According to Wikipedia (and his own site, which won't open due to traffic), fantasy author Robert Jordan died today, his twelve volume fantasy series unfinished.  I never tried the Wheel of Time, partly because of my aversion to "The One" as a story and partly because I first heard of the series back in the mid-90s (when seven or so books had been written) and just had this sinking feeling that he wouldn't live to finish it.  No, I'm not claiming psychic powers, and my pessimistic prediction was probably influenced by the fact that one of my favorite authors had just died, but the longer you make your series, the more likely life (or rather death) is going to interfere.

This hasn't been a good month for fantasy writers.  *sigh*  Just ten days ago, Madeleine L'Engle died, now Robert Jordan.  If I were a well-known fantasy author, I'd be tempted to get  a health check-up and avoid doing anything risky for the rest of the month.  Well, okay, if I were a superstitious well-known fantasy author.  After all, Robert Jordan was suffering from a fatal illness, and Madeleine L'Engle was far from young (though my grandparents are older).

Damn.  I'm not sure what to say since I'm not a fan of either author, but as an avid reader, I still hate to hear about authors dying, especially when their deaths seem at all before their time.  They will be missed.