Why I'm Excited That Brandon Sanderson Was Chosen For AMoL

AMoL if you don't already know is A Memory of Light, the final book in the Robert Jordan series The Wheel of Time.

Robert Jordan died with his epic series incomplete back in 2007. Young fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson was hand picked by Jordan's widow (who also served as his editor) to complete the series.

As of yet, I have not read any of Sanderson's published works, although three of them are on my bookshelf ready to peruse.

Why then am I glad that he was chosen?

Because I've read his blog.

Let me tell you how much I love The Wheel of Time...

It was far more advanced then anything I had ever read at that point in my life when I finally gave it a chance. I remember clearly the first time that someone gave me a copy of The Eye of the World and said that I should check it out. It was a friend who together we had devoured the words of David Eddings so I trusted him when he said it was much, much better then the Belgariad ever could hope to be. At the time I was probably around 13. I started it and couldn't get through the prologue. At the time I wasn't sure why, I think I just wasn't ready for something so serious yet. At the same point in my life I loved The Hobbit, but couldn't get far into The Lord of the Rings.

About a year later, the same friend told me to just keep reading. Get through the prologue and through the first two chapters and he assured me that I would not be able to put it down. He was right. It was an incredible story that kept getting more interesting as more was revealed. And the characters were all so real. And there were so many of them. The world was just so complete.

After I tore through the Wheel of Time books that were out at that point I went back and read The Lord of the Rings for the first time. (Yes, I didn't read The Lord of the Rings all the way through until I was 14. I'm sorry.) I was actually a little pissed at myself that I hadn't made myself read them earlier.

So, despite the fact that The Lord of the Rings inspired Jordan's Wheel of Time, it was Wheel of Time that got me to read The Lord of the Rings!

When Jordan died, I was devastated. Primarily because one of my favorite authors, a man that I had never met but who meant a lot to me regardless, had passed away, but also because his series might never be completed, and the series meant a lot to me as well.

Shortly thereafter, the news came out that someone was going to finish the last book, and I met that news with some relief as well as some trepidation. Who was this Brandon Sanderson that was getting to finish the Wheel of Time? For quite some time I honestly had no idea the answer to that question.

Then I discovered his blog.

Slowly as I read his updates on A Memory of Light, my trepidation began to slip away and my relief began to grow into excitement. It was clear that this Brandon Sanderson cared as much about the series as I did. And I could see how his work was progressing on the book that I so desperately (along with so many others) wanted to see thanks to the progress bars on his blog.

Yesterday I read the news that A Memory of Light was going to be split into 3 books and I was instantly angry. It was only supposed to be one more volume. I've already waited so long for this book, I didn't want to wait any longer!

Then the most amazing thing happened. Brandon Sanderson explained the situation in his blog. He told his readers exactly how this decision was made and why. He went into excellent detail on why this decision (while still unpleasant) actually was the best decision possible to make.

And I feel better.

How rare is it for an author to be so up front about what is going on with a novel as anticipated as this one is? I for one am extremely thankful that this one is.

Thank you Brandon Sanderson for your dedication to this project and for your dedication to us, the fans. It shows and it is much appreciated.

Happy March Madness Day!

If you're interested, here is how my bracket plays out!

MIDWEST

First Round

1. Louisville over 16. Morehead St.

9. Sienna over 8. Ohio St.

5. Utah over 12. Arizona

4. Wake Forest over 13. Cleveland St.

6. West Virginia over 11. Dayton

3. Kansas over 14. North Dakota St.
(note, congrats to NDST for being the first team from N. Dakota to make the tourney)

7. Boston College over 10. USC

2. Michigan State over 15. Robert Morris

Second Round

1. Louisville over 9. Sienna

5. Utah over 4. Wake Forest

6. West Virginia over 3. Kansas

2. Michigan St. over 7. Boston College

Sweet 16

1. Louisville over 5. Utah

2. Michigan St. over 6. West Virginia

Elite 8

1. Louisville over 2. Michigan St.

Midwest Reginal Champ

#1 Seed Louisville


WEST

First Round

1. Connecticut over 16. Chattanooga

8. BYU over 9. Texas A&M

5. Purdue over 12. Northern Iowa

13. Mississippi St. over 4. Washington

11. Utah St. over 6. Marquette

3. Missouri over 14. Cornell

10. Maryland over 7. California

2. Memphis over 15. Cal St. Northridge

Second Round

1. UConn over 8. BYU

13. Mississippi St. over 5. Purdue

3. Missouri over 11. Utah St.

2. Memphis over 10. Maryland

Sweet 16

1. UConn over 13. Mississippi St.

2. Memphis over 3. Missouri

Elite 8

2. Memphis over 1. UConn

West Regional Champ

#2 Seep Memphis


EAST

First Round

1. Pittsburgh over 16. ETSU

8. Oklahoma St. over 9. Tennessee

12. Wisconsin over 5. Florida St.

4. Xavier over 13. Portland St.

11. VCU over 6. UCLA

3. Villinova over 14. American U.

7. Texas over 10. Minnesota

2. Duke over 15. Binghamton

Second Round

1. Pitt over 8. Oklahoma St.

4. Xavier over 12. Wisconsin

3. Villinova over 11. VCU

2. Duke over 7. Texas

Sweet 16

1. Pitt over 4. Xavier

2. Duke over 3. Villinova

Elite 8

1. Pitt over 2. Duke

East Reginal Champ

#1 Seed Pittsburgh
(coached by TCU Alum Jaime Dixon, Go Frogs!)

SOUTH

First Round

1. North Carolina over 16. Radford

9. Butler over 8. LSU

5. Illinois over 12. Western Kentuky

4. Gonzaga over 13. Akron

6. Arizona St. over 11. Temple

3. Syracuse over 14. Stephen F. Austin

7. Clemson over 10. Michigan

2. Oklahoma over 15. Morgan St.

Second Round

9. Butler over 1. North Carolina
(thanks to no Ty Lawson)

4. Gonzaga over 5. Illinois
(it was hard for me to pick against my Illini, but this isn't their year)

6. Arizona St. over 3. Syracuse
(all the overtimes finally catch up with them)

2. OU over 7. Clemson

Sweet 16

4. Gonzaga over 9. Butler

6. Arizona St. over 2. OU

Elite 8

4. Gonzaga over 6. Arizona St.

South Regional Champ

#4 Seed Gonzaga

FINAL FOUR

#1 Louisville over #2 Memphis

#1 Pittsburgh over #4 Gonzaga

Championship Game

Pittsburgh over Louisville

NCAA CHAMPION
Pittsburgh

Prop 8 and Its Implications

Today the Supreme Court of California heard arguments on Prop 8 and whether or not it should be overturned.

The main thrust of the case against Prop 8 being overturned was that the people had spoken and the court shouldn't be able to overturn the will of the people.

The problem with that is, especially in this case, that the people making their will known in this case are largly unaffected by the results of the laws they hoped to inact. The majority of people will not be personally effected by the inability of gays and lesbians to get married. It won't matter to them personally because they aren't homosexual.

Plenty of laws that have been held by a majority of the people have been found to be unconstitutional. It's the whole reason we have a constitution in the first place. In fact this whole country is founded on it. Laws were being made in England that affected the lives of those in the colony known as America. We became our own country because we disagreed with laws that were being made by those who were unaffected by those laws. We felt that we had inalienable rights that were being ignored by "the will of the people" in England. The Federal Constitution is in place to protect those rights as is the California Constitution.

A few months before last years election in which Prop 8 barely passed, the California State Supreme Court recognized that Sexual Orientation was a sub group just as deserving of equality. They wrote that you could not discriminate against a group of people because of their race, sex, or sexual orientation according to the state supreme court. Because of that, they wrote, the state must recognize same sex marriages.

Prop 8 hoped to recognize marriage as something that can only take place between a man and a woman thereby denying marriage to homosexuals. By definition this is discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation.

However, the court opened the session pointing out that the Constitution is an evolving document meant to support the will of the people and that Prop 8 is a change to the document that was handled as any amendment should be and that overturning it could be seen as a judicial misuse of power in overturning the will of the people.

So, what is the case of the state in hoping to overturn Prop 8?

Simple, it is by the will of the people that the court has the right to overturn a change to the Constitution that changes the Constitution from what it is fundamentally, that being a document meant to protect the rights of all. The state's case boils down to the idea that a majority should not be able to limit the rights of a minority simply because they are a majority.

If Prop 8 is upheld, the precedent that could set would be enormous. Despite the fact that the Constitution opens with the idea of equality for all (the very thing that this nation and each state under it is supposed to stand for) this idea would mean that you could take away the rights of any group in the State of California simply by convincing enough people to vote for it. I have no doubt that this is not what the framers of that Constitution intended. And it is because such a thing is possible that the Constitution gives the State Supreme Court the right to overturn such a misuse of power by the majority.

The will of the people is an important thing, but they shouldn't be allowed to take away the rights of others simply because they are a majority. Checks and balances are another thing that this country was founded on.

The arguments are over and we await the decision of the court, it should come within 90 days, and I hope that the court recognizes the dangers inherint in not overturning Prop 8. That is a dangerous precedent. Far more dangerous then any person in the slight majority erroniously claiming Judicial Misuse of Power.

Sorry!

Wow, I have been very neglectful of this blog! And I apologize for that.

That doesn't mean I haven't been blogging at all however, in fact, far from it.

My other two blogs are getting plenty of action.

You see, I have a blog specifically for Baseball (and primarily the Cubs) entitled Tinkers To Evers To Blog (do you see what I did there) found at chcbaseball.blogspot.com.

And I have a blog specifically for pop culture (primarily television and film) called Josue Speaks found at www.xanga.com/josue23.

And I also twitter at www.twitter.com/joshuatoulouse. For when I have something to say that requires 140 characters or less.

So if you're really jonesing for thoughts from me you can find them there.

Meanwhile, this blog is for everything else, and since I've been so preoccupied with the start of Baseball (Tinkers to Evers to Blog) and LOST, BSG, and the Oscars (Josue Speaks) lately, this blog has been getting the short shift.

So, again, I apologize, but remember this isn't the only place to get great blogging from me! So, check out my other blogs, and I promise I'll see you here more regularly soon!