Dragonsbane is a longstanding favourite of mine as well. And I recall first reading The Eye of the World , the opening novel in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, at about the same time. Being asked to complete such a famous series following Robert Jordan’s death was a great honour and compliment to your own writing. But did it also feel like a tremendous responsibility?
It’s been a very humbling experience and a great honor. But it’s certainly a tremendous responsibility. When I was considering taking on the project, I thought, “Wow, if I screw this up, I’m in serious trouble. People will find me and burn my house down. Wheel of Time fans are hardcore.” I struggled with this, and it almost caused me to say no. One writer I know mentioned, or posted somewhere, regarding this: “This is a thankless job. Anything that Sanderson gets right will be attributed to Robert Jordan, and anything he gets wrong will condemn him.”
In the end, I felt I could do a good job on this, and that it could be a sendoff I could give one of my favorite authors, someone who deeply influenced me as a writer. And I felt that if I passed on it, someone else would be found and would get to do it. The question that it came down to for me was, “Knowing that someone who is not Robert Jordan is going to do this, can you really pass and let anyone other than you do it?” And the answer was that I couldn’t let someone else do it. I had to do it. So I said yes.
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