Robert Jordan, fantasy author of “The Wheel of Time” fantasy series, died on Sept.16, leaving his 12-book saga incomplete. His death stemmed from complications from cardiac amyloidosis, a condition that slowly hardens the heart. He was 58, and is survived by his wife, Harriet and their son.

Imagine if you can, what it would be like if Tolkien had died before finishing “Return of the King.” Or worse yet, if J.K. Rowling had kicked the bucket in the middle of writing “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” For fans of Robert Jordan’s work, such as myself, this dreadful day has visited itself upon us.

Dammit.

Why couldn’t this have happened to George Lucas before he butchered the Star Wars universe with his God-awful prequels? Clearly, there is no justice in the world. “The Wheel of Time” has been a series that has captivated my imagination since my first year in high school. When I figured out that writing fiction and fantasy were my passions, Jordan’s books stood as paradigms for what I should strive for. I held the series in highest regard, and found myself referring to Jordan’s structure and style often when thinking up my own worlds and characters.

Jordan’s story started out with three main characters, but by the end of the eleventh book, he begun dealing with them one at a time. His world had become so vast, and his array of major and minor characters so overwhelming, that the only way he could keep the story moving was if he only dealt with a fraction of his cast. I’m sure some found that annoying and slow paced, but I was amazed that Jordan was capable of creating so vast a world with so many different cultures, ideas, magics, and people. Jordan himself had said that his last book, “Memory of Light,” could easily span 1500 pages with all of the loose ends he had to tie up. Even though he spent the last two books setting up for the final battle, the list of what needed to be addressed probably went on for pages.

Perhaps there is some hope, though. According to Jordan’s blog, his cousin Wilson said that he and Harriet have already heard the entire story and that it is all written down in notes or recorded in audio. They haven’t explicitly stated whether they will finish a “Memory of Light” posthumously or not, but Wilson had written earlier that the book had been finished in his head for years and that it will “knock our socks off.”

If my socks are the only price I have to pay to see the end of this amazing series, then I need to find a box and a lot of stamps.