Robert Jordan

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Robert Jordan is the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr. (born October 17, 1948), under which he is best known as the author of the bestselling w:The Wheel of Time fantasy series.

Contents

Biography

Jordan was born in Charleston and holds an undergraduate degree in physics from The Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. He is a history buff and served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army.

On March 23, 2006, Jordan disclosed in a statement in a firm and optimistic tone that he has been diagnosed with primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, and that, with treatment, his median life expectancy is four years, though he says he intends to beat the statistics. He later posted on his Dragonmount blog to encourage his fans not to worry about him and that he intends to have a long and fully creative life, working for another 30 years. He began chemotherapy treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in early April 2006.

Origins of the penname

It has been speculated that the pen name is from the main character of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, but Robert Jordan has since clarified on his blog [1] that his pen names have all been chosen from three lists of names using his real initials, and that one of his pen names managed to contain all three of his initials in both the first name and the surname.

Bibliography

Fallon

(under the pen name Reagan O'Neal)

Conan the Barbarian

Jordan is one of several writers who has written pastiches of the original w:Conan the Barbarian stories.

  1. Conan the Defender (1982)
  2. Conan the Invincible (1982)
  3. Conan the Triumphant (1983)
  4. Conan the Unconquered (1983)
  5. w:Conan the Destroyer (1984)
  6. Conan the Magnificent (1984)
  7. Conan the Victorious (1984)
  8. Conan: King of Thieves (1984)

Although some bibliographies list it, Conan: King of Thieves does not exist. It was the original title of the second Conan movie. Robert 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. ([2])

They were packed into two separate volumes:

  • The Conan Chronicles
  • Further Chronicles of Conan

w:The Wheel of Time

Eleven books of a projected twelve total comprising the main sequence have been published thus far. Many fans of the earlier books have been disappointed by a change in Jordan's style over the course of the series. In particular, the pace of events has slowed significantly, with a greater focus on minor characters and politics at the cost of action. This is perhaps most evident in the tenth book, w:Crossroads of Twilight, which Jordan admitted in a 2005 Podcast interview was potentially his worst work to date.

You can find chapter summaries for the first ten Wheel of Time books here. The eleventh, titled Knife of Dreams, was released on 11 October, 2005 and has not yet been summarized.

  1. w:The Eye of the World (15 January 1990)
  2. w:The Great Hunt (15 November 1990)
  3. w:The Dragon Reborn (15 October 1991)
  4. w:The Shadow Rising (15 September 1992)
  5. w:The Fires of Heaven (15 October 1993)
  6. w:Lord of Chaos (15 October 1994)
  7. w:A Crown of Swords (15 May 1996)
  8. w:The Path of Daggers (20 October 1998)
  9. w:Winter's Heart (9 November 2000)
  10. w:Crossroads of Twilight (7 January 2003)
  11. w:Knife of Dreams (11 October 2005)
  12. A Memory of Light (working title) (2007 - if his publishers pressure him, or most likely middle-late 2008, considering his 2.5+ year release pattern)

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

  • The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time (13 November 1998, 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
  • w:New Spring (February 2000, novella, published in volume three of Tor's Legends anthology, edited by Robert Silverberg)
    • 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.

Jordan also has spoken of plans to write two other prequels after finishing the main sequence [3].

Final Volume

On October 18, 2005, at a book signing at West Chester, Jordan gave the working title of the 12th book as w:A Memory of Light. As one of the attendees told Dragonmount.com, Jordan also warned that the final volume of the saga "could be a 2000 page monster" because he has so many dangling plot threads to wrap up in a single volume. Jordan also said that he was already hard at work on the installment. He also mentioned the possibility of several 'outrigger' novels, which reversed his previously made comments that he would conclude his work on the world with prequels. After he finishes work on the main plotline, he said that he would think about the idea and, if he finds it suitable, start working on it.

According to Tor, Jordan's publisher, with the end of the series finally in sight, Jordan's agent Nat Sobel says that he and the publisher are pressuring Jordan "in the nicest way possible" to try and complete Book 12 so that it can be out within 18 months.

Infinity of Heaven

Jordan has mentioned several times that he plans another fantasy series set in a different kind of world. He has said that it will be a Shogun-like series about a man in his 30's who is shipwrecked in an unknown culture and world. The books will detail his adventures there, and will be titled Infinity of Heaven [4].

He has said that he will begin writing these after he finishes his work on the twelfth and final main sequence book of w: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 plans to write some side-story novels, before completely abandoning his decade-long work.

Thus work on this saga isn't expected to begin before 2008 at best. Jordan has particularly stressed that this series will be significantly shorter than the Wheel of Time saga (about 6 books long and essentially two trilogies), despite the resulting irony in the series title.

Other works

  • Cheyenne Raiders (1982, under the pseudonym Jackson O'Reilly)


External links

This content is dually licensed under the GFDL and the CharlestonWiki Creative Commons license. It has been modified or copied either in part or whole from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jordan.

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