The start of a new year is a good time to glance back at the past year and try to make some sense of everything that happened. I will do this in a small way by summing up some of the major ripples in the pond called fantasy during 2010. This means that I have made an overview of the best fantasy novels, series, movies, TV series and games of the past year.
Perhaps this short overview will point out a movie you have not seen or remind you of a novel you should have read during last year. If not, it will at least help you form an opinion of the level of the fantasy media in 2010.
Fantasy books and series
First, a quick look at the most popular fantasy books of the pas year. Several novels stand out but in particular Towers of Midnight, the 13th novel in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series. It has been written by Brandon Sanderson and the general opinion is that he has done this quite well. This is also reflected by the number one position of the book in the New York Times Best Seller list and the fact that it remained high in this list and was sold in high numbers for many weeks.
Another novel that is absolutely worth mentioning is Under Heaven, written by Guy Gavriel Kay. Kay is probably best know for Tigana but has shown that he can become a stable and important author in the genre.
Last book I want to mention is the recently released Stonewielder. Written by Ian Cameron Esslemont and set in the Malazan world he has created with Steven Erikson, it is a great read that I will review in the near future.
Fantasy movies, TV series and games
The major fantasy event on the screen in 2010 must have been the latest Harry Potter movie The Deathly Hallows: Part I. This penultimate movie in the Potter Series was of course very popular and successful and, I have to admit, quite good. I will review the movie sometime in the coming weeks.
Of course there were more new fantasy movies in 2010, like Twilight: Eclipse and Clash of the Titans. Both are entertaining films but not ones you will remember as a classic.
Looking at fantasy television series, there was the news of the cancellation of Legend of the Seeker which is a shame but not that big a loss as this TV series had dwindling viewer ratings and simply wasn’t that good. Hopefully, HBO can fill the gap and show how a fantasy TV series should be made when Game of Thrones airs on April 17, 2011!
On the game front there has not been much fantasy activity worth mentioning. The World of Warcraft expansion pack Cataclysm was very successful but that was hardly surprising.
Looking back, I would say it was a pretty decent year for the fantasy genre but not a great one. In one of the next posts I will look ahead and will explain what the year 2011 has to offer and boy, that will be something!
Robert Jordan was the pseudonym of James Oliver Rigney Jr., the author of the world famous Wheel of Time series. Sadly, he passed away 2007 and was unable to finish this series before his death.
Life and Death
Robert Jordan was born in South Carolina in 1948. He did two tours in the Vietnam was and, after getting his degree in physics, became a nuclear engineer. It took till 1977 before he started writing. Jordan married Harriet McDougal, who would also become his editor. Jordan was a Christian and a Freemason, which showed in the themes he used in his books.
Having announced being ill in 2006, Robert Jordan died of Cardiac amyloidosis (“stiff heart syndrome”) on September 16, 2007.
The Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan has written several other books (the Fallon series and Conan stories) but by writing the Wheel of Time series, he has created a landmark in the fantasy genre. The Wheel of Time is a great and influential series with the cliché story of a simple boy who turns out to be the great hero. The series is well written with original ideas and approaches, both when it comes to story telling and in relation to the use of magic.
I hope that Brandon Sanderson will honor him by writing a fitting end to the series through The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and A Memory of Light.
Official blog of Robert Jordan.
Robert Jordan created a fantasy series spanning a total of 14 books (of which two still have to be completed by Brandon Sanderson). Written over a time of more than two decades, The Wheel of Time series is one of the legends of the fantasy genre.
The series is about the young sheepherder Rand al’Thor who turns out to be the only hope the world has in defeating the Dark One. In a world where women are allowed to channel (use magic), the Wheel of Time spins round and round: every Age going through the same struggle between good and evil. Always there is a so-called Dragon who stands against the Dark One but turns out to be unable to utterly defeat him. This Age, Rand al’Thor is the Dragon Reborn and with the help of many, many friends, he just might pull it of.
The Wheel of Time is a great and influential series with the cliché story of a simple boy who turns out to be the great hero. However, these series is well written with original ideas and approaches, both when it comes to story telling and in relation to the use of magic.
A lot of attention is given to the personal issues of the main characters and development of them throughout the books but the series is often considered to be a bit too extensive and having too many characters. It feels like the story could have been told in three books or perhaps a some more and that now it just drags on.
Author Robert Jordan passed away in 2007 before finishing the 12th book of the series. He has handed over the torch to Brandon Sanderson who completed the Gathering Storm in 2009. Hopefully he can write a satisfying end to the series.
The Books
1. The Eye of the World
2. The Great Hunt
3. The Dragon Reborn
4. The Shadow Rising
5. The Fires of Heaven
6. Lord of Chaos
7. A Crown of Swords
8. The Path of Daggers
9. Winter’s Heart
10. Crossroads of Twilight
11. Knife of Dreams
12. The Gathering Storm
13. Towers of Midnight
14. A Memory of Light (forthcoming)
