Tor Books has announced the release of the 2009 Wheel of Time calendar. The calendar contains WoT inspired images created by fans of the series.
Shortly before he died, Robert Jordan put a call out to fans to submit original pieces of artwork. From those submissions, he personally chose the winners to appear in the calendar.
Here is the official press release from Tor:
ROBERT JORDAN’S WHEEL OF TIME© 2009 CALENDAR – IS NOW AVAILABLE!
July 2008: Tor Books is proud to announce that ROBERT JORDAN’S WHEEL OF TIME© 2009 CALENDAR is now on sale.
Last spring, Robert Jordan announced a competition on his blog (www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan) where artists would have the opportunity to submit original artwork based on the Wheel of Time© for inclusion in a 2009 calendar.
He wrote, “I know there is some really professional quality work because I have seen it. Style doesn’t matter in this. Manga, hyper-realism, current cover-art. Whatever. Anything and everything is acceptable as a possibility. It will be the quality that counts, not the style. If you want to try it the way you think Rembrandt would have done it, go for it.”
The competition ran from Tuesday, May 22nd through Wednesday, August 15th, and the initial judging was conducted under the supervision of a panel of judges from several popular Wheel of Time© websites including:
www.dragonmount.com
www.wotmania.com
www.tarvalon.net
www.ageoflegends.net
www.encyclopaedia-wot.org
Robert Jordan personally conducted the final judging and selected the 12 images that appear in the 2009 WHEEL OF TIME© calendar just a few days before he passed away on September 16th, 2007, from the rare blood disease, amyloidosis. The pieces chosen symbolize the devotion that readers have to Robert Jordan and to the rich world he created.
They are (in alphabetical order):
| ARTIST |
ARTWORK TITLE |
| Susan Frech-Sims |
“Aviendha in the Aiel Waste, Book 4″ |
| James Keegan |
“Mordeth Revealed” |
| Jared Magneson |
“Couladin Surprises Mat” |
| Doug McCluer |
“Into the Ways” |
| Paul Pederson |
“Night Stalkers” |
| Andrea Perurena |
“Rand in The Fires of Heaven” |
| Matty Ryan |
“Child of the Light, Galad Damodred” |
| Kevin Ed Tinney |
“The Caemlyn Waygate” |
| Joseph B. Trimarchi |
“Battle at Whitebridge” |
| Joni Warden |
“Sedai, Among Us” |
| Tess Wrathall |
“A Lily in Winter” |
The July 2008 publication of ROBERT JORDAN’S THE WHEEL OF TIME® 2009 CALENDAR offers another new way to experience favorite stories and characters, and will be a must-have for Robert Jordan’s millions of fans.
More Info
Purchase the Calendar
Tor Books Website
Robert Jordan’s Blog
The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords
The Path of Daggers
Winter's Heart
Crossroads of Twilight
Knife of Dreams
The Gathering Storm
Towers of Midnight
New Spring
Other Books
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July 29th, 2009 at 5:58 am
It’s your month now Matty and it’s excellent. To me it’s a recruitment poster for the Children of the Light. I can picture it proudly displayed in Amadicia, bringing in new recruits. I’m more of a Matt Cauthon than a Galad, so I never thought of joining the Children before I saw this.
Susan, I just peeked ahead to your month… I don’t know what to say… From the layers of color in the sedimentary rock formations and flowers in the background to the proud stance and ivory bracelet that Avienda’s wearing… wow… just… wow…
–Frank
August 25th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
“Funny thing, the one image that I like (almost) least of all was done by the most commercially successful of the selected artists. Eye of the beholder, indeed…”
Just say it outright, Scott.
August 20th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Scott ditto! Yesterday was a rough day for me too. I can be waaayy to sensitive about my stuff. Thank you for the compliment too! I too get sentimental about the Wheel of Time series. I listen to the audios while a paint and when I make long trips to the city (every other week- 6 hours total). My younger sister gave me the first book years ago for Christmas and as I read them, I dreamed about it each night! I can picture each character so clearly, so I know what you mean about having preconceived ideas on how they should each look. It seems ironic that what one person invisions so clearly might be so different from someone else’s idea. Hope today has gone much better. Keep smiling and take care!
August 20th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Susan, mea culpa – mea culpa… You make a spectacular point and are 100% correct. I allowed a lousy day to spill out into my original post and I grossly overstated my opinion. I can be hypercritical sometimes when it’s not warranted. As I did originally state, I am glad that I bought the calendar for the donation it presents, if nothing else. I’ve been such a huge fan of the series that sometimes it seems like I’ve bled Wheel of Time since I first picked it up. And I’m a little scared to say that moment was in 1989 when I was a junior in high school and was lucky enough to be passed an ARC copy of Eye of the World. I would never purposely do anything to harm any part of this universe.
You are correct in stating that there are several nice pieces in the collection. Personally, I think three stand out from the rest, though only in my opinion of artistic quality. And as I am now admitting that I only this moment actually opened the calendar, instead of just looking at the images on the back, it turns out that one of the three that I like would seem to be yours…
Andrea Perurena’s ‘Rand’ is quite good, almost eerie… (if not exactly as I picture him)
Susan Frech-Sims ‘Aviendha in the Aiel Waste’ is not only very good, but exactly the way I picture her…
Paul E. Pederson’s ‘Night Stalkers’ is also really good. (Though the trollocs are wrong…they should be bestial men, not beasts who happen to walk like men. But if close enough for RJ, close enough for me.)
Honorable mention to Magneson’s ‘Heart of the Stone’ but it’s a scene that’s been done hundreds of times so he loses points on originality. Funny thing, the one image that I like (almost) least of all was done by the most commercially successful of the selected artists. Eye of the beholder, indeed…
Good luck with your artwork, Susan! And thanks for taking the time to apologize and explain. Hopefully, my original comments will be looked on as nothing more than personal opinion and won’t dissuade anyone from buying their own copy. Take care!