A Dribble of Ink

The release of Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance looms on the horizon like a highstorm. Tor continues to drum up excitement for a novel that is sure to be one of the biggest fantasy releases of the year, and heir apparent to Robert Jordan’s completed Wheel of Time series (’cause, something has to fill that spot on Tor’s release schedule, right?), with a generous dose of early-release chapters.

So far released: Prologue, 1, 2, Lift, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 & 9

(Please note: chapter seven has not been released early, so don’t skip it when you read the final book!)

And a little sneak peek (with, I suppose, minor spoilers for those of you sensitive to those things. In which case, why have you read so far through this post?)

Shallan sat again on her box on the ship’s deck, though she now wore a hat on her head, a coat over her dress, and a glove on her freehand—her safehand was, of course, pinned inside its sleeve.

The chill out here on the open ocean was something unreal. The captain said that far to the south, the ocean itself actually froze. That sounded incredible; she’d like to see it. She’d occasionally seen snow and ice in Jah Keved, during the odd winter. But an entire ocean of it? Amazing.

She wrote with gloved fingers as she observed the spren she’d named Pattern. At the moment, he had lifted himself up off the surface of the deck, forming a ball of swirling blackness—infinite lines that twisted in ways she could never have captured on the flat page. Instead, she wrote descriptions supplemented with sketches.

“Food…” Pattern said. The sound had a buzzing quality and he vibrated when he spoke.

“Yes,” Shallan said. “We eat it.” She selected a small limafruit from the bowl beside her and placed it in her mouth, then chewed and swallowed.

“Eat,” Pattern said. “You… make it… into you.”

“Yes! Exactly.”

You might be concerned that Tor is releasing too much of Words of Radiance before the book even hits store shelves. Worry not. By my calculations, the currently released excerpts only cover 0.000839% of the 17,000 page manuscript for Words of Radiance. That’s but a feather atop a mountain.

If you’re looking to catch up on The Way of Kings (Buy: Book/eBook), don’t forget about the reread going on over at Tor.com. If it’s anything like their other rereads, it’s great stuff.

Words of Radiance releases on March 4th, 2014. It is available now for preorder: Book/eBook.