Thirteenth Depository and the soon-to-be-released Wheel of Time book, The Gathering Storm

Before I ever started this blog, I was associated with wotmania, one of the largest Wheel of Time fansites before its demise back on August 31, 2009.  During my time there as a member and Administrator, I came to know several wonderful people, including two of the people most responsible for making wotmania's FAQ one of the best resources for the WoT series online, Linda and Dominic.  Earlier this year, they created The Thirteenth Depository, which quickly has become one of the places to go for anything concerning the Wheel of Time.  Since the 12th WoT book (and the first to be published after its author Robert Jordan/Jim Rigney's death in September 2007), The Gathering Storm, debuts on October 27, I thought I would ask Linda and Dominic to share a few thoughts about what they are planning for this event.

On the Thirteenth Depository we are running an extensive recap series on where we left all the characters as part of our preparations for The Gathering Storm. Some beautiful maps accompany these. This week the focus is on the complex situation in Altara, where Mat and Perrin, and a large supporting cast, have been active for two books now.

Linda's and Dominic's dialogue on The Gathering Storm Prologue will commence mid-week. On our forum, much discussion has already occurred on the chapters released so far (and on the older books too of course); and we are running a Predictions Competition for The Gathering Storm.

A study of the three Red Amyrlins is planned to conincide with the release of the final two articles of an extensive series on the Aes Sedai: one on the early history of the Aes Sedai and another on the extremist view of male channellers as unbelievers. Finally, essays in preparation include Wheel of Time
shipping and Perrin and Faile parallels. 

If you have any further questions, be sure to visit the blog linked above or the related discussion boards.  I plan on having a review of The Gathering Storm go live just after midnight my time on the 27th, as the publishers, Tor, have been gracious enough to send me a review copy a week before the official release date.