The Robert Jordan Report: 1st Signing
Daniel Rouk
to ask today, I realized I forgot a few things...
* Jordan confirmed that this book is really much as people have said, the
first part of a two part story. [So what is a two book series in a nine
book series called? Of course since he also said he hasn't finished the
next book, or even really knows how far along he is, this may or may not
be true.]
* Jordan detailed Tam's history... but basically said the same things that
were said about him to Rand.
* Jordan was a nuclear engineer for the Army, doing work on submarines.
[Army working on Naval craft?] From there he entered government service
of some sort, and when he hurt his knee started writting. (See previous
post on details)
* There were some really interesting collectors items to be signed. One
ex-Tor representative (Who says he remembers you Patrick) had Advanced
Reading Copies from the Eye of the World. tEotW and tGH's advance copies
were both nicely bound with cover art on them. From the Dragon Reborn
on they are bound in yellow or red construction paper. The first 3
advance copies seem to be single spaced single volumes. I don't know
about the others, but Lord of Chaos' advance bound copy was double spaced
and in two volumes. Another fellow had a large fold out map that was
included in one of the Advance Copies. It was black and white, and
Jordan said it is an early copy from which the modern maps were made. I
noticed attractive drawings of several places along the border. One I
think was Tar Valon.
* The recent freebie first half of The Eye of the World was the impetus
that got his elder brother to read the books. Apparently his older
brother doesn't read much fantasy, and hadn't read any of Jordans books
until he saw the freebie in the store and picked it up.
* Jordan reads voraciously, a book a night. He says if he sat down for an
evenings reading he could probably put away 2 books the size of LoC
easily. When tested in grade school he was sent to the principle because
the teachers were sure he had cheated. No one could read as fast as he
did with as much comprehension as he had at that age. Jordan recalls
that being called to the principle didn't upset him as much as not being
apologized to afterward. Apparently the library where he grew up
restricted children under 12 to the kids department. This rankled the
young Jordan, who read all he wanted to from that department in two days.
He thus swiped books from tables and sat in a corner to read them. His
main supply of literature as a kid was through his older brother. (10
years older)
* Jordan uses a 486 running at 66 MHz with lots of bells and whistles to
write.
* Jordan doesn't like his first book, but is scared to throw it away
because he thinks his luck might be tied to it. He detailed how he sent
it to a publisher and it was accepted. When he asked for a few minor
changes be made to his contract, they sent a letter dropping him. Since
he now knew he could right, he set about doing so...
* There was one ominous hint that Robert Jordan is going to pull a
Tom Sawyer and watch his own funeral. Since we know that Jordan is
only a pen name, this is entirely possible.
* Robert Jordan won't ever write about these characters again once the
series is complete. He may write a series based on the NEXT age though.
Well, thats all I can remember for now... Maybe this will get my name
in the FAQ. :-)
Daniel L. Rouk
d...@uncecs.edu