R.I.P. Robert, thank you for filling my teenage years with your wonderful imagination, no matter what came after.
I think it’s not a bad thing at all to think “What about the last book?” In fact, I think it’s probably the best honor to his memory. As fans, we know him by his work, and outside his family and friends, that’s the mark he made on the world. It’s clear he wanted the series completed as much as we did, and I’m thankful he at least had some warning about his condition and was able to put in place the back up plans to make sure his opus would be finished close to how he intended.
Until the next turning of the Wheel… R.I.P., RJ. And thanks…
As a Dune fan, I can deeply sympathize. We went 20 years without finding out how it ends! I feel your pain.
Although Wheel of Time will probably be wrapped up a lot faster than 20 years.
Same here. The first thing I thought was, upon hearing of his death, “the series is never going to be finished now!”
Of course they’ll hire a ghostwriter of some sort, but it’s not the same…
It isn’t like he was trying to get it finished. :rolleyes:
But the first few books in the series were fantastic. It’s sad to see such taent go.
From the Wiki article: Robert Jordan - Wikipedia
Here’s to hoping someone qualified can give us Wotists some additional closure.
RIP, RJ. I stopped reading after the 6th book or so, but I’ve been faithfully collecting the hardcovers from the bookstore bargain bins in anticipation of reading the series in … series. The WoT prompted me to stop reading series before they’re finished. I could never remember all the plot points between book releases.
I also confess to an “Aw, shit–now he’ll never finish it” moment when I read the thread title.
Nonetheless, I’m sorry for the loss his friends and family have experienced and hope the final book is a fitting memorial to him when it is published.
If he had really wanted to finish the series, well…he had plenty of opportunities. It shouldn’t have been more than six or seven books, anyway. St. Peter is probably asking him, “Dude! WTF is up with having a grand total of 4,211 pages worth of clothing description?”
That said, R.I.P. Robert Jordan.
I had the pleasure of meeting him at a book signing years ago, and sat next to his wife while he read an excerpt from his newest. I can’t remember which book it was.
He graciously took the time to speak on a rather personal level with me, pissing off the Borders employees since we were holding up the line.
Two years later, when I was editing a magazine in SC, I managed somehow to get his home phone number, and got in touch with him for an interview. It never panned out, which is something I’ve always regretted.
He was not a humble man, but he was a friendly man who was kind to his fans (as individuals…I think he pissed off the majority of his fan base by dragging the series on and on.). His less famous books were fun to read as well. I have the Conan books, and the historical fiction one…can’t remember the name.
He will be missed.
Damn, you think he is actually going to finish the series? Wanna buy a bridge?
Jordan is the guy that went all Ayn Rand on our ass, right? If so I am not going to miss the next installment…
I haven’t even read his last three or four, but from the direction he was going and what I’ve heard about the newer ones, I think you’re thinking of Goodkind.
Count me in with those who wish both condolences for Jordan’s loved ones, as well as that when the inevitable conclusion to the WoT comes out, that it will be fitting and something for him to have been proud of.
Fuck
Damn, I think you are right.
What’s weird is I quit reading his books for awhile, because as with many others around book 8-9 I was getting burned out and I felt the quality was on a downward spiral. Then I stumbled on his blog about four months ago and read all the way through it, about his battle with amyloidosis and I was really impressed by how he was very optimistic and positive in his blog. He was talking about how he was going to fight it and was confident that he would win. There was even some updates that suggested his diagnostics were coming in normal, suggesting he was in remission.
Then no updates to the blog for months and months and months, my assumption at that time was that he had taken a turn for the worse and knew he wasn’t going to recover so they quit updating the blog. The only updates over that time period were fairly cryptic or non-informative about his health, so I was expecting that he was probably going to die sometime soon.
Didja check out book 11? He found his muse again. Mostly, anyway.
I’m glad for that.
I didn’t see this thread before I started one of my own on the subject. Mods can close that one down if they like…was just asking what people thought would happen now. I hope someone picks up the series and finishes it off. I actually thought this would happen with Kings Dark Tower series when he was nearly killed in an accident. I was really hoping Jordan would pull through. 
Not just to complete a series I’ve been with since book one was originally released but because he seemed a really good guy…and was really fighting hard to live.
-XT
Well, much as a I hate to agree with Martin (about anything), anyone who is going to take this as an opportunity to start the series, or resume it, you can all safely ignore Book 10 - Crossroads of Twilight. Save yourself some reading time and $20.
700 pages where nothing happens.
Nothing.
-Joe
I’m not disagreeing, but that’s been discussed in past threads here.
I personally would rather reflect on his good stuff, and his return to decent writing in the last few years.
I disagree…I thought books 10 and 11 were actually indications of Jordan getting back on track. I enjoyed both books. I felt the series declined a bit after Lord of Chaos…but I still enjoyed it. Much more so when I bought the unabridged books on tape and listened through them from beginning to end. A lot of details I had missed when I originally read or even re-read the story came out…and the thread of the story really started coming clear. The prequel also filled in a lot of gaps.
I think anyone picking up the series (I HOPE someone does) would be well advised to read through ALL the books. There really is a lot going on there besides pulling of braids, tossing of hair and all the women busting constantly on Matt.
-XT
See you in the Wolf Dream, RJ.
It’s funny–I was compelled for some reason last night to do a search for ‘Great Lord of the Dark’ last night because I saw **Shai’tan’s ** username in response to a thread and came up with this little number from way back. Coincidences are freaky.
He’ll be back for the Second Age–Jain Farstrider, I’ll wager.