The bosom-count is considerably higher by book five, The Fires of Heaven (“too much bosom showed in the gap of her shawl” “showed enough bosom to shock a tavern-maid” “folding her arms under a massive bosom”).īosom aside (and what a word, anyway) women are always thinking about how they look and what they’re wearing – or frequently what they’re not wearing - in Jordan’s vision. But a quick glance through book four, The Shadow Rising, proved my teenage memory correct: I found all sorts, from a “considerable amount of excellent pale bosom” to “considerable tanned cleavage”, tons of “clinging” gowns, and lots of crossing of arms beneath breasts to show determination (which I just tried it’s uncomfortable). I wasn’t sure if my memories of Jordan’s heaving bosoms and generally rather irritating women characters were exaggerated, so I decided to give the series another go. Now Rosamund Pike, who is playing the character of Moiraine, has got in on the “Wheel of Time is great for women” act, telling the Radio Times that she’s received letters from fans of the books and “many of them have said that actually these women in The Wheel of Time were mentors and role models for them growing up, which I thought was very interesting.” Photograph: Liza Groen Trombi, Locus Publications
Robert Jordan, author of The Wheel of Time series.
In fact, I remember thinking Jordan’s depiction of women was pretty dismal – he might have packed in far more female characters than Tolkien ever did, but they’re constantly objectified, forever hoisting their bosoms around, adjusting their skirts – even getting spanked as punishment. Now, I read these books in my late teens, but my resounding memory of them was not of “powerful women”. My eyebrows were first raised back when the deal to adapt Robert Jordan’s extremely long series was announced in 2018, when head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke praised its “timely narrative featuring powerful women at the core”.
And how many people involved with the forthcoming adaptation have actually marathoned their way through all of the books? W hat is going on with Amazon Prime’s characterisation of The Wheel of Time? I ask this as a fantasy fan, someone who not only adores the classy stuff (NK Jemisin, Guy Gavriel Kay etc) but has also devotedly ploughed her way through The Belgariad, most of Terry Goodkind (until it got too crazy even for me) and Simon R Green.
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