issue 29 // volume 42

Before ‘Game of Thrones’

>GRRM fans will love reading ‘The Wheel of Time’

Jamal Al-Bayaa
Staff Writer

 

ong before Jon, Joffrey, or

Sansa, there was Rand, Matt,
and Perrin, three best friends
who had their lives dramatically
changed when an Aes Sedai took
them away from their village in
order to save their lives, which
entangled them in a complicated
web of magic, politics, war, and
power. The late Robert Jordan’s
The Wheel of Time is a 14-book
sword-and-sorcery fantasy series
that succeeded J.R.R. Tolkien’s
The Lord of the Rings as the series
which best defined fantasy. As
Edward Rothstein of The New
York Times said, “Jordan has
come to dominate the world
Tolkien had begun to reveal.”

There were a few major
factors that contributed to the
incredible success of the Wheel
of Time series. Jordan’s character
work was incredibly intricate,
deep, and thorough. His battle
scenes were gloriously larger
than life, yet most wars were
won or lost in secret shadows
through manipulation, cunning,
and strategy. The world he
created was so well described
that you intuitively knew the
rules of that reality, without ever
needing them explained to you.
Now, this is generally good

for any fantasy series, or book in
general, but Jordan’s attempts
at it were some of the most

groundbreaking. George R.R.
Martin then took the framework
laid out by Jordan and Tolkien,
expanded on it, improved on it,
and turned it into the legendary
book series we have today.

In reading these two books,
you begin to notice similarities
between the older Wheel of Time
series and the newer A Song of
Ice and Fire. In every way that
Jordan had succeeded, so too has
Martin. Both series emphasize
high court, tense battles, and the
intricate complexity of a multi-
nationed fantasy world, complete
with maps and distinct cultures
within each city, although I feel
that Jordan was much more
thorough in that regard.

Further similarities can be
seen in the style of writing itself.
Both authors chose not to focus
on any one character as the main
narrator, instead adding to the
mystery and misdirection of the
plot by giving every character
a chance to narrate, generally
changing narration and the
entire focus of the story every
few chapters. In The Wheel of
Time, even characters that have
nothing to do with the plot are
given small narrative chapters
as a way to set the tone and give
insight into the mind of the
common people in this world.

This unorthodox style is
powerful in a series that relies
so heavily on secrets. While
each individual character may

know little of the real truth at
any given time, the reader has
the advantage of knowing most
everything that the characters
collectively know. This provides
a feeling of omniscience,
suspense, and page-turning
excitement as you watch deceit
and manipulation take place

at a level of skill Malcolm
Gladwell would be proud of.

Fortunately, not all the
information is revealed too
soon in either book, so the
reader may have enough clues
to guess at what happens, but
rarely has enough information
to really get it right. Anybody
who appreciates the complexity,
suspense, and high quality
fantasy world-building that
Martin engages his readers in
will appreciate Jordan’s attempts
just as much, if not more.

Best of all, there is a TV series
of the Wheel of Time coming out
that Jordan’s wife claims will be
“cutting-edge” in the TV world,
obviously a direct challenge/
response to the fame that Game
of Thrones has received. I hope
that the show keeps through
on that promise, because it was
certainly true of the books.

If youre a fantasy fan, |
urge you to read this less well-
known book series. Once the
TV show is out, you'll get to say
what everybody will wish they
could say: “I read the books
first, and they were amazing.”

A very Dangerous Woman

sing a lot because her lyrics are looped.
The album ends with “Thinking ’Bout

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

OOOOS

D espite the fact that a doughnut almost
ended Ariana Grande’s career very
prematurely, the 22-year-old singer has
just released a new album that a lot of
people will be talking about. Originally
titled Moonlight, the name of the album

You,” which hints that Ariana might get
back together with Big Sean. The Target
Exclusive and Deluxe versions of the album
also have two bonus tracks including “Step
on Up’ and “Jason’s Song,” both of which
take inspiration from jazz songs. Grande
wrote most of the lyrics for the latter.

Fans will be disappointed that “Focus” is
not in the album, even though Grande

was changed to Dangerous Woman.
The album involves similar themes to
Ariana’s previous release, My Everything.
The songs on the album are varied
in style, and show that Grande can do
different types of music. The first song,
“Moonlight,” showcases her singing abilities
with its dreamy 1960s sound. “Be Alright” is
a song that you could hear in a dance club.
In “Let Me Love You,” Ariana sings
about her breakup with Big Sean, which
happened five days after she performed
in Rogers Arena last year. Lil Wayne is
also featured in the song, and he gets a bit
too personal about the breakup. Some of
the other famous singers featured in the
album are Nicki Minaj in “Side to Side” and
Future in “Everyday.” Macy Gray is also in
“Leave Me Lonely,” although she does not

said in a ‘making of’ interview on the
music video that it would be. It would be
nice if the song was in the album, or even
included as a bonus track in the Deluxe
Version because it is a great song. Most of
the songs in the album are a combination
of R&B sound and experimental stylings
inspired by the music of Imogen Heap.
Just like her music videos, some of the
songs in the album are similar to her
earlier songs. For example, “Let Me Love
You” sounds similar to “Love Me Harder.”
Ariana’s younger fans might be
offended by some of the songs in the album
due to the explicit language. However, if
you read Ariana’s tweets and Instagram
posts, you probably know that she swears
and hopefully not be offended by that.
If you are a big fan of Ariana Grande,
you will enjoy Dangerous Woman.

arts // no. 7

THE SOMPLEE TE

satu D
OF TIME

 

ieee
DANGEROUS WOMAN

Image via thinkstock