The Eye of the World
by Robert Jordan
The Final Empire (Mistborn)
by Brandon Sanderson
Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi
The Shards of Heaven
by Michael Livingston
The Dragon Reread
From About Us: "We're reading the Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan! We read about 5 chapters every episode, and we recap the events of the story, so you don't have to read along unless you want to."
Writing Excuses Podcast
From What Is Writing Excuses?: "Writing Excuses is a fast-paced, educational podcast for writers, by writers. It airs weekly, with new episodes appearing each Sunday evening at around 6pm Eastern Time. Episodes vary in length from fifteen to twenty-five minutes, but are usually less than twenty minutes long."
Our last two destinations take place in the Carolinas. This story begins in Charleston, SC.
Thank you for joining the legions of the Dragon Reborn, fellow ta'veren. Our campaign against The Dark One will be shorter than our tours of Panem as tWoT show just wrapped up season 1, but we still have a couple very interesting stops today.
There was a strong shift in The Pattern when the late Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) published the first book, Eye of the World, in 1990. What he initially imagined as a 6-book series, similar to LotR (originally arranged into 6 volumes, not the 3 books we have today), quickly became a 15 book franchise, each one a NYTimes bestseller.
The Wheel of Time complete 15-book set. Image provided by Amazon.com
Today, we will travel to a pair of academic libraries in Charleston, SC - the College of Charleston and the Citadel. Robert Jordan split his literary estate between these two academies, imparting the former with his notes, manuscripts, personal computer, letters, and other media. The latter he left his personal first edition publications of his novels, along with his famous hat (similar to the one worn by fan-favorite character Matrim Cauthon), a katana-like sword similar to what Rand al'Thor and al'Lan Mandragoran carried, his walking cane, graduation ring, writing desk with chair, and various other artifacts.
The College of Charleston
As mentioned above, Jordan's wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, donated the vast majority of his writing paraphernalia to the College of Charleston Libraries, with whom he had good relations. Being from Charleston, Jordan showed a lot of love to his hometown and surrounding areas. While going through Jordan's notes, revisions, and correspondences is a dream come true for a hardcore tWoT fan, the especially fun part of this special collection are the 3-D replicas. From knives, swords, and shields, to armor and distinctive character outfits (such as a life-sized replica of Rand's famous red coat), interacting with this special collection brings the magic to life. Also included are various other memorabilia from RJ's life and works, such as his famous Conan the Barbarian novels and manuscripts.
Robert Jordan artifacts, displayed by the College of Charleston. Image provided by The College Today (https://today.cofc.edu/2021/11/18/cofc-new-wheel-of-time-tv-series-share-close-connection/)
Currently, tCoC's Addlestone Library has a display for the author on its third floor, but this exhibition is small and temporary, set to end after Spring semester 2022. Should you wish to browse Jordan's donated collection, please contact the library by opening the hyperlink above and make an appointment.
The Citadel
Robert Jordan graduated from this prestigious military university with a degree in Physics after serving two tours in Vietnam. Upon his passing, he left his alma mater with the above-mentioned artifacts. Citadel's Daniel Library has a display dedicated to RJ and tWoT that contains the hat, the ring, the sword, a copy of the whole series in hardback, and a small gallery of other photos and artifacts.
The Robert Jordan display in Citadel's Daniel Library. Image provided by The Citadel Today (https://today.citadel.edu/prime-placement-for-the-world-famous-story-authored-by-a-citadel-alumnus/)
Daniel Library allows visitors, so stop in during their posted hours of operation to glance the display. Also, contact a librarian to ask about visiting the rare book display in which is kept Robert Jordan's personal first-edition copies of tWoT novels published in his lifetime.
Around the Town
Now that the library visits are out of the way, let's make two more quick stops.
Ogier Street
This is a quick and simple visit. While it's just a street sign, the name was used on page and on screen to represent a race of long-lived gigantic, humanoid creatures with animalistic features and sharp intellects. Loial is our primary Ogier whose service to the Emonds Field Five proved invaluable. Many fans speculate that Robert Jordan inserted himself from life to page through this character, who not only participates in the battles, but takes detailed accounts of every event that happens for his series of books he plans to write about Rand. Talk about breaking the Fourth Wall!
Ogier St. sign in Charleston, SC. Image provided by imgur (https://imgur.com/a/Qn8eI).
The Rigney House
The Rigney (Robert Jordan) family house in Charleston, SC - back yard with dragon gates. Image provided by https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175182
This house actually belonged to Jordan's wife, Harriet McDougal before they were married. She inherited the large 1920 colonial style house from her late mother. The Rigney family continued their modest, but well-provided lifestyle even after his commercial success. Instead of moving away to some private estate, he and his wife held to their roots, adding just a few flourishes, such as these dragon gates, to what they already possessed. The dragon symbol on each gate is the infamous symbol of The Dragon Reborn and Rand al'Thor, who is destined to "break the world to save the world."
We must now take a quick detour to Atlanta, GA for the next part of our tWoT adventure!
JordanCon
Every April in Atlanta, GA, there is JordanCon. This is a Robert Jordan convention primarily focused around tWoT, but it includes people tangentially connected to him and his works, as well as other people in the fantasy realm - such as authors, artists, and illustrators.
JordanCon is a non-profit convention. All proceeds go to charities Jordan and his wife, Harriet, were involved in. There are charity auctions featuring some of his personal items, as well as those of Brandon Sanderson (who finished tWoT upon Jordan's passing), costume contests, panel discussions with authors and experts of fantasy fiction, arts, crafts, and more! Check out the video review by famous Fantasy critic, Daniel Greene:
The winds of time are changing for us, and we must depart the South Carolina Randlands now, but we have time for a quick bite before leaving.
In The Wheel of Time series, however, food is significant; Robert Jordan used food to share both the customs and cultures of different peoples throughout the WoT series. With that understanding, Robert Jordan pens numerous detailed encounters with rich, flavorful culinary masterpieces. A prominent delicacy which keeps appearing are honeycakes. These appear time and again through the first 12 books, and appear in different places throughout the Randlands. Instead of a picture with a recipe link, watch this video from the Dragonmount team:
Honeycakes
Description - One can easily say this is a favorite treat of the Emond's Field 5, of the Aes Sedai, and most definitely Robert Jordan himself. It's a dense, layered pastry saturated with honey butter that's folded in before baking, with additional honey butter soaked into the product after baking. Whether you had a long day of cutting wood, herding sheep, training in the White Tower courtyard, or sifting through the Tar Valon library, this is the perfect snack.
We need a good drink to pair with our honeycakes before we leave our epic fantasy vacation and return home. Thank the Creator for the Seanchan in this case, because those people love their kaf (coffee). Below is a tasty recipe from the fansite, Tar Valon Library:
Hot cappuccino in cup on a saucer. Image provided by https://pixabay.com/photos/cappuccino-froth-coffee-espresso-2583512/
Description - This is essentially a hot cappuccino blended with brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. To the invading Seanchan armies, the aroma, taste, and caffeine rush associated with kaf are more than pleasant side effects from a common drink. Rather, preparing and drinking kaf is culturally and societally significant. There are even kaf ceremonies for those of the High Blood (royalty)!