The release of A Memory of Light, the final volume of Robert Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time series, is now only days away. To celebrate this tremendous moment, decades in the making, we will be releasing daily previews of the final volume. Sentences, words, paragraphs, chapter titles…memories, if you will, of light.
These daily email-only previews will begin on November 26th and go all the way up to the release of A Memory of Light on January 8th. Tor.com registered members and new visitors must sign up for the email list to receive the daily Memories of Light. Registration to the list is free and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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Already receiving your daily Memories of Light? Join the ongoing discussion of each new piece of the puzzle on the Memories of Light spoiler thread.
And it came to pass in those days, as it had come before and would come again, that the Dark lay heavy on the land and weighed down the hearts of men, and the green things failed, and hope died. And men cried out to the Creator, saying, O Light of the Heavens, Light of the World, let the Promised One be born of the mountain, according to the prophecies, as he was in ages past and will be in ages to come. Let the Prince of the Morning sing to the land that green things will grow and the valleys give forth lambs. Let the arm of the Lord of the Dawn shelter us from the Dark, and the great sword of justice defend us. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
From Charal Drianaan te Calamon, The Cycle of the Dragon. Author unknown, the Fourth Age)
Days away?
A slight understatement….
I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE.
the link to the spoiler thread doesn’t work. also, I just signed up to get the weakly previews and the confirmation page says the previews will start on December 3rd while this page says November 26th. Which date is correct?
Oh, my gosh. I’ve been on this journey since 7th grade, when the school librarian handed me a newly library-bound copy of Eye of the World and said I might like it. *tears* It can’t be over for good.
@2 heridfan. Good catch. The date is November 26th and we’ve corrected that on the confirmation page. The spoiler thread itself won’t go live until the Memories start up next week.
@ReactorChris Thanks!
“Sentences, words, paragraphs, chapter titles” This will be interesting. It seems not so long ago that the January date was announced, and there was all this gnashing of teeth and whining because it was so far away. And suddenly it is so close.
50 days and counting…… I can’t wait!!! I starting reading in 95 at 14 years old. Now I’m 31 with two children, but still feel the giddy exhiliration I felt as a teen when another book was released. I’m actually approaching this event with a great sadness. Not only will this be the final book, but the literary master who created, in my opinion, the greatest fantasy series of all time never lived to see the end. I’m happy that he was able to finish it on his terms, but I will always wonder about the difference should he have lived. And no offense to Sanderson, but Mat’s character has been ruined by the author change.
Now I aM oL excited…is is 2013 yet?
~lakesidey
@@@@@ Matt C.
I feel ya there! I remember my older brother letting me borrow his copy of Eye of the World after I had devoured the Xanth series in 6th grade. I have a fond memory of my Geometry teacher taking my book away while I was reading during her class. However, when she was giving it back to me after class, she confessed to being a big fan of the series too. That was about 15 years ago. I have referred this series more than any other to people. There are deep sentiments for me in this series. Heck, my friend’s son, Matrim, will be going into middle school soon himself… now that’s a trip!
On a secondary note:
Is there anyone planning on going to the midnight release in Provo, Ut?
I am lucky enough to live a couple hours north & I plan on benig there to get my cover proof (thanks again TOR.com!) signed.
Thank you Tor and Team Jordan.
Whiners to rant about evil greedy publishers and rich authors in 5 … 4 … 3 …
Don’t be a sucker.
Oh the bitter sweet end is fast coming upon us…”sigh”
@11. Freelancer, already been through that one in the Amazon forums when I argued with someone about how for aMoL to be 1 book, instead of 3, it would have looked something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Complete-Reproduced-Micrographically-slipcase/dp/0198612583/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1353370312&sr=8-2&keywords=oxford+english+dictionary
Apparently, when I said I would rather pay $20 each for 3 books, instead of almost $400 for one, it made me greedy!
Timing my re-read so that I can finish Towers of Midnight and go straight to A Memory of Light. I’ve been on board with the books since 1995 and the upcoming finale is bittersweet indeed.
I’ve been reading since 1991 when in college. I can tie so many memories around the release of books 3, 4, 5 and 6 that this ending will be very bittersweet. May the Dragon ALWAYS ride on the winds of time.
This book has been suggested to me by a stranger in an online game in 2004. It has only been 8 years, I can only begin to understand what some of you are feeling.
Have faith guys. I can’t believe that this will be the last we see of this world. If there is one thing I know about business, it is that money talks. There is a lot of material to write about and all Harriet and TOR have to do is say “Ok, someone write more WOT material” and hundreds of people would flock to the task.
starbear @17 – “…hundreds of people would flock to the task.” And therein lies the rub. Just imagine how awful most of it would be. I don’t believe Harriet would be happy to see her husband’s legacy tarnished by the kind of drek that would mostly result from this approach. There might be a few good stories written, but most of it would be terrible. I think she prefers the untarnished legacy to the money.
ETA: Freelancer and tigana0118 – LOL!! Thanks for the chuckles. :)
I think I may be luckier than most, in the sense that I only discovered the series about two years ago, and thus have only had to wait for TGS and TOM. However, I feel the same sadness approaching that I always feel at the end of a series I love. The Wheel of Time is, in my opinion The definitive work of fantasy literature in the last 20 years. It is probably the most important series to the genre since Tolkien, and even though I feel sad it will be over, I am happy that it will finally be as complete as it should be. I picked up a copy of TEOTW in my local bookstore because the cover was interesting, read the prologue, and decided to buy it. Literally, a life changing moment.
same here, been reading the series for more than 15 years, don’t remember when it has all started for me. same as Gambit, saw the cover, read the description, and bought it.
personaly, this is the best i’ve read in all my life.
i’m happy that i’ll read the end soon. i’m sad that it will be ended.
I initially bought TEOTW as a Chrismas gift for my father right as book 2 was in a large paper back. Not too long after Christmas, my dad yelled in an angry way to get me to come out front. Looking at his face, I wondered what I had done. Then he pulls out the book and says very slowly, “Where’s … Book…. Two…?” Then he smiled. I immediately went out and bought book 2, and the family has been reading them ever since… Sad that my father died before they were finished. Hopefully he’ll hear the story directly… :)
Amazing that after waiting for so long that we are finally near the end. Started reading WoT in 1994–so much has changed in my life since then. Marriage, two kids, 16 of my 20 yrs in the AF, retirement from the AF, all while reading and re-reading and re-reading WoT. Cant wait but at the same time dont want it to end.
I’m super excited but a little depressed too, can’t believe we are at the end of a great adventure. Wish RJ was still here to tell us a story but we are very lucky to have a new storyteller, I can’t wait to read some more of Brandon’s work, he’s doing a great job of filling some big shoes.
I can’t wait! I’ve been reading these books for years and years, I think the first three were out when I started! This journey has been absolutely immense! I’m going away on holiday for a month, and changed my return date so that I come home the day before release day and booked the release day off of work. Just so that I can get some sleep in the day before, and be fully rested and ready to read the whole book in one sitting!
Excited much!
I started reading when the first 2 books were given to me in paperback when I was a junior in high school. I’m 38 yrs old now and the only real constant I’ve had in the intervening years is WOT. These books have had a bigger impact on shaping my sense of self than any other single non-living influence in my life. Sadly I’ve had several friends over the years who did not live to make it to the end, but for anyone I’ve ever known who read these books – I’ve yet to speak to someone whose life wasn’t changed for the better by taking a spin on the wheel of time. I’ve found solid role models in some of these characters and excellent cautionary tales in others. Robert Jordan left the world with something that will continue to enrich the human experience for years and years to come. I truly believe this series will be one of those that history never lets die.
Thanks for doing this Tor.com folks.
Are the emails going out at different times? I notice that some folks are already commenting on the spoiler thread, yet I haven’t received any email yet.
Is there anyway to confirm that a Tor.com profile/account is registered? I assume the email is going to the email account associated with the profile.
Just a little antsy about getting all of the Memories… :-)
Does this mean the emails will start today? I tried to sign up twice, and one hasn’t shown up yet, though the spoiler thread is alive and kickin.
Is there a mod shoutbox I should put questions like this in?
sounds awsome
Add me to those who signed up and haven’t received the e-mail yet.
so excited
I haven’t received the email, either.
Hi Guys,
Sorry about the email mix-up. I think we have it figured out — everyone should get tomorrow’s email.
Longer version….
It seems about about 200 of you had previosuly unsubscribed from a different list in the same system and wires got crossed. If you signed up before noon (eastern) today and still don’t get tomorrow’s email, please send me a note: irene.gallo@tor.com
Anyone signing up over the evening (eastern) should be ok but, depending on when you register versus when the system updates itself, it may take an extra day.
So… what’s in today’s email that we’re missing?
Second comment in the spoiler thread.
Thanks, Irene! Wasn’t sure I wanted to look at the spoiler thread until I read the email. I’ll go read now.
Fair warning, that thread does assume people have read all the released text so far. It’s open season in there!
Thanks for this
You all have really great theories, I love them. Me, I don’t bother a lot of time trying to figure it out, but I can’t wait to RAFO!!! 6 weeks to Go!!!
For the life of me I can’t remember how I began, but I know I started reading the series before A Crown of Swords came out, but probably not by more than a few years. I read the previous books in paperback and was so excited when ACoS came out and I could buy a hardback copy… and get it signed by Robert Jordan! My wife (then my fiance) dropped me off at a small bookstore in Columbia, SC, so I — along with about a dozen others — could listen to and talk with him about various things.
That was 1996. I’m now 47 (yup, I came late to the game, kids) and like some of the rest of you am rereading the series so I can go right into A Memory of Light. It is both sad that Mr. Jordan didn’t live to see the end of his masterpiece, but simultaneously exciting that the great talent that is Brandon Sanderson — a fan himself — is helping to bring it to a close.
While I expect lots of “Aaaaaaa!” moments, I also have every expectation that I will be grinning from ear to ear with satisfaction at the very last words on that very last page.
If I sign up for this after the date that it starts will it send me all the releases that I have missed?
@40 – Probably not; you’d have to scan through the spoiler threads to get them. Tell you what, though – when I get a chance today, I’ll stick a comment at the end (as of then, anyway) of the first two discussion threads, listing all the Memories released for that week. It’s still worth joining anyway, because there are still four weeks worth of Memory snippets to come.
20 years for me! if the world ends tomorrow I will be very very annoyed.