When the final book is published and done...

[trakand_01]

... will you be satisfied? When everything is finished, TG fought, Rand dead / alive (depending on your thoughts), the twins born, Avi's got her triplets, so on and on... will that be enough for you? Or will you get to the end, turn the VERY last page of the VERY last book, and think... more, there has to be more.

 

I think, for me it all depends on the ending of the story. If Rand is dead (truly dead) I will be satisfied. That will be enough, i'll just content myself reading the series over and over, but if he's alive... or if Mat / Perrin are still going strong... if Egwene is still the Amyrlin and the White Tower is still going (I havent read book 11 yet so no spoilers please), I'll want more, but more about THESE characters.

 

If anyone has read the Shannarah series, they go on and on through generation after generation (one book has Shea and Flick, then the next book is continued through Shea's children, and so on). This annoys me, you just get to know one character then you're whipped away from them and taken on to their kids; i havent finished with the first ones yet, thank you very much!!

 

I know RJ probably won't even WANT to write off-shoots but here's other books that I'd like to see (I loved New Spring);

 

The story of the White Tower - kind of a "What the White Tower Did Next"

 

The story of the Two Rivers

 

The story of the Seanchan

 

The story of the Aiel (although I suspect they may change before the end of the books).

 

Does anyone else agree - or will you be satisfied when the books finish?

[Luckers]

Rj has stated that he plans to write three outrigger novels, the first of which deals with Mat and Tuon roughly ten years after the end of the series. Given the Seanchan face the greatest upheaval following the revelations about sul'dam and so forth, this makes sense.

 

I would be interested in the story of the end of the War of Power, though i know RJ has said he will never do that, because a sense of inevitability would hang over it... to be honest i dont care. I would love to see the age of legends, the rise of the Forsaken, the interactions with Latra Posae and so forth.

[Ahaz Flagg]

The only other series i have read that is more than 5 books, has been The Mission Earth series. And I was happy with it, when it ended. :).

 

I have been reading The Wheel of Time for over 10 years now, at least it sure seems that long. How satisfied will i be? No idea at all, I beleive he will have a hard time closing all the story lines in the book,  and if some are left untold, i would be very disapointed.  But, that is of course up to Robert Jordan, it is his story afterall.   I love the series, and have faith that Robert will do his best to complete it.  I do not think i would need more after its finished, alot of books that i have read have left me wanting more, and its never came.  

[Majsju]

Obviously, satisfied or not depends entirely on AMOL.

Of course it would be nice if he does manage the outrigger novels, but at the same time, I want to have an ending where a bunch of minor threads still hangs in the air, for me as a reader to use my imagination on what happened next.

 

I would almost prefer a novel about the AOL. Yes, we know exactly what happened. But not so much how it happened. What did it look like in the Hall when Ishy first announced what they were up against, and then announced he signed for the other team? LTT vs Ishy on the battlefield? Semirhages escape? There is so much potential goodness there.

[Mat is Better]

I agree.  It depends on the book, but I think I'll be satisfied with AMoL.  I don't think I really care about sidestory novels much. However, like Majsju said I would totally enjoy a novel about the Age of Legends.  The flashbacks in the current series are some of my favorite parts.

[Zorina]

I'll be happy at the end of this story line.  I don't necessarily want to see RJ write everything that there is to write in the world, and here's part of why:

 

I play the WoT d20 game.  I'm sort of hoping that he will continue in AMoL to drop little hints about the history of the world and the cultures we're not seeing and all that, because that's what we build games around.  If we saw everything that happened in the Age of Legends that was of note, or if the destiny of the Two Rivers is fixed, it takes some of our room for interpretation away. 

 

Also, for all the small gods' sakes, there's a point where a series jumps the proverbial shark, and the author is just churning out another novel in the same world or with the same characters or themes because it will have a built-in audience, rather than because the story is compelling to tell.  So far, I think WoT has avoided that by sticking to the I-have-a-single-story-to-tell-that-takes-a-million-books model.  I'd hate to see it go the way of... oh, somebody mentioned Shannara (which never should have got beyond the first book, IMHO), or see the WoT equivalent of the Dune prequels, for example. 

[ilConte]

I will probably be satisfied....for a while. You're right at the end I'll probably think that there must be more....but you never know, I didn't have that feeling when I finished tLotR(for the first time), the feeling arrived later when I reread the book and had to read through the Appendix.

I'd love to know about the White Tower and more about the lands of the Seanchan.

[El Dude]

If the book is good then ill be happy, but I don't think I will be satisfied in that sense.  I'm still going to want to keep reading.  That always happens when I get done with a long series.  I'll be happy, but I'm always sad when its over.

[Steel Axe]

I wouldnt be too surprised if robert jordan ends the books right at the beginning of the last battle... and actually that would be pretty cool in my opinion... I dont want the books all wrapped up because it's the unknowns that get me to reread the books again and again. Its one of the things I like best about wot, how much rj leaves to the reader to figure out. So for me I hope I wont be satisfied by the final book that way I feel the need to continue rereading the entire series.

[Vambram]

I disagree. The last book needs to end at the end of the Last Battle. And regardless of how it ends, I am very confident that there will be enough unfullfilled plotlines and unknowns afterwards so that readers and fanatics like us can continue to discuss what we think would and ought to happen next after Tarmon Gaidon.

[Bettwo]

When it is all over, I am gonna party like it's 2099! No more waiting for the next one... no more wondering. At times, I hope they all die so it will really, truly be OVER (books 7 & 8 were really draggy, and I almost gave up on them!)and then may be I can stop with the obsessive compulsive... but will everything be answered? No - I doubt it. Like how is it the Dark One AND the forsaken were bound at the moment of creation? What had they .... forsook?! .... before creation? Ok, so someone smarter than me might know that already, but there will always be questions. And degrees of dissatisfaction. I, however, intend to survive Tar'mon Gaiden. Me and Bela.

[Safia al-Maaz]

Do you think his wife will continue and write the books RJ planned to write?  Besides aMoL?  Like Tolkien's son but to a less lengthy extent.

[dmanmiller34]

I don't think that she will. Bless her heart. She still has the daunting task or deciding to finish it herself or to hire someone to do it. Personally I hope that she does it. There will never be anyone on this earth who knows her husbands mind better than herself. But I think that once its done she will lay it to rest and let the wheel weave and the winds blow. But its just my opinion.

[DemandredFO]

In these circumstances I am confident that she will finish AMoL for RJ.  As to anything beyond, I don't know, I mean look at the Dune community.  Some love Frank's books and hate Brian and Kevin's, even though they used franks notes.  Some like both, me included.  So, I do not know, personally, I'd like to see more but I will perfectly understanding if AMoL is the last.  Right now I just wish Harriet and family all the best and thank her for sharing her husband with all of us.

[Luckers]

RJ told Jason that he had been dictating the plot of the last book, and that an 'army of writers' was being assembled in the event of the worst.

[balefireruinssteaks]

Please don't think this comment crass, because my heart goes out to the family in this time.

 

But I had thought that if I were a writer and I knew there was a possibility that I might die, I would do what JK Rowling did, and write out notes or use one of those recorders to simply dictate the rest of the story enough so that those who I left behind could piece together the end of the story.

 

I suspect that somewhere the pages of the final book are around, perhaps not in any type of organization but enough so that those he entrusted with these books will be able to put together the final work.

[Vambram]

umm, its already been said previously on the Robert Jordan blogs here on Dragonmount that RJ left drafts and notes, as well as audio tapes for Book 12.

I am very confident that his wife, Harriet, and his publisher, Tom Doughtery of Tor Books will make sure that AMOL will be just want RJ wanted it to be. :)

[trakand_01]

To be honest, i'm not sure i'd like her to; if they can get a shadowwriter or harriet to finish aMoL that's fantastic, but i think perhaps out in reverence to RJ and his wonderful skill, we should perhaps leave it there after all, and content ourselves with being a bit sad that it's over. At least that way we'll never get a book that we think... "that's not a great book" and it spoils it a bit for us.

 

What do you think?

[Papermache]

Robert Jordan has created a dreamworld in which all of us are stranded. Whether this dream finishes with great narrative, or without, it will still have Robert Jordan written all over the main plot and it will be a fantastic main plot at that. If Harriet plans to write it, or get someone else to write it, I am sure it will be just as great, even if it isn't his writing. Though I do love his writing and the deep description he places on the most minute of things, I think if anyone was to write it similar to RJ, it would be his wife. In any case, if the worst happens, and the book isn't written, we will be stuck with 11 great books, and our creativeness for the rest. I am sure even a few people on this forum could write the end of the book together  :D

[dmanmiller34]

That would be a TG in real life lol everyone has so many differet opions that they would need to have his notes for sure lol. We can't even figure out who killed asmodan lol. But I would hate to not have the book concluded. Even if it was of lesser quality than Rj could complete. I still want it finished. even if they only published his notes and lets us connect the dots on our own. I still want an ending. I would be extremly disappointed to not get one.

[The Dragon Reborn]

I need an ending, but at the same time I don't want the last book to be destroyed by poor writing. How's that for decisiveness! :P

 

Really I can't think of anybody better suited to the huge task than Harriet. Also who better to protect RJ's true vision than her? She has been the editor of all the books, who else would know how RJ thought better than his loving wife? Also I'm sure I read somewhere that she is an accomplished writer in her own right. She'd have Wilson to help too, should they decide to take on the task...

[Vambram]

I am very confident that the vast majority of WOT fans really need aMoL to be finished Many of us have been with these books for over a decade. RJ and Harriet know this, and appreciate this. In the literary world, The Wheel of Time is RJ's legacy and I am confident that Harriet, Wilson and Tom will make sure that aMoL is finished so that the beloved author's legacy is completed.

[Nelal Hurcran]

Of course, if they don't finish it (a fate worse than being bailfired), then Luckers, RAW, and one or two others will be caught in their neverending debates over what "this specific quote means, and why it discounts your quote."  :P ;) ;D

[Safia al-Maaz]

I think I would go crazy if the series wasn't finished... not to sound callous or anything, but my curiousity would end up killing me.  I have already imagined so many different possible endings, I'm dying to see what the actual ending is.

[Mistress alDebaw]

What! You think RAW and Luckers wouldn't continue the debate?  :o

Ha!

Book twelve has been out ten years and RAW and Luckers are still debating  ;)

 

Actually I look forward to their on going debates.

 

Of course, if they don't finish it (a fate worse than being bailfired), then Luckers, RAW, and one or two others will be caught in their neverending debates over what "this specific quote means, and why it discounts your quote."  :P ;) ;D