Editing Robert Jordan

{{Short description|American fantasy writer (1948–2007)}}
{{Other people}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
|name        = Robert Jordan
|image       = Robert Jordan.jpg
|caption     = Jordan in 2005
|birth_name  = James Oliver Rigney Jr.
|birth_date  = {{birth date |1948|10|17}}
|birth_place = [[Charleston, South Carolina]], U.S.
|death_date  = {{death date and age|2007|9|16|1948|10|17|mf=y}}
|death_place = Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
|occupation  = Novelist
|genre       = Fantasy
|education   = [[The Citadel]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
|notableworks= ''[[The Wheel of Time]]''
|spouse      = {{marriage|[[Harriet McDougal]]|1981}}
|signature   = Robert Jordan signature (cropped).jpg
|website     = 
}}
'''James Oliver Rigney Jr.''' (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name '''Robert Jordan''',<ref name="origin">"[[Robert Jordan (character)|Robert Jordan]]" was the name of the protagonist in the 1940 [[Ernest Hemingway|Hemingway novel]] ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', though this is not how the name was chosen according to a [http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=79 1997 interview he did on the DragonCon SciFi Channel Chat].</ref> was an American author of [[epic fantasy]]. He is best known as the author of  ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' series, which comprises 14 books and a [[New Spring|prequel novel]]. He is one of several writers to have written original [[Conan the Barbarian]] novels; his are considered by fans to be some of the best of the non-[[Robert E. Howard]] efforts.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 26, 2006 |title=Good Reads – 8/26/10 |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35232.The_Conan_Chronicles}}</ref> Jordan also published historical fiction using the pseudonym Reagan O'Neal, a [[western (genre)|western]] as Jackson O'Reilly, and [[dance criticism]] as Chang Lung. Jordan claimed to have [[Ghostwriter|ghostwritten]] an "international thriller" that is still believed to have been written by someone else.<ref name="theoryland2005">{{Cite web |last=Ross |date=September 2005 |title=Radio Dead Air Interview with Robert Jordan |url=http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=219#8 |access-date=April 16, 2012 |publisher=Radio Dead Air}}</ref>

==Early life==
Jordan was born in [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. He went to [[Clemson University]] after high school, but dropped out after one year and enlisted in the [[U.S. Army]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reinertsen |first=John Peter |date=January 22, 2003 |title=For Jordan, fantasy remains fertile field |work=USA Today |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2003-01-22-jordan_x.htm |access-date=September 4, 2021}}</ref> He served two tours of duty during the [[Vietnam War]] as a helicopter gunner.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McQueeney |first=W. Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9EHFDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT242 |title=The Rise of Charleston: Conversations with Visionaries, Luminaries & Emissaries of the Holy City |date=2017 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-1625858597 |page=242 |access-date=August 7, 2019}}</ref> He was awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] with [[oak leaf cluster]], the [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]] with "V" and oak leaf cluster, and two [[Vietnam Gallantry Cross|Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses]] with palm.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 21, 2007 |title=Robert Jordan |work=The Daily Telegraph |department=Obituaries |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1563696/Robert-Jordan.html |access-date=August 7, 2019}}</ref>

After returning from Vietnam in 1970, Jordan studied [[physics]] at [[The Citadel]]. He graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science degree and began working for the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] as a [[nuclear engineering|nuclear engineer]].<ref name="untitled" /> He began writing in 1977.

==Personal life==
Robert Jordan was a history buff and enjoyed hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool, and pipe-collecting. He described himself as a "[[High church]]" [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]]<ref name="untitled">{{Cite web |last=Jordan |first=Robert |date=June 1, 2007 |title=(untitled) |url=https://dragonmount.com/blogs/entry/376-untitled/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705230621/https://dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=85 |archive-date=July 5, 2007 |website=Dragonmount, the Robert Jordan blog}}</ref> and received [[Eucharist|communion]] more than once a week.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Denzel |first=Jason |date=September 27, 2007 |title=My Journey to Robert Jordan's Funeral |url=https://dragonmount.com/blogs/entry/383-my-journey-to-robert-jordans-funeral/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011001519/http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=92 |archive-date=October 11, 2007 |website=Dragonmount, the Robert Jordan blog}}</ref> Politically, he described himself as a "[[Libertarianism|libertarian]] [[Monarchism|monarchist]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Livingston |first=Michael |title=Origins of the Wheel of Time |publisher=Tor |year=2022 |isbn=9781250860545 |page=28 |language=English}}</ref> He lived with his wife, [[Harriet McDougal]], who works as a book editor (currently with [[Tor Books]]; she was also Jordan's editor) in a house built in 1797.<ref name="torbio">{{Cite web |title=Robert Jordan and the Wheel of Time |url=http://www.tor.com/jordan/bio.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012024117/http://www.tor.com/jordan/bio.html |archive-date=October 12, 2007 |access-date=August 10, 2009}}</ref> He listed [[John D. MacDonald]], [[Jane Austen]], [[Louis L'Amour]], [[Charles Dickens]], [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Mark Twain]] and [[Michel de Montaigne|Montaigne]] as his favorite authors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Theoryland of the Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan) : Wheel of Time Interview Search Results |url=https://www.theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kwt=%27favorites%27 |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=www.theoryland.com}}</ref>

===Illness and death===
On March 23, 2006, Jordan revealed that he had been diagnosed with [[cardiac amyloidosis]] and that, with treatment, his [[median]] [[life expectancy]] was four years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 23, 2006 |title=Letter from Robert Jordan |url=http://www.locusmag.com/2006/Features/03JordanLetter.html |website=[[Locus Online]]}}</ref> In a separate weblog post, he encouraged his fans not to worry about him and stated that he intended to have a long and creative life.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jordan |first=Robert |date=March 24, 2006 |title=Sorry about the premature announcement |url=https://dragonmount.com/blogs/entry/335-sorry-about-the-premature-announcement/ |website=Dragonmount}}</ref>

He began [[chemotherapy]] at [[Mayo Clinic]] during early April 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jordan, Robert |date=March 25, 2006 |title=Important note |url=http://www.tor.com/jordan/ |website=Tor Books}}</ref> He participated in a study of the drug [[Revlimid]], which had been approved recently for [[multiple myeloma]] but not yet tested for primary [[amyloidosis]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 25, 2005 |title=Important note from Robert Jordan |url=http://www.tor.com/jordan/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060405163217/http://www.tor.com/jordan/ |archive-date=April 5, 2006}}</ref>

Jordan died on September 16, 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jordan's death |url=http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=90 |access-date=November 28, 2011 |website=Dragonmount}}</ref> His funeral service was on September 19, 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 20, 2007 |title=James Oliver Rigney Jr. |url=http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/sep/20/james_oliver_rigney_jr16598/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721233923/http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/sep/20/james_oliver_rigney_jr16598/ |archive-date=July 21, 2012 |newspaper=The Post and Courier}}</ref> He was cremated and his ashes buried in the churchyard of [[St. James Church (Goose Creek, South Carolina)|St. James Church]] in [[Goose Creek, South Carolina|Goose Creek]], outside [[Charleston, South Carolina]].<ref>{{Cite web |title="The Stone" – Entry in Robert Jordan's Blog at Dragonmount, dated October 6, 2008 |url=http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=134 |access-date=November 28, 2011 |publisher=Dragonmount.com}}</ref>

Jordan's papers can be found in the [[special collections]] of the [[College of Charleston]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inventory of the James Oliver Rigney, Jr., Papers, 1905–2012 |url=http://archives.library.cofc.edu/findingaids/mss0197.html |access-date=January 7, 2019 |website=archives.library.cofc.edu |archive-date=January 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107072433/http://archives.library.cofc.edu/findingaids/mss0197.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Selected works==
{{main|List of works by Robert Jordan}}

===The Wheel of Time===
{{main|The Wheel of Time}}
Jordan published 11 books of 14 in the main sequence of the Wheel of Time series. Reviewers and fans of the earlier books noted a slowing of the pace of events in the last few installments written solely by Jordan owing to the expansion of the scale of the series as a whole.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Cannon |first=Peter |title=Crossroads of Twilight (Book) |magazine=Publishers Weekly |date=December 23, 2002 |volume=249 |issue=51 |page=50}}</ref> Because of his health problems, Jordan did not work at full force on the final installment ''[[A Memory of Light]]'' (later split into three volumes beginning with ''[[The Gathering Storm (novel)|The Gathering Storm]]''), but blog entries confirmed that he continued work on it until his death, and he shared all of the significant plot details with his family not long before he died.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Jordan's Official Blog |url=http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=66 |access-date=November 28, 2011 |publisher=Dragonmount.com}}</ref> He maintained that in doing so the book would get published even if "the worst actually happens".<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 30, 2006 |title=Forbes article on Jordan's illness |url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/robert-jordan-illness-tech-media_cx_hc_books06_1201jordan.html |access-date=November 28, 2011 |website=Forbes}}</ref> On December 7, 2007, Tor Books announced that [[Brandon Sanderson]] had been chosen to finish the Wheel of Time series. [[Harriet McDougal]], Jordan's widow, chose him after reading ''[[Mistborn: The Final Empire]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TOR Press Release |url=http://www.tor-forge.com/NewsArticle.aspx?articleId=647 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212090331/http://www.tor-forge.com/NewsArticle.aspx?articleId=647 |archive-date=December 12, 2007}}</ref>
{{Book table |book_number= |title= |publish_date= |aux1=Length |aux2=Audio |aux3=Notes |books=
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 0
 | title         = [[New Spring]]
 | publish_date  = January 6, 2004
 | aux1          = 334pp (PB) / 334pp (HB)<br />122,150 words
 | aux2          = 12h 31m
 | aux3          = Prequel set 20 years before the events of the first novel.
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 1
 | title         = [[The Eye of the World]]
 | publish_date  = January 15, 1990
 | aux1          = 782pp (PB) / 702pp (HB)<br />305,902 words
 | aux2          = 29h 32m
 | aux3          = &nbsp;
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 2
 | title         = [[The Great Hunt]]
 | publish_date  = November 15, 1990
 | aux1          = 681pp (PB) / 599pp (HB)<br />267,078 words
 | aux2          = 26h 08m
 | aux3          = &nbsp;
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 3
 | title         = [[The Dragon Reborn]]
 | publish_date  = October 15, 1991
 | aux1          = 675pp (PB) / 545pp (HB)<br />251,392 words
 | aux2          = 24h 31m
 | aux3          = &nbsp;
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 4
 | title         = [[The Shadow Rising]]
 | publish_date  = September 15, 1992
 | aux1          = 981pp (PB) / 891pp (HB)<br />393,823 words
 | aux2          = 40h 31m
 | aux3          = &nbsp;
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 5
 | title         = [[The Fires of Heaven]]
 | publish_date  = October 15, 1993
 | aux1          = 963pp (PB) / 684pp (HB)<br />354,109 words
 | aux2          = 36h 34m
 | aux3          = &nbsp;
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 6
 | title         = [[Lord of Chaos]]
 | publish_date  = October 15, 1994
 | aux1          = 987pp (PB) / 699pp (HB)<br />389,823 words
 | aux2          = 41h 37m
 | aux3          = [[Locus Award]] nominee, 1995.<ref name="WWE-1995">{{Cite web |title=1995 Award Winners & Nominees |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1995 |access-date=October 7, 2009 |website=Worlds Without End}}</ref>
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 7
 | title         = [[A Crown of Swords]]
 | publish_date  = May 15, 1996
 | aux1          = 856pp (PB) / 635pp (HB)<br />295,028 words
 | aux2          = 30h 31m
 | aux3          = &nbsp;
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 8
 | title         = [[The Path of Daggers]]
 | publish_date  = October 20, 1998
 | aux1          = 672pp (PB) / 591pp (HB)<br />226,687 words
 | aux2          = 23h 31m
 | aux3          = &nbsp;
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 9
 | title         = [[Winter's Heart]]
 | publish_date  = November 7, 2000
 | aux1          = 766pp (PB) / 533pp (HB)<br />238,789 words
 | aux2          = 24h 18m
 | aux3          = Prologue released as a promotional eBook in September 2000.
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 10
 | title         = [[Crossroads of Twilight]]
 | publish_date  = January 7, 2003
 | aux1          = 822pp (PB) / 681pp (HB)<br />271,632 words
 | aux2          = 26h 03m
 | aux3          = Prologue released as a promotional eBook on July 17, 2002.
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 11
 | title         = [[Knife of Dreams]]
 | publish_date  = October 11, 2005
 | aux1          = 837pp (PB) / 761pp (HB)<br />315,163 words
 | aux2          = 32h 24m
 | aux3          = Prologue released as a promotional eBook on July 22, 2005.
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 12
 | title         = [[The Gathering Storm (novel)|The Gathering Storm]]
 | publish_date  = October 27, 2009
 | aux1          = 766pp (PB) / 766pp (HB)<br />297,502 words
 | aux2          = 33h 02m
 | aux3          = Completed by [[Brandon Sanderson]].
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 13
 | title         = [[Towers of Midnight]]
 | publish_date  = November 2, 2010
 | aux1          = 864pp (PB) / 843pp (HB)<br />327,052 words
 | aux2          = 38h 17m
 | aux3          = Completed by Brandon Sanderson.<ref name="Brandon Sanderson's Facebook page">{{Cite web |title=Brandon Sanderson's Facebook page |url=http://www.facebook.com/BrandonSandrson?v=wall&story_fbid=137045153003317 |via=Facebook}} {{registration required}}</ref>
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = 14
 | title         = [[A Memory of Light]]
 | publish_date  = January 8, 2013
 | aux1          = 912pp (PB) / 909pp (HB)<br />353,906 words
 | aux2          = 41h 55m
 | aux3          = Completed by Brandon Sanderson,<ref name="Brandon Sanderson's Google+ Post">{{Cite web |last=Sanderson |first=Brandon |author-link=Brandon Sanderson |date=August 1, 2012 |title=Brandon Sanderson – Google+ – Today I got up, and I did not have a Wheel of Time book to work on. |url=https://plus.google.com/u/0/112625949782182655505/posts/Y5jVWa24AfB |access-date=August 4, 2012}}</ref> epilogue by Robert Jordan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 8, 2013 |title=Brandon Sanderson Blog: It's finally out |url=http://www.brandonsanderson.com/its-finally-out |access-date=March 25, 2013 |publisher=BrandonSanderson.com}}</ref>
}}
{{Book list
 | book_number   = –
 | title         = 'Totals'
 | publish_date  = '''22 years, 11 months, 24 days'''
 | aux1          = '''11,898pp (PB) / 10,173pp (HB)<br />4,410,036 words'''
 | aux2          = '''19d 5h 25m'''
 | aux3          = &nbsp;
}}
}}

All paperback (PB) page totals given are for the most widely available mass-market paperback editions. The page count for the hardback (HB) editions does not include glossary or appendix page counts.

''[[The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time]]'' is an encyclopedia for the series about the unnamed world where the plot takes place, which is often referred to by fans of the series as [[the World of the Wheel]] or less formally as Randland in reference to the main character. It is published in the United States by [[Tor Books]] and in the United Kingdom by [[Orbit Books]]. The bulk of the text was written by Teresa Patterson based on notes and information provided by Jordan, who also served as the overall editor on the project. While the information in the guide is broadly canonical, the book is deliberately written as an in-universe work with vague, biased, or even downright false (or guessed) information in places, as Patterson felt this would reflect a key theme of the series (the mutability of knowledge across time and distance).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Teresa Patterson at DragonCon 2005 |url=http://www.dragonmount.com/News/?p=213}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | date=2005 |title=DragonCon Report - Jennifer Liang |url=https://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=205#9 |website=Theoryland |page=205}}</ref> This ~300-page encyclopedia was published in 1997, when only half of the main series had been published. The book is commonly referenced as the "Big White Book (of Bad Art)" in reference to the printed version's substantially larger height and width compared to the books of the main series. This name is also in reference to the various artworks printed in the book's fourth section which is titled ''Some Narrative Paintings of Questionable Authenticity''.

''[[The Wheel of Time Companion]]'' (often referred to simply as "The Companion") is a more comprehensive encyclopedia published in 2015, more than two years after the completion of the main series. It was compiled by [[Harriet McDougal]] and Jordan's assistants Alan Romanczuk and Maria Simons using Jordan's notes. This ~800-page encyclopedia is more comprehensive than ''The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time'' and consists almost entirely of entries describing particular characters, locations, items, and concepts from the series. The Companion is not written as an in-universe work and is generally written from a more objective, authoritative perspective than the earlier encyclopedia. As a result, information from the Companion is generally considered more reliable than information from the Big White Book.

===Conan the Barbarian===
{{main|Conan the Barbarian}}
Jordan was one of several writers who have written [[Conan the Barbarian]] stories. When [[Tom Doherty]] obtained the rights, he needed a novel very quickly, so Jordan's wife Harriet McDougal recommended him because she knew he had written his first novel, ''Warriors of the Altaii'', in thirteen days.
<blockquote>So he thought I could write something fast, and he was right, and I liked it. It was fun writing something completely over the top, full of [[purple prose]], and in a weak moment I agreed to do five more and the novelization of the second Conan movie. I've decided that those things were very good discipline for me. I had to work with a character and a [[Hyboria|world]] that had already been created and yet find a way to say something new about the character and the world. That was a very good exercise.<ref name="theoryland2003">{{Cite web |last=Lilley |first=Ernest |date=2003-01-21 |title=Interview with Robert Jordan |url=http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=168#11 |access-date=2012-04-13 |website=Theoryland}}</ref></blockquote>
# ''[[Conan the Invincible]]'' (1982)
# ''[[Conan the Defender]]'' (1982)
# ''[[Conan the Unconquered]]'' (1983)
# ''[[Conan the Triumphant]]'' (1983)
# ''[[Conan the Magnificent]]'' (1984)
# ''[[Conan the Destroyer (novel)|Conan the Destroyer]]'' (1984) (adaptation of the ''[[Conan the Destroyer|movie of the same title]]'')
# ''[[Conan the Victorious]]'' (1984)

They were packed into two separate volumes par ''Conan the Destroyer'':
* ''[[The Conan Chronicles (Robert Jordan)|The Conan Chronicles]]''
* ''[[The Further Chronicles of Conan]]'' (''[[The Conan Chronicles II]]'' in the UK, different contents)

Jordan also compiled a well-known [[Conan Chronology]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wikiquote|The Wheel of Time}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051013061036/http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/ Robert Jordan's Official Blog]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304193354/http://www.iblist.com/author57.htm Robert Jordan at the Internet Book List]
* {{ISFDB name}}
* [https://us.macmillan.com/author/robertjordan Robert Jordan at Tor Books]
* [http://www.worldswithoutend.com/author.asp?ID=725 Robert Jordan] at Worlds Without End

{{wotbooks}}
{{Conan}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Robert}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:American fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:Anglican writers]]
[[Category:Conan the Barbarian novelists]]
[[Category:Deaths from amyloidosis]]
[[Category:Novelists from South Carolina]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)]]
[[Category:The Citadel alumni]]
[[Category:The Wheel of Time]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:Writers from Charleston, South Carolina]]