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Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan
Author • Editor17 October 1948 – 16 September 2007 · From United States- Books
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About
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, James Oliver Rigney Jr. (1948-2007) wrote under the pen name Robert Jordan and became best known for the epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time.
He served two tours as a U.S. Army helicopter gunner in Vietnam, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star, then took a degree in physics from The Citadel and worked as a nuclear engineer for the Navy. A fall and a long convalescence in the late 1970s turned him toward writing full time.
Before fantasy made his name he published historical and western fiction under pen names including Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly, and wrote seven well-regarded Conan the Barbarian novels in the early 1980s.
The Wheel of Time began with The Eye of the World in 1990 and grew into a fourteen-volume saga known for its dense world-building, its enormous cast, and a magic system divided between male and female halves of a single Power. Jordan drew openly on world mythology, threading Arthurian legend and a cyclical, reincarnation-based view of time through the story.
He worked closely with his wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, across his whole career. Diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis in 2006, he documented his illness publicly and left extensive notes so the series could be completed; after his death, Brandon Sanderson finished the final three books from those notes.
The Wheel of Time has sold tens of millions of copies and was adapted as an Amazon Prime Video series in 2021.
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Fantasy Fiction Epic Fantasy Adventure High Fantasy
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Frequently asked questions
No. Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney Jr. He also wrote under other names earlier in his career, including Reagan O'Neal for historical fiction and Jackson O'Reilly for a western.
Yes. He served two tours in Vietnam as a U.S. Army helicopter gunner between 1968 and 1970, and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star. His military background informed the detailed battle writing in his fiction.
He earned a physics degree from The Citadel and worked as a nuclear engineer for the U.S. Navy. He began writing during a long recovery from an injury, publishing historical fiction and Conan novels before The Wheel of Time.
Yes. In the early 1980s he wrote seven Conan the Barbarian novels, including the novelization of the film Conan the Destroyer. The work helped establish him before he launched his own epic series.
He was diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, a rare blood disease, and died in 2007 before completing The Wheel of Time. He left extensive notes for the ending, and fellow author Brandon Sanderson was brought in to finish the series from them.
Jordan's widow and editor, Harriet McDougal, selected Sanderson in late 2007 to finish the series using Jordan's notes and dictated material. The remaining story grew into the final three volumes, published between 2009 and 2013.
Harriet McDougal was both his editor and his wife, whom he married in 1981. She edited his work throughout his career and oversaw the completion of The Wheel of Time after his death.
The series has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide, with figures reported at over ninety million and, by some counts, more than a hundred million. It was adapted into an Amazon Prime Video series that premiered in 2021, with Rosamund Pike as Moiraine.