Search the most comprehensive database of interviews and book signings from Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson and the rest of Team Jordan.
Q: I know you've said we have enough information to figure it out for ourselves, but, are you ever going to come right out and say who (or what) killed Asmodean?
A: Read And Find Out! (sound of villainous laughter in the background--the Phantom of the Opera lives).
Q: What are your days like and how do you discipline yourself to write? Is it something you only do when the mood strikes, or do you work at a page, despite it not really flowing, and then edit like hell later?
A: A writer who waits for the mood or the muse to strike will starve to death because he or she won't write very much.I write almost every day, I would say every day, but occasionally I actually do something else. My typical day is to have breakfast, answer the phone calls I have to answer, deal with the letters, and then I sit down and start writing I then write for at least the next eight hours straight, and sometimes ten or twelve or more though I do occasionally take a day off to go fishing, my usual week is seven days.
Q: What is your writing style?
A: I simply write the way I write. I don't try to imitate anyone. I've certainly read--and still read--Hemingway, and admire most of his books but I think the person with the greatest influence on my style is Mark Twain. The trouble with that is that I've read a great many authors, and I can't say who has most influenced me over the years without my knowing it.
Q: How much time has passed since Winternight in the books?
A: It's about two years since the beginning. Roughly--very roughly. As to them getting together, read and find out, my dear, read and find out (he chuckled richly).
Q: I find it interesting that there is no formal theology in the series. Why is this?
A: This is a world where what might be called the proofs of religion are self-evident all the time. It seemed to me there was no necessity for the trappings of religion which by and large are to reinforce us in our faith and to convince others if your beliefs are made concrete and manifest around you at any given time. There is not the need for that.
Q: Are we going to see Moiraine again? Lanfear? My wife would like to know why none of the main characters have any children. Are there any in their future?
A: Read And Find Out. Most of the main characters are both very young and unmarried. Even some of the older ones are unmarried--so they have no kids, but Read And Find Out. We'll see what happens.
Q: Speaking of book signings, is there a tour in the works? If so, when?
A: Not for A CROWN OF SWORDS per se there is a tour in the fall, I don't know exactly when, for the reprinting of some of my historical novels it looks as though that will be expanded to include some areas where I nnormally wouldn't appear for those to make it a partial tour for A CROWN OF SWORDS the Tor Books website will give details (and so will Book Preview).
Q: With the scope of this work, it must have been on your mind for a long time. When did you first concieve the story and how many years after that was the first book published?
A: I had the first notions for this book, I guess it was 1975 or 76. For these books I should say but there were a lot of things to think out, a lot of changes I went through for instance the character of Rand and Tam were originally one I spent about ten years noodling the story around in the back of my head before I ever put words on paper but that's rather typical for me. My books have a fairly long gestation period.
Q: Which of the books did you enjoy writing the most and which were the biggest let-down?
A: None of them has been a let-down. And I always enjoy the book that I'm writing the most. I do try to make each book better than the last one I've done. When I've finished with a book, I'm on to enjoying the next one, and working on the next one.
Q: How much editing do your books get? Does the story or your writing get modified?
A: The story does not get modified. Occasionally the writing is modified to this extent--a good editor tells you what is wrong, as another set of eyes. A good editor says, "I don't understand what you're saying here, you havne't told me enough, you haven't made me believe that this person will do this or say this." And then I go back and work at making sure the editor is convinced. Remember the editor is the first reader. If the editor isn't convinced, I doubt the fans will be either.
Q: Have you ever considered making the Wheel of time into a movie?
A: With almost every book that has come out, and certainly every one that has made the bestseller lists, there's a feeler about a movie but it always goes away, because any one of these books would have to be a TV miniseries. There's no way that I can see to compress them into a three hour movie or even a four hour movie. That's not to say it won't happen, but I don't really expect it.
Q: Congratulations on CoS. It is a wonderful read. Do you find the extra several months you took to write it contributed to the overall readablility of the book and actually made it shorter in length?
A: Possibly. It was actually a good bit more in time. With the exception of The Eye of the World, which took four years to write, each of these books has taken me somewhere on the order of thirteen or fourteen months. A Crown of Swords took twenty months. There were several things I had to work out. Too much was happening and the book would have been too long. I had to work to cut things out--and that's not as easy as it sounds.
Q: What are your influences?
A: Well, there are--and i won't go into details because I want to keep the mythological and legendary roots hidden--I don't want to have people spending more time discussing the legends than the stories! The thing is there are several legends and myths based on such jealousy, on the man who is just a half a step short of another man the woman who would have been the greatest of her age, but there was another who was just a bit better that sort of jealousy leads to the worst kind of hatred. When someone can easily defeat you, there's not that kind of jealousy but when he beats you in a photo finish every single time, that is when emotions begin to curdle and rancor sets in and you find yourself with this festering deep inside that can turn into murderous hatred.
Q: The initiation rituals for raising an Accepted to Aes Sedai seem to be based upon some sort of real-life ceremonies. Where did you get the idea for the three passes through the ter'angreal?
A: Trinities and threes and multiples of three or seven turn up again and again in mythologies and legends throughout the world and in ceremonies throughout the world. that part is hardly original. It's something that speaks to us on some deeper level. It's so prevelant, it must. It's all pervasive.
Q: Will the genders ever understand each other?
A: I'm not sure that they ever will. Who knows? It seems to me to be a very human thing in dealing with the opposite sex at least to think that somebody else knows more about it than you do. You might swagger and put on a surface belief of "well, I have that nailed!" but I think for most people, there's a little voice in the back saying "God, he really does know how to handle women, doesn't he?" or "God, she really does know all about men!"
Q: It seems to me many authors say they write because the books they wanted to read hadn't been written yet. Is this true in your case?
A: Oh , I suppose it might be. If I were just a tad lazier of course, I could quite happily sit back and read other people's stories forever. The truth of the matter is that I have these stories that I'd like to tell if someone had gotten there ahead of me, I might never have written or, who knows, I might have found I had another set of stories to tell that no one had written.
Q: Does your world have defined natural laws in terms of the One Power, the True Power, the weather, etc. or do you make them up as you go along?
A: There are set laws --there have to be -- if you write stories where anything can happen, they get flabby, you lose focus. I have certain set laws and limits on the One Power, the True Power, and all of this and these limits and laws come out in pieces. They are not the focus of the stories, so they only come out in bits and pieces.
Q: Is it true that the 8th book may be released as early as November 97?
A: No. The 8th book will be finished sometime this Fall, and published next Spring. The title will be The Path of Daggers.
Q: How does it feel being the best fantasy writer ever ? *smile*
A: Thanks. *blush* Aw, shucks.
Q: I've noticed the influence of Stephen Donaldson in the WOT. Has he been a great influence?
A: No. I'm really surprised. .