I usually stay on top of things like this better, but I just found out last night while poking around on Wikipedia that the new WoT book, The Gathering Storm, is out tomorrow. Apparently Brandon Sanderson (who took over the series after Robert Jordan passed two years ago) decided that Jordan's plan for one final book was going to be too much, so it's been split into 3 volumes (the others due in late 2010 and 2011). The last volume will bear Jordan's working title for the last book, A Memory of Light.
I got into this series about 10 years ago. My dad gave me most of his sci-fi/fantasy collection when he moved down to Florida, including the first few books of WoT. I usually reread the entire series when a new book comes out (to brush up on Jordan's countless subplots), so I guess I'd best get cracking. :-)
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Yep, I pre-ordered the book and can't pick it up till Friday, yet it hits the shelves tomorrow for general consumption. :-)onfused

:-)
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I am looking forward to the finish of this series. I've really enjoyed it all along, including the many, many, M A N Y subplots. :-)

I hope it turns out well.
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I was mostly enjoying the series but after a while I started to get really p1ssed off with it. Too many sub-plots, not enough happening to forward the main story and Jordan's writing style in the series kind of bugs me.

I think I will wait until the last of the books are out then try reading it again from the start.

Terry Goodkind's series was like that for me too. Gave up after several books and may go back to it when the series is complete.

Thanks for the update though. It's nice to know the series will be completed at some point. :-)
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Jordan had some issues, I think. Aes Sedai have to do their tests in the nude, and there seems to be an awful lot of spanking. :-)
I think it's a given that Rand will defeat the Dark One, completing the cycle. The real question is, who killed Asmodean?
As for Sword of Truth, I enjoyed the first few books, but found a lot of similarities to WoT: Rand/ Richard, Aes Sedai/Sisters of the Light, Moiraine/Kahlan. I've also been watching Legend of the Seeker. Entertaining, but varies widely from Wizard's First Rule.
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Been faithfully reading this series since the very first book was written. I was living in Charleston, SC at the time, and I remember meeting RJ at a "signing." Except it wasn't much of a signing. He was pretty much sitting at a table by himself in the bookstore, waiting for people to come talk to him. :-)

Fast forward through the years, and I'm glad to say that I had attended a number of signings that just seemed to grow and grow in size. I attribute a lot of his fan base to the growth of the Internet and various usergroups, forums, etc., that spawned to discuss these books.

Nothing like that first mano a mano signing, though!

I'll be getting my copy as soon as I can. Hopefuly Sanderson does it justice.
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It's really cool that you got to meet the guy before he really hit it huge. :-) And just think, you're one of the people that made it happen. :-)

I too hope Sanderson does it justice. *crosses fingers*
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I wonder if he can actually make Nynaeve likable... :-)
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<--- sniffs and tugs braid at Kreth



:-) :-) :-)
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Keep that up and you'll earn yourself a trip to the Mistress of Novices. :-)
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Yes please !!! :-) :-)
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Picked The Gathering Storm up tonight (40% off at Borders with a rewards card). Sweet did his usual craptacular job with the cover illustration. There's a nice forward by Sanderson. I think I might hit encyclopaedia-wot.org and read the synopses rather than wait to read through the entire series again.
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I picked mine up tonight too. Yeah, that dust jacket ain't exactly my favorite, that's for sure, but I haven't really liked any of them so far.
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I swear the guy hasn't drawn Rand the same way twice. I'd almost rather have the Harlequin romance cover they did for A Crown of Swords (aka The Passion of the Dragon). :-)
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I thought Jordan's wife was going to be the one finishing the series from his notes?

Anyway, I'll have to go out and pick this up, if only to see how it compares to the sprawling monstrosity that is the Wheel of Time so far... :-)
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I know she was involved (along with the publisher) in selecting Sanderson to finish the series. I kinda feel bad for him. He's been a fan of the series since his teens, and now he has to finish it. Talk about a spoiler! :-)
Hardcover weighs in at 783 pages, actually a little light compared to some recent books in the series.
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Hey, I would feel honored if I were him. Probably be very good for the sales of his other books as well, since I would guess a lot of the WoT fans will give him a real try if they like what he does with them. I would guess he is also splitting royalties at the very least on the WoT books.

A bit longer than the last few. Knife of Dreams was 761, Crossroads of Twilight - 680, and Winter's Heart - 656. Not sure how page counts change between hard and soft cover, but those are the only three I have in hard. Honestly, I was little afraid when I heard that Jordan decided to do everything else in one massive book. I pictured this absurd 2500 page volume, and me trying to carry it on the train...
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I'm sure it will help his career. As a fan, it's got to be a bit of a downer. "Here's how it ends, now go write it."
Fires of Heaven and Path of Daggers were the two I was thinking of. I have both in paperback. FoH is just under 1k, PoD is just over.
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I pre-ordered mine. Still waiting for it to show up. There are two more after this one, right?
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Just for comparison purposes, I have Shogun in both paperback and hardcover. The hardcover is 801, the paperback is 1152. Never actually read the hardcover...
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That's what I've heard - final "book" to be split into 3 parts. I just got mine last night and haven't had much chance to read it. Tonight though I'll sit down with a pipe and dive in.
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