Tor Books will publish an unpublished book by Robert Jordan, Warrior of the Altaii, which will also be edited by the wife and editor of the late writer,
Harriet McDougal.
It is the news of these days: the American publishing house Tor Books, has announced who will publish an unpublished novel written by Robert Jordan.
Let's quickly see what we know!
A Robert Jordan at the beginning
Warrior of the Altaii will be the title of the novel, which turns out to be an old work by Jordan, a cult fantasy author who is nowadays known above all for his cycle of Wheel of Time, which is being completed by Brandon Sanderson (whose editorial situation in Italy you can read about here).
In fact, as the founder of the Tor tells us, Tom doherty, the manuscript of Warrior of the Altaii has been around since 1979, when Jordan sent it to Doherty while the latter was still working for Ace Books. Doherty says he enjoyed the novel very much, especially considering that it was the author's first work.
And yet he did not publish it, since Ace had meanwhile made arrangements to publish another Robert Jordan book: The Fallon Blood, the first volume of the Fallon cycle, which Jordan wrote under the pseudonym Reagan O'Neal at the time. The Fallon Blood, which spoke of the American Revolution in the Southern States, was a success, also because its publication (1980) coincided with the bicentenary of the event.
When Doherty then left Ace Books to found Tor, the wife of Jordan, the editor Harriet mcdougal, followed him to continue working together. And, of course, along with Harriet also came Jim Rigney, the man we all know as Robert Jordan (which is not his real name, but is the pseudonym that Rigney has used since he began writing his cycle of novels. on Conan the Barbarian).
At the time, therefore, Jordan had other publications at stake, and so Warrior of the Altaii he stood on the sidelines as two o'clock came out first The Conan Chronicles (1982-84) and then The wheel of time (1990-2013).
But now, Doherty and Harriet appear to have other plans.
When Robert Jordan planted the seeds of The wheel of time
Harriet McDougal, who has been all her life her husband's editor and has taken care of the books since his death in 2007, he says he has taken over Warrior of the Altaii just this winter, rereading Jordan's book that had been sold twice, but never publishedo.
The interesting thing is that despite Warrior of the Altaii is evidently the work of a writer who is still a bit immature, it contains many references to Wheel of Time and many ideas that would then be picked up and developed later. For example, Harriet tells us, the idea of the name of the main mountain range of the most famous Jordan saga, the Spine of the World, in this Romand was already sketched as the Backbone of the World.
But even the main topics of the Wheel of Time seem present, just as its evocative prose should already be recognizable.
To quote Harriet McDougal,
I think you'll have fun finding them as you read this brand new Robert Jordan - a fine wine that has reached its perfect maturity.
That's all for the moment, but it seems that towards theautunno we will have more news about Warrior of the Altaii. Honestly, it looks more like the work than a collector by Robert Jordan, given its nature as an early novel.
However, it might be interesting to see this great author struggling with his first fantasy book. And an inspiration for all aspiring writers: even people like Jordan have been seen not to publish his books. Still, a defeat didn't stop him from becoming one of the most famous fantasy writers of our time: never giving up on the first (or second, or third) refusal.
