There are no beginning or endings…

This is an exciting moment to be a Wheel of Time fan.

In my recent review of Towers of Midnight, I said that the experience of reading this penultimate novel was bittersweet in that we can at last see the looming Last Battle, and in turn, the Ending to the series itself. And while it’s true that the book series is at last nearing its conclusion, I’m excited by the prospect of what lies in the future for the Wheel of Time.

I occasionally get asked, “What are you going to do with Dragonmount.com when the series is over?” My response is immediate and always the same: I’m going to keep going, and hold on for dear life because The Wheel of Time is only going to get bigger. Unlike so many other franchises, the WoT series has an incredible past with a huge established fanbase, and at the same time is poised to explode into what could be one of the most exciting expanded worlds we’ve seen in a long time.

As the books draw to a close, there’s the rising possibility of a major movie adaptation from Universal. There are also separate efforts to craft a whole slew of video games set in the world of the Wheel. When either of these projects moves forward, it will introduce the series to an all new audience, swelling our community with new faces and new readers. Time will reveal whether those adaptations are worthy additions to the canon, but my hunch is that with the right people involved, and a vocal enough community, we can look forward to many more years of exciting WoT content that respects its source. And the best part is that you can be involved.

This is the beginning of a transition period for the series. If you’re a fan who loves the series but hasn’t had a chance to read it recently, this could be a great time to dust off that old paperback, or download one of the new eBooks to read on your electronic reader of choice. Maybe now would be a good time to read New Spring in case you missed it when it came out? When was the last time you read The Strike at Shayol Ghul? And of course there’s always Leigh Butler’s re-read on Tor.com, or one of Dragonmount’s online forums if you want to re-light your enthusiasm for the story.

I’m looking forward to the new Age for this series. Like the wind, this moment in our franchise is neither the beginning nor end, but it is a beginning.

Jason Denzel runs the Wheel of Time fansite ‘Dragonmount.com,’ the longest running WoT fan community site online, and is an independent consultant on several WoT projects. He is also an independent filmmaker and produced the official book trailer for Towers of Midnight (ISBN: 0-7653-2594-2; November 2^nd, 2010).

…………………………

From the Tor/Forge Wheel of Time edition newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

…………………………

More from the Wheel of Time edition newsletter: