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Interview #1017: Talking With Tom: A Conversation Between Tom Doherty and Brandon Sanderson, Entry #8
Brandon Sanderson
So after Ender’s Game , the second Tor book that I can remember reading was The Eye of the World and the other Wheel of Time books. There were all these rumors out there about how many books it was planned to be and what it was originally pitched as. Tom, I think we need to hear it from your mouth: the first-hand witness of that pitch when James Rigney came in. Was it this office right here?
Tom Doherty
Well, actually we’d already done three books with him. The Fallon Blood , The Fallon Pride , and The Fallon Legacy . He did them under a different pen name.
Brandon Sanderson
Right. Reagan O’Neal.
Tom Doherty
They had started out to be one book. He was going to do a big historical novel of the American Revolution, but it ended up being three fat books.
When he came in and said he wanted to do a big epic fantasy novel, we said, “Well, a big epic fantasy?” He said, “Well, maybe it’ll be a trilogy.” So I suggested a six book contract, and when he said no I said “Okay, you know if you finish it in three, we’ll just do a different trilogy.” He said, “Well, all right, if you insist.”
Brandon Sanderson
Didn’t you tell me that, when he gave the pitch on the first book, it really ended where the third book now ends, with the sword that’s not a sword being taken from the stone that’s not a stone?
Tom Doherty
Well, he didn’t actually, no. He didn’t give me a very detailed outline, but I didn’t really need one because he’d done such a great job with the Fallon trilogy and Harriet [McDougal, Robert Jordan’s widow and editor] was sold on it. Harriet had edited the Fallon trilogy.
Brandon Sanderson
Right. She tells the story that she called you after reading the few chapters of The Eye of the World that she’d read and said, “You need to look into this thing, because either I’ve fallen into the wife trap after all these years, or this is the best thing I’ve ever read.” [Note: Harriet McDougal told the same story during her conversation with Tom Doherty .]
Tom Doherty
I don’t remember her saying that, but she did call me and say, “Hey, this is special.” And I read it, and it was special. We did some things with those books that were pretty major for a small, independent company.
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