Wheel of Time weaves Sanderson as Successor
As many of you know, Robert Jordan, author of the famed Wheel of Time series, passed away 16 September. He left his series unfinished.
I’ve never had a chance to write about Jordan’s importance in my life, since I just started this blog thing. Everyone else has written their eulogies long ago. But despite all that, his books had a profound influence on my life. I discovered him in High School a long time ago, recommended by a friend. I recall it was sometime in September, that I read the prologue, and never quite got past it. It wasn’t until about a month later, one cold South Dakota day, when a blizzard tore through Brookings. School was canceled for the day, much to my delight. Unfortunately, there was very little to do. So I picked up Eye of the World again and started reading. I don’t know what it was this time, but I kept reading, and couldn’t put it down. I read it all day and into the night. After that, I was hooked. I became a Jordan fan.
What was most important to me is Jordan brought back a love of books in my life. There are several times that this has happened, but at that time in High School I had begun to lose interest in general. Also, reading an 800 page Jordan novel increased my confidence. For once in my life, I felt like I could read anything! Nothing scared me away. By the time I was a senior in High School, I picked all the difficult book options in English class: Les Miserable, The Good Earth, and even A Tale of Two Cities (which I read in one week). All these books, considered boring previously, had become intensely interesting, because the length no longer scared me away. I had never been very skilled at reading, so I consider this moment to be significant.
The ninth book in the Wheel of Time series was the last one I read; Winter’s Heart. After High School I embarked on a two year missionary service, and upon returning home never picked up the series. It’s on my list - my very long list - of books to read. But I was always waiting for him to finish that last book, so that I could just start over from the beginning and read all the way through.
And I knew he was terminally ill as well. There’s been so many Jordan death rumors over the past several years, that I often wondered if this was just another joke. But it wasn’t. He was dying. And despite his optimism, he passed away. And despite my pessimism, for I always figured he would die before his time, I was still deeply saddened by his passing. This truly was a writer who died before his life’s work was complete. If I was a drinker, I would’ve gotten myself piss drunk that day. But I’m not, so I just brooded and called friends and family. I don’t know how they felt about that sort of thing, many of them having never read Jordan, so I’m sure they didn’t like being bothered with my rantings, but that’s never stopped me before.
Anyway. The months have passed now, and a successor to finish the last novel has been chosen by Jordan’s widow and Tor Publishing: Brandon Sanderson. Read Tor’s press release here. I’m confident in their choice. Sanderson is a great writer. Many of you probably don’t know who he is, but that’s okay, because I didn’t until recently. I’ve been hearing his name pop up on occasion, but it wasn’t until an interview on the Dragon Page that I decided to put him at the top of my reading list. So the last few weeks I’ve reading his book Mistborn: The Final Empire. I’m halfway through it, and I’d have to say I love it, and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something to read (especially while they’re waiting for the final Wheel of Time novel).
I’m sure there is some worry that it just won’t be the same. That’s probably true. But Harriet Rigney, Jordan’s wife, says she will edit it to retain its distinct voice. I’m excited, and it looks like there’s a planned release for the Fall of 2009 for A Memory of Light.
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