James Oliver Rigney, Jr. (1948¿2007)—better known by his pen name Robert Jordan—was an epic fantasy author. He is best known for the Wheel of Time series (The Eye of the World, Lord of Chaos), which comprises of 14 books and a prequel novel. He was a graduate of The Citadel with a degree in physics and served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army. He also wrote seven Conan the Barbarian novels, as well as historical fiction under his pseudonym Reagan O’Neal, and a western as Jackson O’Reilly.