Memory of Light: October '09

[Mithfânion]

I was just browsing though Orbit's catalogue and see they made a new addition. They've listed Memory of Light by Jordan and Sanderson for an October 1st, 2009 release date.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Memory-Light...59/ref=ed_oe_h

I figured folks would like to know.

[PeterWilliam]

Absolutely. I'm not sure, especially after the last few installments, that WoT will end with the promise it had shown in the beginning, but I am encouraged by the fact that Sanderson is on the case. Like most, I shall read it and then, I guess, we'll see.

[kcf]

I consider this very preliminary, but if Sanderson makes his commitment to have a full draft by December and he, Harriet and other work really quickly on edits and re-writes, and Tor pushes the publication, then this is certainly realistic.

[Werthead]

It's going to need more of an editorial than any of the other WoT books, but the date certainly looks doable. Although I keep wondering if Orbit and Tor are going to push it back to February 2010 and release it on the 20th anniversary of Eye of the World being published.

[Astra_]

I am really really looking forward for it!

Wheel of Time was the first fantasy series that showed to me that there is a whole new fantasy world out there after The Lord of the Rings!
I would buy a special/collector edition too if they publish one...

[Werthead]

Confirmed, the date is only tentative:

We're really, really going to try for October/November 2009, and I think we'll make it. But it's not official yet.

(from Sanderson's blog)

[Dyloot]

It's going to need more of an editorial than any of the other WoT books, but the date certainly looks doable. Although I keep wondering if Orbit and Tor are going to push it back to February 2010 and release it on the 20th anniversary of Eye of the World being published.

Wow, really? Awesome. That's good to know. They should totally do that.

[Werthead]

From one of my colleagues on asoiaf.westeros.org:

Ok, went to a Brandon Sanderson book signing today...I'm not sure what has been written in this thread about his WoT writing, but here's some of what he talked about:

First, he is a really nice guy, and holy **** is he a nerd, haha - though, being a fantasy writer I should have expected it, and I can definitely smell my own kind

Onto WoT

Although he plans on submitting the manuscript as one work, he suspects that due to the size it will be released in two volumes, making the series 13 long...which he said he'd gotten emails from people requesting that he actually do that due to the significance of the number to the series.

He's writing it in chunks, basically picking two characters at a time and one particular scene towards the middle of the book and it writing up to that point, then hes going to continue from there when he has all of the characters. Final word count he's aiming for is around 675,000.

He also talked a bit about how he was approached to do the project...absolutely no warning, Harriet just called him up and asked if he wanted to do the last book. He said he actually e-mailed her the next day to reassure her that he was, in fact, not an idiot and was capable of talking in full sentences despite their previous day conversation.

As someone on Wotmania pointed out 675,000 words is almost as big as LoC and ACoS put together, or three times the length of TPoD. There is no binding technology in existence that can hold together a paperback of that size, and a hardcover would be seriously pushing it.

Looks like we're going to get 13 books after all.

[Radone]

If Memory of Light is complete, but requires 2 books, would Tor publish both sections at once? Or would they publish volume 1 and a few months later release volume 2?

[kcf]

If Memory of Light is complete, but requires 2 books, would Tor publish both sections at once? Or would they publish volume 1 and a few months later release volume 2?

I can't speak for Tor, but I would guess that they would release both books within few months. I'd be surprised if both were released at the same time.


Perhaps for accounting reasons they'd want one on the books for 2009 and the other for 2010. So I think a reasonable guess is Oct. 2009 for AMOL pt. 1 and Jan. 2010 for AMOL pt. 2

hmm...I wonder what they'll do for titles if there are two books.

[Werthead]

hmm...I wonder what they'll do for titles if there are two books.

I think them publishing the second book in February 2010, the 20th anniversary of Eye of the World coming out, would be quite appropriate.

I think RJ and BS have suggested that if the book was split in half, it wouldn't make two cohesive novels, so it would be published as A Memory of Light, Part 1 and A Memory of Light, Part 2.

[Astra_]

I don't mind as long as it is published and A.S.A.P.