What the Storm Means: Prologue to the Gathering Storm [Kindle Edition]

Robert Jordan (Author), Brandon Sanderson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. In the Prologue to The Gathering Storm, the first volume of the last trilogy of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time epic, Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward---wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders---his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.

 

As with the previous three titles in the Wheel of Time series, this prologue from Robert Jordan’s The Gathering Storm, completed by Brandon Sanderson, is available for sale before the book’s official release date (October 27, 2009).  

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 115 KB
• Print Length: 38 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (September 17, 2009)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002PA0LW0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,231 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I'm Brandon Sanderson, and I write epic fantasy novels for Tor Books. The sixth novel I wrote, ELANTRIS, was my first published, and I followed this up with the Mistborn trilogy and WARBREAKER. I was also chosen to complete Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series based on his notes, resulting in THE GATHERING STORM, TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT, and A MEMORY OF LIGHT. I'm now launching my own grand epic that I've wanted to tell for many years, starting with THE WAY OF KINGS on August 31, 2010.

Read an excerpt here: http://tor.com/wok

More sample chapters from all of my books are available at http://brandonsanderson.com/library -- and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The spark's still there, September 17, 2009

By 

T. Simons (Columbia, SC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What the Storm Means: Prologue to the Gathering Storm (Kindle Edition)

EDIT:

As the book to which this is a prologue has been released, I would recommend buying the book instead of this prologue. Consider the review below a historical curiosity -- it was written well prior to the actual novel's release.
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This is the prologue (about forty pages printed, or about 500 kindle "locations") to the new book in Robert Jordan's _Wheel of Time_ series, _The Gathering Storm_; it's coauthored by Jordan (who sadly died about a two years ago) and by Brandon Sanderson, author of several excellent but less-well-known fantasy novels.

The quality of the Wheel of Time series overall has been somewhat of a sine wave, with definite peaks and definite valleys, and despite a marked increase in quality in the book immediately prior to this one (Knife of Dreams, which came out in 2005), Jordan's death and the series' checkered history gave real reason to fear that the handover of this series would not go well.

So far as this preview goes, at least, the handover has succeeded. There's a real spark and fire here; if you're a fan of the earlier books, and you haven't gotten completely jaded to the entire Wheel of Time series by now, this prologue will probably be good enough to get you excited about the upcoming book (or, at least, it got *me* excited. But I've always been a Wheel of Time fan).

Because of the nature of the coauthorship (Jordan wrote some sections of this book before he died, and the rest was completed from outlines and notes), it's hard to know how much we're seeing here of Brandon Sanderson's work and how much of Jordan's, and there were one or two moments where I as a reader wondered whose voice I was reading. But only one or two. The puzzle-like interlocking complexity of Jordan's world and the compelling characters (major and minor) are definitely still here, and these few pages were a thrill to read.

We won't know till we read 'em whether the remaining three books in the series are going to live up to the peaks of what's gone before, or crash down into the valleys. But this prologue has me excited (which is its job, I suppose).

edit: I should also mention that the first chapter of this book is available online for "free" (email address required) at tor.com; the second chapter is available as an audiobook at the same location.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written; format 'iffy', October 28, 2009

By 

Green Man "GreenManOH" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: What the Storm Means: Prologue to the Gathering Storm (Kindle Edition)

Of course, as a fan of WOT, I'm eager for a new release.
I believe I can say, (no SPOILER intended,) that I am pleased with Brandon's writing, even considering that he's tasked with introducing new characters "before the storm;" My only qualms are with the digital editing.
The price is 'low' for a fan, for this minuscule installment, but for the measly $2.65 I would have appreciated a linked TOC (table of contents,)or at least a page break between shifts of time or setting.
RJ often shifted time and space with a simple " * * * ;"...- I assume at the editors' discretion, but it takes a knowledgeable reader to decipher the lack of page breaks in the Kindle version.
I look forward to however many books Mr. Sanderson and Mrs. Jordan feel it must expand into, as I have become accustomed to, no..., thankful for Robert's (or the editors') decisions on length in the past.
Hopefully someone will edit this, and future works, to give us a SEARCHABLE, LINKABLE, text, as a part of a comprehensive, digitized, kindle form of the entire WOT series.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the Storm Means, September 19, 2009

By 

Jen Cornell (Garden City, ID, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What the Storm Means: Prologue to the Gathering Storm (Kindle Edition)

This is the prolouge to what should be the final book of the series of The Wheel of Time. I have been curious how sanderson would tackle this book while keeping Jordans vision and voice intact. So far so good. Sanderson seems to be able to tell the story well keeping the feel and characters very much as Jordan created them its exciting to read a new voice in the pages as well. As a longtime fan of Jordan I think the final volume of the series looks to be one of the best. As a result of this prolouge I will definately be reading The Gethering Storm. Sanderson has removed all doubts for me.