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Q: I enjoy the many nations and peoples in the Wheel of Time an how richly their societies are detailed! What was your inspiration for the Ogier?
A: It's really impossible to say here. The Ogier came from a dozen different sources, at least.
Q: Could you discuss your imagery as it relates to book of Revelation--and other sources-language use?
A: Sorry, not in under four or five hours.
Q: Do you ever "fill in the spaces"
A: No, I never "fill in the spaces." Sometimes I have to cut events out, because I've become entirely too patient, getting from one place to another. For the rest I don't really have a "method" beyond telling the story.
Q: I was just wondering two things: one, what books do YOU read, and what are some of the titles and types of your other written books. I'm really interested in reading more of your writing!
A: I read about four hundred or so books a year, half nonfiction, the fiction spread over almost every genre. I have written Westerns, historical fiction, international intrigue; I've ghostwritten some books; but everything except the fantasy is out of print at the moment.
Q: You've outdone yourself with Crown of Swords. My question concerns the True Power. How is it distinguishable from the One Power?
A: It's fairly self-evident from the books. What can be done with the True Power is very similar to what can be done with the One Power. Except that where the One Power is drawn from the True Source and is the force that drives the Wheel of Time and powers the universe, the so-called True Power is drawn from the Dark One. There are limits in the same ways there are limits to the One Power It would be very long if I went into it too much, but some of those limits and costs of drawing on the Dark One are shown in CROWN OF SWORDS.
Q: Can gateways be created at non-right angles to the ground? If not, why not? If yes, why haven't we seen them?
A: They can be, and you haven't seen it because there's been no need to do it. And also some of the people who can make gateways don't know how to do it.
Q: How do you explain Liah being in Shadar Logoth for so long?
A: She became absorbed into the city. She was left there, and she is, after all, a Aiel, one of the people better at surviving under harsh circumstances than anyone else in the world. And also her corruption by Shadar Logoth gave her some protection.
Q: Because the wheel of time contains the Dark One's prison, and the ages repeat with each revolution, then isn't humanity itself also imprisoned unable to truly evolve?
A: No.
Q: Cuendillar grows stronger when the One Power is directed into it, but can the One Power be drawn out of it, causing it to break?
A: Read And Find Out! :) That's something I may or may not use in a future book, but it's information that I don't want you to have yet And that's the reason why I say "Read And Find Out" when I say it. :)
Q: Will we learn what happened to Jain Charin "Farstrider" after his disapearance?
A: Possibly.
Q: Is anything in the books "by accident?" Will the Prophecies of the Dragon be written out?
A: There's very little in the books that's by accident--very little and no, I've never thought of writing out the complete Prophecies of the Dragon. As already stated in a previous book, they would comprise a volume of some 300 to 400 pages.
Q: Can you tell us why Tor is sending you on tour for the Fallon series later this year, but not for A Crown of Swords?
A: Well, it was a very short time between handing in A CROWN OF SWORDS and its publication, and in fact, they weren't really sure when I'd finish so they couldn't make arrangements in advance. There's a possibility that the Fallon tour may be extended to encompass some of what we call CROWN OF SWORDS territory.
Q: My wife wonders why you left all the plot threads hanging at the end of the CoS. Others have felt that CoS is more like the middle of a book rather than a complete book by itself. Could you explain how you pace and structure your books in the WoT?
A: Not inside the time we have for this interview! :) As with all of the books, there are some plot elements hanging and some resolved. In some, there are more plot elements tied up than others; some, fewer. It just depends on how the story line is running in that particular book.
Q: All of Min's viewing have come true except one does this mean she is no longer infallible?
A: No, it doesn't. And actually, that's not quite true, that all of her viewings have come true but one.
Q: What was the process through which cuendillar was made?
A: Entirely too complex for me to go into here. If there's anyone out there who can channel on the level of a Forsaken I would be happy to enter into a correspondence with them on the making of cuendillar. :)
Q: Since there are currently WOT card games and video games in the works, what other mediums will we see in the future? Comic Books? Films?
A: I really don't know, I just take it as it comes. There will be a line of Wheel of Time fantasy clothing and jewelry. There's a company that wants to make WOT weapons--swords, etc.-- but nothing in the way of games that I can discuss.
Q: Can you clarify who can tell when one is using the True Power?
A: No one can tell if you're using the True Power except the Dark One, of course.
Q: Will you be doing any book signings in New England?
A: You can also reach Tor by snail mail at Tor Books, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010, and if someone sends e-mail to me via Tor, please include a snail-mail address, because I don't send e-mail back (I'm not set up for it). :) As for book signings in New England I don't know. That's entirely up to Tor. I go where I'm sent, pretty much.
Q: There is a mystery man who helps Rand in the last chapter of ACoS, my question: Is this a new character, or have we seen him elsewhere?
A: Well, we've certainly seen him earlier in CROWN OF SWORDS. Otherwise, Read And Find Out. :)
Q: Considering that WoT is such a success, after you have finished this series, can we look forward to anything more coming from this world, past or future?
A: Not unless I think of something that I particularly want to write a story I very much want to tell. At the moment, I plan to do another fantasy novel in another universe I'm working on that already in the back of my head and have been for a couple of years.