A Q&A with Robert Jordan

by M. David Schafer

Robert Jordan told several hundred fans his plans for future books and movies during a wide-ranging Q&A session Saturday afternoon. Jordan’s sprawling epic has swelled, but he promised to end the series at twelve books.

“I’m committed,” he answered a fan. “It’s going to be twelve books, even if the twelfth book is 15,000 pages long. So, if you have to bring a luggage card, get ready”

The eleventh book, Knife of the World, is due to be released in October, and Jordan called the release date “Solid as a rock.” He also said it should be about the same length as Winter Heart.

“[The series has] never been open-ended,” Jordan said. “I could have written the last scene of the last book in 1984, sealed it in an envelope, and took it out when I finished the last book, and the wording might have changed, but nothing else would have.”

The crowd cheered when Jordan announced that a production company named Red Eagle has optioned Eye of the World for a feature length movie, and he is waiting to see an outline from the screenwriter.

“I think the plan is to do three films and do the rest of the books as a series on the Sci-Fi Channel or HBO,” he said.

Jordan and his wife, Harriett McDougal, will appear Sun 1PM in Centennial II.