Brandon Sanderson Interview On Finishing The Wheel of Time

Brandon recently stopped by Blog Talk Radio for a fairly informal interview to talk about finishing up Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and to discuss some recent developments in multimedia publishing. I encourage you to listen to the candid interview with Brandon Sanderson, but here are the paraphrased highlights.

When asked to summarize the Wheel of Time for those unfamiliar with the series Brandon laughed a bit and then used RJ's description The series revolves around a central question: "What is it like to be told that you are the one to save the world? That you are a savior doomed to die to protect mankind." I had never tried to summarize the series in a single sentence, but this seems like a pretty good way to do it.

"RJ wrote the last scene before he passed away, and I am just trying to get there". When Brandon arrived at RJ's home after signing the contract for the final three books, he was asked by Harriet if he wanted some soup. He replied honestly, asking instead to read the ending to the series. It was a "reverent and surreal experience" and made him realize just how much he has to do to get from where book 11 ended to that final scene.

Apparently, Brandon would not have undertaken to finish any other series, but he has been following the WoT since the age of 15, and could not say no.

Instead of trying to imitate RJ's style, which would have been impossible, he instead decided to adapt his own style to the series.

There has been every possible reaction by fans to Brandon finishing the Wheel of Time, but he is happy that the only death threats he has received have been "good ones". They are condition in that if he does a good job, he will be spared. He is also surprised that the "hardcore fans" have accepted him so well.

The series is on track to be finished two years from the release of The Gathering Storm, but Brandon doesn't want to even think about the last book just yet, so the schedule is absolutely conditional and might change.

He says that Asmodean was killed by Perrin, who is actually a Darkfriend. Joke.