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824 pages, Hardcover
First published November 7, 2009
“How did I do on Wheel of Time? I think I did as close to as good a job that I could have done. There's a few things I'd change if I could. I think I dropped the ball a little on Padan Fain, in retrospect, and my Mat, particularly in Gathering Storm, was... I got there on Mat, I feel, as best as I could do Mat, which is not as good as Robert Jordan could, by the time I got to A Memory of Light, but it sticks out a little bit. But he just had a big event in his life, no spoilers, just a big event. Just pretend he's off kilter because of the big event. Those are my two biggest regrets on that. I think I got pretty close to as good as I could have done. I don't think I did the job that Robert Jordan could have done. By definition, his would be better.” (Oct 15, 2019)
“You all claim that I have grown too hard, that I will inevitably shatter and break if I continue on. But you assume that there needs to be something left of me to continue on. That I need to climb back that mountain once I‘ve reached the top. [. . .]
I don’t need to hold back, don’t need to salvage anything of this beaten-up soul of mine. I know I must die.“
“[T]he last storm shall gather its angry winds
to destroy a land already dying.
And at its center,
the blind man shall stand upon his own grave.
There he shall see again,
and weep for what has been wrought.“
“The end is near," … "The Wheel has groaned its final rotation, the clock has lost its spring, the serpent heaves its final gasps.”
I have not tried to imitate Mr. Jordan’s style. Instead, I’ve adapted my style to be appropriate to The Wheel of Time. My main goal was to stay true to the souls of the characters. The plot is, in large part, Robert Jordan’s, though many of the words are mine…
But this is a big project, and it will take time to complete. I beg your patience as we spend these next few years perfecting this story. We hold in our hands the ending of the greatest fantasy epic of our time, and I intend to see it done right. I intend to remain true to Mr. Jordan’s wishes and notes. My artistic integrity, and love for the books, will not let me do anything less. In the end, I let the words herein stand as the best argument for what we are doing. This is not my book. It is Robert Jordan’s book, and to a lesser extent, it is your book.
“I continue to wonder,' he said, glancing down at Min, 'why you all assume that I am too dense to see what you find so obvious. Yes, Nynaeve. Yes, this hardness will destroy me. I know.' ...
You all claim that I have grown too hard, that I will inevitably shatter and break if I continue on. But you assume that there needs to be something left of me to continue on. ...
That's the key, Nynaeve. I see it now. I will not live through this, and so I don't need to worry about what might happen to me after the Last Battle. I don't need to hold back, don't need to salvage anything of this beaten up soul of mine.”
"Vanin! Where on the Dark One's blistered backside are we?"Got it. We re-established who he is. Moving on,
The fat former horsethief looked up.
Mat had never expected such an emotion from the overweight horsethief.Oh for heaven's sake. Are we done expressing how fat and horsethiefy Vanin is?
They had advance scouts out, of course, but none of them were as good as Vanin. Despite his size, the man could sneak close enough to an enemy fortification to count the whiskers in the camp guards' beards.Got that all out of your system? Great, now we can
Vanin always looked so ridiculous, perched like a melon atop the back of his horse, his feet sticking out to the sides. But the man could ride, there was no doubting that.
There, sitting on a short-legged white mare, was a pudgy woman with a grandmotherly air . . .[Deep breaths again]. Let's move on. What else was annoying in Jordan's writing? Oh yeah, how about how every song played or sung in a tavern is stated to be known by different names in different places? We're not going back to that, are we?
One of the nearby tables had a dice game going. Looked like Cat's Paw—or, at least, that's what it had been called the night Mat had first been taught it. They called it Third Gem in Ebou Dar, and he'd heard it called Feathers Aloft in Cairhien.Grr! Arrgh! At least Sanderson isn't going to repeat Jordan's often-lamented habit of specifying that any woman who crosses her arms does it "beneath her breasts", will he?
The tall Aes Sedai . . . maintained a stern expression, arms folded beneath her breasts, . . .What the hell, man! I'm going to go ahead and copy-paste my own mid-book quote and comment on one of the rare occasions a male character crosses his arms, because frankly I was hilarious:
Mandevwin and Talmanes were just inside the tent, the former standing with folded arms, the latter settling himself on the floor.But WHERE were his arms folded? How can I picture this scene if you don’t tell me if his arms were folded above, on, or below his nipples? WHAT DO FOLDED ARMS EVEN MEAN WITHOUT THIS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION??? If only he had breasts this could be made so much clearer.
„To arm the world with knowledge.“ - Verrin Sedai
"The difference between you and Cadsuane is that you actually care about me. She only cares about my place in her plans. She wants me to be part of the Final battle. You want me to live. For that, you have my thanks. Dream on my behalf, Nynaeve. Dream for things I no longer can." -Rand al'Thor
I have not tried to imitate Mr. Jordan’s style. Instead, I’ve adapted my style to be appropriate to The Wheel of Time. My main goal was to stay true to the souls of the characters. The plot is, in large part, Robert Jordan’s, though many of the words are mine. Imagine this book as the product of a new director working on some of the scenes of a movie while retaining the same actors and script.