The Hawker Squawker

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose…. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of time. But it was a beginning.”

On Sunday the wind blew, and it was a sad day in the world of fantasy. One of the great fantasy authors of our time passed away. Robert Jordan is the author of the Wheel of Time series. For those of you who’ve read his work, you know what I mean when I say it’s by far the best fantasy series I’ve ever read.

I remember how I first came across his work. I was at the mall with Luann and we were wandering through the bookstore. At the front of the store was a little display with a free paperback book. It was called “The Eye of the World”. It was actually only the first half of the novel, but I figured i’d give it a try and buy the whole book if I thought it was worth it. Well … it was worth it. Not only did i buy the 1st novel, but i bought the entire series in hardback. The story is moving, the scope epic, and the level of detail Jordan goes into would put a smile even on Charles Dickens’ face.

The only problem with a story of such complexity is the amount of time between the release of each Novel. Although with Jordan’s death we’ll never have the “definitive final conclusive” masterpiece to this story, not all hope is lost. Just one week prior to Jordan’s passing, his cousin sent out the following blog post:

MOL [A Memory of Light - working title for the 12th and final book] is going into the word processor and onto audio tapes almost daily. Not every day mind you, because the medical fight takes first priority. But, he told you he’d finish and he will. Fact is that it has been finished in his head for years. During a recent family sit around, he became the Gleeman and told the bones of it ALL to Harriet and me. You read that right, I did say ALL. Don’t ask, ain’t telling. Two and a half hours of story telling by the Creator himself went by in the twinkling of an eye. Truly magical. All I can say is WOW! Best stuff he’s ever done. MOL is going to knock your socks off! That’s a promise.

No doubt the book will be published posthumously. I have high hopes that it will be finished by a worthy author who truly cares about the work and will do it justice. God speed Robert Jordan!