Robert Jordan, You will be Missed

It is with great sadness that I bring news of the death of a great author who I have been reading for years. Today, Robert Jordan succumbed after a long and heroic struggle with a rare blood disease is tantamount the struggles of the characters that he wrote about with such obvious care and compassion. His Wheel of Time series, spanning 11 books to date, was a New York Times bestseller for each volume and became an instant phenomena the world over. It is a sad day when a great talent is taken from us before his time. Unfortunately, it is always before the right time when great people are taken away.

I remember reading the first book of this series, The Eye of the World, quite a few years ago on vacation and instantly being hooked to the great characters and the intricate plotlines. It is true that it can get quite confusing, but I have been collecting each book in hardcover over the past few years with the intention of rereading the entire series one day when I have the free time. I find that perhaps the greatest tragedy here is that a man who invested so much of himself in this incredibly complex and personal story to him and we will be unable to fully understand how all of his plots play out in the master's definitive edition. I fear that the volume that inevitably comes out will be missing a great deal without his sure hand at play on every page.

With all of this in mind, he lived a long and fruitful life and I am just glad that I could share some of his stories. He is an inspiration to me and in my endeavors in life. The way in which he fought so valiantly in the end is something that all should approach every aspect of life with.