Cry (if this is true) [Archive] - Theoryland of the Wheel of Time Forums

Isabel

03-26-2009, 12:26 PM

I hope not :(

http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,41450.0.html

The cover art is horrible. It cannot be more horrible..... How can you defend that.

With three books they would have some serious explaning to do. Why would they follow Goodkinds example. RJ hated Goodkind.

This broke to the American Book center in the netherlands. How horrible. I buy books there:(
http://www.abc.nl/blog/index.php/book-news/new-robert-jordan-book-to-be-split-into-smaller-volumes/

Even if this means no prequels, i am not sure what i am thinking about it :(
Oh well, i will just think about it some more :(

Davian93

03-26-2009, 12:34 PM

That is one fugly cover...worse than usual. Its actually worse than Knife of Dreams or TGH...if thats possible.

Davian93

03-26-2009, 12:37 PM

3 books is a complete and utter fucking joke and they should be ashamed if that is the case. Fuck Tor.

Terez

03-26-2009, 12:45 PM

I hate all WoT covers. The Path of Daggers had a decent cover but the rest of them were orrible.

*is not clicking link*

Davian93

03-26-2009, 12:45 PM

Further down the thread at DM:

Andrea,

I wish I could say something official, but it's just not my place.
Harriet rightly gets to release information like that. I did just fire
off an email to Harriet and Tor, suggesting that they respond to this
and speed up their timetable for a press release.

As for that cover, that strikes me as a rough mock-up rather than the
final version. For instance, I'm surprised it mentions this as a sequel
to Crossroads of Twilight, rather than Knife of Dreams. (At least, I
think that's what the image says. The text is kind of hard to read.)
That's just one of the things that strikes me as odd about the cover. I
can't say more yet, I'm afraid.

The short of it is I doubt this is a hoax, but I also doubt that
everything you see here is official. Some things are getting garbled as
they get passed from ear to ear. Keep an eye out for more news,
hopefully Thursday or Friday. Feel free to pass this along.

Best,

Brandon

Seems a bit better to say the least. We should be getting an official press release today or tomorrow if BS can be believed.

Davian93

03-26-2009, 12:47 PM

From Brandon's Blog:

What's Up with AMoL?
Posted on 03.25.09Categories: A Memory of Light Wheel of Time

A few hours back, people started sharing links regarding a few places outside the US who have begun posting news related to A Memory of Light. I'm getting some emails about this, so I thought I'd go ahead and post something. Likely, this will all get overwritten soon, as soon as Tor and the Jordan estate release official reactions and/or announcements.

I can't say much. Why? Well, it's not my right. I'm loving being part of the Wheel of Time, but it is Harriet's world, not mine. And so I feel it right to let her make any announcements at her pace. I don't even feel right linking some of the websites making news about this, though you can find a thread about it on Dragonmount if you look.

A very small cover image has been floating around, and people want me to say if it's a hoax or not. Well, to be honest, I haven't yet seen the cover art for the book. Things have been so busy for me these last few months editing that I've let Harriet handle all of that. So I don't know if the cover is the real one or not. It certainly looks like Mr. Sweet's work, and it could be a scene from the book. But it looks rough, perhaps not the finished art. It's too small to tell. And the lettering on it is suspect to me--it mentions this book being the sequel to Crossroads of Twilight, for instance, which is a flat-out error. I certainly didn't approve that on cover copy, and I doubt Harriet did either. Most likely, this is a mock-up done internally that is being used as a placeholder. That's just one of the several things that bothers me about this cover image.

A lot of people are wondering on the number of volumes this book will be. I'll be honest, this is a big, big project. I stand by one promise to you, no matter what else happens. I will NOT artificially inflate the size of this book. It doesn't matter to me how many volumes Tor decides to make it; the story is the same to me. One volume, as Robert Jordan planned it. Enormous.

If it is split into chunks, I will push Tor to release them as soon as is reasonably possible and I will push hard for an omnibus edition at the end.

Feel Better?

irerancincpkc

03-26-2009, 12:47 PM

I thought the cover art for the Great Hunt could never be beat, but wow. :confused:

Sarevok

03-26-2009, 01:26 PM

Well, like the guys posting it on DM already said: it looks like a rough placeholder. :)

Sodas

03-26-2009, 03:15 PM

Looks fake imo.

Like someone was trying to take the LOC cover and mix it with something else...

Isabel

03-26-2009, 03:35 PM

From BS blog:

More News on AMoL

I've had some emails from Harriet and company and can give you some more solid facts here.

First, an email Harriet said I could post:

Dear Brandon,

Whatever the "art" is that was posted on Dragonmount, I have not seen it, and from what I hear I would certainly not approve it.

Rest assured, no art will go on the cover until I have seen it and approved it. Best, Harriet

This was before Harriet saw the link on Dragonmount itself, showing the thumbnail of the artwork. The fact that she hadn't yet seen cover art makes this all seem even more fishy to me. Looking closely, that posted art really lacks detail. After getting some internal emails from Tor, I'm really thinking that my conclusion last night was true. This is not the cover, but a rough mock-up done quickly by production to have something to show at meetings. It was never supposed to go outside of Tor, and is NOT the final cover, not even close to it. I'll bet this is just a sketch Mr. Sweet did showing potential cover ideas. It might not even be him doing the art--it's too small to tell.

Tor is planning a press release about AMoL talking about the title, the number of volumes, and that sort of thing. We won't see it until early next week, however, because of issues of timing with the major news sources. They moved it up from late in the week to early in the week, but that's the best they could do. Until then, don't panic. There is truth to some of the rumors, but there is also a lot of bad information going around.

Terez

03-26-2009, 03:43 PM

lol, I finally clicked the link. Trust Wert to stir up a bunch of trouble over nothing. :D

Isabel

03-26-2009, 03:44 PM

Terez: You have been wrong many times before. If you read all the comments it doesn't look good.

Davian93

03-26-2009, 03:55 PM

I think the only thing that's gonna happen is 2 volumes and we already knew that was gonna happen. The cover art has been shown to be BS by Harriet herself so we have nothing to worry about.

This is why I don't post at Dragonmount much anymore. It took me 10 min to figure out my password over there just to catch up because of this thread.

Terez

03-26-2009, 04:19 PM

Terez: You have been wrong many times before. If you read all the comments it doesn't look good.
I read some of them, but I was talking about the cover. So, dunno what you're going on about, lol.

Anaiya Sedai

03-26-2009, 06:25 PM

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry right now. I did have a good giggle at all the comments regarding the cover - since book 10 they have all been appearing with a black cover and the wheel logo in some shiny colour here, no art work. (I tried very hard to find 10 and 11 with art work because all my others have it, but it was impossible). I'm not so bothered about the cover.
I don't like the sound of Tentative plans are to publish book 12 in November this year, with two more volumes following in 2010 and 2011.
or the whole "gathering storm" thing. but then, who am I to complain?

Mort

03-26-2009, 07:40 PM

Take a deep breath and say "It's just a book" and suck it up.

DeiwosTheSkyGod

03-26-2009, 09:40 PM

Does the cover really affect you guys that much? Some of my favorite books in the world have the most abysmal covers. It's good, in a way - doesn't influence your imagination.

And at least WoT has scenes from the books (however bad they may look), not just the generic dragon/warrior/hot chick that they stick on so many fantasy novels.

irerancincpkc

03-26-2009, 10:22 PM

I'm just glad BS and Harriet were on the ball here.

Terez

03-26-2009, 10:45 PM

Does the cover really affect you guys that much?
If bad covers bothered me, I would never have read WoT.

Brita

03-26-2009, 11:20 PM

If bad covers bothered me, I would never have read WoT.

Sad, but true. That is why all my hard covers are without their dust-cover.

tworiverswoman

03-26-2009, 11:40 PM

Actually, the art for Eye of the World was good.

I've always liked Sweet's use of color and his horses. His early people were always seen 3/4 rear angle, because he apparently had problems with faces. But he's always had a problem with proportions -- people too big or too small.

The art for the whole WoT series has been ... 'eh. I've always found SOMETHING to like in each cover and something to dislike.

But this cover art in the link does look really awful. And he's gone back to 3/4 rear view...

Terez

03-27-2009, 12:30 AM

The cover to The Eye of the World had tons of stuff wrong with it. Midget Moiraine, for one. Lan's weird armor, for another. And wasn't there an extra person on the wrap-around bit?

greatwolf

03-27-2009, 05:30 AM

3 books is a complete and utter fucking joke and they should be ashamed if that is the case. Fuck Tor.

Three books? That's definitely bad news. First, it means Tor has dumped RJ's promise to finish it in one book no matter what. That in itself is bad for the image of the series or may be that's just bias on my part.

But if RJ's promise is dead and buried, what else will go? Let me put it like this: RJ starts aMoL with a vision that he can finish it in one book. BS comes in and it cant be finished in two, but may be in three... Can I really convince myself they are thinking of the same book, the same ending?

Three books makes it an altogether different story to me. Its not the WoT that is ending, its a new world about to start. I wouldn't mind though, if another author(s) came in to take up WoT where RJ left off. I'm always game for the new especially with a foundation like WoT has. But letting RJ's legacy go this way is rather sad.

I know RJ struggled with Tor to keep the volumes down, but now he's gone, what must Harriet be going through? The whole thing is rather sad. Not unexpected from Tor though.

Mort

03-27-2009, 06:53 AM

Come one... do you actually think that the all powerful RJ would actually have been able to convince TOR to publish a book that might be 2000+ pages? I think RJ talked big and would have gotten stiffed by TOR anyway.
Something that normally needs to be split up into three parts just doesn't fly with publishing companies, doesn't care if you are Jesus himself who has written it.

I think every WoT book has been split into two in the Swedish version, at least when I still read the swedish ones, they probably still do.

Isabel

03-27-2009, 08:05 AM

Mort: with 700.000 words it probably wouldn't have been possible but with 600.000 it might have been possible for RJ to convince him. A normal wot book is around 400.000 words.

GonzoTheGreat

03-27-2009, 08:11 AM

A problem could be that BS and Harriet together are not as confident about scrapping anything as RJ and Harriet would have been. So if the latter pair had handled this, they might have shortened some of the things that RJ now left, but BS&H won't do that. Nor should they, of course, for obvious reasons.

Ishara

03-27-2009, 08:19 AM

I agree. If 3 books is what is takes, then fine. I'd rather have 3 volumes then have them compromise the story.

Also, I rather like the "Gathering Storm" title. And it does clearly say, volume one of a Memory of Light.

Although the artwork has me speculating - doesn't the building look covered in Dragons?

Isabel

03-27-2009, 08:26 AM

Ishara: do you realize that three books would not be necessary at all? Brandon hasn't changed the word count. The word count is 700.000 words. The only reason why it would be split into three books would be money for Tor.
700.000 words are about 2 normal wot books.
If you split it into three books that would mean 250.000 words per book, so that's smaller than any wot book so far, except new spring.

Gilshalos Sedai

03-27-2009, 08:49 AM

I'm glad it's a rough/mock up. It was worse than any of Sweet's covers so far, and that 3/4 view makes the head look distorted.

Davian93

03-27-2009, 09:23 AM

I'm glad it's a rough/mock up. It was worse than any of Sweet's covers so far, and that 3/4 view makes the head look distorted.

From what I gathered from this cover, Semi didn't blind Rand....she gave him Downs Syndrome.

irerancincpkc

03-27-2009, 10:04 AM

I thought TEOTW cover was pretty good too, though maybe that's just in comparing it to the others, excluding POD...

Three volumes would be highway robbery.

greatwolf

03-27-2009, 10:40 AM

I think every WoT book has been split into two in the Swedish version, at least when I still read the swedish ones, they probably still do.

If that's the way it happens in Sweden, then ok. But I'm not sure why my appetite still seems flat.

E: the poster counter seems to be stuck on 100 today. I joined jun 2008?

Terez

03-27-2009, 10:42 AM

Vardene, you know that RJ originally said WoT was going to be a trilogy, right?

And then it was going to be 5 or 6 books...then 9 or 10...

GonzoTheGreat

03-27-2009, 10:52 AM

I think that from about book 2 onward, it was "three more, at least", so we're still right on schedule.

greatwolf

03-27-2009, 11:04 AM

I think that from about book 2 onward, it was "three more, at least", so we're still right on schedule.

amen.

Ishara

03-27-2009, 11:56 AM

M'eh. I mean honestly it may be a cash grab, I'm not denying that - but it's TOR's cash grab, not Harriet's and BS's. Frankly, it's not as if any one of you (even you Isa :p) will buy the first two because that's what was committed to and then not buy the third. Ha. I'll be happy it's over, and confident that if it does get split into three, then H + BS will try their best to ensure that at least it's not spread out over three years. At this point, that's all we can hope for.

Belazamon

03-27-2009, 07:04 PM

Awww, I'm kind of sad now that this isn't the actual cover. I have some quite fond memories of Cover Caption Contests over the years... ;)

Nazbaque

03-28-2009, 05:40 AM

The cover to The Eye of the World had tons of stuff wrong with it. Midget Moiraine, for one. Lan's weird armor, for another. And wasn't there an extra person on the wrap-around bit?
I think tru meant the art itself on EotW terez, not how well it matched the story.

But Moiraine isn't really the Midget there. She IS about two heads shorter than Lan. Aldieb however is made out as a pony and the combined effect makes Moiraine look smaller.

EotW cover has many mistakes in relation to the story, but artistically it is one of three best I think (the other two being PoD and TDR)

greatwolf

03-28-2009, 09:49 AM

Isabel

03-28-2009, 12:54 PM

we hope it will be over. I'm no longer betting on it though. Tor's attitude is ... ...well lets not get emotional.

Got I am not the only one who is depressed about this.

tworiverswoman

03-28-2009, 02:19 PM

I think tru meant the art itself on EotW terez, not how well it matched the story.

EotW cover has many mistakes in relation to the story, but artistically it is one of three best I think (the other two being PoD and TDR)Thank you, Naz -- that was exactly what I meant. Story aside - it's a nice painting. It's probably why I bought the book. (Who remembers that far back ;) )

Davian93

03-28-2009, 06:04 PM

Thank you, Naz -- that was exactly what I meant. Story aside - it's a nice painting. It's probably why I bought the book. (Who remembers that far back ;) )

I can honestly say that it was the cover art of tEotW that made me pick it up in the beginning. That initial copy cost me $0.50 back when I bought it used at a library but it was well worth it. I still have that initial copy...though it is pretty beat up at this point.

irerancincpkc

03-28-2009, 06:13 PM

My first EOTW paperback copy is split in two, and on it's third rebinding, I believe...

Terez

03-28-2009, 07:06 PM

I never pick up books unless I've had a recommendation from someone who has a similar taste to mine. WoT was recommended to me by a guy I worked with. I didn't really like him all that much, but he read a lot of the same stuff I read.

Davian93

03-28-2009, 09:33 PM

My first EOTW paperback copy is split in two, and on it's third rebinding, I believe...

I rebinded mine with some top-end packing tape about 10 years ago...that's held up since then. Though I rarely read that original copy on rereads anymore. It does have all those mistakes in it that have since been corrected in later reprints.

irerancincpkc

03-29-2009, 07:27 PM

I rebinded mine with some top-end packing tape about 10 years ago...that's held up since then. Though I rarely read that original copy on rereads anymore. It does have all those mistakes in it that have since been corrected in later reprints.
Heck, I've just used duct tape...

greatwolf

03-30-2009, 09:49 AM

The title's also less than inspiring. It may eventually mean aMoL doesn't exist, but it could just be the title of Prologue, hopefully:) But gathering storm doesn't sound anything like an ending to me. :(

Funny though, the latest posts on DM website up till march gave no hint of the books being split. Perhaps the decision is still fresh and not cast in iron yet.

Crispin's Crispian

03-30-2009, 10:39 AM

So I don't know if the cover is the real one or not. It certainly looks like Mr. Sweet's work, and it could be a scene from the book.

Hahahahahahajajajaja

I think every cover from every book could be a scene from one of the books. That's kind of the problem--no one can ever figure out what the hell Sweet was reading.

Oh and amen to Bela. Three more books means three more covers to have fun with. Where's the Badger, anyway?

Gilshalos Sedai

03-30-2009, 10:47 AM

The Badger is peeved with RJ and Tor.

Ishara

03-30-2009, 11:20 AM

Zaela Sedai

03-30-2009, 11:26 AM

yes, you are correct. I can go out the Defending Sweet thread from DragonCon. He really is an awesome dude :D

Isabel

03-30-2009, 11:34 AM

greatwolf if you had bothered to actually look at the picture you would have seen that "A Gathering Storm" is clealy labelled as part one of a MoL. It's the title of the first instalment of the over-arching book. Get it?

And not to be an apologist, but I seem to recall Sweet only getting pages to work from, isn't that right?

Ishara: I wouldn't call it aMoL anymore. We will have three books with great letters 'A GATHERING STORM' .... AND TARMON GAIDON. and very small letters hardly readeble 'part 1 of a memory of light... Come 'on to the general public the book won't be known as a memory of light.
If you put it differently: A MEMORY OF LIGHT and than part 1 ' a gathering storm' that would make it clear it's part 1 and that the book title is a memory of light. But how it's put now it isn't clear to people who don't come on the internet.

and seriously you cannot defend this cover.

Belazamon

03-30-2009, 11:47 PM

Come 'on to the general public the book won't be known as a memory of light

Okay, Isa, I keep seeing you make this argument and I think it's really pretty spurious. To be completely fair, at this point in the series, do you think the "general public" is going to give that much of a crap? I seriously doubt anyone who's not a fan of the series is going to avoid the new book because it's titled The Gathering Storm, or only pick it up because it's called A Memory of Light. Now I'm all for keeping the title as Jordan wanted, but making it a subtitle to make it more easily distinguished makes inescapable marketing sense.

and seriously you cannot defend this cover.

But since when have we had fun defending the covers...? :D

Frenzy

03-30-2009, 11:56 PM

totally. i think one of the bonuses of having three installments is to have three bile-filled spleen-venting flame-tastic classics belted out by Uncle.

Isabel

03-31-2009, 09:09 AM

Okay, Isa, I keep seeing you make this argument and I think it's really pretty spurious. To be completely fair, at this point in the series, do you think the "general public" is going to give that much of a crap? I seriously doubt anyone who's not a fan of the series is going to avoid the new book because it's titled The Gathering Storm, or only pick it up because it's called A Memory of Light. Now I'm all for keeping the title as Jordan wanted, but making it a subtitle to make it more easily distinguished makes inescapable marketing sense.

It isn't called A memory of light ' part 1 , a gathering storm'' .
No it's called A gathering storm and perhaps very small a memory of light.

I dont'think the general public gives a crap, but I do find it horrible that the final wot book won't be known as a memory of light.

Nazbaque

03-31-2009, 09:30 AM

Isa that's like complaining about good food because you don't like the colour of the plate it is served on. Something that doesn't actually affect the food itself in any way.

The story is what matters. The cover is just the plate the food of story is served on.

Now I can understand complaining about how long it takes to get the food and even complaining about the size of the plate. But if the colour of the plate ruins the meal for you then you should just leave and let others enjoy their meal or at least shut up about it.

Belazamon

03-31-2009, 09:32 AM

It isn't called A memory of light ' part 1 , a gathering storm'' .
No it's called A gathering storm and perhaps very small a memory of light.

Wait, you got a copy of the final cover before Brandon, Harriet, and Tor? How did you pull that one off?

I dont'think the general public gives a crap, but I do find it horrible that the final wot book won't be known as a memory of light.

Each of the Otherland books has its own title, but collectively they're still known as Otherland: [volume title here]. Same with Donaldson's Gap series. It's a strawman argument until we actually see the finished cover.

Isabel

03-31-2009, 10:06 AM

Bela: if you read all the press releases , see the mock up cover, read the press release by brandon thats how i based on that it won't be called a memory of light very big on the title.

And so, I suggested that they all be named A MEMORY OF LIGHT with subtitles. I love the title A MEMORY OF LIGHT; I think it's poetic and appropriate. Plus, it was Mr. Jordan's title for the book. That alone is good enough reason to keep it.
And so, I suggested smaller, shorter, more generic sub-titles for each of the parts. With a long, evocative title like A MEMORY OF LIGHT as the supertitle, the subtitles needed to be shorter and more basic, as to not draw attention. The first of these was named GATHERING CLOUDS by Maria's suggestion. Book two would be SHIFTING WINDS, book three TARMON GAI'DON, all with the supertitle of A MEMORY OF LIGHT.

Brandon suggested: A memory of light , part 1: a gathering storm. This was rejected. So it will end up being called by the titles.

Otherland is a series name. Wheel of time is the name of this series. If you put a memory of light very small on the cover. Do you think anyone who wouldn't read the blog, visit the internet think of it as aMoL? No it will be a gathering storm.
And that makes me sad.

Crispin's Crispian

03-31-2009, 10:14 AM

I don't see why they don't just call the final volume "A Memory of Light." Wouldn't that make more sense?

Brita

03-31-2009, 10:23 AM

It does make sense.

A Memory of Light was also nice because it made me think of RJ, and his memory. In a way these three books written posthumously on his behalf are a memory to him- so I would like to see the title on all three myself.

Gilshalos Sedai

03-31-2009, 10:25 AM

There is NOTHING that says A Memory of Light will NOT be on the covers somewhere!

Isabel

03-31-2009, 11:13 AM

Gil: for me that is not enough. For me it's a not good enough reason that the bookstores don't want part 1, 2 and 3.

Bayle

03-31-2009, 12:19 PM

Ok fair enough, you will not be convinced. Time to move on from this...

Terez

03-31-2009, 12:56 PM

Ok fair enough, you will not be convinced. Time to move on from this... Yay!

Belazamon

03-31-2009, 04:32 PM

Bela: if you read all the press releases , see the mock up cover, read the press release by brandon thats how i based on that it won't be called a memory of light very big on the title.

I suppose it is possible that I missed a step. Did someone actually confirm that this was a real mock-up of the cover? Last I had read, no one had approved it for anything.

I'm starting to feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Terez

03-31-2009, 05:19 PM

I'm starting to feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
They hand out straitjackets on the n00b board for a reason, you know.

Isabel

03-31-2009, 11:23 PM

I suppose it is possible that I missed a step. Did someone actually confirm that this was a real mock-up of the cover? Last I had read, no one had approved it for anything.

The cover art was not confirmed. But it did have everything correct otherwise. Plus if you read Brandons post, than you can conclude that a memory of light won't be on it or put in very small print, like on this cover.

Belazamon

03-31-2009, 11:31 PM

The cover art was not confirmed. But it did have everything correct otherwise. Plus if you read Brandons post, than you can conclude that a memory of light won't be on it or put in very small print, like on this cover.

I fail to conclude that, actually. All he said is that it won't have a title/subtitle thing going on any longer.

But I feel like I'm arguing for argument's sake, at this point. Which, to be fair, is just like old times! And fun. But, it's not really getting anywhere.

irerancincpkc

04-01-2009, 06:37 AM

I don't give a crap what the books are called, as long as what's between the covers is good.

Isabel

04-01-2009, 12:34 PM

Well it's now confirmed it will be the real cover only a little bit nicer:

So yes, it's done. Almost. Kind of. Now we begin the long wait for copyediting, proofreading, and printing. I can now confirm that--for certain--the cover thumbnail passed around last week was nothing more than a mock-up. I've now seen the cover, and while the general composition is the same as the thumbnail, this version is much better. (For one thing, Rand is no longer busting a move with his back to us, but is turned face-front and standing in a different position.)

So big on the cover will be A GATHERING STORM and perhaps small or not even there 'a memory of light'.

Zaela Sedai

04-01-2009, 12:49 PM

The whole quote

Last night--Monday night--I pulled an all-nighter finishing up THE GATHERING STORM and sending it off to Harriet and company. In essence, the book is now complete. I suspect there will be another hasty round of revisions this weekend, but the book really needs to be in ASAP. We're already over-deadline in getting it in, and Tor is going to have to pay overtime at the printer in order to get it out in November. (Tom has already said he'd do this, so it's not a big issue, but every day counts. Hence the all-night revision marathon.)
So yes, it's done. Almost. Kind of. Now we begin the long wait for copyediting, proofreading, and printing. I can now confirm that--for certain--the cover thumbnail passed around last week was nothing more than a mock-up. I've now seen the cover, and while the general composition is the same as the thumbnail, this version is much better. (For one thing, Rand is no longer busting a move with his back to us, but is turned face-front and standing in a different position.)

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~does dance~ ~takes release day off~ :D