I’ve noticed a somewhat disturbing trend in the fantasy
genre recently and I am attributing it to what I’m referring to as the Jordan Effect. When many people hear this term, they
automatically think of the great Michael Jordan. Alas, the Jordan Effect that I am referring
to does not concern Mike, but rather legendary fantasy author Robert
Jordan. Before I go into what the Jordan
Effect is and why it has made it much more difficult to be a reader of the
fantasy genre, let me explain that when I first started reading fantasy, it was
all about trilogies. This was due in
large part to the influence of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and also because
publishers felt like they could make a little more coin by dragging a story
across a three-book arc. Trilogies were
fine and yes, it was frustrating as a reader having to wait three or four years
to get some closure to a series but whatever, I learned to live with it. When Robert Jordan came along, the fantasy
genre got a much-needed shot in the arm and it became almost cool to read
fantasy books. No longer did fantasy
readers have to hide the embarrassing covers of their books and cower in the
shadows. People who never read a fantasy
book in their lives were reading Robert Jordan.
But that is not the Jordan Effect.
The Jordan Effect is the trend of authors no longer sticking to the
traditional trilogy story arc, but publishing huge 5-10 book series - sometimes
even 10-plus books. Look at authors like
Steven Erikson, George RR Martin, Brandon Sanderson, Daniel Abraham (who I
actually really enjoy reading) and you will see the Jordan Effect’s influence
taking root. My concern is that more and
more authors will begin to follow the lead of Mr. Jordan, and who will suffer
in the end? The readers like me who don’t
want to have to wait 15 years to see how a series eventually ends will suffer. Don’t get me wrong, there are still authors
out there who are writing nice tidy series that actually get resolved in less
than a decade like: Mark Lawrence, John Marco, and Tad Williams just to name a
few off the top of my head. Hell, Joe
Abercrombie even has the incredible audacity and gall to write excellent (and
this is blasphemy in the fantasy genre) – STAND-ALONE fantasy novels! Yes they are set in the same world as his
famous First Law trilogy, but they have a beginning and an end and this is all
wrapped up in one, yes ONE book! Now the
Jordan Effect hasn’t become a full-blown epidemic yet and I hope that it never
gets to that point. However, it is still
a little disconcerting to the faithful fantasy reader like me. Hopefully we can one day find a cure for the
Jordan Effect but until then, I will stick to my small group of “go to” authors
and hope that they never fall prey to the dark side.
