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| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
17 October 1948 | Birth | Born James Oliver Rigney Jr. in Charleston, South Carolina, Robert Jordan served two tours as a helicopter gunner in Vietnam before turning to fiction. He began The Wheel of Time in 1990 and it grew into one of the bestselling fantasy series of all time, with over 90 million copies sold. |
16 September 2007 | Death | Robert Jordan died of cardiac amyloidosis in Charleston at the age of 58, leaving The Wheel of Time one volume short of completion. Before his death he compiled detailed notes so that the series could be finished - Brandon Sanderson was chosen by his widow and completed it in three final volumes, ending with A Memory of Light in 2013. |
2013 | Award Won | Phoenix Award Lifetime achievement |
Born James Oliver Rigney Jr. in Charleston, South Carolina, Robert Jordan served two tours as a helicopter gunner in Vietnam before turning to fiction. He began The Wheel of Time in 1990 and it grew into one of the bestselling fantasy series of all time, with over 90 million copies sold.
Robert Jordan died of cardiac amyloidosis in Charleston at the age of 58, leaving The Wheel of Time one volume short of completion. Before his death he compiled detailed notes so that the series could be finished - Brandon Sanderson was chosen by his widow and completed it in three final volumes, ending with A Memory of Light in 2013.
Phoenix Award
Lifetime achievement

The Wheel of Time
1990
In the remote village of Emond's Field, five young people - Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, Egwene al'Vere, and Nynaeve al'Meara - are drawn into a world-spanning conflict when the Aes Sedai Moiraine arrives with her Warder Lan, pursued by agents of the Dark One. Forced to flee their homes, the group journeys across a dangerous landscape of ruined cities, cursed roads, and ancient strongholds toward the Eye of the World, a pool of pure power hidden in the corrupted Blight. The Eye of the World establishes the series' central tension - Rand's dawning realisation that he may be the Dragon Reborn, the prophesied figure destined to face the Dark One at the Last Battle, and the knowledge that every male channeller before him has gone mad and destroyed everything he loved.

The Wheel of Time
1990
The Horn of Valere - an artifact capable of summoning the legendary heroes of ages past - has been stolen by Darkfriends, and Rand al'Thor joins the hunt to recover it while struggling to deny his growing ability to channel the One Power. Meanwhile, Egwene and Nynaeve travel to the White Tower to begin their training as Aes Sedai, and the Seanchan - invaders from across the ocean who enslave women who can channel - make their first devastating appearance on the western coast. The Great Hunt expands the world dramatically, introducing the parallel dimension of Tel'aran'rhiod (the World of Dreams) and the political complexity of the Aes Sedai, while driving Rand closer to accepting the identity he fears most.