Robert Jordan Passes Away

By: Jarrod Sarafin, News Editor
Date: Monday, September 17, 2007

After suffering from cardiac amyloidosis for more then a year, author James Rigney, Jr. aka Robert Jordan, best known for his fantasy based WHEEL OF TIME series passed away Sunday afternoon. The sad announcement was made on his official blog...

”It is with great sadness that I tell you that the Dragon is gone. RJ left us today at 2:45 PM. He fought a valiant fight against this most horrid disease. In the end, he left peacefully and in no pain.”

Jordan was in the process of writing his 12th(and final) installment of the WHEEL OF TIME series, detailing the end of Rand 'al Thor and friends, before succumbing from his affliction.

As is the case with any death, our thoughts are with him and his loved ones. If you're a fan of the series, feel free to share your own thoughts on his world here or in his own blog linked above.

Thanks to Mike for passing this sad news along..

Related Products

Comments/Responses

mlauzon • Sep 17, 2007, 09:03am •

Well, I was posting this info to the forum, just as they were posting it to the Books section...great minds do think alike! It is sad news however, I hope they can get another author to finish book 12...I call for Terry Goodkind to step in and finish the series for Robert Jordan!

wraith729 • Sep 17, 2007, 09:37am •

My heart sank as I read this. The Eye of the World was my first venture into the fantasy world, and I was instantly hooked. I've read a lot of fantasy books since then and Robert Jordan's work, as much as people criticized it, was the most detailed and descriptive of anyone I ever read. It was a true joy, and I always looked forward to picking up the next installment. I truly hope someone can finish his grand vision and do it justice. Unfortunately, it may not be the same.

mlauzon • Sep 17, 2007, 09:42am •

I've been reading fantasy books since '85 -- The Hobbit & The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe were my first -- and have been watching fantasy films since '84. RJ created an amazing world, like TG and TB did.

kaybar • Sep 17, 2007, 10:52am •

James Rigney, Jr would be rolling in his grave if they got that no-talent hack Goodkind to finish his series. WoT is by far my favorite fantasy universe of all time and this is indeed a sad day for the genre.

The fact that the author had so much more planned after finishing WoT makes it all the more tragic that he died before his first baby was even finished. It was clear he began to have a love/hate relationship with Wheel of Time and in some ways felt a slave to its enormity, especially working on the past few novels.

mlauzon I believe if anyone finishes A Memory of Light it will be his wife working off of his extensive outlines. That's the way it should be.

Myrddin • Sep 17, 2007, 11:31am •

This news blew me away when I saw it.
Knowing a man is sick kind of prepares you for this kind of news, but I was still heart broken. He will be missed.

And Mlauzon, regarding your Goodkind comment, you named the one thing that would keep me from reading MoL.

valthonis • Sep 17, 2007, 12:19pm •

Terry Prachett please.

isgrimner • Sep 17, 2007, 01:03pm •

This is very sad news indeed.

I am sure the final book, A Memory of Light, will eventually be published in some form. When RJ got sick they made some arragements for this. He started making more in depth notes, as well as telling his wife Harriet and others close to him the main points/ending of the final book.

Not a chance that Goodkind would be let anywhere near WOT, except for what he seems to borrow and bastardize from it for his own books. RJ was not a fan of Goodkind, in fact in one of his lasts blogs, he wrote a rather viperish post that was clearly about Goodkind.

Anyway, Jordan will be missed by many. I for one am very saddened by this news.

kaybar • Sep 17, 2007, 02:07pm •

isgrimner do you by any chance have the link to that blog? I'd love to give it a read-through

**Thx isgrimner, I appreciate it

isgrimner • Sep 17, 2007, 02:41pm •

kaybar - Here is the Link

gimpythewonder • Sep 17, 2007, 06:08pm •

aw crap. this sucks. I had heard that he was sick but i thought he was in good enough health to finish the WoT. He always said he knew exactly how it would end, lets hope that the ending stays true to that. After coming this far on the journey, it'll be sad to finish it without the guide

Mania is the premiere online destination for fans of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and anime entertainment. It is the largest community offering profiles, video, science fiction movies, sci fi TV, art, sci fi comics, photos, cheats, blogs, science fiction books, forums and feedback. Mania offers insider entertainment industry info and original content for science fiction, fantasy, and horror entertainment genres including: video games, comics, gadgets, movies, television, toys, music, books, DVDs and more. © Mania Entertainment, LLC. 2001 - 2008