Heralding the impending arrival of The Gathering Storm—book one of the three-volume final book of The Wheel of Time—on 27 October, publisher Tor Books is giving away a thousand (yes, 1,000) copies of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. This “Fantasy Firsts” contest is to introduce readers to the authors of the mega-sized, mega-selling fantasy series. Tor first published Jordan’s The Eye of the World in 1990, and has followed it up with 10 more best-selling volumes in Jordan’s massive Wheel of Time series. “The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.” Jordan died two years ago, and Tor and his widow and editor, Harriet Popham Rigney, chose Brandon Sanderson to complete the series. That final volume turned into a trilogy, the first book of which is The Gathering Storm. Mistborn is the first volume in Sanderson’s own very popular series of the same name. To enter the contest, visit this page.
Coincident with the contest announcement, Sanderson has announced the titles of the final two books: volume 13 will be Towers of Midnight, and volume 14 will be A Memory of Light (which was Jordan’s planned title for the final book back when #12 was going to be the end).
Thirdly, Sanderson has announced that the application for “Storm Leaders” is now live, on this page. Storm Leaders are what they’re calling the four or five people who will be invited to a pre-signing coffee shop or restaurant sit-down with either Sanderson or Rigney on each stop of the signing tour this autumn. The tour runs from 27 October to 21 November, but the deadline to get in applications for this nearly one-on-one gatherings is 27 September at 11:59PM PDT.