No this is not a misplaced post, I just wanted to share similarities I noticed between the World of The Wheel of Time (WoT) and Morrowind(Mw):

Obviously, if you've not read the books this post is prolly of little interest. It contains some minor spoilers for both the books and the game.

- The Blight (WoT) and the Blight (Mw): This is the most obvious similarity since the desertic, evil place has the same name in both worlds. Furthermore they both harbour the lair of the ultimate evil incarnation Shayul gul (Wot) or Dagoth Ur (Mw)

- The Ashlands and the Aiel waste: Dry, harsh places, both and...

- The Ashlanders and the Aiel: Fierce warrior clans who used their environment and each other to hone their fighting skills, each clan is governed by a leader but also a wise woman (WoT and Mw).

- Dreams: In both places they play important roles, all the Oracle quests and some of the last temple quests are based on the questgiver seing items and places in the Dreamworld (Mw). This is similar to the World of Dreams (WoT) where images of items (that have not been moved for a long time) and places can be found.

- The Empire (Mw) and the Seanchan Empire (WoT): In both cases the Empire comes from a continent several times bigger than the island where the story is unfolding. In both cases they have a set of beliefs and customs almost alien to the natives and they both have a foothold in the southeastern part of the island.

- The Game of Houses: Intrigues, plots and the occasional assassination both in The Great Houses in Cairhinen (WoT) and Vvardenfell (Mw)

- The Nevarine (Mw) and the Dragon Reborn (WoT). The description: Born in uncertain circumstances, the reincarnation of an ancient and powerfull hero, destined to great deeds including throwing out the invaders (Empire) out... applies to both.

I probably could keep on rantling about it but this post is already getting too long.

One could draw similar paralells with Terry Goodking's The Sword Of Truth series too. Hero - the first *true* Seeker after 3000 years, Order = The Empire WITH claws [img]smile.gif[/img] , etc...
Probably the volume of fantasy novels written up to date doesn't give room for much originality ... but on the other hand - who would want to read two-six(at least!) thick books in a series about everyday's "adventures" of a milk fermentantion & cheese degradation employee- or something eq. *dull*

Neuro

I thought more people would jump on this topic--it seems so obvious that there's an homage of sorts from the creators of Morrowind to Jordan's books. There are so many similarities, I wouldn't know were to begin. Does anyone know why this is?? I'm so darned curious!

Similar story as Dune as well .... popular tale type.