September 23rd, 2007
…robert jordan pwns tolkien
It’s a sad day. I just found out Robert Jordan, the author of The Wheel of Time fantasy series of books died today of a blood disorder.
I picked up the first book in the series, Eye of the World, way back in high school, sophomore year to be exact, and didn’t put them down until sometime senior year when I had read all nine books in the series released up until that point. No joke, I give these books at least a small amount of credit for me doing so poorly in high school, because all I did was read them, when I should have been doing homework, or reading text books. I have so many memories attached to these books, it’s crazy.
I read The Lord of the Rings series in junior high, and thought they were great. I loved the movies, but I’m telling you, Robert Jordan took the genre that Tolkien helped to invent, to a level that even Tolkien couldn’t have imagined. For any of you that are fans of Tolkien’s work, I cannot express enough how much you should pick up the Wheel of Time series.
So, in a weird way, I’m really sad. These books played such a huge role in my life… it can’t be understated. I’m sad because the author was such a huge talent, I’m sad because the man wrote books that will always have major memories in my life attached to them, and I’m sad because the series will never come to the conclusion the author may have intended. The 11th book of the series was released in 2005, and in an interview with USA Today in 2006, Jordan stated that the series would conclude with the release of the 13th book… now that will never come to be, at least not by the original author.
Robert Jordan, one of my favorite all time authors, and in my humble belief the best fantasy author of all-time… may you rest in peace.
