Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan, the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., was a notable American fantasy author, best recognized for his epic series, "The Wheel of Time." Born on October 17, 1948, in Charleston, South Carolina, Jordan's literary career began with historical novels written under the pseudonym Reagan O'Neal, focusing on the experiences of an Irish family in the 18th century. His transition to fantasy writing was marked by his work on the Conan series, where he adopted the name Robert Jordan and demonstrated a prolific output, producing seven novels in three years.
"The Wheel of Time," which features a richly developed world and complex characters, follows a simple shepherd named Rand al'Thor as he navigates a cosmic battle between good and evil. With over 90 million copies sold, the series has garnered immense popularity and acclaim in the fantasy genre. Jordan was diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis in 2006, but he continued to write until his death in September 2007. After his passing, fellow author Brandon Sanderson completed the series, and in 2021, a television adaptation premiered on Amazon Prime Video, bringing Jordan's imaginative universe to a broader audience.
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Robert Jordan
Author
- Born: October 17, 1948
- Birthplace: Charleston, South Carolina
- Died: September 16, 2007
- Place of death: Charleston, South Carolina
Biography
Robert Jordan was the most common pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., a prolific fantasy author best known for his Wheel of Time series. Jordan was born on October 17, 1948, in Charleston, South Carolina. He matriculated to The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina not known for producing writers, although Pat Conroy, another American novelist, graduated from the school the year that Jordan arrived.
Jordan’s first published work, written under the pseudonym Reagan O’Neal, was a series of historical novels about an eighteenth century Irish family named Fallon and their immigration as indentured servants to South Carolina. The first two books in the series, The Fallon Blood and The Fallon Pride, impressed the editors of the Conan sword-and-sorcery franchise, and they commissioned Jordan to write for the series that Robert E. Howard created in the 1930’s. Adopting for the first time the pen name Robert Jordan, he responded with the pace his fans would come to expect, writing seven Conan novels in three years, including a novelization for the film Conan the Destroyer.
In addition to providing fan exposure, the Conan series offered an easy transition from the historical fiction of the Fallon series to the sword-and-sorcery fantasy of Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. The Conan books contain elements of historical fiction because they are set in a mythical Hyperborean Age before recorded history. The world of the Wheel of Time, while not on earth, is in a similar ancient culture, with a somewhat Celtic flavor, in which feudal ideals meet with frighteningly powerful sorcery.
The protagonist of the first novel, The Eye of the World, is a simple shepherd named Rand al’Thor from the isolated village of Emond’s Field. Rand discovers that a powerful evil force in the larger outside world is reaching into his safe, protected home. A priestly class, the Aes Sedai, knows how to channel the One Power, the force that turns the Wheel of Time. The result is a cosmic struggle between light and dark, good and evil, into which the innocent Rand and his friends are drawn. The Dark Lord, Shai’tan, has somehow taken an interest in Rand, and in the course of the fourteen novel–series, the simple shepherd becomes a great hero for the forces of light.
With over 90 million copies sold, the Wheel of Time series is among the most popular fantasy series in the world. On March 23, 2006, while working on the next volume in the series, Jordan posted a letter to the online science-fiction magazine Locus announcing that he had been diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, a weakening of the heart muscle. Medical prognosis suggested a median life expectancy of four years, but Jordan reported on his blog that he intended to live a great deal longer and to continue writing fantasy. However, Jordan died due to medical complications resulting from the condition in September 2007. Following his death, fellow fantasy author Brandon Sanderson completed the final three books in the Wheel of Time series. In 2021, a television series based on the books was released on Amazon Prime Video.
Bibliography
Fox, Margalit. "James O. Rigney Jr., Who Wrote as Robert Jordan, Dies at 58." The New York Times, 18 Sept. 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/books/18jordan.html. Accessed 4 Mar. 2022.
Golder, Dave. "10 Reasons Why the Wheel of Time Has Been Hailed as a Masterpiece." GamesRadar+, 26 Oct. 2010, www.gamesradar.com/robert-jordan-wheel-of-time/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2022.
Greene, Harlan. "The Fantasy World of Charleston Author Robert Jordan and His 'The Wheel of Time' Saga." Charleston Magazine, Oct. 2021, charlestonmag.com/features/the‗fantasy‗world‗of‗charleston‗author‗robert‗jordan‗and‗his‗the‗wheel‗of‗time‗saga. Accessed 4 Mar. 2022.