Across the world today, SciFi/Fantasy Fans are saying "AAAAARRRGH!!". Robert Jordan, Author of the Wheel of Time series, passed away last night.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Author Robert Jordan, whose "Wheel of Time" series of fantasy novels sold millions of copies, has died of a rare blood disease, his aide said Monday. He was 58.
Jordan, whose real name was James Oliver Rigney Jr., died Sunday at the Medical University of South Carolina of complications from primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, his personal assistant, Maria Simons, said. The disease attacks the body's major organs; in Jordan's case, it caused the walls of his heart to thicken.
He wrote a trilogy of historical novels set in Charleston under the pen name Reagan O'Neal in the early 1980s. Then he turned his attention to fantasy and the first volume in his Wheel of Time epic, "The Eye of the World," was published in 1990 under the name Robert Jordan.
Jordan's books tells of Rand al'Thor, who is destined to become the champion who will battle ultimate evil in a mythical land.
Book 11, "Knife of Dreams," came out in 2005; there was also a prequel, "New Spring: The Novel," in 2004. The other titles in the series include "The Great Hunt," "Lord of Chaos" and "The Path of Daggers." Jordan was working on a 12th volume at the time of his death, Simons said.
He is survived by his wife, Harriet McDougal Rigney.
The first five or six books in his series are some of the best I've ever read. Book seven and eight were a bit slow, book nine was once again good, and then book ten was the slowest of all. Book eleven picked things up a bit, and the upcoming book twelve was to be the final volume in his series. At long last, fans of Wheel of Time were to get resolution to the long long story.
It's really sad that a person can die and all anyone thinks about is not being able to read a book. But that's the man's legacy, and that's how I'm sure people who don't know him personally feel.
I met him once at a signing, he spent time with every person there and seemed to enjoy interacting with the fans. That alone kept me reading his books past the point when I was really enjoying them.