cruelty. In another location during the ending, a mystical occurrence involving hundreds of people takes place. Although Jordan only describes a few, the variance between those described makes the unseen cavalcade truly overwhelming, more so than if he described three hundred humans individually. But, while these are nice isolated instances of the technique, there is one consistent application that truly carries Robert Jordan’s works to high regard. Fight scenes are largely the most polarising concept in fiction, with extended and detailed sword fights in particular causing many readers to lose interest. In Jordan, his fight scenes completely overcome any inhibitions on descriptive combat efficacy. If a fight is longer than a few minutes, then he slips into phrases that may remind you of Beowulf or Song of Roland (Betraying that Jordan is one of the best read authors of all time, having read multiple of Dickens’ works at age five), like, “His blade met all others, he was there to shield every strike at every villager. In shorter fights, however, he manages to become even more fantastical and esoteric. Every sword move is given a flowery name, which is tersely listed. A fight scene could be written thus: “Moon Rises Over The Lake. Leaf Dances In The Wind. Swan Undercuts The Bank.” This leads to an amazing exercise of imagination, which makes it the most elegant worldbuilding he has employed in the entire series, despite describing something as simple as a sword swing.
The Chase Verdict is that Wheel of Time offers a excellent slow paced adventure, and is well suited to a long car ride
I have one more aside, but it contains a very minor spoiler. The symbol on the hilt of a sword master is a Heron, and the only attack with this animal’s name is called Heron Wading Through The Rushes. This attack is regarded as a nearly kamikaze technique by most experienced fighters worldwide. I have recently noticed that the reason the blade master’s sword is called the Heron Mark Blade is... It is because someone who has earned a Heron Mark Blade is one who has trained to such a degree that they have spent their life in training, and this makes them ready to truly perform the Heron Wading Through The Rushes, to end their life with the same dedication they had displayed during it. The master is the only one with the nerve to perform the simplest maneuver. This theory is cemented by the fact that the willingness to trade one's life is what sets apart Lan, a mentor of the main character who has a Heron Mark blade, and Ingtar, a skilled swordsman who does not have his own Heron Mark. Ingtar states that Heron Wading Through The Rushes is a useless move and Rand should not practice it, but Lan insists that he not just learn it, but begin every practice session by practicing it, to remind him of true dedication. This kind of worldbuilding is what makes me have hope in modern secular authors.