Query letter...reprise, and The Wheel of Time

Okay, so I was wrong in my last blog entry. I have a lot of work to do. :P Namely, finding the actual HEART of my MC's emotional problem. I definitely shouldn't have spoken too soon. Hehe.

Anyway...

I thought I would talk about the books I'm reading right now, in an effort to get my attention off my floundering query and stalled editing of novel for said query, and...yeah. That stuff. I've been reading the Wheel of Time series since I was about 14 or so. It's a series by Robert Jordan, but some may know that Mr. Jordan passed away in 2007. The series wasn't finished, but Jordan had planned everything out. And he'd even enlisted his wife to find a replacement author to complete the story after he was gone. Cue Brandon Sanderson.

But anyway, I want to stay at the beginning for now. Naturally I started with book 1, The Eye of the World, or tEotW as it's known in WoT circles. Hehe. At first I only got through a few chapters, then took it back to the school library. But later on I saw a fellow student reading a later book in the series, and decided to give book 1 another go. This time I was hooked, and never looked back.

Well, okay, I kind of looked back after reading book 10. It had been so long since I'd read the early books by this point that I was quite vague on the details of what had even happened in the series. I did remember stuff from the latest book a little better, but even then a lot had been forgotten. So...I gave up. Book 11 came out, and I bought it, but didn't read it. I knew I had to do a re-read before I could read it. I attempted a re-read at one point, and gave up after a chapter or so of re-reading book 1. Book 12 came out, everyone was raving, I learned some spoilers by accident. Damn it! And serious spoilers they were, too. I still put off my re-read. Then last year, in the lead-up to book 13's release, I finally decided to bite the bullet and started my re-read. I posted a thread for each book, commenting on that thread as I got through the book. The threads are all located here on the A'vron forums. Anyway...

The re-read was truly amazing and illuminating. I found myself getting through the books pretty quickly. And it really was the best thing I could have done in regards to this series. I had forgotten SO MUCH. It's amazing the dramatic events in a narrative one can completely blank out over the years. What is even weirder, some of it I didn't even remember reading before. My memory was not stoked by the re-read. Odd! Anyway, I finally got through my re-read of book 10 (the last book I had finished). And it was time at last to move onto FRESH MEAT!

Book 11 held many wonders, many of which I already knew to expect thanks to those unwelcome spoilers. As I went through the re-read, I learned more spoilers, but for the most part managed to avoid complete disappointment. One thing to note about book 11: it's the last book in the series written entirely by the original author of the series, Robert Jordan. Book 12, which I got onto next (and am almost done with right now), was largely written by Sanderson, with intermittent scenes written in Jordan's hand. I wasn't sure what to expect about some other writer coming in to try and fill Jordan's shoes, but I've got some thoughts now:

When I started reading The Gathering Storm (book 12), I was cringing left, right and centre. This was not RJ's writing. He would never have used the word 'twister', or used that god-awful simile, or any of that. It really was awful in the beginning. The worst was probably that first scene. Then there was his writing of Mat Cauthon, making him way more misogynistic than I've ever seen him before. And where's all the women's complaining about men to balance it out? So yeah, I was a little alarmed by what I was reading. But I will say it's getting a lot easier, and I think Sanderson's writing improves a lot over the course of the book. I'm pretty sure there are less bad similes, and he mostly stays true to the characters. I'm still disappointed quite often with his word use. He makes the characters sound more American than 'old world', and that to me reads pretty awkward. But...yeah, I'll give him props for taking on this mammoth task.

Speaking of book 12, all I can say is: oh my bloody heck! Talk about action-packed, awe-inspiring and WOW! So much happens, so many epic scenes unfold, so many amazing revelations are provided, and...just yeah. I am nearly done with book 12. Then I'll be onto book 13, which I understand is pretty amazing too. And then we gave one more wait, for the final book of the series. Book 14, A Memory of Light. I am already crying to know the end is nigh. I know there'll probably be prequels and sequels and all that, but still...this will be the end of an amazing adventure. Saying goodbye to these old friends, friends I've known since I was 14, will not be easy.

It's going to be amazing to see how this story unfolds. There are a lot of loose ends that need tying, a lot of potential disasters that need to be prevented, and...

The Last Battle. It's coming.

Oh my!