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A Memory of Light - Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson
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Very excited about this. I had heard about it earlier. I still miss Mr. Jordan. But reading Brandon's blog about how he took on this project makes me feel better. I have a lot of respect for him.
I wish Robert Jrodan could finish this, since he started it and it is really his baby. BUT, he had also spent about 5 books killing the series, so maybe it is best (for the readers) to let someone else finish it. I bet there are much fewer tea parties in the books by Sanderson, and less stretching out plots with climaxes that fizzle.
I have really enjoyed Sanderson's other books, but I do have one main concern with him taking on the Jordan series, and that is that Sanderson seems to have a real problem with writing erotic/romantic relationships. I found that the romantic relationships in Sanderson's other books were (a) almost always limited to characters who were married, or pretty close to it, and (b) pretty tepid, even then...a lot of mutual respect and friendship, but not a lot of romantic tension. And certainly nothing more than an occasional chaste kiss described, or at the outer limits, a tasteful "fade to black" after a kiss, during which you may infer that other activities may have occurred. Jordan's series has a lot of people in assorted romantic entanglements, not all of which are strictly traditional or matrimonial in nature, and, while not generally graphic, there was certainly a lot more sex and eroticism in the Jordan books than in anything Sanderson has written so far. I'll be interested to see how Sanderson handles that.
We should keep in mind that large sections of the book were already written by Jordan. So his voice will be all through it and it might be tough to tell where Sanderson had to write entire scenes....if it's seemless, it should be a success.....so yeah, we may still get tea parties....
I've got to say that I was a little annoyed when I discovered that the "final book" of the series would be split into three volumes over three years. I mean, I was sceptical of a single book finish, by I felt decieved.
To be fair, it will be 3 rather large volumes, and Sanderson's pacing is much, much, much faster than Jordan's, so I doubt that it is 3 volumes just to make more money. I'm thinking that all the important stuff still has to happen, since the series has been treading water for 5 books, and it just couldn't be wrapped up well in a single book.
Oh, I believe it, I just wish they had called it 3 books instead of 1 book with 3 volumes. It just seems like an odd presentation after doing the whole series in a different way.
I think the final decision is actually what you said. Each book has its own title and isn't called the momory of light, just the final one.
Here's an early review of the book, from jason at dragonmount.com:http://www.dragonmount.com/News/?p=585
Looks encouraging....
Yes, very encouraging. Can't wait for November to get here.
I have three books to get through! Not to mention the dozen or so in my to read pile....
I guess you weren't. Well, I suppose that makes you much more of a fan than me.
It's just book 10 that made me quite angry.
Near as I can tell, the only thing that happens happens on the last page. The rest of it felt, to me, like spinning wheels. We visit a lot of characters but they don't advance their plot in any appreciable way.
@Jon (from Jon) - this might ease your mind concerning the "New Guy"http://www.brandonsanderson.com/artic...
Sanderson absolutely has my trust on the winding up. I'm super excited for November...
From Brandon Sanderson's blog:"The Gathering Storm coming sooner than expected.
This afternoon I got word from Tor that the release date of THE GATHERING STORM has officially been moved up one week. The new on-sale date in the U.S.... and Canada will be October 27, 2009, so mark your calendars..."
Tor now has the first chapter of 'The Gathering Storm' 'Chapter One: Tears from Steel' available for viewing online at their website for registered members. There is also a audio version available.
'The Gathering Storm' - 'Chapter One: Tears from Steel' at Tor
'The Gathering Storm' - 'Chapter One: Tears from Steel' at Tor
Update on The Gathering Storm.. Chapter 2 Audio Now Available
Thanks to the people at Fantasy Literature for sending out the "tweet" about this.
I just decided to quit reading the series when i heard it wasn't a complete story yet. (i was reading Winter's Heart when I found out)
Hard as it is, im just going to wait till all books are finished and translated in my language to start all over again from book 1 and read the whole story at once.
Hard as it is, im just going to wait till all books are finished and translated in my language to start all over again from book 1 and read the whole story at once.
Alexander wrote: "I just decided to quit reading the series when i heard it wasn't a complete story yet. (i was reading Winter's Heart when I found out)Hard as it is, im just going to wait till all books are finish..."
Good luck with that. It will probably be another 2 years to get the last of the story out. Sanderson said there most likely to be two more books.
ouch... well,
I guess that gives me more time to forget the story a little bit so it won't be to boring to start them all over again.
I guess that gives me more time to forget the story a little bit so it won't be to boring to start them all over again.
Im looking forward to it and i know my uncle is who read them all a bit back.
I was disappointed that Sanderson was chosen to continue Jordan's series which I gave up after book 4. I am afraid Brandon will ignore his own, IMO, much more interesting worlds.I would really like to see a sequel to Elantris
It looks to me like Sanderson is writing about 3 books a year of his own as well as the Jordan series.
hmm,
I just hope Sanderson knows what he's doing, not that I'm doubting his writting skills but just like you said David, it's not easy constantly writting 2 different stories on such a short time.
I just hope Sanderson knows what he's doing, not that I'm doubting his writting skills but just like you said David, it's not easy constantly writting 2 different stories on such a short time.
I've been keeping up with Sanderson on his blog since he took over the project. He's a long time fan of the series, and seems to have a pretty good handle on it all. He's a serious workaholic and meets his writing goals pretty regularly.
I started reading TGS yesterday. I'm not sure he's completely mastered the characters voices and motivations - or perhaps it was Jordan's intent to reveal more information? The Prologue was definitely of a different flavor. Brandon is not only working on the next WoT book but will publish The Way of Kings sometime next year, which is a book/series he's been working on for several years (IIRC from his blog posts).
I felt The Gathering Storm was written very well considering it was partially written by Brandon Sanderson. Yes the voice of some of the characters is different but it would be very difficult to write as Robert Jordan did and he executed the plot-line very well. There are moments of awkwardness when you realize some of the characters are just going to be different but he is true to the story and I feel its more important to hear the rest of the story even if the voice isn't Jordans.
I'm settling into the story now (I'm at around page 250 or so). It's growing on me. I think he's doing Egwene well. Rand I'm not so sure yet. The one chapter with Perrin in it so far seemed acceptable. Elaida seems a bit over the top. I pulled out Knife of Dreams and re-read (skimmed) what I could find of Elaida and I'm not sure. I also can't remember if Elaida is Black Ajah or not. That's what I get for not re-reading the other eleven books before starting this one.
And which book had the incident at Dumai's Wells occur? I've skimmed through most of Knife of Dreams and I don't think it's in there. It sucks getting older and more senile. :)
Jon - Here is a recap thru Knife of Dreams that's available on dragonmount.com: http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/Gath...That will help refresh some of the main points that RJ left off on.
Oh, and Dumai's Wells occurs near the end of Lord of Chaos.
Chris - thanks that was very helpful. And I'll pull out Lord of Chaos today and re-read the ending.
Writing Perrin chapters has to be supper easy. The character is very one dimensional.
I disagree that Perrin is one dimensional. Focused and a little one-track minded, but conflicted too. I don't think any of the characters would be easy to write.I really enjoyed the latest book. I had barely finished my reread when I got it, and it seemed to flow very well from the previous book. Some of the characterizations were slightly shifted, but they did that from book to book as well, and I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been looking for it.
On the whole, I think it's genius. Sanderson said up front that he wasn't going to try to sound like Jordan because then the book would just be a bad imitation of Jordan. He wrote the book to have solid character, plot, etc. using Jordan's background, framework, notes, and completed work. Even so, you can never quite tell when you're reading a section who wrote it. There were one or two that stuck out to me as obviously one or the other, but in general, the story is engaging and compelling enough that you're not even thinking about the semantics.
This is one of my favorite Wheel of Time books. It is fantastic! Egwene, my long time favorite character, KICKED ASS. And I enjoyed the faster pace. The last 1/3 of the book I COULD NOT PUT DOWN. Chapter 39 was my favorite! Overall I loved it :D
Chapter 39 was my absolute favorite. I cried and cried and couldn't see the page for the tears. Egwene stole the stage in this volume, no doubt about it.
Caitrin wrote: "This is one of my favorite Wheel of Time books. It is fantastic! Egwene, my long time favorite character, KICKED ASS. And I enjoyed the faster pace. The last 1/3 of the book I COULD NOT PUT DOWN. C..."Totally agree! The last third just flew bye. And Egwene definitely stole the show for major characters in this book. However this probably means she will be put on the back burner for the next book.
The good news for many is that Sanderson (In one of book tour speeches) said Matt will get much more attention in the next book!
I think Egwene's slowly been stealing the show for a while now. Although I will admit I did miss Mat in this one.And can I just say, I've always liked Verin as a character, and I was thrilled with her part here.
And can I just say, I've always liked Verin as a character, and I was thrilled wi..."Great point! I always liked her too. I kinda always new that something big was planned for her.
I really liked how so much actually happened in this book. I also totally agree about the last third. My brother just finished reading the book yesterday, (I'd finished the week before) and I was so excited that I could finally talk to him about everything that happened. Go Egwene! What do you think about Rand at the end of the book? Do you think he's completely "cured"? Mat's been one of my favorite characters for awhile, so I'm looking forward to his story arc. I'm just really glad that we got to have this book and the ones that are coming out later. Can you imagine not knowing the end of this story after all that we (as readers) have waited for?
I was really happy to see the series continued and surprised that Sanderson kept the spirit of the series alive.I hope that once this series wraps up we will have all our questions answered Jordan left us with quite a few questions throughout the series.
John wrote: "I was really happy to see the series continued and surprised that Sanderson kept the spirit of the series alive.I hope that once this series wraps up we will have all our questions answered Jordan ..."If there are minor questions left over after the books, they should be answered in the Encyclopedia that Jordan's widow, Harriet is putting together. (To be published about a year after the final book.)
Will this have better artwork than the original encyclopedia?
David wrote: "Will this have better artwork than the original encyclopedia?"Heh. One can hope. :)
Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
After Dark (other topics)Blindness (other topics)
Elantris (other topics)
The Gathering Storm (other topics)
The official press release is up from Tor books:
http://www.dragonmount.com/News/?p=483
Here is an interview with Harriet Rigney (Jordan's widow) (note that James Rigney was Robert Jordan's real name):
http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/Memo...
finally, Brandon Sanderson has a lengthy explanation from his perspective that should help make sense of it all:
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/artic...
This is a lot of information, but should explain the situation well......and have us marking Nov. 3rd on our calendars.....