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Revision as of 19:45, 16 February 2012

For other people named Robert Jordan, see Robert Jordan (disambiguation).
Robert Jordan
BornJames Oliver Rigney, Jr.
(1948-10-17)October 17, 1948
Charleston, South Carolina
DiedSeptember 16, 2007(2007-09-16) (aged 58)
Charleston, South Carolina
OccupationNovelist
GenreFantasy
Notable worksThe Wheel of Time

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.

Biography

Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. After returning from Vietnam he attended The Citadel where he received an undergraduate degree in physics. After graduating he was employed by the United States Navy as a nuclear engineer. He began writing in 1977. He was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting. He described himself as a "High Church" Episcopalian[1] and received communion more than once a week.[2] He lived with his wife Harriet McDougal, who works as a book editor (currently with Tor Books; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.[3] Responding to queries on the similarity of some of the concepts in his Wheel of Time books with Freemasonry concepts, Jordan admitted that he was a Freemason. However, "like his father and grandfather," he did not prefer to advertise, possibly because of the negative propaganda against Freemasonry. In his own words, "no man in this country should feel in danger because of his beliefs."[4]

Illness

On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement[5] that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, and that with treatment, his median life expectancy was four years, though he said he intended to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intended to have a long and fully creative life.

He began chemotherapy treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in early April 2006.[6] Jordan was enrolled in a study using the drug Revlimid just approved for multiple myeloma but not yet tested on primary amyloidosis.

Death

Jordan died at approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT on September 16, 2007,[7] and a funeral service was held for him on Wednesday, September 19, 2007.[8] Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in Goose Creek, outside Charleston.[9][10] His life was the subject of the feature length documentary The Wit of the Staircase: The Life and Works of Robert Jordan, scheduled for release in late 2012.[11]

The Wheel of Time

Main article: The Wheel of Time

Jordan published eleven books of a total fifteen in the main sequence of the Wheel of Time series. Reviewers and fans of the earlier books noted a slowing of the pace of events in the last few installments owing to the expansion of scale of the series as a whole.[12]

Because of his health problems, Jordan did not work at full force on the final installment A Memory of Light (later split into three volumes beginning with The Gathering Storm), but blog entries confirmed that he continued work on it until his death, and he shared all of the significant plot details with his family not long before he died.[13] He maintained that in doing so the book will get published even if "the worst actually happens."[14] On December 7, 2007, Tor Books announced that Brandon Sanderson had been chosen to finish the Wheel of Time series. Harriet McDougal, Jordan's widow, chose him after reading Mistborn: The Final Empire.[15]

The Wheel of Time series consists of:

1. The Eye of the World (January 15, 1990)
2. The Great Hunt (November 15, 1990)
3. The Dragon Reborn (October 15, 1991)
4. The Shadow Rising (September 15, 1992)
5. The Fires of Heaven (October 15, 1993)
6. Lord of Chaos (October 15, 1994) Locus Award nominee, 1995[16]
7. A Crown of Swords (May 15, 1996)
8. The Path of Daggers (October 20, 1998)
9. Winter's Heart (November 9, 2000)
10. Crossroads of Twilight (January 7, 2003)
11. Knife of Dreams (October 11, 2005)
12. The Gathering Storm (October 27, 2009) coauthored by Sanderson
13. Towers of Midnight[17] (November 2, 2010[18]) coauthored by Sanderson
14. A Memory of Light[17] (January 8, 2013[19]) coauthored by Sanderson

In addition to the main sequence, Robert Jordan also wrote some accessory works:

  • The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time (6 November 1997, reference book, written in collaboration with Teresa Patterson)
    • This reference book includes "The Strike at Shayol Ghul", a short story published online in 1996 which was republished in print as part of this reference book
  • New Spring (October 1998, novella, published in Tor's Legends anthology, edited by Robert Silverberg; the story is located in the third volume of the paperback edition; the hardcover is one volume)
    • New Spring (January 2004, novel, an expanded work superseding the earlier novella)
  • From The Two Rivers, a repackaging of the first half of The Eye Of The World for a younger market, includes an additional prologue titled Ravens.
  • To the Blight, a repackaging of the second half of The Eye of the World for a younger market.
  • The Hunt Begins, a repackaging of the first half of The Great Hunt for a younger market.
  • New Threads in the Pattern, a repackaging of the second half of The Great Hunt for a younger market.

Other work

Fallon

(under the pen name "Reagan O'Neal")

Conan the Barbarian

Jordan was one of several writers who have written new Conan the Barbarian stories.

  1. Conan the Invincible (1982)
  2. Conan the Defender (1982)
  3. Conan the Unconquered (1983)
  4. Conan the Triumphant (1983)
  5. Conan the Magnificent (1984)
  6. Conan the Destroyer (1984)
  7. Conan the Victorious (1984)

Some bibliographies also include Conan: King of Thieves; this however, was actually the working title of the second Conan movie, Conan the Destroyer, and hence Jordan's novelization. Jordan had already been hired to do the novelization and Tor had already applied for an ISBN when the title was changed to Conan the Destroyer.[20]

They were packed into two separate volumes:

Jordan also compiled a well-known Conan Chronology.

Infinity of Heaven

Jordan mentioned several times that he planned another fantasy series set in a different kind of world. He said that it would be a Shōgun-esque series about a man in his 30s who is shipwrecked in an unknown culture which would be similar to Seanchan culture in his Wheel of Time series[21] and world. The books would detail his adventures there and would have been titled Infinity of Heaven.[22]

He said that he would have begun writing these after finishing his work on the 12th and final main sequence book of The Wheel of Time. Jordan said, "Infinity of Heaven almost certainly will be written before the prequels, though I might do them between the Infinity books." Also according to Dragonmount.com, Jordan planned to write some side-story novels, before completely abandoning his decades-long work. Jordan had particularly stressed that this series would be significantly shorter than The Wheel of Time saga (about 6 books long and essentially two trilogies).

Other works

References

  1. ^ Dragonmount, the Robert Jordan blog (June 1, 2007),
  2. ^ Dragonmount, the Robert Jordan blog (September 27, 2007).
  3. ^ "Robert Jordan and the Wheel of Time". Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
  4. ^ "Freemasonry and the Wheel of Time".
  5. ^ "Statement from Robert Jordan about his health in Locus Magazine".
  6. ^ Important note from Robert Jordan at Tor Books website – March 25, 2006[dead link]
  7. ^ "Jordan's death". Dragonmount. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  8. ^ "The Post and Courier". Charleston.net. 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  9. ^ "Robert Jordan (1948 - 2007) - Find A Grave Memorial". Findagrave.com. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  10. ^ ""The Stone" - Entry in Robert Jordan's Blog at Dragonmount, dated October 6, 2008". Dragonmount.com. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  11. ^ The Wit of the Staircase
  12. ^ Cannon, Peter. CROSSROADS OF TWILIGHT (Book). Publishers Weekly; December 23, 2002, Vol. 249 Issue 51, p.50
  13. ^ "Robert Jordan's Official Blog". Dragonmount.com. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  14. ^ "Forbes article on Jordan's illness". Forbes.com. 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  15. ^ TOR Press Release[dead link]
  16. ^ "1995 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved October 7, 2009.
  17. ^ a b "Brandon Sanderson's blog".
  18. ^ "Tor Fall 2010 Hardcovers and Trade Paperbacks" (PDF).
  19. ^ http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/02/the-release-date-for-a-memory-of-light-has-been-set
  20. ^ WOT Encyclopaedia
  21. ^ [1]
  22. ^ Tarvalon.net News[dead link]

Further reading

  • "Robert Jordan". The Times. September 19, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2007. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Wikiquote has quotations related to Robert Jordan.
Wikiquote has quotations related to The Wheel of Time.

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