As with previous volumes in the Wheel of Time® series, Macmillan is making the prologue for Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderon’s The Towers of Midnight available for purchase on September 21st, more than a month before the hardcover is released on November 2, 2010.
In the prologue, titled “Distinctions,” Lan Mandragoran rides on toward death; Perrin Aybara, Lord Goldeneyes, has a disturbing dream; Galad leads the Whitecloaks into harm’s way; one who has left humanity behind creeps through the Blight; and the Blight border faces invasion.
“Distinctions” will be available for $2.99 as either an ebook or an audio download. You can pre-order the ebook now, and it will be compatible with nearly all e-reading devices, including the Sony Reader and the Kindle.
Will we be able to just download it to our computers? Not an ereader?
Can’t wait to read it!
Tektonica, yes you can. Depending on *where* you purchase it, you may need to download software to read it on your computer.
For example, from Amazon, there is the free “Kindle for the PC” software (don’t know if Amazon provides “Kindle for the MAC”).
How about on the iPad?
There is free software to read both Kindle and Nook ebooks for the computer and the iPad, as well as android and iphone and pretty sure Mac as well.
Will it be available for download at midnight like it was for TGS? IIRC only some vendors had it available at midnight.
Just a few days after my birthday, sounds like a good present!!!
So it begins. The sun starts to set on 21SEP2010.
Sweet.Nay7 Kinds of Badass.
A nice little birthday present from tor to me! (technically, birthday’s tomorrow, but its nice to know when this will be availbable).
Sorry Tor, As bad as I want to read this book. I ain’t paying 2.99 to read the prologue then another 30 bucks or more for the hardback book. I can wait a little longer. thanks
I am not paying for the prologue! I am going to buy the book, I have been reading these books for a long time, I waited for each book (impatiently)and I am content to wait now. What I don’t understand is why charge for this at all? Any fan is going to buy the book-and I can’t believe you need the money that badly that you want your readers to pay for it twice!
Actually, I’m more interested in pre-ordering the ebook of _The Towers of Midnight_, but it has disappeared from Amazon.com.
Is the ebook not going to be available at the same time as the Hardcover?
@9 and 10 – Funny thing, that “discussion” has been going on for quite a few years now. If you want to read the prologue early, and it’s worth three bucks to you to get an advance look, fine. Buy it. If you want to wait for the whole book, or don’t want to spend the three bucks, fine. Don’t buy it. I don’t understand, though, why anyone bothers to complain about paying for the advance prologue. No one is forcing anyone to pay twice – it’s totally up to the reader.
MissMeggles@10: I find it hard to believe you’ve never run across the concept of charging for the
privilege of exclusive and/or early access to something. If you’re content to wait, then all is well.
The book will come out at the same time for the same price. This offer is of interest to the segment
of WoT readers that want to see some content before the main release.
@others: If the price is more than you want to pay, don’t pay. What’s the hardship? If this seems so horrible to you, Baen’s Webscriptions model must blow your minds…
Drakbibliophile@11: E-book releases seem to lag behind hardcover releases. I don’t think TGS is available as an e-book yet for instance.
I know about the ‘delayed release of Gathering Storm’. However, Towers was up on Amazon as a Kindle release with the same date as the hardcover. Also, Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings is avaliable as a Kindle to be released on the 31st.
I particularly appreciate it will become available on September 21st, the International Day of Peace! CAn’t wait, although will need to read it on the 22nd due to the Peace Day Global Broadcast which I am director of. Peace Out, except in this series of course, where the Last Battle awaits.
The horror! How dare you, TOR, attempt to collect money for a product? It’s like you’re only interested in… in… profit! What a shameful behavior for a business. /sarc
I’ll be paying. As I’ve paid for the last few prologues. Sure, it’s only 6 weeks ahead of when I’ll be buying the complete book, including the prologue, but that’s what is known as choice. Now, if they sold the prologue separately, and only in audio form, and charged the same price as the rest of the book, that wouldn’t be choice, and it might be closer to a valid reason for a complaint. That they are making something available of which someone refuses to avail themselves, any complaint is completely baseless. You pay, or you don’t. Isn’t that wonderful?
Yeah, I didn’t buy the last prologue and I didn’t feel too bad about it… until I learned that they handed out secret passwords and decoder rings, then I was all bummed out.
Maybe this goabout I will cave and pony up the mighty 3 bucks. I dunno, we’ll play it by ear but I am curious to see if ol’ BS got some of the nuances to certain characters that IMHO I didn’t quite feel in the last book. Regardless, the book will be good, just inquiring minds need to know.
Woof™.
Drakbibliophile@11&15: I pre-ordered it, and it’s still showing up in my “Open Digital Orders” (along with, now, the prologue.)
Which I think means exactly nothing…especially as it’s claiming that it’ll “ship” on October 26, 2010 (rather than November 2).
The early prolouge will surely cause the Predictions thread to double in size.
Buying it enables people to claim the 400th post! (or 500th I am not sure how long and windy the Predictions thread has grown over there.)
In some ways I find it disturbing that the “prologue” is being sold rather then being given out as a sample like is common with e-book and I hope that this does not become the norm…
also it makes me wonder how long the prologue is… I have paid as little as this for full mainstream novels…
as a matter of fact I will be getting Lamentation for 2.99 tonight from Ken Scholes….
How can people complain about paying $2.99??? Instead of buying a cheeseburger or whatever it is you buy, just spend the money on the prologue. $2.99 is a very small price to pay for a glimpse of the book i’ve been waiting close to a year for. I will be buying it, can’t wait!
Last year the Prologue was out by the time Dragon*Con happened because I won a free copy. Does anyone know if a copy of the ToM prologue will be a prize this year as well?
First, thank you Tor folks for auto-sizing the comment window!
Gregl@21
Disturbed is a moderately strong word. Tor chooses to sell this prologue, because they believe it a viably profitable product. If you price something nobody will buy, it won’t sell. If you give away things people are willing to buy, you aren’t very good at business. They have made their decision, not based on a comparison to a Ken Scholes (who?) novel, but on their own marketing estimate of its viability. That’s what businesses do. And it’s the right thing to do. And now, what matters is what you believe is the right thing to do. Pay, or not. I see nothing to be disturbed about, or to gripe about.
(btw, I’m aware of Ken Scholes, but in relation to WoT, there’s a reason his prologue isn’t being sold.)
I’ll pay for it – because I won’t be able to resist the temptation! :D And really, with all the sales usually associated with a shiny new book, I never pay 30$ anyway, so I am still getting a deal. Even Barnes & Noble gives 30 or so % off of NYTimes bestsellers, and it’s cheaper elsewhere. *shrug* It’s totally worth it to me. After 20 years of readership, I would gladly pay more for this book.
And Wheel of Time prologues are pretty much little novels all by themselves.
Btw from what says up there does this mean we are going to have a PoV from Lan ?
Because that would be like Wow…
Longtimefan@20
Can I claim this post? It’s the highest I’ve ever had so I may as well.
They didn’t make this available in Australia last time. In regards to capitalist theft on the part of Tor, I’m pretty much thinking what the old timers here are onto. It’s a broken record, we heard it last year and the one before. If you don’t want it don’t front. Wait the month. Tor has every right to charge for it and really, it’s a cup of coffee.
Unless you live in NZ, where three bucks US exchanges for about $60,000NZ$.
Pfft and Heh; if you’re the complain’n type, forego your Starbucks or RockStar or RedBull or whatever fix for the day and buy the prologue. If you’re a true WOT fan the prologue should do for the Starbucks, et. al. (or brew and/or concoct your own at home and get a double fix for the day!). Just stop B*tching about nothing that you yourselves all could’nt have personal control over if you wouldn’t it ;p
I’ll have to think about this one. In years past we waited 3 or 4 years for a new WoT book, so it was worth it to buy”Snow” or “Embers Falling…”
It’s only been a year since TGS. I think I can wait an extra month for the whole book this time.
On the other hand, if spoilers start appearing in Leigh’s Re-read or elsewhere, I may have to break down and buy it…
$2.99 is cheaper than most kid’s meals at fast food restaraunts. I consider the Prologue a Happy Meal for my brain. Tastes better and lasts longer too!
Buy it, or don’t buy it; just quit your belly-aching
I cant wait wish it was free but its not so oh well ill buy
Hmmm. This is a tough one. I am not really sure if I’m interested in reading any more about some farmhands out in the middle of nowhere trying to decide what to do with their ‘best’ set of pots and pans. Should I even care about their cookware? Will it all come back into the storyline later and be incredibly important?
*free advice* – Anyone out there spending $2.99 for a daily ‘fix’ of anything might want to consider switching to water (it’s better for you, and often free). But as for this Prologue, I think I’ll wait for the whole thing…
…unless they’re giving out more decoder rings…
Would someone from Tor like to comment on whether the kindle version will be available at the same time as the hardback?
Here’s last year’s discussion of whether to pay for the prologue.
Quite riveting. I recommend it for everyone.
Who indeed. :)
I should only hope one day that my prologues can be sold. Of course, right now, they’re…um…only a few pages long. I’d better work on that.
Definitely a sound business decision based on demand, IMO.
By the way: thank you for buying my book, Gregl. I’m delighted that Tor’s running this special ahead of the pb release of Canticle and the hc release of Antiphon.
on my birthday whowo count me in !!!
It’s great that we will be able to read the prologue on the kindle but how about the full version and the rest of the WOT books that havent been released for the kindle yet?
I hate to ask this, but . . .
Normally, I pre-order a book when there is a significant chance of said book being difficult to find on its release date. As this is not possible with an e-book (unlimited supply, instant delivery, etc) how exactly is a pre-order advantageous?
I’m really curious, because I am going to be ordering this ebook. I just don’t see the advantage in pre-ordering.
Beren
Once again Tor is cashing in on our little obsession and once again people are rushing to defend their right to get ripped off.
Remember last time when they were selling the prologue and then released the first chapters for free to artificially inflate demand? Because any true fan couldn’t read those chapters without knowing what might have happened in the prologue. And no one was given a $2.99 credit when they re-bought the prologue with the book, right?
I just don’t understand why so many fans here are willing to drink the kool-aid and defend the crass marketing of these novels at their own expense.
And the response to those of us who don’t want to get ripped off, regardless of the cost, is to accuse us of being mass-consumers of trivial products. Ironically it is this very behavior in you defenders of the free-market that we find so abhorrent.
Your all free to spend your money however you like, but don’t mock those of us who refuse to follow the rest of the flock.
Will the prologue be available on the iTunes?
Isilel: Yes, it will. I’m not sure which companies have “pre-orders’ and which don’t…It seems they all handle that differently. But, come the 21st, you should be able to buy it at all the same places you can buy our books and short stories.
Irene,
Since you’re here, is there any chance you can comment on whether or not we’ll get the eBook version of Towers on the same day as the hardbound? Will we need to wait another year, similar to TGS?
I’m kind of disturbed that I was able to pre-order the eBook through Amazon (along with the hardbound – must complete my collection…), but that it now appears that the eBook version was pulled from Amazon.
I know you probably cannot comment on the way Amazon does business, but I’m at least hoping you can shed some light on the eBook release in general…
Beren@39:
The advantage is I don’t have to think about it; it just magically wends its way to my Kindle, the finger-breaking labor of going to a website and clicking a button having already been done. I can always cancel the order if I change my mind before it comes out. (Except I’d feel guilty, so I probably wouldn’t.)
Actually…since at midnight (when I hope it’ll be downloadable) I’ll probably be in bed, and thus away from a computer, calling it hard work isn’t entirely facetious. (Just mostly.)
Turning the question around: since I won’t be charged for it until it actually comes out, what’s the disadvantage in pre-ordering?
Yes, I know the prologue is a tradition in the series, but Mr. Jordan also perfected the art of writing a prologue that is nearly 100% irrelevant to the remainder of the book. While I can’t blame Tor for putting this on sale, I can blame them for writing a pretty lame preview that raises absolutely no curiosity about what happens in the prologue — Lan will ride as he did two books ago and not get anywhere, Perrin will dream and think that this time he really has to deal with the wolf but take no real steps to do it, Slayer or Padan Fain (who cares which) will do something stealthily that leaves us no clue what they’re doing and then likely disappear for the rest of the book, and preparations along the Blight border , who would have guessed that. I’ve been reading this series for 20 years and am so anxious to read the next book that I reread the entire series+New Spring this year. Come on Tor, if there’s something actually worthwhile in the prologue then you can come up with something more tantalizing than that. If you can’t, then there’s clearly nothing in the prologue worth purchasing ahead of the book.
Padan Fain is stealing Shadowspawn! :D
that, or they can’t talk about in any more detail it without giving away the surprises.
i don’t think you’re being fair to the prologues. Some incredible stuff has happened in prologues. Galad’s duel, anyone?
it’s about time…this waiting IS KILLING ME…after readin and savouring each volume…reading every encyclopidia about WOT and gathering a picture album of the characters by Seamus…the 13th book is way so far away…the waiting is killing me…& what’s more is that i know this book is gonna be good…
LoadedDice @@@@@ 33 – I really liked the farmer in TGS, to get a POV from some completely random character who was faced with imminent evil was a refreshing way to start the book. The whole imagery with the clouds and his decision to leave his farm to go fight in TG was very powerful. I think it’s a great scene.
BTW I will probably buy the prologue but only because it will undoubtedly be discussed (if rather unintentionally) in the various threads we have going on here and I always like to be up to speed with everything… oh and have you priced a happy meal lately, way more than $2.99, and my tall decaf nonfat no-whip dark cherry mocha is $3.05 so I do think it is still a pretty good deal. They could have charged $10 and the ones who really want it would probably still pay!
Does anyone know if Brandon is going to be signing books again for this volume? I got TGS signed by him and would rather order from a bookstore than go to Amazon or B&N… OTOH I just checked B&N and they are selling the hardback on pre-order for $16.19 [edit for price change].
Yes, he will be doing a short tour for TOM, and he will also sign it at any future signings.
Thanks Terez I’ll wait for him then.
A decent hamburger costs more than $3. So skip a meal!!
I believe that part of the $3 prologue profits go to Harriet, RJ’s widow for a fund for research and treatment for RJ’s condition.
So consider it a donation to medical research for the desease that caused a fantastic author to die before he finished his series.
I have a question, and hopefully some of you can help me out here.
I have a Kindle, which is linked to my account with Amazon US. When I check for this prologue at the Kindle store, I get the message that the ToM prologue is not available for me because I am in Europe (The Netherlands, to be precise).
It seems to be because of possible ‘copyright issues’.
What’s going on with that, and why should this be a problem? I’ve never had any trouble with ordering real books from amazon US…
If somebody could clarify here, I’d appreciate it. :)
@Fiddler – (In case no one official is paying attention) We had the same problem last year, and I think it has something to do with legal issues. I’d suggest simply waiting until the prologue comes out to get it; there will be several sites offering it, and last year the news spread pretty quickly when we found one that had no geographic restrictions (and also when we found one that would work for Mac). It was within a few hours of release when all those problems were solved.
@Another Reader and various: I heard two sections of the Prolouge read by BWS ay Dragon*Con. Its worth it! I CAN’T WAIT!!!!! And that is all I will say on the subject….(Mwhaaa haaa haa)
Awesome stuff! It just so happens that November is also the month of my birthday. LOL!! :-) Well, it’s several days after the release date but that will allow the shopkeepers to get over the shopping spree and the general rush that always comes with the next best-seller. I so can’t wait to read this one and I wholeheartedly agree that it’s not worth it to buy just the Prologue. What a waste of money and time! If I read it, I’d wanna read the whole thing through and through. Also, I think that the “unknown” person who’s sneaking through the Blight is Rand al Thor. Makes sense, no? Oh, waiting for it though will be so damn long!!!
Hurry up November!!!!!!!!
@Terez27:
Thanks. I may drop Amazon a note anyway, since I bought my Kindle in the US, and it’s linked to my US account. Just because I’m curious.
I’ve seen previous posts asking about an eBook release date. Yet, no reply (except about the prologue) concerning the eBook release date.
Is there anyone out there (or working) at TOR with an answer? Is the eBook release going to occur after the hardback release? When? Where (though one post stipulates they pre-ordered he eBook from Amazon and now it’s not available)? Amazon? Barnes & Nobel? Borders? Wally World? Big Bubba’s Book Store?
Do we need a Top Secret clearance to know the eBook release (and any other data about it) ?
Please TOR, let us know.
Really, who cares when the electronic release is? I’ve waited a year for book #12, I can wait another for book #13. Plenty of other good authors out there. More than enough to keep me busy until they decide to release it.
Well actually ManMang some people DO care. I for one, and I suspect I am not the only one who can’t hold heavy hard back books. I have had to switch to an ereader, hence my need to have ToM and when it comes out MoL in Eversion. Now if they make them a year after the HB release that will be unfair on those of us who for reasons known to themselves need ebooks.
For those who don’t know, Tor is owned by MacMillan, the publishing company that’s been involved in an ebook pricing dispute with Amazon since last winter. Supposedly this was resolved when Amazon caved to MacMillan’s demand that all new releases be priced at $15+, but at one point they threatened to withhold ebook publishing rights until well after initial hardback release. That The Gathering Storm was delayed a year bodes ill.
MacMillan is terrified that they’ll end up like the record companies, so they’re doing the same thing the record companies did, which is shoot themselves in the foot in a desperate effort to prevent digital downloads from affecting their traditional hard copy sales. It will only hurt their bottom line of course. I, for instance, will definitely buy the ebook on release date if it’s available. If it’s not, then I will get the book from the library and never purchase it.
I doubt Tor has much say in these decisions, and it makes me sad that the world of Fantasy fandom has to suffer because their parent company is so short sighted.
Does anyone know how long the prologue is? $3 for a 100 page prologue is fine, but $3 for a 20-30 page one?
@62 And some of us live in countries where the English version won’t be available for close to a year (TGS just came out last month) and also obviously don’t have access to English book libraries so ebooks are a convenient solution.
I have not been able to order or preorder the ToM ebook/kindle version from the amazon website – any news on that? anyone?
@Gerontius: It’s 88 pages per the Amazon site…
I still have not seen it on the Sony Reader, which is what I have. I certianly hope it is available tomorrow. I see it on Barnes & Noble as well as Amazon
Im ashamed to be so dense, but HOW do you actually go about the actual ORDERING of the prologue? Is there a link somewhere that my poor eyes are missing? Thanks in advance for any help.
Embarrased: No need to be so. We didn’t link because different booksellers have different amounts of lead-up time in their pre-orders. You can either search the title at your ebook store or, tomorrow we will link to the various stores when it is actually on sale.
Nipper: I’m told it will be. I know some stores are more on-top of pre-orders than others. If it’s not there by morning, give us a shout.
Irene, thank you for your feedback. I am going to read between the lines and infer that Amazon.Com would probably have it for order under ‘Jordan’ or ‘Sanderson’ as far as a ‘Search’ goes…
@68 gladforgrace
Thanks!
GAHHHHHH!!! Talk about getting yanked in all manner of unexpected directions! Irene, we need that prologue thread!
Rather unexpectedly, I went to Barnes & Noble to preorder the prologue, and was able to download it. And I’d just like to say this:
Whoa.
Okay…. Oh, Yeah!
Ummm. Huh?? Umm.
Gah!!! NOOOOOOOO!!
(I did not see that coming, though I suppose I should have. Somebody-or-other predicted something like it.)
What??? No way!! No, this is not supposed to be happening!
Eeewwww. Eurgh. Did I say Eeewww? Eeeeewwww.
And so, it begins. Tai’shar Kandor.
downloaded it around 1230am from barnes n noble, at least a graendal pov… shes still around bitches
Prologue available at ebookstore.sony.com for readers in Canada. I am currently reading. PLEASE REPOST THIS at dragonmount.com if you have an account(mine has yet to be activated):
http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/51100-prologue-availability-outside-the-usa/
Once again, N/A to Australians.
However, BitTorrent and Utorrent are. I will probably resist the temptation but I know friends of mine who won’t. I kinda get tired of there being apparently only two countries in the world, the US and UK.
The two countries in this case seem to be the US and Canada (so far). Somebody repost the news of availability at: http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/51100-prologue-availability-outside-the-usa
@@@@@ stylusmobilus – Not at all mate, us Brits are being sh*t on by this too. If you’re not American then you’re not important to the publishers apparently.
I’ve been looking forward to getting Distinctions since it was announced and now I’m not allowed to spend my money on it? Pah! Shove your ebook up your @@@@@rses.
Grumble mumble discontent.
Thanks a lot Tor for not being able to provide the ebook for european customers. You people really suxs.
Ahhh, why did I forget about this??? I just downloaded it now…but I’m going to wait to read it until I can relax on my lunch break. About four hours from now. I had to be very quick at scrolling past all possible spoilery posts.
Oh and even though I’m currently in the UK, I was able to download the prologue…most likely because I have a US address on my account? I’m not sure.
Yeah i know but sadly I dont have a US adress on my account as i dont live there..
@dokipen
Guess Canada stole your spot. Last year, I did hear that people overseas were doing up dodgy US addresses. Hey, it works.
I try to be philosophical, and assume that there are problems with supplying it to overseas customers. At least you’re in the UK and can go watch some Premier League football.
Grrr!
Stupid US/Canada only. Not only are publishers losing money but I’m betting it’ll increase the numbers pirating it.
Trying to resist but really need to read it! Anyone any ideas for buying it here in UK?
Yet another sad day for europeans indeed. Is it just me or did the internet is the worst thing that has happend to readers in the last 50 years? Way to go.
@t0kengirl
Trying to find a solution for Australia. If I can I’ll post it here. It might work for the UK given we worship the same Queen.
@stylusmobilus
Any help vastly appreciated!
I’ll keep looking myself and if I find anything etc etc etc
If anyone would like to know the POV’s (which characters are featured) of the prologue without knowing what occurs I have written them in white font so as not to spoil. The Prologue has 36 pages of actual chapter text (in a 45 page document) and 6 POVs.
****Spoiler below******
Lan
Perrin
Graendal
Galad
Padan Fain
Malenarin Rai(random Kandori soldier stationed at the Blightborder)
*******Spoiler END********
@@@@@ t0kengirl
Nup. Guess we, the underprivileged in Third World countries, will have to wait.
@ALL Kindle users:
You can change residence locations in your Kindle account.
Going to read now. :)
But you have first to have an american account on amazon… :(
I don’t have time to look around at the various stores, registering an american account (even though I live in Europe, etc). So my question is basically, at what store can I buy a plain DRM-free version of Distinctions so that I can easily read this in Linux?
Hey, people, stop blaming Tor for your inability to access this. International availability isn’t necessarily in the hands of the American company. If you want to complain, find out who holds the electronic distribution rights in your country and contact them. Tor did not write the laws, nor are they allowed to break them any time a reader in another country complains. The restrictions on electronic access are… less than straightforward, shall we say?
Pssst Wet, come join us on the
dark sidespoiler thread. It’s over here-Woof™.