When Shawn Speakman and Grim Oak Press released the first Unfettered anthology in 2013, the epic fantasy collection included “River of Souls,” a deleted scene from Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson’s A Memory of Light. However, “River of Souls” was one of two scenes left on the proverbial cutting room floor during the revisions process. “The second, I assumed, would never see the light of day,” Sanderson wrote on his official website today before announcing that the second deleted scene will appear in Unfettered III in early 2019.
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The as-yet-untitled deleted scene involves Perrin traveling into the Ways. Sanderson writes:
I’ve long been fond of this sequence, and it was quite difficult to cut from the book. (In the anthology itself, I’ll explain why we eventually decided that the sequence needed to go.) I do have to warn you that—unlike River of Souls, which we consider canon to events in the Wheel of Time—this as-of-yet untitled sequence is NOT canon. You’ll want to read it in the same way you’d watch an unfinished, alternate film scene that ended up not being used.
Still, I think it’s an exciting and interesting chunk of writing. It’s quite big, as long as a novella, and it addresses one of the big unanswered questions we left hanging at the end of the Wheel of Time. So I think you’re in for a treat.
In the official announcement on Grim Oak Press’ website, Speakman shared his delight at being able to publish the second scene from A Memory of Light: “[W]here once I thought Unfettered would have the last Wheel of Time fiction published, it turns out that Unfettered III may carry that distinction and all for a great cause.” He further revealed that Unfettered III will also include a new Dune story from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
Unfettered III will be available March 19, 2019 from Grim Oak Press.
…I think I’m in trouble.
Hahaha nice @1
I’m trying to think of something I would less like to read than more about the Ways.
I’ll read anything by Brandon—even if it is the equivalent of fan fiction.
@@.-@ well, with Sanderson fanfic-level writing is what you’re going to get…
“it addresses one of the big unanswered questions we left hanging at the end of the Wheel of Time”
Any speculation on what this could be? My guess is they will address the connection to the Taint, Machin Sin, and Mashadar after the death of Fain and how that pertains to the Ways. Are the Ways clean now and restored to the previous glory (or just empty but sunny)? Or is a remnant of the Taint still there, or perhaps Mashadar found a new home? I also suspect that, given the length of this excerpt, that we will get some thoughts from Perrin who will be further complaining about his role as the new Lord of the Two Rivers married to the new Queen of Saldea as well as a call back to a certain “conflict” in the Ways back in book 4.
Also, I see that “early 2019” lines up with JordanCon timing….
“He further revealed that Unfettered III will also include a new Dune story from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.”
You spelled “bastardization of the beloved sci-fi series, Dune,” wrong ;)
a@7 I remember Sanderson talking about this scene during AMoT release events. It is Perrin and some Ogier going into the Ways to seal the Caemlyn Waygate from the other side, and eventually chasing off Machin Shin with the Ogier Song.
@princessroxana
The only thing I’d be less interested in, is a story about Perrin.
Oh, wait…
rip
Perrin can be trying. There were times I wanted to go Edna Mode on him, “Idiot! You do not trample the national aspirations of your people!” On the other hand it’s a beautiful moment when he thinks maybe he isn’t a simple man at all, maybe he’s a complex man who’s led a simple life – up to now.
I’d much rather read about Sanderson Perrin than books 9-12 Perrin. I get the whole suffering/emo hero thing is part of his journey, but it should have been one book, not 2000 pages of moping.
That said, I can’t wait for this one.
Fascinating. When I attempted to read The Wheel of Time years ago (mainly because I’m a Brandon Sanderson fan and was interested in his entries), I found Perrin to be the most compelling character in the first book. Unlike Rand, he didn’t constantly whine about how unfair it was that he might have to sacrifice himself to save the world; he just seemed to think, “Welp, it has to be done,” and got to work. Unfortunately, he barely appeared in book two. I gave up on the series after that because I had no interest in reading another 1000 pages of Rand whining. Sorry to hear that it apparently happened to Perrin eventually, too.
Sorry to log another comment so soon. I’ll be brief this time, promise!
If this novella involves the fate of the Black Wind, I’m excited to read about it! I don’t know how Perrin could kill the Wind–I don’t know that anyone unable to channel could fight it, nvm kill it–but if the Ways somehow get cleansed, I’m looking forward to reading it!
@12, IMO Rand has got a right to whine. He’s eighteen and he’s got to die in a battle against the ultimate evil that he’s got no clue how to fight, much less win. Yeeks. After a while he stops whining but despair is no improvement.
Interesting question, would Rand have been better off if Tamra’s plan had worked and he’d been raised by several Aes Sedai and their wardens in full knowledge of his mission and his ultimate fate?
@15 PrincessRoxana
Interesting premise for a side story. Something that likely would have come up in Rands visions from the travelling stones in The Great Hunt. We’d probably end up in a Dune situation, with the Aes Sedai attempting to guide and train him and just being confounded as he shifts around their expectations, and considering the Black Ajah it could have lead to all kinds of trouble. It would have been interesting to have Rand’s identity as the Dragon Reborn stay uncertain for longer into the series and perhaps explore another male channeler who’s been raised from infancy to save the world’s story. Then have a dramatic plot be whether or not Rand or this other fellow is the Dragon. It’d be even better if this other guy wasn’t evil and was truly trying to save the world. Though it’s not like the books needed another side plot.
I got to speak to Brandon Sanderson at a signing for the last book and one of the most interesting topics that came up was Demandred’s journey as the possible chosen one of another prophecy. I asked him about that story and if there was an outline or notes on it. He said: “There were only hints and shadows of Demandred’s journey.” He went on to say that Jordan’s notes all existed as one file and it was so huge it was well over a million words long and it crashed the computer the first few times he tried to open it, but that intermixed within the notes and references there was the hints that Demandred went on his own thirteen book quest in other parts of the world. Mostly in Shara. That’s the story I wouldn’t mind learning more about.
River of Souls is about Demandred.
@16, Oh my. What if the AS identified the Dragon Reborn and reared him as such and it wasn’t Rand? What if they got it wrong? The boy would sincerely believe himself to the Dragon and have AS backing how would he deal with a challenge from the real thing?
@16 – I can’t imagine 13 books of Demandred adventures, since adventures can get long only if someone doesn’t know much of the world and learns new unknown places and social/piolitical structures and copes with them all the while getting to know his powers or learning from mentors with time to get powerful. But for Demandred, who maybe doesn’t know what happened in them 3000 years, about the power – he knows best, doesn’t need a mentor, knows his goal, doesn’t wander around the world trying to find himself, it’s just about conquering and getting himself an army. I can’t give that more than 1 book and with RJ’s slow worldbuilding 2-3 books tops.
Where can I get River of souls? Is it already in audiobook? Does anybody know where to purchase audiobooks WOT in mp3 format as a set and also all the external material in audiobooks, like Ravens and the “BWB” (big white book) if they are at all available in audiobooks?
I look forward to reading this. Perrin was always my favourite and so anything about him is welcomed, even if it ‘didn’t happen’.
Regards Perrin’s whining: Whilst I admit that Perrin’s story got to be a bit of a slog at some points, I’ve never understood the ‘whining’ complaints. He isn’t whining. He never whines. Yes, he went ‘suffering/emo’ (as @11 says), but he wasn’t whining. Yes, Rand has his reasons too, but how many of us would be so high-functioning and capable if dumped into the same situations as them, with the same lack of training and preparation.
Let’s look at what Perrin goes through:
Grew up sheltered and protected from the harshness of life outside his small community, suddenly thrust into a world he is woefully unprepared, simultaneously finding he has a dark/dirty secret that he’s been raised to think of in negative terms and which challenges his concept of who he is, unexpectedly being put in a position of responsibility over others with no preparation or warning, the people he loves going through some major traumatic experiences and/or being taken away from him in one way or another whilst he is powerless to help.
Also, please remember that while we were reading about this for several years (oh the wait for each book! *sigh), everything that occurs actually happened to him/them all in fairly quick succession. For somebody shown since the very first book to be prone to introspection, introversion and low self estimation, this is all huge. Huge and daunting, and stress inducing. What a surprise then that he actually succumbs to that stress and begins to show signs of depression. Irritability, sleeping problems (compounded by actual sleep deprivation), emotional instability, social anxiety and suicidal tendencies (which are showcased in the first damn book, no less). Major kudos to Jordan’s unbiased and honest depiction of a serious mental illness here.
Perrin is not ‘whining’. Perrin is nto even ‘being emo’. To me at least, he is quite blatantly sufferring from depression.
I should note, that list above describes not just what Perrin went through. I have depression and suffered acute suicidal tendencies (not all better now, you never are, you just learn how to cope and manage. CBT is amazeballs though), so I think I’m justified in having a little bit of compassion for him and saying I have a frame of reference here to back up my statements.
Heh, I just got the first Unfettered on e-book (last year, I think) so I could read River of Souls…guess I’ll have to get the next one too. I didn’t realize there was still some unreleased material out there. An unexpected gift :)