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Fantasy Author Robert Jordan Passes Away
willith writes "James Oliver Rigney Jr, author of the long-running fantasy series The Wheel of Time and better known to millions of fans by the pen name Robert Jordan, died on 16 Sept 2007 from cardiac amyloidosis. Jordan announced he had been diagnosed with the disease in March 2006 and vowed to beat the odds, but determination and gumption sometimes just aren't enough in the face of a disease with a median survival time of just over two years. Jordan was in the process of writing the twelfth and final book in the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, but the book was not slated for release until 2009 and is still incomplete. While there is hope that the book will still be finished from Jordan's notes, this is devastating news to all of us who have been reading the series since 1990."
While I don't like to be the one to "flog a dead horse". The Wheel of time Series has been in a downward spiral since about book 5. Disjointed, dragging out endless plot lines in a poor attempt to make it to book 12. Personally I hope they don't bother to put book 12 together, I stopped at 9.
Good journey Robert
And I'm pretty sure it wasn't Moridin.
God finally finished Book 11, said "Are you fucking kidding me?", and whipped out the Smite Stick.
I remember reading a Stephen King interview just after I had read The Gunslinger and he said that he didn't know if he would ever finish the Dark Tower series. I didn't touch any of them until after the last was published. I have avoided Jordan's series for the same reason - and it seems appropriate that I find out at slashdot that while King lived to finish his, Jordan didn't make it.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Not that it is a big surprise. Personally I expected this message for about a year now.
It would have been nice for him to be able to finish the series. True, a certain amount of foot-dragging in the middle of the series got him into this fix, but still I think somebody undertaking such a large venture, and mostly sucessfully, should have the satisfaction of seeing it finished.
It will be interesting to see how this is going to be finished. The material should be there, but writning style is a major part of these books and not too easily emulated. There are layers within layers.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
The article appears to be slashdotted. According to wikipedia, he would have turned 59 next month.
Free unix account: freeshell.org
First, let my condolences go out to his family.
The books started with such promise, action and just the right hint of risque possibilities. But by the 6th book it had taken on this horrific endless Days of Our Lives persona that you just knew would not end well. By the 9th book I was so sick of waiting for something, anything to happen that I was just about unplugged. My wife bought me the 10th book, and I did something I almost never do...I flipped to the end to see if he finally wrapped it up.
I put the book on a shelf and never read it.
Maybe wikipedia will post the ending someday, and I will chance across it.
Only tyrants and oppressors need fear a well armed populace.
The Google cache is old.
Rather than overwhelm the dragonmount.com servers with slashdotters (let other fans have a chance to see it), here's the full text from the blog post. I hope that I'm not overstepping by reprinting it here. Sometimes even when you've fought your best....
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
It is with great sadness that I tell you that the Dragon is gone. RJ left us today at 2:45 PM. He fought a valiant fight against this most horrid disease. In the end, he left peacefully and in no pain. In the years he had fought this, he taught me much about living and about facing death. He never waivered in his faith, nor questioned our God's timing. I could not possibly be more proud of anyone. I am eternally grateful for the time that I had with him on this earth and look forward to our reunion, though as I told him this afternoon, not yet. I love you bubba.
Our beloved Harriet was at his side through the entire fight and to the end. The last words from his mouth were to tell her that he loved her.
Thank each and everyone of you for your prayers and support through this ordeal. He knew you were there. Harriet reminded him today that she was very proud of the many lives he had touched through his work. We've all felt the love that you've been sending my brother/cousin. Please keep it coming as our Harriet could use the support.
Jason will be posting funeral arrangements.
My sincerest thanks.
Peace and Light be with each of you,
Wilson
Brother/Cousin
4th of 3
To Catalyst: Never, never loose faith. RJ did not. Harriet hasn't. I haven't. Going through what we have, our faith is only strengthened. Besides, if God didn't exist, we would have never had Jim. We did. God does. Remember my Brother/Cousin, my friend, think of him fondly and glorify God's name.
Editor's Note:
The entire staff of Dragonmount.com would like to extend its most deepest sympathies to Robert Jordan's family. He touched all of our lives in some way and we wish him the rest and peace he deserves. We will be posting information in the near future about where you can send condolences. Please check the News Section for these updates.
I got into Wheel of Time fairly young--maybe just after the third book came out--and kept with it despite the punishing slowness of the books after, say, Lord of Chaos. But it really was something different, I think. It was epic, not a standard journey to slay the bad guy after this first couple of books, like so much of fantasy after Tolkien it seems. And though slow and a little tedious at times, it never pissed me off like the last couple of books of Dark Tower, which it seems is the standard metric for WoT.
Bastard. Now I'll never know how it ends.
Well, here's hoping he left enough notes (and by all accounts he would have) for the story to be finished off 'correctly'. I threw in the towel at the end of book 10 after none of the vital plotlines from book 9 were measurably advanced - in retrospect I should have stopped at book 7. Nonetheless, if it IS brought posthumously to some kind of conclusion it'd be nice to know what happens. A lot of wonderful storylines in an excellent fantasy world, if only he could have split it up into about 3-4 parallel series like Feist did with Midkemia.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
It seems like yesterday that David Gemmell passed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gemmell), although it has been a year at this point.
And now Robert Jordan passes. Say what you will about the quality of the later installments of the Wheel of Time, but the first five or six books (at least) are some of the most enjoyable and well-written fantasy I've read. Growing up, he was one of the authors who introduced me to fantasy, along with David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind, Anne McCaffrey, and Tad Williams. I'm grateful to them all.
(Perhaps) an appropriate Gemmell quote:
I've read a few interviews where he said that the ending had basically been written for years, so at least that's something. I hope they find someone to finish it. Despite losing a lot of focus in the middle it really has been a great series and was finally starting to look great again. It deserves an ending even if someone else has to fill in the gaps.
The Farewell Tour II
As for the story, the author may change, but book twelve will come out, and have exactly the content that he originally intended. If the storytelling style changes a little bit, it may be a refreshing end to a fantastic saga.
People keep going on about how slow and long this series was, however it has been an inspiration to me and reminds me very much of the great George R. R. Martin series, A Song of Ice and Fire, which I've only just started reading. The only book I was dissapointed in was Crossroads of Twilight. In serial work not every issue can be a home run. Sometimes you need to make one be a sacrifice to set up the next issues which makes them even better. As a good storyteller, Robert Jordan realized this. Those that want EVERY thing to be issue, episode, whatever to be the BEST one there is, will of course not like this but I have a hard time thinking of any long pieces of serial work that they'll enjoy.
Using openSUSE instead of Windows since 9th of October, 2007 and liking it.
I'd always seen this series in the book store but didn't start reading it until late last year. I was reading Goodkind at the time, but his character development was making me ill so I decided to switch. So far I've been quite happy with the series, with only a few characters being subject to speed reading.
When I heard the news RJ was sick, I was really hoping the series would be concluded. He sounded quite hopeful, as people usually do, but in the end succumbed. I hope someone picks up where he left off and truly makes book twelve an icon of a great series and gifted writer.
Although some of the comments here have been fairly tasteless (what do you expect on the Internet) I think it is fair time to reflect on an author's works.
Obviously and unsurprisingly the Wheel of Time series dominates our impression of Mr Jordan. I'll start with saying that stand alone the first book is one of the best fantasy fiction books out there as far as I am concerned. I found the style and story imaginative and compelling, which is difficult to do in a heavily cliched genre.
However, like many others I went along for the ride with the rest of the series up until a point where I became frustrated with the author and I personally gave up at about book 9 though I had effectively given up on the series a couple of books before that.
I don't really know what Jordan's rationale for the length of this series was, I'm not a fanboy and don't follow any of the WoT forums for any insight into this, maybe I will do one day. I generally assume that he felt he had a story to tell and as far as he was concerned if it took many books to tell it - he would do so.
The lessons of the 'Wheel of time' series are that you need to bring all your readers with you, and that the value of literature isn't in the weight of paper. Readers are frankly puzzled that after 4 to 5 thousand pages why Jordan left his main characters in stasis whilst opening up new plots and new characters in the later books. The publisher and editors have a responsibility to help authors in this regard even if it causes tension. I'm left wondering if Jordan had a more focussed approach he would have been the top fantasy writer of his generation, but now I suspect he will be remembered as a curiousity.
RIP Robert Jordan
No matter what one thought of his works, we should remember that what was posted was about the passing of a man that has touched thousands of souls. Whether for good or ill, the fact that he has reached so many deserves some measure of consideration and respect. If nothing else but to contrast our own passing in this journey, we could hope that our own foosteps will leave behind a fragment of the memory that this soul has done.
To the detractors I say, perhaps if you would look upon yourself and wonder what those you have touched would utter at your own passing, perhaps some charity and kindness would not be un-deserved.
Unless you prefer to measure quality, not kilograms.
Ten years ago, I said that if he were to die before he finishes the series, I'd kill him. Suddenly, I am seeing logistical difficulties.
My thoughts go out to those who have lost more than a good author.
I've only "known" Robert Jordan since January, when I started reading The Eye of the World, the first book in the Wheel of Time series. I started reading knowing full well that the series begins to go downhill, as my cube neighbor was a huge fan and has read the series through twice and began reading it again when I did (and even though he was a huge fan, he could admit pretty much exactly where the series falls off).
I have recently finished the sixth book, and I can begin to see a downward trend. But I so thoroughly enjoyed the first few books, I have to go on. Honestly, the first three books are amazing in my opinion, and you can always count on Robert Jordan to deliver a fantastic final 100 pages, even if the 600 before that were worth speed reading.
Even though I've only been in Robert Jordan's universe for a few months, I still feel his loss. It saddens me to know the series may never be complete, and if it is, it won't be completely his vision. Whether this is for better or worse, it still bothers me. I will continue to go on with the series, maybe at a slower pace so I can time the final release better if we ever hear a date.
Here's to you Robert Jordan, thank you for the little time we had together, I still look forward to the future.
Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
The drawn out writing was not the big problem for me.
What eventually turned me away from this series was the way it felt like I was reading someone else's teenage masturbatory fantasy. Think about it:
- Main character had awe inspiring power which was corrupting him. Basic angst
- Main character had an injury which caused constant pain. Instant angst.
- Main character had 3 women who were in love with him and willing to share
Aside from that, I do not like it when an author will spend 3 books building up a character as surprisingly powerful, and then throw out a one line "Yeah, we found this other person who is even stronger than X!".
END COMMUNICATION
You know, as soon as you know you're more likely to die than to live another year an author who has the least bit respect for his fans would coredump everything about the end onto a few reliable persons. Jordan strikes me as one of those. He wanted us to know the end when he got there.
If you see a rock violating the law of gravity, then the law is wrong, not the rock!
Ahh, come on. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the "Wheel of Time" series...If you didn't figure that out by the 9th book, when he was STILL ADDING NEW GODDAMN CHARACTERS...
I liked the first three a lot. I liked 4-6. I read 7 and 8. I read the last chapter of 9 and 10 just to keep track of what was going on. I didn't even read the last chapter of 11.
There is a reason why there is no word other than "Series" to describe a collection of more than 6 books. You have GOT to wrap it up at some point.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
I've read a few interviews where he said that the ending had basically been written for years...
My friends who read the WoT series and I always had a theory that he'd written the ending years ago, and that in some strange, literary mockery of Zeno's Paradox, he just wrote the plot half-way there each time he churned out a new book.
It certainly seemed like some sort of plot time-dilation was happening in the last few books by their accounts.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Obviously, in Robert Jordan's case, you do NOT need to wrap it up. You can keep stringing people along until you pass away. You've got more stamina than I do, I stopped reading by book seven. It's not even the interminable and unchanging plots, it's his amateur command of the English language. I read one too many sentences describing a woman smoothing the front of her damn dress, flipped out, through book seven against a wall and haven't looked back.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I bought The Eye of the World in hard cover when it was first released. I'd read some of his prior works, Conan stories and so on and liked his writing. Each year, I'd wait for that next book and buy it hard cover the first week it appeared on the shelves.
The first three books were incredible. Then I read four and five, and grew disenchanted. Waiting for the books, then finding out he wasn't wrapping up threads but rather further expanding.
Finally I bought book six, got about half way through and then just quit. I couldn't take it any more.
I'm sorry to see him pass away, but I never understood what he was trying to accomplish with this series. It had such potential, and then was just pissed away. Sad. I wonder if we'll ever know why, or what he had intended.
The thing that pissed me off the most is that his ideas were really good, and he had the capacity to create decent plots. But he kept stringing us along and his plots went to hell, and then there was basically nothing because his character development and skill as a wordsmith are seriously lacking.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton