As is my usual wont, I surf the 'Net around midnight after everyone has gone to bed, catching up on news and reading other blogs of interest. One of the blogs that I read on a semi-regularly basis is Robert Jordan's blog on www.Dragonmount.com. And so, just a few moments ago, I read of his passing on Sunday afternoon. For those of you who don't know who Robert Jordan was or what he meant to me, a little back story. Robert Jordan (a pen name for James Rigney) was the author of the best-selling "Wheel of Time" series of fantasy fiction. A total of 11 books have been published, each one averaging about 700 pages.
I know that fantasy (and science fiction) is the red-headed step child of literature, but I have always been drawn to the fantastical settings and stories. And Jordan delivered those things (and so much more) in spades. Starting with the first book in the series, "The Eye of the World", Jordan started weaving a tapestry of characters and story lines that was simply head and shoulders above what everyone else was doing. He had a deft hand with characterization, especially his female characters, developing them into real people, with wants, needs, fears, joys, etc. And the story lines and plot ideas flowed like an undulating stream, crossing and churning, rising and falling; never to the extant that they slowed the narrative or became so convoluted as to be impossible understand yet still containing more imagination than a busload of 8 year olds. Simply put, you fell in love with his characters and you couldn't wait to see what they were going to do next.
One of the great things about his books was the idea that not everyone was on the same page, information wise. Most fiction (we'll call it "heroic fiction" to coin a phrase and great a new genre too, I guess) involves characters working together towards a common goal and so by the end of story, each one knew everything the other did and there were no misunderstandings. Jordan tossed in the wrinkle that just because you grew up in the same village you weren't necessarily privy to what your friends knew or their intentions. This worked to enrich the characters, so that two people who might have started out friends became bitter enemies, even while working toward the same goal, simply due to a misunderstanding or lack of information.
And the conspiracy theories! Major (and minor) characters would die, only Jordan would sometimes not tip his hat as to who killed them. Or a new character would be introduced, with some striking similarities to a previously killed (or thought to be killed) character and Jordan would simply give us enough information to keep whetting our appetite (the first and foremost goal of any writer worth his salt). There are literally hundreds of websites and message boards devoted to some of these conspiracy theories. Jordan didn't just create a readership, he inspired them.
I have been reading his works for the last 13 years now. I have read, and re-read, the "Wheel of Time" series more times that I care to count. Every time I decide to start reading the series again, invariably someone will ask me what I'm reading, is it good, etc. After I start with a VERY abbreviated outline of the series (complex isn't even in it), I always let slip that I've read this particular book at least a dozen times. The incredulous stares that I get after confiding that information always makes me laugh. Jordan has that effect. His dialogue and turns of phrase are better than anything else I've read, period. Better than Doyle, better than Heinlein, better than Tolkien.
Jordan is always compared to Tolkien whenever a discussion of the books comes about. While Jordan himself never considered his work to be on par with The Lord of the Rings, he always acknowledged that Tolkien (among others) paved the way for him to write his stories, even alluding to this fact in a very oblique way in his books. I've always used this analogy: Tolkien might have drawn the map and the major roads, but Jordan filled in large gaps in the terrain, even establishing a colony or two off the beaten path.
I've considered myself a writer since the 8th grade, when I saw the effect a story I had written for class had on my fellow classmates. In the intervening time, I've emulated various authors whose work I've enjoyed. But Jordan was the first writer to inspire me to write beyond his influence. For example, after I started reading Sherlock Holmes, the vast majority of my stories were mysteries, usually with a very smart and intellectual protagonist. The same with Heinlein, Tolkien, and others. After read their works, I always tried to emulate their writing style or plot style, with varying degrees of success. I've never tried to emulate Jordan's style of writing or plotting. It's beyond me to try and do so. Oh, I possess the technical skill, I'm sure, but it goes beyond mere technique. I can catch and throw a football, but I'm no Jerry Rice or John Elway. I can write a pretty good yarn and make it exciting, adding layers of characterization and plot details, but I'm no Jordan. No, what Jordan did was inspire me to take what I loved, writing, and make it my own. That my ideas were good enough to put pen to paper (or, rather, fingers to a keyboard) and simply write. Everytime I would get down on myself as not being good enough or feeling frustrated over a story, I would re-read a Jordan book and my resolve would firm and I'd take another stab at whatever I was working on. This is the mark of a good writer. They don't just give you a good story, they inspire you to write your own.
Jordan was diagnosed some time ago with a disease called Amyloidosis, specifically AL amyloid (if you want more info, check it out on wikipedia.org. It's far to complex to go into here). There are no known cures for this disease but that didn't stop him from fighting and even continuing his writing (indeed, TOR (his publisher)was still due to publish the final book in the series, "A Memory of Light" once he finished writing it). Through his blog, readers were given an insight into his thoughts and fears and most of all, his strength in the face of such an insurmountable situation. But he never gave up, never felt sorry for himself, never once asked people to simply let him be. I'm sure that in the future I will delve into another long fantasy series and be completely blown away by the author's skill and technique. But I sincerely doubt that I will ever read another work of literature as captivating, breathtaking and inspiring as Robert Jordan's series. There is a line in his books about a particular people's eulogy upon their death. I figure it's about as good a send off as I'm going to come up with and somehow fitting that it comes from Jordan himself:
"May you shelter in the palm of the Creator's hand, and may the last embrace of the mother welcome you home."
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