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Interview #959: Final fantasy: Epic fan takes the Wheel, Entry #1
Giles Hardy
Nine hundred pages. It’s not enough. Not nearly. It’s an odd thought. To approach a tome of such size with a sense of trepidation. Not borne from some child-like belief that it will be impossible to read such a behemoth, but from the knowledge that these are the final words in a story, a relationship, that has lasted more than half my life and which cannot, will not, ever be enough.
The book is A Memory of Light and these are the final pages in the Wheel of Time series.
Robert Jordan wrote many fantasy novels, under several pen names, yet it was the release of The Eye of the World in 1990 that began this series and elevated him to superstar status. Since then, he has been loved by millions for the world he created. He has also been hated, the hatred only the most passionate fans can summon. Hated for the sometimes two-year wait between novels. Hated for delivering one massive long-anticipated installment that only advanced the story 24 hours. Hated for releasing a prequel before finishing the series. In short, hated for never being able to quench an insatiable demand for more information about this world we so loved. We wanted more about Rand, Mat and Perrin. About Nynaeve, Egwene and Moiraine, About Aes Sedai, false Dragons and the Chosen. About Ogier, Trollocs and the Aiel. Jordan’s universe was so richly populated, so gloriously engaging and we as fans always wanted more.
Then he died.
When Jordan died in 2007, with 11 books published and no end in sight to the saga, his fans grieved the passing of an icon, but also the presumed loss of any chance at closure. Jordan had spoken publicly of his desire that on his death his notes be destroyed, his hard drive be formatted, his fantasy world—and its conclusion—be lost for eternity.
Thankfully, he changed his mind, or, as his wife believes, never really meant in the first place to abandon the fans he loved.
Instead, Jordan left more than 3 million words of notes, two full-time researchers and his wife, Harriet—his primary editor—who took up the search for an author to complete the quest.
That author was Brandon Sanderson, a writer in his own right, but long before that a fan of Jordan and The Wheel of Time. He was commissioned, nay ordained, to finish the series with what was originally to be one book, but became three.
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