Fantasy author Robert Jordan (real name: James Rigney) passed away earlier this week. I'd been following his blog for the last few months (site's been up and down since the news broke -- you can get it through Bloglines). I knew that he was not in good health, so the news wasn't entirely unexpected. It still left me in a fog for most of Monday.
Mom gave me the first four books in the Wheel of Time series for Christmas 1992. Book 5 didn't come out until spring 1994, and in the meantime I'd read those four several times and buried myself in the online fan community. I've been waiting for the next book in this series for near half my life, and I've lost count of how many times I've re-read the series. We got to eleven, and he was working on the twelfth and final book through his illness.
Jordan's books were a constant through college and beyond, a story happening in the background of a lot of life going on. Most books and blogs that I've read over the years can be traced directly or indirectly to Jordan and the fan community. I could have found the same people and works in many different ways, but as it happened, my path started with Robert Jordan. How do I say thanks for that?
I recently re-read those first four books when there was a gap in my book queue. They gave me tingles. The old excitement was still there, still keeping me up too late reading by the bedside lamp, reading just one more chapter.
Thank you, Mr. Jordan, for everything.
~*~*~*~*~
A few comments that touched me:
Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden - editors at Tor Books, whose names I have known since 1994ish because of their communication with the Jordan Usenet group. The entry is brief, but the comment thread is not.
George R.R. Martin - fantasy author who I picked up because of Jordan's blurb. I'm a sucker for waiting for the next book.
Neil Gaiman - hard-to-classify author who I picked up based on a recommendation, a Brit who makes his home in the Twin Cities area.
