DRAGONMOUNT

3:00pm    Where in the Wetlands are the Shaido Aiel?      This week's contestants will be searching the land of Andor for signs of the Shaido.  Will they be able to solve the clues in time and find one of the missing Shaido septs?  Tune in and find out!     3:30pm   Tales of Jain Farstrider for Kids      Jain learns why sharing and teamwork is important when Tarmy Trolloc starts causing trouble again.  Little Barillille gets in trouble when she disobeys her parents, and is rescued by a new friend.   4:00pm   Kerin Burin's War of the Hundred Years, Episode 12        In this episode, learn how the shield of the north was formed by the newly risen kings and queens of the Borderlands, and how they refused to let the Shadow through in that century of troubled times.    6:00pm  This Ogier House       Visit with the Ogier Builders this week as they visit a store in Tar Valon to fix the masonry and reinstall the lighting.  Norhm then takes you to visit a local craftsman who builds Trolloc War era furniture.   7:00pm   B'hab Rahoss Teaches Painting       B'hab gives instructions to paint a memorial painting of the fall of the Seven Towers of Malkier.  Grab your brush and canvas and paint along!   8:00pm   The Thom Merrilin Show      This week on his musical variety show, Thom has special guests The Ta'veren Trio performing their latest hits: "The Caemlyn Polka" and "Two Rivers Trouble".  Hear the gossamer voices of the Ajah Sisters singing some of the best ballads this side of the Misty Mountains.  And, as always, the gang gathers round to sing a rousing chorus of "Roll out the Trolloc" as Thom dances with the audience members.    9:00pm  Late Night Movie: "Revenge of the False Dragon"                   They thought they had stilled and silenced him, but he's back for vengence.              Stars Lian Vuwel, Gota Brien, and Jainen Zeva   11:00pm Station Sign off

Hello, everyone!  Welcome back to "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog.  Just because the series is finished doesn't mean there's nothing to speculate about.  In fact, I think A Memory of Light left us with more questions than answers.  So, let's get into the topic for the next two weeks: the bond. SPOILER WARNING.  This will include content from A Memory of Light.  Please DO NOT read this if you have not completed the book. The bond between a Warder and Aes Sedai is something even the Forsaken don't understand.  Semirhage thinks about it in Lord of Chaos, Chapter 6, "Threads Woven of Shadow."  The bond connects the emotions and a bit of the physical state of the two people who are joined.  We know that the bond gives Warders extra strength and energy.  The Aes Sedai receive a sense of comfort, knowing they have someone they can trust to aid them when necessary; a sword hand to watch their back. So the exchange between them is give and take—each receives some benefits, but they also give up a little as well.  The Aes Sedai feel the terrible pain if they lose a Warder, and the Warders have a sort of "death rage" when their Aes Sedai dies.  To some, it might look like Warders have the worse end of the bargain, but Aes Sedai rarely die under normal circumstances. But what exactly is the bond?  What does it connect and how?  In all the accounts of bonding in the series—from POV characters—we see Elayne bond Birgitte and Rand, and Egwene bond Gawyn and Egeanin. Only Elayne's experiences give us any details of the actual event.  Spirit is the only weave used, connecting something in one person to something in another.  But what is it that's connected?  Some argue that it's the ability to channel.  The most convincing proof for this is the example of Siuan's bond to Alric.  After Siuan is Healed, her bond to Alric is still inside her (Lord of Chaos, Chapter 30, "To Heal Again").  Her stilling severed it, but once she reclaimed saidar, the pain came back.  This would definitely suggest that the ability to use the Power was what connected their bond. The counterargument: Min and Rand.  If the ability to channel was needed, Min couldn't have been bonded to Rand.  Some might say that Rand would be the channeler in that pair, yet Rand's weaves were never used in the ceremony.  More on this in a second. So, the only logical reasoning I see is that the bond connects two people's souls.  The evidence for this is abundant in A Memory of Light.  Rand, when he completes the body-swap, moves into Moridin's body.  However, his three women still feel the bond—now connected to Moridin's body!  The only thing that transferred over was Rand's soul.  If the connection had been to anything physical—the brain, the heart, his ability to channel—the women would have felt Rand's body die.  It has to be a connection to the soul.  Going back to the argument of Rand being the channeler in his bond with Min, we see that Rand cannot channel at the end of the story (A Memory of Light, Epilogue).  So, if the ability to channel was necessary, his bond with Min wouldn't have survived his body-swap, only Aviendha's and Elayne's. Taking that piece of evidence, here's my theory for this week: what if Birgitte's new body is bonded to Elayne from birth? I know, I know.  Birgitte was killed, and the bond broken.  Elayne says that when she sees Birgitte in Hero form:    Why wouldn't it work?  Probably because Birgitte is in spirit form at the moment.  Or perhaps it's because they still have a remnant of the bond intact within both their souls already. I think the time it took for Birgitte's soul to pass from her Heroes' body to her new body was no more than a few hours.  It might be possible that Birgitte's new body would still have the bond connected to her soul.  I'm sure there's never been any case of a person who has been bonded being reborn so soon after death.  There's no way to say for certain that the soul doesn't still hold the bond. At the very least, Brigitte's new body would feel the loss of the bond, the pain that's almost unbearable.  It's possible for the Warder to be the survivor of the pair, so baby Birgitte could still live, only with that sense of something missing inside her. Honestly, I think it would be awesome if when baby Birgitte is born, Elayne automatically feels her, and that their bond remains intact.  In fact, people in our own time often say that they feel like they are missing a part of them.  Since our world is just another Age, perhaps it's the remnants of a past bond. That's all for this week.  Next time we'll continue the discussion on bonds, focusing more on Androl and Pevara.  Thanks for reading!

I see you, Dragonmount. Thanks for checking out the following recap of the Los Angeles (Huntington Beach) book signing of A Memory of Light with Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal. My fellow Memory Keepers and I were happier than a Brown in a library to be chosen to help out and make this signing awesome. We started arriving at around 3 pm and were surprised to find that not a few avid fans had already arrived, eagerly awaiting the start of the event. Our Memory Keepers were a diverse group comprised of Rebecca, our “First Among Equals,” Nathan, Ken, Joe, Rob, Carlos, and Kyle. Since Barnes &Noble took care of all of the setting up, we were able to focus on games and projects to keep everyone occupied while they were waiting. We had both drawing and sculpting setups, as well as extremely challenging trivia sheets for people to test their Wheel of Time knowledge. Want to take the challenge? You can find a copy here: View attachment: Wheel of Time Trivia Questions Only.pdf Stumped? No worries, the answers are posted here: View attachment: Wheel of Time Trivia Questions.pdf Those who participated in our sometimes fun, sometimes diabolical diversions were rewarded with various swag items including The Way of Kings in paperback, WoT phone cases, backpacks, and “Tai’shar Malkier” bumper stickers. Right around 6:15 pm, we received word that Brandon and Harriet had arrived, and were smuggled into a back conference room to get our books signed and questions answered. An interesting outcome from our questions was that Brandon asked us to get people to compile a list of characters whose outcome was left out of the final book for potential inclusion in the upcoming encyclopedia. You can add to the discussion here: http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/79423-list-of-characters-fates/   View attachment: _MG_4868.jpg View attachment: _MG_4875.jpg View attachment: _MG_4871.jpg Upon our return from the back room, we chose a winner of the costume contest we hosted, but since we only had one participant, the choice was pretty easy. He looked really good though. View attachment: _MG_4857.jpg   Brandon and Harriet arrived upstairs and took a moment to admire everyone’s handiwork…. and promptly asked us to get it off of their table. They were thoroughly impressed, I’m sure. View attachment: _MG_4921.jpg View attachment: _MG_4923.jpg View attachment: _MG_4976.jpg View attachment: _MG_4980.jpg View attachment: _MG_4982.jpg     At this point, we were well past standing room only. Introductions were made, and Brandon reminded everyone to stay away from spoilers, especially since about 2/3 of the crowd had not yet finished AMoL. From there, the Q&A began: View attachment: _MG_4892.jpg View attachment: _MG_4906.jpg View attachment: _MG_4917.jpg View attachment: _MG_4910.jpg     Q for Brandon: Loial is my favorite character in the series.  Are his scenes in AMoL written more by Brandon Sanderson or by Robert Jordan? A:  Brandon replies by saying he will need to keep this vague due to not wanting to reveal spoilers to those who have not finished reading.  He will answer this individually when the person comes up to him in line.  He is against readers “looking” for him or for Robert Jordan in the books.  The epilogue was entirely written by Robert Jordan, except for one portion that Brandon wrote. Q for Brandon: Is there anyone Brandon wanted to include in AMoL but didn’t get to? A:  No, he was able to get to everyone.  There were two major sequences cut from the book.  One of these will appear in the charity anthology Unfettered.  The other character POV just didn’t work. Q  for Harriet: What are the top three characters in which her personality dominated that character’s personality? A:  (joking) Graendal, Moghedian, …. (lots of laughter).  Probably Nynaeve.  Harriet remarks that she has several home remedies for any ailment.  She states that Robert Jordan said all of the women characters stem from her and makes a comment about nagging Robert Jordan to take out the trash. Q for Harriet: When editing both Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, were there any scenes that needed to be cut because they were “too ridiculous”? A:  No, for either of them.  They are fabulous storytellers and did not show her ridiculous scenes.  One scene of Brandon’s she cut for pacing reasons.  She did have some disagreements with Robert Jordan, different opinions.  Some scenes that he absolutely loved, she did not like, and vice versa.  She emphasized the importance of having your editor as a trusted first reader.  Brandon mentions Dannil, the fourth Two Rivers boy, and Harriet explains that he was cut because he had nothing to do in Eye of the World and he was boring.  Robert Jordan said that he had big plans for him in the fourth book, and Harriet’s response was that if you bore your readers now, there won’t be a fourth book.  Later, Robert Jordan admitted “how easily he [Dannil] unzipped out of the book.” Q for Brandon: Did he get to include anything from his “Cool Stuff” list in the series? A:  A few things did end up in the book, but he won’t expand due to spoilers.  He did say that he had ideas about Gateways long before he was selected to finish the series.  He wanted to include some of these ideas in his own work but he was too worried about copying Robert Jordan, so they just stayed in his file.  He was able to pull these ideas out and use them with Androl in AMoL. Q for Brandon: How did reading The Wheel of Time inspire his magic systems? A:  The first influence was Robert Jordan’s focus on human characters over fantastical ones.  He felt that Jordan’s concept of weaving was complex and interesting, as opposed to magic systems of authors such as David Eddings.  With the Wheel of Time, the rules and restrictions on magic made characters more clever and interesting.  He didn’t want to modify the WoT magic system but he did explore two aspects of it using ideas he had as a teenager:  the World of Dreams and Gateways.  He avoided adding new weaves because the series was coming to a close. Q for Brandon: Who was his favorite character to write and who does he see himself the most in? A:  Perrin was his favorite.  Even though Perrin went through “a slump” in the series in order to build tension, Brandon always stayed “Team Perrin.”  Perrin was the most natural.  Mat was tough and thus a cooler character to write.  Brandon enjoyed writing Mat, especially in AMoL.  Mat challenged his skills more than anyone else.  The saddest part for him with finishing the series is that he can’t write Mat anymore.  Harriet added that there will not be anymore WoT books (other than the encyclopedia).  She said that Robert Jordan hated the idea of someone taking his material, although he did want the series finished.  He stated he would run over his hard drive before allowing others to “sharecrop.”  Harriet stated that the two sentences about the outriggers that Robert Jordan left behind will be released in April or May.  She said that with the encyclopedia there is “the work of at least a year.” Q for Harriet: Did Robert Jordan have a favorite character?  A:  Yes – the one that he was writing that day.  She said that some days after writing he would come into the kitchen slouching and sidling up against the wall, and she would say, “Have you been writing Padan Fain today?”  She went on to say that he always wrote from “a position of love” for every character.  Brandon tells about one of the editing notes that he received from Harriet which read “Padan Fain needs more crazy.” Q:  Do Robert Jordan’s notes state who killed Asmodean? A:  Brandon states that at the top of a large stack of Robert Jordan’s notes that he received, there was a print-out of a fan’s theory about the killer of Asmodean.  Stuck to it was a post-it note from Jordan that read, “this is right.”  Harriet commented about the importance of glossaries. Q  for Brandon: Is the dialogue between Rand and Mat in AMoL more Robert Jordan or Brandon? A:  Brandon does not want to answer that publically due to the potential for spoilers. Q:  Will the encyclopedia have illustrations? A:  Yes.  Much more time will be given to the illustrator than with the earlier book (the Big White Book).  He stated that the BWB illustrator is very talented but was rushed. Q for Brandon: Will you share the story of the day you got the phone call from Harriet about completing the series? A:  Here, Brandon reviewed the story, remarking that he was more nervous than on his wedding day.  Harriet added that she told Brandon that he was on her short list, but didn’t reveal at the time that it really was a list with just one name.  She said that she knew that he was a good writer but she didn’t know just how superb he was going to be.  He was “a great choice” to finish the series. Q for Brandon: Why do the Shardblades in The Stormlight Archive have the effect on flesh (human tissue) that they do? A:  He originally wrote the scene in the prologue with the assassin Szeth using a traditional sword, but it was so bloody and gruesome that Brandon was actually disgusted.  He had to find a way to avoid that and so he came up with a new way for the swords to behave. Q for Harriet: What were Robert Jordan’s influences for the creature that Padan Fain became? A:  Just his own work and imagination.  There were no outside influences that she knows of. Q for Brandon: Who was his favorite villain to write? A:  Demandred Q for Brandon:  Could you elaborate on some of your recent comments about the difficulty of writing shorter books? A:  One of Brandon’s favorite stories is “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, and it’s only five pages long, but he has struggled with writing shorter works.  He’s tried, but he has felt bad at it and it’s not something he’s ever been trained in.  He realized that he was trying to write shorter fiction for the wrong reasons – he was doing it for New York and not because he wanted to do it.  He feels that his best short work is Emperor’s Soul.  He goes on to praise Harriet for her remarkable career, specifically pointing out her role in Ender’s Game and Eye of the World, two of the greats in sci-fi/fantasy.  Harriet modestly says, “I put my shoes on one foot at a time.” Q for Brandon:  Who was the most challenging WoT character to write? A:  Mat was the most challenging, the second most was Aviendha.  He explains that it is hard to write about someone so different than yourself and the Aiel culture seemed the most unique in the series.  Of Rand’s three women, Avi is Brandon’s favorite.  He recalls that after writing his first Aviendha scene, Harriet read it and then told him that it was a “picture perfect Elayne.”  Brandon went on to discuss how he has to write his way into his characters.  Vin, in Mistborn, was originally a boy.  Lots of his early work on The Gathering Storm was scrapped by Harriet because Brandon wasn’t “there yet” with the characters.  He then goes on to discuss the volume of notes left by Robert Jordan.  There are about 200 pages for AMoL and then there is roughly 32,000 pages of other notes for the series, three times as large as the entire series put together.  Brandon tells of how he tried to open it once and it crashed his computer because the file was so large.  He also wants to commend the enormous efforts of Alan and Maria for their help in managing all of the details of the series. At this point, in the interest of time, the Q&A ended so that, as Brandon said, "We can do a reading. We meaning Harriet."She read the opening paragraph of the wind rose chapter, and it was magical.   View attachment: _MG_4920.jpg   Following that, the signing began. As Harriet said, “I love you all, but I hate midnight.” In consideration of that, everyone was allowed 3 books their first time through the line, and anyone who wanted additional books signed or any personalization had to go through the line a second time after Harriet left. Before that could happen though, they had the daunting task of signing books for approximately 500 people! Here are some cool things that happened as people made their way to the front of the line: View attachment: _MG_4923.jpg View attachment: _MG_4932.jpg   Brandon getting a picture and signed card:   View attachment: _MG_4951.jpg View attachment: _MG_4957.jpg   An awesome tattoo:   View attachment: _MG_4966.jpg   One hardcore fan with equally hardcore shoes:   View attachment: _MG_4975.jpg View attachment: _MG_4984.jpg   Fan Art:   View attachment: _MG_4988.jpg   These girls had a little fun with the trivia sheet giving spoof answers such as the Dark One's real name was Voldermort. Brandon found it so amusing that he posted it to his Twitter. He also signed a poster for them.   View attachment: _MG_4997.jpg View attachment: _MG_5003.jpg   This couple came all the way from Australia to be at the signing. Now that's dedication.   View attachment: _MG_5007.jpg View attachment: _MG_5011.jpg   Familiar faces:   View attachment: _MG_5013.jpg   With all of these awesome and interesting things happening, the highlight for me was when out of the blue, Harriet poked me in the ribs and said, “He looks like Perrin! Doesn’t he look just like Perrin?” I was so surprised that of course I immediately agreed, and that is forever more what I’ll remember when I think of Perrin Aybara. Not that I even saw the guy. Sorry Harriet.   All too soon, it was time for Harriet to say goodnight. The Memory Keepers then enlisted Brandon’s help to give out the last of our remaining swag to the die-hards who remained for personalization.   View attachment: _MG_5032.jpg   Then we breathed a collective sigh of relief, watched the line dwindle down to the last person (a B&N employee who just got off of work), took a moment for one last picture, and made our exit. View attachment: _MG_5036.jpg View attachment: _MG_5039.jpg     We hope you enjoyed this brief recap of the awesome night we had here in Huntington Beach. We are incredibly grateful to Dragonmount for choosing us to be a part of the Memory of Light Tour, Barnes & Noble, and of course to Brandon and Harriet for making all of this possible. Thank you all for checking out our event. May you always find water and shade.  

<p> Most all forces of the light were present to welcome Brandon Sanderson, Harriet McDougal and Jason Denzel to the Sacramento area signing at Barnes and Noble in Citrus Heights, CA. Represented were Aes Sedai, the Red Band, Whitecloaks and the Traveling People among others. Birgitte, Aviendha, Mat and Thom even decided to join in as Memory Keepers on this stop. Mat, the group's "first among equals", had a three hour drive and was first on scene to start answering questions and handing out wrist bands. 50 wrist bands had already been handed out by noon, a sign of things to come - by the end of the night nearly 400 would be given out.<br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_3525759.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_3525759.jpg" /> <br /> As the majority of the Memory Keepers filtered in around 4 the store was already filling with fans. After setting up "green screen” backdrops for Wheel of Time commemorative photos and lining the path with Wheel of Time themed signs (Bela is a darkfriend, I Killed Asmodean, etc) we hung a poster on the front of the signing table in memoriam of a family member of one of the Memory Keepers who was also a fan of the series and was killed in August of 2012. Brandon and Harriet both signed the poster and it will be presented to the family member's parents (Memoriam picture at the end of this post).<br /> <br /> Next we set up for trivia. Unfortunately the store hadn't received one of the boxes containing the Way of Kings paperbacks, so we ended up winging it a little on the giveaways. This consisted of WOT trivia and quotes, with winners being given the choice between the AMoL messenger bag or the iPhone case, with a few front of the line passes thrown in for harder questions. To pass the time a WOT word search and a WOT crossword were handed out (thanks to the Seattle Memory Keepers for sharing their crossword with us).<br /> <br /> Trivia:<br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_2395758.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_2395758.jpg" /><br /> <br /> At this point there were only two customers in costume, both beautiful Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah. One even made her own teardrop Aes Sedai hand bags (Brandon later signed these for her). Both were given prizes for their costumes. The crowd then chose to hold their own best costume contest for the Memory Keepers. By crowd noise they chose Mat, to which Thom said, “Bloody Ta’veren.” Birgette agreed with the decision though she thought his face too pretty and Aviendha just shook her head at wetlander ways.<br /> <br /> Costume contest:<br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_3119043.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_3119043.jpg" /><br /> <br /> We were lucky enough to have Dragonmount.com founder and webmaster Jason Denzel join us for this stop and he was the first to arrive and check in with us. Even after all the events he's been to, he seemed just as glad to be there as we did. When it was time to greet Brandon and Harriet, Mat, Birgette and Thom headed outside. After 10 minutes or so talking with the 20 or 30 fans waiting outside the store, Brandon arrived. Mat and Birgette escorted him in while Thom stayed behind to play some songs for the crowd and keep a lookout for Harriet.</p> <p>   <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Py5Dsm3eNJo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <br /> Harriet arrived shortly and Thom got the distinct honor of offering his arm to escort her inside. Once inside, he quickly got lost and Harriet was kind enough to point out the way to go ("that door, the one that says 'Employee's only?'"). She was still kinder to make a point to mention that she'd been inside many book stores in her time.<br /> <br /> Once in the back she joined Brandon signing some book stock and the memory keepers were called in to spend some time, ask questions and get signatures. They were both very gracious with the little amount of time they had and we were joined by Jason and his writing group, so many were able to get Jason's signature on Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light. There were a couple of those present who hadn't read the book, so we kept it spoiler-free. Brandon mentioned during this time that the pacing of the final book was the most difficult part to get right and was behind most of the revision work. He said he wrote the POVs separately for the first part of the book but as the pacing picked up he had to abandon that approach. Harriet was asked about the movie/series with NBC Universal and said it is a movie that's in development, not a series, but she hasn't been involved. They retain the right to consult with her, which means they could ask her out to consult and subsequently ignore whatever she says (paraphrased). Brandon was also asked if he knew how Stormlight would end, which he said he did, that he hadn't written it yet but he knew how it would end. When asked he said he had about a page outline for each of the books after four, that he adds and modifies them as events in the first books get fleshed out.<br /> <br /> From the start of the actual signing it was obvious Brandon knew what he was doing. He had specific jobs for a few of us, while telling the crowd there wouldn't be a Q/A due to space limitations, but that he'd be glad to answer any questions anyone had while he signed their books. Several of the less common questions are included at the end of this writing, including a link to some spoiler questions that were asked. First though, some impressions we Memory Keepers were left with of the evening.<br /> <br /> <strong>The crowd</strong> was impressive in both size and passion. There were many more costumes that came through, the first of which was a family of four dressed as Lan, Nynaeve and their two kids - a wolf sister and blade master. Brandon was very impressed and immediately jumped up to give them the cardboard poster of Way of Kings.<br /> <br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_258927.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_258927.jpg" /><br /> <br /> Some other costumes seen:<br /> <br /> White Cloak/Aes Sedai/Red Band<br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_185823.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_185823.jpg" /><br /> <br /> Three Aes Sedai:<br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_2686697.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_2686697.jpg" /><br /> <br /> Tinkers:<br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_1485830.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_1485830.jpg" /><br /> <br /> Beyond the costumes there were fathers and sons, entire families, brothers and friends as well as many military personnel. Brandon and Harriet did signings only for everybody else their first time through, though they wrote "thank you for your service" in more than one service member's book. As Harriet explained her father was in the Navy and she has a special place in her heart for the military.<br /> <br /> It can't be said enough how great these fans are. There was a pile of gifts for Brandon and Harriet by the end of the night and one fan - a leather worker whose name wasn't given - actually gave Memory Keeper Mat an extra dice cup he'd made (since Mat was without one). It was very cool for us Memory Keepers to talk to so many people who were just as excited as we were to stand for hours on a Friday night and share in the experience of books, Wheel of Time and otherwise. Also amazing was how many people approached Brandon and said they hated reading until they'd picked up one of his books. In the age of cinema and TV, it's a blessing to see such electricity generated in a book store.<br /> <br /> <strong>Harriet </strong>was an absolute gem. She is a very sweet lady and she smiled nearly the whole night long. She just seemed genuinely proud of the work her husband and her were able to accomplish and graciously answered all questions, and even checked on our Memory Keeper Aviendha several times to see if she needed anything (since she was stuck between Brandon and Harriet the whole night). Harriet also thanked more than one employee for working with books and was glad to sign any books she worked on which included Ender's Game and the Way of Kings (guest editor). Even though she started to look a little tired she still smiled and stayed until each of those nearly 400 people got through to get their books signed before leaving (probably 10:00 PM).<br /> <br /> One more note on Harriet. When the Aes Sedai in the below picture came through Harriet noticed her nail polish. She said she loved the color, leaned back and proceeded to kick her shoe off then lifted a toenail painted with a similar color and said, "the color's called 'Rage'" with a mischievous grin.<br /> <br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_2399915.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_2399915.jpg" /><br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>Brandon </strong>was the embodiment of humility. For each thank you he got for finishing the series, he gave a thank you in return to the fan for reading - and it was genuine thanks. He told several people they were his boss, so if they didn't buy his books he wouldn't be able to write them. He fist bumped one long time WOT fan saying that he was right there with him as a long-time fan himself. He has an avid fan base outside the Wheel of Time series, many had gotten into those books because of Brandon's other works. There were also several writers given encouraging words (including at least one Memory Keeper) - he really does support those trying to learn the craft.<br /> <br /> Beyond that, he's just about as close as you can get to being a rock star and still play Magic the Gathering. He signed at least one deck box, one homemade Magic card and one of the Memory Keepers Fireball cards, making it a Bale-fireball. Memory Keeper Mat gave him a framed and signed “Hyrdroblast” #40 of 500 art print by the artist Kaja Foglio from the Magic the Gathering card game. Brandon was very excited that he knew artist but hadn't seen that specific piece.<br /> <br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_2652.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_2652.jpg" /><br /> <br /> When Brandon left it felt to us Memory Keepers like saying goodbye to someone we'd known for some time, not a well-known author we'd just met a few hours before.<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>Jason </strong>had lines of people waiting to talk to him as well, just people grateful for everything he's done for the fan community. He still managed to get out and mingle with the crowd and us Memory Keepers and jumped in to help wherever he thought it needed. He also got into a commemorative Wheel of Time photo. At the end of the night he mentioned to Brandon that, of all the tours they have done for books 12, 13 and 14, the Sacramento Memory Keepers were the first ones to think of something like that. Brandon got excited and wanted to do one, but we'd already taken the backdrops down and the store was closing so weren't able to get one in. It just speaks volumes for the man that at the end of such a long day of taking in so many interactions he was ready to hang out later to take part in the full experience.<br /> <br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_1709.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_1709.jpg" /><br /> <br /> If you were present at the signing and got a commemorative picture taken, head on over to the <a href="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/gallery/album/270-sacramento-california-282013/">full gallery</a> to download a copy.<br /> <em>Please note: If you do not see your photo please check back in a few days. Some of the green screen photos are being touched up to fix a few small issues with the backgrounds.</em><br /> <br /> <strong>And for the rest of you who came out, thank you so much for making it such a memorable occasion. It is because of fans like each of you that events like this are possible. From all seven Memory Keepers - Deanna Butler (Aviendha), Jim Firanzi, Julie Kuhn (Birgette), Adam Matthews, Jason Rapp, DJ Stipe (Thom) and Jeff Wakefield (Mat and our first among equals) - a sincere thanks to each of you who attended or watched the live stream for making this stop one to remember.</strong><br /> <br /> <br /> <u>WOT Questions (paraphrased from notes while also taking fan pictures):</u><br /> <br /> When asked how hard the pacing was to get right on AMoL he said that was the most difficult part of the book and that's where most of the revision came in. Follow-up question was asked if he'd written each perspective individually like he had other books and he said that he started out doing that, but as the perspectives began to switch more frequently he stopped.<br /> <br /> The Dark One seems to be conscious and aware of the events in the world. Is the creator also conscious of world events? Brandon said that's left up to the reader. He then said that many people think the voice in all caps in the Eye of the World is the creator, which might indicate the creator was, but stated it really wasn't know even in-world.<br /> <br /> Brandon was asked one question he’d never been asked before. What would he ask the Aelfinn? He didn't know, but said he'd think about it and tweet it...so watch his twitter feed (@BrandSanderson) for that.<br /> <br /> <br /> <u>Non-WOT Questions:</u><br /> <br /> Asked what their favorite animal was, Harriet said an Elephant, Brandon a Dragon (he then revised to say the family dog).<br /> <br /> Someone asked if Brandon intended to write anymore science fiction books. He indicated first that <a href="http://www.brandonsanderson.com/book/Steelheart">the upcoming Steelheart</a> (available September 2013) is a sci-fi, though it's superhero sci-fi. He then said the third trilogy in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistborn_series">Mistborn series</a> would be science fiction. He explained that built into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allomancer">allomancy</a> is the ability for faster-than-light-speed travel and that the final trilogy would involve space travel.<br /> <br /> Since many asked this, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stormlight_Archive">Stormlight 2</a> will be out in Christmas 2013 if lucky, otherwise Spring 2014.<br /> <br /> A couple people asked about <a href="http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2012/04/alloy-of-law-and-the-gemmell-award/">the Patrick Rothfuss blog</a> and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/315662446">Goodreads review</a> that mention adding Brandon to a short list of "authors [Patrick wishes] to kill so that [he] might eat their livers and thereby gain their power." Brandon said he wished he could get some of Patrick's powers, that his prose is absolutely beautiful. (Check out Patrick's work here: <a href="http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/">http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/</a>)<br /> <br /> When asked if he ever thought about working a magic card game into one of his book he admitted that he'd toyed with the idea and might like to.<br /> <br /> An entire writer's group (besides Jason Denzel's group, who were also there) came through the line and talked to Brandon together. When he found out they were an unpublished writing group he told the story about how, shortly after having books published, he was at a friend of a friend's house and was introduced as a writer to the host. The host responded, "So you're unemployed." Brandon was excited to be able to tell him "No, I actually get paid for it now." He is very supportive of aspiring writers (if you don't know about it, check out his weekly writing podcast here: www.writingexcuses.com).<br /> <br /> At the end of the night, a store employee was brought over and told a touching story through tears. Her Mother had had some health issues and her younger brother and sister both had a low-performing form of Autism. She said that her brother was inspired by Brandon to become a writer and she thanked him for bringing that to her family - it was very touching.<br /> <br /> <br /> SPOILERS:<br /> If you have read the book there are more questions that involve spoilers <a href="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/79242-ask-simple-questions-get-simple-answers-amol-version-covering-the-entire-series/?p=2791218">we posted over here.</a><br /> <br /> <br /> Our photo in memorium:<br /> <img alt="gallery_28279_270_13242.jpg" src="http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/gallery/album_270/gallery_28279_270_13242.jpg" /></p>

Tai’shar Dragonmount!   Herein is the Memory Keeper report from the San Diego visit on the A Memory of Light   book-signing tour, 6 February, 2013. Faithfully submitted by Freelancer.   Before getting to the event itself, a little bit about the location.     Mysterious Galaxy is a wonderful independent bookstore in the heart of San Diego, focusing on Sci-fi, Fantasy, Mystery and Horror literature, run by a dedicated and knowledgeable staff of fantasy fans. The store manager, Patrick Heffernan, coordinates author signing events each and every week, as many popular authors wouldn’t consider a promotional tour complete without a visit there. You can learn more at http://www.mystgalaxy.com/     As for the Memory Keepers, there were eight selected by the Dragonmount staff, but unfortunately one, Eric, was transferred by his military command prior to the event. There rest of us included Justin, our “First Among Equals”, Alexei, Chris, Christopher, Lindsey, Manuel, and Tim. All were able to be on hand early and assist the store with rearranging bookshelves, setting chairs, and whatever other setup needs the store required.   Fans began arriving as much as an hour and a half prior to the scheduled start time of 7PM, and not long after 6PM all of the chairs were occupied. The mingling crowd wasted no time in chatting each other up about the series, speculating on what questions would and would not be asked or answered. At that time we began passing out copies of a fan-created Wheel of Time crossword puzzle (thank you, Wetlandernw!), and a logic puzzle designed by Memory Keeper Justin. Attendees dove right into these while waiting, and in spite of our best attempts to keep folks “honest”, many smart phones and tablets were put into action hunting answers from numerous Wheel of Time resource sites.   Brandon and Harriet arrived around 6:15 and went directly to work signing store stock books for almost twenty minutes. Brandon then broke away and pulled the Memory Keepers outside of the store while Harriet continued. He greeted us all, thanked us for volunteering and offered his congratulations on being selected. He then explained that Harriet’s travel schedule still had her on Eastern Time, and she wouldn’t be able to remain for the entire event, so the sequence would have to be adjusted, and the usual sit-down time with the Memory Keepers would unfortunately fall victim, but that Harriet would spend some time with us on site before leaving. Next he asked if we had all finished A Memory of Light, and with seven nodding heads, said that we were free to ask any questions, even AMoL spoilers, before going back in with the crowd. The non-spoiler questions will be included at the end of this report.   After we re-entered the store, Harriet turned around while in the midst of signing books, and got the crowd’s attention. She pointed out a photo of Robert Jordan which has hung on the wall of the store for as long as I’ve known of the place(and is the feature photo on his Wikipedia page), and said that it was taken in this very store during the 2005 tour for Knife of Dreams, his last book release tour. She asked if anybody there might know who took the photo, for she had always treasured it. Lo and behold, two hands shot up, belonging to people known to the tor.com re-read as BaboKathy and insectoid. A close family friend had taken the photo, and they were there as well at that time. Harriet then produced a DVD of photos from that day’s event, and asked if they would get it to the woman who had taken the photo. It was a very lovely gesture, and a moving moment.     A bit after this, a few moments of getting people and things settled, and Christine, one of the store employees, delivered a formal introduction for Brandon and Harriet. Harriet expressed her thanks for the great support of the fandom, and then began stating numbers:     23 ~ Years since the publication of The Eye of the World. Brandon broke in on this and asked how many others began reading the series in 1990 as he had. Still a fanboy after all these years! There were more than a handful, and more on that later.   9,995 ~ Pages in the first edition hardcovers of the series proper (excludes New Spring)   14 ~ Volumes in the main series   Brandon spoke briefly about finishing the series, and then began the Q & A session.     Q:  About Androl and Pevara, the dynamic and internal dialogues were right on, and his unique skills made for some of the most remarkable scenes since the cleansing. I know that RJ had some things lined out for many of the characters, but you sort of took Androl on as your guy, can you speak to that?   Brandon:  (Prefaced his answer by reminding everyone to avoid spoiler questions, and made it clear that this one did not cross that line) When I began to work on the books, I felt that with each book, it seemed that Robert Jordan usually took a side character and made them more of a main character. As I was outlining the series, I decided I wanted to take a side character and make them into more of a main character, but there wasn’t a specific person in the notes designated to do that with. But I felt that we really needed somebody at the Black Tower, because of all the things going on at that time in the notes, and we needed another viewpoint there. During my second trip to Charleston, this would be April/May of 2008, we used big sheets of butcher paper, outlining what was going on with these as a visual aid. I wanted an Asha’man to have a sequence of major viewpoints. Maria and Alan, who were Robert Jordan’s assistants, and are now Harriet’s assistants, chatted about it a moment and said you should use Androl, because there’s not a lot about him, he’s pretty much a blank slate and you can go wherever you want with him, which was really exciting for me. I then pitched the Talent of gateways for him, and they liked that. Shortly after I got home, I got in the mail a printout or photocopies, of magazine or book pages from Harriet about leatherworking, and she had written on it, “I know that Jim had planned to use this in the book somewhere, is there anywhere that you can fit it in”. Well I’m developing this character, let’s make him a leatherworker. So I used that in building the personality of who this character was, and in that way, there was some of Robert Jordan in the character, even though I was taking a blank slate and going my own way with him. And that’s where Androl came from for the last three books.   Q:  Did the Dark One make the True Power available to Rand, or did he find it himself? Brandon:  (After staring at me for several seconds (long story) and taking a sip of water, he pulled out a RAFO card) First RAFO of the night, and it’s yours! It might be in the encyclopedia. Yes, I can still RAFO.   Q:  Which character’s contribution to A Memory of Light did you enjoy most? Brandon:  This book was supposed to be about Rand, and so Rand’s contribution is the most important to me. So much so, that in the revising process we felt several times we needed to bring out more. One of the big elements of revision was, we needed to make sure that Rand remains the focus of this book, and even though things are going where there are lots of different sections and regions where Rand is not involved, we needed Rand to be at least the heart of the book.   Q:  Harriet, will you speak to how you came to choose Brandon to finish the series, and Brandon, how it was to be selected?   Harriet:  Well, I don’t know that this isn’t all over the Web, so most of you probably already know the story. (In the interest of space, I agree, and the details of this can be found among Brandon’s own blog entries on www.brandonsanderson.com, an interview on tor.com, and other places. I feel Compelled, however, to provide a verbatim transcript of a piece of her commentary) Harriet:  (After having read Mistborn and feeling that Brandon was the right fit for the work) And then, in a very unprofessional way, I called information for Provo, Utah, and asked for Brandon Sanderson’s phone number. And I got it!. So a woman picked up the phone, and I said “Hello, is this Brandon Sanderson’s number?”, she said “Yes it is”. And I said “Well, I’m the widow of Robert Jordan, and I’m calling to ask whether Brandon Sanderson would like to be considered on the short list we’re compiling”, and it was a short list (holding up a single finger) “to finish Robert Jordan’s fantasy series.” She said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” And guess what? Provo, Utah has at least two Brandon Sandersons. So then I remembered that I was a publishing professional, called Tor, and said “what is Brandon’s number?” Q:  Can you talk a little bit about the River of Souls sequence? Brandon:  Yeah, I can totally talk about this. So, River of Souls is about a specific character, and in the drafting process this is not something I actually pitched to Harriet early on, but in the later meetings I got together with them and pitched something which was a deviation from things Robert Jordan had said. Harriet told me from the get-go, Look you’ve got the notes, you’ve got the outline, you’ve got to be a writer, not a transcriber. Robert Jordan would not have kept this the way it is, that’s not how we work, and in a lot of places he said I’m thinking of doing this, OR this, and you’ll have to decide which of those to do, or to do a third. And so I pitched one of these kind of audacious sequences to her; sometimes these work, sometimes they don’t. It’s the sort of thing you need to do to create fiction, that I feel is daring, and you need to take these chances. But a lot of times you don’t know if it’s going to work until the book is done, and you can look at it together. And this was taking place in a region of the Wheel of Time world that Robert Jordan said I really don’t think we’re ever going to visit. Which is the part that was deviated, by doing this sequence. And it’s not that long, only about 7,000 words, so it’s like a novelette. I sent it to Harriet, and she said “I really like this, but we’re going to cut it”. The reason being, that it broke up the flow of the novel, and it was introducing too many new elements at the beginning of the volume that was supposed to be wrapping up elements. And those who do storytelling know that can be a really dangerous thing to do.   Harriet:  That was the reason. It was a big additional segment, and this is not what you call a slim volume anyway. So as a reader, it was not fun. Not that there was anything wrong with the sequence, but it was not what my antennae said we needed. We needed to get on with it.   Brandon:  Yes, instead of going sideways, when we needed to go forward. Q:  I was wondering what inspired you to write your own things, and what were some of the first steps you took?   Brandon:  That’s an enormous question. Listen to Writing Excuses, I’ll talk about that later. What started me? I was kind of a lost boy in school in middle school. I didn’t do bad, I got Bs and Cs. I didn’t have passion about anything, I was just kind of wandering. And then, I discovered fantasy novels. And it’s dumb to say, but fantasy novels changed my life. I don’t know why. Now, as a 37-year-old, I can look back and say “Well, obviously, it was THIS” But I don’t know what it was. I discovered specifically Dragonsbane, the works of Anne McCaffrey, and the works of Melanie Rawn. Which were right after one another in the card catalog, and they all three had Michael Whelan covers. And I don’t know why, but those three things grabbed me, and then I realized this is what I wanted to do. I realized this is a job people do, and it’s awesome. So I told my Mom, and she said “Well, you better get better grades, then.” That’s what my Mom does, she’s an accountant. And I got straight A’s in 9th grade. I did. Because I’m like, I now know why I’m doing this, and I have to be literate if I’m going to be an author. So it’s hokey to say “Fantasy novels saved my life”. They didn’t save my life, but they sure changed my life. Q:  Of Rand’s three girls, who is your favorite? Brandon:  Aviendha. Easy answer there, definitely Aviendha. Q:  Can you talk more about (deleted) in the Blight? Harriet:  No. Brandon:  No. Spoiler! No spoilers please. Q:  Two  questions. One, who killed Asmodean? And the second one, the Aviendha scene with the rings (sic), going back in time, and then into the future, was that part of the original intention with Robert Jordan, or is that something you kind of improvised. Harriet:  Can I take the first question? Brandon:  Yes, go for the first one.   Here's a youtube clip of Harriet's answer:     Harriet:  The first question, simply illustrates the importance, as every sister of the Brown Ajah knows, of reading the glossaries.   Brandon:  I’m not going to give you a very good answer on the other one either. The reason being, we try to keep away from saying too much about what Robert Jordan did, and what I did. Particularly while there are people who haven’t read the books yet. Maybe in a year or two we can start being more open about these things, but right now, I don’t want people reading the books and focusing on “Was this Jim, was that Brandon?” and things like that. The only answer I can give to questions like that is every scene is 100% Robert Jordan, and 100% me.   Q:  Are Robert Jordan’s notes going to be included in that encyclopedia/anthology you’re working on? Harriet:  The notes? The notes are more words than have been published in the entire series. Brandon:  Harriet, did you hear that I tried to make one file out of the notes? Did Maria tell you? Earlier this week, I actually said people ask this all the time, I’m going to have an exact word count for them. So I took every one of the notes, and I compiled them into one Word document. It got to 32,000 pages, and Microsoft Word said ‘I can’t count any further’, and my computer crashed. Thirty-two thousand pages. Harriet:  So the answer is no!   Brandon:  The whole series is ten thousand, ok? And this was thirty two thousands pages. It crashed my computer, Harriet, it was hilarious. It was at four million words plus counting, it was continuing to go, and then it couldn’t go any further.   Q:  A compliment to you, Harriet and the entire team that put this together, but the really stunning thing about the last book was how many characters had a role in this book, down to multiple dozens of people, secondary characters and below. How did one do that? How does one create that continuity? Obviously some of it comes from Jordan’s original work, but how does one pull that all together? Harriet:  Someone in the audience said “magic”. I don’t know that there’s a better answer. Brandon:  It was the biggest challenge of this last book. I’ve said for years, even before I was involved in the project, once you hit book seven in the Wheel of Time as a reader, you have to realize something that I realized. The series itself is not about Rand. The series is about all of these people facing the end of the world. Rand of course is at the center, and there are other figures close to the center, but the series is about all of these people. And going into the last book we all felt that the last book needed to evoke that. Rand needed to be the heart, but it needed to be about the world, all of these people facing the end of times. That was something we struggled with, went back and forth on. The creative process is a mysterious thing, even to us involved. I’m glad that you felt that, because when I went into it that was one of the things I said, this is what we need to do, it needs to feel like this, and if we are successful, that’s what it will feel like. Q:  There was some little inconsistencies in the lengths of chapters, especially kind of in the last book… Brandon:  Oh, you’re talking about the several hundred page chapter, and then the five page chapter? Q (cont’d):  …was that sort of picked to try to break up things specifically, or was that more in how it fell out?   Brandon:  The chapter lengths, in this book in particular, were very consciously chosen. Under Harriet’s direction, through the first two books Harriet came to me a lot and said “No, this chapter needs to be these viewpoints, and this chapter needs to be those viewpoints”, and she actually taught me, I don’t know if she realized that she was doing it, and then in the last book, she didn’t have to do any of that. There was no changing of viewpoints between chapters. (Meaning via revision) Harriet had trained me better in chapter breaks and things like that, so I broke up the chapters. (To Harriet) I don’t know if you even noticed that, in the previous two you did a lot of that, and this one you didn’t. The very long chapter, a very, very long chapter, you can see it in the Table of Contents, the purpose of that is, I wanted you to feel like the characters do in that chapter. They can’t put down their weapons and go to sleep. I don’t want you to be able to put down the book and go to sleep. I want you to hit that chapter at 1AM, and be like “I gotta to be at work at seven, and I’ll read just one more chapter”. One of the things Harriet unconsciously showed me that I picked up on, was the use of chapters for that kind of narrative structure in a better way, so that was done very intentionally. Q:  I’ve really enjoyed it, I’ve read book twelve and thirteen, it’s always kind of difficult to get a transition between voices of different authors, but I’ve really enjoyed the last two books. Was there a particular character that was difficult for you to write? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Brandon:  No, no, I can answer, I’ve answered this before. I would say that the toughest character to get right was Mat. His voice, he has the most distinctive voice in the entire Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan had perfected that voice, and if you read the series, Mat as a character evolves to the point that in book ten he’s just this majestic  . . . piece of work. Piece of work used as, yeah. And he’s just amazing, and to go from like book ten and eleven, Robert Jordan at the height of his skill, telling of this character that’s very difficult to tell, and me then trying to do it, I think is also the most jarring. So he was tough, and I’d say the other tough one was Aviendha. Getting the Aiel right, because Robert Jordan had a lot of experience with the cultures he was basing the Aiel off of, and I don’t have much experience with them, I have experience with the Aiel only, if that makes any sense. And the first time I wrote Aviendha, Harriet sent me the chapter back and said “You’ve written an almost perfect Elayne”. And I’m like “Oh, great!” Well, I know I’ve got Elayne down then. I got her on the third try, and she said “Ahh, you’ve got it”. But it took me several tries to get Avi right. Q:  In the Mistborn series, I read on one of your posts online that you had a rough outline of how the series would have gone if a major death in the first book hadn’t happened? I was just curious how that would have progressed if he was still alive? Brandon:  He would have taken over, because that character doesn’t not take over. And it would have been a very different series, it would have been more heist focused, and not so much epic fantasy focused. Q:  Would he have finished everything up a heck of a lot faster than Vin and Elend did? Brandon:  Worse, but yes. Things would have gone very differently, how about that? The reason I decided it couldn’t go that way was because I think the series just wouldn’t have worked. Q:  Are there any discussions in place to convert these books to audio books? Brandon:  They are already all on audio book. (The man was actually standing very close to the rack full of audio volumes) Q:  So you don’t want to answer questions about which scenes you wrote and what scenes Robert Jordan wrote, but has anybody come up to you and said like “I think you wrote this scene”, but actually Robert Jordan wrote that? Brandon:  All the time. And it’s awesome. I’ve released a few things, and if you come up to me later I’ll tell you exactly what scene it is, so I’m not spoiling it for others. But there’s one that everyone’s like “I can so see Sanderson’s hand in this, look at this and look at this” and one of the things they say is “Sanderson uses contractions, and Robert Jordan doesn’t use contractions, for the character POVs”. But Robert Jordan did in his notes, he just took out the contractions later on. And that was a scene I posted in exactly out of the notes, and it was hilarious to me.     That was all the time available for questions. Brandon then said “We are going to do a very short reading, and what we’re going to do is have Harriet read to you one paragraph.” To which Harriet replied “I was afraid that’s what ‘we’ meant”.      So Harriet read the first paragraph of the first chapter of the last volume of the Wheel of Time. It is verbatim identical to the same paragraph in the Eye of the World, because the wind rises out of the Mountains of Mist. When she came to the final phrase, she invited the crowd to recite with her, “But it was a beginning”, which drew a huge ovation.         And with that, we finally arrived at the book signing portion of the event. Brandon gave instructions, that with the first pass through the line no personalizations would be done, only basic signatures on no more than three books. Any more books, or any personalizations, meant waiting for a second pass through the line. This was primarily so that Harriet wouldn’t be kept there any later than necessary.     A fair estimate is that around 350 people were in attendance, with 214 ticket numbers issued by the store for the purchase of A Memory of Light. While the signing line progressed, the Memory Keepers got busy again, handing out WoT postcards and pamphlets, as well as games of hangman and asking random trivia questions of the fans, and offering the nifty WoT swag provided by Tor for the event. Everyone was patient, kind, and enjoyable. Folks with high numbers left to grab a meal instead of standing still, and some of the folks with low numbers just hung around awhile longer chatting and checking out all of our various trivia items.   Once the first pass through the line was completed, the Memory Keepers got a turn. First for a group photo with Harriet and Brandon, and then to get our books signed, and to ask a few more questions, including AMoL spoilers, as long as nobody else was able to hear. Harriet was gracious, funny, and effervescent, in spite of the time (about 10:15PM by then, or 1:15AM in Charleston). Then off she went back to the hotel, while the die-hards came back through the line to get more books signed or personalized.   Well, that was about it. Brandon stayed until just after 11:30PM, signing personal and store books, including some bought online or over the phone while he was there. He was, as always, just as happy to be around the fans as we are to be around him. On behalf of the San Diego Memory Keepers, special thanks to Dragonmount for selecting us, Mysterious Galaxy for hosting another excellent event, Tor books for sponsoring the tour. We had a blast. Following are some questions asked and answered at the signing line, and from the Memory Keepers. Q:  Regarding the cache of ter’angreal recovered from Ebou Dar, and identified by Aviendha, were no more of them employed than we’d seen due to space or continuity constraints, or were they never intended to be used? Brandon:  We used what was given to be used in Robert Jordan's outline and notes. It may be that he would have found a use for more of them, but we stuck to what he had prepared. Q:  Was Verin involved in the attack on Demira Sedai in Caemlyn? If not, was it on orders from the Tower Aes Sedai, or Daved Hanlon, or?? Brandon:  RAFO. There are plenty of “loose ends” that may end up in the encyclopedia, and this is just the sort that I don’t want to spoil. There will certainly be some details about Verin in there. Q:  In The Shadow Rising, in the Stone of Tear, Moiraine tells Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne that she knows the face of her husband. She hasn’t been to Rhuidean, or even to visit the Aelfinn yet. Does she have this knowledge from a vision of Min’s, and if not, where? Brandon: No, she had been through the twisted doorway, hadn’t she? You’re sure? Then I don’t know, perhaps that one can be asked of Maria. Q:  Regarding Gawyn and Elayne, among many readers they are two of the least liked characters on the Light side. Do you believe that Robert Jordan intended for them to be viewed with such negative reactions? Brandon:  Elayne, no not really. Gawyn, though, he’s the Fallen Prince archetype. Everything he does comes up short, which leads him to just be trying too hard.

Hello, everyone! Below is the report and Q&A from the Salt Lake City Signing!   February 1, 2013 was a rare sunny winter day in Salt Lake City when we assembled at Weller Book Works to meet Brandon Sanderson and more than 150 of his amazing fans.  Brandon has often shared that the owners of this bookstore were so supportive in his early years as an author, before most Wheel of Time fans even knew his name, that it was terrific to have such a large crowd, especially with the January 8th Midnight Release Party in Provo having happened only about 45 minutes away from Salt Lake.   The gathering crowd included people of all ages, young and old. There were even infants and children hanging out–-future fans, their parents called them. Soon the seating section was overflowing, and people started staking out spots in the mezzanine, the stairs, and anywhere they could get a good view of the as yet empty lectern bearing a wonderfully large poster of the A Memory of Light cover.     We Memory Keepers handed out a variety of games and trivia to entertain the fans while they waited (some almost three hours) for their chance to get the book signed. Memory Keeper Marc T. went around taking photos of the whole event. Many of the pictures are here in the report, and the rest are in the Dragonmount Gallery. We shared four different sets of trivia questions, a quote match, and a crossword (thanks, Wetlander!). We thought we’d made a good sampling of easy and tough questions, and we were right about the tough ones–-we didn’t see any (that I know of) completely correct answer sheets. But people tried and worked together and we gave them hints, and eventually we started seeing completed trivia come back. We gave out extra raffle tickets to anyone who turned in the sheets, which meant some people ended up with lots of extra tickets for doing all that fun “work.”     The crowd was nice and thick even before the scheduled start time of 7:00 p.m., so Memory Keeper Deb N. went around with an activity she created. People pulled out a random slip of paper that contained their Wheel of Time “profession”. There were Gleemen and Aes Sedai, Atha’an Miere and Darkfriends–-fans had a lot of fun finding out the role the Pattern wove for them. Finally, after we Memory Keepers had a few private minutes with Brandon to get our own books signed, the man himself appeared to thunderous applause. He wore his signature leather jacket and looked surprisingly well rested considering he has a newborn at home! He jumped right in with the reading and Q&A, which is included below as recorded by Memory Keeper Chris W.: ********************************************************************   Brandon started the event by reading the scene of Talmanes riding to the rescue of Caemlyn. He mentioned that he has always appreciated the relationship between Talmanes and Mat, and so he was excited to see so much from Talmanes in Robert Jordan's prologue. He said Talmanes' prologue appearance is one of his favorites.     He chose to read the Wind scene at the beginning of Chapter One as well, because the wind followed the route of the three ta’veren on their journey. It is a scene that is symbolic of the series, and very special to him just as it is to the fans. After the short reading, we moved on to the Q&A. Q: If Gaidal Cain is born again and it isn’t Olver, who is it? A: It’s not Olver. I know who it is, but I’m not allowed to tell you. (paraphrased) Q: First, how do you feel doing this, and finishing it? Is there going to be a followup? A: It’s hard to pin it down to one emotion, there were so many. RJ’s books were among my favorites growing up, books I studied teaching myself how to write. In a lot of ways, it was just a deep honor. My favorite author, finishing his journey, and I got to walk along supporting him. That’s how I regard it. It’s been amazing. Me being the journeyman writer, being able to apprentice under RJ, in his workshop, looking at his things and taking them, working with them, polishing them, finishing the last sequence, has been incredible for me as an artist to gain an understanding of the writer that he was. For the second question, there will be no more. He’d planned to write two more prequels and then a trilogy of outriggers, but we can’t do them. One reason is because he didn’t leave enough notes about them. As I wrote these, I had specific direction in the notes and could relay everything back to RJ. In the outriggers, I wouldn’t be able to do that. It would be more me than him. I don’t think he would’ve wanted any more to be done, so out of respect for him, even though many would like to see these, I think we need to say “let’s let it end where he wanted it to end”. If we keep going, where do we stop? Do we want 80 more Wheel of Time books? I think we’re better off just saying “we know he wanted this done, let’s end on a high note”.   Q: Is there a confirmed killer for Asmodean?   A: It’s listed in the Appendix of Towers of Midnight. It’s in there. Go find it. I found it by way of a post-it note listed on top of the notes. I don’t know any more than who did it, as far as why or how. There’s only a name. Q: Is the Flame of Tar Valon weave going to be learned by others?   A: It was witnessed. That’s it.   Note: There was a little more to the question above, but I left it out of this log for two reasons: One, I had a really hard time keeping up with the person asking the question, not to mention Brandon trying to answer, and two, the guy who asked the question broke the “no spoilers in the Q&A rule”.   Q: What about the encyclopedia? A: They’re looking to turn it in about a year from now and have it come out that fall. It’s an alphabetical encyclopedia where you can look up a character and learn a lot about them.   Q: What kind of research did you have to do to make the battle tactics so believable? A: The AMoL tactics were the things I was most worried about getting right. RJ was more of a military historian than me and he was a soldier, so we went looking for help. Harriet knows a man named Bernard Cornwall who writes a lot of military fiction, so he helped us, and Alan Fermachna is a war historian who was able to help us a lot. He built the battle plan for the entire war, as far as troop movements and the tactical portion of the Last Battle. Connecting them and making it meld into the story with the characters was my job. We went rounds about “this is tactically sound” or “no, it’s not”, so Alan was a big help making it believable. I did research, but my feeling is that I can get to 70-80% of knowledge on a subject pretty quickly through a month or two of research, but getting that last 20% is something that takes 10 years of work. My goal is to get to 70-80, and then give it to someone who knows their stuff and have them help me from there. Note: The names of the people Brandon referenced here were probably butchered. I was just trying to keep up with him so I could record the main parts of his response instead of focusing on the names of his references. Q: What happens with the Green Man? A: I have no answer for you. It is not spoken of by RJ, so you will have to extrapolate yourself. I could make something up, but I don’t do that anymore. If it was for the books, I could say “this needs to happen” with my creative freedom I was given, but at this point, with it done, that’s no longer my job. So my answer is, I don’t know! We know that the Nym must come back as the Ages turn, but we don’t know when they will be “reinvented”. Q: So what were some of the holes that you filled in with that creative freedom? A: I tried to avoid talking about this much before because I don’t want you to focus on what’s Brandon and what’s RJ, but now that it’s all out, I do have a little more freedom. One thing is that early when I went to Charleston, I felt RJ was always adding characters, so I didn’t want to add too many. I wanted to show something happening at the Black Tower, so Androl became my character that I took and expanded on from minor to main character. Androl himself and his relationship with Pevara was me. I felt the series needed it, and I’ve always wanted an Asha’man to play with, so to speak. More generally, for TGS I have said RJ worked a lot on Egwene’s viewpoints. Not as much on Rand. Rand was more me, Elayne was more RJ. In ToM, RJ worked a lot on Mat and not much on Perrin. So if it’s Mat, it’s more likely to be RJ. If it’s Perrin, it’s more likely to be me. In AMoL he worked mostly on beginning and end, not much on the middle. Merrilor and the last few chapters are a lot of RJ. In between, it’s a lot more me.   Q: You work on four or five series at a time; how do you keep them from leaking?   A: It’s a challenge. Being a writer is a lot like a juggler, keeping the balls in the air. One of the things I worry about is repeating myself. It’s a valid thing, making sure you don’t do that and keep them separate. I use an extensive wiki for myself and my books. A lot of my children's series are breather novels, and things I do between big epics where I don’t have to worry so much about continuity. There’s a lot of continuity with The Way of Kings and books like that, so it can be very in depth and intensive, so to keep my sanity, every once in a while I’ll take a breather. At this point,Brandon took a moment to introduce Badali Jewelry. He mentioned that though there were tons of knockoffs of The One Ring from Lord of the Rings, Badali was the first jeweler to actually license an official One Ring. They had been doing Wheel of Time since before Brandon got involved, and have now expanded on his own books as well.     Q: What was the hardest part about writing in RJ’s universe? A: Probably keeping track of all the side characters. There were so many. I’d be reading a scene and be like “there’s seven wise ones, now who are they again?” Now, as the writer, I need to know who they are exactly, as well as each of their distinct voices. When I get them wrong, people notice and I hear about it. Q: When you read the books, did you have an affinity for a character, and as you wrote, did you change?   A: When I read it was mostly Perrin. I’ll admit I had a fondness for Mat later on, but it never became my supportive Perrin, even when he was down in the dumps. I didn’t stop being a Perrin fan because he moped a little. He was my favorite all along. When it came time to write the books, Perrin remained my favorite. He was among my favorite viewpoints to write as well. I was very excited by the prospect of being able to do a lot of Perrin in ToM, and having a lot of freedom with his sequences was a real pleasure. When I finished the rough draft of AMoL, there was a lot of, like 20% more Perrin than Rand, so that didn’t turn out right. It’s really Rand’s series, it needs more Rand, so when I sent it to Team Jordan, they said there was a lot of Perrin, so we upped the Rand count. There was a Perrin sequence that didn’t really feel right for the book that was about 20,000 words, so we cut that out and added a Rand sequence that was about the same length which I had already been working on, and that helped restore the balance. When I started AMoL I was fresh off ToM and in a Perrin mindset, so I was like PERRIN IS AWESOME, did his stuff, then moved on to the other characters’ arcs in succession. Q: How do you think finishing the RJ series will affect the Stormlight Archive? A: One of the things is that it has influenced and taught me to juggle viewpoints much better. When I first tried to write Way of Kings, the viewpoint juggling was off and when I rewrote it, it was better. I also really liked RJ’s subtlety. His foreshadowing has a light, gentle touch and I’m not always so light. I kinda punch you in the face with it. So those two things are something I learned a lot of. In general, something a lot of fantasy writers have problems with is side characters going out of control. It happens to about everyone. I have the advantage that I got to read RJ. He said he wouldn’t do it again if he had to do it over, so I can learn from that and be able to keep the tighter focus for the story. I like The Wheel of Time and the side characters, but RJ said he wished he did Book 10 differently than he did.   Q: Do you know what the Tinkers meant in the third book, as they were dying and they said “tell the Dragon Reborn”?   A: I don’t know. It might be in the notes. When I say “RJ’s notes”, it means one of two things. It is either a pile that his assistants collected, or the things he wrote for himself about the world. I’d ask Harriet and Maria a question, and they’d act like Google. Reading it all myself would’ve taken months, and the majority is about stuff already written and known. But really, I have no idea what you’re talking about.   Q: Androl is like your character, so as far as that, how much of that was kinda fought by the rest of Team Jordan as far as his gateway talent and stuff?   A: Let me start by saying that if they hadn’t been happy, it wouldn’t be in the book. But anything where you work with an editorial team, you’d show them a scene, and they may say that’s great, or they may say that it doesn’t feel right or wouldn’t be a good fit for the story. And sometimes you’ll say “I’ll change it” or “let me finish this draft, and we’ll see what it looks like at the end”. As far as the gateways, I felt it wouldn’t be realistic otherwise. I’ve wanted to do things with gateways since I was a kid, doing things like I showed in the book. If I had them, what would I do with them? I asked this when I was a kid, so there was a lot that I wanted to do with gateways that were in my own notes that I wanted to do that I couldn’t do in my own books, so I stayed away from things that the WoT had done. So when I got to write WoT I broke out those files. The gloves were off, it’s time to do things that I wanted to do but didn’t want to rip off The Wheel of Time. At the end of the day, I convinced them to do it. They kept saying ‘they’re all over the place!” so I said “if you could use them, you’d use them a lot”.  I didn’t intend it to be a shout out of any kind, it’s things I’ve wanted to do with gateways for like 15 years. It wasn’t a shout out to the fandom. It’s been an interesting experience. A lot of people think that I just wrote what the fans thought, but it’s things that I felt the characters and the world would do, and if the fans happened to have talked about it, it’s because it’s what I thought would happen. In fact, as I wrote the books, I read very little of the fandom in order to prevent those exact thoughts from taking root.   During and after the signing, we had the discussion with Brandon about Dannil Lewin. Originally, Dannil had actually gone with Rand, Perrin, and Mat from the Two Rivers on their journey, and played a major role in events of book three or four. In the end, Harriet convinced RJ that it may be better without Dannil, so some of Dannil’s comments in AMoL are a shout out to that of sorts. Just a fun story I thought you all might find interesting. ********************************************************************     The signing line wrapped around the perimeter of the bookstore, which gave fans the chance to peruse Weller Book Works' amazing and unique collection of books. Seriously, if you’re ever in Salt Lake, go to this store. Brandon, in his remarks, reminded everyone to support bookstores like these; there would be no good place to have book signings without bookstores, and it’s a bit difficult to sign books at the web stores.   Memory Keeper Brigitte went through the line playing WoT Hangman with fans who were waiting. Brandon took his time with each fan answering their unique (or spoilery) questions.  One guy, who is a shoe-in for Perrin’s body double, asked Brandon to sign his bicep. That happened.     As a special treat for all of us, the fantastic folks from Badali Jewelry were also at the signing, and they brought great serpent rings, WoT character signet rings, a couple fox head medallions, and much more. They sold more than just WoT items; they also sold items inspired by some of Tor's other series. We saw jewelry from Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller series and Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. They also generously donated an Asha'man dragon pin, which we auctioned off benefiting the Waygate Foundation, and gave us two items to give away: Moiraine's headpiece and a Mistborn metal alphabet.     Thanks to Tor Books and Badali Jewelry, the giveaways were really stellar. We paired AMoL messenger bags with a WoT trivia booklet and a paperback of Way of Kings or AMoL iPhone case. We had so much to share with fans that if we had done it all separately, we wouldn't have gotten through it all! Everyone had raffle tickets, and many people stuck around for the giveaways after their books were signed, which created a nice cluster of excited fans getting to know each other while they waited. We were raffling off every five minutes or so, and kept going until 10:00 p.m. The bookstore let us take that large book cover poster from the lectern, and we gave that away too with Brandon's signature on it. The fans were thrilled at that one.   The evening drew to a close and we Memory Keepers stuck around to visit and help Brandon as he signed and personalized pre-ordered books for the store. We had all wished for a little more time with him (who wouldn’t?), so used the time to pester him with more questions in between books.  We had a discussion about the swords of WoT and learned that most blademaster swords in the books were katanas, much to our surprise, as many of us had imagined them being larger weapons.   We all had an amazing time being part of this experience, this moment in WoT history, and it’s not an event we’ll soon forget. Our sincere thanks to Dragonmount for giving us this opportunity!   Signed, The SLC Memory Keepers: Marc, Brigitte, Michael, Charlotte, Chris, Deb and Taylor

The book tour gap is officially over!  On February 1st, Brandon Sanderson resumed his travels for the A Memory of Light signing tour.  There are still plenty of opportunities for you to get your books signed.   Book Tour Information for the Remaining Cities:   Friday, February 1st - 7 PM Salt Lake City, UT Weller Book Works   Wednesday, February 6th - 7 PM San Diego, CA Mysterious Galaxy with Harriet   Thursday, February 7th - 7 PM Los Angeles (Huntington Beach), CA B&N with Harriet   Friday, February 8th - 7 PM Sacramento (Citrus Heights), CA B&N with Harriet and Jason Denzel   Saturday, February 9th - 3 PM San Francisco, CA Borderlands with Harriet   Monday, February 11th - 7 PM Portland, OR Powell's (Beaverton store) with Harriet   Tuesday, February 12th - 7 PM Seattle, WA University Books (off-site; University Temple United Methodist Church) with Harriet   Thursday, February 14th - 7 PM Vancouver, Canada Chapters Metrotown   Friday, February 15th - 7 PM Toronto, Canada Bakka-Phoenix Books (off-site; Lillian H. Smith Library)   Saturday, February 16th - 2 PM Milford, NH The Toadstool Bookshop (off-site; The Amato Center for the Performing Arts)   Monday, February 18th - 7 PM Baltimore (Hanover), MD Books-A-Million with Harriet   Tuesday, February 19th - 7:30 PM Philadelphia, PA Free Library with Harriet   Wednesday, February 20th - 7:30 PM Raleigh, NC Quail Ridge Books with Harriet   Thursday, February 21st - 7:15 PM Atlanta, (Norcross), GA Eagle Eye Books (off-site; Norcross Cultural Arts Center in conjunction with the Gwinnett County Library system) with Harriet and Jennifer Liang   Friday, February 22nd - 7 PM Birmingham, AL Books-A-Million with Harriet and Jennifer Liang  

Welcome back to this special edition of "WoT If?".  Why is it special?  Because we're allowed to include A Memory of Light spoilers!  So, I'd like to take a look at all my past theories and cry over how far off they were from what actually happened.   SPOILER WARNING.  THIS WILL INCLUDE CONTENT FROM A MEMORY OF LIGHT.  PLEASE DON'T READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN'T COMPLETED THE BOOK.   Let's start backwards and work our way to the beginning.  I'll try to organize my thoughts as best I can.   1. The Aiel   The Aiel didn't submit to the Seanchan; I was totally wrong on that one.  They did give up their hatred, though.  They did agree that they would have to let the collared Wise Ones go.  In that, I was semi-right.  Of course, with the deal Egwene made with Tuon, all the Wise Ones will be released, so the Aiel won't have to suffer the a'dam for much longer.   2. Moridin   Moridin didn't turn out to be a double agent.  None of the Forsaken returned to the Light.  I thought for a moment it would be Lanfear, since Rand opened himself up to her, showing her his true feelings and intentions (A Memory of Light, Chapter 12, "A Shard of a Moment").  Instead, that made her even more bitter.  Perhaps it could be argued that Moghedien or Graendal could come back to the Light.  The a'dam might reform Moghedien, and Graendal's Compulsion could lead her back if Aviendha wishes it of her.   3. Gawyn and Egwene   A few of the deaths I predicted were right: Gawyn, Birgitte, Rhuarc, Tenobia, and Bashere.  In all honesty, I never, ever expected Egwene to die.  It was the most shocking part of the book for me, possibly even in the whole series.  But, looking back, there are some hints that this will come to pass.  There are dreams she has where she sees the possibility of her own death:       The first might be her trying to get to Gawyn.  She ran to him and he ran to her, but neither made it in time.  Because of that, the "axe" descends on her.  With the loss of Gawyn, Egwene fought harder than she should have, bringing her own downfall.    The same could be said about the second dream.  With Gawyn closing the door (dying), Egwene also dies.   4. Fain   I was wrong about Rand killing Fain.  I think every theory I've seen on Fain has been wrong.  I made five different predictions that were likely to happen.  None of them were fulfilled in A Memory of Light.  There was such a build-up for Fain, but he turned out to be a red herring of sorts.  His presence—and his death—at the Last Battle were completely pointless.  They added nothing, one way or the other, that I saw.   I'm on my second read-through of the book, and it's a bit more obvious to pick out the literary logic of Fain.  Rand is occupied at Shayol Ghul, and there are two entities trying to kill him: Slayer and Fain.  Naturally, Slayer is dealt with by Perrin, so logically Mat should handle the other.  Makes sense.  I'll admit, my heart lurched when Mashadar touched Mat.  I had a moment of panic before I remembered Mat couldn't possibly die (because of the possibility of the outrigger novel).  Though this scene felt a bit rushed and anti-climactic, I really enjoyed the irony of it.   5. Cadsuane   I was wrong about Cadsuane dying as well.  I guess I overanalyzed the foreshadowing on that one.  I also enjoyed the irony of that scene.  Cadsuane left the White Tower to avoid being raised Amyrlin (according to Robert Jordan's notes), so it's funny that they catch her off guard right after the Last Battle is finished.  I believe since the words were spoken, she has no choice but to answer the summons of the Hall.   6. Alivia   Alivia: not evil.  Wow.  This was a complete shock to me.  I really thought all the signs were there for her to turn out to be a Darkfriend, at the very least, or some high-up Shadow Official.  Not so.  She turned out to be what she said she was—as far as we know.  And she did "help" Rand die.  Of course, there are still some ways we can speculate about Alivia.  Someone did theorize that she could be part of the royal family of Seanchan.  I'm sure we can continue the discussion of her as the theory blog continues in March.   7. Galad   What of Elaida's "The Royal line of Andor would be the key to defeating the Dark One in the Last Battle" (The Shadow Rising, Chapter 1, "Seeds of Shadow")?  You could say it was Rand all along, but what about the efforts of Galad?  He was given the copied foxhead medallion and went to fight Demandred.  He didn't win, but he was responsible for the ter'angreal finding its way into the hands of Lan, who did defeat Demandred, causing the battle at Merrilor to be won.  It's arguable.   8. Mat   Mat's role in the Last Battle was probably expected of most people, but not me.  I really expected him to do no more than sound the Horn.  That whole plotline smacked me right in the face!  Mat almost single-handedly won the battle at Merrilor.  And it was an incredible battle!  It was right for Mat to be in charge.  Having the Great Captains lead, like I assumed they would, lead to near defeat.  I guess the Shadow thinks like I do.   Also in regards to Mat, I never expected that he wasn't still bound to the Horn (and I gave some proof as to why).  Still, I loved the way it played out, especially Olver's sweetly sad reunion with Jain:     This scene is what The Wheel of Time is all about.  Touching and emotional and just perfect.  One of my favorites in the whole book.   9. Rand   So, what did we learn about the voice at the end of The Eye of the World?  I guess the answer was it belonged to the Creator.  Looking at the return of that voice, Rand seems to think that's who it was.     Rand, because of his thanks and his hope, assumes it is the Creator, that the Creator is giving him permission to continue.  It makes sense.  I don't know if the Dark One would really welcome the Dragon Reborn into his lair.  He knows Rand must come, but he probably wouldn't give consent to the timing.    However, here, the capital voice isn't italicized too, like it is in The Eye of the World.  That's a bit curious.   Besides that answer about Rand's encounters at the Eye, no more is revealed.  We are still left wondering about the true power of the Eye and what effect it did have on Rand.   For the blog I wrote about Nicola's "The Dragon Reborn will do nine impossible things" (Crossroads of Twilight, Chapter 17, "Secrets"), only one prediction was correct!  He survived the Last Battle, which most of us knew he would do anyway.  I wonder if there are other impossible things he did that would count, rather than the ones I came up with.   10. Logain   I will admit to total failure in my prediction about everything related to Logain and the Black Tower.  The Asha'man never came to Caemlyn's aid, nor did Logain go off on a secret recruiting mission.  I'm so glad that the resolution in the Black Tower was able to be squeezed into this book, and I love Logian's character development and flaws, despite that nothing happened the way I thought it would.     11. Nynaeve   And one of my biggest predictions, the one I thought had to be right, Nynaeve Healing death: WRONG.  While I really liked the idea of Nynaeve accomplishing this feat, I understand it wouldn't work in the context of this world.  If she did it once, she could do it again, and would do it again.  A world full of immortals isn't a good thing.    Am I embarrassed that I got so much wrong?  A bit.  But at the same time, I'm glad I tried to think outside the box (and outside of theories that had already been circulating).  I think this just shows that Robert Jordan was a genius.  Look how much he kept us guessing.  Look how much we still got wrong!  There's no denying he was a master storyteller and a very skilled writer.  A Memory of Light is a fitting end to his legacy.   That's all for this special edition.  Join us in March for new theories.  I kept a notebook beside me and jotted down tons of notes.  There are still many topics we can discuss as the Wheel keeps turning.  Thanks for reading!

Artist Paul Bielaczyc has already amazed fans with his artwork for the Special Edition "Ravens" and "Wolf King" shirts from Ta'veren Tees.  Now, the ta'veren trio is complete, and you can wear the stunning "Dragon Reborn" tee as well.  Check out the press release:   DRAGON REBORN SHIRT AVAILABLE FOR SALE "Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us,  yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle,  and his blood shall give us the Light." - Prophecies of the Dragon   Ta’veren Tees has completed its trio of ta’veren silhouette tees with the “Dragon Reborn” shirt by guest artist Paul Bielaczyc. The new addition is a companion to the “Ravens” and “Wolf King” shirts in the Special Edition collection of TaverenTees.com. Rather than a particular scene in the book, the design contains symbols that make up the character of Rand al’Thor, an homage to the shepherd and savior as he is depicted in various ways throughout the series.     The “Dragon Reborn” tee comes in both men’s and ladies’ styles and is on sale now at www.taverentees.com/dragonreborn and www.taverentees.com/ladiesdragonreborn.  Men’s shirts are available in S-5XL and ladies shirts are available in S-2XL. All Special Edition shirts have the Snake/Wheel logo on the left sleeve.   $7 off a print from Aradani Studios Since everyone needs more WoT art on their walls, Ta’veren Tees and Paul Bielaczyc have partnered up to give you a deal. Through January 31, 2013, when you buy a “Dragon Reborn” shirt, you will receive a coupon code for $7 off either the “Ravens,” “Wolf King” or “Dragon Reborn” 11 x 14 print from AradaniCostumes.com.  You can read more at www.TaverenTees.com/specials.    Paul Bielaczyc Paul Bielaczyc is an avid Wheel of Time® fan and costumer. He created his first Rand al’Thor costume in 2003 and has been making WoT costumes ever since. Paul co-owns Aradani Studios with his siblings, where they sell art and costumes. To read more about Paul, visit www.taverentees.com/artists.      

Jason D. - @Dragonmount   A Memory of Light is out. The Wheel of Time turns on, but this story has reached its ending.   The podcast hasn't, though! With the final book out, we have all the more to discuss and debate. And we won't be doing it alone.   Instead, we will be inviting two of our listeners to join us for a discussion of all that has happened in A Memory of Light.   That's right: you have the opportunity to join us for for a recording of The 4th Age Podcast.   Before you start commenting below, keep reading to find out how you can join us.   If you are interested, please make a 1-2 minute recording of yourself and your reactions to just the prologue of A Memory of Light. Send that recording, in .mp3 format, to podcast@dragonmount.com. Based on the recordings we receive, we will choose two (2) listeners to join us for an episode of The 4th Age Podcast.   Please get all submissions into us by Noon PST Friday, January 18th, 2013. Any submissions received after that time will not be considered.   Also, please only submit if you can commit to being available for the recording session that will take place at 6pm PST on Saturday, January 19th, 2013. We plan to have a quick turnaround on this one. We will contact those who are chosen to join us early Saturday morning, so if you submit something, make sure to check your email throughout the day.   Important! You are not auditioning for a place on The 4th Age Podcast. This is simply to join us for a special "Listener's Viewpoint" episode.   Thank you, and we look forward to all your submissions.   May you find water and shade.   Spencer