Robert Jordan aka James Oliver Rigney, Jr. has Passed Away

My condolences to Robert/James's family. Millions of people will be wishing them well.
 
I was so sad to hear of the death of RJ. It seems selfish but I also hope they will somehow finish the last book. I feel kinda dirty caring about the book now, but it should be a testament to how much I enjoyed his books.

RIP Robert Jordan
 
Ryden said:
I was so sad to hear of the death of RJ. It seems selfish but I also hope they will somehow finish the last book. I feel kinda dirty caring about the book now, but it should be a testament to how much I enjoyed his books.

RIP Robert Jordan
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A lot of people feel this way. Here's a place that talks about it. I think the last book will be written, but I will miss the future books that he was thinking about, but never got around to starting.
 
It is with sadness that I post this. A gifted author and an all-round nice guy has succumbed to his illness. He faced his condition with aggressive optimism, maintained his goodwill and good humour despite the obvious physical punishment, determined to triumph against the odds.

I remember the first time I read about his affliction. I remember how I felt as he announced on his blog that he has been diagnosed with amyloidosis, and his declaration that he will fight it.

Let me go back a bit before I continue. During a period of idle pursuits many many years ago, I picked up Eye of the World despite the horrendous cover art, and I was struck by its brilliance. I didn't have any expectations, and it blew me away. This, I thought with pleasure, is how the purest high fantasy should be.

I consumed the series. I literally devoured each subsequent book. I can't remember how long it lasted. There was a point where I picked up a recently released Path of Daggers hardcover while I was training in the States! Hardcover! The bloody book was so heavy my luggage almost grounded the plane, and it was so expensive (the ringgit is weak against the dollar after all), I starved myself at night.

However, even the most fervent of fans would admit to the declining quality later in the series. And I, a fervent fan, called it quits halfway into Path of Daggers.

By the time I read his announcement on his blog, I had stopped reading the Wheel of Time for some time. Telling people in book forums that his best had come and gone. Woe that such a great piece of work degenerated into its current state, a symbol of crass commercialism (deservedly or not). While I never told anyone to *not* read Wheel of Time, I gave warning of the impending lull, just as you would tell someone if a particular restaurant was worth repeat visits. You know, that sort of thing.

But I remembered as I read his announcement and his resolve, that despite it all, Wheel of Time is only a story, is only a form of entertainment, and here is this man finding out that he has been struck by a disease that's almost certainly terminal. I find myself thinking how life can really put things into perspective.

So what if the series isn't finished? So what if the latter books suck? So what if people accuse him of selling out to publishers as he stretched the series as taut as he could to the point of breaking? So what?

I followed his progress with regular visits to his blog. Despite his condition, he updated his fans with news of his treatment, and always he never failed to come across as generous, cheerful, hopeful, encouraging to others who shared his predicament. He talked of completing Wheel of Time for his fans, and of starting another series set in the same world. He set goals for himself. The support he got were not only from fans, but from other human beings who connected and felt touched.

There was this time during his treatment where his progress marker, called the Lambda light chains were well within the normal range, and it was great news. I had thought he'd beat it for sure. His last update was just over a week ago.

But alas. My thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.

He has taught me indirectly to cherish life, and I thank him for that, and I thank him for the period of pure pleasure whilst I indulged in his imagined world.

Thank you, Robert Jordan, and may you rest in peace.
 
I've had many hours of enjoyment from reading (and re-reading) some of his books, I hope he rests in peace.
 
the wheel of time for me (like many others I guess), and in particular the Eye of the world has been one of the greatest reading experiences I've ever had. I thought that man was brilliant and to this day do.

when I was young The Lone wolf books were my first real taste into fantasy that I read myself, but the Wheel of Time was next and boy was it a giant step into something truly fantastic and great. I still have a battered old copy of the first Edition hard cover which I retired to the shelf permanently when I updated to the new set just a year and a bit ago. I always just knew it was one of those books that I'd never sell or want to part with.
 
Winters_Sorrow said:
Gutted.
First David Gemmell and now this. The fantasy field has lost two titans and they will be missed :(
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Absolutely! I can't believe it. I was enraptured by the early books in the Wheel of Time series and although I had dropped it from my reading list, was planning to go back and reread it through once the series was complete.

The genre that we love so much has lost another giant. Godspeed and peace to him and his family.
-g-
 
I used to be an intermittent, casual reader until RJ created the overwhelming appetite for new fiction. It is because of him that now I always have to have a book by the night stand and a pire of "to read." I can only remembert the line from knive of dreams that really had me in tears

[SIZE=-1]"The Golden Crane rides for Tarmon Gai'don!"[/SIZE]
 
"The Golden Crane rides for Tarmon Gai'don!"

That had me too. The series was dragging for a few books. But when that stuff started happening at the end, well, Nyneave and Lan's story just became excellent.
 
How did I miss this news?

This is unbelievably sad.

WOT wasn't his only great leavings, I'd encourage everyone to revisit the Conan classics or Fallon series, also.

I'm just, I don't know, deeply saddened by this and my prayers go out to his family in their time of need.
 
Winters_Sorrow said:
Gutted.
First David Gemmell and now this. The fantasy field has lost two titans and they will be missed :(
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You've said it all. The world is a lesser place without those two great authors.

RIP, both of you. You've left behind a legacy that will live on for generations.
 
Neil Gaiman's intitial reaction...

I met Jim Rigney, who wrote under the name of Robert Jordan, at my friend Mike Ford's memorial service. (Mike died last September, when I was in London.) Jim was Mike's adopted family -- Mike would go and stay with Jim and his wife during the holidays. Jim was in a wheelchair at the memorial, fragile but happy (as happy as one could be, as I said at the time) to be there. We met and spoke and liked each other, bonding on a lost friend, and we've stayed in touch in email ever since.

I liked him.

I just learned he died yesterday.

And, slightly stunned, I found myself thinking, stupidly, "I shall have to stop coming to the UK in September if this is what happens whenever I do." As if, if I stayed home, I could keep everyone alive.
 
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