Authors

I've been reading the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordon for years and years.  I read the first book in the series "Eye of the World" sometime in the late 90's  and was immediately hooked.  I've always like science fantasym  dating way back to the days when I read  Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz series, in fact I prefer series to stand alone books, it lets you really get to know the characters.  Which brings me back to the Wheel of Time series.  As I said, I was hooked from the first book and would often have to wait more than 2 years for the next book to come out.  Sometimes the wait was worth it and sometimes not, it was, and is, not a perfect series, but one that I enjoyed immensely.  Then in about 2004 I discovered that the author Robert Jordan was very ill, and though he fought to the end, in 2007 he died of amlyoidosis a fatal blood disease.  It was so sad, through reading his books and his blog I felt like I had come to know him.  So even beyond the lose of a favorite author I felt like I'd lost someone I knew.

Because he knew he probably wouldn't survive his illness and would be unable to complete his series, he left copious notes and directions for his wife Harriet, who was also his editor, and she chose another author, Brandon Sanderson, to complete the series.

It was supposed to be one more book but became so wordy it has been broken into 3 books.

I'm reading the first of the 3 and enjoying it very much.  But there is a strangeness to it.  Though the characters are the same, the plot a continuation of the the series, it is different.  I think Sanderson is doing a wonderful job, but oh I wish Robert Jordan were still here to tell his story.

So to all the authors out there whose series I'm reading, George R.R. Martin, Diana Gabaldon,  S.M. Stirling, please take care of yourselves, I enjoy your books so much and don't want anyone to finish them.