Post by Knightfall on Feb 25, 2010 7:39:28 GMT 1
I didn't know who Brandon Sanderson was until he became the man who would continue the Wheel of Time series in Robert Jordan's stead. I've never read the books myself, but I grew up catching earfuls about them from my friend. So, there is a connection there, and as a writer myself, I found it devastating to hear that Mr. Jordan died in the middle of writing the LAST book of what became a twelve-part series; a series that he had been working on for decades. That is just a loss that I don't think I'd ever be prepared to accept--even in death. o.O
He had a very strong, and very dedicated fanbase (my friend almost cried when he heard the news of Jordan's death), so leaving the series at its climax wasn't an option.
So, in walks Brandon Sanderson, who takes on this monumental task without complaint. To put this in perspective, this is like bringing someone on to write The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (if RotK was a trilogy and each book was over 1000 pages, with a word count of 300,000 each). This meant that he had to familiarize himself with the lore, the characters, the world, the politics, the magic systems, and reread most of the books. And then write a trilogy that was true to the last ELEVEN entries in the series.
And on top of that, they have to be released on a yearly basis. Startling.
But this man--this Mega-Mormon--not only took on this crazy task, but has also been writing ANOTHER series at the same damn time! So, writing a trilogy with an estimated word count of over 1,000,000 that has to faithfully continue on from a series that took its original author over two decades to create with a loyal fanbase that probably rivals Trekkies in their attention to detail...this wasn't enough for him. He went and wrote TWO more books on the side of staggering length like it was nothing.
I only wish I had that kind of commitment in anything that I do. That's why, for the moment, he's my hero. >=O
He had a very strong, and very dedicated fanbase (my friend almost cried when he heard the news of Jordan's death), so leaving the series at its climax wasn't an option.
So, in walks Brandon Sanderson, who takes on this monumental task without complaint. To put this in perspective, this is like bringing someone on to write The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (if RotK was a trilogy and each book was over 1000 pages, with a word count of 300,000 each). This meant that he had to familiarize himself with the lore, the characters, the world, the politics, the magic systems, and reread most of the books. And then write a trilogy that was true to the last ELEVEN entries in the series.
And on top of that, they have to be released on a yearly basis. Startling.
But this man--this Mega-Mormon--not only took on this crazy task, but has also been writing ANOTHER series at the same damn time! So, writing a trilogy with an estimated word count of over 1,000,000 that has to faithfully continue on from a series that took its original author over two decades to create with a loyal fanbase that probably rivals Trekkies in their attention to detail...this wasn't enough for him. He went and wrote TWO more books on the side of staggering length like it was nothing.
I only wish I had that kind of commitment in anything that I do. That's why, for the moment, he's my hero. >=O