Robert Jordan Books

Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Robert Jordan is the pseudonym for James Oliver Rigney, an author best known for writing the Wheel of Time series.

Born in 1948, Jordan comes from Charleston in South Carolina. Robert Jordan was a precocious little boy. By the time he was five, not only was the author reading but he had already begun tackling Jules Verne and Mark Twain. Jordan’s older brother was an influential part of his growth and helped guide him as he learned to read. It didn’t take the author long to realize that he might be destined to become an author.

However, the times were such that Robert Jordan found himself in Vietnam fighting for the United States as a helicopter gunner. The author was a competent soldier, serving well enough to receive various accolades for his efforts, this including the Gallantry Cross from the Vietnamese.

Life after the Army found Jordan at a Military College in South Carolina where he acquired a degree in physics and continued to peddle his services to the United States Army as a nuclear engineer.

By the late 1970s, the author had begun putting his writing skills to the test. Robert Jordan’s most popular form of literature has always been the Wheel of Time Fantasy series. The books, which Robert Jordan wrote after being inspired by stories from Hindu Mythology, have since become literary classics, compared to the likes of The Lord of the Rings.

He also dabbled in a few other genres, often writing under a pseudonym. He wrote historical fiction as Reagan O’Neal, westerns under the name of Jackson O’Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung. His greatest success though came while writing under his real name and, specifically, the Wheel of Time series.

Robert Jordan wrote eleven of the Wheel of Time novels. By 2006, Jordan had begun working on the twelfth book in the series. It was supposed to be the final volume. However, that was the year that Jordan revealed that he had been diagnosed with a rare blood disease. While the doctors had told Jordan that he had roughly four years to live, and he even began undergoing chemotherapy in 2006, the author died a year later. A fervent Episcopalian, Robert Jordan was cremated and his ashes buried at a church.

The task of finishing the Wheel of Time series fell on the shoulders of Brandon Sanderson who chose to break the final novel into three volumes.

Robert Jordan Awards

Jordan won the Phoenix Award in 2013. It was more of a lifetime achievement award. The author also had the pleasure of receiving nominations for a Hugo Award, a World Fantasy Award, Locus Awards, David Gemmel Legend Awards and a Prix Ozone Prize to mention but a few.

Best Robert Jordan Books

Robert Jordan’s legacy has continued to grow over the years, with his fantasy books finding new audiences across the world, the best Robert Jordan novels including the following:

The Eye of the World: The small village of Elmond’s Field is attacked by a savage tribe of humanoid beasts that send its inhabitants fleeing from the comfort of their homes and into a world filled with untold dangers.

The first book in the Wheel of Time series introduces Robert Jordan’s protagonists to readers. Rand, Mat and Perrin are three young men on the verge of becoming adults. When their village is attacked by trollocs, they are forced to confront the possibility that every story and myth they ever heard about the Dark One might be true.

The boys quickly leave everything they know to follow a powerful wielder of the One Power and her Warder to a place that might offer safety. During their journey, Rand, Mat, and Perrin quickly realize that they are not as ordinary as they assumed.

Each young man is forced to deal with a unique burden, one that might shape the very world in which they live.

The Great Hunt: There have been stories of the Horn of Valere, a legendary artifact that was said to hold the power to summon the dead heroes of the ages. Now that horn has been stolen and the Great Hunt has begun.

The second book in the Wheel of Time series revolves around a horn that has the power to summon the greatest heroes that have ever lived. And those heroes will either fight for good or for evil, depending on the one who wields the horn.

Once again, Rand, Perrin and Mat are thrown into the fray as they join the Shienaren army and play their part in the hunt for the horn of Valere. Meanwhile, Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne begin their journey to the white tower where Egwene will learn to harness her power.

Conan the Invincible: Robert Jordan’s take on Robert E. Howard’s iconic character is what first brought him renown in the world of writing. Robert Jordan would write seven books in this series with them coming out in the early 1980s, right at the time when the Conan the Barbarian movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger so these novels were quite popular at the time. This is an excellent adventure story that takes place in the Hyborian Age.

This novel sees Conan as thief, mulling over his next theft. While doing so Amanar the Necromancer is making sacrifices to Morath-Aminee for protection against the Black Ring, a league of of sorcerers that he recently betrayed. Conan is then hired by an agent of the Black Ring to steal some pendants from the King of Zamora with the intent to use those against Amanar. Conan convinces the slave girl Velita to help him steal the pendant along with him.

When the item is stolen before Conan can steal it himself, along with Velita, it’s up to Conan to pursue it. Unbeknownst to him, it’s also being pursued by the king’s men as well as Imhep-Aton who believes that Conan himself is in possession of it.

When Does The Next Robert Jordan book come out?

Robert Jordan doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Alvah and was released on January, 7th 2020. It is the newest book in the Robert Jordan Non-Fiction Books.

Home » Author » Robert Jordan

BookSeries.org