CASFS - In Memory

I never met the man.

It appears we were contemporaries of sorts, similarly aged, both having served in Nam, but, from reading of his decorations, James Oliver Rigney, Jr. had a more active war than I did.

He was also Robert Jordan.

I read his obituary today, the day after his passing. He was married. My condolences go to his family.

From everything I have heard of him, from people who knew him, he was a wonderful man.

I'm sure I would have been honored to know him.

I have read The Wheel of Time Series.

And the world has lost a great writer.

The world of fantasy fandom is a strange place. I have heard people denigrate and minimize his work. I have spoken to devoted fans. I have wondered why people have such a visceral reaction to Jordan s work.

Many wonderful authors did the pioneering in fantasy: William Morris, H. Ryder Haggard, Abraham Merritt, Arthur Machen, Robert Chambers, Edgar Rice Burroughs, C. S. Lewis, Lord Dunsany, Alan Garner, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Howard, and others explored both the light and the dark of magical, fantastical lands

When J. R. R. Tolkien came along, he lifted the whole field and brought it a level of sophistication that allowed readers to laugh and dance and sing as well as brave magnificent adventures.

And he ushered in a host of newer writers who have given us a wealth of rich literature.

And then this Jordan guy came along.

He wrote a lot of books, expanding on the Conan stories, writing about the South, but he was best known for The Wheel of Time.

Big books. An epic landscape. A cast of thousands. Legends and myths. Love and betrayal. Danger and Derring-Do. Destiny. Absolute evil. Good that was not quite as pure as everyone might wish. And a story so complex that people will be studying and analyzing it for years to come. And book after book came out, year after year, and the tale kept unfolding.

Eleven books in the series from 1990 until 2005, and a prequel.

But then he was diagnosed in 2005 with a rare blood disease and grandiose plans for other expansions and exploration of the Wheel of Time suddenly had to be surrendered and narrowed down.

Up until the time of his death, he was working very hard on completing a twelfth and final book a conclusion to his epic series. He wanted to finish it. He felt an obligation to finish it for the fans.

And now time has run out.

His death was expected, of course. He even wrote about his progress in a periodic blog.

I don t know where his work will fall in the great canvas of history, but I do know that I have concluded he was one of the truly great writers of our time perhaps of any time.

I never met the man in person, but I met the man who told the story of the Wheel of Time every time I sat down to read his work. And I always waited impatiently for the next book.

I think history will place him high on the list of Masters of Fantasy.

Rest In Peace James Oliver Rigney, Jr. Rest In Peace Robert Jordan.

You will be missed. But you will not be forgotten.

Adam Niswander
Phoenix, AZ