Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

Herewith a sort of transcription of RJ's interview on the Sci-Fi channel. As you can see, very little that's new. For more interesting stuff, see Pam Korda's recent posting, heh-heh.

---Interview with Robert Jordan on the Sci-Fi Channel, evening, 23 April 1995. I = Interviewer, RJ = The Creator. Some minor stammers omitted.

Robert Jordan is one of the most popular story-tellers today. His multi-volume books The Wheel of Time have created a phenomenon with over two million copies in print. Not only is Jordan one of the most read and talked-about authors today but he is one of the hotter topics on the internet computer network.

What do fans tell you they like so much about your writing?

Interviewer

Robert Jordan

Interviewer

Robert Jordan

The women like the women. I was told by a number of women who came to a signing several years ago that they were surprised to find out that I was a man. They thought no man could write women like that. And I like this because my editor used to say that I couldn't write women at all. I find this a very sweet revenge.

Jordan, a veteran of the Vietnam war, has definitely connected with his audience, both male and female. And he has some definite thoughts as to why fantasy literature is so popular.

Two things, really, I think. One, you can talk about good and evil, right and wrong, and nobody tells you that you're being judgmental. And the other thing is, in fantasy there's always the belief that you can overcome whatever obstacles there are, that you can make tomorrow better. And not only that you can, but that you will, if you work at it.

Do you remember when you conceived The Wheel of Time series?

The first thought that came to me was what would it be like, what would it really be like, to be tapped on the shoulder and told you were born to be the savior of mankind. And I then very quickly thought, what would happen if the savior of mankind really showed up and he was really there to save the world from impending doom, what would the real response of the world be? And after ten or twelve years of knocking around in my head, because I always give my books a long lead time, that turned into The Wheel of Time.

Jordan's books have been called a combination of Robin Hood and Stephen King. He manages to create characters that seem real, perhaps because he uses many of his own personal experiences in the telling of these epic stories. Do you ever use your experiences in Vietnam in your stories?

Yes, indirectly. I know what it's like to have somebody trying to kill you. I know what it's like to try to kill somebody. And I know what it's like to actually kill somebody. These things I think help with writing about people being in danger, [or] especially if it's in danger of violence ... which happens occasionally in my books.

I know where I'm going.

Interviewer

Robert Jordan

Interviewer