Dragonmount‘s Jason Denzel has just posted the first review of The Gathering Storm, the next book in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, and he says it’s a great read and true to the deceased author’s memory.
The Gathering Storm, one of three books still to be published in Jordan’s epic, was written by American fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, using Jordan’s notes and plan for the rest of the series. In this first review, Denzel gushes about the book.
“I would rank it up there in the top 4 in the series along with The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, and The Great Hunt,” he said.
Denzel had this to say about what he acknowledges is a “burning question” on the part of Jordan’s massive fan base (the series has sold over 44 million books worldwide) as to whether or not the book “feels” like a Robert Jordan novel:
“Well, truthfully, I thought the prose stayed very true to previous novels … There were only a few times where I suspected the scene I was reading was entirely from Brandon’s imagination. We may never learn which specific sequences he had to invent entirely, but in the end, you probably won’t notice or even care. It’s pretty seamless in that regard.”
The result, Denzel wrote, is that the book is a novel which belongs in the Wheel of Time series.
And the plot? Without spoiling it, Denzel says the story brings focus back to the characters that need it, notably the Dragon Reborn himself, Rand Al’Thor. ‘If you thought Rand was hard before, you haven’t seen anything yet,” he says.
The news today came as Sanderson had recently revealed he would take a brief break from working on the conclusion to Jordan’s masterpiece, after he handed in The Gathering Storm manuscript in preparation for publishing.
The author citied the need to recharge and work on his own books for a while.
The Gathering Storm is due to hit retailers on November 3.
Commentary
Denzel’s praise for The Gathering Storm will highly reassure Jordanites (including myself) that Sanderson can properly finish Jordan’s legacy.
As Denzel notes himself, he’s hardly divorced and independent from The Wheel of Time books. He runs the main fan site for them, a site that itself hosted Jordan’s own blog before he passed away.
And, he is friends with both Jordan’s widow Harriet McDougal and Sanderson, and has a relationship with Jordan publisher Tor. So if there was anyone who was going to be disappointed if The Gathering Storm was bad, it would be Denzel. The fans trust him. His site has done so much for them over the years.
Personally, his endorsement of Sanderson’s book has made me tremendously excited about its release in November; I’ll be lining up at midnight if necessary to get my copy, and I would encourage any Jordan fan to do the same. Let’s see this masterpiece completed and head to Tarmon Gai’don — in style.
11 Comments
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Awesome! Good info. If i wasn’t lining up at midnight before, I am now!! lol
I think there are going to be a stack of people lining up at midnight in every major city in the world Michel :) We’ve been waiting a long time!
I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be fascinating to see what happens, and it must be a delicious challenge to write. I was brought in at the last minute to do one novel in the middle of a 13-book sequence once, and that was a really interesting — and surprisingly rewarding — experience.
My one hoped-for divergence for The Gathering Storm is that we don’t have quite so much folding of arms under breasts and pulling of braids :)
I can not agree with you more. I really almost lost total interest after the last two books!
I’m still wishing for more Mat Cauthon :(
Renai
I have such a crush on Matrim Cauthon. I am into book 8 for the 3rd time (have to re-read again the series in anticipation of November’s release), and each time I read these books, Mat makes me laugh again and again. Tonight it’s “Sheep swallop. Sheep swallop and bloody buttered onions!”
And in my imagination, he is wicked hot, too.
@JenZ
I can’t comment on his hotness, as I’m male and married ;)
However, I can say that the fight scene with the quarterstaff in Tar Valon while he’s still weak still leaves shivers down my back at how cool it is.
I think most men who have read The Wheel of Time want to see more Mat :) And by the sounds of it, most women!
Renai
I LOVE MAT. He is has changed drastically over the series and he is halaroius. I just wish the other characters would appreciate hime more and realize he’s a complete genius on and off the battlefield.
I think part of his charm is that he gets no credit :) He’s kind of the underdog Ta’averen :)
I would like to add a compliment to the new wheel of time book by Mr Sanderson.After reading a series which appeared to be dragging on and on for no other reason than selling more books it was with pleasure I found a book in which I could understand the minds of the characters because they told me what they where thinking.More of the same please and without trying to speak ill of the dead Mr Sannderson welcome to my book collection
I agree, Matt is definately one the best charecters in the series. I actually can’t decide who I like more, him or Rand. I do however know that I’m getting a little bored with Perrin. He was never my favorite charecter and since he’s been paired up with Faile, I found myself rooting for both of thier demise, or at least thier capture until Tarman Gaidon when Perrin can be of some use.