Ive been post for a while on both the spoiler boards and the Book club, but I honestly cant figure out what the difference is anymore.  With the book club reading and such itself appearing to be over, what are the guidelines for posting on one vs the other?

But the WoT books always start with a quote, a verse or a prologue, well before "The Wheel of Time turns..."
*scratches head*

True true, and I read every long winded word of those books, loving every minute.  But that opening bit got real old real quick for me *shrugs*

Question #1:  When was the original Merlin around?  Or if thats a little vague given the lifespan of wizards, when did the whole Arthur and the round table Amoracchius as Excalibur go down? 

Historians as far as I know cant agree and place it anywhere from a few centuries AD in the decline of the Roman Empire all the way up to the 12th century or so during the time of chivalry. 

Question #2:  When where the nails of the Cross first forged into Swords.

I ask because of what Michael said about how Amoracchius had never been reworked like th other two swords, and how it was once in the stewardship of the Original Merlin.  Now if that happened only of few centuries AD, it would make a bit of sense because the sword could have been on its first iteration when the Merlin got a hold of it (and presumably did something to make it last more than the other two).  But if Merlin was on the latter end of things, it would mean that it had already lasted near a millennium before he got it, and might indicate a more philosophical difference between the sword of Love and the swords of Faith and Duty.  Im working on a Fidelacchius theory, but I wont clutter this thread up with it

It may not be for everyone, but I sometimes enjoy the books that start with a few lines of verse (song/poem), excerpt of imaginary quotes from some character, etc.  Sometimes it can set the mood of the world without having to leap right into the action or characters. 

What I hate are series' such as Wheel of Time (loved the books but hated the openings)  that start the same every time "the wheel turns and ages come and go and this wasn't the beginning but it was a beginning and I think ill just skip the first paragraph.

That is exactly how the mark as read function works... so I don't understand this suggestion.

Apologies.  I thought it worked topic by topic.  Nevermind.

Sweet, Thanks!  Lets hope it survives 

Blast... I dont use the Unread post thing at all because it gets so bogged down in McAnally's

So, I did the most sensible thing, or at the very least put in a plausible contingency plan: His mentor left him a mansion/inheritance that made him independantly wealthy

There's always the random "lawsuit settlement thats paying out slowly" for a nice source of workless income.  Or you can use the book/song/movie/patent/etc royalties to support a character who does nothing but his hobbies....man, that would be nice.