Robert Jordan passed away

[Hurlshort]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070917/ap_on_en_ot/obit_jordan

 

Bummer, he died very young. The sad part is he was never able to complete his life's work in the Wheel of Time series, but maybe he storyboarded it enough for someone to finish it.

 

I think I lost track of the series around the 8th book, but he was a fantasy heavyweight and he'll be missed.

 

It seems like we've lost a lot of great authors recently.

Edited September 17, 2007 by Hurlshot

[Walsingham]

I only read one Robert Jordan. I can't recall why i didn't carry on the series. But I do remember it having that odd quality marking a classic.

[Tigranes]

That's sad, 17 years and I'm sure he'd have finished it with three or four more years in the lifetime. I gave up on that around the eighth book when it was clear he was just making it longer for the sake of it and each book had no real plot advancement, but it was a fun series to read.

[Tale]

He was on the last book and supposedly he was working off of notes at this point. He's given all the details to someone so that the story can end the way he wanted it to. So, depending on how his wife and the publisher feel, we may see the final book.

[Bela]

What a shame. The WoT PC game lured me to the books; I didn't start reading them until after book 8, A Path of Daggers came out, so I suppose that compared to long-time fans, I hadn't gotten as frustrated with the pace. I dearly hope we see the final book.

 

Rand's horse was pretty cool.

[Laozi]

I could never really get into Jordan's book, as the first few were a little too Tolkien rip offie, with the Greenman and all. It is sad when an author doesn't get to finish their works, I remember how scared I got when I heard that George Martin might have been sick.

[Atreides]

Yeah, I got into some of his books too.

[tripleRRR]

I read the first couple books and it was way tooo much of a tolkien rip off for my tastes. But I know quite a few other people loved his books. Too bad he died before he could finish.

[Walsingham]

George Martin is sick? AGH! I love his work.

 

George Alec Effinger dying set me off. He was a truly unrecognised genius. His Budayeen novels were awesometastic.

[kirottu]

I only read one Robert Jordan. I can't recall why i didn't carry on the series. But I do remember it having that odd quality marking a classic.

 

Couple of first books are totally awesome, but he kinda lost it after that. Still, they are worth a read.

 

Apparently he died in the middle of writing the last book for WoT, but his family said they have enough notes to complete it. It is the last book(12.).

[Azure79]

I think I got to the 4th book then got distracted.

 

I should really go back and start over since I can't really remember the details. I enjoyed the books especially the blademaster form names. hehe.

[Oerwinde]

I only read one Robert Jordan. I can't recall why i didn't carry on the series. But I do remember it having that odd quality marking a classic.

 

Couple of first books are totally awesome, but he kinda lost it after that. Still, they are worth a read.

 

Apparently he died in the middle of writing the last book for WoT, but his family said they have enough notes to complete it. It is the last book(12.).

 

On his site after he was diagnosed with whatever disease it was he had that if he couldn't finish it before he passed on that his wife would finish it. She's apparently been a huge part of writing them from book one.

 

Heh, I bet all those people around book 6 that said he would likely bite it before finishing the series are feeling bad now.

[Bela]

I think I got to the 4th book then got distracted.

 

I should really go back and start over since I can't really remember the details. I enjoyed the books especially the blademaster form names. hehe.

 

You could also come up the speed via the summaries at the Encyclopaedia WoT site. That's how I dealt with book 10. ('Cuz I've tried to finish it about 4 times... )

[Gorgon]

Never heard of him

[Gfted1]

I think I got to the 4th book then got distracted.

 

I should really go back and start over since I can't really remember the details. I enjoyed the books especially the blademaster form names. hehe.

 

You could also come up the speed via the summaries at the Encyclopaedia WoT site. That's how I dealt with book 10. ('Cuz I've tried to finish it about 4 times... )

 

 

Thanks for the link. Im pretty sure book 10 was the nail in the coffin (ba-dum-ching) for me too.

Edited September 18, 2007 by Gfted1

[Darth Drabek]

I, too, read a handful of these books before losing interest. I don't remember how far I got. In fact, I don't remember anything about them at all.

 

Given, I read them probably seven or eight years ago, but these books left absolutely no impression.

 

I remember when I heard Stephen King got hit by a car, I thought, "Well, looks like Roland's never getting to that Tower, after all."

 

I believe King wrote in one of his prologues that that incident was what prompted him to hunker down and finish that series. Otherwise, we'd probably still be waiting for book five.

Edited September 18, 2007 by Darth Drabek

[SteveThaiBinh]

I've been reading these since I was a kid. Living abroad (as I mostly have as an adult), each return to the UK was accompanied by a quick check in Waterstones to see if the latest Robert Jordan had come out. I think I've read the last one (nothing much happened, but that's been the case for quite a while now). He really was infuriating in his ability to drag things out, and keep introducing new characters and stories while leaving existing ones hanging. I should have stopped reading a long time ago, but it's just become a habit and I wanted to find out what happened to these characters I've known for over half my life. I'm sorry to hear of Jordan's death, but I hope and believe the final book will be published in some form or another.

[Enoch]

I'll cop to this particular guilty pleasure. Jordan was great at setting up mysteries that his readers couldn't quite figure out, and the world he thought up was richly detailed and interesting (though admittedly derivative). Also, his skills at building up the reader's excitement to a satisfying climax were quite keen (although WoT spaced these climaxes out a bit too much).

 

His writing, however, was weaker when he tries to resolve little riddles he slipped into his work. And his drive for detail tended to kill the reader's sense of wonder and mystery that fantasy novels require. Every time he'd introduce some ancient empire, unusual artifact, interesting minor character, etc., he'd inevitably ruin the mystery by explaining it's history/properties/dress size in full. He was incapable of creating, say, a Bombadil without spelling out exactly who and what he is later on. Fantasy novels work best when the reader has to exercise his/her own imagination, not when they know they can simply wait patiently for the author to more fully explain his imaginings.

 

I think I got to the 4th book then got distracted.

 

I should really go back and start over since I can't really remember the details. I enjoyed the books especially the blademaster form names. hehe.

Really, the series starts to decline after the first 4 books. Nothing later in the books lives up to Rand's experiencing the Aiel history at Rhuidean and Perrin's scouring of the [strikethrough]Shire[/strikethrough] Two Rivers.

 

That's not to say that I'm not still looking forward to seeing the final installment. There are a few little riddles that are bothering me and I'd like to see the answer to... (I'm looking at you, Verin!)

 

 

(Edit: Okay, how the heck do you do a strikethrough on these boards?)

Edited September 19, 2007 by Enoch

[Bela]

Jordan was great at setting up mysteries that his readers couldn't quite figure out, and the world he thought up was richly detailed and interesting (though admittedly derivative).

 

Graendal! Lanfear! Slayer!

 

Really, the series starts to decline after the first 4 books. Nothing later in the books lives up to Rand's experiencing the Aiel history at Rhuidean and Perrin's scouring of the [strikethrough]Shire[/strikethrough] Two Rivers.

 

For me, it started to go downhill at book 6, athough the battle at Dumai's Wells redeemed it (Kneel or you will be knelt). The change in quality from book 6 to 7 was remarkable (and not in the good way).

 

(Edit: Okay, how the heck do you do a strikethrough on these boards?)

 

The tag is [ s ].

Edited September 19, 2007 by Bela

[Oerwinde]

What I've heard is that book 11 makes up for the 900 pages of nothing that was book 10.

[Tigranes]

Pity, I own book 10.

 

It was like listening to a middle-aged woman gossip about her friends. For 900 pages. I mean, Elayne (i think) doesn't even give birth. She's just "in pregnancy". And doing the day to day chores of kingdom running. That's all she does.

[Gfted1]

Pity, I own book 10.

 

It was like listening to a middle-aged woman gossip about her friends. For 900 pages. I mean, Elayne (i think) doesn't even give birth. She's just "in pregnancy". And doing the day to day chores of kingdom running. That's all she does.

 

 

Now dont exaggerate Tigranes. Even though I couldnt finish book 10 Im certain that at some point Nyneve pulled her own or someone elses braid in anger.

 

Seriously though, for years and years Ive wondered about RJ's dogged devotion to writing that very line into every single book. Its just weird man.

[SteveThaiBinh]

It was like listening to a middle-aged woman gossip about her friends. For 900 pages. I mean, Elayne (i think) doesn't even give birth. She's just "in pregnancy". And doing the day to day chores of kingdom running. That's all she does.

That's not true. She also speaks to any number of people, some of whom may not be entirely trustworthy. And we're supposed to remember and care who all these people are. All of them!

 

He used to list the characters in the index to remind you who they are but I think he gave up because it would have taken a hundred pages each book.

[Bela]

It was like listening to a middle-aged woman gossip about her friends. For 900 pages. I mean, Elayne (i think) doesn't even give birth. She's just "in pregnancy". And doing the day to day chores of kingdom running. That's all she does.

That's not true. She also speaks to any number of people, some of whom may not be entirely trustworthy. And we're supposed to remember and care who all these people are. All of them!

Don't forget about her chapter-long bath.

[Oerwinde]

At least at the end of book 9 there was some sort of payoff for all that nothing. Apparently book 11 is the payoff for all the nothing in book 10.