It's a pity they didn't split it into two books instead of three. Three books split by clusters or chronologically was going to be flawed in one of the ways discussed. Two books could have been split with it ending after Perrin destroyed the Dreamspike and the Shadowspawn.
So by that point in time you'd have had Rand, Egwene, Perrin's arc's completed, Avi's visions taking place when all those arcs are held up/in despair. Leaving only Perrin's talks with Elayne, Elayne's 'exciting' antics in Cairhien and Mat's ToG visit pushed to AMOL of the main arcs. Along with some of Lan and the Epilogue. And of those only the Moraine one missing would have disappointed fans. Sure TGS would have had 500 odd of the 750 odd pages of TOM and required more pages and/or a smaller font, but it would have resolved the problems of chronology - which for me is not the out of order, it's the lack of despair in TOM it caused - whilst still giving fans plenty of resolution.
Of course we would have had an extra 9-12 months to wait for the book in that case, so it wouldn't have been perfect. It would have been the best option though IMO. TGS would have had the Light set back then ready, then AMOL the Last Battle. A neat division, rather then an arbitrary one (TGS could just have easily been Rand and Perrin or Rand and Mat, with TOM Egwene and Perrin or Egwene and Mat).
So by that point in time you'd have had Rand, Egwene, Perrin's arc's completed, Avi's visions taking place when all those arcs are held up/in despair. Leaving only Perrin's talks with Elayne, Elayne's 'exciting' antics in Cairhien and Mat's ToG visit pushed to AMOL of the main arcs. Along with some of Lan and the Epilogue. And of those only the Moraine one missing would have disappointed fans. Sure TGS would have had 500 odd of the 750 odd pages of TOM and required more pages and/or a smaller font, but it would have resolved the problems of chronology - which for me is not the out of order, it's the lack of despair in TOM it caused - whilst still giving fans plenty of resolution.
Of course we would have had an extra 9-12 months to wait for the book in that case, so it wouldn't have been perfect. It would have been the best option though IMO. TGS would have had the Light set back then ready, then AMOL the Last Battle. A neat division, rather then an arbitrary one (TGS could just have easily been Rand and Perrin or Rand and Mat, with TOM Egwene and Perrin or Egwene and Mat).
This message last edited by ajfurst on 01/12/2010 at 01:46:19 AM
/tGS: These are damned good books.
- 27/11/2010 02:22:05 AM
1661 Views
meh. ToM sucked for me. after tGS, I had become a bit hopeful, but now I see ...
- 27/11/2010 03:39:49 AM
1009 Views
Disagree strongly on the time line issue - TOM showed what a mistake splitting by 'clusters' was IMO
- 27/11/2010 07:24:55 AM
982 Views
Re: Disagree strongly on the time line issue - TOM showed what a mistake splitting by 'clusters' was
- 27/11/2010 05:59:47 PM
879 Views
Splitting it this way was the only realistic choice
- 29/11/2010 01:58:52 PM
834 Views
Disagree - plus COT lacked almost anything full stop
- 30/11/2010 12:03:24 AM
1016 Views
It will be better than CoT, sure, but still not good enough to appease most fans
- 30/11/2010 06:20:38 PM
1002 Views
In any case you can see why RJ wanted one book
- 01/12/2010 01:41:56 AM
870 Views
BS style
- 27/11/2010 07:25:38 AM
1082 Views
That's the thing! If it was in its normal, Jordan paced writing, ...
- 27/11/2010 08:52:05 AM
918 Views
Re: That's the thing! If it was in its normal, Jordan paced writing, ...
- 27/11/2010 11:57:22 PM
899 Views
Sin?! What, Jordan is a god now? Some flawless divine figure of fantasy writing? Puh-leaze!
- 28/11/2010 04:29:54 AM
823 Views
And you know how RJ would've outlined the books from where?
- 28/11/2010 05:07:31 AM
930 Views
Re: And you know how RJ would've outlined the books from where?
- 29/11/2010 08:16:12 AM
816 Views
My only problems are Mats sudden drop in literacy and the timeline. *NM*
- 27/11/2010 11:51:25 AM
423 Views
Not so much
- 27/11/2010 09:52:23 PM
1052 Views
Have some question
- 28/11/2010 05:38:42 AM
911 Views
Re: Have some question
- 28/11/2010 05:54:10 PM
873 Views
Re: Have some question
- 28/11/2010 06:19:30 PM
827 Views
Re: Have some question
- 28/11/2010 06:50:40 PM
821 Views
Exactly my feeling on TGS, but I do think ToM inferior to it (though still good).
- 28/11/2010 02:55:53 PM
1135 Views
Re: Exactly my feeling on TGS, but I do think ToM inferior to it (though still good).
- 28/11/2010 03:04:57 PM
792 Views
Right, it's good, but could be better (or it could be better, but is still good).
- 28/11/2010 03:12:15 PM
875 Views
Re: Exactly my feeling on TGS, but I do think ToM inferior to it (though still good).
- 29/11/2010 12:55:40 AM
920 Views
Radically different perspectives, it seems; I bet you don't even like leggy blondes.
- 29/11/2010 01:11:16 PM
888 Views
- 29/11/2010 01:11:16 PM
888 Views
"Reading" TGS &ToM in audio format and just weeks apart made them work better together. *NM*
- 29/11/2010 07:48:51 PM
572 Views
I agree. Also, chopping up the timelines was the best decision given the circumstances.
- 01/12/2010 02:02:07 PM
927 Views
Re: I agree. Also, chopping up the timelines was the best decision given the circumstances.
- 01/12/2010 02:31:46 PM
823 Views
Re: I agree. Also, chopping up the timelines was the best decision given the circumstances.
- 01/12/2010 08:17:57 PM
921 Views

