As with previous volumes in the Wheel of Time® series, Tor Books is making the prologue for the final volume of the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light available to purchase, download, and read.
“By Grace and Banners Fallen” will see release on October 2nd, but is available for pre-order now.
A man who loves the hunt begins a new pursuit, red veils appear, and one of the Forsaken stands newly revealed. The forces of the Shadow swell in triumph as the world unravels. By grace and banners fallen, the Last Battle has come.
“By Grace and Banners Fallen” will be available for $2.99 as either an ebook or an audio download from Apple, Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and more. Wheel of Time fans can pre-order the prologue right now directly from premier Wheel of Time fan site Dragonmount.
DEMANDRED.
And I swore I wouldn’t get the prologue early…but save it for when I had the rest of the book in my hands.
But oh is this tempting.
I think I will get the audio version of the prologue so that I don’t feel like I have bought the same thing twice when I get the full ebook :)
Will it be a North America only thing again?
@Sonofthunder… my thoughts exactly. My first thought on seeing this post was that I would just wait until the whole book is released.. but the Demandred reveal is very tempting… Damn you Tor!
Demandred revealed, Can’t wait. “A Man who loves the Hunt” Perrin? Isam? I wonder who they mean.
Allow me to repost my rant from when they charged us for the prologue from The Towers of Midnight
“Once again Tor is cashing in on our little obsession and once again people are rushing to defend their right to get ripped off.
Remember last time when they were selling the prologue and then released the first chapters for free? They were artificially inflating demand because assuming any true fan couldn’t read those chapters without knowing what might have happened in the prologue.
And no one was given a $2.99 credit when they re-bought the prologue with the book, right?
I just don’t understand why so many fans here are willing to drink the kool-aid and defend the crass marketing of these novels at their own expense. And the response to those of us who don’t want to get ripped off, regardless of the cost, is to accuse us of being mass-consumers of trivial products. Ironically it is this very behavior in you defenders of the free-market that we find so abhorrent.
You’re all free to spend your money however you like, but don’t mock those of us who refuse to follow the rest of the flock.”
There, I feel better. Again.
we are not buying a right to get ripped off, we are buying the privelege of reading some of the story earlier than the rest. Nobody, least of all Tor, demands that you read any of it, nor that you buy the book. You buy the book, or the prologue because you love the series/writer etc. This is a company in business to print and market books that people will read, they put out thousands of free tidbits to get people interested in buying their product. No one is demanding that you buy it. It is a choice, read it early if you want, or wait, it is a business deal, you can do it or not. No need to feel like they are bullying you into something you dont want to do. Tor does not expect you to pay $2.99 for this prologue, and then buy the book. They are only offering a chance to read some of it early. It’s no different that paying early for anything new that is coming out
ubxs113 – I’m not sure who’s mocked you in the past for refusing to be a “sheep”, but I honestly don’t understand why you have such a problem with this offer.
Those who wish to purchase the prologue ahead of time and enjoy the presumably delicious writing within…can do so. Those who do not wish to do so(I’m planning to stay in this category!)…don’t have to.
Are you saying that Tor should offer up the prologue and first few chapters totally for free instead? That would be awesome! But I think they’re also well within their rights to offer up the right to read it early only to those willing to pay for it.
Don’t forget that the prologue for this is HUGE. Sanderson’s already said that this prologue is significantly longer than previous ones. $3 for more than 100 pages two months early is a good deal to some of us.
Don’t buy the prologue if you don’t want to. I probably won’t, actually, but because I want to read the whole thing at once.
What’s the purpose of complaining or ‘threatening’ not to buy the book?
People, lots of people apparently want this sneak peek. Tor is just giving them what they want and more power to them.
BTW disagreement is not mocking. It’s just free speech.
Mis-sing in action but still lurking
@ubxs113:
You’re all free to spend your money however you like, but don’t mock those of us who refuse to follow the rest of the flock.
Why don’t we turn it around? That would make people who spend some money on it say ‘You’re all free to keep your money in your pocket, but don’t mock the rest of us who choose to spend a few bucks on reading some stuff 3 months ahead.’
Because it seems to me you are the one mocking here, with that post.
Glad you feel better though :)
I’m very, VERY upset! :(
Apparently I can’t buy it as I don’t live in the USA or Canada.
NDC @@@@@ 12
I’m with you there being British myself. As per usual, if you’re not American or Canadian then you’re not worthy of consideration.
I tried all sorts to get the prologue of ToM when it was released and ended up with my bank suspending my card because $whatever tried to be taken from my account several times (my multiple attempts to pay for the bloody thing) and it looked dodgy.
In the end, I found a copy for free on the web. I WANTED to pay for it and wasn’t allowed. Pissed me off no end. Still does.
In a way, it’s like the ludicrous decision to not release the ebook the same day as the hard back. I’d gladly give my money TWICE to have the hard back at home and a copy on my Kindle to carry around but, instead, they’ll only get my money once for the physical book. I refuse to buy the ebook when such out-of-date mandates are placed on these things.
A friend actually torrented the audiobook (not something I can get away with personally) of ToM because of the delay in release between the US/UK hard backs and the non-release of the ebook at the same time. So, more money lost and more ways for people to excuse theft.
Sorry for the rant. It just really gets my goat.
@12+13
I just (now) purchased Brandon Sandersons “Legion” from the dragonmount homepage. – They sell worldwide, and it worked perfectely for me
– and I am not a US or Canadian citizen.
Feel free to preorder / buy the prologue, if you like ; )
Something to look forward to.
@14
I just tried to purchase the book from the Dragonmount shop and it refused as my billing address is not North American. So, no, it appears we can’t get it :( Unless some lovely american wants to pay for it for us? *puppy eyes*
Wow, i really wanna read it but…
I live in Holland, so dont know what to do now…
Last time i bought an audio prologue from TOM. That worked, so hope there is some way around this USA only thing..
It always confuses me why people chose to whine about paying for the privilege of reading a portion of the book early–this is about tiding us over, and revving us up for the last book. No one is holding a knife to anyone’s throat making them spend their money on this prologue… oy. ::facepalm::
Bought. Immediately.
Perhaps some would rather the governemt purchase a copy for you. Oh, wait a minute, they will buy one for you; it’ll be sitting in your neighborhood public library….
I’ve never been interested in buying any of the prologues before. But with the goodies we’ve seen, I ordered this one.
BTW, the dragonmount.com ebook FAQ states explicity that for legal reasons, Tor titles are limited to the US. The independent titles (like Legion) are available world wide. Legion is pretty good. I hope Brandon writes some sequels…
Oh, it never ceases to amaze…
First, the prologue: WOOT! Demandred is revealed in the Prologue!!!! Sonofthunder, my friend, you are certifiable. ;) For that alone, I would get it. (Oh, no. This means several months of avoiding spoilers…. Are you sure?)
The hunter… my guess is Slayer; I’d go for Perrin, but the main characters aren’t usually prologue POVs. The red veils are (I think) fairly obvious, unless of course they aren’t. :) Votes: Are they the same red veils as the ones in the ToM epilogue?
The comments… well, I guess the whiners aren’t all in red today. Huh. Still not sure why people think they have a right to these things, and if they don’t get everything they want when they want it, and free, it’s obviously because Tor is a dirty, money-grubbing, greedy bunch of theives. Really? A business that gets paid for its products, so it can stay in business? Crazy talk, that.
::headdesk::
For those who complain that they can’t get it outside the US & Canada – take it up with the company that owns the ebook rights in your country. It’s not Tor, and they can’t legally market to countries where someone else holds publishing rights. As AhoyMatey commented @21, Legion was published independently and (IIRC) Brandon himself holds the ebook rights, so it’s available anywhere.
For those who complain about having to pay to read the prologue early, give it up. As others have said, no one is forcing you to pay to read it early – but if you want it early, you do have to pay for the privilege. So? Next thing, you’ll be complaining about having to pay for the ebook at all, since there’s clearly no publishing or shipping cost associated with it… ::eyeroll:: Why are people so determinedly blind about the need for publishers to actually make a profit? Some people around here seem to think they shouldn’t even make enough money to pay their employees, or buy the books from the authors, or pay the printing costs.
You may want to go read this post.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/06/13/patrick-nielsen-hayden-explains-ebook-territorial-rights-for-you/
He explains what goes on with ebook rights. Warning, it’s not pretty.
I will be buying the prologue, because I want to read it as soon as I can.
Excellent link, Jay! Thanks!
FU#^$&* TOR A$$&^($!!!!!!
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SKDHGkl’
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sorry had to bang my head against the desk to stop my rant before buying this…
For those wishing to download from outside US, why not just use a free VPN…google it and you should be able to set it up pretty quick. Hope it helps…
Let’s be honest, the arguement against the purchasing of the prologue are very clearly selfish/self interested ones.
Folks have made the point very clearly and very simply; no one is forcing anyone to buy this, so there is no arguement to be made…
Unless your actual goal is to try and somehow get everyone to not buy it in the hopes that TOR will release it for free.
Hmm…
IT IS NOT WORKING FOR CANADIANS @@@@@ dragonmount.com
TOR, you have the distributions rights for the US & Canada!
Please fix this!
@28 – Yes, but Tor doesn’t own dragonmount, so they can’t fix dragonmount’s problems. Contact the dragonmount people and let them know. And if nothing else, you can wait until October 2 and buy it from your normal ebook source.
@@@@@Wetlandernw
I posted on Dragonmount before I posted here. No answer on Dragonmount so far; I assume the problem is at their end but it could be that they received poor instructions (meaning USA only instructions) from TOR. Just spreading word of this issue.
What the?! #%&*##!
Dang thing is only available in the States. Tor?! You want to explain this one to me? You have an international market that you seem to constantly exclude. Lame.
Woof™.
By the way, those folks that are choosing not to purchase the prologue, well, that is your choice. At least you have a choice. And I’m not going to let anyone dictate or try to tell me how I should or shouldn’t spend my hard earned money…. unless it is an Iphone, then I will go with the “baaa-ing” sheep comment;)
Tor- Sub wants to spend money, the brain trust at the helm of your enterprise will not let me.
Fix please.
Woof™.
sub – did you contact dragonmount about the issue? And if dragonmount can’t get it fixed, you will still have the option to buy it on Oct 2 from your usual ebook vendor. (You might even be able to preorder it from them.) Since Tor has the ebook rights in Canada, they’ll make it available. It’s just the dragonmount preorder that’s broken.
Here’s a tip for anyone outside the US that worked for me: put an address & phone number (say of a friend) in the US, and pay via PayPal. Dragonmount doesn’t check your location based on IP or anything.
It’s infuriating that we have to go through this process, but such is the issue with dealing with outdated geographical restrictions.
To all Canadians:
I have posted in this thread:
http://www.dragonmount.com/index.php/News/amol/amol-prologue-preorder
and tried to contact dragonmount.com founder Jason by sending a PM @@@@@ http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/user/2-jason/
no luck so far. Please do the same. The more we are, the more likely we are to get an answer.
@@@@@ the saladean pimpernel I might try this as a last resort. My concern is that my credit card might be declined if I give the wrong address. Do you know if Paypal is a possible payment method?
Ok, Jason (founder of dragonmount.com) has answered the following:
“Hi folks, At this time, for various technical reasons, we’re unable to
sell eBooks to people with Canadian addresses. I hate that we can’t do
it, but it comes down to a technical limitation of our storefront
software. I’m actively pushing to have this functionality added. But
right now, we just can’t do it without meeting the requirements
Macmillan has for our online store. As soon as Amazon.ca has the
prologue available online, I will be sure to link all of you to it.
Thanks for your understanding.”
A possible solution for Canadians:
McNallyRobinson (one of the largest independent bookstores in Canada, based out of Winnipeg). They have partnered with Google Books. The prologue is 3.99$CAN. (same price on Google Books’ main page, so why not support an independent bookstore?)
It is currently listed (unlike amazon.ca or chapters.indigo.ca) and I assume it should become available on Oct 2nd.
http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/ebooks-home
http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/download-ebooks-to-device#.UFYAOlEyCSo
https://ebooks.mcnallyrobinson.com/ebook/search?no_paper_book=1&book_search%5Bquery%5D=9781466829848
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1079643–google-launches-canadian-ebookstore
@@@@@ People in the UK and Australia. Google Books operates in your countries check to see if you can see it or if it’s IP restricted to the US/Canada.
@Olver, PayPal worked for me, and it’s linked to an Australian credit card. Google Books has a limited library here, and the timeline is probably different due to the rights holder being Orbit UK.
First things first.
Mis! You get your regular self back in action on the re-read this minute, young lady! We’ve all been Mis-sing you something awful.
For those who think Tor greedy for this, you have a sadly skewed sense of entitlement. Here’s how the real world works. I make something. Someone else says, “Say, I’d buy that.” I name a price, and they pay it. OR THEY DON’T, and I either lower the price, improve the product, or I starve.
I can go without reading the Prologue early. But you know what? I can spare the coin to not go without it. Many folks I know pay more than this for each drink they tip at the bar on a Friday night. It costs me much more than this in gas each day for my work commute. It’s less than a Double-double at In-N-Out.
This is a free trade proposition. They have something I want, I have something I’m willing to give them for it. If you also want it, but won’t give them what they ask, that’s a problem. But it isn’t theirs. Unless so many people took the same position that they returned no profit on the release, then they would either lower the price or end the offer.
I don’t like that it costs a large chunk of a paycheck to take my family to a ballgame. I can rail on the greedy team ownership all day long, and that price isn’t going to come down one red cent. So I either pay their price or watch at home. If enough people refused to pay their price, they’d have to lower it. As long as they can fill the seats with folks who can afford their price, then it’s the right price. That’s just how business works. It isn’t greed on their part that you want charity.
Free. In n Out wins the thread.
Hmm. Pay for an early tidbit? I’m game.
From Korea…with 2.99 to spare.
Oh….Hi All!
Hi, blind!! How’s Korea?
Where might we pre-order the audio format of the prologue? I’ve been trying to find it without success.
So Brandon posted:
Iddn’t that nice for us WOT fans, eh? :D
PS the INNOUT analogy was priceless, I go there for lunch every other day!
It’s available. Midnight on the east coast, apparently. Whee!
@@@@@#$%ing TALMANES!!!!!!!!
Bionicgeek @43
AFAIK, no audio format of the Prologue is in early release, only the ebook, and that only because a glitch made it available ahead of schedule to some, after which the powers that be felt it only fair that everyone have the same benefit. The audio download, if I understand correctly, will still be available on Oct 2nd.