I’m a big Wheel of Time fan. I love the whole saidin/saidar thing, the taint, the Dragon come again. Although I usually have no qualms about attacking a huge tome of SF/fantasy, this one might be the exception. Look, if it takes 300,000 words to tell a story, so be it! But it seemed to me the late Robert Jordan (pen name of James Oliver Rigney) took a long time to tell this story. I sometimes re-read series in anticipation of the next book being released, but not in this case! It’s just friggin HUGE.
Look at this table, borrowed from The Wheel of Time Wikipedia.
| # | Title | Pgs. | Chs. | Words | 1st Edition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Spring | 332 | 26 | 121,815 | January 2004 | ||
| 1. | The Eye of the World | 832 | 53 | 305,902 | 15 January 1990 | |
| 2. | The Great Hunt | 736 | 50 | 267,078 | 15 November 1990 | |
| 3. | The Dragon Reborn | 704 | 56 | 251,392 | 15 October 1991 | |
| 4. | The Shadow Rising | 1008 | 58 | 393,823 | 15 September 1992 | No Prologue |
| 5. | The Fires of Heaven | 992 | 56 | 354,109 | 15 October 1993 | |
| 6. | Lord of Chaos | 1024 | 55 | 389,264 | 15 October 1994 | First with an Epilogue |
| 7. | A Crown of Swords | 896 | 41 | 295,028 | 15 May 1996 | |
| 8. | The Path of Daggers | 704 | 31 | 226,687 | 20 October 1998 | |
| 9. | Winter’s Heart | 800 | 35 | 238,789 | 7 November 2000 | |
| 10. | Crossroads of Twilight | 864 | 30 | 271,632 | 7 January 2003 | Also has an Epilogue |
| 11. | Knife of Dreams | 793 | 37 | 315,163 | 11 October 2005 | Also has an Epilogue |
| 12.1 | The Gathering Storm | (est. 300,000+ words[5]) | 3 November 2009 | To be completed by Brandon Sanderson | ||
| 12.2 | Shifting Winds | (est. 300,000+ words[5]) | Due fall 2010 | To be completed by Brandon Sanderson | ||
| 12.3 | Tarmon Gai’don | (est. 250,000+ words[5]) | Due fall 2011 | To be completed by Brandon Sanderson | ||
| Current Totals: | 9685 | 528 | 3,430,682 | |||
So I read Brandon Sanderson’s blog; he’s going to continue the tradition of books-by-the-pound, but he says it’s necessary to complete the story. I for one believe it!
I’m going to look at Netlibrary.org and see if I can find the audiobook for my commute. That might be a good way to catch up!