The Gathering Storm Finished

[Lord Nik]

I think books 10 and 11 were dragging the story out as they were. Outside of Perrin becoming a dark friend and RJ needing a backing for it, I think those books were really a waste. Just my opinion.

 

While many people have complained about the slow pace of books 9 and 10 you are the first to complain that book 11 (KOD) was "filler". My God man, look at all the happended in KOD; Galad kills Valda and takes charge of the Chidlren of Light; Perrin rescues Faile; Maasema's army of Dragon Sworn is decimated; The Shado are destroyed as an effective force; Semi-Rand encounter (Semi captured Rand looses had), MAT, Thom and Noal agree to try to rescue Morraine; Tuon-Mat finallly get married; Tuon returns to Ebod Dar as Empress (epilogue);Loial gets married and decides to go to great Stump. If anything Book 11 seemed rushed to me.

 

Thank You! Book 11 was one of my favourite books. I dont understand why people complain about the last few so much when they're so exciting!

 

(the "Perrin rescue scene" made me hate faile... even more than I did before)

[Goramier]

I think books 10 and 11 were dragging the story out as they were. Outside of Perrin becoming a dark friend and RJ needing a backing for it, I think those books were really a waste. Just my opinion.

 

While many people have complained about the slow pace of books 9 and 10 you are the first to complain that book 11 (KOD) was "filler". My God man, look at all the happended in KOD; Galad kills Valda and takes charge of the Chidlren of Light; Perrin rescues Faile; Maasema's army of Dragon Sworn is decimated; The Shado are destroyed as an effective force; Semi-Rand encounter (Semi captured Rand looses had), MAT, Thom and Noal agree to try to rescue Morraine; Tuon-Mat finallly get married; Tuon returns to Ebod Dar as Empress (epilogue);Loial gets married and decides to go to great Stump. If anything Book 11 seemed rushed to me.

 

Point well taken. I understand what your saying. I guess I just feel that books 10 and 11 could have easily been done in one book and maybe even book 9 too. Thats all. I just think he took two or three books to do what amounted to one books work.

[Jonn]

My thoughts.

 

I am not an author nor publisher so I have no idea how it works out. They are not just creating books but running a business. I can respect that like everyone else, they have to make money and deal with business decisions. I am also a fan of the series and have enjoyed it for 9 years now. The fan side of me wanted it to come to an end with a single book, published this year. I know that may ultimately been impossible but that is what I would have liked. I wanted to read the end of the series. After 9 years, I would like to know how it concludes and wouldn't have been upset if Brandon had chosen to condense it into one book and finish it off so we know how it ends.

 

On the other hand, with BS doing it this way, we can read the full scale and scope of the ending. We can learn all the ponts, have all the ends wrapped up and read a full ending. I am not entirely sure RJ would have done it that way though. Although as this thread points out that it is something people can debate, I too believe that RJ intended only one more book. I also suspect he meant to leave some things in the air. I figured he would have concluded the series. Later finished the prequels and maybe after a few years, would have wrote a final book that would have finished off every loose end. As he started the prequels before finishing the series, I think it would be reasonable he would have finished the series with one more book and then years later, wrote a final book that basically finished tying up all the supporting characters, would have descibed the world post Tarmon and gave us that nice warm/fuzzy feeling.

 

So part of me is disapointed that BS is writing three but part of me is glad that I can read the full ending too. Ultimately I would rather have had it wrapped up in one book. I think books 10 and 11 were dragging the story out as they were. Outside of Perrin becoming a dark friend and RJ needing a backing for it, I think those books were really a waste. Just my opinion.

 

You know Goramier, I feel pretty much the same as you do, but I just don't have the grace to put it the same way.

 

Ultimately, we cannot really speculate how RJ would have done it in the end. We really can't know, but the RJ that still seemed hale and was doing interviews was pretty insistent on that point, so I lean heavily towards that.

 

I'm happy with Brandon Sanderson up to this point, so I trust his handling of this situation more than I would pretty much any author, so yeah, I can't be that mad. I have high hopes.

 

I really don't like the way it's been handled by Tor. They insisted on the November release date without explanation, so they can't blame anyone but themselves if there is some discontent due to confusion over the contradicting messages that were being received.

 

RJ had said one thing in interviews that he felt strongly about. Brandon Sanderson was saying something else, and then that November clock showed up and created this controversy. All of a sudden Sanderson went quiet for a time about his progress, and then HE has to make the statement explaining everything. It seemed lazy, sloppy, unprofessional on Tor's part, and that should be rectified.

 

If I can blame Sanderson for anything though, it would be the fact that he is very open about his writing process, and I guess the insight he shares can spoil us in a way that when we don't get the information we want, we feel a bit cheated. I guess...

 

As for 10 and 11 being a drag...I don't agree, but I can see how some people might feel that way. I think it was a pacing decision to do those books the way they were done. 10 was a big gulp of breath before a sprint in 11.

 

But as many times as I read people saying RJ could have condensed two books into one...I just can't see how he could without TOTALLY restructuring the last 5 books that have been printed. That's another topic though.

[Shard]

Book 9 had the cleansing of the taint, I'm GLAD it wasn't compressed into one of the other books, that was a huge event that needed the page count it had to do it right. I can understand the frustrations with book 10 basically being a reaction shot from everyone else who wasn't involved with the Cleansing but it is still setup for book 11.

 

As for the Gathering Storm, I think the theory that the break will be with Moraine's return/rescue will be a good breaking point. I certainly think that if Tor had asked for 8 books Brandon would have enough pull to refute even that. So I honestly think he found a GOOD point to break the book without sacrificing the story quality.

 

I know it pisses alot of people off that were getting three opposed to one but we can't really do much about it. All we can hope for is a good book this November.

[Elgee]

What about doing a poll on who's happy with the split, and the november publication?

[Ludmian]

Seems like a good idea. I guess the poll should say something like this: "Do you agree with Tor's decision to split A Memory of Light into three novels. Yes/No."

[Shard]

A poll would be an excellent idea.

[Bela]

Book 10 was made for the sole purpose of letting us know exactly what was happening the moment Rand was cleansing Saidin. Many people were not given enough air time in the recent books. It is very comparable to what GRRM has done with A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. Due to the massive scope and immense character list we have with Wheel of Time it was necessary for RJ to let us know what the hell was happening. Knife of Dreams starts off not long after the cleansing of Saidin, in Winter's Heart. Without Crossroads of Twilight we would lose so much information in that time period. I always think of it as the shadow before the storm, which the title of the book seems to imply. Knife of Dreams is the second part of that story. Book one and book two in my opinion. The Gathering Storm seems to suggest that we are going to be given a third book speaking of this, but I personally believe RJ intended to start the storm in the prologue of AMOL. Then with the beginning chapters we would start with where our characters left of and quickly everything would fall apart. The pattern is a mess, the world is a mess, TG is coming, and those two books have built up for an amazing climax, which will probably span books 2 and 3 of AMOL, while book 1 completes the Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams pre-storm sequence.

[Thorum]

Just to show the magical up-to-dateness of Amazon: Check this link.

[Mr Ares]

I would like to know how it concludes and wouldn't have been upset if Brandon had chosen to condense it into one book and finish it off so we know how it ends.

 

I also suspect he meant to leave some things in the air. I figured he would have concluded the series. Later finished the prequels and maybe after a few years, would have wrote a final book that would have finished off every loose end. As he started the prequels before finishing the series, I think it would be reasonable he would have finished the series with one more book and then years later, wrote a final book that basically finished tying up all the supporting characters, would have descibed the world post Tarmon and gave us that nice warm/fuzzy feeling.

Condensing the book would have been terrible, just about the worst thing they could have done. RJ was always insistent on the series being as long as it needed to be, cutting things out for a quick finish would have been awful. RJ did plan on leaing some loose ends. It is quite possible that those loose ends will still be left. But going back years later to tie offe very loose end? Just so we can have a nic warm/fuzzy feeling? No chance in hell would RJ have done that, absolutely no way. His reason for not tying up every loose end was so that it would feel like the world continued, not just that it finished when the story did, and because in reality not all loose ends are conveniently tied up. So a "tying up" book would have been completely against what RJ would have done, completely against what he would have wanted, far more so than any number of splits in the book.

[Majsju]

Just to show the magical up-to-dateness of Amazon: Check this link.

 

I find it quite fun that they have an ad for ADWD there, and if you look at ADWD, it is scheduled to be released 29/10, ie before TGS. Happily ignoring that they are working overtime to get TGS released as scheduled, and that book is at least finished. Getting ADWD out before TGS...Maybe if Amazon keeps a timemachine in their basement ;D

[Bob T Dwarf]

The more interesting thing is that the UK version is spec'd at 672 pages, while the US version is spec'd at 688 pages.

 

So, what do the US readers get 16 pages of that the UK readers don't?

[Charlz Guybon]

The more interesting thing is that the UK version is spec'd at 672 pages, while the US version is spec'd at 688 pages.

 

So, what do the US readers get 16 pages of that the UK readers don't?

Probably a different font or number of lines or something like that stretches it out. It's put out by a different publisher there IIRC.

[Hallow]

The more interesting thing is that the UK version is spec'd at 672 pages, while the US version is spec'd at 688 pages.

 

So, what do the US readers get 16 pages of that the UK readers don't?

 

16 pages of elaborate apologies for the horrible US cover artwork.

[Shard]

The more interesting thing is that the UK version is spec'd at 672 pages, while the US version is spec'd at 688 pages.

 

So, what do the US readers get 16 pages of that the UK readers don't?

Probably a different font or number of lines or something like that stretches it out. It's put out by a different publisher there IIRC.

 

This is exactly why Brandon said in his blog that page count is meaningless when all you have to do is change font or size or print. Even line spacing will change page counts.

[Thorum]

Just to show the magical up-to-dateness of Amazon: Check this link.

 

I find it quite fun that they have an ad for ADWD there, and if you look at ADWD, it is scheduled to be released 29/10, ie before TGS. Happily ignoring that they are working overtime to get TGS released as scheduled, and that book is at least finished. Getting ADWD out before TGS...Maybe if Amazon keeps a timemachine in their basement ;D

 

When I made the quote, it still state the release date for "A Memory of Light, the last part of the world famous Wheel of Time series"

[CUBAREY]

What I found interesting was that the English hardback and paperback are both stated to be 672 pages, and are priced the same (Okay the paperback is priced one pence less but basicly still 15 Pound sterling).

 

How are a hardback and paperback the same length?

[RobertAlexWillis]

Brace yourselves, everyone.  I'm about to blow your minds.

 

Sometimes, the advance listings on websites are -gasp- wrong!

 

::)

 

 

[CUBAREY]

Brace yourselves, everyone.  I'm about to blow your minds.

 

Sometimes, the advance listings on websites are -gasp- wrong!

 

::)

 

 

 

Quite true but the price? When its associated with the ability to pre-order at that price?

 

And you might think that if they were in doubt about page count (which they obviously must be since Sanderson is still doing last minute edits to the manuscript) you would put an "approx." in the page count.

 

 

[Mr Ares]

When I made the quote, it still state the release date for "A Memory of Light, the last part of the world famous Wheel of Time series"

They've changed the name, but it still says it's the conclusion.

 

And you might think that if they were in doubt about page count (which they obviously must be since Sanderson is still doing last minute edits to the manuscript) you would put an "approx." in the page count.

You might think that if they didn't have a release date, they wouldn't make one up, or admit that whatever they had was subject to change. They don't. If they don't have the correct information, they'll make something up.

[CUBAREY]

You might think that if they didn't have a release date, they wouldn't make one up, or admit that whatever they had was subject to change. They don't. If they don't have the correct information, they'll make something up.

 

They have been TOR that the novel will be released at the beginning in November (first Tuesday of the month), they did not make that up. Page count however, is a bit of a mystery. The price would have been set first by the publisher (suggested retail price) then reset (discounted) by Amazon.

 

[Mr Ares]

They have been TOR that the novel will be released at the beginning in November (first Tuesday of the month), they did not make that up. Page count however, is a bit of a mystery. The price would have been set first by the publisher (suggested retail price) then reset (discounted) by Amazon.

What Tor said doesn't really matter, as this book isn't being released by Tor. It's the UK edition, so published by Orbit.

[CUBAREY]

They have been TOR that the novel will be released at the beginning in November (first Tuesday of the month), they did not make that up. Page count however, is a bit of a mystery. The price would have been set first by the publisher (suggested retail price) then reset (discounted) by Amazon.

What Tor said doesn't really matter, as this book isn't being released by Tor. It's the UK edition, so published by Orbit.

 

Tor owns the worldwidw rights to publish, it then sells the foreign rights to other publishers. Orbit's ability to publish is confined by its rights under a contract with Tor. Normally, the worldvwide publisher sets the publication date, foreign distributors then publish in conjunction with that date (to avoid a foreign addition coming out prior to the domestic addition). On a high profile release like this its almost certain that the domestic and foreign additions are being synchronized thus what Tor says is the publication date is important.

[Vambram]

I got an update here from Brandon Sanderson's Twitter page http://twitter.com/BrandonSandrson

Harriet is very, very good at line editing. On page 700 of 1400 now.

1 minute ago from Twadget 

 

Harriet gave me the last line edit draft at JordanCon. Going through those pages now. Managed to get 500 done at the con. 1000 to go.

about 2 hours ago from Twadget

[Vambram]

Another Update from Brandon Sanderson's Twitter page:

 

BrandonSandrson800/1400 pages of edits done. In answer to a question, in this format 1400 pages is around the length of EYE OF THE WORLD or CROWN OF SWORDS

7 minutes ago from Twadget