If any of you don't know who Robert Jordan is or what the Wheel of Time series is, let me enlighten you. Robert Jordan wrote a series called the "Wheel of Time" which you can read all about at www.wikipedia.com. It's a series of fantasy books about a boy named Rand and is all about bringing balance to the Wheel of Time that was made in the creation. I have read the first 5 or so then I just don't have the brain power to keep up with all the characters and their different journeys.
Jordan had written 11 books and was in the process of writing the 12th, and final, book when he died in 2007 at age 58. A new writer was chosen, Brandon Sanderson, to finish the final book so it could be published. Brandon Sanderson is a BYU professor of fantasy writing and in each of his previous books, he has auctioned off the right to name a character. According to his web page, he has usually done this with church groups auctioning with cans of food for the local food bank. With the last book of Wheel of Time, he is doing a silent auction for not only the right to name a character but a walk-on part in the book (meaning that the character will have lines and everything).
Bryan really likes these books and usually is on the library's hold list for the book months before it comes out. When he read that you could name a character he was excited...until he found out that the latest bid on the silent auction is $10,000. Yes, someone is actually willing to donate $10,000 to a food bank in order to become a character in a book! Bryan turned to me and said, "If we had a spare $11,000 I would do it!!" Well, I think he is going to either have to do a bunch of fund raising or have a long lost relative die and leave him money. But he did find out that in the final battle of the book there will be a huge battle and anyone who donates over $20 will be put into a drawing for rights to name those characters. So that's an option.
This series of books really has a following, so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out! The book is due out in the Fall of 2009 and is estimated to be more than 700,000 words long!
1 comment:
Yikes! I don't think I could read a series with too many characters. I already have to read any book with a 3x5 note card with the characters names and relationships to each other so that I can remember things by the time I get a chance to indulge again. Good luck with the naming! Maybe Brandon would like the books.
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