Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

DEAN WOODWARD

BRANDON SANDERSON

GIEL VAN SCHIJNDEL

BRANDON SANDERSON (22 JULY)

BRANDON SANDERSON

AUSTIN MOORE

BRANDON SANDERSON

JEFF EDDE

BRANDON SANDERSON

AUSTIN MOORE

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (2 MARCH)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (3 MARCH)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

FOOTNOTE—TEREZ

JORDAN BRADFORD

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (2 AUGUST)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

AUSTIN MOORE

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

CHRISTOPHER SKINNER

BRANDON SANDERSON

NEIL MCKINNON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

ERIC PETERS

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

SHARON VERNON

BRANDON SANDERSON

FRANK KWIATOWSKI

BRANDON SANDERSON (4 AUGUST)

FRANK KWIATOWSKI

BRANDON SANDERSON

CONNOR EVERINGHAM

BRANDON SANDERSON

PHIL

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

RICK WATSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

CHRIS EDWARDS

BRANDON SANDERSON

AUSTIN MOORE

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

TEREZ

TEREZ

FOOTNOTE—TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON

AUSTIN MOORE

BRANDON SANDERSON

JOSIAH DAVID REPP

BRANDON SANDERSON

SARAH WALTERS

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

FOOTNOTE—TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

JOHANN THORSSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

SIMEN ISAK DITLEFSEN

BRANDON SANDERSON

SIMEN ISAK DITLEFSEN

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

ELVAN

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

JOHN UNDERWOOD

JOHN UNDERWOOD

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

HARSH AGARWAL

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

TERRY SIMPSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

CAITLIN GRANT

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

OSKAR KOIVUJUURI

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON

GRAE WOLFFE

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (7 NOVEMBER 2011)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (8 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

GLEN GARETS

TEREZ

GLEN GARETS

TEREZ

GLEN GARETS

BRANDON SANDERSON

17 SHARD

17TH SHARD

BRANDON SANDERSON (9 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

KATIE FREY

KATIE

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (10 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (11 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

ROB MOREAU

BRANDON SANDERSON

ROB

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (12 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

COREY PODWINSKI

BRANDON SANDERSON

FELIX PAX

BRANDON SANDERSON (13 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (14 NOVEMBER)

RYAN D JOHNSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

NETHSPACE

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (15 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

MIKAUS

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (17 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (19 NOVEMBER)

EBOOKWYRM

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (22 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

MATT FELLOWS

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (23 NOVEMBER)

SLEEPINGHOUR (6 DECEMBER)

Any chance of giving us another #wotgh clue? There are a few codes left that people seem to have gotten stuck on...

BRANDON SANDERSON

Go ahead and tweet at Peter, my assistant, and prod him. He can give you some hints.

Matt Hatch

Robert Jordan

Matt Hatch

For Segovia, my intention is finish with twelve books, and that may mean that the last book will be VERY long, but I really can't say how long it will take me to write. My publisher is always trying to get me to commit to a time frame. I just do a little sand dance until he goes away. I carry a small bottle of sand with me in New York for exactly that purpose.

He also said he would reveal Asmodean's killer in book 12 if he could do it naturally, otherwise he will announce it when book 12 hits paperback.

He showed up about ten minutes late and went through his normal pronunciation spiel looking slightly perturbed. He then reiterated the answers for what have seemed to become the most oft-asked questions this time around: Book twelve will be done when he’s finished with it, it will be last one no matter what, Infinity of Heaven is the next thing he’s doing, the two WoT prequels will be done at some point in the future, and that he’s come up with an idea for a trilogy of “outrigger” novels in the WoT world, but that he has to let it stew for a few years before he decides on doing it.

Then, probably because he arrived late, he skipped the Q&A and went straight to signing. Somewhat disappointing, as the event was billed as a Q&A / Signing, and the Q&A was the main reason I went in the first place. I would have liked to just hear him talk for a little bit.

RJ then went on to say that during the signing, he would be asked a few questions, as he always is. The second person in line, he said, would ask, "When is the next book coming out?" He gave us a guarantee that we could "take to the bank" that it would be on shelves shortly after he finished writing it.

And the fourth person would invariably ask, "How many more books in the series?" which he explained the same way as other signings, about needing a 'dolly' to carry the thing out. But unlike other accounts, he said at this point, it is not possible for him to write two more coherent books. He said he might get one coherent book, and one incoherent, or two semi-coherent, so WoT would be finished by book 12.

RJ wound up with a fist like he was going to punch him, and the groan that had run through the store turned to laughter.

He reiterated why he isn't telling, and that he has tried to place a few clues in the latter books. He said that if occasion permits in the last book, and it seems appropriate, the character doing the deed will probably think to themselves about killing Asmodean. However he gave no guarantee. But he did say he will reveal Asmodean's killer if he doesn't in the book before the paperback of book 12 comes out.

He also went on to mention that there is one website that gets it right with a very complete listing of the suspects with motives and facts that gets it right. He wasn't going to tell us which one. He said they got the right 'why' as well, and they used only facts in prior to the murder. I later asked him if he could say when he found out about the website and he said he couldn't remember, but it was quite some time ago.

Before I start a book I always sit down and try to think how much of the story I can put into it. The outline is in my head until I sit down and start doing what I call a ramble, which is figuring how to put in the bits and pieces. In the beginning, I thought The Wheel of Time was six books and I'd be finished in six years. I actually write quite fast. The first Conan novel I did took 24 days. (I wrote seven Conan books—for my sins—but they paid the bills for a number of years.) For my Western, I was under severe time constraints in the contract so it was 98,000 words in 21 days—a killer of a schedule, especially since I was not working on a computer then, just using an IBM Correcting Selectric!

I started The Wheel of Time knowing how it began and how it all ended. I could have written the last scene of the last book 20 years ago—the wording would be different, but what happened would be the same. When I was asked to describe the series in six words, I said, 'Cultures clash, worlds change—cope. I know it's only five, but I hate to be wordy.' What I intended to do was a reverse-engineered mythology to change the characters in the first set of scenes into the characters in the last set of scenes, a bunch of innocent country folk changed into people who are not innocent at all. I wanted these boys to be Candides as much as possible, to be full of 'Golly, gee whiz!' at everything they saw once they got out of their home village. Later they could never go back as the same person to the same place they'd known.

But I'd sit down and figure I could get so much into a story, then begin writing and realize halfway in that I wasn't even halfway through the ramble. I'd have to see how I could rework things and put off some of the story until later. It took me four years to write The Eye of the World, and I still couldn't get as much of the story into it as I wanted; same with The Great Hunt. I finally reached a point where I won't have to do that. For Knife of Dreams I thought, "I've got to get all of that into one book: it's the penultimate volume!" And I did. Well, with one exception, but that's OK. That one exception would probably have added 300 pages to the book but I see how to put it in the last volume in fewer.

I spent the weekend with a man walking a tight rope holding a small parasol in one hand for balance while tipping his hat to the crowd far below with the other. I'm stealing the metaphor from Harriet for that was her description of the circus act RJ is performing trying to keep the medications in balance, do some work and keep you (fans) and we (family) informed.

Over the past two weeks the balance has been difficult to attain. Reining it in slowly, but surely however.

RJ, Harriet, Janet and I spent time on Saturday afternoon thumbing through your posts. All touched us, some to tears. Thank you for sharing your stories. You provide more inspiration than you'll ever know. Were I to possess but an ounce of the strength of Ben N, Don Webb, Julia or Lynn I could move mountains. RJ singled out several individual posts for a personal answer.

The four of us made it out on the town for dinner on Saturday night. Charleston is replete with fantastic places to dine. RJ knows that being land bound I prefer food from the sea on our visits. Picked a grand one he did, Coast. Highly recommended.

The BBQ chicken we had planned for Sunday evening had to be postponed. Too bleeping hot outside to stand by an open grill, and other things to do anyway. We'll try your many home recipes for sauce and rubs at a later date.

RJ and Harriet will be making their monthly trip to the Mayo next week.

He's working. Good therapy it is. Also gives him and his editor-in-chief, love of his life, first and only wife, Harriet something to talk about rather than the 800 pound medical gorilla sitting in the middle of the room. You'll hear from him soon.

Wilson
Brother-Cousin, 4th of 3

Well, I've been offline for a while, but I thought you had the news pretty well from Wilson, plus I needed to rest up, frankly, having had a stretch of in the hospital, then out of the hospital, in and then out, in again, and this time out on a Saturday so I could get on a plane on Sunday, have my tests done at the Mayo on Monday, talk with the doctors on Tuesday, then drive to Minneapolis to speak at Mike Ford's Memorial service. Frankly, I got home in some ways stronger than when I left, but in others, well, I was ready to lie down and sleep as long as I could get by without having an ice cube slid down my back. I really needed some rest, in my own bed not a hospital or hotel bed. And every time I've thought about posting here the last week or so, I just couldn't find the energy to do more the most cursory sort of entry, likely dull-witted with weariness at that, and I thought you deserved more than that.

You might find a small interest that I codified a list of things to be done once I have regained (1) over-all strength, (2) hand-eye coordination, and (3) some degree of balance. I am convinced that I will recover these things—the strength seems the easiest—and have even agreed, after some urging from Harriet, to submit my hands and feet to acupuncture! Go figure. Me, the Great Skeptic! Well, she's a cousin of sorts, through marriage—it can get complicated in Charleston—and she is fully qualified and all of that.

Anyway, the list.

1) Purchase Harley. I already have this picked out, as I think I've told you, and though Harriet SAYS she won't mind riding postillion, I'm figuring a sidecar is my future, too. That's okay. But not quite as soon as I hoped. It won't be under the Christmas tree this year. Maybe next.

2) Sky diving qualification. I'm not talking buddy-jumping strapped to some guy's belly like a kangaroo trying to escape from it's mother's pouch. I mean to take the whole nine yards so that I can walk into any place where such a thing is possible, rent a chute, rent a plane to take me up, and go jump, no questions asked. Wilson says we are too old, and my knees are too bad, for this sort of thing, but the thing is that having achieved that qualification, I doubt that I will ever use it. I will have done it, however, and that will be enough. When I was young, before my first tour in the Nam, I volunteered to airborne. I got turned down on account of bad eyes, and that is something I have regretted ever since. That I've held on that regret so long indicated something to me, because I have always operated on Lan's rule, bury your dead and ride on. I don't hold onto regrets. This one remains, however. So I will try to lay it to rest once and for all. Besides, I WANT to jump out of the bloody plane!

3) Take up ball-room dancing lessons with Harriet. Funny, after saying that I don't hold onto regrets, that I should come to this one straight away. You see, before I began having nerve problems with my feet and loss of balance, I was a pretty good dancer. Good enough to have 20-something guys complimenting me on my moves and women of various ages cutting in on Harriet to dance with me. It was also neat to be addressed on the street, sometimes by women I could swear I never met in my life, with cries of "Hello, dancer!" Well, I want that back. And, since I am completely untrained—I grew up poor; there was no childhood dance class in my background—I want to take the lessons because I want some dances, the tango, the rumba, the cha-cha, that you just can't fake. And not that Dancing with the Stars baloney, either. That is strangely entertaining, one might say weirdly entertaining, much like a train wreck involving Borat and Rush Limbaugh in clown makeup, but in most cases, the dances they do have no resemblance whatsoever to the dances they claim to be. Let them take their so-called tango to Argentina. And see if they can get out of the country alive. Anyhow, #3, dance lessons.

And 4) Take up golf. This something I had just begun to get into when things when blooey in general. You need balance to make a good swing, and I found out I have a pretty good natural talent for the game. My drives are straight—in two rounds with Wilson and his son, Jonathon, both golf fiends—I lost fewer balls than either of them, and if the length of my drives has been somewhat erratic, I was beginning to get that straightened out. I figure if I can get the occasional but not uncommon 200 yard plus drive without golf shoes, which means no proper swing, I can match and top and that with the shoes and with practice. It only needs the balance back a little. And you know, it's fun reading the greens for puts. I got a few tips from a pro who was earning some extra money by caddying at a club where I'd won a round in charity auction, and he had some wonderful tips for that.

So there you have it. Oh, finishing A Memory of Light, of course, and getting started on Mat and Tuon, and some others, five to ten years after the Last Battle. Those go without saying. Not a bad plan for the coming year, eh? And fishing. I'd like to call Billy Glenn and run up to Cape Romain, where the beaches are so pristine you can walk for miles without seeing a footprint not your own, where the truly big redfish, 40-pound, 50-pound, 60-pound, are cruising down the coast in the surf, too big to keep, of course, but great fun to catch and release, using circle hooks for survival of fish, and if a little time goes by without a redfish, then a 6 or 7-foot blacktip shark is sure to grab hold, leaping like a bloody tarpon. It's a great day's fun, with the wind cutting in directly off the Atlantic and nothing but water between you and Portugal. But Thanksgiving is almost here, and Christmas is acoming in, Lud sing God damn, with lots of house guests for each and also in between. No time for fishing. Unless I sink to trying an ultralight fly rod in the goldfish pond. I don't think that would play well with Harriet. Besides, there's no real way to get a decent backcast. I know. I've checked, and believe me, I can find a backcast in a china closet if one is to be found.

There are readers, and then there are fans. Readers offer condolences when a favorite author falls ill. Fans offer bone marrow.

Robert Jordan, author of the best-selling Wheel of Time series, has fans. And if you want to understand them, take a look at his blog. Since last spring, when he announced he had a rare blood disease called amyloidosis, Jordan, 58, has been chronicling his life-and-death struggle online. Whenever he's well enough to write, he thanks the fans who sent care packages, and those who donated to the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., where he is being treated. Then there's this:

"For Jaime Platt and her sister, your offer touches me deeply. They were able to harvest enough of my own bone marrow stem cells that I don't need marrow donation from elsewhere, but thank you very much. That was a kind and generous offer."

Hannah Clark

And you thought Harry Potter fans were enthusiastic?

Jordan's readers are offering help because they've developed a close connection with him through his books. They're also desperately hoping he lives to finish the series. Wheel of Time is like Lord of the Rings on steroids. Since Jordan launched the series in 1990, he's added another ten books, and more than 14 million copies have sold. Fans are patiently waiting for book No. 12, A Memory of Light, which Jordan promises will be the last, even if it reaches 2,000 pages.

Hannah Clark

"I've told people you might need a forklift to get it out the door," says Jordan, speaking by phone from his home in South Carolina.

But there is, of course, an elephant in the room. Amyloidosis has no cure. Untreated, the average patient lives only 12 months after diagnosis, says Dennis Krysmalski, founder and CEO of the Amyloidosis Support Network. With treatment, patients survive an average of four years.

Jordan's fans are full of sympathy, but also fright of a more personal and perhaps selfish kind. His readers have been following the lives of Rand, Egwene, Elayne, Mat, Nynaeve and Perrin for more than 16 years. Fans have shared their concerns on Web sites like Dragonmount, Theoryland and WOTmania. "Of course you wouldn't ever wish a possibly terminal disease on anyone," wrote one poster, codman25. "But what happens if he doesn't finish the book?"

It's a dangerous question. Most fans avoid posting such sentiments for fear of appearing tactless. Posters like codman25 are often chastised as insensitive by others who claim to care only for the well-being of Jordan and his family.

FINALLY done with the through line I've been working on for weeks now. Progress bar moved to 70% done.

SRINATH UPADHYAYULA

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON

BEN KLUGE

TEREZ

BEN KLUGE

BRANDON SANDERSON

4TH AGE

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

TEREZ

TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON (5 OCTOBER)

TEREZ

BRANDON SANDERSON

TEREZ

FOOTNOTE—TEREZ

Well guys, I'm back. I know you'd like to hear from me every week or even more frequently, but I'm afraid that once a month is going to be about it for a time. I am trying to put every spare moment into A Memory of Light. There aren't too many of those spare moments right now. My meds induce fatigue, so it is hard to keep going. I'll fight it through, though. Don't worry. The book will be finished as soon as I can manage it. NOT in time for this Christmas, I fear. I don't know where that rumor got started. Except that Tom Doherty, my publisher, wants to put out the Prologue if I can have it polished to my satisfaction by August. That isn't easy. I always hate letting go. I have rewritten prologues almost from scratch after I finished the rest of the novel. I always think I can do better with another go around. Oh, well, I'll give it a try.

Well, guys, I have to hang it up for now. I'll be back to you when I can, and I promise to keep you abreast of the medical news, whether from Mayo or elsewhere. But my main focus is going to be on A Memory of Light. I think that is how you would want it.

Take care, everybody.

RJ

I'll get back to when I can. Until then, it's back to the grindstone for me.

RJ

He came like the wind, like the wind touched everything, and like the wind was gone.

These are words Jim said to me several books ago, in the weary but always thrilling hours of putting the manuscript to bed, ready to carry to New York in the morning—I remember grabbing a piece of discarded script and scrawling those words up the margin, because they were so beautiful. He was talking about Rand. I of course am not.

I know he touched all of you. Thanks for being there.

Whew. It's surprising how busy things are, considering that it's the slow season (my books generally come out in the falls) for me. Mixed with the fact that I'm not writing right now, just reading, one would think that I wouldn't feel so busy. The thing is, when writing, I can really only do a certain amount in a day. Like a lot of authors I know, I kind of have a cap (it's between 2k words and 4k words, depending on the day and the book.) Once I hit that, my writing reserve is low, and I have to stop for the day and let my subconscious work out how I'm going to write the next section. What that means is that I can generally get up, write for half of the day, and be done—and then have time to do email, blog posts, and other business items.

When I'm reading, though, there's nothing to stop me from just reading straight through all hours of the day, as opposed to stopping and doing other work. That, mixed with the urgency I feel to get to work on actual pages of AMoL, has made me keep reading and pushing long after I would have stopped for the day if I were writing. Ah, well.

Anyway, I didn't intend this to be an extended defense of the book, but that's what it came out to be. It's now been over a week since I finished it, and while there is much more I could write, I think it's time to let the blog post end for now. The big news is that I'm done with my read through. In fact, I officially began writing on Book Twelve this afternoon.

There was a powerful moment there for me when I got to write those words "The Wheel of Time turns. . . ." Mr. Jordan, despite his preparations for the book, didn't actually write those words that have started each book in the series. I guess he figured he didn't need to, since they've been the same since book one. He knew that his time might come soon, so he focused on more important scenes.

That left me being able to write the opening paragraph to chapter one. (Though, of course, there will be a prologue. While those words won't start the book, I decided that they would be the way that I started work on it.)

It has begun.

I posted that other email I got that was somewhat negative, but the overwhelming majority are very encouraging and thoughtful. I got one piece recently from a reader named Matt which got me thinking. It relates to A Memory of Light, and so I figured I'd answer it here.

Brandon—My name is Matt, and I have been following your blog posts and website since you were announced as the writer for A Memory of Light. A question to ask occurred to me today that I don't think I ever saw in any of your interviews/posts about being selected to write the book. As a fan, is a part of you disappointed to read the ending of the story the way you did, that is through RJ's notes and not after reading an entire book?

Excellent question! My answer follows:

It was indeed a different experience to read through the outline and materials, with the holes and occasional vague sections, rather than reading a complete novel. A little bit of me is regretful. Of all the readers and fans out there, I'm one of the few who won't be able to experience this book for the first time in its complete form. Mr. Jordan's assistants and wife have probably been in that boat for years!

And yet, I am a writer, and I don't look at an outline the same way that a regular reader might. The closest approximation I can make is to origami masters. If you go and look at their websites, they will often release 'patterns' that go with a new piece of origami they've developed. The pattern is just a sheet of paper with lines on it. I look at that, and all I see are lines. But to another origami master, that pattern reveals the exact method used to create the piece. They can look at the pattern and see the finished product.

This outline was kind of like that for me, particularly since the ending was the most complete section. I could look at it, and my mind filled in the gaps, adding the foreshadowings and character climaxes that had come before, taking the hints and the outline chunks that Mr. Jordan wrote and putting them all together. It didn't feel like reading a complete book, but I felt like I could SEE that complete book as he would have written it, and that has become my guide in writing it myself.

(I might also note at the end here that one thing I forgot to include in my email to him is that while I didn't get to read the final book like you all will, I DID get to find out what happened at the end of the series a good two years ahead of anyone else!)

Though, oddly, I'm thinking I'm going to have to do another re-read of the entire WoT here pretty soon. It's been over a year since I finished the last read-through. (Whew. Hard to believe I've been at this a year and a half already.)

In a small bit of WoT news (and in answer to a lot of emails I've been getting) I've been lobbying to Harriet for the chance to keep A Memory of Light for the final volume of the WoT. If you don't remember the backstory, we were planning all three of these final books to collectively be known as A Memory of Light. Each would have the title A Memory of Light with a subtitle. (Gathering clouds for the first one, which became The Gathering Storm.) Well, now that we can't use this idea (for various reasons) and the first third is coming out as simply The Gathering Storm I want to use A Memory of Light for the final of the three. I think it's a beautiful title, and it is something that Mr. Jordan left for us.

Harriet seems agreeable, though nothing official has been set yet. Really, we need to get on the ball and choose a title for the second book. I'm working on that. (Though if you're passionate about the topic, you can feel free to email me.)

Here is an alphabetical list of names chosen, with details if given. They will be linked to EWOT pages when those are updated after the A Memory of Light comes out. The main auction for the speaking part was won by Sandip Mehta.

Eric Allen (In the Tower Guard; gets sworn at by someone who swears a lot. Perhaps Uno?)
Jesamyn Angelica
Charlie Bachelder (Aiel fighting in Last Battle)
Johnnie Lee Barrington, Jr. (Deathwatch Guard)
Paul Benish (Malkieri)
Melissa Bergevin
Jonathan Brockelman (Whitecloak)
Joff Brown (a city)
Brandon Bryant (Band of the Red Hand)
Jonathan Burt (Whitecloak)
Helen Cousins
Jay Dauro (Deathwatch Guard)
Shaun Davis
Gavin Doyle
Natalie Doyle
Daniel Egonsson
Kevin Fanshier
Jacob Figler (Band of the Red Hand)
Craig Foster (Borderlander; does not live long.)
Filis [Emery?] (Green Ajah)
Shani Gamble
[?] Gilbert, son of Chris
Courtney Gliszczynski (First name used.)
Cindy Goodman
Michael Gonzalez
Mione Haak
Laura Hayden
Laura Hepburn
Hugh Hill
Andrew Holcombe
Steven Karam
Rion Kinosaki
Einar Laastad Kjosavik (Asha'man who is balefired by a Forsaken.)
Sean Little
Nils Loodin (Aiel scout)
Glen MacDonald (Deathwatch Guard)
Sandip Mehta
Mikayla Micomonaco (damane)
Robert Moreau
Bach Payson (Borderlander; does not live long.)
Eric Peters
Eleanor Pettener (Wise One, or perhaps an apprentice.)
Alex Prescott
Bryan Ragon (Borderlander; does not live long; dies well.)
Sally Rankin
Kimberly Readdy (Wise One, or perhaps an apprentice.)
Kris Ring (Seanchan Blood)
Anna Roberts
Nikhil Rode (Aiel scout)
Robert Rose
Angela Ryddingwood
Maureen Sampson (Aes Sedai)
San D'ma Shadar (Group referenced by Mat which fought in a historic battle; translates to "Slayers of the Shadow".)
Michael Sarcone (Darkfriend, on request.)
Nathan Sawyer
Eric Silva
Shane Spears (Aiel, of course.)
Leisha Springer
Margaret St. John (Maiden name [not tweeted] will be a Seanchan general.)
Caitlin Sullivan (White Ajah)
Roger Trask (Aiel fighting in Last Battle)
Lindsey Turnbow (wolf)
Neil Tweed (Some woods, named after the original owners.)
Pia Maria Vaajakallio (Aes Sedai)
Kurt Wagoner (Two Rivers man)
Eyal Weinstock
Jordan White (wolf)
Shiv Whorra
Harm Wieringa
Savannah Rose Young (Seanchan general)
Jason Zigmont

SHAWN J

BRANDON SANDERSON

PETER AZP

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BRANDON SANDERSON (10 OCTOBER)

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AUSTIN MOORE

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ALCHEMIST

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NATHAN SMITH

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JAMES STARKE

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SHIVAM BHATT

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FANTASY AUTHOR

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CHAD ROSENTHAL

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ZACAJ

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BRANDON SANDERSON (18 OCTOBER)

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SELENE O'ROURKE

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JALIL JAMES

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COEN ZUIDERVAART (20 OCTOBER)

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JEFF WEISSBERG

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BRANDON SANDERSON (21 OCTOBER)

DAMIEN BAUMGART

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BRANDON SANDERSON (24 OCTOBER)

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BRANDON SANDERSON (25 OCTOBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON (1 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON (3 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON (4 NOVEMBER)

BRANDON SANDERSON

BRANDON SANDERSON (29 NOVEMBER)

Thursday is the final day to enter the drawing to get your name in A Memory of Light. Details here.

BRANDON SANDERSON (1 DECEMBER)

Today's the final day to enter the drawing (& support JordanCon) to get your name in A Memory of Light. Last chance.

BRANDON SANDERSON

The drawing to get your name in A Memory of Light closes to entries in 4 hours. I still have a lot of names to draw.

DAN GOLDMAN

How many more names are left to draw?

BRANDON SANDERSON (2 DECEMBER)

Still a good fifty, I'd say.

REBECCA LOVATT

Have you been using people's names for characters? Haven't seen any posts/updates with that in a long time.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I've been putting in placeholders, and will be drawing out names over the next few months to replace them.

BRANDON SANDERSON (28 DECEMBER)

Shaun Davis, I just used your name in A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Shiv Whorra, I needed another name, and you're in too.

KELLY

Is there a running list somewhere of the reader names you've used? And I hope you're feeling completely well soon. : )

BRANDON SANDERSON

We'll post them all once I'm done.

BRANDON SANDERSON

For those asking about names: this was done as a fund-raiser for JordanCon, so I'm no longer taking names. (Sorry.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Explanation follows. (I do this sort of thing for all of my books, though, so there will be chances for other books.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Robert Moreau and Robert Rose, you two are next. Welcome to A Memory of Light.

SIMON ST. ERIC

It is so exciting to see you pulling the names out of the hat... how many do you think you'll end up using? :)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Still many more.

BRANDON BALLENGER

Since you're not taking names anymore and have a full rough draft, could you make a guess at our odds of being drawn?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Really hard to guess. I have about 1,000 placeholders in the book, as told to me by Word, but...

BRANDON SANDERSON

Most of those are not "replace a name here" notes, but instead "Look this up" or "describe this better" or "continuity check."

BRANDON SANDERSON (29 DECEMBER)

Brandon Bryant, welcome to the Band of the Red Hand. (Unfortunately, we're not accepting new names. Details)

CHRISTOPHER SKINNER

I know no new names—for those of us who put ours in the hat before, how many spots approximately are left? What are our chances?!

BRANDON SANDERSON

I have no idea, I'm afraid. There are about 2k people in the drawing. Maybe a hundred names? Rough guesses.

BRANDON SANDERSON (3 JANUARY 2012)

Daniel Egonsson, I drew your name for A Memory of Light. (Unfortunately, we're not accepting new names. Details: http://www.mistborn.com/blog/1021/)

HUNTER SESTREN

But for those of us in the drawing we still have a shot right?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yes.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Gavin Doyle, you're in too. (Yes, I will eventually post a list of all of these.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Jacob Figler, you're next. (Sorry, ladies. I'll draw some female names soon.)

JACOB FIGLER

Hey that's me!!! Are you saying my name is going to be in A Memory of Light???

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yup. You're in the Band of the Red Hand.

JACOB FIGLER

YES!!! Check out the shirt I got yesterday hahaha! Perfect! And THANKS!!! http://yfrog.com/ob7i2zpj

BRANDON SANDERSON

Useful picture. Now I can describe you. :)

JACOB FIGLER

haha, well if you need any details let me know!

BRANDON SANDERSON

Okay, here's a woman: Jesamyn Angelica, you're in A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON (4 JANUARY)

Kevin Fanshier, I only needed one name for A Memory of Light today, but yours is it.

BRANDON SANDERSON (12 JANUARY)

Kurt Wagoner, you're in A Memory of Light as a Two Rivers man.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Laura Hepburn, I have chosen your name for A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Leisha Springer, your name came up next.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Nathan Sawyer, you were drawn next.

ROBERT ROTH

Do you or your assistant keep a list of drawn names? Can you post them?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I do keep a list, and will post them eventually.

SEAN RYAN

When you write a book do you fill the less important names in later?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Often I do just that. It can break the flow of writing to develop the right name, particularly when I might cut that scene.

BRANDON SANDERSON (13 JANUARY)

Angela Ryddingwood, I have drawn your name.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Bach Payson, I put you in A Memory of Light, but immediately killed you. Sorry 'bout that.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Oh, and Bryan Ragon, same goes for you. You died well, though.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Craig Foster, you round out the trio of dead Borderlanders I needed for this scene.

GREG LINDSEY

Just curious Brandon, are the names coming out of the proverbial hat, or do you look for names that can be easily WOTified?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Most things are pretty easy to wot-ify. And, since I can use either first or last, I haven't yet found any that don't work.

SEAN CORSON

Are you changing the names of people you put in A Memory of Light to make them more "Randland" appropriate?

BRANDON SANDERSON

They are changed.

BRANDON SANDERSON (16 JANUARY)

Michael Gonzalez, your name came up next. (Yes, I am wot-izing all of these.)

BRANDON SANDERSON (20 JANUARY)

Mione Haak, I drew your name for A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Neil Tweed, you too.

NEIL TWEED

Who am I? Dark or light? Do I die well?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I try not to use fan names for the shadow very often. I actually named some woods after you.

BRANDON SANDERSON

You would have been one of the original owners of the land where the woods were, I should think.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Nikhil Rode and Nils Loodin, I needed two Aiel scouts.

BRANDON SANDERSON (23 JANUARY)

Kris Ring, you're a member of the Seanchan Blood.

BRANDON SANDERSON (24 JANUARY)

Johnnie Lee Barrington, Jr. and Jay Dauro, you are members of the Deathwatch Guard.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Paul Benish, hope you look good in the hadori.

DANIEL NELSON

I'm confused. You are still using names but won't take anymore? So my name may still come up assuming you aren't done us ...

BRANDON SANDERSON

It very well might. If you are on the list, there is a chance.

BRANDON SANDERSON (25 JANUARY)

Pia Maria Vaajakallio, you are Aes Sedai.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Maureen Sampson, you're in the White Tower too.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Natalie Doyle, your name came up for A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Melissa Bergevin, your name came up next.

BRANDON SANDERSON (26 JANUARY)

Harm Wieringa, your name came up next.

SHAUN DUQUETTE

Taking a long time to add the names hehe

BRANDON SANDERSON (27 JANUARY)

I'm doing the first revision, and running across places where I left placeholders instead of names.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Jordan White, you're a wolf.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Lindsey Turnbow, you too.

M. KLOMPENHOUWER

Is anyone keeping track of the names that are being drawn for A Memory of Light?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yes, they are. We'll post them eventually.

BRANDON SANDERSON (30 JANUARY)

Savannah Rose Young, you're a Seanchan general.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Sally Rankin, your name came up too.

ZACHARY NORTH

They all get changed. Some as little as Thom or Mat (if appropriate.) Some to things very different.

ADAM GOUCHER

How many names got submitted?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Three thousand, I think.

BRANDON SANDERSON (6 FEBRUARY)

Anna Roberts and Andrew Holcombe, I drew your names most recently for A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Caitlin Sullivan, you're in the White Ajah.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Courtney Gliszczynski, your name came up next. I think I'll adapt your first name, not your last, if that's all right...

BRANDON SANDERSON

Michael Sarcone, you asked to be a Darkfriend for some reason, and I obliged.

BRANDON SANDERSON (7 FEBRUARY)

Chris Gilbert, you entered your son's name into A Memory of Light and it has been used.

BRANDON SANDERSON (8 FEBRUARY)

Drew a bunch of names I didn't report. Eric Silva, Hugh Hill, Sean Little, Rion Kinosaki, Helen Cousins, Eyal Weinstock.

SEAN LITTLE

This is Sean Little, the guy that emailed you previously regarding putting in a group name. Did that entry have...

SEAN LITTLE

...San D'ma Shadar as the name?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yes.

SEAN LITTLE

Thank you very much.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Trying to figure out the San in that phrase, though. Is the "San" a name, or a word in the Old Tongue I'm missing?

SEAN LITTLE

The translation used on the site (made by our Old Tongue experts) is Slayers of the Shadow. I could ask for the exact translation.

BRANDON SANDERSON

That works for me. I actually put the name in a place where it could refer to a group, so I'll tweak it to do so.

ANTHONY AZIZ

Your favorite Two Rivers man, Azi al'Thone, back to bug you again :D I had put in an entry for SDS as well... and since...

ANTHONY AZIZ

...I'm a member of SDS of TV.Net, I'm wondering what (if any) possibility there is of making Azi part of it?

ANTHONY AZIZ

Of course, I understand if that's complicated or doesn't fit with the story—had to ask anyways.

BRANDON SANDERSON

The group is referenced by Mat as being part of a historical battle.

ANTHONY AZIZ

Oh okay! Yes, that would be really hard to make work then :P Thanks for the response, Great Lord :)

BRANDON SANDERSON (14 FEBRUARY)

Working on one of the big, climactic sections at the end of A Memory of Light right now. Not many names left to draw, I'm afraid. A handful, maybe.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Remember, there is a special group of Dragonsworn in the Last Battle representing all who donated, so even if you aren't named, you're there.

BRANDON SANDERSON (15 FEBRUARY)

Roger Trask and Charlie Bachelder, turns out I needed two more Aiel to fight in the Last Battle.

BRANDON SANDERSON

MICHAEL ZODDA

BRANDON SANDERSON

RAFO, but I will tell you something about the Horn. People always ask why the inscription on the Horn is in the Old Tongue, if it's so old. It was added in the Age of Legends.

Terez

It should also be noted that, when a panel moderator asked the audience if we wanted to see the Heroes of the Horn come back before the end, Maria raised her hand high.

And if you look at that events page you'll notice that the book tour for Towers of Midnight has been arranged, and Harriet McDougal will be accompanying Brandon in every city this time around. It's going to be a shorter tour; Brandon has spent over half a month on tour already and needs a bit of a break. He does plan a much longer tour when A Memory of Light comes out; Brandon has some ideas about how to make that the best tour ever for the fans. But that's a long way off; Brandon still has to write the book! In any case, for those who will ask, yes, there will be a "Storm Leader"-type program for the Towers tour; keep your eyes peeled on Dragonmount for details on the Tower Guards program.

You spoke during the signing tour of perhaps having some material of Pevara being awesome on your website—is that still on the table? If it is, would it be pre- or post-Towers of Midnight?

That suggestion came about because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fit it in. In the end I decided to get three or four chapters of it into Towers of Midnight. So it is there. I haven’t yet decided whether the rest of that story will happen on screen in A Memory of Light or whether it will have to happen off screen. The outline is all there, but I’m still not sure what I’ll have time for and what will work with the pacing.

Posting something on my website is not something that I could just do offhandedly. If I were going to do it it would take a lot of talking to Harriet and Tor and getting permission. So that was really only a long-shot contingency plan. Will it happen? I don’t know. We’ll have to see what gets into A Memory of Light. I’m pleased with the parts I was able to fit into Towers of Midnight, which means there’s a good chance I’ll be able to fit the rest into A Memory of Light.

Taim may not be a standard Third Ager. Brandon wouldn't say any further because he has about five chapters revolving around the Black Tower to write for the beginning of the next book and he didn't want to spoil, so it was half a RAFO.

MATT HATCH

Specific questions?

ROBERT MEE

I just asked if Taim was a "standard" Third Ager. He pondered it for a minute or so before explaining that he had a few more chapters to write about what was happening at the Black Tower, so he didn't want to give too much away.

I'd been wondering why Demandred didn't just use the True Power to dispatch the various swordsmen that challenged him, and I got to ask it last night at the Huntington Beach signing. I thought I'd post it here in case anyone else was wondering the same thing.

Brandon's response was that Demandred was the most wary and cautious of the Forsaken and he wasn't going to "mess with that medallion", not knowing fully what it was or what it could do, especially since he suspected that the swordsman was Lews Therin in disguise.

The area it covers? Yes, it is.

Terez

Yay!

Brandon Sanderson

That’s a good question.

Terez

Thank you.

I'm actually going to RAFO that. And that's actually not one I'm RAFO'ing...I'm RAFO'ing that for very good reasons. Not just out-of-hand RAFO'ing.

Terez

Gotcha.

He said there are lots of little things that come to fruition in interesting ways.

JONATHAN B

I said yeah, I can't wait to see how "his blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul" turns out. Do you know there are some people that think Elayne will have her babies on Shayol Ghul and that will fulfill the prophecy?

BRANDON SANDERSON

He said well, Elayne is like four months pregnant at this point... Lots of things are possible with the One Power though.

JONATHAN B

In my mind, this debunks that theory somewhat.

RAFO. (You knew that was coming, eh?)

Though...it should be noted that prophecy says that Aviendha will have Rand's children...so, that's going to be kind of tough if they don't see one another again.

A couple of things here.

The primary one is that Verin had to work around her oaths, which required her to go through some strange mental gymnastics. She actually tried out different ways of getting this information across, and could never make it work. (In her pouch was actually a letter that said something similar to Mat, but which read "Ignore what I say and open this immediately.) She couldn't pick it up at the moment, however. The oaths were binding. She would either have had to take poison right then, or bet on Mat being too impatient to wait.

Second thing is this, and it's a slight spoiler for the next book. She did build in redundancy.

Shillster

My question isn't regarding the loophole that she found, the question is as to why make Mat promise to obey the letter. She could have made him promise not to open the letter for three days and still maintained her loophole. It's the promise to obey the letter that makes Mat not read it and now they are in a whole lot of trouble because of it.

Brandon Sanderson

Let's just say that Verin...didn't understand Mat as well as she thought that she did.

It's unlikely. Harriet has much worry about the ebook format, and the fact that we wouldn't have gotten #1 on the New York Times list if we'd done the ebook release at the same time has her extra jumpy. She released the ebook earlier than expected by my request last time, and I think we'll get it even earlier this time. But it probably won't be at the same time.

(Though, it may depend on how the Times counts ebooks then. Harriet feels it's important for RJ's legacy that these last few books continue the string of being #1 hits.)

I know what that was about. Will it be in the next book? Er...RAFO. Sorry.

STEFAN

Will we know by the end of the series though?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I really can't say yes or no. This is one of the things Harriet has asked me to be very quiet about.

Okay, so I have this idea for A Memory of Light. Hear me out.

I think you/Harriet/whoever should allow some sort of money raising contest to write a dedication for the book. Any money raised could go toward amyloidosis research (or maybe something else, if Jordan had some cause he really believed in).

You could run the contest one of two ways. First, an auction, which could potentially raise the most money. However, I've always hated these, since only people with tons of spending money ever have a chance.

Or you could charge everyone a flat price—$1, $5, something like that—and then your or Harriet could draw the winner from a hat or whatever.

Obviously you'd have to have some sort of disclaimer so that if the winner ended up being something like, "I hope we see Nynaeve smother Faile with her braid in this one," it could be ruled inappropriate.

Anyway, I just think it'd be a nice way to encourage reader interaction, raise money for a good cause, and give a lucky reader the chance to immortalize him- or herself in one of the most awesome, epic series of all time.

(I once gave this idea to Jason over at Dragonmount and he said I should suggest it to you or Harriet, but then I forgot about it. And now the opportunity to mention it has presented itself. Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

That is a kinda cool idea. I'll think about it, but the thing is, I strongly feel that RJ would have dedicated the book to Harriet—and I kind of think that should be the case.

I'll consider it, but I'm more likely to auction off naming rights to a character or two to let people have a stamp on the book like you suggest and do something good, but not use the dedication. We shall see. I'll consider.

Moved A Memory of Light from 90% done to 92% done on my website progress bar. Getting very close now.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Writing a conversation between two of the Forsaken right now.

DEL REY SPECTRA

I read this too quickly and thought you said "writing a conversation between two of the Foreskin right now".

BRANDON SANDERSON

That would be a VERY different book, eh?

For those who do not know, Darrell Sweet—illustrator of all of the Wheel of Time covers—has passed away. My thoughts.

ANDREA DIGNEY

If the cover is scrapped, will the book be delayed?

BRANDON SANDERSON

No. We have enough time for someone else to do one.

Back at work on A Memory of Light. May be the day to reveal a side-character's long-hidden motivations .

JAMES BIRTLES

Do we get a clue as to whom this character is?

BRANDON SANDERSON

If I told you that, you'd be expecting it. I'm afraid it is a RAFO. This character HAS been a little suspicious.

LEBO GUME

Mr. @BrandSanderson please stop teasing A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Sorry. Some people really want to watch the progress, and so I try to keep the posts as spoiler-free as possible.

BRANDON SANDERSON

This afternoon's "Brandon opens Magic cards as he writes" comes sponsored by Sarah Bartram, who sent the cards off my wishlist. Thanks!

BRANDON SANDERSON

The rare was this card (which is sweet, since I like zombie cards): http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=230786

BRANDON SANDERSON

Just wrote a scene with Bela in it.

BRANDON SANDERSON

This scene is one that RJ left instruction for in his notes; it gave me shivers when reading.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Okay, that scene's done, and it is beyond awesome. Over 3k done; opening another pack sent by Sarah B. ...Mythic rare! http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=247236

Okay, deep breath, back to work at the WoT. Can I be finished by Koloss Head-munching Day? (December 19th.) We shall see...

BEN TACOMA

Who would win—a massive Koloss or an Ogier warrior from Seanchan?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Ogier are far smarter and better-trained. A koloss would have a hard time winning.

BRANDON SANDERSON

(For those confused, Koloss Head-Munching Day happens on my birthday. It has a long backstory that won't fit into my post here.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

The short is this: A fan asked if there were any holidays in the Mistborn world. I jokingly said Koloss Head-Munching Day. Fans ran with it.

BRANDON SANDERSON

For today's A Memory of Light work, I'm jumping back in the book a little ways and catching up a character to the rest.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Just finished re-reading some important bits of WoT Book Two in order to write this next section of A Memory of Light.

CHRISTOPHER

When is A Memory of Light out? I thought January, but I've heard it's been put back?

BRANDON SANDERSON

My goal is to finish it by January. Sorry about the delay. It will be next year some time, but probably later in the year.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Current A Memory of Light length: 322,000 words. Moving us to 94% done, though I can't say exactly how much is left. 94% is just a guess at this point.

Just finished a scene in A Memory of Light that ranks among the most visually powerful I've ever done. I REALLY want to see this one in film form.

Brandon Sanderson

A lot of questions about the WoT film rights. Universal has the rights. Maybe I should have phrased my last tweet as...

Brandon Sanderson

"Dear Universal, please do a good job on the first WoT movie, because you really, REALLY need to get to book 14 and do this scene."

Brandon Sanderson

I don't know how far off the WoT film is. The screenwriters produced a new draft of the script a few weeks back. I have not read it.

Selene O'Rourke

I would love to see a Wheel of Time movie series or TV miniseries. Has anyone optioned that you can mention?

Brandon Sanderson

Universal has the rights. Not an option, but a full buy-out.

Muaz Zekeria

Just out of curiosity would you prefer WoT to be a film series or a TV series a la Game of Thrones? Also keep up the great work.

Brandon Sanderson

I would prefer television.

Killer Bob

Do you know if the film is going to be super-long like the Lord of the Rings movies, split in parts like Harry Potter or something ...

Killer Bob

...else? Also, thank you for finishing WoT! I really, really like the books you've written, they're excellent!

Killer Bob

By that I mean the WoT books. I like the other books too (especially Mistborn), but not as much as WoT.

Brandon Sanderson

Thanks for reading! The plan now is one film that covers Eye of the World, and will be somewhat long.

Chase Emory

I don't understand why you wouldn't be working integrally with the screenwriter, I hope they realize that this isn't a movie...

Chase Emory

...that they can just pump out. They need to do an amazing job or not waste their time.

Brandon Sanderson

I'm hoping they will let me comment on the screenplay, but so far, I've been kind of busy with A Memory of Light...

Nate Rios

I haven't read WOT but these A Memory of Light Tweets are making me want to check it out! I've not read any of Jordan's work. Thoughts?

Brandon Sanderson

I love the WoT, and have for many years. It is a long journey, however, so be warned.

Christopher

When is A Memory of Light out; I thought January, but I've heard its been put back?

Shaun Duquette

Gah,this is unacceptable!! You've already delayed this once!!

Brandon Sanderson

Not much I can do, I'm afraid. I'm turning it in on time; the date is being set by the publisher.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, that scene is done. Now I have a few quick, one-shot viewpoints to do. People you may not expect.

Josh Hlibichuk

Do we get a Dark One PoV? Is that question an auto-RAFO?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO, of course. :)

Many thanks, all, for the birthday (and Koloss Head-munching Day) wishes! You are all awesome. To celebrate, I'm writing A Memory of Light. ;)

BRANDON SANDERSON

To get ready for today's writing, I have put on my "Blood and Bloody ashes" shirt from Ta'veren Tees. (https://taverentees.com/threads/)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Note that my wife stole my Koloss Head-Munching Day shirt for the day, which is why I'm not wearing it. (http://store.inkwing.com/happy-koloss-head-munching-day-t-shirt)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Also, for A Memory of Light, I did finish the early-book material I'd left for later, and am back at the ending. My shirt is very appropriate today.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Hm... I haven't given any good A Memory of Light teases today, have I? Well, right now, one of the Forsaken is wearing the image of another Forsaken.

POOKA

And I was hoping you would say one of the Forsaken was wearing another's pants.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Well, that too, of course.

Still hard at work on A Memory of Light. Today's scenes involve lots of loud noises.

MARK HOWARD

Just curious, have you read the end scenes that RJ wrote? Or are you waiting till you get there?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I read them as soon as I got them. I needed to use them as a target 'goal' for the book.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Now, on to a scene that finally, at long last, fulfills something Min saw long ago...

BRANDON SANDERSON

I've finished all characters except Rand and Mat. (Note, I'm not writing in order; other characters have already-written scenes after this.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Now, I have to finish Mat's climax, write a few more Rand scenes, then add in RJ's ending material. Then we're done. Very close now.

PATRICK

What are your thoughts on ending the WoT series that Robert Jordan started so long ago? :)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Solemnity.

BRANDON SANDERSON

After a few hours with the family, am back at work on A Memory of Light. It's slightly possible that I'll finish it sometime during the night.

JENNIFER LIANG

Would that make tonight A Memory of Light Eve?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Ha. Yes, I guess it would.

BRANDON SANDERSON

You can follow along, if you wish. I have twenty small points on my outline left to hit. Maybe 10k words or so. I'll tweet as I pass them.

BRANDON SANDERSON

First scene out of twenty finished. (Note that I'm using 'scene' here liberally to mean a point on the plot outline.)

FRANK KWIATKOWSKI

Can you tell us who has the last chapter?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Afraid that would spoil too much.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Note that as I approach an ending, my writing speed goes up, as I get momentum. 10k tonight is not impossible. (Though most days I do 2-3.)

BRENT WEEKS

Good luck!

BRANDON SANDERSON

Thanks!

BRANDON SANDERSON

Two out of twenty scenes done. Eighteen left, and A Memory of Light will be finished.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Three out of Twenty of the remaining scenes in A Memory of Light have been finished. (If you're just now seeing this, check back to my last few posts.)

MARCUS ENGSTROM

How long was it after the first two books were finished until they were published?

BRANDON SANDERSON

For the first one, about a year. For the next, about six months. This will probably be closer to the first than the second.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scene four was slightly shorter than the others. 4 out of 20 finished so far tonight.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scene #5 finished. 25% through the ending of A Memory of Light. Feeling good about these scenes. All is going very well.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Some of you have asked if I got the Magic cards you sent me off of my Amazon wishlist. I did! I'm waiting to open them until I'm done with A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

A few of these scenes are pretty emotional ones for me. It's been a long, long road. I started reading the WoT twenty-one years ago.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Just finished scene #6 out of the 20 remaining in A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scene seven is done. Thirteen more to go. This one...this one was tough to write.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I've apparently inspired a drinking game with this on both Twitter and Facebook. I'd join in, but: 1) Mormon. 2) BUSY WRITING END OF WOT. :)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scene #8 is a tricky one. I know how it has to go, I just need to do it carefully. Getting close to having it right.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scene #8 is finished. This is going well. I often build momentum like this during a powerful book ending, and this one is very powerful.

BRANDON SANDERSON

We shall see. We've still got three or four hours before I'd normally turn in for bed. If I start to get sleepy, I'll call it for the night.

BRANDON SANDERSON

No sense in pushing on if the quality starts to flag. Knowing myself, though, I'll be too excited to be tired for a while yet. Onward!

LOCALPCGUY

Glad to hear things are ending well! I can't wait to read it. Think I have time for a full re-read before A Memory of Light?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Depends on how quickly you read. :)

DAVID MACKAY

Cannot wait, but I agree. Is it really going to take a year to edit and publish?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I've done a dozen drafts each of the previous two books. That kind of thing takes a little bit of time...

BRANDON SANDERSON

I just did something to Mat that I've been gleefully waiting to do for three years.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Don't stress the thing I did to Mat too much. It's a little (and fun) thing I've wanted to see him do for a long time.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I have finished scene #9 out of 20 I need to write before A Memory of Light is done.

AVI DOBKIN

Best of luck to @BrandSanderson as I turn in for the night. I'm giddy for A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Hopefully, you will wake to find the book finished.

CHRISTINA BOULARD

It's almost 3:30am here and I SHOULD be in bed, but I feel like I need 2 stay up and cheer you on and also to witness THE END!

BRANDON SANDERSON

Ha. Well, there are still hours left to go, I suspect. I started at...what, 9:00 here? I'm to 1/2 and it's almost 2:00?

BRANDON SANDERSON

For those asking, it's almost 2:00 am here. The night is still young.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Just finished Scene #10. Halfway there!

BRANDON SANDERSON

I don't expect it to go longer than those. After editing, I'm pretty sure we'll settle at 350-360k words. (About 10% longer than Towers of Midnight.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Brace yourselves. I just finished the last Mat Cauthon scene that, in all likelihood, will ever be written.

FRANK KWIATKOWSKI

General writing question: after The editor edits, is it typical for an author to add/rewrite, or only the editor?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Only the author rewrites or adds. Never the editor. (in most cases.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

The fourteenth scene was Mat's, and now I've finished the fifteenth scene. Five more to go, and A Memory of Light is done.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Just finished scene #16. Four more to go. Guess I'm not stopping tonight, eh?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scene #17 is finished. I was a tad on the longer side for the ones I'm doing here, as are the last three. 5:00 am here.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I keep flashing back to times I've read the WoT books through my life. Looking back, you could call Rand/Mat/Perrin my oldest friends.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scene #18 is done. Two more to go.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scene #19 is done. Deep breath. I'm beginning the last scene I will write in the Wheel of Time, then will add RJ's ending.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I've been listening to Pandora as I do this, but am wondering if I should pick a specific song to listen to as I finish. Suggestions?

BRANDON SANDERSON

My choice for a song to play as I write the last few paragraphs here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-0G_FI61a8

BRANDON SANDERSON

Ladies and gentlemen, A Memory of Light—the final book in The Wheel of Time—has been finished.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Now I'll open a metric gigaton of Magic cards that have been sent to me by fans, sleep for a day, and rest until next week.Then: revisions!

BRANDON SANDERSON

As for when the book will come out, Tor should do an announcement soon. Revisions will take a good six months. So fall, I expect.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Another common question: How many revisions will I do? The last two took about a dozen. (On non-WoT books, I do about seven or eight.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Also, it's going to be tough to give direct replies to questions right now, what with like 1000 people tweeting/facebooking at me. :)

BRANDON SANDERSON

But lots of people are asking about outriggers/prequels. The answer is still the same. We'd rather not risk exploiting RJ's legacy.

BRANDON SANDERSON

It is a step I don't think we want to take. Better to stop while we're ahead. I'm sorry, but they probably won't ever happen.

BRANDON SANDERSON

And now, yes, I will go to sleep. 7am here. That's 10 hours of solid writing after a full day of solid writing, so I'm beat.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Thank you all for the good wishes. May you find water and shade.

BRANDON SANDERSON (AFTER A NAP)

Ah. Good morning, all. (Yes, it's five in the afternoon here.) Checking email, and...INBOX EXPLOSION. I guess I was expecting it. :)

I'm trying to get it revised as quickly as I can. This book is going to need a lot of care to make sure I don't miss anything.

EIREMAUVE (13 JANUARY)

Who has the most POVs? Is it a tie between a couple people?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Boy, I haven't counted. Rand/Perrin/Egwene/Mat are all probably about neck and neck.

L-Etrengere

[Now-protected tweet that said something about Egwene getting so many POVs.]

BRANDON SANDERSON

Well, she IS one of the main characters of the series. It would be kind of odd to leave her out of the Last Battle...

WILL HAGEN

Will there be an audiobook release along side the text (with Micheal perhaps)?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yes, there should be.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Okay, I'm off until later tonight. Progress on the revision is going well; I expect to be done by mid-February, maybe by the end of January.

NICK

Is there an official release date for the final book yet? Last I heard was March.

BRANDON SANDERSON

There isn't yet, though it will be fall. Harriet asked for more time to edit, and I needed time to do more research.

JARED OLSEN

You probably hear this often, but you have done an outstanding job on WOT books. Thank you for honoring Jordan and saving fans. #mistborn

BRANDON SANDERSON

It has been an honor.

I think those who know our different writing styles will be able to pick out the differences.

BRANDON SANDERSON

It depends on how closely one watches the prose.

Working on one of the big, climactic sections at the end of A Memory of Light right now. Not many names left to draw, I'm afraid. A handful, maybe.

BRANDON SANDERSON (15 FEBRUARY)

There's another of my Wheel of Time musings up at @tordotcom, this one about The Great Hunt. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/02/wheel-of-time-musings-the-great-hunt

BRANDON SANDERSON

By the way, as many have noted, it appears that RJ, myself, and Wheel of Time were involved in a Jeopardy! clue yesterday.

TOR.COM (16 FEBRUARY)

The release date for A Memory of Light, the final volume of The Wheel of Time (@torbooks ), has been revealed: http://bit.ly/x2BVp5

JASON DENZEL

For people wondering, it takes a long time to go from a first draft to final draft. @BrandSanderson did 16 edits on The Gathering Storm.

COWSLIP

It must publish before 21.12.2012... what if the Mayan are right?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Lol.

SLEEPINGHOUR

So...January 2013? Is this because @BrandSanderson needs time to join the witness protection program before the fans learn who dies in A Memory of Light?

BRANDON SANDERSON

No, but I might need to head into it now, once the more vocal fanbase hears their book is delayed a few more months.

KVOTHE THE ARCANE

My respect for Harriet has gone downhill. I think If I were to look in her eyes all I'd see are $$

BRANDON SANDERSON

I'm not sure why, since this choice might end up costing her money. It certainly isn't a market decision.

BRANDON SANDERSON

The release date for A Memory of Light has been set. Here are my thoughts. http://brandonsanderson.com/blog/1058/A-MEMORY-OF-LIGHT-Release-Date

BRANDON SANDERSON

For anyone having trouble reaching my blog post on the release date of A Memory of Light, it's mirrored on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/notes/brandon-sanderson/a-memory-of-light-release-date/10150562895062219

Wetlandernw from the Tor.com reread offered some insight into the cover DKS was working on, from her recollection of a conversation she had with Brandon at a signing.

Wetlander

In a conversation at a signing (14 September 2010) the subject of the cover art came up. My recording of the conversation got wiped out by a certain 9-year-old, so I can't give the exact wording, but he said something like this. Mr. Sweet needed something to work with, to get started on the Memory of Light cover art, so Harriet went to Brandon and asked if he had any suggestions. He immediately thought of a particular event or scene which hadn't yet been written, but of which he had a pretty good mental image. He wrote up a 3-4 page description of the scene for her; she liked it and passed it on to DKS. At the time of my conversation with him, he had seen (what I now realize was) the concept art, and he loved it. It was, in his opinion, the best in the series. With the awareness that Brandon has always liked the DKS art, it seemed like a pretty high recommendation. It also made me really want to see it—both the art itself, and the scene Brandon thought would be the perfect cover for the final book.

No. Nice try! That's eliminating one theory, I'll give you that one.

LOIALSON

Was Aviendha in Tel'aran'rhiod or in a mirror/portal world when she met Nakomi?

BRANDON SANDERSON

RAFO.

LOIALSON

Is Nakomi Jenn Aiel?

BRANDON SANDERSON

[laughs and grins] I should RAFO that shouldn't I?

LOIALSON

I'd appreciate it if you didn't.

BRANDON SANDERSON

[laughs] I want Nakomi....We're gonna RAFO that for now. Nakomi needs...there's gotta be a few things I don't answer. I'm so bad, I answer everything Robert Jordan put an answer [for, to?] [bunch of people laugh]. Track me down another time, after A Memory of Light is out.

I've been thinking lately of ways to give away digital copies of my books when you buy a hardcover. There are some issues with this.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I don't know much about the logistics; it may be impossible. If there is a way to make this work, I'd propose it to Tor and Harriet for A Memory of Light.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Here's a reddit thread where I mention issues with the process. Weigh in here or in that thread to give me advice.

SABERJ

The only way I could think of would be to include one-time use codes with the books. But what's to stop people from selling?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yeah. The other problem with that is securing the code. Books aren't wrapped up, so the code could be scratched off/stolen easily.

BRANDON SANDERSON

My preferred method would be to put a code in a book that, then, you can redeem for free or a small price. But how do we secure it?

NIC JOHNSON

You don't. Your stuff is already being pirated and publishers shouldn't consider those lost sales. Trust people a la Apple.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I'm not worried about piracy. However, a digital code that can be used many times seems foolish. A one-use would be stolen.

BRANDON SANDERSON

One use has to be secured, or the person buying the book is in danger of being ripped off.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Multi-use means that we're hosting the book, and paying the bandwidth, for those who want to pirate. Bad idea, I think.

NIC JOHNSON

I'll host it for you. :) No charge.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Lol. One other problem is that this needs to be reasonable enough to the publisher's ears to get them to go along.

NIC JOHNSON

My point exactly. Big Pub doesn't get the new model. They consider pirated copies as lost sales. See Seth Godin for new model.

BRANDON SANDERSON

The publishers aren't as ignorant as you think. The investors, however, are another story. (You're right about them.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Tor has done plenty of giving away free, DRM-free ebooks. They did it with Mistborn, for example.

NIC JOHNSON

Ah! To me as an outsider they are one and the same. :)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Publishers and editors in sf/f tend to be techies. Notice that Cory Doctorow, with Tor's blessing, releases all of his books for free.

SABERJ

How is Marvel doing it? They don't tend to wrap Comics either.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I think you order directly from them, and they send you the comic and deliver through their own secure app.

ANNE BURNER

Baen used to put a CD copy of the book inside the hardcover versions of @davidweber1 Honor Harrington books.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I asked if we could do that, and the answer was that it was expensive enough it couldn't become the standard.

WES QUINT

Maybe like a gift card where it's only active after purchase?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yeah, this is probably the best idea. I don't know how hard that is to accomplish, though.

SABERJ

A lot of textbooks used to include a disc in the book for additional material. Discs are a bit harder to steal than codes.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Textbooks also have a much larger profit margin than novels. I asked about discs for my last book, and the publisher said no.

BRANDON SANDERSON

They said it was just too expensive.

BENJYMOUS

Old school tech, I know, but how about a coupon you have to fill in with your email address then post back to the publisher?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Ha. You know, I never thought about that. The problem is, how do we keep people from stealing them out of the books?

BRANDON SANDERSON

People with a nice hardcover don't want to cut their book apart to get a coupon.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Here are a couple of problems with what people are suggesting. 1) We don't want to shrink wrap books, but a code can be stolen very easily.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Anything involving the retailer verifying a code, or printing one out, requires large-scale involvement of retailers.

BRANDON SANDERSON

That's not something I can change. They may be working on this already. I want something I could take to Tor, that we could do in house.

TEREZ

Or if you're talking about securing the code in the book...it seems easy enough with textbooks. Peel-off? :)

BRANDON SANDERSON

People would walk into the store, peel off the sticker, write down the code, then sell it or use it.

BRAD LICKMAN

How do you stop people from sharing a hardcover copy?

BRANDON SANDERSON

The physical product can be made to set off an alarm. A code can be copied and carried out.

ANDREW YAGER

Could codes be single use? That would largely get around the securing problem?

BRANDON SANDERSON

People would walk into the store, write down the code, go home and download the book.

KYLE

What about one-time scratch codes like what's used on gift cards?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Those are usually activated by the retailer. I'd love for us to be able to do that, but it would involve more than I can do.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Another issue with this is that if I did it, I would need it to work for indy booksellers and not just Amazon/Barnes & Noble.

BRAD LICKMAN

Can you sell the digital copy at http://tor.com, which provides a coupon for the hardcover?

BRANDON SANDERSON

This is actually what I proposed to Tor a few years back, and they said they didn't want to offend the retailers.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I still like the idea, though.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I won't have time to reply to everyone here, but keep sending thoughts. I'll read and see if I can come up with something to take to Tor.

BEN FOXWORTHY

How about this: Put the code in the book. Don't secure it. Each code works three times. Hope people don't abuse it.

BRANDON SANDERSON

That risks punishing the person who buys the book (but their code has been stolen and used.)

BRANDON SANDERSON (12 MARCH)

More on the A Memory of Light ebook thing. What would you guys think if I tried to talk Tor into a 'special edition' release.

BRANDON SANDERSON

A kind of 'boxed set' that came with hardcover, ebook, audiobook, a medallion or other keepsake, and maybe some interviews with me & Harriet.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Shrink wrapped & sold at bookstores for, say, $50 instead of $30? Does that get too far away from the 'free ebook w/the hardcover' concept?

TEREZ

It does seem to defeat the purpose, as far as most people would be concerned. Though many would buy it.

DAVE PUTNAM (22 MARCH)

A Memory of Light e-book release announced with three month gap. Can you explain the rationale behind this? Lot of vitriol on Tor site.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Harriet worries, among other things, at the impact on the bestseller lists by releasing at the same time.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Ebooks make her uncomfortable.

FYODOR

Making us wait three three months for the A Memory of Light ebook is very obnoxious and shows contempt for the fan base. I have been reading...

FYODOR

...WOT since 1992 and deeply resent this type of staggering.

BRANDON SANDERSON

I've been working on it. The delay is not Tor, but Harriet, who worries at the implications of releasing an ebook immediately.

BRANDON SANDERSON

She originally wanted a six month, or longer, delay. I was able to persuade her to move to three months.

PRK (7 APRIL 2012)

Got RAFO'd on asking where the wind blows from in A Memory of Light.

PRK (7 APRIL 2012)

Demandred will have some awesome stuff in A Memory of Light.

PRK (7 APRIL 2012)

Brandon tried to get moments for every character in A Memory of Light. Egwene is ready to be bad ass in the Last Battle; her character development is done.

PRK

Perth Exclusive for #WoT counted scenes by viewpoint. Rand has the most viewpoints in A Memory of Light, not a huge margin. Others tied.

PRK

Caveat, still revising A Memory of Light, so that can change.

LISA-MAREE BARBA

It's not much but Brandon S just told me that Lan has the most POVs in A Memory of Light, only just ahead of Rand. But that could change with editing.

PRK

I thought he said Rand ahead of the other main characters?

TEREZ

That doesn't even make sense. :s Sure, Lan is vital, but it's hard to see how the story could focus on him that much.

PRK (8 APRIL)

Confirmed it was Rand with the highest number of POV scenes in A Memory of Light (at the moment).

PRK (7 APRIL 2012)

The Padan Fain / Mordeth hybrid will be in A Memory of Light.

PRK

Got a RAFO on how the Mordeth/Fain Hybrid influences the Black Wind.

PRK (7 APRIL 2012)

Nakomi thing is a huge RAFO.

Ask him if there is a Waygate anywhere near Lugard. We suspect that Ogier-built Shaemal was somewhere in Murandy.

PRK

Why does it matter where Shaemal is?

TEREZ

It only matters because of the possibility of a Waygate in Murandy, which is why I phrased the question the way I did.

TEREZ

It has to do with the theory that Roedran is Demandred. ;)

PRK

Okay, I'll ask that one next time!

PRK (8 APRIL)

Answer re Lugard Waygate: "*chuckles* That's clever! Anything I say will give away too much, so I'll have to RAFO that one."

/r/Fantasy is closing in on 10,000 readers and, to celebrate, one lucky r/Fantasy member will win a hardcover copy of The Name of the Wind or The Wise Man's Fear—signed by Patrick Rothfuss with a personalized message of the winner's choice.

To enter, simply put your favorite fantasy-related quote below. Don't have a favorite quote? Hmm...google one up or just write down something clever.

At an arbitrary point of my choosing on Friday, February 3rd I will tally up the total number of people who entered and use a random number generator to help pick the winner.

So tempted to post a quote from the unpublished last book of the Wheel of Time here.

blowing_chunks

Please do!

If you win, your personalised inscription could be one for the ages.

"I, Patrick Rothfuss, acknowledge that Brandon Sanderson's beard is superior to mine."

Brandon Sanderson

Ha. Now that might just be worth it...

Of course, I already have Pat's books signed to me. I don't want to take the chance from anyone else. More importantly, though, I haven't gotten back edits on A Memory of Light from Harriet yet—so any line I post could be one that she decided to cut, or one she found a continuity error in. If I had a draft she'd seen, I might actually do it.

Mat does say "Blood and Bloody Ashes!" a few times, though. Does that count?

shepherdless

If not, at least post a quote from another source. I find it interesting to see what one the best writers of the genre (not to blow smoke up your ass) favorite quote is.

Brandon Sanderson

From the Wheel of Time, it's Lan's "Portion of Wisdom" quote.

"You can never know everything, and part of what you do know will always be wrong. Perhaps even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing this. A portion of courage lies in going on anyway."

From any fantasy work? Wow, that would be a tough one. Maybe Vimes on the economics of buying new footwear?

When Robert Jordan, one of his favourite authors, died in 2007, Sanderson wrote a eulogy on his blog. (You can read it here.) It came to the notice of Harriet McDougal, Jordan's widow. She had promised her late husband that she would ensure the series was finished, and as an editor of note herself, she was in a good position to choose a worthy successor. After being moved by Sanderson's eulogy, she hunted for his work, discovered The Final Empire and knew she'd found a writer worthy of bearing her husband's sceptre.

"The call came out of the blue," says Sanderson. "I felt excited, humbled and honoured all once." It was decided that the projected final volume, A Memory of Light, would be split in three. The first, The Gathering Storm was published in 2009, followed in 2010 by Towers of Midnight. Fans eagerly await the release of A Memory of Light in January 2013.

Tor and Harriet have set the release date for A Memory of Light. Again. While I've been working on the book, this has happened a half dozen times, with varying levels of publicity surrounding the date.

This time we're saying January 8th. How likely is this one? Well, honestly, I don't know. Seems like it's the most firm of the lot. However, you've got to understand a couple of things.

First off, I don't set release dates, particularly not on these books. I pick my deadlines, then work to meet them. Tor and Harriet decide when the book is going to come out, judging by editing requirements, market factors, and the workings of the publishing machine. I didn't find out this one had been set as this day until long after the fact. So please, complaining to me . . . well, it's just not going to do anything but distract me from working on the book.

Secondly, Harriet is very, VERY worried about getting this book right. It's the last book in the series. There are no chances to change things after this, and revising a book like this takes time. Harriet would probably prefer even more space than this publication date gives us. She also isn't capable of pulling the long hours she might once have pulled. (And she shouldn't be expected to.)

It's not all on Harriet, though, not by a mile. I turned in a 360,000-word book. That's 20% longer than what they wanted, and that means each step of editing and production will require 20% more time than they had set aside. In addition, while I've set my own deadlines, I've come right up against them and (in a few cases) tiptoed across. For example, instead of sending a revised book at the end of December, I only had a first draft. That's the length pushing me back and making me revise expectations.

I realize that all you care about is getting your book, and this sounds like a lot of excuses. But here's the thing. You'll get the book when Harriet is ready to give it to you. Not before. If this were just me, I could work a big pile of 16-hour days and get it to you in the fall. But it's not just me, and beyond that, the last time I did that (on Towers of Midnight, which went through eleven drafts) we ended up with a pile of typos and wore Harriet out so much she said she didn't recover for well over six months.

I sincerely thought that we'd be releasing the book this fall. January 8th was a surprise to me when they told me. However, Harriet picked the last possible week the book could reasonably come out, because she wants as much time as possible to edit it.

I still think it's very possible that all will go smoothly and Harriet will push the book up. It happened with The Gathering Storm, I believe, though that was only pushed up by a week. However, for now, we just have to assume January 8th is when it's coming out.

Best,

Brandon

Something which just occurred to me was that, other than editors, advance reviewers, etc. the first people who will get their hands on the conclusion to The Wheel of Time will be the audiobook narrators—including Kramer, who has been a constant voice in the series. You've written that the final words in the series are Robert Jordan's—can you give away whether the final voice on the audiobook might be Kramer's?

Ha! I can't give you something like that. I'm sorry. Nice try, though.

Louie Free

Brandon Sanderson

Louie Free

Brandon Sanderson

Louie Free

Brandon Sanderson

Louie Free

Brandon Sanderson

Louie Free

Brandon Sanderson

Louie Free

That is an awesome theory. No. But I am very glad you came up with it—it fits very neatly with how Sanderson would have done it. But still, no.

LUCKERS

Can you tell me the actual cause for the difference?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Haha, no. RAFO.

LUCKERS

Can you tell me what the Crossroads of Twilight superpack are hunting?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Ummm. No, I still might... it still might be in the books. So RAFO. But if it’s not in the books then it’s open for you all to ask again after A Memory of Light. But for now, RAFO.

RAFO.

LUCKERS

*we talked about this for a while, and I didn’t take any notes on that part of the conversation (so it was nothing big) we dropped back into interesting stuff a bit later and I resumed note taking*

BRANDON SANDERSON

I will say that, in the course of writing A Memory of Light, I learned some very interesting things that went against some strong preconceptions I had about the Horn. Some of the ideas I had, about how it worked, turned out to be incorrect.

Why are they choosing Callandor over the Choedan Kal?

LUCKERS

Well, not even that, really, because two of those have nothing to do with the Callandor. I guess it’s more, was there something dodgy... did they know something about the Choedan Kal... why did they leave it?

BRANDON SANDERSON

There is a reason. It has to do with Callandor being key to the ending, and the Choedan Kal not.

No, no it’s fine. His name was Darrell Sweet, and no. Look it was a hard decision, but we talked about using the original sketching and—

LUCKERS

Oh, no, I meant like... the concept. Like will he be drawing the same scene?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Oh, right. No. No, I originally sent the suggestion of three different scenes, and Michael and Tor’s art coordinator, Irene...

LUCKERS

Irene Gallo?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yeah. Michael and Irene chose a different one between them than Darrell and Irene had.

Brandon again spoke of Aviendha and the Aiel, due to the way they think, mentioning how he went through several drafts and back and forths with Harriet, whilst doing multiple re-reads of Aviendha’s POVs.

Then he spoke of Mat, saying that Mat is such a complicated character, though you might not think he is at first glance. He is an unreliable narrator, with vast differences between how he thinks and how he acts, and that Jim’s Mat POV’s are some of the best in the series. He then spoke of his own writing and that because of these elements it’s easy to miss things with Mat, and that that is why his early scenes in The Gathering Storm are not as good as his scenes in Towers of Midnight, where Brandon began to ‘get him’. Brandon finished by saying he’s best in A Memory of Light.

Hey went to the signing in Sydney tonight. Nothing really new, except that both times he spoke of the climax of the series (that Jordan had written) he spoke of it as one chapter (he spoke much the same in Melbourne too, but I didn't really note it then).

The second thing is that someone asked whether he had freaked Harriet out with how well he channeled Jordan, and he replied that he had freaked Harriet out, though not so much for that as for some of his crazy ideas. He said he thought Jordan would have been innovating and creating as the process of writing unfolded, and that he did much the same, throwing thoughts at Harriet, some of which made it into the book. An example of one which didn't end up in the books, and which apparently Harriet 'freaked' out about was that he suggested Perrin might take up the Way of the Leaf.

Amadine just reported that the answer to Terez's question of 'Was Taim's palace made from Shayol Ghul stone' was 'yes'.

LUCKERS (LATER)

Here is the message I sent Ama: Tell Brandon I said hi. Oh, and ask if Taim's palace is made of Shayol Ghul rock. Tell him Terez was very cranky with me that I didn't ask. LOL. James.

Ama's reply: The answer is yes!!!

As far as I recall, yes. But I'm not a hundred per cent sure.

ELEANOR

No notable expression changes. Can someone check that map on Deviant Art?

There will be a map in A Memory of Light. (Added something along the lines about not being aware of debate on the location.)

ELEANOR

I wish I'd had the full background on the debate on this one with me. As it was, I didn't have enough to describe with any clarity. I know the basics of the contradiction but not the full story.

No.(Will we know more?) They will be partially revealed.

ELEANOR

This one I can't remember too well from the notes taken, so the wording may be a little off. He looked certain and a little cheerful on this one.

I can tell you it will be addressed in the book. (A bit more was said, but not much save me acknowledging I had not expected much of an answer from this one.)

ELEANOR

Yes, you ask a terrible question...and you actually get a better, less pitying answer than it merits. I was not very hopeful with this question but could not think of a way to de-RAFO-worthy it.

(Laughs.) RAFO.

ELEANOR

Again, you ask a terrible question...BUT THERE IS MORE ON THIS.

I think he felt a little sad about my Sorilea attempt and his inevitable RAFO, and thus offered the following tidbit:

BRANDON SANDERSON

"At least one of the named characters is an unrevealed Darkfriend."

ELEANOR

I know that this is pretty much a given anyway, but the way he said it—the way he presented it (with this gleam in his eyes and an invisible flourish) it suggests it is...not any old named character, but one with some importance. Of course, that is just my opinion and as such is...debatable.

But have we a list of second- and third-tier named characters who could possibly be Darkfriends?

Um, RAFO.

ELEANOR

Expression when answering gives possibility of another appearance some merit.

RAFO.

ELEANOR

Will there be fighting in the Waste? That is, Shadowspawn?

BRANDON SANDERSON

RAFO.

ELEANOR

For Shaido = remnant of a remnant. I think he knew EXACTLY what I was not asking.

This one I basically composed on the spot, so it got the answer it merited.

QUESTION

The darkness surrounding Bashere—can you give us any info on that? Was it caused by his past actions or by his future actions, or is it a result of someone else's actions against him?

What I can tell you is that being surrounded by darkness is rarely a good thing in the WoT world.

ELEANOR

Was trying to attack the Bashere = Darkfriend uncertainty, but, uh...This was in direct response to the tidbit he considered tasty mentioned earlier on.

THOMAS WILLIS

Will the kindle edition of A Memory of Light be released at the same time, as the hardcover?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I'm afraid that Harriet has decided there should be a delayed ebook release.

I'm afraid not. Harriet would rather it be special to JordanCon.

BRANDON SANDERSON (26 APRIL)

Tor dot com has posted the single-scene excerpt from the prologue of A Memory of Light that Harriet read at JordanCon.

Footnote

Tags

Harriet was asked about the change in the publication date for A Memory of Light from November 2012 to January 2013.

She noted that the publication date previously set by Tor was November 27, 2012, which falls after Thanksgiving. Upon seeing that release date, Harriet felt that it would be too late for substantial marketing and sales for the holiday season, and probably more importantly, she felt strongly that she didn't want to rush this final book in any way. Therefore, it was decided to move the release date to January 8, 2013, which will provide extra time for editing but still falls within the Year of the Dragon.

Harriet McDougal Rigney

Footnote

There's a good chance that the book cover will be shown this weekend, Nynaeve will be TINY in the back flap.

During the A Memory of Light reading/panel this was sadly not confirmed—the cover is ready but not for viewing at this time. (see Marie's write-up of the A Memory of Light reading for more details).

He indicated that [Bayrd's POV] was not the part of this prologue that RJ wrote. Meaning that scene was his.

MARK GRAYSON

I thought he did a really good job with it. Very RJ-esque in my opinion.

The scene depicts Min, Aviendha, and Elayne gathered on a battlefield around what is presumably a funeral pyre for Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn. What we recognize as a yin/yang appears in the clouds, possibly signifying a unity that has evaded male and female channelers for over 3000 years.

DARRELL K. SWEET

We are very excited to reveal the cover to A Memory of Light, the final volume of Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time. The artwork for this final edition is by, arguably, one of today’s most beloved illustrators, Michael Whelan.

The task of jumping into a 14 volume series on its last installment must have been a daunting one but Michael rose to the occasion. Harriet McDougal, Jordan’s editor and widow remarked, "that is the Rand I have waited to see for twenty years” when she saw the image. And while the artwork clearly has all the earmarks of a Whelan painting, its theme and coloration make it a fitting heir to Darrell K. Sweet’s series of Wheel of Time covers.

In keeping with the series’ covers, the scene gathers elements from a key scene in the book. Here, Rand stands with Callandor on the rocks of Shayol Ghul, heading down into its depths to confront the Dark One even as the sun itself vanishes from the world. Two Aes Sedai follow the Dragon Reborn into the mouth of darkness, two women who have been with Rand since the very beginning.

MICHAEL WHELAN

Not sure why there's still confusion. It's Nynaeve and Moiraine on the back cover. The yellow and blue dresses should make that apparent. Nynaeve's hair is obviously shorter than it used to be.

I spoke to Michael about the cover as he was finishing it. Since he didn't have the opportunity to read all fourteen books for the assignment, I was one of the people he leaned on to fact check his work.

Michael mentioned there are details the readers (like me) wouldn't be privy to yet. For example, Nynaeve takes the bulk of her jewelry off before this scene.

Callandor is a sword that isn't a sword, right? He's not holding it for defense. It's a source of power as well as his source of light (there's a clue about that in the lighting on his face). He's shielding his eyes as he stares in to the pit. Apparently, the deeper he goes into Shayol Ghul, the brighter it shines.

A little background that some might not know... Michael has studied martial arts, including Filipino Kali and Arnis. The forearm slash position actually has some utility in fights with bladed weapons.

Compositionally, the line of the sword is another element that draws you into the intensity of Rand's stare. Further, the opening of the cave is the shape of an eye; the eclipse suggests an iris. It's as if the gaze of the Dark One is falling on Rand. We see his strength and determination in response. How many illustrators can convey that kind of depth in a scene?

Say what you will, but I think Michael brought a lot to the plate on what was a very difficult cover assignment. He put his stamp on Rand while producing a cover that fits well with the first thirteen that DKS painted.

analiese@222 (8 May 2012)

Thanks for confirming that. However, Nynaeve's hair is still the wrong color and, while it's shorter after the Aes Sedai testing in Towers of Midnight, it should still be in a shoulder-length braid. She never gave up her signature braid. That's why many people don't think it looks like Nynaeve—the braid is the main thing that would identify her as Nynaeve to the readers.

The loose light hair makes the woman on the cover look more like Alivia, who many fans believe is the woman in yellow. So I'm still of the opinion that Whelan did not do a good job with Nynaeve if longtime fans don't even recognize her. I think it's a beautiful cover, but as a reader, the main thing I care about is seeing the characters—who we have been reading about for twenty years—done right, not so much whether the cave looks realistic or happens to symbolize the Dark One spying on Rand. So it's disappointing that Nynaeve ended up virtually unrecognizable. She doesn't even wear yellow dresses in the books, despite being Yellow Ajah (she makes a point of wearing green or blue since that's what Lan likes), so that's not something that makes the woman's identity apparent either.

If you don't mind me asking (not trying to be rude here, it just strikes me as a bit strange), why did Whelan rely on fans to check his work instead of Team Jordan? I'm assuming you work for Tor, but you refer to yourself as a reader who hasn't read the book. To what extent were Brandon Sanderson and Team Jordan involved with the creative process behind this cover?

MRJackson@223

I was just one of the people helping with the details. Obviously Michael had Irene Gallo's art direction and was in contact with editors including Harriet.

Michael's wife Audrey usually serves as his sounding board, but she hadn't read the books. (For the record, I'm not affiliated with TOR. I've worked with Michael since the mid 90s, primarily on his website.) I'm a WoT fan and that's the kind of feedback Michael was looking for... someone he knew who had read the previous thirteen books.

Michael and I did discuss Nynaeve's dress color. I mentioned that she catered to Lan's color preference of green and blue. The yellow of her Ajah usually came in slashes of color, accents if I recall correctly.

Like I said, I haven't read the manuscript for A Memory of Light and Michael couldn't talk about it. But I distinctly recall Nynaeve taking pride in being a true Aes Sedai finally. Going into the Last Battle, I don't think it's a stretch that she would choose yellow. I suppose we'll have to RAFO on that.

In the background information I provided, I described Nynaeve's hair color as darker brown and referenced previous covers (among them the Melanie Delon's cover for A Crown of Swords that drew criticism for being too red).

I'd have to ask him why he chose lighter highlights. Just my speculation here, but Callandor is a light source. There's also illumination from the eclipse filtering in from the mouth of the cave to consider.

Michael got the length of Nynaeve's hair right, and this isn't simply opinion. Hopefully Brandon or Harriet will confirm at some point that her shoulder length hair was too short to braid.

Interestingly, Michael and I spoke about the challenge of pulling character descriptions from the text. If you're familiar with his illustration, he's known as a stickler for details. But it isn't always easy to translate text literally, especially when Jordan and Sanderson contradict in their description.

In correspondence, Michael wrote,

"Major characters are described as diminutive in size, yet 'commanding' in presence. Faces are youthful, yet ageless. Or young but having eyes full of wisdom of the ages. Rand is tall and manly, yet has an almost "feminine" beauty in his eyes or mouth. It's a bit confusing how one is supposed to render such conflicting elements."

MRJackson

Honestly, I don't mind the nitpicking. Criticism comes with the territory. My point in responding is to state that Michael was mindful of details here. There's evidence of it in the painting. I can tell you that he had Moiraine's kesiera and Nynaeve's ki'sain accounted for before I even spoke to him.

On a personal note, I had the privilege of meeting Robert Jordan before a signing on the Knife of Dreams tour. One of the things we talked about was the cover art for the series. I think Mr. Jordan would be pleased with this one. Obviously Harriet was when she said, "that is the Rand I have waited to see for twenty years."

analiese@224

Firstly, thank you very much for the thorough answer. It answered many of my questions, and it was also interesting to hear more about the creative process behind the cover.

[Nynaeve's hair] got singed off "a handspan below her shoulders" (Towers of Midnight ch 20), and she wore a shoulder-length braid in every scene she was in after the Aes Sedai testing. That's why it seemed odd for her signature braid to be missing on the cover. I don't really care about the dress or even much about the hair color, but Nynaeve isn't Nynaeve without her braid—it's part of who she is. It's like Mat showing up without his hat and ashandarei. And the ki'sain is too small to be visible, so it doesn't do anything to make the woman on the cover look more like Nynaeve.

I also wish Nynaeve and Moiraine hadn't been delegated to the background/back cover—since they're going to be linked with him, they deserve to stand at his side. But that's not an error, just something I wish were different.

However, while the cover isn't what I hoped for, I understand and deeply appreciate that you and Whelan both worked incredibly hard on it, and Whelan remains one of my favorite illustrators. I think he did a wonderful job with Rand.

MRJackson@228

I appreciate the sentiment but Michael did the actual work. He pushed his calendar aside this spring to make the cover happen. I was just support. But I will admit it took a lot of restraint on my part not to inundate him with questions that I knew he couldn't answer, so there is that.

As readers, we all have so much invested in this series that I completely understand what you're saying. I love Brandon's work, but I felt Towers of Midnight was a bit of a letdown, especially the resolution with Moiraine.

Moiraine has always been a favorite of mine. I would have liked to see her on the front cover as well. Thankfully Dan Dos Santos gave us that in his brilliant cover for The Fires of Heaven.

Wetlandernw@227

I think MRJackson & Mr. Whelan made a very good point, in that we have not yet read this book. By the time this scene happens, we may see several other events that make sense of the seeming discrepancies. Specifically, there are only two scenes after Nynaeve's testing which mention her braid, and in both cases it is specifically noted that it is too short and she finds it quite annoying. Quite possibly she'll meet up with Lan and find out that he likes it loose, or she'll simply decide that it's too irritating to fuss with a too-short braid, and we'll see her with loose hair in several scenes before this.

Someone was bothered earlier by the missing jewelry—but now we know that she specifically and deliberately removed the jewelry before this scene, probably so that someone else could use them. (That's what happened during the Cleansing; why not here as well?) Seems to me that we should make the assumption that the same kind of thing might happen with The Braid, instead of insisting that she should look like she did in the previous book, and claiming any discrepancies as mistakes. Such claims are not only rude, they are unfounded. Once the book is out and we've read the whole thing, we might have grounds for nitpicking; until then, not so much.

MRJackson—Thank you for your contributions, both to this thread and to Mr. Whelan.

MRJackson@230 (9 May 2012)

Glad to be of help. Maybe someday we'll find closure in the great braid debate...

Seriously though, Michael painted Nynaeve's hair at that length (without a braid) for a reason. I wasn't trying to sidestep debate. I was expressing certainty. Michael was aware that the braid was an identifying feature of her character. The painting turned out the way it did through a long process that involved editorial input. I'll leave it at that.

I look at it this way (and this is my opinion)... Nynaeve has grown enormously through the books. She was always uniquely powerful, but it took time for her to grow into that power. More so, it took a dozen books to accept herself and decide who she wanted to be.

Nynaeve worked through enormous difficulty to channel reliably. Remember how she used to tug on that braid? It really was a symbol of who she used to be. Kind of fitting that the symbol is gone.

Old habits die hard, of course, but she isn't that girl tugging on her braid any more. She's a woman who fought to gain acceptance as an Aes Sedai, and she's going to stand at Rand side to face the Dark One. It's impressive how far she's come as a character.

analiese@

The Fires of Heaven ebook cover was definitely one of the best, though there were a few things the artist got wrong (Moiraine does not have blue eyes). The New Spring cover was great too, especially Lan. It's mostly Nynaeve who has suffered bad luck with the ebook covers. There's A Crown of Swords where she got red hair and Lan looked like an underwater zombie, Winter's Heart where she didn't appear at all despite being linked with Rand for the Cleansing, The Path of Daggers where she got a Saldaean nose and Elayne looked suspiciously like Jean Grey...

I think much of my disappointment with the A Memory of Light cover stems from the fact that there's already an earlier cover (Winter's Heart) where Rand claimed the stage and his female linking partner was left out. "Hero poses manfully brandishing some kind of phallic object" is a pretty tired concept, especially on WoT covers. Rand does the same on Sweet's The Dragon Reborn and The Path of Daggers, the ebook covers for The Dragon Reborn, Winter's Heart, Knife of Dreams... Winter's Heart is probably the worst offender, if you look at the placement of the Choedan Kal. ;)

Sweet's A Memory of Light cover was a welcome break from that—I'm not usually a fan of Sweet's covers, but I liked that he gave Elayne, Min, and Aviendha a prominent role and added some emotion to the cover. So I really would have liked to see something different on the final cover, like Rand having the two women from the Callandor circle at his side. Here, Nynaeve and Moiraine are present, but only in the background, and not at all on the ebook cover.

MRJackson@236

The only female lead who held the cover spotlight on par with the men was Moiraine, and that is a shame.

There was definitely opportunity to feature Nynaeve linked with Rand on Winter's Heart. Despite the hair, I liked Nynaeve on the cover of A Crown of Swords. Lan not so much. The Path of Daggers was another miss, mostly because the colors were a distraction. I thought I was looking at an X-Men cover. Even if that was intentional, it didn't work for me.

I can only assume Rand was intended to stand at center stage alone on the last cover, but I think what you suggest would have been great too. Moiraine and Nynaeve definitely earned their place at Rand's side on the front.

ViciousCircle@264

That was a beautiful description of why Nynaeve is one of the most compelling characters in the series. She and Moiraine kept me invested during some dark years of almost giving up on WOT. I always hoped they would be the other Callandor channelers, as I could not imagine Rand putting himself in such a vulnerable position with anyone else. Aviendha, Min and Elayne included, though I do love Aviendha! So thank you for shedding light on why some things are portrayed as they are on this excellent new cover. Just don't think that it will put a dent in the debate. ;)

MRJackson@266

Thanks. I feel much the same way about those characters, and I'm sure the debate will keep going on well after the publication of A Memory of Light.

Mr. Jackson (your name isn't Michael is it? because that would be unfortunate),

Thanks for the reassurances. Do you happen to know if specs were given for the eclipse? We're wondering if we can assume it's accurately portrayed from the perspective of an astronomer (we have one of those at Theoryland, and a hobbyist as well). That's not to say we can figure anything out about it right now, or even that we'll be able to figure it out when the book comes out judging on recent portrayal of chronology. Just curious. No worries if no particular care was taken to portray it accurately; I understand it's complicated, but it could have been made simple if RJ left notes about it. Also curious as to why it didn't show up until the final draft.

MRJackson@235

We didn't talk about it, but I can ask him. Michael has more than a passing interest in astronomy so it's possible.

And M and R are my initials...

MRJackson@238

Michael's response:

The few pages of manuscript I was given to work from didn't have any mention of an eclipse. The subject didn't come up until I had done several conceptual renderings. After sending some of them to TOR I got an email from Irene telling me that if I showed the sky through the mouth of the cave I might want to work an eclipse into the scene.

For reference I looked at a lot of photos of eclipses and liked the idea (for symbolic reasons) of indicating an imminent annular eclipse, the kind where the moon doesn't entirely cover the sun but leaves a thin ring of light in the sky.

Anyone know why his left hand is hidden? I think it is because his hand grows back and they didn't want to give that part away (The Dragon Reborn is causing all sorts of broken things to go good again).

MRJackson@266

Nice thought but Michael was just hiding the stump.

I'm sorry I don't have more specific WoT posts for you—I know that Harriet prefers me to be more closed-mouthed. However...

Brandon Sanderson

Maria from Team Jordan has finished her revision notes for the entire book, as has Harriet herself. So we're only waiting on Alan's notes.

Brandon Sanderson

As he's playing "Great Captain" for me on A Memory of Light, his notes are vital—and he needs to be detailed. When I get them, I can finish revising.

Roberto Sánze

Sooooo...there might be a sooner release date than the current for January?

Brandon Sanderson

It is possible, but I don't know how likely.

Roberto Sánze

Darn, I need to haste to be ready for A Memory of Light once it releases. Is there gonna be a ebook version along with the physical book?

Brandon Sanderson

(Winces.) Harriet has a distrust of ebooks; she prefers to delay the release. It is her call. (Ebook is a few months later.)

Terez

Do we have chapter names yet? Or do you know how many chapters there will be? Or is that a secret?

Brandon Sanderson

No chapter names yet, as it won't be until this draft is finished that I settle on the number of chapters. Some are being combined.

Mark Prybyla

I'm truly hoping this book is 1/3 battles/fights.

Brandon Sanderson

More than 1/3, I'd say...

Daniel Shepard

Forgive me for not understanding, but what does this mean? Release date's not going to change, is it?

Brandon Sanderson

Probably not. It's just a progress update, so people know things are still moving behind-the-scenes.

Richard Collett

How's The Stormlight Archive coming? I need more.

Brandon Sanderson

A Memory of Light comes first. I will get to the next Stormlight book soon, but not until A Memory of Light is done to my satisfaction.

(Facebook)

Yosun Erdemli

So this means we will be reading the final volume sooner than first announced?

Brandon Sanderson

It is possible, but I don't know how likely. I still need to do two drafts, I feel. Then there are beta reads, then proofreads, then we need at least two months to get the books printed and shipped.

Adam Sloan

What does it take to be one of the beta readers?

Brandon Sanderson

Be one of the major members of fandom for years, and personally know Harriet. (Sorry.)

WoT update: Today, I added a new Rand scene to the book. One of many I've been working on, but this one came together first.

Jason Palmer

? Is it a complete NEW scene? If so is it because the editors thought it would fit into the book more, is this the second draft?

Brandon Sanderson

New scene. We often add new scenes in the second, third, or even last drafts of a book.

Greg Lindsey

Feel free to add as much as the binding will allow!! Thanks for everything! By the way do you have an updated word count estimate?

Brandon Sanderson

No updated count yet. We'll see how much more I add this time around—I'm cutting it too.

Daniel Shepard

Can/Will you tell us anything about it? Please? :)

Brandon Sanderson

I'm afraid I can't say much. I try to be extra-careful with WoT scenes out of respect for Harriet.

Simon Draper

When is the last book being published? I can't believe it's the end of the series already.

Brandon Sanderson

January.

Brandon drew a graph of A Memory of Light's structure and explained in some details how he ended up re structuring it as three books. Not much that isn't already known in there, book 12 will have two main story lines (we know it's Rand and Egwene, but as I said Brandon didn't say so explicitly at the Q&A) and teasers for three more (Mat—and seemingly Perrin and Elayne). By 'teasers', Brandon precised he means 3 or 4 chapters per story line, the rest of the chapters being divided between the two main story lines (by recent books, this could means Egwene/Rand have about 10-12 chapters each, or a few more). Some developments happen in the teasers but it's not huge stuff, more like set ups chapters for what happens in book 13.

Book 13 will have the opposite, with 3-4 chapters each for Egwene and Rand, "toward the end". Brandon kept those for book 13 to avoid spoiling in The Gathering Storm the climax of book 13, which will mark the reunion of all the main story lines at some location, and launch Tarmon Gai'don. So in book 13 we will have the residual Rand/Egwene chapters that specifically build up to the reunion.

Brandon explained the decision to split the books this way came about between Harriet and him, in part to avoid the "Crossroads of Twilight trap". Apparently, RJ went that way in Winter's Heart/Crossroads of Twilight mostly because he had been affected by all the grief he got for keeping Mat out of The Path of Daggers. He decided to try to put all the main characters in the next books, even if it meant all the story lines would advance more slowly if they were all told in parallel like this. He very much regretted this after Crossroads of Twilight, for which he got even more grief than for The Path of Daggers, and decided to return to his more organic/uneven approach for Knife of Dreams and A Memory of Light. The original plan for The Gathering Storm was to develop all the story lines in parallel again, but Brandon and Harriet had qualms about this and Brandon came up with an alternative to focus on two story lines in one and three in the other.

There is one of the 'POV clusters' Brandon had written that it mostly unused for The Gathering Storm and will go in book 13.

Brandon of course wouldn't tell who is the character not in The Gathering Storm at all, though he gave a few clues. Piecing all his bits of answers together, the character isn't Aviendha, Cadsuane or Nynaeve, nor Mat (the only character he confirmed is in the two first books, but we already knew this). He basically destroyed the speculation it could be Perrin by hesitating on the words 'major character' and then adding the bit that the vast majority of fans would actually place this character at the very bottom of the list of characters to be considered 'major'. The way he put Elayne over and over among the five really major ones during the Q&A suggests it's not her either after all. He also said while explaining his graph that there were chunks (his "teasers" for three story lines in The Gathering Storm and the core of the story for two—and his 'five' clusters he explicitly said were Rand, Egwene, Perrin, Mat and Elayne.

So perhaps we've read too much in his 'major POV character' comment (Jason's review may also allude to this, when he commented that one major character is missing but it's pretty much up to each reader to decide who is major and not in WOT). At some point, he said a major POV character in A Memory of Light will be missing in The Gathering Storm, which is not exactly the same as saying a major POV character from the earlier books isn't in The Gathering Storm—which is the way his previous comment was interpreted by many.

Dom

Lan isn't a major POV character in the earlier books, but now he's on his own he may very well become one in A Memory of Light.

In any case, I'm more and more thinking it's Lan (or possibly Moiraine), not Elayne or Perrin which I doubt many would place 'at the very bottom' of the list of characters to be considered major. Most people would place Elayne not near the bottom at all but among the top 7 or 8 most important characters. Above Moiraine and Lan, Thom, Loial and probably even Min and Aviendha.

When I met Brandon on the book signing tour, they gave us a sticky to write what we wanted him to write what we wanted. I am the proud owner of the only copy that says:

"To Kristi, I promise Demandred will be in A Memory of Light!"

I asked if I was right in thinking that RJ had saved the best for last, and Brandon simply said as far as the Shadow is concerned, the main player will be Demandred.

[long spiel about how Demandred is awesome and sexy and the only Forsaken that has not been killed, captured, or punished]

I said as much to Brandon, saying I expected a RAFO to that. He said that all he could say would be that point would be addressed at a further point in the books.

RAFO.

aurik

But I've already read Book 13; that's why I'm asking.

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO after A Memory of Light.

Harriet mentioned in the Kaffeklatsch that it was possible A Memory of Light would end up being too big to fit in one volume, and so it might end up two books. But then Sanderson in the status update really didn't leave much opening that it would at all be possible. So.....

That was the one shocker that I heard personally, but there could be others. Oh yeah and A Memory of Light released November 2012, but I'm sure that's been mentioned somewhere else.

Isabel

She hinted at that it would be a big book. I think that she said something that if A Memory of Light would be something like 500,000 words it would have to be split.

She could be preparing me for a small chance that it would be that big.

Another question commonly asked is whether Michael Kramer and Kate Reading will return to voice the audiobook for A Memory of Light. The answer is yes, and the audiobook will definitely be released the same day as the hardcover.

@Terez27 Trying to figure out who the gay character was that @BrandSanderson put in Towers of Midnight. Was it Androl?

Terez

That is my best guess. I wonder if we scared him away from going through with that...'twas very controversial.

The place wasn't right in Towers of Midnight. Gay character is in A Memory of Light. It's really not a big deal; just a small mention.

Brandon Sanderson

I will say, at this point, that it is a character RJ mentioned was gay in the notes, so I noted it in the text.

Terez

[Links to following tweet from this conversation.]

Brandon Sanderson (20 March 2011)

I won't say if it's a new character or one I made a decision on, since there weren't notes either way.

Terez (13 July 2012)

I'm guessing that's a product of Twitter being a bad place for trying to say things clearly. The older tweet was confusing anyway.

Brandon Sanderson

Wow, that was indeed confusing. I don't even know what I was trying to say.

Brandon Sanderson

What I remember typing was "I won't tell you if it's something RJ had in notes or not."

I debated writing this because you seem like a genuinely nice guy who cares about his fans, and I don't want to hurt your feelings. If you find it difficult to read criticism, please don't read any further.

To be honest, I am hoping that you won't write the outriggers/prequels because it seems to me like your heart's just not in it anymore. In 2011 you announced that you needed time off to reread the entire series before starting work on A Memory of Light since you'd forgotten too much and this had led to continuity issues in Towers of Midnight. But according to your own website, you only reread a third of the series, then went on to work on Alloy of Law, Legion, The Emperor's Soul, The Rithmatist... As someone who enjoyed Way of Kings a great deal, I'm glad that you've continued to work on your own books, but the fact that you abandoned the reread does make me worry about the quality of A Memory of Light. If you cannot give WoT as much time and attention as it needs, it's better to let it go.

Another big issue for me is the characterization. You're great at writing Perrin and also did a good job with Rand and the girls for the most part. Others felt off, and that unfortunately includes the main characters the outriggers and prequels would focus on. I'll leave out Mat since that's been discussed to death already, but Lan and Moiraine's scenes in Towers of Midnight were a huge disappointment for me. Lan has always been a favorite of mine, but here he came off as a whiny combination of Gawyn and Perrin. He's a grown man in his late 40s, not a sulky teenager.

Then there's Moiraine, now ready to give up all her power if only Thom tells her to. Yes, her captivity undoubtedly changed her, but at her core, she is someone who was ready to sacrifice everyone and everything to win the Last Battle, including herself. So it didn't seem right for Moiraine to offer to give up an important tool like the angreal.

""Egwene, I know what you feel for Rand, but you must realize by now that nothing can come of it. He belongs to the Pattern, and to history."—Moiraine, The Shadow Rising

For an instant she regretted sending Thom away. She did not like having to waste her time with these petty affairs. But he had too much influence with Rand; the boy had to depend on her counsel. Hers, and hers alone.—Moiraine, The Shadow Rising

That had been one of Moiraine's more succinct bits of advice. Never let them see you weaken.—Rand, Lord of Chaos

I happen to like Moiraine a lot, but there's no denying she was partly responsible for Rand thinking he needed to be hard. Yet in Towers of Midnight you have Rand speak of how caring she was; even Mat and Nynaeve sing her praises. You seem to be trying to retcon Moiraine into a saintly figure she never was. All WoT characters have major flaws; Moiraine's was that she treated people as chess pieces that sometimes needed to be sacrificed for the greater good. In The Shadow Rising she intentionally tried to separate Rand from his friends so she could be the only person influencing him. It wasn't until Rhuidean that she discovered firsthand what it felt like to be the person forced to make the ultimate sacrifice, and she finally became the advisor Rand needed. But even then she was still manipulating him and encouraging him to be hard, so obviously she hadn't changed completely. To ignore her flaws and mistakes is to do the character a disservice and hides her growth in The Fires of Heaven.

This is getting long, so I'll wrap it up here. I hope this made sense and that I didn't hurt your feelings. I still think you're a very talented writer and look forward to reading both A Memory of Light and the next Stormlight book.

Well, thanks for the thoughts. I will take the comments for what they are worth, and appreciate your sincerity.

By way of correction, I do want to point out that Alloy of Law, Legion, and The Rithmatist were all written BEFORE I started work on A Memory of Light. The only thing I've written during A Memory of Light was The Emperor's Soul, which is a short work I wrote on the flight home from Taiwan earlier in the year. I have always stopped my main projects for side ones. It is part of what keeps me fresh. Alcatraz was in the middle of Mistborn, Rithmatist in the middle of Liar of Partinel (which I decided not to publish; it was the last book I wrote before the WoT came my way.) Legion was during Towers of Midnight. Emperor's Soul during A Memory of Light.

My heart is completely in it—that I can assure you. I stopped the re-read because I was just too eager to be working on the book, and I'd already re-read (the last year) books 9-11 in working to get Perrin and Mat down for Towers of Midnight. But your complaint is valid. I did not re-read 6-8, except for spot reading. I kept telling myself I needed to get to them, but I was too deeply into the writing by that point.

As for where I misfired on characterization, I apologize. In some cases, I don't see them the same way as you do. In other cases, I am doing a worse job than RJ would have, and the failings are mine. I don't want to diminish your opinion, as it is valid. I certainly have struggled with some characters more than others.

Though, for the scene with Moiraine and Thom you quote above...I, uh, didn't write that scene, my friend. That one was RJ in its entirety, and was one of the most complete scenes he left behind.

ashan_darei

Brandon, thank you for the thoughtful response. I understand that it's very difficult for most authors to read criticism (let alone reply to it), so I appreciate that you took the time to read and reply.

I'd like to stress that I wholeheartedly agree with Neil Gaiman's "GRRM is not your bitch" post and hope it didn't come across like I thought you shouldn't be working on anything besides WoT. Side projects are very much a good thing (happy and creative authors→better books), and I am personally excited about your upcoming books. It was mainly the fact that you seemed to have given up on the reread that felt like a reason for concern since you had previously said you needed to refresh your memory to avoid a repeat of Towers of Midnight's continuity errors. It also made me worry that you had gotten weary of working on A Memory of Light, which would have been understandable given that it's a very time-consuming and demanding project that you've already spent 4-5 years on. I'm glad to hear this is not the case.

"In some cases, I don't see them the same way as you do."

That's not something I object to since we all have different perceptions of the characters. In most cases I understand where you are coming from even if your interpretation differs somewhat from mine. Unlike me, you also have access to all sorts of character notes and spoilers about their futures.

However, in some cases it felt like your personal love or dislike of certain characters also played a strong role. To put it bluntly, it's easy to tell that Perrin, Egwene and Moiraine are your favorites since they've received a disproportionate amount of PoVs or praise from other characters, Egwene in particular (how many scenes do we need where people talk about how brilliant, clever and talented Egwene is?). I don't know how much you follow other WoT boards, but there's been a lot of debate in fandom as to whether Egwene has become too much of a Mary Sue-type character who easily defeats supposedly shrewd political opponents and is constantly praised by other characters, often at the expense of people like Siuan. It's impossible for a writer to remain completely objective, and your background as a fan is on the whole one of your biggest strengths, but sometimes things like that can feel jarring. I would not want to see the same happen to a complex, flawed and interesting character like Moiraine.

"Though, for the scene with Moiraine and Thom you quote above...I, uh, didn't write that scene, my friend. That one was RJ in its entirety, and was one of the most complete scenes he left behind."

I have to admit, this comes as a surprise to me, partly because of Moiraine's seemingly uncharacteristic offer to surrender almost all her power for Thom's sake and partly because she used contractions in this scene (in the New Spring graphic novel, there's a note from Jordan informing the comic writers that Moiraine never uses contractions). She and Thom seemed to have a mutual respect and attraction in the early books, but spent very little time together, so I would not have expected any full-blown love or a marriage proposal at this point. It just seemed very strange for Moiraine to be willing to sacrifice her only chance at regaining her strength when she's barely even thought about Thom in her PoVs before. But since Jordan wrote that scene, there's nothing to do but accept that it's where he wanted to take the characters.

Brandon Sanderson

Re: Contractions Interesting story here. Harriet and Team Jordan worried about my use of contractions in places that RJ did not. It seemed very striking to them. Their first instinct was to go through and change it, after the fact, in order to match RJ's style.

Harriet didn't like how that looked. She felt that my style needed to be blended with RJ's, rather than taking my style and forcing it to fit into something else. So it was decided that one of her tasks, as editor, would be to blend the writing after it was put together. She'd go through and make scenes feel right together, and would blend the two styles like a painter blending paint.

So, she takes away contractions from me where she feels they need to go and she actually adds them to RJ's writing where she thinks it needs to be blended. I was curious if that was the case here, so I went back to the original notes.

And it turns out RJ wrote the scene with contractions. Most likely, he was planning to trim them out with editing. Remember, even the most complete scenes we have from him are first drafts. In fact, in some of them, the tense is wrong. (Much of this Moiraine/Thom/Mat scene is in present tense. )

An example from the notes is:

He puts the angreal on her wrist, and says 'I'll marry you now.'

In revision, this line turned into:

He put the bracelet back on her wrist. "I'll marry you now, if you wish it."

Anyway, I don't want to spend too much time defending myself, because that's not the point of your post. Really, the most important thing for me to say is that I understand. I'll do my best, and criticism like this is important to me. (Particularly on the Wheel of Time books, where I feel that listening to fan direction is important for gauging how well I'm doing on the characters.) It was fan criticism that brought me around to finally seeing what I was doing wrong with Mat, and (hopefully) making some strides toward writing him more accurate to himself.

Oh yes. There will be NO doubt in anyone's mind what Rands fate will be at the end. It will sure to surprise and amaze people. When Jim (RJ) told me how the series ended I just shook my head and said, "Bubba, that is just beautiful. Just beautiful." So yes, you will all know.

Austin Moore

Ok, I was afraid that might get a read and find out type answer so thanks for assuring us that Rand's fate will not be open-ended for interpretation.

Wilson Grooms

Yep, there will be a definite confirmation by the end of what happens to him.

Here's a video I took at LibertyCon of Brandon reading the A Memory of Light opening again. No new text (he actually stops a few paragraphs short) but he does talk about about why he structured the scene as he did. Sorry for the shakiness, it was taken on my iPhone (my arms were pretty sore near the end!).

(Transcript)

So, the last wind scene. I spent a long time thinking about this one, and what I would do with this, because Jim had intended one book, so from the notes you can guess that there was only one wind scene indicated, and I had three to do, because of three books, and it felt very appropriate for me, as I was going over it, to have the wind come out of the Two Rivers. It felt appropriate to me; it felt thematic with the first book—if you go back and look at the wind scene from the first book—and I actually had it blow across the course of book one, basically. We don't get all the way up where book one is, but we head out to Caemlyn, and then they kind of veer off. The point of this scene is kind of...again, it set everything that's been happening—where we are, and what's going on—but I also felt that this is a book of contrasts. This is a book of stark, stark whites and deep, deep blacks. It's named A Memory of Light for that reason, and so I wanted to end the scene at Rand laughing, with warm light spilling out of his tent, and that's kind of what we've got going on there—the contrast that's going on in this land—and there is this pool of light right there, represented in him, and that's our metaphor for this whole book: death, destruction, and the Dragon Reborn.

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.

Brandon Sanderson
Written July 30th, 2012
Posted August 1st, 2012

It probably will end up being the last actual writing, will be that scene.

Question

Is it sort of like, you know, cathartic to you, or is it...you're so close to the end...

Brandon Sanderson

I'm so close to the end...ask me after the end. It's really weird, adding these new scenes. It's kinda like the shawarma scene from The Avengers...you know, they added that way after the fact, and that becomes their last touch—of course they'll probably do a sequel and things—but it's weird to add these scenes that are just right in the middle of the book, and that's actually the last writing you do, and that's the last writing you'll do on the Wheel of Time, if I don't add any more scenes, it will be this random little scene that's really just there to patch a hole, where I'm like "Oh, I haven't...you know, never mentioned this; I didn't foreshadow this correctly; I need an extra little scene here." It's by no means the most powerful scene in the book—it's a set-up scene, and it might end up being the last scene that I did—so if you ask me after the book's out, I'll tell you what it is.

Yeah, the battle scenes were the toughest part of A Memory of Light, definitely. At least the toughest for me, because it's not necessarily something I naturally excel at. I think I'm okay at it. I've read a lot of books...but I've read a lot of books. I haven't done it. Fortunately, Alan Romanczuk has done it. He was a soldier and Jim was a soldier, so I'm really relying a lot on him for getting it to feel right. You know, my book learning only gets me so far in the way that tactics are done and the way a battlefield plays out. So, that's been one of the big slow-downs for this. The other big slow-down for this has been just making sure we get everything in there. There are a lot of things that need to go in the book and there are some things that aren't going to make it. Jim said that certain things don't get resolved, and there are certain things we just didn't have time for and we said, "Okay, this just doesn't get resolved." And I'm sorry about that. He warned you, I will warn you: there are some non-resolutions.

Joe O'Hara

I don't know how other people would feel about that, but I kind of enjoy that. To me, that's where a fandom would go. We can continue to speculate and wonder and think about.

Jennifer Liang

Yeah, it gives us something to talk about. We can ride that or like ten years at least. (laughter)

Jeffrey Daniel

JordanCon will be good for a while. We'll have a lot of talking panels on that one.

Brandon Sanderson

I will try to keep them quiet. There are two deleted scenes from the book that actually covered very interesting things. And after the books are out I will give you guys some hints and then you can spend the next ten years deciding what was in them.

Jennifer Liang

Yeah, we'll ask you some really weird questions over the next ten years. We used to do that to Robert Jordan. We'd ask him very oblique questions, hinting at the thing we really wanted to know, because we were like doing process of elimination, and logic trees and...yeah, he caught on.

Not really. I could tell you, and the reason is that the number...I've worked out the number of pages because the computer tells me, and as Brandon sends us parts, and I've added them all together with a pencil. But this is in 12-point type, and it includes a lot of editorial back-and-forth, so it's looking fat. But it's skinnier than it looks. And there are some sections Brandon and I are having—well, even one I don't think he's seen yet—animated conversations about cutting. Well see, I really hesitate very deeply to say because 12-point type is a lot bigger than 10-point, and then you have to adjust from manuscript page to printed and on and on...I think probably at least eight hundred.

Maria Simons

It's gonna be fat.

Harriet McDougal

It will at least be pleasingly plump. (laughter).

Melissa Craib

Just big-boned.

Alan Romanczuk

And it'll look great on the bookshelf.

Melissa Craib

Absolutely, very impressive!

I'll be reading a new section from A Memory of Light at Dragon*Con. My complete schedule is here.

Brandon Sanderson (2 September)

Tor dot com has posted the excerpt from A Memory of Light that I'm reading today.

W.S.E. (3 September)

A little disgusted that you included a throwaway line about Tylin raping Mat. Still buying the book though. Probably twice.

Brandon Sanderson

Hard to ignore that it happened, returning to the city as he was.

Luckers

... you re-awakened the Mat/Tylin sexual assault vs. super funny joke fury. Ahh the indignant fandom. *sighs*

Brandon Sanderson

*sighs in agreement*

W.S.E.

I feel the same way about all the characters saying "you go Tylin" in A Crown of Swords, too.

Brandon Sanderson

It is one of the WoT's most controversial sequences, to be sure.

Brandon Sanderson (4 September)

The three excerpts of A Memory of Light that have been released so far: http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/04/a-memory-of-light-prologue-excerpt http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/07/read-an-excerpt-from-chapter-one-of-a-memory-of-light http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/09/a-memory-of-light-chapter-11-excerpt

The prologue ebook for A Memory of Light, "By Grace and Banners Fallen," is up for preorder on Dragonmount. Other vendors to follow.

Austin Moore

After prologue is released on October 2nd, will you be able to say which part of it was all RJ?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Sam Tills

Will this be part of the whole book when it comes out, or will it only be sold separately?

Brandon Sanderson

Tor and Harriet like to sell the prologue early as a separate ebook. It will be the same one in the final book.

Brian LeP

I know that this isn't your idea, but selling the prologue is a brutal cash grab. I'll save my $3 and wait for the book.

Brandon Sanderson

I have made it clear both to fans and Tor that I do not like this process. But you are right, I do not get to choose.

Jasmin

No normal book??? Only an ebook??

Brandon Sanderson

Tor releases the prologue of each WoT early as a for-sale ebook. It is the same one that will be in the print edition in January.

Footnote

On September 17, the prologue showed up for sale on Google Books in Canada, including some revealing previews that tempted fans (aside from the Canadians who were able to buy it) to piece together the prologue from Google Book searches. Predictably, chaos ensued.

Peter Ahlstrom (17 September)

I blame Canada.

sleepinghour

Last time it was some guy in China with an early Towers of Midnight copy. But Canada was the dark horse nobody saw coming. #amolgate

Terez

I hope moving up release date is a possibility, elsewise a little black market will emerge very soon...

Footnote

I should disclose that I was essentially the ringleader of the put-the-prologue-together team, but I wasn't trying to make a threat here. It wasn't even my idea, and if I hadn't organized it, someone else would have; that's just how things go in the WoT world. But I was really referring to the possibility that some of the Canadians would share the whole prologue, or even sell it.

Terez

I'm going to pretend like Brandon did this on purpose. #wotgh

Peter Ahlstrom

Now I just blame Google. What a cluster****.

sleepinghour (September 18)

What's sad about the prologue leak is that Harriet and others in publishing will likely see this as proof ebook releases should be delayed.

Mike Beckwith

Wow. I know I'd be pretty pissed. Wonder how Sanderson feels about it. @BrandSanderson Spoiler thoughts?

sleepinghour

Google's stopped the sale now, but some people already have copies and shared spoilers. So Harriet & Co. probably aren't happy.

Brandon Sanderson

I'm not fond of spoilers, but I can't see the original comment, so I don't know the specifics of this discussion.

Brandon Sanderson

This sort of thing happens. I don't really mind, personally. Harriet is probably upset, however.

Brandon Sanderson

If you're the type who wants the $2.99 A Memory of Light prologue ebook, it will be available September 19th instead of October 2nd.

Brandon Stetter

Is that correct? The ebook will be available tomorrow instead of October 2nd? Pre-order or not?

Brandon Sanderson

I believe so.

Austin Moore (September 19)

Was the RJ part of the prologue the Bayrd scene?

Brandon Sanderson

No, actually. It was the Isam part, though I filled in a hole in the middle of the scene.

Tor Nordam

Looking forward to it. But do you know when it'll be available in Europe?

Brandon Sanderson

I don't know, I'm afraid. That is up to the UK publisher, and I don't think ebooks are as big a concern to them as they are here.

Étienne Bausson

Where can European people get it from? Dragonmount won't sell it to me. Do I have to go for a torrent?

Brandon Sanderson

The problem is that Tor doesn't have rights to sell it in Europe. It's a frustrating system, but Orion UK has the European rights.

Brandon Sanderson

The system made more sense back before ebooks; a European company needed assurance US publishers wouldn't flood their markets.

Étienne Bausson

I will check Orion UK once at work. Thanks for the tip!

Brandon Sanderson

Warning: they might have been planning to release it in October. This whole "Release it two weeks early" thing surprised us.

Brandon Sanderson

It's because of leaked copies in Canada. (Also, it's Orbit in UK—not Orion. I get them mixed up.)

Aulis Vaara (20 September)

What is your opinion on the North American exclusivity of the A Memory Of Light prologue?

Brandon Sanderson

It's because Tor doesn't have rights to sell anywhere else; Orbit UK has those rights. If you want the book, ask them.

Brandon Sanderson

I wish Orbit had it out too, and I'm seeing what I can do. But it is their call.

Brandon Sanderson

Tor has a post indicating that the A Memory of Light prologue ebook is now for sale in select countries outside the U.S.

Brandon Sanderson

Note that this doesn't include countries where Orbit UK has rights to the books. To buy it there, you'll need to ask them to release it.

Danny Hooper

Who do we contact to ask them to release it? Is there an email address we can write to?

Brandon Sanderson

They have a form on their website. That might work.

Michael

Where can Australian fans get a copy of the WOT release?

Brandon Sanderson

Orbit UK owns the rights. They'd have to either release it or authorize Dragonmount. You can email them through their website.

Lane Thompson

Is the prologue going to come out in audio or do I need to pick it up the written down on magic pixel paper version?

Brandon Sanderson

No audio I'm aware of. (Until the full book is out, of course.)

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, just saw that there was one. Never mind.

Marc Taylor

Any idea as to when will Weller @WellerBookWorks starts taking autograph orders for A Memory of Light?

Brandon Sanderson

Not sure.

Daniel Shepard (21 September)

By grace and banners fallen. Was that your line or RJ's? Exquisitely eloquent if I say so myself.

Brandon Sanderson

How bad is this? I honestly can't remember. It's one of my favorite lines, but I don't know if it was in the notes or not.

Jonny Nilsson

Will it be possible to order A Memory of Light signed, like the previous two books?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, it should be.

Brandon Sanderson (24 September)

Jason of Dragonmount writes the world's first review of A Memory of Light in the form of a touching letter to Robert Jordan.

Not much new, he did give a working title for the new book though, A Memory of Light...

Let's see here. Harriet killed a character in the book that I did not intend to kill. So I wrote the entire book with a character living and she killed this character.

Question

Did she tell you right before you finished, or what?

Brandon Sanderson

She sent back the draft and said "This person dies."

Question

So did you have to change a lot?

Brandon Sanderson

So they succumb to their wounds. I intended them to live, so there is a character who died unexpectedly. So that's a slight spoiler. There is like a chapter that's over a hundred pages. It's a Super Chapter.

Question

Did you have to invent any of it yourself, or did Jordan leave a lot of it for you?

Brandon Sanderson

He left some of it for me, and then I had to make the rest. As you're reading through the books, probably about half and half. Half will be stuff that he wrote notes on, half will be stuff that I wrote.

Question

Do you feel like it comes pretty easy?

Brandon Sanderson

Some of it does. I mean I've been reading since I was a kid. So some of the characters like Perrin is very natural for me. And Rand's super natural for me. Others are a little less natural for me.

Question

Like Mat.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, like Mat. Mat's harder for me to write.

Question

Why is that?

Brandon Sanderson

Because Mat is very complex. Not to say that Perrin's not, but Perrin's straightforward. You know what I mean? Perrin says what he means, and does what he means. Mat says the opposite of what he means, and does the opposite of what he says. Making that tone correct for that is very hard. He's one part rapscallion, the other part Awesomeness. And balancing when he's playing the fool, and when he's just being awesome is very hard to get that balance down, because you don't want it to be silly, you know he can play the fool a bit but he shouldn't be silly. Otherwise it won't match from when he's being Awesome as well, if that makes sense.

RAFO.

Loialson

Dangit.

Brandon Sanderson

I don't want to say anything about that because there's a potential confrontation coming up between all of these folks, and so there may be mention made of what various people knew and didn't know.

Loialson

Okay.

Brandon Sanderson

It's not a big RAFO—it's not like there's some big secret there—but I don't want to say anything that's going to spoil a potential read of scenes that are coming.

Yes, he does.

Loialson

Okay, cause we've been trying to figure out who the heck is it, and we can't figure it out. We're thinking Roedran, but it's like, too obvious.

Brandon Sanderson

Loialson

Is he in Randland?

Brandon Sanderson

I won't say whether or not he's in Randland.

Fan

He's not in Shara! He can't be in Shara!

Oh, I'm TOTALLY gonna RAFO that. Come ON! Come on. You KNEW I was gonna RAFO that. That's very important to the book.

Loialson

Okay, related: Moridin says 'the one who is punished the most'. Obviously that's gotta be Cyndane, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, yes. That is Cyndane.

Loialson

So, is it possible that what happened in the epilogue, she was really going through that torture?

Brandon Sanderson

You will have to see it. RAFO. Okay, like someone [?] related. I don't think, by the way...when you read the book, what Cyndane is up to should be of paramount importance to you, and DO NOT believe everything that you think happens in the book.

Loialson

From her point of view, or from our point of view?

Brandon Sanderson

From your point of view, regarding her.

Loialson

Oh, boy.

Ah. Yes. You have before. [To Maria] You're wanting to nod. [To questioner.] Maria's here. [To Maria] Do you want to handle this one?

Maria Simons

I can't remember details, but there's a scene where Mat remembers being on both sides of a battle.

Fans

Because he rode for and against Hawkwing.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. So in this last book, Mat's memories will certainly play a part. That's a very nice RAFO.

Brandon pointed that Jordan himself began that trend in the prologues; "Embers Falling on Dry Grass" being among Sanderson's favorite uses of that device, and revealed that readers should expect even more in the final volume.

How many more?

Upwards of 80. In a single chapter. That’s around 70,000 words and which takes place near the end of A Memory of Light. (We're very curious to see if that chapter is titled "Tarmon Gai'don.")

Hi all, this is Brandon Sanderson, fresh off of finishing the last book of The Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, and I'm here to introduce the story collection Unfettered to you. Shawn Speakman is putting together—actually asked all of us to do something like this, to talk about how we got involved in the project—he first approached me when I was on tour—it was probably I guess for Alloy of Law—and he explained that he was having...he had a lot of medical bills—Shawn has had some health troubles lately—and he's a good friend of a lot of us in the community, and he was looking to put together an anthology to maybe help to defray some of these costs, at the suggestion of Terry Brooks. And he just asked if I'd be interested; he said, "Really, it could be anything." That's why he's calling it "Unfettered", is because he didn't want to put any restrictions; in fact, he said it could be deleted scenes, it could be any sort of material relating to anything we wanted to do. He sounded most interested in something relating to one of my worlds that I've already written in, but he really said it could be anything.

Well, I wasn't sure I'd be able to be involved, because A Memory of Light has taken...it was taking quite a bit of my time. It's quite the big project, and finding any time at all to work on anything else was really difficult. At the same time, however, there's a sequence of viewpoints in A Memory of Light—and I'm not at liberty yet to say who it is, but it's a character that you will know—that I was working on that were somewhat more daring than some of the viewpoints I've done. I wanted to try and give some deeper backstory to someone, and at the end of the day, showing the scenes to Harriet, we all liked them, but they didn't fit in the book. Harriet felt that they were too distracting, because of the new, sort of...new things I was adding, the things I was fleshing out. This is something that sometimes you want to avoid in storytelling, where you're near the end of the climax, introducing new concepts to kind of distract and derail.

She felt that these scenes were doing that, and so after some discussion, we decided that they should be cut. And I always kind of felt sad, because while I agree that they were distracting, I really felt that they were strong and that they added a lot to the character, and give a lot of extra motivation—a lot of extra poignancy to some of the things going on in A Memory of Light—and so I began to think maybe this would be the place for them. I approached Harriet, and she said she thought that was a good idea.

So what we'll be doing, it's a story called "River of Souls" but it's actually a sequence of deleted scenes. They are a complete arc for a certain character; they are meant to be read companionly to A Memory of Light. It's not going to make a whole lot of sense if you haven't read at least the rest of the Wheel of Time, but I find them very exciting; I think you'll really like them, and I think this is a good place for them because they won't be distracting from the rest of the story.

So, "River of Souls" is going to be part of the Unfettered anthology which has lots of wonderful other people in it—in fact I'm honored to have a story in there, to be alongside some of the names that are in this anthology—and I really wish Shawn the best. He's been a wonderful help to me in my career, and to a lot of the writers out there, so I hope you guys enjoy reading Unfettered, and look forward to reading "River of Souls", and once A Memory of Light is out, I'll be able to talk a little bit more about this character, why these scenes were important, and what's going on there.

Footnote

Peter added a clarification to this on Dragonmount.

Peter Ahlstrom

It was actually Harriet's suggestion that this go in the anthology. When we talked to her about Unfettered around the time of JordanCon, we asked her about including a completely different and much shorter deleted scene. She said no to that but suggested this sequence instead.

A question I had, if you're still answering. I believe you said on your blog that the "very last scene" is Robert Jordan's, and touched very little by you.

Could you please specify what you mean in this? (Last scene of the main story arc, last section of the epilogue, last section of the last chapter, etc)

Thanks for all the work you have put into the series!

AreYouReadyToReddit

BigRedDSP

Brandon Sanderson

moose_man

Brandon Sanderson

moose_man

AlphaTender

Brandon Sanderson

'A Memory of Light' has a 50,000 word chapter with 70-80 character viewpoints.

Sarkos

Brandon Sanderson