This might be old news to some of you -- but I just learned of it today.

The writer of the Wheel of Time series passed away earlier this month.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBy7pK1U-kIvTHx4PYeiI8rqBkmg

I liked the first three books in the series.  I left the series somewhere around the middle of the 5th book, IIRC.

Yeah I heard about his death soon after it happened :(  A sad loss :(

Here is his blog.  There are recent posts from his friends and family and some pictures.  You can also go back to December 2005 and forward and read in his own words about his faith and fight with his illness. I think he last posted a few days before his death. His wife has made some posts after his death as well.

http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/

I was never into Robert Jordan, though I have many of his books and will get around to reading them eventually. It is somewhat distressing to consider that the greatest writers of science fiction (and fantasy) are getting very old.

It is said (note I didn't say confirmed yet) that he left behind enough information and dictated tapes and the like that his wife can help finish the last book and get it out.

The husband is a big RJ fan.....I'm more of a L.E. Modesitt jr Recluse saga chick....but I read just about anything from time to time.

What a sad thing to hear :(
He was truely a great talent,

Oh, that is a sad thing. My son had several of his books and I enjoyed reading them too.

my wife bought me the 10th book once, not knowing it's a series...talk about lost...;) warn't too bad..but I never managed to finish it..;)

He left the information to finish the beek. AFAIK, it's still slated for late 2009/2010-obviously it won't be the same, but it WILL be finished. I overheard this at the funeral, though I personally wouldn't have had the guts to ask.

Renee

I suppose that the series will be finished even if the publisher has to hire a ghostwriter.  Inevitably, such a turn will mean that the flavor of the series' ending won't be quite the same as it would have been coming from the original author.  Even if it's all based on Robert Jordan's own notes & ideas.

That's why no one else picked up the Peanuts comic strip after Charles Schultz passed away -- the strip is now 100% reruns of old original strips by Schultz himself.

I've yet to read a book with a big-name author's byline at the top, and an unknown author's byline at the bottom which actually read as it would have read had it actually been written by the big-name author.  Such arrangements ordinarily mean that the big-time author (or his estate / heirs) is simply paid for the use of his name, while the unknown author actually wrote the story.  But who knows (?) -- the big-name writer might even have read a couple of the chapters & offered some pointers.

My introduction to Robert Jordan's writing came at a gas station / convenience store, where I happened to notice a fat paperback edition of the The Eye of the World on the shelf.  Right next to the candy bars & the Red Hot Beef Jerky.  Wanting a good fantasy book, I picked that one up -- decided that it looked interesting enough to buy -- and started reading it in a motel room, IIRC.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first three of the series.  After that, the story seemed to start to wander about increasingly aimlessly -- so I lost interest.

It will be interesting to see what the publisher / ghostwriter are able to do with the ending.  It was a truly original fantasy world.

BTW - this is semi-OT to the OT in this thread, but I believe that George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series has gotten WAY off track...........I've dropped it after reading some of the reviews of the latest book, A Feast for Crows.  I didn't want to spend the money on the book.

Quote - It is somewhat distressing to consider that the greatest writers of science fiction (and fantasy) are getting very old.

He was 58; not that old.

Like one or two others here, I've never read any Jordan, but I have 'The Eye of the World' on my bookshelf ready to be read some day.

It's good news that there's probably enough material to finish the series; I hope, though, that his family/friends/associates don't try to 'expand' or 'develop' the series in a similar way to 'Dune' or to a lesser extent the 'Amber' stories.

I hope, though, that his family/friends/associates don't try to 'expand' or 'develop' the series in a similar way to 'Dune' or to a lesser extent the 'Amber' stories. I've rarely encountering anything more atrocious than the Brian Herbert "expansions" to Dune.

I'm sorry to hear that Jordan lost the fight.

I started the series and found the first three books fairly engrossing, though they were even then exhibiting irritating ticks-- bearable, because Jordan stayed on track. The only entertainment I got from most of the latter books was reading the pages and pages of critiques by (former) fans. That being said, the last one I read seemed to be picking up, however, it's totally indicative of the series for me that I can't recall which one it was... :rolleyes:

The difference between posthumous extensions on Zelazny and Herbert's works versus a posthumously completed Wheel of Time series is that neither Zelazny nor Herbert had lost control of their own creations. Fresh eyes and a fresh point of view with Jordan's meandering epic might not be a bad thing... Here's hoping, anyhow...