Oneiromancer
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http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=90 (link may be down because of too much traffic)

Robert Jordan is, as many fantasy readers here know, the author of the Wheel of Time series. A series which started out awesome, got bloated in the middle, but was redeeming itself for a strong finish with the final book to be completed next year. Alas, this is not to be (at least wholly by the original author), as James Oliver Rigney Jr. (his real name) died on Sunday of cardiac amyloidosis. He had been diagnosed with this for a year or so, and had been valiantly fighting it, declaring that he'd be around for decades to come, but unfortunately he succumbed.

So needless to say, besides of course being sad at his death in general, I am sad that he was not able to finish his epic. I'm sure that Tor will be getting someone else to finish the book--in fact, supposedly Jordan has been dictating his thoughts and secrets and whatnot just in case someone did need to finish his work--but of course it won't be the same. I'm sure I will still buy it when it is completed, because at least the ideas will be followed and the conclusion will be close to what he envisioned, even if the writing is different. Or maybe Tor will have a legion of editors to make sure that the final book sounds as much like the previous ones as possible--who knows.

In fact, I'm not sure how often this has been done before--for some reason, I was convinced that Chapterhouse: Dune wasn't completed before Frank Herbert died but that isn't true, although he did die shortly afterwards without finishing Dune 7 (some of the recent Dune novels are based on his notes for the final book). Anyone know of any final novels in a series that were completed by someone other than the original author? (Not counting certain Forgotten Realms books where the pseudonym Richard Awlinson was used for multiple people.)

Anyway, I thought his death deserved a mention here since many forumites read fantasy. Of course, if you didn't like the series, which I can understand, please try to be respectful (unlike in the Slashdot threads).

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jbluestein
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Oneiromancer wrote:
http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=90 (link may be down because of too much traffic)

Anyway, I thought his death deserved a mention here since many forumites read fantasy. Of course, if you didn't like the series, which I can understand, please try to be respectful (unlike in the Slashdot threads).

I loved the series, up to about the sixth book, and lost the thread around book nine. I do intend to go back and finish it at some point.

For all the faults the series had, there's no question that Jordan was a strong writer and deserving of respect for his accomplishments. He'll be missed.

Josh

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Mattcrampy
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I did really like the first few books in the series, although these days I look at The Great Hunt and then Wizard's First Rule and wonder a bit which came first.

I do really find it interesting how different his protagonists ended up - you don't usually find fantasy authors trying to handle four different protagonists, each of which have completely different personalities, and have all four be worthy of spending some time with. I suspect it's the amount of work Jordan had to do juggling those four at once that started to bog things down.

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Maurog
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I suspect it's the publishers that wanted as many books of possible.

Anyway, I really liked the series until the number of plots and characters involved grew outside my feeble memory bank capacity. Seriously, there were some moments when the author goes "...meanwhile, in the kingdom of Andor..." and I'm like, what? Where is that? That was a book and a half ago, who are these people?

Also, it bears an uncanny resemblance to Dune. And by uncanny resemblance, I mean it is Dune, just spread over 12 books with four plots going all at once. A matrix-like revelation, that was. Yeah. Now that you know all the flaws of the Wheel of Time, go read it, it's really good.

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mrimer
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I was saddened by this news. I've read how RJ had such a strong desire to see his grand work finished. Just this Sunday, I was thinking about him, wondering whether he'd be able to finish his series. Funny how that happens sometimes.

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[Last edited by mrimer at 09-18-2007 05:31 PM]

Briareos
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Maurog wrote:
Anyway, I really liked the series until the number of plots and characters involved grew outside my feeble memory bank capacity.

I guess I won't suggest reading Perry Rhodan to you, then... 2404 issues times about 60 pages each makes for a hell of a lot of stuff to remember...

np: Luke Vibert - Comphex (Chicago, Detroit, Redruth)

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DiMono
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I recall hearing somewhere that he already had the last book written, and whenever another book in the series came out he updated the last one appropriately, so that when he died his publishers could take the already-completed final book and set it free to finish the story. I heard this years ago and don't remember the source. Anyone think this has any credence?

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Oneiromancer
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Er...no. He's had the very last scene of the final book in his head ever since he started writing the series...in fact, I think that is what his inspiration was, he had this final scene and he had to write the story leading up to it. But as for the final book in its entirety, no, I don't believe it is already written.

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calamarain
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Oneiromancer wrote:
Er...no. He's had the very last scene of the final book in his head ever since he started writing the series...in fact, I think that is what his inspiration was, he had this final scene and he had to write the story leading up to it. But as for the final book in its entirety, no, I don't believe it is already written.

It's known that he left a *lot* of notes behind, though not the complete novel.

However, whether to finish the last book is up to his family. I suspect they will do so, to ensure his legacy. Similar to Christopher Tolkien with his fathers notes, and Brian Herbert for the Dune series.

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