If you could have Brandon Sanderson rewrite any book in the series.

[Idontkno Wmyname]

which would it be?!

 

Also note that you can have him combine books if you think two books in a row were not that interesting!

 

I would have books 8,9, and 10 be made into 2 books. I really didn't like them!

 

My girlfriend was rereading the Great Hunt yesterday and loves the series but she has troubles with that book too. It could definitely use a rewrite! This book is one of the two barriers for people who are reading the series.

 

If you are of the opinion that RJ is not fallible and his books are perfect the way they are! Say so too, but defend the books in question! :-X

[Tom Sawyer]

I'd say that 6,7,8 and 9,10,11 could be condensed into two books.  There is a lot of irrelevant filler in those ones and they're clearly inferior to the first five and the latest one.

 

Also, there's the end of Book 4 where Faile is in the fight against the Trollocs and doesn't get brutally killed and eaten.  That struck me as a serious plot hole that only got worse in later books by her still being alive in those books.

 

[lordofsoup]

I really did not like book 8.  Rand was fighting the seanchan the entire book for a couple hundred pages.  I cant remember anything else that happened of great importance.  Mat also wasn't in it, problem. 

[TheBeerPatriot]

Great topic! I'd say TPoD and CoT for sure.  While we're on the subject, you could combine 8/9, and you can definitely condense CoT into a long-@$$ prologue for KoD.

[Torath]

I would not have BS re-write any of it. I love the series the way it is. I think BS is doing a wonderful job of keeping it going but I wouldnt want him to change what I already love.

[NightfalconGTSR]

I would agree that I wouldn't have Sanderson re-write any of them, however I do believe that there could have been a lot cut out of many of the books. There is no error with the writer. He did what he apparently loved to do and wrote, a lot, none of it bad just boring. I would say we need an editor who likes to chop away at stuff. Someone needs to go in with a machete and go nuts on the whole series and take it down from 12 books to about 8. Though sometimes I do like all the detail, so perhaps thats better, just skip the stuff you dont like.

[Charlz Guybon]

I really did not like book 8.  Rand was fighting the seanchan the entire book for a couple hundred pages.  I cant remember anything else that happened of great importance.  Mat also wasn't in it, problem. 

I loved those battle scenes, that was awesome, especially when he went nuts with Callandor. The other thing that happened in that book was the Wondergirls saving the world via the Bowl of Winds.

 

Book 6 Tom? That's one of my top three for sure.

 

The only thing I would do is split book 10 up and redistribute the parts among books 9 and 11.

[somathus]

Crossroads of Twilight.  Hands down the worst book in the series.

[OptimusPrime]

I really did not like book 8.  Rand was fighting the seanchan the entire book for a couple hundred pages.  I cant remember anything else that happened of great importance.  Mat also wasn't in it, problem. 

I loved those battle scenes, that was awesome, especially when he went nuts with Callandor. The other thing that happened in that book was the Wondergirls saving the world via the Bowl of Winds.

 

Book 6 Tom? That's one of my top three for sure.

 

Ditto. Lord of Chaos is my favorite book, because of the scale the Ashaman bring to channeling. I think the Black Tower was a massive move on Rands part and it totally seemed to open up the rest of the series' epic scale for me, in a sense.

 

I'd probably have Brandon rewrite tGS because he himself said he would have preferred to do more polishing and I can understand that having read the book. TGS was great, but it needed a long time to sink in first I think. If Brandon himself says he wanted to polish some things off, imagine what the book would have been like had he had just a month or two longer. One thing I remember having read about TGS before reading it was that the pacing was more evened out. It was, a little, but not back to the pacing of the earlier books like TSR and LoC. I remember being halfway through tGS and thinking "Well, nothing major has happened in half an entire book." but then... everything happened at once. TGS is a great book, but even though I havent read any of Brandons stuff I dont think tGS was quite as awesome as he could have made it, had there been less worry over letting fans down by delaying again.

[Ishmayl]

I like the OP's suggestion of rewriting PoD, WH, and CoT into two books, getting rid of a lot of nonsense.  But even better, I like the idea of Brandon Sanderson rewriting The Gathering Storm, taking all the time he wants to get things a little better.

[Tom Sawyer]

 

Book 6 Tom? That's one of my top three for sure.

 

 

OK, you're right.  I got my numbers mixed up.  I should have said 7,8,9 and 10,11.  Post-Dumai's Well to the cleansing of saidan being one book was what I was going for.

[Master Norry]

I really wouldnt want any of the earlier books to be rewritten or even shortened. I admit it was a little (!) slow-paced at times, but the books in the series are among the best and most exciting I ever read, and it would be a shame if the series were shorter. And I dont agree that books 7-11 were all rubbish. Its true that book 10 was, well, too long and not interesting, and in book 8 nothing really happened, in my opinion Knife of Dreams and (to a lesser extent) Crown of Swords are one of the best books of the entire lot.

 

My favourite is still Fires of Heaven, though

[Shaidar]

Condense Books 4-11 into three books, for a total of 7.

That way, it could be a classic on the scale of LotR. As it is, in the future I suspect few people will bother reading 13 books just for the greatness of Books 1-7 and 11-12.

[Mr Ares]

Considering this series tops the bestseller lists every time a new volume is released, I would say that any claim that only a few people will bother reading 13 books is somewhat dubious. As for the topic at hand, I would get Sanderson to rewrite TGS. Because that's the only one that is his book, even if only in part. As for the others, and considering we're already in never-going-to-happen territory, I would get RJ to do rewrites on some of the earlier books. Specifically, make the ending to book 7 less ambiguous (we should be sure Sammael is dead), do some revision to turn PoD and WH into one book, possibly including some stuff from CoT, while the rest of CoT is in an expanded KoD. I'm not convinced that cutting back on the number of books any more than that is a good idea. And even that much might be a little tight.

[Owayn The Traveller]

Considering this series tops the bestseller lists every time a new volume is released, I would say that any claim that only a few people will bother reading 13 books is somewhat dubious. As for the topic at hand, I would get Sanderson to rewrite TGS. Because that's the only one that is his book, even if only in part. As for the others, and considering we're already in never-going-to-happen territory, I would get RJ to do rewrites on some of the earlier books. Specifically, make the ending to book 7 less ambiguous (we should be sure Sammael is dead), do some revision to turn PoD and WH into one book, possibly including some stuff from CoT, while the rest of CoT is in an expanded KoD. I'm not convinced that cutting back on the number of books any more than that is a good idea. And even that much might be a little tight.

 

Pretty much said it all there Mr Ares. Although it would be nice if the first couple of books could of been slightly altered to get them in line with the others a bit. The use of channeling is a bit different, Moraines staff I don't seem to remember anyone using anything as a focus point later on could be wrong though and to maybe make the eye a bit more relevant. Just minor stuff really.

[Crael123]

i also agree with ares

[Owayn The Traveller]

We are in agreement on a agreement then, yes

[Shaidar]

Well I for one completely disagree with Ares.

 

Considering this series tops the bestseller lists every time a new volume is released, I would say that any claim that only a few people will bother reading 13 books is somewhat dubious.

 

Contemporary commercial success does not necessarily or even usually equate to long-term cultural significance. The WoT books are bestsellers now. But I would bet that very few will remember or know of RJ in 2050. Certainly not in the way we all remember the likes of Tolkien, CS Lewis, or Ursula Le Guin.

[Mr Ares]

Your proposed cuts, reducing a fourteen book series to only seven, most severely affects some of the books regarded as the high point of the series (4-6 and 11 are all highly regarded, for the most part, and even books 7 and 9 aren't hated as much as 10 and 8. You even call books 4-7 and 11 brilliant). Even then, taking a hatchet to a series won't necessarily improve it, or increase its significance to future readers. Remember, adding can improve a work as well as removing. Do you really think that there is sufficient excess in books 4-11 to lose five books worth of material? Ditch over half of it? Why? In the future, this series might be forgotten. In what way do you feel your changes improve the work so that it is likely to be remembered, bearing in mind that the length of the series being known doesn't stop new people picking it up - people are still willing to read long books/series provided they think it a worthwhile investment of their time, if they think they will enjoy it? Even with your cuts, it would still be very big, so you don't solve that problem. So how do your proposed changed help with WoT's lack of long term cultural significance? Nine doorstoppers is still longer than Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Earthsea, or anything else written by those authors.

[torrente]

I have considered editing the audio books from 7-10 and removing some of the filler to condense it.

 

And then uploading it to a torrent site for everyone's consumption.  Including mine.

 

If I have to pick one book it would be Book 9, just because it's sort of in the middle of Books 7-10.

 

 

[Shaidar]

@Mr. Ares,

 

I think the world RJ built is brilliant... the Blight, Mirror Worlds, Tar Valon, the Aiel Waste, TAR, etc. The central Dragon plot is also brilliant, as is Mat's and Egwene's - although both have a lot of fluff (Sea Folk negotiations, etc) that can be safely cut. But I think Perrin and Elayne (and certainly the likes of Morgase or Galad) can be safely cut. (Perrin? Yes. His most important ability is with dreams, and they can be grafted onto Egwene, who can become the third ta'veren).

 

Now I know this might all sound like heresy to someone emotionally invested in the series, but I truly think that a merciless, books-worth-of-material-destroying editor could elevate the series to become a classic. With a worthy plot, memorable characters, and excellent world, excising the fluff would leave only gold behind. As I think Stephen King said, "Writing is good, editing is divine".

 

But these are all just my two cents.

[WMBunt]

Of course, one of the difficult parts of this conversation is making judgements on what is "irrelevant" prior to the completion of the series. While not all that likely, there are portions that may have been considered fluff or irrelevant in earlier books that could potentially come back into play before we have some final resolution.

 

Just a thought and definitely an interesting topic.

[Mr Ares]

@Mr. Ares,

 

I think the world RJ built is brilliant... the Blight, Mirror Worlds, Tar Valon, the Aiel Waste, TAR, etc. The central Dragon plot is also brilliant, as is Mat's and Egwene's - although both have a lot of fluff (Sea Folk negotiations, etc) that can be safely cut. But I think Perrin and Elayne (and certainly the likes of Morgase or Galad) can be safely cut. (Perrin? Yes. His most important ability is with dreams, and they can be grafted onto Egwene, who can become the third ta'veren).

 

Now I know this might all sound like heresy to someone emotionally invested in the series, but I truly think that a merciless, books-worth-of-material-destroying editor could elevate the series to become a classic. With a worthy plot, memorable characters, and excellent world, excising the fluff would leave only gold behind. As I think Stephen King said, "Writing is good, editing is divine".

 

But these are all just my two cents.

A merciless books-worth-of-material-destroying editor would probably end up ruining the series. You'd have three books (with apparently no fluff, as they weren't on your rewrite list), then eight books condensed to three, including the best and worst of the series - sounds rather like chucking out the baby with the bathwater - which would still need to end in roughly the same situation because book 12 wasn't on your edit list, nor are the forthcoming books 13 and 14 (so you cannot remove Perrin, Elayne, Morgase or Galad, as they all have roles to play in those books). This would require massive restructuring, and quite possibly a very noticeable stylistic shift - more so than that between the purely RJ books and TGS. So books 1-3 would read like the writings of one guy, books 4-6 (4-11) like someone else, and books 7-9 (12-14) like someone else again. All this with no indication of how things would actually be improved (shorter is not the same as better), and all because it might, in your opinion, gain the series "classic" status, which is something that you really have no control over anyway. It might be that it will gain that status without any changes, it might be that no amount of cuts would do that. The cuts you propose seem arbitrary and pointless, with no indication of how they would improve the series.

 

Rand, Mat and Egwene would likely all suffer cutbacks. It was pretty easy for Rand to get a massive army of Aiel, the more cuts you make there the less credible it will be. Maybe after TDR, all the Aiel just agree to follow Rand? Perrin's ability with the wolves? Well, Elyas would have to have that, as Perrin is cut, unless you just ditched anything with the wolves entirely. Although Perrin was introduced before the rewrites start, so you have to go right back to EotW and rewrite essentially everything RJ wrote. Many of the worldbuilding details would be left on the cutting room floor. The TR wouldn't be invaded by Fain, Whitecloaks, and Trollocs, or if it did it would probably be off screen. You'd have to find another way to bring Tam back into the story. The Shaido storyline would probably end much sooner - maybe they're broken at Cairhien, and don't re-enter the story after that. You need that much, at least, unless you find another way for Mat to get the Band. Maybe Rand just gives it to him? A hell of a lot of minor storylines will be excised, for better or worse. Masema would probably be removed entirely. After Ebou Dar, Nynaeve would go straight to Rand (if you even keep the Bowl of Winds. Probably not, so you have to find another way to bring them together - she never goes to Salidar, just straight to Rand after Tanchico). Maybe have fewer Chosen, or get rid of a bunch of them at once. Slayer dropped. Bt doesn't get much screen time, but Taim, Logain and co would get even less. Probably removed entirely.

 

So, revised plot, book 1: three ta'veren, Rand, Mat and Egwene are taken by Moiraine (not Thom or Nynaeve, Lan still around). On the way to TV, they are warned of a threat to the Eye, and so are diverted to the Blight. The Eye is used up, they recover the Horn, which is then taken by Fain. They follow to Toman Head, and rescue the Horn from the Seanchan. Fain is killed. Egwene and Mat go to the Tower, she is to become a Novice, he is to be Healed. Rand heads for Tear, to take Callandor. Egwene is lured out of the Tower by BA, and held prisoner in Tear, when recovered Mat sets out to rescue her. They all meet up in Tear (the others travelled faster by river than Rand did overland. Most of Egwene's teaching took place from Moiraine, bot at the Tower), Rand takes the Stone. End of book 1.

 

Book 2: Rand, with his new Aiel army, sets off to stop a group of rogue Aiel heading for Cairhien, and Mat in tow. Egwene, with the Wise one teaching her of Dreamwalking and channeling, sets off for Tanchico to find the BA. At Cairhien, Mat gains an army and kills the head of the Shaido. They break, and return to the Waste. Rand sends Mat and his army to threaten Illian, where Sammael is, then goes to Caemlyn to defeat Rahvin. Egwene faces and kills Moghedien in Tanchico, then is summoned back to the AS to become Amyrlin. Mat's army is hammered by Sammael, so he retreats. Mat takes a small group to Ebou Dar to retrieve an artifact that will fix the weather. Rand then attacks Illian and kills Sammael. End of book 2.

 

Book 3: Mat fixes the weather, but is caught when the Seanchan attack. He meets Tuon, marries her, and then sets off to rescue Moiraine, who mysteriously hasn't been mentioned since the first book's synopsis. Egwene takes control of the rebels, and then reunites the Tower after saving it from an attack by the Seanchan, even though word counts hadn't stretched to telling you it had split in the first place. Rand Cleanses the Source, then tries to negotiate a truce with the Seanchan. Happily, as they are more reasonable in this shortened version, he succeeds. Rand, Mat, Egwene, and everyone else get together, have a big fight against the forces of the Shadow led by Demandred (as plot cutbacks necessitated that transmigration be dropped, so Ishamael died at the end of the first book and never came back. In case anyone was wondering). They win, then he goes on to beat Shai'tan. Everyone is hapy, Rand and Egwene get married as the budget didn't stretch to four new love interests, they all live happily ever after, except those who died, but no-one cares about them anyway. End of book 3.

 

What do you think? I've condensed it down to three books. A perfectly reasonable, if wholly arbitrary number. Of course, if this series was actually written, it would be very different to the WoT we ended up with. Better? Worse? Who can say? Certainly much of the gold would be cut along with the supposed fluff, but Shaidar's cuts would require that too. As they would require massive restructuring of the plot. Some cutbacks could be made, but I don't think you can remove five whole books worth of stuff without losing a lot of good quality stuff.

[Majsju]

Mr Ares, too much fluff, cut out boring parts like travelling, politics etc, and keep only the battles. That way, we can cut it down to a single book.

[Samuel]

Mr Ares' "Wheel Of Time Trilogy" Post

*Applause*

 

While some parts of the series might well be boring, they still ARE part of the series. Cutting anything is to reduce what Wheel Of Time is. I think you communicated that point brilliantly Mr Ares. Your "Wheel Of Time triology" made me shudder...there wasn't even any Asmodean :D

 

To the people saying that WOT could be a real classic if it was condensed-if Wheel Of Time is good enough  to become a classic, it will become a classic. Cutting out "fluff" is destroying what WOT is. I hope Mr Ares' post made people realize this.

 

Slightly more on-topic, I would have Brandon rewrite, yes, TGS. Excellent as it was, he really could have made it even better with more editing time.

That being said, it certainly is a novel idea to think of Brandon writing Crossroads Of Twilight :D Could he write a novel without a paradigm-shifting twist?  :D