With apologies to RandAllThor (whose initial post I'm linking to below)... I had a thought on how the post-main series books should be handled, and wanted some feedback. His most excellent thread already has too many replies to garner much attention for anything I post there, so I'll move my branch of the discussion to a new post. =)

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If there are copious notes for either of the two prequels or for the outrigger trilogy... then they *should* be written. I respect Harriet's desire to not see the Wheel World becomes an extended universe in the flavor of Star Wars or Star Trek... but if RJ did the legwork, then there's no reason to refrain from having the anointed author (Brandon) continue fulfilling the vision Jordan left behind.

We've still got the team that is finalizing the Official Series (TM), and if all of them are on board... it's as good as you can get in the post-Jordan world, and Mr. Rigney's story should be told in its entirety if possible. I know some will say the main series IS the story... but every good epic requires some buildup and some followup. When your main story is 14 books, 3 books each to fill in the overarching prologue and epilogue is not much to ask. Plus, we'd be talking a 20-book total work... a nice round number for a series revolving (hah!) around a wheel.

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If, on the other hand, there are few or scanty notes left behind for any of these works... I propose an alternative.

MERGE THEM INTO THE UPCOMING ENCYCLOPAEDIA WOT.

Why not? We've seen things like this before... the Strike on Shayol Ghul comes to mind as well. Why not have Brandon write up a solid mid-length historical summary of the events that were to take place in these books? No first-person POVs, no inside-the-head perspectives... but a solid outline of what went on in Tam's pre-Rand life, in Moiraine and Lan's search... even with what happened with Mat and Fortuona (assuming) post-TG?

This would be a great way to get the story TOLD, if RJ never had the time to fulfill the task of setting up notes and outlines to the level of detail he provided for AMoL. In the same way we know much about the AoL even without having books written in that timeframe... many holes and blanks could be filled, and the vision Jordan had for these additional novels would not be completely lost.