Who should finish MOTL?

[Lunan]

ok i don't want to be insensitive here. and i'm not saying that RJs loss is not a tragedy. but...

Who should finish the series?

Harriet - Wife, editor

Wilson - Brother/Cousin

another writer? off the top of my head Elizabeth Moon, Terry Goodkind, Susan Cooper are all writers who with Harriet's help and RJ's notes could do the job.

 

now i know that the majority of us would jump on Harriet as the obvious choice(and i agree from the fanboy perspective) but...(my there is always a but isn't there)...but...what kind of writer is she? alot of Editors are just not able to wirte good stories, they are great at what they do and are very needed, but alot just can't write worth a bloody copper.

 

(ok please avoid flaming, i'm serious here)

[Vambram]

I want to see a three person combination finish writing aMoL. I predict that a collaboration of Harriet, Wilson, and Tom Doughtery would be the best choice to have to finish this awesome book.

[Lunan]

i hadn't thought of Doughtery. do you really trust him to get it right though? for some reason i can't put my finger on that thought makes me feel a little uneasy.

 

On the other authors side i have been thinking about authors who can really tell a good story in a fairly coherent way(ok for MotL that might just be asking too much) but Shana Abe does a very good job, all you have to do is cut out the sex she puts in

[Cybertrolloc]

In a perfect world, Terry Goodkind or Kevin J. Anderson would burst into flames if they step within a mile of the manuscript. Also in that perfect world Gaiman or Martin would write it and still have time to work on their own books ;)

 

Unfortunately Anderson and Goodkind also work with Tor :( But there is a part of me that would enjoy having Goodkind write it and continue to deny that he's ever heard of WoT >:( Depending on how complete the outline and notes are I'll bet there's tons of writers who could do the work justice, but I doubt Tor would go with someone who's not a name sci-fi or fantasy writer.

[DemandredFO]

Harriet is a very good choice, she is his wife, edited all of his books and I think she was influential in publishing the original dune book.  I am sure gave him more than one story idea.  This is my final word on this because I am confident that the Greatest story ever told will be finished.  I think we fans should give the family as much time as they need to grieve.

[Magicana]

ok i don't want to be insensitive here. and i'm not saying that RJs loss is not a tragedy. but...

Who should finish the series?

Harriet - Wife, editor

Wilson - Brother/Cousin

another writer? off the top of my head Elizabeth Moon, Terry Goodkind, Susan Cooper are all writers who with Harriet's help and RJ's notes could do the job.

 

now i know that the majority of us would jump on Harriet as the obvious choice(and i agree from the fanboy perspective) but...(my there is always a but isn't there)...but...what kind of writer is she? alot of Editors are just not able to wirte good stories, they are great at what they do and are very needed, but alot just can't write worth a bloody copper.

 

(ok please avoid flaming, i'm serious here)

 

As much as I like Terry Goodkind, I don't want him anywhere near the manuscript nor to write the book.

[Lune]

I think Harriet could pull it off on her own really but if you're talking about another writer... Gaiman would be my choice. He's a very fluid writer and you can see he can do a number of styles, looking at his collab with Pratchett on Good Omens.

[Lunan]

I think Harriet could pull it off on her own really but if you're talking about another writer... Gaiman would be my choice. He's a very fluid writer and you can see he can do a number of styles, looking at his collab with Pratchett on Good Omens.

 

yes good omens was HYSTERICAL, but... all of gaimen's writing is VERY british, even his episode of babylon 5 was very british, and the wheel of time is most emphatically NOT british, maybe him and harriet and someone else, but i'd be a little leary of his style.

 

on the lesser known writers Linda Evans could likely pull it off well, her multiverse books with david weber are quite good and you can really see her influence when you feel howmuch of weber's standard infodump is lessoned and where some very good irony comes in

[Kass]

*claps happily at Cybertrolloc's mention of George R.R. Martin*

I would say George, Harriet, and Wilson would be a good team. Martin is a fan of WOT and a very good writer, that I think could pull it off very well. He has that kind of style that draws the readers in and describes every thing perfectly like RJ. That would be how I would like it best, buuut it would mean apause on his writing of A Dance with Dragons which I would really hate for him to do.

[Luckers]

Given RJ's position on Goodkinds... ahem... writing, I doubt we will ever see him anywhere near aMoL (and thank the light for that. Rand getting seperated from Min, going around preaching like a self-important twat, being told by older characters he is wrong, only to be right and have them fall over themselves apologising (AGAIN!), being reunited with Min to win Tarmon Gai'don by doing nothing at all would all be terribly bad. But add the seventy pages of rehash and I'd claw my eyes out).

 

Martin is a great writer, but his style is simply too different from RJ's to be able to meld into the series at that stage.

 

Besides, according to Jason, RJ has been dictating the books for some time now and an 'army of writers' have been assembled to finish the book (im guessing under Harriet's direction, though maybe not if she doesn't feel up to it).

[RobertAlexWillis]

Agreed, Goodkind won't (and shouldn't) get within satellite range of the script.

 

I'd love to see Guy Gavriel Kay involved.  I first started reading some of his books after Jordan included him in a list of authors who he enjoyed reading ... and found that I quite enjoyed it myself.  Kay certainly hasn't produced a series of the scope and complexity of WOT, but his handling of narrative is similar in many respects, and thats going to be the most important part of a finished script ... converting the detailed outline RJ was able to provide into actual narrative.

[dlan4327]

I wasn't aware that RJ had a list of authors and books he recommended, could someone please post a link to this list? Or post the list itself? By someone I'm pretty much addressing this to RAW. :-[ Thanks.

[RobertAlexWillis]

The particular list I mentioned was not, now that I review it, actually a statement of authors that Jordan enjoyed and recommended, but rather a response to a question about "High Fantasy".  Text below.

 

Week 17 Question: You have said before that you write High Fantasy and not Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. What do you feel the future holds for those of us who are so in love with High Fantasy? Do you consider your next works to be High Fantasy? Who else do you consider as writing High Fantasy?

 

Robert Jordan Answers: If I knew what the future held, I would make a fortune on the stock market, but my next works - tentatively titled Infinity of Heaven - will definitely be High Fantasy. At least, I think so. Others may disagree. That is the slippery difficulty with sub-genres. Everybody has an opinion, and those sometimes differ. As a short - not at all attempting to be all-inclusive and in no particular order -- list of who writes High Fantasy in my opinion: Robin Hobb, Jacqueline Carey, Robert Holdstock, Tim Powers, Guy Gavriel Kay, George R.R. Martin, Tad Williams, J.V. Jones…. Wow, this list is getting long. But I'll add one more. When John M. Ford finishes Aspects - he's let me read some excerpts -- I think you'll call it High Fantasy. Then again, he may disagree. There's that difficulty again.

 

http://www.wotmania.com/faqtopic.asp?ID=152

 

When I first read this list, I had already seen most of the authors on it, and read many of their books, but Kay was a new one to me at the time.  Obviously I don't know if he is available or would be interested, but if he is both, I think he would do a good job of it.

[The Dragon Reborn]

Out of curiosity, everyone seems to be talking about 'Who should finish AMoL?' etc. But have we even got confirmation that it will be finished?? I know what RJ said, that he wants it finished and all that good stuff. But last I heard it was Wilson and Harriet's decision...I can't imagine Harriet or Wilson are in any state of mind to even consider it yet...

[Guest silver89]

Don't think its been confirmed yet and I agree that their not in any condition to make those decisions at the moment....but I doubt that Harriet will let her husbands great work go unfinished.

[RobertAlexWillis]

As optimistic as RJ was about his prognosis, he was also very realistic.  Preparations were made for precisely this eventuality.  I've no doubt that we will see AMoL, its essence as RJ envisioned it intact.  I don't foresee a quick announcement, as the Rigney family has, quite rightly, other things on their minds right now.  But it is coming.

[Luckers]

Indeed, as robert says, his statements to Jason about the dictation and the 'army of writers do show that RJ prepared for this possibility.

 

It's interested that you mention Kay Robert, I read him prior to reading the Wheel (the Finnovar (sp?) tapestry, and later the (Summer Road... Tree?) series, and i have the specific memory of thinking when i read the Eye of the World that at least it didn;t depress me like Guy Gavriel Kay's writing.

 

Mind you, we are speaking of me at the age of eleven--my thoughts were that the tapestry book was awesome because it had sex in it, and the Summer one sucked because the five main characters met crappy endings (or depressing ones... as i recall). At the same time I read aSoIaF and hated it, not to mention the Thomas Covenant series, both of which i now love, so im definately thinking of going back to Kay.

 

As to the others on the list, i must admit ive been curious about Jacqueline Carrey and J.V. Jones for some times, the others ive read and liked (or not, though predominantly liked) for some time.

[Lacey]

As for who should finish.. I don't really know of many other writers in the genre... However, I will be happy to take any suggestions for readings... I just had to tell Luckers that the poem on his post is beautiful.  Is it yours or Jordan's?  It sounds very Jordanesk... but, you are a fan... so that makes since.  Any way... It is stunning.

[Luckers]

I adapted it from the poem that Jordan used to end the Crossroads of Twilight. I thought that of everything he had written, it most summed up the very nature of what he attempted and achieved.

[RobertAlexWillis]

The first thing I read by Kay was "Tigana", which is definitely not as depressing ... that probably colors my sense of Kay's writing ...

 

... which can tend toward the tragic.

 

But that might be very appropriate for AMoL too.  I don't think this one was going to be a very happy book, throughout.  Certainly the Light will win, in the end, but I'm expecting more tragedy in this one than in any of the others.  For example, I think Kay could handle Lan's heroic death very well (assuming Lan dies).

[Vambram]

Out of those list of authors which RJ recommended for High Fantasy in that wotmania faq, the only ones I have read are GRRM, and JV Jones. I highly recommend both authors, but I think that JV Jones' style is a lot closer to RJ's than is GRRM's.

[maximus34]

i would quite honestly be more than satisfied with the publication of what is currently finished and his notes/ideas as to rest rest of the story published with it for the end.  I quite honestly do not want an ending to this wonderful series and leaving it without the structured ending... but the knowledge of its happenigs seems like the perfect way to me for it to close... but thats just me :)

[Majsju]

If any of the so far mentioned authors would be the one to do the honour, I would hope for JV Jones. She has a great style of writing, RJ liked her a lot, so much that he gave her a cover quote, which is something he was very reluctant to do, only other I know about is Martin.

 

And, she just finished her last novel, which is the final book in a trilogy, so she would be free to do some other work. While I can understand those who would like to see Martin do it, he's got quite a great deal of his own work to do.

 

But if she is up to it, I hope Harriet will be the one finishing it. But only if she really wants to do it of course.

[zshadez]

... what? Sorry, but are you serious? Authors all have their own tone. Every author's writing feels different.

 

After MUCH time for grieving Harriet and possibly Wilson and others who've worked THAT closely with him should be the ones dealing with MoL.

 

Anyone who'd want to see Jordan's last book written by someone else... I don't even know what to say. Go drink bleach, probably.

[Vambram]

zshadez, I believe that you are misunderstanding myself and Majsju somewhat here. As I stated on the first page of this thread, I prefer for Harriet, Wilson, and for Tom Doughtery to be the ones whom complete the writing of A Memory of Light. Obviously, this would happpen some time after the family deals with this period of bereavement.

However, the question was also asked which authors do WoT fans feel like would be able to credibly write and finish MoL based upon RJ's notes, and based upon his previous recommendations of High Fantasy authors. Therefore, if the family decides to have another author finish RJ's book, then in my opinion, the best choice is JV Jones.