The Wheel of Time Book 12

Morgase

From the Tor website:

Tor Books is proud to announce the November 3rd, 2009 on-sale date for The Gathering Storm, Book Twelve of The Wheel of Time and the first of three volumes that will make up A Memory of Light, the stunning conclusion to Robert Jordan’s beloved and bestselling fantasy series. A Memory of Light, partially written by Jordan and completed by Brandon Sanderson, will be released over a two-year period.

Hooray! There's a lot of comments on the Tor website from people who are disappointed about the book being split into three books and having to wait so long to conclude the series.

Personally I am happy to wait a while to make sure that it is edited properly and is a good product. Brandon Sanderson puts forward his views on his website.

lemon_sherbert

I think it's great, three times as many books as I was expecting! Plus it's so much sooner. I've been following Sanderson's blog, and I think he's taken up the mantle nicely, I'm looking forward to the book. I especially like how he's emphasising that he's emulating the style of the earlier books, which IMO were much better

ixoy

ARGH NO! I thought I'd finally be finished the bloody thing with one more book to go and now there's three?! I've waited 6 years before for some sequels, I'd rather it's in one full volume. Given books 7-11 were all pretty poor, I'm not expecting anything from the finale...

eVeNtInE

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ixoy

eVeNtInE wrote: »

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We can hope. I'm a little concerned though that he seems to want to tie up everything including the stories of all the numerous minor characters that are one of the big problems with the last few books and slowed the pacing to a crawl.

The author gave the reason for splitting the book up on his site. Iirc, it was something about the book being too big to bind if it was released as one and that it would be released very late (around 2011 I think), while if they split it up they can release a new book each year for the fans.

Yep - it's mostly a marketing decision and it makes sense from their POV. I'm not too big on word count translating into pages but I imagine we're talking about 1k or so for the full volume, so you could split it into 3 volumes of circa 400 pages or so (with a different typeface to the omnibus edition).

There's also a forum request in for a WOT forum at the moment just in case people want to add support. (See my sig) ¬_¬

Outrage! What's wrong with discussing it here

eVeNtInE

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Morgase

lemon_sherbert wrote: »

I think it's great, three times as many books as I was expecting! Plus it's so much sooner. I've been following Sanderson's blog, and I think he's taken up the mantle nicely, I'm looking forward to the book. I especially like how he's emphasising that he's emulating the style of the earlier books, which IMO were much better

That's exactly how I feel, I'm quite prepared to wait if it means it's going to be done properly. And we have something fantastic to look forward to in November this year, 2010 and 2011! Excitement x 3

eVeNtInE wrote: »

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I've read the first book of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series and loved his style. I really think he's going to do WoT justice.

eVeNtInE

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Morgase

Thank you! I will be definitely checking that out!

ixoy

Morgase wrote: »

That's exactly how I feel, I'm quite prepared to wait if it means it's going to be done properly. And we have something fantastic to look forward to in November this year, 2010 and 2011! Excitement x 3

What's happening then that's exciting?

I do like having definite dates though - George R.R. Martin's series is quite frustrating with the long gaps between releases. It's nice to have a firmer plan.

growler

think i'll wait 3 1/2 years before deciding whether to waste any more of my life on WOT, sadly I can't get back the many hours wasted on the last 3 or 4 volumes of waffle, but I'll remember to check back on this thread in Jan 2012 and make the call then.

ixoy

growler wrote: »

think i'll wait 3 1/2 years before deciding whether to waste any more of my life on WOT, sadly I can't get back the many hours wasted on the last 3 or 4 volumes of waffle, but I'll remember to check back on this thread in Jan 2012 and make the call then.

Flames and ashes! Men! *tugs braid*

lemon_sherbert

Funny, I know the last couple of books weren't as strong as the first couple, but I still loved them. I always reread the whole series during the summer, they're my favourite books. Can't wait...

pljudge321

ixoy wrote: »

Yep - it's mostly a marketing decision and it makes sense from their POV. I'm not too big on word count translating into pages but I imagine we're talking about 1k or so for the full volume, so you could split it into 3 volumes of circa 400 pages or so (with a different typeface to the omnibus edition).


Outrage! What's wrong with discussing it here

Nah, he said on his blog that he had passed the 400,000 word mark which is the same amount as the forth, and largest book, and was estimating finishing with around 700,000 words which puts it around the 1800 page mark. Add in the extra scope given by publishing in thre volumes and I wouldn't be surprised to see him push over that mark.

Edit: Here we go, from the author himself

Brandon Sanderson wrote:

I started to lobby Harriet subtly, pointing out that previous Wheel of Time books had been 380k, and perhaps that would be a good length for each Volume of AMOL

pljudge321

ixoy wrote: »

Flames and ashes! Men! *tugs braid*

For such wise and powerful women they did see overtly interested in their cleavage, and their dresses, and how their dress emphasised they're cleavage.

Also in the WOT did any notice the ridiculous ration of "Beautiful women" to "Plain" women, oh well the genres called fantasy for a reason.

ixoy

pljudge321 wrote: »

For such wise and powerful women they did see overtly interested in their cleavage, and their dresses, and how their dress emphasised they're cleavage.

And, for some, overly using fishing metaphors...

I always found it amusing that the original trio were meant to be really powerful Aes Sedai but then in every book they kept finding women who were equally, if not more, powerful in the Source everywhere they went - on ships, in old cottages, etc...

C'mon bring on the Final Battle and blast away all those minor characters who drag the story down. Time for the Aes Sedai to put down their cups of tea, stop their nattering, and get it on.

pljudge321

ixoy wrote: »

And, for some, overly using fishing metaphors...

I always found it amusing that the original trio were meant to be really powerful Aes Sedai but then in every book they kept finding women who were equally, if not more, powerful in the Source everywhere they went - on ships, in old cottages, etc...

C'mon bring on the Final Battle and blast away all those minor characters who drag the story down. Time for the Aes Sedai to put down their cups of tea, stop their nattering, and get it on.

The one scene in the 11th book where

Nynaeve sends Lan to the borderlands to lead the Malkieri to the last battle

still gives me hope for the last book.

Also if there was one story arc in the series that needed the chop it

was Faile getting kidnapped

Three books of misery and boredom as you watch Perrin go from being one of the best to one of the worst characters.

And not to mention the

stupid fourway relationship with Rand being linked, by extension, to around eight people mentally.

Mat remains by far the most interesting character, you have to admit his bit was the only interesting part of book 11.

lemon_sherbert

pljudge321 wrote: »

Also if there was one story arc in the series that needed the chop it

was Faile getting kidnapped

Three books of misery and boredom as you watch Perrin go from being one of the best to one of the worst characters.

Could not agree more. I think it must have been something along the lines of, hmm, what will I do with Perrin for the next two books, while the rest of the characters have meaningful stories?

I love the Nynaeve/Lan relationship, both battling conflicting loyalties, and the sense that it won't end well either.

That is one of the things that bothers me, the fat that all the young Aes Sedai are pursuing romantic relationships, but will end up outliving them by hundreds of years:(

I would have liked a bit more Rand in the last two books, but my favourite part in the later books, can't remember which one it was in, was

the cleansing of the male half of the source

Blazer

as long as the fcuker doesn't die after the 2nd book.
It was a mate that introduced me to Wheel of Time.
He always swore that Jordan would probably die before finishing it due to wasted time on off shoot books on Lan etc.
When I told him the news about Jordan he was nearly crying.
10 years nearly following it.:eek:

KarlNedCarew

lemon_sherbert wrote: »

I love the Nynaeve/Lan relationship, both battling conflicting loyalties, and the sense that it won't end well either.

What about the Mat/Tuon relationship, both battling well.....
however i have the feeling it will end well (comparitively)

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

When I told him the news about Jordan he was nearly crying.

I think alot of people were like that
I remember i was just getting an update on the next book when i found out, bit of a downer really

lemon_sherbert

KarlNedCarew wrote: »

What about the Mat/Tuon relationship, both battling well.....
however i have the feeling it will end well (comparitively)

I don't know, I just can't warm to Tuon, she constantly seems like a spoilt child. Though I suppose she is just what Mat needs. Yeah, of all the characters, Mat and Tuon seem to be the most likely to survive.

KarlNedCarew

lemon_sherbert wrote: »

I don't know, I just can't warm to Tuon, she constantly seems like a spoilt child. Though I suppose she is just what Mat needs. Yeah, of all the characters, Mat and Tuon seem to be the most likely to survive.

Have to agree with you about Tuon as a stand alone character she is definitely lacking any spark, however she does spark interesting moments and has incerdible relationships

Taltos

Started reading this series around 1990 I think - long long time ago to remember clearly.
Will be sad to see it come to an end - but cannot wait to see what happens with Rand, Perrin and Mat.

Need to pull the old ones out of storage and get back up to speed before November - gawd I wish I had long summer holidays again.

Morgase

Taltos wrote: »

Started reading this series around 1990 I think - long long time ago to remember clearly.
Will be sad to see it come to an end - but cannot wait to see what happens with Rand, Perrin and Mat.

Need to pull the old ones out of storage and get back up to speed before November - gawd I wish I had long summer holidays again.

There's a re-read going on on Tor.com at the moment which has chapter summaries of the books. They're on book 4 at the moment but there's a few chapters done per week. Handy if you just want to refresh your memory!

Seraphicblue

I actually kinda like Tuon, which is odd because I cannot stand Egwene, Elayne and most of his female characters.(Nyneave is off that list because of her incredible coolness at the end of KoD)

Mat has been the stand out character for me for the whole series.
He gets better and better with each book. (Plus, he's giving the Band cannon)
Whats not to love.
Blood and bloody ashes people, get your swearwords RIGHT!!!

Seraphicblue

I actually kinda like Tuon. which is odd because I cannot stand Egwene and Elayne and most of his women (Nyneave is off that list for incredible coolness at the end of KoD)

Mat has been the stand out character for the whole eleven books for me.
Moar! (plus, he's giving the Band cannon)

Blood and bloody ashes people, get your swear words RIGHT!!!

eVeNtInE

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gaius c

lemon_sherbert wrote: »

I would have liked a bit more Rand in the last two books, but my favourite part in the later books, can't remember which one it was in, was

the cleansing of the male half of the source

It couldn't have been any less dramatic to be honest. It was like:
"tada it's done. Let's have some tea"

frodos63

Last book is being split into three books i think. First of which is due this Nov. Can't wait

lemon_sherbert

gaius c wrote: »

It couldn't have been any less dramatic to be honest. It was like:
"tada it's done. Let's have some tea"

But it's not about the drama, it's about the realisation that a profound change has come to one of the fundamental truths of their lives, it's a game-changer, and shows the effect that the actions of the ta'veren are going to have. I mean I found it hard to see how the actions of the main three were going to change the world so utterly that the next Age would arrive, but it's these events, rather than the wars and politics that appeal to me most about the books.

I think it depends on how you read the books though, and what are the bits that appeal to you. I mean I don't think that the later books are bad, not as great as the beginning, but still very good. Apparently there are a bunch of spoilers floating out there about the book already from a convention in the US, so I have to avoid all mention of the book on the web, for fear that it will ruin it.

Seraphicblue

Ak! Thbt!
Philiosophy!
:P

Undergod

pljudge321 wrote: »

Three books of misery and boredom as you watch Perrin go from being one of the best to one of the worst characters.
...
Mat remains by far the most interesting character, you have to admit his bit was the only interesting part of book 11.

Though it does drag out a bit (I'm looking at you, book10), I think it's a great story arc and Perrin is thoroughly badass, what with the

figuring out you don't use torture to torture the Aiel

.

Mat is great in the last few books, and I actually really like Book 11.

KarlNedCarew

Undergod wrote: »

Though it does drag out a bit (I'm looking at you, book10), I think it's a great story arc and Perrin is thoroughly badass, what with the

figuring out you don't use torture to torture the Aiel

.

Mat is great in the last few books, and I actually really like Book 11.

As i see it all the characters become, i dunno predictable for want of a better word, as soon as they embrace their "destiny" so to speak. Mat is great because he only does the neccessities as he see them, wouldn't be surprised to find him drunk and gambling moments before the last battle breaks out:D

johnnyskeleton

When is this series going to be finished? When Sanderson dies he will have one more book left to finish the series, and the baton will be taken up by some other author and he too will have to split this last book into a dozen or so, then he will die with one book remaining and his successor will say, sure, just one more book, but it will be published in 12 thousand page volumes.

Ok, fair enough, it's weirdly fitting with the wheel of time motif that the series trundles around and never ends, books come and pass leaving memories which are long forgotten when the next book comes around again etc etc, but at the same time, the author himself said that it started with an idea of the ending, and he has been building up to that. But it seems that either he couldn't reach that ending or he forgot about it. If he doesn't have it written down for the next guy, he'll have to think of something but it would make all the rest of the books irrelevant.

I suspect that this thing will never be finished now, because to finish it would show how much of it was simply irrelevant.


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Undergod

The very last chapter is written I think, Jordan left behind a substantial chunk of (what was supposed to be) the last book.

Release date for the next one is in November I think.

lemon_sherbert

I'm pretty sure they're planning on a book Nov 2009, Nov 2010, Nov 2011. Brandon Sanderson put up his take on it on his website, sounds ver reasonable.
See: http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article/56/Splitting-AMOL

Morgase

Undergod wrote: »

The very last chapter is written I think, Jordan left behind a substantial chunk of (what was supposed to be) the last book.

Release date for the next one is in November I think.

Yes as I understand it RJ had some parts written, some parts were dictated and recorded (I was going to say taped but that would show my age!) and some parts are more loose ideas.

Roll on November 3rd! I have my copy preordered on Amazon

johnnyskeleton

Undergod wrote: »

The very last chapter is written I think, Jordan left behind a substantial chunk of (what was supposed to be) the last book.

Release date for the next one is in November I think.

Could he not do a quick screen wipe away from all the subplots that are in it, or else finish them off quickly, and then lash in the last chapter? I've never seen a better example of a publisher milking their fans for all they are worth.

Andy-Pandy

Just started re readingThe eye of the world, what have i let myself in for, its a lot of reading. :eek:

ixoy

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Could he not do a quick screen wipe away from all the subplots that are in it, or else finish them off quickly, and then lash in the last chapter?

You mean you don't want to find out what happens to each and everyone of the 17664 Aes Sedai and the 4324 other women who are also strong in the Source, the Wilders and what not? Blood and ashes!

I've never seen a better example of a publisher milking their fans for all they are worth.

The Wheel of Time turns as does the Reels of Money in the Jordan Estate's hands.

ArthurG

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Just started re readingThe eye of the world, what have i let myself in for, its a lot of reading. :eek:

Yup I hear ya... started a few months back and am on Knife of Dreams now. Its been years since I read the books and was quite enjoyable to go back over them, despite the slower pace in last few.

By the way, www.encyclopaedia-wot.org/ has a great synopsis of all the books, characters, items etc. Great reference while you're reading or if you just want to catch up on the books over a few days rather than months.

fitz0

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Could he not do a quick screen wipe away from all the subplots that are in it, or else finish them off quickly, and then lash in the last chapter? I've never seen a better example of a publisher milking their fans for all they are worth.

Oh no ya don't! We've come too far, through too many books to have the last one rushed. I don't care if they're no released for another 5 years(ok maybe I do) just so long as they're finished well. No rushed subplots, no lazy plot devices, no unexplained transitions, I want to FINALLY understand these books!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

you want to understand them?

robert jordan had a decent enough idea many many years ago and started writing. Some time after that he realised he didn't have a freaking clue where he was going, what he was doing or what he intended to do when he got there (wherever there was). Then he died.

The end.

Morgase

Here's a link to the first review that I know of for The Gathering Storm. There are some slight spoilers in the middle of the post, but a spoiler warning is given at the start and end of the spoilery stuff. I didn't read the spoilers (so please no discussion of information in spoilers in this thread!)

http://www.dragonmount.com/News/

It all sounds very good. As the reviewer said:

Guided by a strong plot outline, familiar characters, and a knowledge of the franchise that was honed to a razor sharp edge by lots of research, it became quickly apparent to me (or “intuitively obvious to the most casual observer”) that Brandon was the best person in the world to take this gig, and that he did as fine as a job as was even possible. For that, I am his biggest fan…. until November 3rd at least, at which point you will be.

Roll on November!

lemon_sherbert

It's taking a lot of my willpower not to read the review, but I don't want any plot spoiled for me.... I can't wait for this to come out!

Morgase

Here's another review, spoiler-free!

http://www.tarvalonforums.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=92958

frodos63

Is there any firm date for the release yet

lemon_sherbert

frodos63 wrote: »

Is there any firm date for the release yet

On Sanderson's website he's announced that it's to be released on 27 Oct in the US, so hopefully it'll be here not too long after. (See here:link)

frodos63

cheers lemon sherbert thanks for the link

Morgase

And for those of you who just can't wait, here's Chapter One of the book, courtesy of the publishers! It does come after the not-yet-released Prologue however.

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=story&id=53532#audio

Here's a link to some more WoT news; the news mainly being that the Prologue is being released as an e-book (for $2.99) on September 17th.

http://www.dragonmount.com/News/?p=641

fitz0

Read the first chapter and I have to say I'm starting to get excited about this book. The writing style is clearly different but I'd almost say its changed for the better. Can't wait for the prologue.