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==External links==
==External links==
* [http://us.macmillan.com/series/WheelofTime Wheel of Time at Macmillan]
* [http://www.dragonmount.com]
* [http://www.brandonsanderson.com/ Brandon Sanderson's Website]
* [http://www.brandonsanderson.com/ Brandon Sanderson's Website]


Revision as of 17:31, 14 August 2009

Template:Future book

A Memory of Light
AuthorRobert Jordan with Brandon Sanderson
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Wheel of Time
GenreFantasy
PublisherTor Books, Orbit Books
Publication placeUnited States

A Memory of Light was the intended title of the final book of the fantasy series The Wheel of Time, written by American author Robert Jordan.

It was incomplete as of the time of Jordan's death on September 16, 2007 from cardiac amyloidosis; his widow Harriet McDougal and publisher Tom Doherty chose to publish the book posthumously. Tor Books announced that Brandon Sanderson had been chosen to finish writing the book. Though originally intended by Jordan to be a single volume, it was split into three volumes when it was believed a single volume would be too large to print. The first volume is titled The Gathering Storm, and is set for publication on November 3, 2009. The volumes as a whole may still be titled A Memory of Light however there has been no final confirmation other then preliminary working titles of the following two novels.[1][2]

Plot

No details concerning the plot were released. The series' storyline has been leading up to the "Last Battle" (Tarmon Gai'don); a fight between the forces of Light and Shadow. According to prophecy in the series the protagonist Rand al'Thor, as the Dragon Reborn, will "fight the [battle]", and must be present for the forces of Light to have a chance at winning.[3][4] This battle will feature prominently in the final book.[5] Brandon Sanderson has signed a non-disclosure agreement forbidding him from commenting on the plot.[6]

Jordan claimed to know what would happen in the final scene of the final book before he started the first.[7][8]

Development

Robert Jordan, illness and death

Jordan began writing A Memory of Light before the release of the previous book Knife of Dreams in 2005.[9] Scheduled for publication by Tor Books in 2009, it was intended to conclude the series, which began in 1990 with The Eye of the World, originally intended as series of four or five books.[7] According to Forbes, Jordan had intended for it to be the final book "even if it reaches 2,000 pages." After Jordan fell fatally ill in December 2005 from a rare blood disease, cardiac amyloidosis,[10][11] he still intended to finish at least A Memory of Light if the "worse comes to worst."[12] Later he made preparations in case he was not able to finish the book, "I'm getting out notes, so if the worst actually happens, someone could finish A Memory of Light and have it end the way I want it to end."[13] The book was not completed at the time of Jordan's death on September 16, 2007.[14] His widow Harriet McDougal and his publisher, Tor Books president Tom Doherty made the decision to have the book completed posthumously, with McDougal saying "I am sad to see the series end. But I would be far more distressed to leave it unfinished, incomplete and dangling forever."[15][16]

On December 11, 2007, 4 months after Jordan's death, it was announced that McDougal had chosen Brandon Sanderson to finish the final book in the series,[17] although the decision itself had been made the preceding month.[18] Sanderson had been chosen partly because McDougal liked his novels, and partly because of a eulogy he had written for Jordan.[16][19]

Brandon Sanderson, split and The Gathering Storm

Brandon Sanderson was chosen to continue the book after Jordan's death

Brandon Sanderson was devastated by the news of Jordan's death; he is a fan of the series and he cites Jordan as an inspiration.[16][17][20] He is known for the novel Elantris and the Mistborn series. He did not want to imitate Jordan's style as he felt it would "turn into parody."[5]

Sanderson said in an interview with Sci Fi Wire that it was a great honor to be given the chance to complete the series but stated "To be perfectly honest, I can't fill [Jordan's] shoes." Some parts of the book were nearly finished by Jordan, while others have only a couple of paragraphs to describe a twenty page scene, but he describes Jordan's notes as "amazing."[6] Through February 2008 Sanderson reread the entire series, posting his impressions of each book on his blog.[21]

It was confirmed at a panel at the 2008 World Science Fiction Convention that Jordan had completed 50,000 words of the book before he died, with the largest sections of complete text being the prologue and the end.[22] Whilst Sanderson was working to a target of 400,000 words by the end of December 2008 early in his work on the final book,[23] Sanderson now estimates the final length of A Memory of Light to be at least 700,000 words.[18] It is likely that Jordan's widow and editor, Harriet McDougal, will contribute some kind of foreword to the final volume.[22]

Information emerged on the Internet pertaining to the book, with a draft cover suggesting it was to be split into volumes.[24] On March 30, 2009 Tor Books confirmed A Memory of Light was to be split into three volumes the first of which, The Gathering Storm, will be released on November 3, 2009.[25] The other as of yet unnamed volumes are planned to be released over a period of two years.[18]

Although Jordan himself had promised only a single book,[13][26] according to Sanderson neither Jordan's widow nor Doherty believed he could achieve this. Sanderson claimed that he could not do the story and characters justice with a single volume, so a split was inevitable. The decision was made to split the final book into three separate volumes, rather than two, so that a reasonably sized and unfractured volume could be released at the promised November 2009 date.[18] Sanderson has stated that had the book remained as a single volume, it would not have been able to be released before November 2011, and likely would have been so large as to be unpublishable.[18]

The first volume was originally intended to be titled A Memory of Light: Gathering Clouds. The other volumes had working subtitles of Shifting Winds and Tarmon Gai'don for the second and third installments respectively. At the point the title A Memory of Light was dropped because book stores were worried it would be confusing, Sanderson decided the subtitle Gathering Clouds was "too generic, too basic" to be used as a title on its own. McDougal decided upon The Gathering Storm based on suggestions from Doherty. Sanderson states he considers the name to be "one of the more bland Wheel of Time titles."[18] The book as a whole will still be titled A Memory of Light.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.brandonsanderson.com/page/56/A-Memory-of-Light-Progress-Bar-FAQ
  2. ^ http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article/56/Splitting-AMOL
  3. ^ Jordan, Robert (1997-11-06). "The Prophecies of the Dragon". The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (UK paperback reprint ed.). Orbit Books. pp. 415–417. ISBN 1-84149-026-1. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Jordan, Robert (2005-09-25). "Dumb Evil?". Robert Jordan's Blog. Dragonmount. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  5. ^ a b Neuman, Clayton (2009-05-18). "Novelist Brandon Sanderson Discusses the End of The Wheel of Time". AMC. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  6. ^ a b "Light Will Shine For Time". Sci Fi Wire. Sci Fi Channel. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  7. ^ a b Baum, Michele (2000-12-07). "Robert Jordan's 'The Wheel of Time': Fantasy, epic-style". CNN.com. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  8. ^ "Robert Jordan chats about his 'Wheel of Time' series". CNN. 2000-12-12. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  9. ^ Jordan, Robert (2005-09-15). "(no subject)". Robert Jordan's Blog. Dragonmount. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  10. ^ Cheang, Michael (2007-09-23). "Wheel of time stops". The Star Online. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  11. ^ Thompson, Bill (2007-09-17). "Robert Jordan dies at age 58". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  12. ^ Jordan, Robert (2006-03-24). "Sorry About the Premature Announcement". Robert Jordan's Blog. Dragonmount. Retrieved 2009-04-11. Worse comes to worst, I will finish A Memory of Light, so the main story arc, at least, will be completed
  13. ^ a b Clark, Hannah (2006-12-01). "My Author, My Life". Forbes. Retrieved 2007-09-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Smith, Bruce (2007-09-17). "Robert Jordan; Wrote 'Wheel of Time' Fantasy Novels". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  15. ^ "Robert Jordan's International Bestselling Wheel of Time(R) Series Begins the Final Book This November 2009". Fox Business. News Corporation. 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  16. ^ a b c Wilcox, Brad (2008-12-03). "Bringing Robert Jordan's 'Wheel of Time' to a close". Los Angeles Times. Eddy Hartenstein. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  17. ^ a b "Tor announces that the final novel in bestselling Robert Jordan's legendary Wheel of Time fantasy series will be completed by author Brandon Sanderson". 2007-12-07. Archived from the original on 2008-02-01. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  18. ^ a b c d e f Sanderson, Brandon (2009-03). "Splitting AMOL". Retrieved 2009-04-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Sanderson, Brandon. "Wheel Of Time FAQ". Brandon Sanderson official site. Dragonsteel Ent. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  20. ^ Sanderson, Brandon (2007-09-19). "EUOLogy: Goodbye Mr. Jordan". Brandon Sanderson's Blog. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  21. ^ Sanderson, Brandon (2008-01-24). "WoT Read Through Notes: Introduction". Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  22. ^ a b Ahlstrom, Peter (2008-08-31). "Rolling Up the Wheel of Time Panel". Title Pending (仮). Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  23. ^ Sanderson, Brandon (2008-10-29). "AMoL-Update". Retrieved 2008-11-09.
  24. ^ Speakman, Shawn (2009-03-26). "The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan?". Suvudu. Random House. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  25. ^ a b "Tor announces The Gathering Storm". Tor.com. 2009-03-30.
  26. ^ Jordan, Robert (2005-10-04). "One More Time". Robert Jordan's Blog. Dragonmount. Retrieved 2009-04-10. my intention is finish with twelve books, and that may mean that the last book will be VERY long
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