Weather
When one of the primary objects of interest in a fantasy novel series is capable of being used to manipulate climate conditions, the one thing you can count on is imagery devoted to describing weather conditions. He who controls the weather controls the world, it might be suggested, therefore the imagery describing storms is not just literal, but metaphorically is away of describing a weapon of war:
“Onward the wind blew into the Sea of Storms, eastward beneath a searing sun in a sky abandoned by clouds, whipping the tops of green sea swells, battling winds from the south and westward winds, shearing and swirling as the waters below heaved. Not yet the storms of winter's heart, though winter should have been half gone, much less the greater storms of a dying summer, but winds and currents that could be used by ocean-faring folk to coast around the continent from World's End to Mayene and beyond, then back again.”
Hard or Strong?
An interesting question is posed: should a man be hard or should a man be strong? Needless to say, the same might well be asked of a woman, but in this particular case the reference is to a male. Before reading the imagery which composes her answer to this question, however, it should be noted that the character speaking is considered the strongest of her kind to come along in a millennium:
“The boy confuses them,” she said. “He needs to be strong, and makes himself harder. Too hard, already, and he will not stop until he is stopped. He has forgotten how to laugh except in bitterness; there are no tears left in him. Unless he finds laughter and tears again, the world faces disaster. He must learn that even the Dragon Reborn is flesh. If he goes to Tarmon Gai’don as he is, even his victory may be as dark as his defeat.”
The Gold Ring
It doesn’t take a hardcore fantasy fiction reader to recognize that this book and the series within which is belongs was heavily inspired by Tolkien’s template. It takes all the way until the eighth book in the series to finally get there, but after finally being introduced, the gold ring of this series will show up again in a couple of the later entries in the series. Though, admittedly, this ring hardly holds the stature of that other more famous one. Plus, its charm is a little something for the for ladies, not lords:
“Abruptly a vertical slash of silver appeared at the far end of the room, bright against the tapestries hanging between the heavy gilded mirrors, and a crystalline chime rang loud. Her eyebrows rose in surprise. Someone remembered the courtesies of a more civilized Age, it seemed. Standing, she forced the plain band of gold down against the ruby ring on her smallest finger and embraced saidar through it before channeling the web that would sound an answering chime for whoever wanted to open a gateway. The angreal did not offer much, yet anyone who thought they knew her strength would find a shock.”
Deceptive Appearances
The extensive Prologue which introduces this addition to The Wheel of Time saga is titled “Deceptive Appearance.” It might well be considered an example of foreshadowing as the concept of that title will be raised independently in thought and phrase throughout the novel, creating a tapestry of image warning about how appearances are not always what they seem:
“When a woman plays the fool, look for the man.”
"The jellyfish have tongues, it seems.”
“Sometimes, it was difficult to tell Nynaeve leading from Nynaeve bullying.”
“Aviendha had begun to suspect that the other woman often used silence and supposedly significant looks to cover ignorance.”
