Cool News
Robert Jordan Has Died
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
As I’ve read several excellent obituaries for author Robert Jordan, I’ve learned a lot about him. I didn’t realize it was a pen name, and that James Oliver Rigney Jr. was the man behind that name, the man behind the epic WHEEL OF TIME series. He published the first one the year I moved to Los Angeles, and I read it that year. I bailed out of the series a while ago, though, way before KNIFE OF DREAMS, which was the eleventh book, published in 2005.
The announcement was made on his website yesterday, and although I wasn’t still reading his work, it’s hard to deny the presence of a guy like this in the publishing world. He wrote his way into being a small industry, and you’ve got to respect that. He created a world that an army of readers has fallen faithfully in love with, and that’s a hell of a legacy.
I find it both sad and oddly inspirational that he was planning a new series of books after the conclusion of the WHEEL OF TIME saga. Reading the Wikipedia page about Jordan, it talks about the proposed series a bit, with a proposed title of INFINITY OF HEAVEN. For a guy whose work on a series was so famously expansive, that's a great wink of a title.
There’s still one more book coming out evidently, and I have no doubt that his world will continue to expand with the participation of other authors. Too many readers are too invested for it to simply end, and isn’t that probably the best thing you can say about any writer?
All of us at AICN wish all of Jordan’s family, friends, and fans our sincere condolences.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
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I share Moriarty's sentiments, both in his respect for Robert Jordan as well as his feelings on that series of books. Just wasn't my cup of tea, but he will be missed.
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shame. although I lost interest by book ten. He was a good author.
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A sad day
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Extremely talented author, sad to hear about this. The books are massive and terrific reading, quite a tale he conjured up.
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I just stopped caring around book 9. Way too many characters. At a certain point he should've kept his focus on the main group and stop adding more and more. Can anyone tell me if book 11 was any good? I still want to finish it. Rest in peace.
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He could have curbed his story to make it easier to read and thus earn more money in sales. He stayed true to telling his story the way he wanted to tell it for good or bad. There's alot of talk about how an artist should do this or that to make the art the work for the audience. I get it. When the audience is mostly important for getting money or fame from. But sometime special and timeless happens when the storyteller just tells a story and the readers are just along for whatever ride they get. That's my favorite kind of storyteller.
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A god damn machine....
Rest well.@ -
but i guess now i might get around to reading the first Wheel of Time book.
it seems like everyone i know prefaces their remarks with "i gave up after the fourth book", or "i stopped reading after the sixth book", etc.
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Finish your saga! RIP Jordan
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But Duty is heavier than a mountain. we will miss him.
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REBIRTH!
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The first 7/8 books were quite amazing - but I simply couldn't continue the saga. It became clear there was no end in sight - and because the books kept coming I was simply getting lost as I waited for each book (a year and a half allows you to forget a lot.) I had planned on letting the series finish and perhaps getting through the rest.
Now, I will never finish. I would not want to read another author's take on Robert Jordan's world.
Very sad. -
any recommendations? No fantasy and no Palahniuk which I am reading already. CMON!
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The Road by Cormac McCarthy kicks unholy ass. 70's and 80's Elmore Leonard if you want crime stuff. The Stand by King if you want to find out what the fuss was all about back in the day. Catch-22, if you want to read the best book ever.
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My condolences to his family but the Wheel of Time, for many of us turned into a waste of time as the story lost it's focus and seemed unable to live up to it's original promise. The first few books were incredible but as time went by it just seemed like he was either milking this for all it was worth or was unable to build to a satisfying conclusion and thus kept spinning the thing on and on.
It's easy to say that he was an artist who did his thing but to many it just seemed like self indulgence. -
I've never enjoyed the Wheel of Time books. I tried to get into them several times, since I'm a huge (but picky) fan of imaginitive fiction -- but it just never worked out.
Despite that, though, I always respected him as a writer and I am honestly saddened by his passing. Far too young, far too soon. My thoughts are with his family, friends and fans. -
Count me in as the crowd that bailed from the series after a while (Book Four for me). RIP Jordan...
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My condolences to his family. I never got into the series, but my husband read all of them. He's working his way through the George R.R. Martin books now. I may have to give them a try again.
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Must have been terrible knowing he was near death and might not finish a series he's been working on for over a decade. Hope someone does ffinish the book from his notes though, i'd hate to get through 11 1000 page books with no resolution...
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Every day it was the same question: "Do you know when the new 'Wheel of Time' book is coming out?" Every day the same answer: "No."
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While the WoT series may not be the highest order of literary fantasy, it sure as fuck made for some entertaining reading. Truly, some sad news.
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I'd expect news like this to post here first, but I read this on slashdot more than 24 hours ago. Digg too.
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I actually read it on AICN first. A poster mentioned it in the Emmys thread. Yeah, yeah, WTF was I doing reading the Emmys thread.
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I bailed after Book 10. Funny how you can read like 10,000 pages of a series and finally just give up. I really enjoyed them up to book 6, but then from book 7 onwards he added more and more characters, and less and less 'big stuff' happened each book. Anyways, it is sad that he went so soon, but it sounds like he had the complete outline and some work done on book 12, so hopefully it will be out for those who did want to finish the series. As I read on another site, it's time to start toasting to George R. R. Martin's health more often!
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I read the first book and really enjoyed it. I was wanting to find more, until I realized how many books were actually in the series and wasn't sure if I was willing to make that much of a time/money investment. It's too bad he didn't get to finish what he had planned. It's always a little strange when another author picks up the universe left behind by someone else and tries to add to it...
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Its true that a few of the later books slow a bit, but they are great none the less.
Book one is good, but its book 2 that truly starts the genuis. 3-6 are perfect imo, 6 being my favorite. With 7, things get more detailed, though how people can stop reading after growing attatched to these characters is beyond me.
the last one that was published begins the last battle, and kicked major ass.
The last on, yet unfinished is promising to be a hell of a read.
Its a great series. Period.
RJ was a great man. Period.
What a sad day this has been. -
...the series as a whole was mind-blowing. Hopefully, someday we'll get to read about Tarmon Gaidon.
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I mean, look what almost getting run over by a drunken lout on some backroad in Maine did to the "Dark Tower" series. This must not happen to Martin. Where is the online petition to en-bubble-ate the man, a la a 70s after-school special Travolta, until he completes the "Song of Fire and Ice"?
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I am more a fan of his few Conan books because we all know of the Wheel Of Time's decline. Still a shame though.
We have lost John Garner and Robert Jordan in one summer, how sad is that. -
Her death affects me more than some writer only SUPER-GEEKS have ever read/heard of. I was amazed Brett was still alive...and working on broadway. Apparantly, she wasn't quite the lush she appeared to be on Match Game. C'mon, AICN, she deserves her own thread!!!!!!!!
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So, it is safe to say, I have been there from the beginning of the series. As most true fans if the series will attest, the first four books were magnificent. The length and brdeadth of the man's talent was on full display, and even though it would be years betwen books, it was still a helluva ride. But something did happen after book four. And even diehard fans such as myself will admit that the series was drawn out and should have concluded about ten years ago. As hard as it is to beleive almost twenty years later the series has yet to conclude and who knows if he actually finished the last book? I am sure if he did not, there where notes and such to his assistants that will help another writer to do the job, but it will not be the same. The above was written as a fan of his work, who while not always enthusiastic about the result, nevertheless was excited at the prospect of returning to the world he created. But, now simply as a person who was deeply touched by that world I am very saddened at his passing, I want to thank him for his talent, and I want to pass along my condolences to his family and to his greater family of fans. I was teher from begiining and never stopped. Never dropped the series, and never will. The Wheel weaves as the wheel will.
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I started reading the Wheel series because of a couple of friends that raved about it. Took me about 2 or 3 attempts to get started, but once I got going, I was hooked. I was really looking forward to the series coming to a close. Do "The Prophecies" come true or does "The Cycle" begin anew? Hopefully whoever picks up the reigns can keep true to RJ's style and at least approximate his voice. Godspeed Dragon.
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The Wheel of Time series did lose its way, but the first four books or so were very good epic fantasy. The rest were painfully bloated and nonexistently paced, almost as if he never wanted to finish. I suppose it's appropriate then that he kept writing up until his death. I would've been quite curious about the new series, and it's too bad we'll never get to see it. He seemed like a pretty cool guy.
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I'm absolutely heartbroken at reading this news. What more can be said? Rest in Peace, and thank you so much. For those who dropped off the series: Book 9 was great, Book 10 was terrible, Book 11 redeems everything but be aware that there is still alot that needs to be done in Book 12.
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i can start reading the series.... I mean crap man those are some big books!
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was half the machine Jordan was. Maybe then he would finish the Chtorr series instead of leaving us hanging for 14 years.
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But what is The Wheel of Time series about? I would also like to know what's the deal with the His Dark Materials series. I've heard it was all conterversial and then I see a trailer for The Golden Compass and it looks like one of the Narnia sequels.
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For her appearances on The Odd Couple alone, Brett Somers deserves a thread. Although I met RJ through his stepson, and thought he was cool.
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Poeple have told me his books are sort of like Goodkinds, which i absolutely love. ill have to check them out when i finish with the Sword of Truth series.
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I have loved every book in the "War Against the Chtorr" series, but MY GOD he takes a long time between stories - I think I read the first one like twenty years ago...
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I would never compare Goodkind to Jordan. Goodkind's books never lose focus and he's amazing. I hope whoever picks up after RJ has what it takes to reign it in and regain the focus and have it meander less.
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I would never compare Goodkind to Jordan either because for all Jordans faults he was a hell of a better writer than Goodkind,even the later overbloated chapters of the WOT are better than most of the Sword Of Truth dross
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My condolences to the Jordan... I mean Rigney family. Robert was one of the most celebrated and verbose writers of our time. I stopped reading after book six because of this, but it doesn't detract from his legacy.
I was sorry to read he never finished the series. -
I was very surprised by this news, as I had not been reading his blog and did not know he was ill. He was a good guy and lead an interesting life. His books reached a lot of people in many different lands and across many different languages. Epic Fantasy fans and Fantasy readers in general have lost a great contributer to the genre. Like others have said, for me after book six, it was a bit too tough for me to get through and I stopped reading the series. I will, however; continue the series from the beginning once book twelve comes out, even if I have to struggle past book six. It's the least I can do out of admiration and respect for the man, and due to the fact that the first four or five books are amoung the best Epic Fantasy ever published. Rest in peace RJ.
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Preface: its a shame the man died. That being said, everyone is giving his work as pass because of...what??? He wrote a few good books to start a series then commenced with filling hundreds and hundreds of pages in book after book with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I read all his WoT books because by the time I realized that he'd lost it I had already invested so much money and time into the story that I just couldn't give up (but I didn't continue because I was "hooked").
Stephen King gets lambasted on these talkbacks all day for his lackluster finsih to the DT series, but Jordan gets forgiven? His series sucked for longer than it was good, and I want my money back. -
I loved the series, read all 11 last year back to back. Never got bored, never "bailed." Don't understand others loss of interest, but to each his own. Supposedly he has left notes on his uncompleted 12th novel, so it will come out eventually, but this is truly sad. When you've spent that much time in the mind of one author, you cannot help but feel like you know them in a way.
Any other fans recommend any other series in the vein of WoT? A nice big chunky series would be great. -
They were alright. Never had any interest in the whole Wheel of Time thing. Been hoping for the last five years that George R.R. Martin doesn't die before he finishes his series. his fans should all pitch in and get the guy an editor, because somebody needs to get him back on track...
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...all that happend was some shawls got knitted for 800 pages. Oh, and all the women were either man haters or doormats. And the men were either mysoginistic ganks or totally whipped and stupid. The author had some serious issues with women. But when he was on a roll he wrote great stuff, I just think he lost his way in the middle of the series and as a result lost a lot of readers as well. Kudos to the folks who stuck with it.
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Before Terry Goodkind once again borrows heavily from Jordan and kicks the bucket as well. I give it two weeks.
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...guess I'm going to have to go with George R. R. Martin instead.
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I found his writing style tedious to the extreme... I am sorry for his families loss, but the books spent half of their girth recanting events a person with even a marginal short term memory couldn't have forgotten. Brevity was a skill he never seemed to develop!
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He was a great descriptive writer. Though I never got real far into his series due to other reading commitments, I learned a lot of respect for him from what I did read. He certainly will be missed.
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Nynaeve will tug her braid no more. Damn, that woman did a lot of braid tugging.
I'd like to echo the sentiment that George RR Martin better not shuffle off the mortal coil before he finishes his opus, otherwise I'll follow him into the afterlife and drag him back to he land of the living. What an epic quest that would be. With no tugging of braids or wearing of shawls. -
Thanks dude. I really appreciate it. Need to read novels and I am a novice apart from Lord of the Rings and typical stuff. Grew up with movies and Comics.
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In charleston at the Citadel(he was an alumnus). He was a real genuine and sincere individual he talked with cadets and people about his books and signed for hours. He will definitely be missed in the literary world. My condolences to family and friends.
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. . . is a good editor, and it could be turned in to between six and eight GREAT books.
As has already been said, 1-5, especially 1-3, are as-good-as-it-gets-fantastic, 6-7 are tolerable and everything afterwards embarassing. Essentailly, the series got crushed under its own weight. When you have 26 plotlines and spend a chapter on each one, poof! - there goes another book! Like a giant ball of shit rolling down a hil, the plot kept getting bigger and hence, moving slower.
But seriously, someone could hack 7-11 down and it would be a great series. Except that now there's no end. FUCK! -
I'm so freakin' glad I got my friend to be the guinea pig with Wheel of Time instead of reading it myself. My fav Jordan books are the Conan ones he wrote; damn fine books.
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For anyone that is really worried he had already pretty much finished the series. He had been sick for awhile and had left plenty of notes and instruction on what he wanted to happen with the end of the series. Plus his wife has been his editor on all the books so she knows how he had planned to end it. Best guess is she finishes the lasat book and while every word will not be typed by him it will be ended exactly how he wanted to end them.
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and the few books by rj i've read were conan ones. his were the cream of the crop. other conan novels paled in comparison.
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Sorry, since posting on the Hulk talkback I now begin all sentences with "Hulk smash." Anyway, RIP, Robert Jordan.
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Well played, sir.
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Palmer's sister?
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nor will Aiel play at cat's cradle while thumbing their blades menacingly... so many Robert Jordan-ism's, so little time. I'm just glad we don't have to endure anymore of Rand's Source-clutching-induced Swoons. Can you imagine the movie version? He'd be worse than Frodo using the ring, there'd be Zombie-cam every 10 minutes.
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And I'm not one of them! http://tinyurl.com/ytkeeg
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Is whether or not we'll get talkbacks for the guy who created Encyclopedia Brown? What about the person who wrote Choose Your Own Adventure #27? Anybody?
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lol... Robert Jordan was ok, but gimme a break.
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I started reading the WoT series around book 7 - a friend had followed the series from the beginning and recommended it. I'd always seen the books at the used book store, but was always put off a bit by the thickness. I thoroughly enjoyed 1-7, but then found myself waiting for the next one (which my friend warned me about - he said it was about a year between book releases). I'd always read Conan novels, and didn't realize that he was the author of many of them - if I had, I might have read the series sooner. I got a little frustrated towards the end, though. Everyone splits up, there are so many different plotlines going on, new characters keep getting introduced and some characters that died have come back with new names and faces. I almost feel like I need a flow chart to keep track of things at this point. I pretty much ended up skimming through book 10 for the parts concerning Rand (which were few), but I read all of book 11 during a 13 hour plane flight. I'm glad that he started wrapping up things in 11, but he's got a loooooong way to go in book 12 to finish everything. I remember reading an article about him a while ago where he stated that he would keep on writing until he died - I guess he fulfilled that promise.
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God, imagine if Jo Rowling had died before finishing 'Deathly Hallows'. There are millions of fantasy fans out there who will literally walk the Earth in a state of utter, fucking devastation. Robert Jordan start writing 'Wheel of Time' in 1984. It's run eleven books and was probably going to last twelve. Hopefully, he'll have wrapped it all up by the next one. It'll be a tragic but amusing historical footnote in fantasy fiction if it remains unfinished. The damn thing was just getting rambling. It started out great but the last few books have been boring. R.I.P. James Oliver Rigney Jr. I can't wait to see what the people at the WOT FAQ have to say about this.
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Like a lot of others, I started Robert Jordan's series my first year of college. I was instantly enthralled, and as his world continued to expand and evolve, so did my interest in his work. Unlike others, I didn't "lose interest" as the last few books became bigger and more meandering. Rather, I enjoyed the detail and the immersion, and the chance to be a part of his world even for a moment. There was much to be savored in Books 7 - 11, even though I agree the "action" slowed to a crawl. When he was diagnosed with this always fatal disease, he made it clear that he had made significant progress on his final volume (what he called a 1500 page monster), and that he had talked extensively with his wife (who is also his editor) about the plot and how all would be wrapped up. Even when dying, he made sure his life's work would be complete, and would be concluded. It would be a terrific tribute to Mr. Jordan if his final book was written with the help of his family, as well as his many friends and colleagues in the business. I look forward to it, as bittersweet as it will be.
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Martin is clearly the best out there right now. He's like Jordan if Jordan had a better editing team ... and a much more vicious streak. However, judging by the extreme length of time it takes Martin to finish a book, and the pictures of him that suggest he is living on a diet consisting solely of deep-fried sausages and ale, it's pretty unlikely that he'll finish his series either. Maybe Jordan's death will spur him to get his fat ass to a gym. Goodkind, on the other hand, is not fit to be mentioned in the same conversation with either Jordan or Martin. Goodkind is a hack whose derivative, insipid work is an insult to epic fantasy. And his ponytail is gay. If you're looking for some monstorous epic to fill the Wheel of Time void, be sure to read Steven Erikson's Malazan Empire series - they're fantastic. And unlike Jordan, Erikson is all action and plot and hardly any extraneous character development. And he churns out an amazing book a year (about 1000 pages per year). He'll actually finish his series.
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At least Goodkind's SOT series is done and the last book will be out in 2 months. I can imagine what it feels like to be invested in a series that ends so tragically as RJ.
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It's been weird, every now and again my mind just randomly tells me to visit his blog in hope of more news about his illness. Usually when I check a blog post had come out a few days before. Two night ago I snapped up in bed right before falling asleep after thinking about Dragonmount.com.
I forgot to check it until I just read this post. Sad, sad news. -
lol, only super geeks have heard of robert jordan? even my mother knew who he was and she's 58...
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Lantern?
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"I have always felt death to brief a lesson. I believe in long lessons. If i so much as suspect you have violated your part of the bargain, any part of it, they will find you still breathing, but without an inch of skin left anywhere on you. Do we understand eachother?"
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The greatest cultural contribution is storytelling; that's how culture survives when we do not. James O. Rigney Jr. (pen name: Robert Jordan) was one of the greats and his storys will be told until all language dies. What greater gift than storys to tell?
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Hey! Somebody died so everything they ever did is great! RIP Hitler! Praise be to the Reich for uplifting the German people. Asshole.
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I admit defeat. Where is the quote from ? I'm totally spacing and can't place it.
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I'm one of the people that loved the first 4 or 5 books but then gave up when it was obvious that he lacked an editor and was milking the story. That being said, he's an undeniable talent and his devotion to his creation, even in the midst of personal tragedy is commendable. He will be missed. and I feel bad for the fans that have stuck through the entire series. It's clear that the final book will eventually be completed by others. And that's certainly better than the worst case in which an author dies suddenly and unexpectedly and they are the only ones that know how the story is to end.
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Now you jerks will never know how it REALLY ends.Unless you both end up in the same afterlife.
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