This is topic Robert Jordan in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.


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Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
 
I just heard that Robert Jordan died this afternoon:

http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/
 


Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
 
It's hard to know what to say. He apparently had gone through a horrible illness in the last year of his life. It's sad.
 
Posted by HuntGod (Member # 2259) on :
 
Oh my...I had no idea he had even been ill.

That bites...
 


Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :
 
Isn't Robert Jordan the author of the Wheel of Time series? And isn't it uncompleted?

I feel really bad for his fans, people who love his work. I have never read any of books yet, so may he rest in peace.


 


Posted by HuntGod (Member # 2259) on :
 
Yes he is the WoT author, which has been going for 17 years now.

He did not finish the LAST book, which culminated the series.

There is a very selfish part of me that is angry that the series was not finished...but I would gladly forego the satisfaction of reading the ending if it meant he was still with us.

I hope whoever finishes the series, which I am sure will be finished, does so with respect to his wishes.

For example, Brian Herbert finished his fathers legacy, and though he does not have his Frank Herberts skill and ability, he did an admirable job of taking his dad's notes and conveying the story to his readership.

I hope whoever follows Jordan does the same.

 


Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm trying to figure out what the appropriate thing to say here is. I'm sure there's just the right socially acceptable paragraph that includes well wishes for the family and sentimental thoughts for the dearly departed, but I'm not sure what that is. At the moment, all I can think is that he died before he finished his life's work. I mean, sure, someone will finish it and the readers out there will get the conclusion they've been waiting for, but a piece of him will be missing from the ending.

This is just so sad.
 


Posted by RMatthewWare (Member # 4831) on :
 
I've never read anything by him, but I may have to now. It seems that, love him or hate him, a lot of people at least on this forum have been impacted by his work.
 
Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :
 
He'll be missed, to say the least. My regards to his close personal friends and and family
 
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
 
I'm shocked. I thought I was skeptical that he'd beat his illness. But evidently, deep down, I believed his optimism that he'd beat it. I find I'm not so concerned about A Memory Of Light either. Would it bring him back, he could forgo finishing it...

RMatthewWare, I wouldn't say anyone hated him personally. Even if they disliked his work, they couldn't deny that he was a talented writer, though perhaps not to thier taste.

[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited September 17, 2007).]
 


Posted by luapc (Member # 2878) on :
 
Time is the enemy of all of us. At least his works will live on, and in that way, a part of him remains. He will be missed.
 
Posted by Tricia V (Member # 6324) on :
 
I've not read him either, but I know a lot of people who have, and it's very sad to me.
 
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
 
Oh, heaven's, I disliked his writing, but I would NEVER turn that into something personal. I certainly didn't hate HIM because I didn't like his books, and don't consider it appropriate to mention at his death. It is awful for his family and friends and a loss for the fantasy community as a whole whether you are a fan or not.

And having had someone in my own family go through a terrible illness prior to their death, I know how the ones around them can suffer in having to watch with so little you can do. I wasn't a fan, but that doesn't mean I'm not saddened at his death.
 


Posted by Jammrock (Member # 3293) on :
 
I personally really enjoyed the beginning of the Wheel of Time, but thought the story got too bulky in the middle. I have heard that the latest book was a really good, and got back to "old school" Jordan, but I have yet to read it. He was a great writer and he will be missed.

For those WoT readers...

The 12th, and final, book in the Wheel of Time saga was incomplete at the time of his death. He has stated that he made extensive notes regarding the completion of the WoT in case he passed, as he was diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis last year. The Memory of Light, the title to book 12, was scheduled out in 2009, but will likely be delayed now. No word on who he has been chosen to complete the Wheel of Time has been released yet.

[This message has been edited by Jammrock (edited September 17, 2007).]
 


Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
 
That sucks!!! I read that he was beating the disease down. I've been remiss in checking his blog, but the last I saw, he did an amazing turnaround. Sadly, that can work both ways.


 


Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
 
Not unexpected but heartwrenching. Another big loss for the writing community.

 
Posted by Matt Lust (Member # 3031) on :
 
Yeah i just read this and had to break my self imposed exile to say that this is a really rough thing to happen to the fantasy community.

Say what you will of RJ or WoT (I among those who've criticized him)but he did bring a ton of new readers to the genre.


 


Posted by walt.xeppuk (Member # 5489) on :
 
I am saddened! On his blog he really did sound upbeat and I thought that he was going to be around for a while. I really liked WoT, especially because it was so in depth. adieu. walt
 
Posted by RMatthewWare (Member # 4831) on :
 
quote:
RMatthewWare, I wouldn't say anyone hated him personally. Even if they disliked his work, they couldn't deny that he was a talented writer, though perhaps not to thier taste.

Oh come on Chris, haven't you heard that expression before? When I said 'love him or hate him' I wasn't talking about him personally, I was talking about their reaction to his work. Come on, think man!

And you misspelled 'their', unless you were talking about Weyers-Thier Syndrome, also called oculovertebral dysplasia. More information can be found at this link: http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?Weyers-Thier+syndrome

And if you doubt my sincerity, I blogged about Robert Jordan here: http://rmatthewware.blogspot.com/

 


Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
 
Nice blog. I do encourage any fantasy reader who has not read the the series to give the first four books a try. The Great Hunt and A Shadow Rising were my favorites.

Obviously, I've heard the expression, however I'm not sure if it has ever sat well with me. Both the words love and hate seem to have lost their meaning (along with many other words)--not sure when that happened exactly.

Love me or hate me, typos are an obvious weakness of mine, particually on busy days. During weekdays, when I'm here, I'm multitasking, and currently, all my proofreading powers are being diverted to my next WOTF entry. My fingers usually move without concious thought and my subconcious evidently applies the rule I before E to everything.

[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited September 18, 2007).]
 


Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
 
On a thread like this, it can be worthwhile to be careful about using expressions like that. The fact is that I didn't like Jordan's work. I didn't feel that was appropriate to go into. It didn't change relate to the fact that he showed tremendous courage in the face of a horrible disease. I had nothing but respect for him as a human being.

Maybe it was his loss coming so soon after that of Madeleine L'Engle, but I was saddened more than I would have expected by his death.
 


Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on :
 
I'm not exactly saddened by Jordan's passing (I didn't know him personally) but I hope his friends and family are OK.

On a much more selfish note, I am saddened that he'll never complete the WoT series though.
 


Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
 
I think rcorporon said it best.

Also, I think the meaning behind RMatthew's expression is pretty dang clear, so, let's not be overly sensitive.
 


Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
 
quote:

I'm not exactly saddened by Jordan's passing (I didn't know him personally) but I hope his friends and family are OK



I think that everyone who invested the time in the complete Wheel of Time knew him personally -- just indirectly.

[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited September 18, 2007).]
 


Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
 
It's interesting. Most times when an author dies we usually just put a (. . . ) as a message board moment of silence. But we still keep talking about him. I think he was important to the fantasy Genre, I read the first WoT and I loved it, and I vowed to read the whole series when it got finished. I knew it would get finished, (even if it does have to happen this way.)
I'll miss him. I can't wait to actually read his work now.
 
Posted by KaliAngelKat (Member # 4064) on :
 
I actually cried at seeing the notice on the NaNo board. I never made it through the series, but from what I was able to read, I loved it, so I vowed to have the series as a reward for pulling off NaNo this year.

I was also saddedened at the loss of Madeleine L'Engle too.

Both stand as inspirations to me, and I will miss them.
 


Posted by RMatthewWare (Member # 4831) on :
 
quote:
The fact is that I didn't like Jordan's work. I didn't feel that was appropriate to go into.

The point I was trying to make was that it seems that even though some dislike his work, for whatever reasons, he still has garnered a lot of respect. I think that says something about him. I mentioned on my blog that it is a fear of mine, if I ever succeed in writing, that I won't finish my work. Look at JK Rowling. She was very secretive about how Harry Potter would end. What if she had passed without finishing it? And she too is one that many people dislike (her writing, not her as a person).

So, what I wanted to say is I'm giving props to Jordan as a man that, like so many writers, had his critics, did good things for the genre.
 


Posted by J (Member # 2197) on :
 
May God watch over his family and his soul. I wasn't a fan of his work, but there's no denying that he was one of the best storytellers of his generation.
 
Posted by algaidaman (Member # 6445) on :
 
I can remember first reading the wheel of time. I was unable to put the book down, and it was such a pain to wait for the following books to get released.

It seemed to me that with so many interesting charachters and places, tied in twith the level of detail that Jordan put into his work, caused the last few books to really strech out.

I made it through book 8, and that was a few years back. I had planned on waiting until the series was complete and run through them all from the start

RIP
 


Posted by Max Masterson (Member # 4799) on :
 
I've only just found out that he died (haven't really been on the net for a few weeks due to my non-writing bill paying job). My first reaction was pure shock that he had actually died. From reading his blogs and stuff he seemed confident of at least having a few more years. As a fan of the series I'm dissapointed that he won't get to finish it personally. As a fan of the man (having read all the things i can find that he and others have written about him since he was diagnosed I feel like I know him) I am deeply saddened that he has gone. As a fan of any writer I feel sorry for him that he never got to finish his project. I've read that he made sure that his family knew everything he had in mind for the last book, that surely shows that he didn't want to die leaving his work unfinished. Personally if I was in his position I would hate to get so close to finishing and then be prevented.
I would just like to say that my thoughts are with his family and I hope he rests in peace.
 
Posted by Inkwell (Member # 1944) on :
 
While his style of writing was not among my favorites, I must say that he has accomplished more as a writer than I could ever hope to (though never cease to strive for). In that sense, he remains a great inspiration.

What concerns me now is not the completion of his earthly works, but the condition of his soul. I suppose that's just my personal beliefs manifesting under troubling circumstances, but I still find myself praying that he is in a better place.


Inkwell
-----------------
"The difference between a writer and someone who says they want to write is merely the width of a postage stamp."
-Anonymous
 




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