Okay, so the cat is out of the bag.Many of you are aware that I was granted an early read of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's The Gathering Storm (Canada, USA, Europe). I finished the book yesterday, but there is an embargo on reviews until October 27th. And since I gave Tor Books my word, I'll keep it. Unless Team Jordan gives me the "go ahead," you'll have to wait for a review.
All I can tell you is that The Gathering Storm falls in the same category as The Path of Daggers, Winter's Heart, and Crossroads of Twilight.
Stay tuned for more. As things stand, I'm sworn to secrecy. . .
31 commentaires:
I am now sick with jealousy
I don't get it, whats he mean by the same category as POD, WH & COT? Like in terms of which characters they focus on most or something? I thought Crossroads of Twilight was terrible so I'm kinda worried to have somebody say Gathering Storm is in the same category as it ...
The same category as PoD, WH and CoT? That can't be good...
Ugh. That's unfortunate.
Wow, I'm SO glad I quit reading this series years ago.
To quote you from 4 years ago Pat:
It is now evident that A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, Winter's Heart and Crossroads of Twilight were transition books tying up the storylines of first six volumes with that of the last two volumes. - Oct. 2005 (Knife of Dreams review)
It kind of makes sense that maybe Gathering Storm may still be great, but leave a lot to be desired while it sets up the final two novels. Or maybe I'm reading into this too much :)
As explained on some forums it means the same pacing as POD, WH, and COT, i.e. slower not like KoD. Or, as Todd says.
Spoilers about the books have crept out and I can't see how that, if they are accurate, the book can be said to be on the same level as CoT or PoD. Maybe WH, which had a huge ending and a fair amount of incident (most of it unfortunately unrelated to furthering the core storylines of the series), but it does sound like KNIFE OF DREAMS is the better comparison point. Whilst KoD's faster pace is sometimes overstated (it's still nowhere near as well-paced as the first four or five books in the series), I'd say that's a much more encouraging comparison point.
Adam: Nope, not a chance... KoD was a much better paced and eventful book than TGS.
If I would have to pick one WoT volume to compare it with, it would have to be WH.
Anyone expecting something akin to the first 6 volumes will be sorely disappointed...
Can't say more. You'll have to wait for the full review...
7.5 then, eh?
The first half of KoD was pretty damn slow. It was until the second half that it got great.
......I am BEYOND jealous
Good or bad, I am just happy to finally see an end to this epic. I will buy them all no matter what the reviews are.
This series is now more like an oncoming train wreck, no matter what, you just cant look away.
well, there are bound to be bad reviews out there, sounds like yours will definitely be one of those. Thank god I disagree with you about 60% of the time.
Adam, your comments imply that you've read the book - do you have more to add, different take?
Why automatically assume that it's going to be a bad review? Just because TGS won't be the shit like LoC or TSR doesn't mean that it's going to be a bad book.
Heck, if it's similar to WH, I can certainly live with that. Especially if there is a scene as important as the cleansing of saidin.
Putting up with extraneous plotlines is something WoT fans have been doing for years, you know. It looked like RJ somehow lost his way with such a huge series. I hoped that Sanderson would write a tighter plot, but too bad if he hasn't. No big surprise, not with the news that AMoL was going to be cut into three books. There is bound to be quite a lot of filler in all three books.
It's weird, but crackpot WoT fans have become like a sect or something, refusing to see and admit that quite a few things in the series were not that great. But that doesn't stop the WoT from being probably the most important fantasy epic of our time. It's funny but those many of those dumbasses actually felt that Sanderson would be better suited than RJ himself to finish the series! WTF??? To hear them talk, it's as if it smells nice when Brandon farts. For some reason, the guy can do no wrong. . .
So we'll see how it goes when TGS is published. . .
Gary
I am very apprehensive now. Winter's Heart and Crossroads were easily my least favorite.
Well, I know this volume will be a total bust if it doesn't feature some Lan kicking butt in the Blight. If this doesn't occur I am taking it back and getting a refund!
And really what was so wrong with the pacing of the first three books? That may be a better goal then PoD Wh and CoT
"Adam, your comments imply that you've read the book - do you have more to add, different take?"
I haven't, but the number of people who have is rising rapidly as more bookshops receive copies and put them out early. If the information they have provided is accurate, then there is simply no way TGS can be called a book in which nothing at all happens, which was the case with CoT. From those reviews it does sound like TGS' focus, like KoD's was to a certain extent, is clearing away and resolving other storylines and character arcs ahead of the Last Battle which, with two books still to go, is probably what most people were expecting.
Too bad from the review I read on dragonmount I thought it would be way faster paced. He made it out to be one of the best books of the series but I guess hes a tad biased.
mate dragonmount gave "crossroads of twilight" a rousing review. They are completely and utterly biased, always have been. They might as well be the marketing team.
Some more info has come out about TGS which makes Pat's review seem even more baffling. Several huge battles, at least two (relatively) major-league character deaths, the conclusion of several major story arcs looping back all the way to Books 2, 4 and 5 respectively and so forth.
I'm hoping they'll have copies in the store tomorrow so I can find out myself WTF is going on.
Adam: There's only one huge battle, and thanks to those clowns at Dragonmount you know which one.
Two major deaths, but by far the most anticlimactic of the series. Indeed, they make Sammael's death in Shadar Logoth look good. . .
The conclusion of several major story arcs??? Don't know what they are talking about, really. . .
As I mentioned, there is some very good stuff in TGS. But those guys are trying to make it sound as though it's one of the best books in the series. Which is not. In my humble opinion, of course.=)
Replied on Westeros, due to a lack of a spoiler option on Blogger ;-)
Gah, I'm still on book 4! Damn my procrastination!
You are wrong. I have read the book and it is almost as good as the 6 first but definitly better than POD, WH, COT and KOD. The most annoying with the book is the new names which I don`t think fit in. My favorite character after this book is Tuon and I don`t hate Egwene that much anymore alltough she still annoys me concerning Rand. Why can`t they see how poorly they treat him and what effect it has on him.
Crossroads of Twilight was embarrassingly awful, and Path of Daggers wasn't too great either, but Winter's Heart I thought was actually okay (partly because it had a legitimate ending).
I guess I can't hope for something as good as The Great Hunt or The Fires of Heaven. Regardless, I'll buy it anyway simply because I'm so invested in the series at this point.
I'll have to respectfully disagree - I've only read through chapter 23, but already, I feel that it's one of the most exciting books in the series on action, definitely since Lord of Chaos. But that's just me.
Knife of Dreams itself had pretty bad pacing. A few things did happened, making it a better book than PoD-CoT; but generally, the scenes where stuff happened were pretty badly written and rushed. If The Gathering Storm can't even maintain that slow pace, then I think I've reached my breaking point, and am giving up on this series. I'm looking forward to reading your review, Pat.
I would tell all those worried to go here. Now I would be interested for Dylan and Pat to do a tag team review as I expect what one hates the other will like but for another opinion this is a good one to use. As well the opinon on tor.com is also interesting.
http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-just-finished-reading-gathering-storm.html
I've never been disappointed with a WoT book. I like the general story and the characters so much that the slower pacing of CoT (re-read that the most recently) didn't bother me at all. I enjoyed CoT and KoD equally, though obviously in different ways. Count me in as one of those rabid fans who doesn't think there's a problem with the series, because I don't think there are. I understand why some people would take issue with them, but I have genuinely enjoyed each book, because the world Jordan created was just so damn cool.
Anyway, can't wait to read your review, and can't wait to read the book myself. From the sample chapters and prologue that Tor released, it seems like TGS will be fast-paced, but you're saying it's not... so I can't wait to read for myself and form my own opinion! :-)
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