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The Wheel of Time #prologue for 12
What the Storm Means: Prologue to The Gathering Storm
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. In the Prologue to The Gathering Storm, the first volume of the last trilogy of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time epic, Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward---wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders---his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.As with the previous three titles in the Wheel of Time series, this prologue from Robert Jordan's The Gathering Storm, completed by Brandon Sanderson, is available for sale before the book's official release date (October 27, 2009).
64 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 17, 2009
61 people are currently reading
4595 people want to read
About the author
Robert Jordan
665 books17.4k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.
Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.
He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian and received communion more than once a week. He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.
Responding to queries on the similarity of some of the concepts in his Wheel of Time books with Freemasonry concepts, Jordan admitted that he was a Freemason. However, "like his father and grandfather," he preferred not to advertise, possibly because of the negative propaganda against Freemasonry. In his own words, "no man in this country should feel in danger because of his beliefs."
On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, and that with treatment, his median life expectancy was four years, though he said he intended to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intended to have a long and fully creative life.
He began chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in early April 2006. Jordan was enrolled in a study using the drug Revlimid just approved for multiple myeloma but not yet tested on primary amyloidosis.
Jordan died at approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2007, and a funeral service was held for him on Wednesday, September 19, 2007. Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in Goose Creek, outside Charleston.
Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.
Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.
He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian and received communion more than once a week. He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.
Responding to queries on the similarity of some of the concepts in his Wheel of Time books with Freemasonry concepts, Jordan admitted that he was a Freemason. However, "like his father and grandfather," he preferred not to advertise, possibly because of the negative propaganda against Freemasonry. In his own words, "no man in this country should feel in danger because of his beliefs."
On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, and that with treatment, his median life expectancy was four years, though he said he intended to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intended to have a long and fully creative life.
He began chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in early April 2006. Jordan was enrolled in a study using the drug Revlimid just approved for multiple myeloma but not yet tested on primary amyloidosis.
Jordan died at approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2007, and a funeral service was held for him on Wednesday, September 19, 2007. Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in Goose Creek, outside Charleston.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 12, 2022
Do not buy this. It's exactly the same as the prologue in book 12.
December 8, 2009
Been quite a while since I read any part of the Wheel of Time. I believe that Mr. Sanderson is going to pull of a great ending based on this short story. The book did exactly what it is supposed to do: ramp up my interest in the series again and provide a summary within the body of the story.
(Perhaps Mr. Sanderson could help out George R.R. Martin, sorry I just couldn't resist)
(Perhaps Mr. Sanderson could help out George R.R. Martin, sorry I just couldn't resist)
January 13, 2010
I've lost count of the amount of times i have read and re-read and re-read all the books in this series. One would think I should know the books off by heart by now...but that's the great thing about it...there is always so much to remember that it never becomes boring when reading it over again.
Sanderson has kept the magic of this series going beautifully. Never once did it feel like I was reading from a different author. I am very impressed with his skills and was blown away by the 12th book. I only have one negative response and that is how unhappy I am that I have to wait so long until the next book. He truly let the book end at a juicy part!!! Well done!
Sanderson has kept the magic of this series going beautifully. Never once did it feel like I was reading from a different author. I am very impressed with his skills and was blown away by the 12th book. I only have one negative response and that is how unhappy I am that I have to wait so long until the next book. He truly let the book end at a juicy part!!! Well done!
July 31, 2025
I’m hopeful that Sanderson can keep true to what Jordan wanted. The intro seemed pretty much the same.
An example of that is how this random farmer is explored out the intro. Classic Jordan to dive deep into unknown characters. Maybe the farms will become important later, sometimes that’s the case.
An example of that is how this random farmer is explored out the intro. Classic Jordan to dive deep into unknown characters. Maybe the farms will become important later, sometimes that’s the case.
November 18, 2021
THE BEGINNING OF THE END! I'll be sad the books are ending, but I'm excited for the Amazon Prime series! This is a really great fantasy universe, and I've gotten pretty attached to both it and the characters.
May 26, 2019
Love WoT
The whole series is amazing but the last few books with Brandon Sanderson are some of my favorites. He really has done a great job picking up where Jordan left off.
The whole series is amazing but the last few books with Brandon Sanderson are some of my favorites. He really has done a great job picking up where Jordan left off.
October 20, 2019
I got so excited thinking these prologues were...well prologues. They're not. They are just the first chapters of the books. 😑 too bad ebooks don't have refunds.
August 6, 2022
Kindle
June 3, 2023
a ten
Quick easy, makes you want to know what happens to each of the foresaken, so let's see moriden and rand, Lan and demonfred...
Quick easy, makes you want to know what happens to each of the foresaken, so let's see moriden and rand, Lan and demonfred...
June 24, 2024
Every time the prologues just give me the ick I just feel like you possibly could jump in if you've made it this far.
August 18, 2025
A decent set up for a book, let us see what happens in it...
May 27, 2013
This is getting so exciting!
January 6, 2021
A short teaser for the book but was fun to read.
June 15, 2025
Sanderson's first array into the wheel of time. He did well. I love how the wheel of time sometimes adds rather insignificant side characters and how they are affected by the pattern.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews