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A review by isabellarobinson7
Origins of The Wheel of Time: The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan by Michael Livingston
5.0
Rating: 5 stars
Woah this was awesome. I read it on audio, but now I want to order a physical copy so I can refer back to it. Actually, hold that thought...
Yeah, so after writing that I just started browsing around for where I could obtain a physical copy... and I found one on sale, so I just went ahead and ordered it. Right there, on the spot. And then experienced the first "one day shipping" in my lifetime. I swear, I ordered it at 10:00 am one morning, and received it at 3:00 pm the next day. Wowie. I suppose it pays to order local, huh.
Now I'm going to go on a little ramble about one line - yes, one line out of this entire 348-page book - that .... The line was worded in two different ways in the physical and audio copies respectfully (don't really know why) so I will quote both here because why not. Here was the audiobook's version:
And here is the same line found in the physical copy, under the title of "Sea Folk":
Three things impressed me about this:
1. The fact that the Māori are mentioned specifically out of all Polynesian peoples, rather than just lumped in with all the rest. (There are about nine or ten groups of ethnic peoples native to Polynesia, Māori being one. You can call two people both European despite one coming from France and another from Germany.)
2. The fact that Kate Reading actually did her research and pronounced "Māori" correctly on the audio, instead of just defaulting to the "May-orrr-ree" that most people say. (Just google how to say it properly, it's too hard to write phonetically.)
3. The fact that the "a" was given an accent (ā) which is how it is supposed to be written (denotes emphasis on the letter), something that when I was in school, even some textbooks got wrong.
I am not Māori, but living in New Zealand this just made me so proud. I can only imagine how someone of that heritage might feel if they read this. This level of respect from so many different people restored my faith in humanity just that little bit more (not that it was all that lacking in the first place).
Now something that surprised me about Origins of The Wheel of Time: how many Bible/Christian things inspired RJ when writing Wheel of Time. I suppose I'm not too surprised given Jordan's religion, but still. From this, he seems to go more down the C.S. Lewis route when it comes to crafting a fantasy world than Tolkien, who didn't pull much directly from his own personal religion for Middle-earth. That being said, Jordan is closer to Tolkien when it comes to his blending of inspirations. I don't know, that's just my little scholarly take on this.
Michael Livingston may not be Jordan, but he sure did his best with what he was given. And the results are a testament to his effort. Origins of The Wheel of Time was so awesome, and a welcome addition to the non-fiction Wheel of Time canon.
Woah this was awesome. I read it on audio, but now I want to order a physical copy so I can refer back to it. Actually, hold that thought...
Yeah, so after writing that I just started browsing around for where I could obtain a physical copy... and I found one on sale, so I just went ahead and ordered it. Right there, on the spot. And then experienced the first "one day shipping" in my lifetime. I swear, I ordered it at 10:00 am one morning, and received it at 3:00 pm the next day. Wowie. I suppose it pays to order local, huh.
Now I'm going to go on a little ramble about one line - yes, one line out of this entire 348-page book - that .... The line was worded in two different ways in the physical and audio copies respectfully (don't really know why) so I will quote both here because why not. Here was the audiobook's version:
And we have among Jordans papers, notes that the Sea Folk were based on Polynesians and the Māori.
And here is the same line found in the physical copy, under the title of "Sea Folk":
In his early notes, Jordan likens them to Polynesian people and, specifically, to the Māori.
Three things impressed me about this:
1. The fact that the Māori are mentioned specifically out of all Polynesian peoples, rather than just lumped in with all the rest. (There are about nine or ten groups of ethnic peoples native to Polynesia, Māori being one. You can call two people both European despite one coming from France and another from Germany.)
2. The fact that Kate Reading actually did her research and pronounced "Māori" correctly on the audio, instead of just defaulting to the "May-orrr-ree" that most people say. (Just google how to say it properly, it's too hard to write phonetically.)
3. The fact that the "a" was given an accent (ā) which is how it is supposed to be written (denotes emphasis on the letter), something that when I was in school, even some textbooks got wrong.
I am not Māori, but living in New Zealand this just made me so proud. I can only imagine how someone of that heritage might feel if they read this. This level of respect from so many different people restored my faith in humanity just that little bit more (not that it was all that lacking in the first place).
Now something that surprised me about Origins of The Wheel of Time: how many Bible/Christian things inspired RJ when writing Wheel of Time. I suppose I'm not too surprised given Jordan's religion, but still. From this, he seems to go more down the C.S. Lewis route when it comes to crafting a fantasy world than Tolkien, who didn't pull much directly from his own personal religion for Middle-earth. That being said, Jordan is closer to Tolkien when it comes to his blending of inspirations. I don't know, that's just my little scholarly take on this.
Michael Livingston may not be Jordan, but he sure did his best with what he was given. And the results are a testament to his effort. Origins of The Wheel of Time was so awesome, and a welcome addition to the non-fiction Wheel of Time canon.