Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready.
The final volume of The Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan’s editor, his wife, Harriet McDougal, to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so Tor proudly presents The Gathering Storm as the first of three novels that will cover the outline left by Robert Jordan, chronicling Tarmon Gai’don and Rand al’Thor’s final confrontation with the Dark One. This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost twenty years ago and marking the conclusion of The Wheel of Time, the preeminent fantasy epic of our era.
In this epic novel, Robert Jordan’s international bestselling series begins its dramatic conclusion. Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward, wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders, his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.
Egwene al’Vere, the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, is a captive of the White Tower and subject to the whims of their tyrannical leader. As days tick toward the Seanchan attack she knows is imminent, Egwene works to hold together the disparate factions of Aes Sedai while providing leadership in the face of increasing uncertainty and despair. Her fight will prove the mettle of the Aes Sedai, and her conflict will decide the future of the White Tower, and possibly the world itself.
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
This penultimate novel of Robert Jordan’s #1 New York Times bestselling series, the second of three based on materials he left behind when he died in 2007, brings dramatic and compelling developments to many threads in the Pattern. The end draws near.
SYNOPSIS
The Last Battle has started. The seals on the Dark One’s prison are crumbling. The Pattern itself is unraveling, and the armies of the Shadow have begun to boil out of the Blight.
The sun has begun to set upon the Third Age.
Perrin Aybara is now hunted by specters from his past: Whitecloaks, a slayer of wolves, and the responsibilities of leadership. All the while, an unseen foe is slowly pulling a noose tight around his neck. To prevail, he must seek answers in the wolf dream and find a way, at long last, to master the wolf within him or lose himself to it forever.
Meanwhile, Matrim Cauthon prepares for the most difficult challenge of his life. The creatures beyond the stone gateways, the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn, have confused him, taunted him, and left him hanged, his memory stuffed with bits and pieces of other men’s lives. He had hoped that his last confrontation with them would be the end of it, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. The time is coming when he will again have to dance with the Snakes and the Foxes, playing a game that cannot be won. The Tower of Ghenjei awaits, and its secrets will reveal the fate of a friend long lost.
Dovie’andi se tovya sagain. It’s time to toss the dice
In September of 2007, Robert Jordan—master of the epic fantasy genre—passed away. Like many long-time fans of the Wheel of Time books, Brandon had been eagerly awaiting the final installment of the series. When he heard of Mr. Jordan’s passing, Brandon wrote this blog post, talking about what Mr. Jordan’s writing had meant to him.
A month or so later, Brandon was surprised to receive a call from Harriet, Robert Jordan’s wife and editor. He did not know who brought him to her attention (he later learned that it was Rigney family friend Elise Mattheson), but Harriet was curious to know if he’d be interested in writing the final book of the Wheel of Time series.
Brandon was astounded and humbled by the possibility. He’d been reading the Wheel of Time books since the release of EYE OF THE WORLD nearly twenty years before. To make a long story short, he agreed eagerly, and was commissioned to take Mr. Jordan’s notes, materials, outline, and written sections from Book Twelve, organize them, then fill in the many holes to make a complete novel.
As Brandon worked on writing the book, it eventually became clear that there was too much material to satisfyingly squeeze into just one volume, and everyone involved decided it would have to be split into three books. For more on this decision, please read Brandon’s explanation. The first of the three volumes, The Gathering Storm, was released October 27, 2009, with the final two volumes following in 2010 and 2013.
A MEMORY OF LIGHT ART
RIVER OF SOULS
INTRODUCTION
The ebook for Unfettered, which contains the A Memory of Light deleted sequence “River of Souls,” has now been released.
If you haven’t heard about Unfetteredbefore, here’s a bit of an introduction. When I was on tour probably for The Alloy of Law, Shawn Speakman (webmaster for Terry Brooks and Naomi Novik, and who also runs the booksigning service The Signed Page), approached me about an anthology he was putting together (at the suggestion of Terry Brooks) to help defray Shawn’s medical bills stemming from his 2011 diagnosis with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Shawn has been a friend and supporter to the careers of a lot of writers, so I was interested in helping out. The question was what to contribute to the anthology. The title Shawn gave it was Unfettered, because he didn’t want to put any restrictions on whatever the authors wanted to contribute.
When I was writing A Memory of Light, there was a sequence of viewpoints I was working on that were somewhat more daring than some other viewpoints I had done. The character I’m talking about is known as Bao in the book, and if you’ve read it you’ll know who that is. I wanted to try to give some deeper backstory to Bao, but after I showed the scenes to Harriet, though we all liked them, we decided they they didn’t fit in the book. Harriet felt that these scenes were distracting and derailing the narrative too close to what was to be the climax of the entire series, because of the new elements I was adding and fleshing out. So after some discussion, we decided that they should be cut.
Though I saw the need for this, the fact that this was necessary left me feeling kind of sad. I felt the scenes were strong and added a lot to the character, giving a lot of extra motivation and poignancy to some of the things going on in A Memory of Light. So when the opportunity for Shawn’s anthology came along, I began to think this would be the place for them. I approached Harriet, and she said that was a good idea.
The result is “River of Souls,” labeled as a Wheel of Time tale by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Since it’s actually a sequence of deleted scenes, it’s meant to be read as a companion to your read of 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 it’s a complete arc and I find it very exciting. I think you’ll really like it, and I think this anthology is a good place for these scenes because they won’t be distracting from the rest of the story.
Unfettered also has stories from lots of other wonderful writers in it. I’m honored to have a story in there, to be alongside the names that appear in this anthology. It’s great to see so many people pulling together to support someone in the community, and I wish Shawn the best.
The anthology is available now in ebook form, and as a hardcover direct from Shawn’s Grim Oak Press website. He’ll be shipping books out over the next three weeks (he has a very small operation and it will take him time to get through so many orders). Also note that the long-sold-out special edition signed by every single author will take even more time to deliver. The signing pages are currently being shipped around the country from author to author for all of us to sign, and that will take a while. Once all of those are back with Shawn, the pages will be bound into the books, which will then be delivered.
Here is the complete list of stories appearing in UNFETTERED:
Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks (a precursor to the Word/Void trilogy)
How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss (a Four Corners tale)
River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (a Wheel of Time tale)
The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams
Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn
Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey (a precursor to the Kushiel series)
Dogs by Daniel Abraham
Mudboy by Peter V. Brett (a Demon Cycle tale)
The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian (a Vault of Heaven tale)
The Coach With Big Teeth by R.A. Salvatore
Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood (a Summer Dragon tale)
Heaven in a Wild Flower by Blake Charlton
The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne (an Iron Druid tale)
Select Mode by Mark Lawrence (a Broken Empire tale)
All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham
Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth (a Struck epilogue tale)
Nocturne by Robert V. S. Redick
Unbowed by Eldon Thompson (a Legend of Asahiel tale)
In Favour With Their Stars by Naomi Novik (a Temeraire tale)
The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan (a Riyria Chronicles tale)
The Duel by Lev Grossman (a Magicians tale)
Walker and the Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks (a Shannara tale)
The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman (an Annwn Cycle tale)
If you missed it, here’s the video where I explain my part in this anthology.
A FIRE IN THE WAYS
INTRODUCTION
Today, I have the opportunity to share with you something extra special. As some of you know, during the revision process of A Memory of Light, two lengthy sections ended up on the cutting room floor. The first, which we titled River of Souls, was included in the first Unfettered Anthology. The second, I assumed, would never see the light of day.
However, Grim Oak press (and Shawn Speakman, who runs it) has continued the Unfettered anthologies—the income of which is used to help pay medical fees for authors and artists in need. I thought the arrival of the third anthology would be a great chance to use this other deleted scene. (Which involves Perrin traveling into the Ways.) Harriet has graciously agreed to let it be published, so I’m thrilled to be able to announce its inclusion in the anthology.
I’ve long been fond of this sequence, and it was quite difficult to cut from the book. (In the anthology itself, I’ll explain why we eventually decided that the sequence needed to go.) I do have to warn you that-unlike River of Souls, which we consider canon to events in the Wheel of Time—this as-of-yet untitled sequence is NOT canon. You’ll want to read it in the same way you’d watch an unfinished, alternate film scene that ended up not being used.
Still, I think it’s an exciting and interesting chunk of writing. It’s quite big, as long as a novella, and it addresses one of the big unanswered questions we left hanging at the end of the Wheel of Time. So I think you’re in for a treat.
