Wheel of Time fans have overwhelmingly praised the first chapter to be released in the new book in the series, which has been penned by fantasy author Brandon Sanderson in the wake of the tragic death of its original creator Robert Jordan.
Last week, series publisher Tor Books made the first chapter in the new book, The Gathering Storm, available for free from its website. The entire book will be published internationally on October 27 and will be followed by two more to conclude the series.
Over the past week, Wheel of Time fans have posted no less than 380 comments on Tor’s site about the new chapter. The overwhelming response has been that Sanderson writes in a slightly different and less descriptive style than Jordan, but that fans were immediately able to re-enter the Wheel of Time universe and were incredibly excited to be doing so.
“I thought the beginning didn’t sound very RJ-like, but as I read on, I easily got lost in Brandon’s writing and could not personally distinguish the two “styles”. Kudos, Brandon!” enthused one fan.
Another wrote:
“This extract in acordance with all RJ’s previous work is well written. The developement of both plot and character are again suble but compellingly real in that I have the sense of witnessing these events as they unfold. Whoever’s finger prints are on the paper this bodes very well, and if the standard is maintained to the final chapter then we can undoubtedly say that the tale has been done justice to the dream that was.”
Wertzone author Adam Whitehead, writing on popular forum site ReadAndFindOut, which replaced long-time Wheel of Time site wotmania.com several weeks ago, wrote that the first chapter didn’t sound like Jordan, but didn’t sound like Sanderson’s previous work either:
“People expecting this to be EXACTLY the same as Robert Jordan’s writing have missed the point entirely. It was never about that totally unachievable goal, it was about Sanderson not completely screwing up the story and characters. So far we are off to a flying start.”
Most other commenters on ReadAndFindOut, which has an excellent discussion thread about the first chapter, were positive about the release and optimistic about The Gathering Storm, although there were a number of minor criticisms and some people did not enjoy the first chapter.
Warning: Spoilers about the chapter and previous books ahead, as well as plot discussion.
Much of the plot discussion surrounding the chapter has focused on one of the only new plot points that was introduced in it; Rand has a new sword.
The chapter states:
“It looked as if it had been designed specifically for Rand—and yet it was centuries old, unearthed only recently. How odd, that they should find this now, he thought, and make a gift of it to me, completely unaware of what they were holding. . . . He had told no one, not even Min, that he had recognized the weapon. And not, oddly, from Lews Therin’s memories—but Rand’s own.”
There appears to be a gradually developing consensus online that the sword may be Justice, the legendary blade of the king, general and ta’veren who united much of the lands west of the Spine of the World long before Rand Al’Thor’s time.
Possessing Justice, so the theory goes, would give Rand a massive advantage in trying to win over the invading Seanchan armies, as their nation was founded by Hawkwing’s son, and they revere Hawkwing himself.
Commentary
After reading the first chapter of The Gathering Storm, I am excitedly awaiting the release of the full book. All the signs are there from the first chapter that Sanderson knows and reveres Jordan’s work extremely well and is dedicated to and capable of producing a stunning sequel to the series.
Yes, if you’re a long-time Wheel of Time fan, you will be able to detect differences between the writing styles of Jordan and Sanderson.
However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I hadn’t read any of Sanderson’s work before, but this week I’ve been reading Mistborn, the first book in his Final Empire series. And I have to say that I am completely hooked. I love this book, and I’m going to be speedily rushing out to read the rest of his books as well.
Knowing that Mistborn is great has given be a great deal of confidence in Sanderson’s ability to finish The Wheel of Time.
However, as many people have noted online, there is also quite a lot of difference between Sanderson’s evolving style in his previous books and the writing in the first chapter of The Gathering Storm.
To me, it appears as if the new book will very much be a mixing of both authors, done in a very respectful way to Robert Jordan’s memory. I suspect it will be a tribute to Sanderson’s respect for Jordan.
What do you think about the first chapter of The Gathering Storm? Did it, as many people have noted, hook you back into Jordan’s epic vision? Or did it leave you feeling cold?
