A MEMORY OF LIGHT Volume I Cover Art and Title (Apparently) Confirmed

[Darth_Andrea]

At Least we will know tomorrow what the deal is with AMOL. When Tor and Harriet release their Press Release concerning all of this mess. :)

 

 

 

 

Darth_Andrea       

[Omegadragon]

At Least we will know tomorrow what the deal is with AMOL. When Tor and Harriet release their Press Release concerning all of this mess. :)

 

Yeah *prays the announcment isnt delayed*

 

I'm guessing The Gathering Storm is a working title, or more likely a placeholder, the Cover is also just a place holder, and it will only go 3 volumes if the estimated word count increases as the book progresses (remember Brandon has increased his estimate more then once, it used to be 400k total). Though Im afraid that the earliest time between the volumes would be 6 months, and then up to a year between. I do like the earlier idea of the 3rd book rumor being the encyclopedia, though I doubt it.

[Bela]

Twelve month intervals.... I would rather wait three years for all three volumes to come out at once, this is ridiculous. The Gathering Storm also does not feel right. What the words represent is good, but the words themselves, blah.

[Jethro]

Thats why I thought Rider of the Storm sounds good. It puts the same message across in a Wheel of Time way.

[Graendals favourite]

Well the news sounds good to me. Three is good, and leaves room for the later parts to expand at writing. I guess then we'll have the Axe Rising, the Axe Falling and the Throat Snapping, which makes the Gathering Storm better for the first volume, I do think. Within two years is good too.

[ArolasFlinn]

Two years is definitely better then three. Still don't like the three book idea, though. But, I'm sure that'll change once it gets closer to November.

[Werthead]

It is still three years. 2009, 2010 and 2011. Okay, it's not a year-long wait from now until Part I comes out, but the amount of time over which the book is being released is still being doubled for no reason. The book hasn't suddenly swelled to 900,000 words (the minimum word-count at which it would be necessary to split the book in three).

 

All I can say is that all the comments about 'misinformation' and 'inaccurate info' turned out to be void. The only thing that was incorrect was the cover. Otherwise the information was correct: Tor are shafting the fanbase - the very fanbase who made them top SF publishing house in the USA, by the way - for pure profit. Classy.

 

I'm holding out a very slim hope that Orbit won't repeat this nonsense and will behave in a more honourable fashion by sticking to two books, but I think they are limited by contracts and will have to follow Tor's lead regardless.

 

Very disappointed by this news, especially after Brandon and Harriet apparently fought hard to get the book published in a saner fashion.

[Mr Ares]

Two years is definitely better then three. Still don't like the three book idea, though. But, I'm sure that'll change once it gets closer to November.

Two years, starting in November 2009 takes us to November 2011. Exactly what was reported. Be disgruntled, be very disgruntled...

[Elgee]

where has this been confirmed ?

[Khalus]

where has this been confirmed ?

 

On the front page news release today!

 

Erm, well the dates have not been confirmed but thats the speculation going around of which makes the most sense!

[drizzt_scimitar]

I'm essentially posting the same thing I did in another thread, but I think this needs to be said.

 

Like most of us, I was a little annoyed with the 3-split, and the fact that they might be released so far apart, but I think that reading this here that Brandon posted on his blog makes things much more clear:

 

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article/56/Splitting-AMOL

 

It seems to me like the decision was made for many reasons, both business (to appease bookstores, and to be honest, give Tor more business) but I believe Brandon in that mainly, he decided to split it as he is so that we can have a book this year. Personally, I don't care if I have to pay for three books. The fact that I get to read one book THIS YEAR, only a few months away, is wonderful. Like Brandon said, the last part of the book, be it one volume or two or three, was always going to not be released until summer 2011ish. If a 3-way split is what it takes for us to be able to read at least a third of AMOL this year, then I say so be it. That's perfectly fine with me. Add the fact that Brandon has said that there isn't a very good split, plot-wise, half-way through, and that there is one about a third of the way through, and I'm pretty much sold.

 

EDIT: In addition, it sounds like from Brandon's article that the first volume will be closer to 300k words, which makes it plenty long enough for me (it's longer than about half of the other WoT books)

[Elgee]

Thanks, Khalus  :D

 

I agree with the person above me, who's name I can't even spell, never mind pronounce *winks*.

 

Hmmm ... i wonder if it's a 2 year period from now, or from november.

I'd prefer a shorter period between, but ... oh well.

[Majsju]

Expect two years from november.

[rhadamanthus]

After reading Brandon's blog I really have no issue with this decision (three books).

[Elgee]

After reading Brandon's blog I really have no issue with this decision (three books).

 

Agreed.

 

I also understand now why it might take so long.

 

We tend to forget that Brandon is a human being, not some cyborg with no need to eat, sleep or take a (metaphorical) smoke break.

 

Hope the poor man doesn't burn out!

 

All in all, I'm happy - I think they've done the best possible thing they could. I would MUCH rather wait for the final conclusion, than have a Readers Digest Condensed Version.

 

Those people who don't want to read the books in volumes (why not ???), have the option of waiting till the last one is published and reading them all then.

[Tyrell]

Honestly, I think Sanderson was having a lot of difficulty not coming out and calling bs, in that post.

[Casco]

It is still three years. 2009, 2010 and 2011. Okay, it's not a year-long wait from now until Part I comes out, but the amount of time over which the book is being released is still being doubled for no reason. The book hasn't suddenly swelled to 900,000 words (the minimum word-count at which it would be necessary to split the book in three).

November 2009-> November 2011 = 2 years. The book hasn't suddenly swelled to 900,000 words, Brandon have a lineout and story board for +800k words so far, "risking" it to be even more. 900k words would be a pretty good guess ill think.

 

All I can say is that all the comments about 'misinformation' and 'inaccurate info' turned out to be void. The only thing that was incorrect was the cover. Otherwise the information was correct: Tor are shafting the fanbase - the very fanbase who made them top SF publishing house in the USA, by the way - for pure profit. Classy.

How are Tor shafting us?? By being able to get the books out at all? Have you readed Brandons blogg?

I'm holding out a very slim hope that Orbit won't repeat this nonsense and will behave in a more honourable fashion by sticking to two books, but I think they are limited by contracts and will have to follow Tor's lead regardless.

 

Very disappointed by this news, especially after Brandon and Harriet apparently fought hard to get the book published in a saner fashion.

I don think you did read Brandons blog..

[drizzt_scimitar]

@ Elgee:

 

My name came from the days when I used to really like RA Salvatore's Drizzt novels (Drizzt is the name of one of his characters, and he uses scimitars in combat). I still do like them, particularly the original trilogy (the Icewind Dale trilogy), but they are definitely popcorn action books. Good for a quick read if you like swords and sorcery, but not a whole lot of substance.

[Shard]

Well he did state in his blog that several threads get closed in the first portion. So hopefully one of those will be "Who killed Asmo" *heh*

[Elgee]

@ drizzt: thanks for the info  ;D

those sound like fun books, btw - i'll look them up at the library.

 

 

[MikeRiley]

Well he did state in his blog that several threads get closed in the first portion. So hopefully one of those will be "Who killed Asmo" *heh*

 

I just hope we can't accurately guess all that is going to happen in parts 2 and 3 from part 1, so in the next 2 years on this forum we don't already know through discussion what exactly is going to happen. Unless the books are being written as separate things we're going to see plot points from the third forming in the first.

[Jethro]

Yet in the same breath if we know some we will be sat on the edge of our mental seats. I want some epic buildups to compensate for all this splitting. Even if it is still one book in 3 parts, I think the wait will make the trilogy, for want of a better description, suffer unless there are splitting points worthy. Maybe Mat, Thom and Noal? could be stood outside the Tower of Ghenji at the end of the first, since it isnt anything major in itself but it would be a hell of a cliffhanger to get us anxious for the second part.

[Werthead]

November 2009-> November 2011 = 2 years. The book hasn't suddenly swelled to 900,000 words, Brandon have a lineout and story board for +800k words so far, "risking" it to be even more. 900k words would be a pretty good guess ill think.

 

I said the book is being published across three years, not three years from start to finish (although the time from now until publication is still 7 months, the time from publication to when Brandon confirmed he was working on it is two years and the time from publication to when KoD is four, so take your pick really).

 

Also, the only reason why the books now look like they might cross 900K is because of the extra material needed to make each book self-contained. To create a book so long that it needs to be three volumes they had to split into three volumes, which is actually quite amusing.

 

How are Tor shafting us?? By being able to get the books out at all? Have you readed Brandons blogg?

 

My post was published an hour or so before Brandon posted on his blog, so I hadn't seen it at that point.

 

Brandon's blog entry, which is excellent and far more helpful than Tor's comments, explains the situation perfectly. The finished book wouldn't get done until 2011 as he has two other books under contract and needs to work on them. That is absolutely fine and explains the time issue.

 

He also explains the issue with the split very well. Tor wanted a book in 2009 and, curiously, just before the Christmas buying boom. Tor are 'worried' that the series' shelf visibility will drop and everyone will have forgotten about the series by the time the last books come out. I actually stopped reading at that point for a hearty laugh: anyone who knows how book publishing works will recognise this as absolute and utter nonsense, and I'm shocked Tom Doherty would try to sell it to the fans. Ask Jean M. Auel's publishers how worried they are at their author going decades between volumes of her series, even though every new book when it (eventually) comes is immediately a bestseller. Shelf space is an issue in small bookshops, agreed, but any decent-sized store will carry the full range of all 11 WoT books (maybe not NS or the guide though) as they are well-known and a marketable brand. I've seen booksellers directing grown-up Harry Potter fans onto WoT for something similar, for example.

 

Tor's claim that you can't get away with books as big as ten years ago would also stand up to closer scrutiny if Tor weren't also currently publishing Steven Erikson's Malazan series, where each individual book from the third to the eighth volumes clocks in at longer than The Shadow Rising. And that series doesn't sell a tenth of what WoT does, so we can see that argument as not holding water either.

 

What it comes down to is pure and simple: Tor wanted a book out this (troubled) financial year for the Christmas market from their biggest, guaranteed-bestseller series. If they'd just come out and said this, I'd have far more respect for them rather than trying to shower us in publishing-spin which is provably and verifiably incorrect due to precedent and the actions of their own company under the current economic climate.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Maybe Mat, Thom and Noal? could be stood outside the Tower of Ghenji at the end of the first, since it isnt anything major in itself but it would be a hell of a cliffhanger to get us anxious for the second part.

 

LOL ... well, I know some people who would be VERY pissed off by that, but you're right, it would be quite a cliffhanger.

[CUBAREY]

Also, the only reason why the books now look like they might cross 900K is because of the extra material needed to make each book self-contained. To create a book so long that it needs to be three volumes they had to split into three volumes, which is actually quite amusing.

 

 

Did you actually read all of Brandon Sanderson's blog entry? He specifically said that he is not padding the story but that it will actually take that length to include all the material that is necessary to pay justice to RJ's work. Are you calling him a liar.

 

He also explains the issue with the split very well. Tor wanted a book in 2009 and, curiously, just before the Christmas buying boom.

 

Actually AMOL has been slated to be pulished in November 2009 for over a year. It would thus be more fair to say that in part the decision to publish a book by that date was made to satisfy fans who were led to belive that AMOL would be published by that date.

 

 

Shelf space is an issue in small bookshops, agreed, but any decent-sized store will carry the full range of all 11 WoT books (maybe not NS or the guide though) as they are well-known and a marketable brand. I've seen booksellers directing grown-up Harry Potter fans onto WoT for something similar, for example.

 

You obviously have never heard about the demands that booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, etc. make on publishers. Also note that the Booksellers were also told that there would be a WOT book out in November 2009, failing to meet that date would have serious repurcussions on TOR who are a going concern with many books that they want sold in bookstores.