Ha! I called it on Egwene! Chapter 1 SPOILER!

[randsc]

Back on topic, and not to be too nit-picky, but...

 

The sheets of research are described as "hastily gathered." So we do not, in fact, know that they have spent the last month on research. They may very well have spent the last couple of days.

[putts]

Back on topic, and not to be too nit-picky, but...

 

The sheets of research are described as "hastily gathered." So we do not, in fact, know that they have spent the last month on research. They may very well have spent the last couple of days.

 

At that point, you don't really know WHAT she meant. She may just be thinking that for something so dire as the LB, there should be years of research and, in that comparison, "hastily gathered" may even be several weeks.

[Southpaw89]

Frankly, when Brandon Sanderson came to his own personal conclusion that he could not even attempt to duplicate RJ's style of writing, that's when he should have turned the project down and given it to someone else.

 

Now that I disagree with - no author could truly duplicate Jordan. This is not to say that Jordan is "the best author evah, no one can match him!" Just that no two authors can ever really duplicate one another. So the ability to duplicate Jordan could never have been the deciding factor, or the series would have had to have ended after Knife of Dreams.

 

Also, I'm not sure that there was a line of quality authors around the block waiting to take this up. We should keep that in mind - there may be authors out there who could have done a better job than Sanderson, but I'm not actually sure that there are authors out there who could have done a better job and were willing to take the job.

 

I wish that Sanderson had done a better job, but given the choice between this and nothing, I'd still take this. These stories exist as much for me in my imagination as on the page, and my imagination is a good editor.

 

He didn't have to duplicate Jordan. He just had to be able to be confident enough in his abilities that he could attempt to duplicate Jordan. Would it be perfect? Nope. But there are authors out there who could have written in a way that we would have been hard pressed to tell who wrote what scene.

 

I am not going to speculate on the process behind getting an author to finish the books. All I'm saying is that when Brandon Sanderson came to the conclusion that he could not even ATTEMPT to duplicate RJ...that's when he should have passed on the project.

 

 

He has said that he was afraid to try and duplicate Jordan because it would seem too fake and I completely agree. It would've seemed like someone trying to be RJ and that would've been horrible. WoT can still be WoT with Brandon's writing style; it's his way of character voice that here and there has been off. If he had turned it down and some random author was chosen who wasn't as seasoned with WoT, he would've created a whole new voice for some of the characters then people would've been complaining even more so I think we should be overall happy Brandon has taken time to finish this series; even if it wasn't perfect.

[MarkDiLillo]

South, all I'm going to say is that I am very unhappy with the quality of the work from Brandon Sanderson. I'm glad the series is being finished, but I dont look at him as being someone we should be thankful towards. Honestly, I feel like he has disrespected the WoT community and its fans by submitting such clearly flawed writing. You can make all of the excuses for him that you want, but I feel pretty strongly that this is garbage work akin to an amateur fan fic authors internet post when it should be something much more. Brandon Sanderson was hired as a professional author to put the finishing touches on someone elses life masterpiece, and he wrote it as if it were just another book he had to crunch through.

 

I honestly envy those of you who can read this and legitimately enjoy it without feeling disgust and a sense of sadness. I really wish I could just sit and enjoy it as well.

[Yehosh]

We all know that Rand's solution will have to involve Saidin and Saidar combined somehow.

 

Seems like Egwene will help Rand figure out how to seal the bore of recreate the bore or whatever it is he will end up doing. Jason's letter to RJ indicates she has a big part to play.

[MountaineerWV]

South, all I'm going to say is that I am very unhappy with the quality of the work from Brandon Sanderson. I'm glad the series is being finished, but I dont look at him as being someone we should be thankful towards. Honestly, I feel like he has disrespected the WoT community and its fans by submitting such clearly flawed writing. You can make all of the excuses for him that you want, but I feel pretty strongly that this is garbage work akin to an amateur fan fic authors internet post when it should be something much more. Brandon Sanderson was hired as a professional author to put the finishing touches on someone elses life masterpiece, and he wrote it as if it was just another book he had to crunch through.

 

I honestly envy those of you who can read this and legitimately enjoy it without feeling disgust and a sense of sadness. I really wish I could just sit and enjoy it as well.

 

If your feelings are that strong, don't read anything after KoD.

[Fel]

South, all I'm going to say is that I am very unhappy with the quality of the work from Brandon Sanderson. I'm glad the series is being finished, but I dont look at him as being someone we should be thankful towards. Honestly, I feel like he has disrespected the WoT community and its fans by submitting such clearly flawed writing. You can make all of the excuses for him that you want, but I feel pretty strongly that this is garbage work akin to an amateur fan fic authors internet post when it should be something much more. Brandon Sanderson was hired as a professional author to put the finishing touches on someone elses life masterpiece, and he wrote it as if it were just another book he had to crunch through.

 

I honestly envy those of you who can read this and legitimately enjoy it without feeling disgust and a sense of sadness. I really wish I could just sit and enjoy it as well.

Mark,

 

there is a simple solution for you. Don't read the books. Let your imagination finish it for you.

 

I have many issues with the writing (Mat, in particular, and he needs a MUCH BETTER editor), but there have been some fantastic scenes in these past 2 books that I truly loved. And, to keep the record straight, RJ had his books full of tripe also. I still can't re-read Crossroads of twilight or those other few in the middle. Brandon took a story with about 3000 loose ends and a crazy number of characters and is giving us a conclusion faster than I would have thought possible. Is it everything that I'd like? No, but it is close enough that I will plunk my money down on the first day to read it.

 

If you don't like it, save your twenty bucks, but please stop the un-ending "Brandon Sanderson should stick to writing menu's for Denny's" postings.

[TootThatHorn]

Ugh, since there is a thread for it, this is all I'll say but I'm going to get tired of people hypocritically saying if you're going to complain don't read the books, while they can take their own advice and ignore the posts on a discussion forum; I don't like american politics, you don't see me running for the border.

[Ananta]

There's always the option of reading the wikipedia page for A Memory of Light once it's released, that way you get to know how it all ends without having to read the books. Or just follow the discussions at forums, so you can read how the loose ends are tied.

 

 

Personally, I still find the books wonderful and love Sanderson's writing, even though I recognize there are some utterly moronic things in there :D I don't let them bother me too much, as the books are still very, very entertaining.

 

 

It's admirable how deep some of you guys can go into this world, but I do find it a bit overkill at times...

[Suttree]

I still can't re-read Crossroads of twilight or those other few in the middle.

 

I can almost understand CoT but you really are missing out if you lump TPoD and WH into that. Those two have sequences that hold some of the best prose in the entire series. Think you would be very suprised if you went back to check them out.

[MarkDiLillo]

South, all I'm going to say is that I am very unhappy with the quality of the work from Brandon Sanderson. I'm glad the series is being finished, but I dont look at him as being someone we should be thankful towards. Honestly, I feel like he has disrespected the WoT community and its fans by submitting such clearly flawed writing. You can make all of the excuses for him that you want, but I feel pretty strongly that this is garbage work akin to an amateur fan fic authors internet post when it should be something much more. Brandon Sanderson was hired as a professional author to put the finishing touches on someone elses life masterpiece, and he wrote it as if it were just another book he had to crunch through.

 

I honestly envy those of you who can read this and legitimately enjoy it without feeling disgust and a sense of sadness. I really wish I could just sit and enjoy it as well.

Mark,

 

there is a simple solution for you. Don't read the books. Let your imagination finish it for you.

 

I have many issues with the writing (Mat, in particular, and he needs a MUCH BETTER editor), but there have been some fantastic scenes in these past 2 books that I truly loved. And, to keep the record straight, RJ had his books full of tripe also. I still can't re-read Crossroads of twilight or those other few in the middle. Brandon took a story with about 3000 loose ends and a crazy number of characters and is giving us a conclusion faster than I would have thought possible. Is it everything that I'd like? No, but it is close enough that I will plunk my money down on the first day to read it.

 

If you don't like it, save your twenty bucks, but please stop the un-ending "Brandon Sanderson should stick to writing menu's for Denny's" postings.

 

Here's a better idea: just don't read my posts if you dont like them. This is a forum about WoT and discussing the new books. Deal with it.

[MarkDiLillo]

Really, CoT isn't bad at all unless its your first time through the series and you're just trying to stomp through the plot. On a re-read its just as enjoyable as the others IMO.

[Fel]

I guess we will just disagree on cot and the need to blast Sanderson continuously. I know about 10 friends who stopped reading the series altogether when these came out because it was the third bad book in a row.

 

The Sanderson books have had issues, but (again except for mat) they are enjoyable and get the plot to the end while keeping all the complexity. Two books ago, I had no idea how they were going to do all the things needed and now i can see the way to the end. And, along the way there were some entertaining twists (and some terrible ones like hinterstrap)

 

You can hate it, but let's get the talk back to egwene and her secret reseaxrh into the seals.

 

Did she secretly dispatch the remaining greens to the blight also to help hold back the tide?

 

 

[Suttree]

Did she secretly dispatch the remaining greens to the blight also to help hold back the tide?

 

Aside from knowing the there aren't enough AS period(let alone Greens) to do so, she didn't have to as per Brandon there are Greens up regularly patrolling the blight and we saw once word of the attacks started she co-opted the Blues eyes and ears to gather more intelligence on how to best combat the threat(much smarter than a blind strike which would only squander resources). Per Ituralde crucial intelligence is the most important part to warfare after all.

 

As for comparing those books I guess it depends on what matters to you. Some people prefer subtlety, others the sledge hammer and there is a place for both. Yes there was an increased pace(due to where we are in the storyline more than anything, KoD showed RJ was picking up the pace) and lots of plot/fan gratification. In turn a there was also unpolished prose, poor characterization and lowest common denominator plot work. Shrug...there are pros and cons to both I guess but I'll take brilliant, immersive scenes like the Damona Mountain Campaign(TPoD) and Far Madding/Cleansing sequence(WH) over anything in the last two books. The quality of writing simply doesn't hold up under careful scrutiny IMO.

[fionwe1987]

I guess we will just disagree on cot and the need to blast Sanderson continuously. I know about 10 friends who stopped reading the series altogether when these came out because it was the third bad book in a row.

 

The Sanderson books have had issues, but (again except for mat) they are enjoyable and get the plot to the end while keeping all the complexity. Two books ago, I had no idea how they were going to do all the things needed and now i can see the way to the end. And, along the way there were some entertaining twists (and some terrible ones like hinterstrap)

No. The complexity is definitely not present. What we're given is blunt plotting with none of RJ's complexity.

You can hate it, but let's get the talk back to egwene and her secret reseaxrh into the seals.

Well, at least her research was alluded to by her quoting ancient Brown scholars. That was actually fairly well done. Hinting, but not bludgeoning the hint.

Did she secretly dispatch the remaining greens to the blight also to help hold back the tide?

Doubtful. She's well aware the current push into the Blight is only the beginning. She isn't fool enough to squander the Light's greatest advantage to save a few lives. Callous it may be, but the Borderlands have to fend for themselves for now.