A legend dies

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.

Fellow fantasy fans will recognise the above quote and will join with me in mourning the death of Robert Jordon earlier this week. His real name was James Olliver Rigney Jr. Like many I have followed (via his blog) his fight with Amyloidosis since May 2006 where news on his Lambda Light Chain count has provided hope from time to time. His great creation was The Wheel of Time planned as a twelve volume series; we had reached number eleven before he fell ill. We know that he continued work until his death, and that he shared with his family in way in which the multiple plot threads laid open would be closed. I just hope they can find someone who can do justice to the final volume and complete the turning of wheel as a lasting tribute to author and man of considerable authority and dignity.