The ["Wheel of Time"] turns - A Memory of Light is out - spoiler your spoilers!

Pailryder

A MEMORY OF LIGHT by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Info:
Book is out now (Officially released Hard Cover January 8th, 2013.
The ebook will be released on April 9.
Outrigger novels seem unlikely [link]http://www.theoryland.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=6336[/link]

Wiki Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Memory_of_Light
http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/A_beginning

Spoiler Free Review:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/12/the-wheel-of-time-a-memory-of-light-spoiler-free-review

Common WoT Links:
http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/Memory_of_Light/index.php
http://www.theoryland.com/index.php

old original post spoilered to keep short:

brandonsanderson.com/blog/1101/Today-I-got-up-and-I-did-not-have-a-Wheel-of-Time-book-to-work-on.

I searched for Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time, Brandon Sanderson and did not find a thread. I think we should discuss these books and celebrate the announcement of the end of one of the great fantasy series of all time.

So let's just have the quote that shows how classy Brandon is shall we?

Robert Jordan was a great man, and was the single greatest influence on my development as a writer. What I have done these last five years has been an attempt—a sometimes flawed but always earnest attempt—to show my appreciation. This entire genre owes him an enormous debt. My debt to him, and to Harriet, is greatest of all.

Mr. Jordan, may you rest in the Light. Everyone else, take a breath and get ready for the end. May you find his final words as satisfying to read as I did when I first picked them up five years ago. The very last scene is his, touched very little by me, as are significant chunks of the ending at large. I have achieved my goal in writing the books so that they pointed toward this ending he wrote, allowing us to include his words with as little alteration as possible.

Once again, thank you. May you always find water and shade.

Excitement == very yes

Bagginses

They wanted to release a box set, but there wasn't enough cardboard. Anywhere.

They're still considering alternatives, such as a semi-trailer set.

Durkhanus

Myself, I gave up after Knife of Dreams. Just couldn't be bothered to spend money to see how this whole mess gets cleaned up.

Profs

Yeah, I stopped somewhere halfway through whatever the 10th book was. Took me off-again-on-again stints for 10 years to actually get there. Since the beginning of the 5th one the entire series became a literal effort (stressful one at that) to persevere through to get to whatever kernel of fun they held. For the sake of all the readers with more patience than I, I hope the new author has injected some life into the series and given some badly needed, and much deserved pay-off to all those tens of thousands of pages.

Magell

I'm more interested in rereading the series now that I know it has an end. I started a couple of months ago with the books I own, but I managed to sell some of the books in the middle and the library doesn't have them right now.

So I've reread the first two books and those are good. From what I remember the first time I read a lot of the series it was a really good trilogy that extended too long, but once I read the whole story in a row maybe it will be better.

HamHamJ

Anyone else picking up the Graphic Novel?

I think it might actually be a too faithful adaptation. Issue 3 (or maybe 4) was just Rand walking through the woods. Like, literally nothing but. And then in the second trade you start these huge blocks of narration text that I think are straight out of the book.

Magell

If you are serious that sounds awful, and way too faithful.

Bagginses

Magell wrote: »

If you are serious that sounds awful, and way too faithful.

HamHam.

Do you know how we're so sure that DKR is the best movie of the year?

HamHamJ

Magell wrote: »

If you are serious that sounds awful, and way too faithful.

And I don't even get it. We have Tam's fever dream there, why not illustrate that? Instead it's just Rand listening to it in the woods for 20 pages.

Detharin

I just finished a reread of the series in anticipation of the last book. Honestly I expected to take longer with it, but I tore through them rather quickly. While it still has a couple slow parts it was not near as bad as I remembered. I think this is due to not having to wait for several years between each book, and hence the rate of story progression is a lot less annoying.

HappylilElf

I'm actually just reading through these again for the first time in years

I'd forgotten how utterly frustrating they can be from a "want to hit [character name here] in the head with a hammer" standpoint

Don't misunderstand me, I love the books but sometimes I really want to slap characters

shryke

Detharin wrote: »

I just finished a reread of the series in anticipation of the last book. Honestly I expected to take longer with it, but I tore through them rather quickly. While it still has a couple slow parts it was not near as bad as I remembered. I think this is due to not having to wait for several years between each book, and hence the rate of story progression is a lot less annoying.

It's amazing how tolerable even book 10 becomes when you can immediately jump to the next book.

HamHamJ

Anyway. I think the most interesting aspect of Wheel of Time is how it functions of a deconstruction or counterpoint to The Lord of the Rings and the Tolkienian mythos. Where LotR is Medieval, WoT is Renascence. Where LotR is religious, WoT is humanist. Where the LotR makes the ordinary fantastical, WoT makes the fantastical ordinary. Eye of the World mimics the Tolkeinian quest in it's form but from the climax if not sooner it breaks that format. Instead of an ultimately metaphysical confrontation to decide things, the Eye is just a tool that's used to deal with the very real problem of Tarwin's Gap. Obviously things might change in the last book, but up till now it's clear that the Dragon is vital as a leader of men and a a weapon, and not because of any mystical or ethical importance. The Last Battle is going to be an actual battle, and it's going to have to be won by the armies and by whatever crazy One Power fight the channelers get into or whatever the fuck Rand does against the Dark One. Even if you seal the Dark Ones, it won't make all the Trollocs suddenly disappear like a certain other book, some one's gonna have to go and drive a sword through each one.

Detharin

Agreed, you do not end up where you really wanted to know what happens with say Mat and end up realizing after a 2+ year wait you have another 2+ year wait because this book was focused on other characters. Also in the reread I realized since I had a better idea where some of the threads were going there was much less an issue with "why the hell does this chapter have to exist at all." Mistakes were made, and there are some problem areas. It is still an impressive feat of literature. In the end though I think the lesson we should all take away from this momentous occasion is that even dead Robert Jordan can still write faster than George RR Martin.

Xenogears of Bore

The entire book that takes place during the events of a more interesting book covering the characters you don't give a damn about is usually where my relistens/rereads end.

lonelyahava

love this series.

loved it the first time.

and the second.

and the fifth.

I am sooo hyped up for the last book.

So. Hyped.

physi_marc

For anyone who gave up on the series on or before Knife of Dreams, I'd recommend giving it another try. The books by Brandon Sanderson are very good, especially The Gathering Storm. In fact, I'd say it's one of the best of the series. Sanderson did a great job with the material.

shadowane

I'm going to pick up all of the books on my kindle before the last book to reread them. Not sure when I'll start, but I'm thinking October.

Disco11

Sanderson has done a amazing job with the last books. It's like every character wakes up and realizes " wait, the end of the world is a few months away. Maybe I should stop being such a silly goose." Even made me like rand for the first time since book 3.

Tomanta

HamHamJ wrote: »

Anyone else picking up the Graphic Novel?

I think it might actually be a too faithful adaptation. Issue 3 (or maybe 4) was just Rand walking through the woods. Like, literally nothing but. And then in the second trade you start these huge blocks of narration text that I think are straight out of the book.

I looked at a few issues and yeah, it's way too close to the source (didn't think the art was that good, either).

Here's the solicitation for Issue #28:

Rand Al'Thor was just trying to get a look at Logain without being noticed
himself, and took a spill into a garden where he meets a young sister and brother - Elayne and Gawyn. After Elayne tends to Rand's wounds, he discovers that she is the daughter to the queen, and heir to the throne - not the most inconspicuous of moves on Rand's part. And when the palace guard discover him and bring him before the queen, what will happen then?

I think the pace they are setting they'd finish the series adaptation around 2153.

The same company does the Game of Thrones comic adaptation which I was equally unimpressed with.

Anyway, once this last book comes out in paperback I might work my way through the entire thing. (I've read up through book 10? 11?)

tinwhiskers

After the first 3 books, I stopped reading them and just got the audio books, which I liked a lot. I also was spending ass loads of time commuting, so they helped fill that up. There are 2 readers a man and a women, and they tend to split sections depending on which character is narrating, but not in the 'we are making this book into a play' way. Although there were times in the later books where I hear the female reader and go "maybe I should just skip this chapter" since I knew all that was going to happens was skirts would be smoothed.

Lorek

I'm surprised they aren't actually delaying the release of this by a week to make the last book come out exactly 23 years after the first (Jan 15 1990 vs Jan 8 2013).

Pailryder

Lorek wrote: »

I'm surprised they aren't actually delaying the release of this by a week to make the last book come out exactly 23 years after the first (Jan 15 1990 vs Jan 8 2013).

oh sure, give them ideas!

also...@tinwhiskers forgot not just the smoothing of the skirts, but counting the stitches...

Fencingsax

Also braid pulling and sniffing.

shadowane

The ebook is already coming out 3 or 4 months after the dead tree copy so they don't need to be given any ideas to come up with dumb ones.

lonelyahava

i ran to amazon this morning to try and preorder my kindle copy.

but alas, no such thing exists.

they're going to force me to buy the hardback and the kindle.

aren't they?

VishNub

I am excited about this book. Sanderson really turned the series around. Things actually happened in his books.

shryke

VishNub wrote: »

I am excited about this book. Sanderson really turned the series around. Things actually happened in his books.

Except Sanderson wasn't plotting out the novels, so...

shryke

lonelyahava wrote: »

i ran to amazon this morning to try and preorder my kindle copy.

but alas, no such thing exists.

they're going to force me to buy the hardback and the kindle.

aren't they?

Yeah, pretty much.

It's not every day a 20+ year long series ends.

They gonna rape your wallet if they can.

Cantido

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNnhhejBkW8

Taramoor

I love Brandon Sanderson, I really do, but there are certain parts of his writing that just frustrate me.

It's most obvious in Gathering Storm and the first Mistborn born. He tries so hard to make his characters witty that they come off as irritating. Mat's parts in Gathering Storm are just... off. And almost all of the dialogue in Final Empire is one character responding to another with a one liner.

Say what you will about Robert Jordan's long winded magnum opus, but the characters react like people in almost every situation. Which is to say, they are complete idiots the vast majority of the time.

VishNub

shryke wrote: »

VishNub wrote: »

I am excited about this book. Sanderson really turned the series around. Things actually happened in his books.

Except Sanderson wasn't plotting out the novels, so...

Yeah. I can see that, but on the other hand, there was zero evidence in the pre-sanderson novels that anything was concluding ever, so I really think that he had a lot to do with the turnaround.

shryke

VishNub wrote: »

shryke wrote: »

VishNub wrote: »

I am excited about this book. Sanderson really turned the series around. Things actually happened in his books.

Except Sanderson wasn't plotting out the novels, so...

Yeah. I can see that, but on the other hand, there was zero evidence in the pre-sanderson novels that anything was concluding ever, so I really think that he had a lot to do with the turnaround.

Uh, Knife of Dreams, Jordan's last novel, was already concluding a bunch of stuff.

The next book (that Sanderson actually expanded into 3) was supposed to be the last.

Sanderson is working on detailed notes from RJ on what happens in the plot.


So the idea that Sanderson is responsible for the turn around in the plot doesn't even make sense.

Xenogears of Bore

Jordan was clearly on the right track wrapping shit up in his final book but I have to admit Sanderson's two so far have had much better pacing than any of the Jordan books. He's just got a way of flowing words together that works better while still making it seem just like Jordan's world and characters.

Xaquin

I didn't get into it until book 11 was out .... I managed to get a copy of all the material and the prologue book and burnt myself out halfway through book 8 or 9.

now I'm ashamed to say I really don't care how or if it ends.

Durkhanus

Over 20 years of this...fuck me. He started this when I was 11 years old, and I think I read the first one when I was 14.

I remember being quite ticked when he wrote that prequel novel partway through the series. Like, what the hell dude? You haven't even finished your main story yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YmS_VDvMY

Karrde1842

I started this series back when there were only 9 books. I am so hyped for this final one. However, whenever I re-read the series or a single book or whatever, I always skip any of the chapters about the female characters because they just aren't interesting to me, mainly because it's mostly them talking about how much smarter/better they are than EVERYONE else.

shadowane

lonelyahava wrote: »

i ran to amazon this morning to try and preorder my kindle copy.

but alas, no such thing exists.

they're going to force me to buy the hardback and the kindle.

aren't they?

As I said, the official statement was the ebook is coming out some time in April. Jordan's wife seems to hate ebooks for whatever reason and getting her to release it at all in that form was apparently a huge struggle.

spool32

I am celebrating the end of this series, because it is seriously one of the worst in history.

Karrde1842 wrote: »

I started this series back when there were only 9 books. I am so hyped for this final one. However, whenever I re-read the series or a single book or whatever, I always skip any of the chapters about the female characters because they just aren't interesting to me, mainly because it's mostly them talking about how much smarter/better they are than EVERYONE else.

This is the main reason why. Let's leave aside the 'tips of the hat' to other fantasy titans that in the end became blatant cribbing (e.g. Aiel = Fremen). The female characters are all absolutely terrible:

Taramoor wrote: »

Say what you will about Robert Jordan's long winded magnum opus, but the characters react like people in almost every situation. Which is to say, they are complete idiots the vast majority of the time.

Yes, they do. With the fate of the world literally in their hands, and despite that they definitely know it is, boy squabbles and petty vendettas dominate.

Really, really awful.

shryke

spool32 wrote: »

I am celebrating the end of this series, because it is seriously one of the worst in history.

Not even close.

Though I guess you can be considered lucky for thinking so.

Yes, they do. With the fate of the world literally in their hands, and despite that they definitely know it is, boy squabbles and petty vendettas dominate.

Yeah, cause that sort of shit never happens...

HamHamJ

spool32 wrote: »

I am celebrating the end of this series, because it is seriously one of the worst in history.

Karrde1842 wrote: »

I started this series back when there were only 9 books. I am so hyped for this final one. However, whenever I re-read the series or a single book or whatever, I always skip any of the chapters about the female characters because they just aren't interesting to me, mainly because it's mostly them talking about how much smarter/better they are than EVERYONE else.

This is the main reason why. Let's leave aside the 'tips of the hat' to other fantasy titans that in the end became blatant cribbing (e.g. Aiel = Fremen). The female characters are all absolutely terrible:

Taramoor wrote: »

Say what you will about Robert Jordan's long winded magnum opus, but the characters react like people in almost every situation. Which is to say, they are complete idiots the vast majority of the time.

Yes, they do. With the fate of the world literally in their hands, and despite that they definitely know it is, boy squabbles and petty vendettas dominate.

Really, really awful.

Man what. For all the personal issues everyone has, it never stops them from working toward the over all goal.