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New Wheel of Time Author Chosen
kdean06 writes "Brandon Sanderson has been chosen by Tor Books to finish the best-selling Wheel of Time fantasy series by the late Robert Jordan. Harriet, Jordan's widow, chose him after reading his Mistborn series. An interview is also available via Dragonmount.com."
i never found WoT to be tedious, slow at some points but not tedious.
it's a shame that you find them so because the last two books are truly epic.
Head over to http://www.georgerrmartin.com/
You know what to do.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
I like details as much as anyone , but there comes a point where you just want the trivia kicked into touch for a while and the story to move on.
He'd already read the series and his sanity was (mostly) still intact...
There was allways an end. If you read the books carefully enough, then you know what the end is. It was foreshadowed in the early pages of the first book, and reiterated in the 2nd volume several times. the fun is not in reading the ending, but in the twists, turns, and unexpected events that spin us towards the enevitable, that which is destined to repeat as the wheel turns and spins age anew.
Granted, having started reading the series with the release of the 4th book, the end has been a long time coming. 2-4 year between volumes is a loooonnnng time. I'm held in this same pattern by George Martin (Song of Ice and Fire saga), Neil Stepheson (he just announced a second trilogy to his current works), Tad Williams (otherland took forever to be completed, and each volume of his current fantasy series is eagerly awaited), i even went through this with Isaac Asimof and his 13 book saga of the Foundation (not including 2 others he went back in and added later!).
I fill the gaps with Mercades Lackey, Robin Hobb, Bob Salvatore, and a dozen others not to mention all these other fantasies I end up reading just to keep up with what's in the theatres. (notice i did not mention the potter books however).
There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
You geniuses realize that Jordan was writing the LAST BOOK RIGHT? There ARE NO MORE after this one. Jordan was going to start writing a shorter series based upon a totally different world and mythos. SO all this guy has to do is finish the book based upon Jordans notes and his widows directions, considering she was helping with the writing in the last days because he was so damn sick.
Jordan was much/most of the way through the last book, #12 at the time of his passing, and I was told that he had shared the ending (the high points anyway)with several parties in case he didn't make it though. I have to assume that this guy will finish up book 12, and that will be that. I don't envision an unending series as many here claim will be.
This WILL finish the series. I've read the outline, and I am confident that I can do it in a single book. This won't go five more novels. It will end here.
Note that I'm not saying there won't be more Wheel of Time material released. That's not up to me. There were notes for prequels (Mr. Jordan wrote one of a planned three) and some notes on what happened to certain characters after the end of book 12. However, those are all intended as extra information and separate books outside the Wheel of Time main series.
Book 12 will deal with the final battle and give resolution to the story started in EYE OF THE WORLD. It will be one volume if it's within my power to make it so.
--Brandon Sanderson (Who really needs to sign up and get a Slashdot account sometime.)
Jordan was already planning to make this book the final one.
Actually, the last 2 books really picked up steam as he started moving toward the conclusion.
Books 6 through 9, however, were pretty tedious.
He's also reported as saying "it's obvious" who is the killer :-\
Belief is the currency of delusion.
I've read them all several times now, but the first WoT book I ever read was Book 2. Had I started from Book 1 I doubt I would have ever gotten into the series.
I feel that in Book 1 he hadn't really found the series' "voice" yet, that the story and prose are amateurish as you say. Books 2-5 are both much better written and much more interesting as stories. You get the sense sometimes while reading them that he wishes he could undo some of the things that happened in Book 1, or that he wishes he made the 'rules' slightly differently in Book 1. Books 2-3 carry on the same themes as Book 1 did, but in a richer way.
In Books 6-9 the tone changes. The stories start becoming very complex, very mature. Many people don't like 6-9 as the plot lines tend to deal more with politics and character motivations, rather then personal growth and exploring exotic lands (the primary motifs of 1-5). The villains in particular become less cartoon-y. Ishamael, the howling, ranting, "join the darkside!" villain of 1-3, is replaced by Moridin a quiet, sinister figure whom manipulates all the characters from the background, and who's motives are completely unknowable. Lanfear of the early books, who's only function is to tempt the protagonists with sex and glory or to fly into jealous rages, is swept aside in favor of Mogedian, a much more three-dimensional villain. Jordan also develops characters such as Elida, Verin and Asmodean, characters who are acting in the moral grey areas, neither completely good or evil.
In Books 10-11 the series' tone changed one last time. Maybe responding to fans complaints, Jordan begins wrapping up plot lines rather then creating new ones. The storys become more personal: a love story, a war of succession, and a personal vendetta of revenge. There are more battles, and the hero Rand loses much of his near-invincibility he possessed in the previous books. There is a sense of impending catastrophe, lacking in previous volumes.
The series isn't perfect, but judging the series by the first half of first book is misleading.
Cool art gallery, if you're into that sort of thing.
"I'm a Genius!"*
*Not an actual Genius
What are you talking about? There are two beings that could be called deities in the books - The Creator and The Dark One. Rand definitely did not kill either one of them in any of the books.
I don't think Rand even killed any of the Forsaken in The Shadow Rising (although he captured Asmodean), and I don't think there where any blademasters in that book either. The closest thing I can think of is in book 2, The Great Hunt, when Rand defeats a blademaster in Falme and then defeats Ishamael, who is going by the name Ba'alzamon (and at that time he was thought to be The Dark One). But even Ishy hardly deserves to be called a "minor deity".
Anyway, why would you be surprised by Rand defeating major enemies? By the end of The Great Hunt (and even before) it is clear that he is a "foretold hero", and The Dragon Reborn. Heck, at the end of the first book, he kills a (minor) Forsaken and singlehandedly changes the outcome of a battle, so it is clear he is an extremely powerful character.
Climate Progress - Hell and High Water