JordanCon 2010 was a great success. We had an attendance of approximately 300 people, and we raised slightly over $3,000 on behalf of the Mayo Clinc. We successfully launched two new programming tracks and doubled the size of our Dealers Hall. Our success is entirely due to the amazing staff, volunteers and guests who put in countless hours to help make JordanCon possible each year.

We’re a little busy now nailing down the details for 2011′s “Consaken”, but here are links to reviews and photos of the SeanCon Invasion.

Jeff Daniel’s Blademaster Report

Anthony Azziz’s JordanCon Report

Tor.com’s Recap by Richard Fife

Richard’s Interview with Harriet McDougal

Richard’s Interview with Maria Simons

Richard’s Interview with Wilson Grooms

Tiffany Franklin’s photos

Amy Romanczuk’s Gallery

Official Opening Ceremonies Gallery

Official JordanCon Programming Gallery

JordanCon Official Saturday Night Gallery (includes costume contest photos)

JordanCon Miscellaneous Gallery

You can find more photos and connect with friends you made at JordanCon through our official Facebook group.

Age of Legends, LLC is pleased to announce the schedule for this year’s JordanCon, the world’s only Wheel of Time focused convention is now online. JordanCon will take place April 23-25 in Atlanta, GA.

Guests this year include Guest of Honor Brandon Sanderson, co-author of The Gathering Storm, the most recent Wheel of Time novel; David Wong, author of John Dies at the End and editor of Cracked.com; and Jana G. Oliver, author of the award winning Time Rovers series. Our Toastmaster for the weekend will be Matt Hatch, Benevolent Dictator of the Hard Core Fan Freaks of Theoryland.com.

Panelists and other presenters will include Jason Denzel, webmaster of Dragonmount.com; Jennifer Liang, Dragonmount staff, Director of Wheel of Time programing for Dragon*Con and Chair of JordanCon; Linda Taglieri, contributor to The 13th Depository blog; Harriet McDougal, editor of the Wheel of Time series; Jendayi Bellydance of Atlanta; Maria Simons and Alan Romanczuk, continuity editors for The Wheel of Time; the Society for Creative Anachronism; the Atlanta Jugglers Association, and many more.

Programming highlights this year will include our annual “Seanchan Hold’em” charity poker game and silent auction benefiting the Mayo Clinic. Additionally, JordanCon will feature gaming, a full Writer’s Track, a Seanchan Homecoming Ball, costuming, and numerous panels and discussions.

Pre-registration is currently $60, and will be $65 at the door. Pre-registration closes April 3. Our host hotel for 2010 is the gorgeous Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta, Georgia. Rooms are still available at the discounted rate of $105 a night. Overflow space has been made available at the Hilton Garden Inn for the same price. JordanCon t shirts are available for pre-order through our website.

More information, including our progress report, can be found on our website: www.ageoflegends.net

Jennifer Liang, Director of Wheel of Time programing for Dragon*Con, Special Projects Manager for Dragonmount.com and the Chair of JordanCon, the only Wheel of Time fan convention, has written a short review of the upcoming Wheel of Time novel, THE GATHERING STORM.

Like Jason Denzel, I was given the opportunity to read The Gathering Storm prior to its release in October. With less than two weeks to go before the official release, I’ve decided to share a few of my impressions.

My first thought when I picked up my copy was “What do I tell Brandon if this sucks?” Luckily, I never needed to come up with an answer to that question. The Gathering Storm is a very, very good book. I hesitate to compare it to the others in the series, because I’m terrible at being objective regarding WoT books. I mean, I like these books enough to dress up like the characters on weekends. I am hardly objective about anything regarding this series. But, I do think this will be considered a strong entry to the series.

Things happen in this book. I know there is a concern among fans that this will feel like part of a book because of the decision to split the material Jordan intended to include in A Memory of Light. But so much happened in this book that I felt completely satisfied as a reader. Key events that have been foreshadowed since the first book of the series finally come to fruition. Some things happen almost exactly the way you might predict they do. Others happen in a completely surprising way. There was more than one reveal that made my jaw drop. Like Jason, I was surprised by how dark Rand’s arc became at points. And several things are set up for the next book. I think anyone who thinks they know exactly how the events of the next few books will play out will be surprised. Pleasantly so, I hope.

The difference in writing styles between Jordan and Sanderson was not jarring to me. Some passages feel more like Brandon, others feel more like Jordan. But, I found myself so caught up in the story and the characters that I didn’t care who wrote what. Brandon has achieved his goal of adapting his style to suit the story. The descriptions are lush and evocative. The attention to detail matches what we’ve come to expect when reading a Wheel of Time novel, without being a parody of Jordan’s style or mannerisms. I also found that this book triggered many emotions. I laughed out loud at several passages, and another had me yelling out loud in shock (much to the consternation of my husband, who was disrupted by my outburst). There was at least one point where I yelled “Stop being such a tool, [NameofCharacter]!” at the book.

While I think everyone will agree, we’d much rather have this story finished by the one who began it, Brandon has written an excellent and engaging novel that is a worthy addition to the series. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Age of Legends, LLC is pleased to announce that JordanCon 2010 registration is now open. Pre registration is currently $50, with group discounts available. JordanCon membership covers all three days, all panels, events, demonstrations, concerts, performances, contests and a host of other activities. Workshops requiring a materials fee will be noted in the program. JordanCon will take place April 23-25, 2010.

JordanCon will be hosted by the Crowne Plaza Ravinia in 2010. The Crowne Plaza is located in the heart of Atlanta’s Perimeter neighborhood at the juncture of I-285 and GA 400. This location is ideal for out of town travelers, boasting access to MARTA, Perimeter Mall and numerous shopping, dining and other entertainment options. Be sure to mention JordanCon when reserving your room, so you will receive the discounted rate of $109 a night.

JordanCon programing will include three tracks of simultaneous programing over all three days. The Forum is dedicated to Wheel of Time theories, trivia and discussion, as well as the varied worlds of author Brandon Sanderson. The Workshop is dedicated to costuming, gaming, jewelry making, martial arts, dance and period crafts. The Writer’s track, which is new in 2010, is for writers, editors and publishers of genre literature. Our Dealers Hall will feature a variety of vendors, including Badali Jewelry, maker of Wheel Of Time and other licensed fantasy jewelry.

JordanCon programming will also include our second annual Seanchan Hold’em Charity Poker Tournament, benefiting the Mayo Clinic, the Seanchan Homecoming Dance, author appearances, and much, much more.

Guests this year include online humorist, David Wong, who’s critically acclaimed first novel John Dies at the End is a forthcoming release from St. Martins Press. We will also be joined by Atlanta based author, Jana G. Oliver, who’s Virtual Evil received a Pluto Award in 2008. Our Guest of Honor will be New York Times bestseller Brandon Sanderson. In 2007 Sanderson was selected to complete The Wheel of Time series.

JordanCon 2009 (Rand alCon) was a smashing success, with appearances by Harriet McDougal, Tom Doherty, Brandon Sanderson and Wilson Grooms. Over 250 people attended and $3,150 was raised on behalf of the Mayo Clinic.
For more information, please visit our website http://www.ageoflegends.net/. Or email us at jordancon@ageoflegends.net

Hi All,

I think we’ve finally got our website cleaned up after the hacker attack last month. Please let us know if you encounter any suspicious scripts on this site though. We’d hate to have google block us again.

JordanCon 2009 (“Rand alCon”) was a success by any measure we use. Over 250 fans were in attendance. Our charity events raised $3150 for the Mayo Clinic’s Amyldosis research fund.

Anyways, we’ve taken the liberty of collecting links to photos, reviews and videos of this year’s convention. Hopefully this will be enough to tide you over until April 23, 2010.

Muerandah’s Opening Ceremony Gallery

Roswenthe’s Gallery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24742913@N02/

Gai’shan Wrangler Tiffany’s Gallery

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a106/Loraine05/JordanCon2009/

Amy Romanczuk’s Gallery (Alan’s Wife)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bookczuk/sets/72157617107997432/

Jason Denzel’s Gallery
http://picasaweb.google.com/jwdenzel/JordanCon2009#

Leigh Butler’s JordanCon Report of DOOM

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=23875

Richard Fife’s Recap of JordanCon (AKA: Adventures at Rand Al’Con)
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=24065

Review by Gaijinside.com

http://www.gaijinside.com/con-review-jordancon-2009-keeps-the-wheels-turning/

Kiley’s Recap on WAKEUPNAPTOWN

http://wakeupnaptown.com/2009/04/the-final-jordanconfession-why-we-pine-for-april-2010/

Recap of The Gathering Storm Prologue, posted by Ben T-Gaidin.
http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,42449.msg1116907.html#msg1116907

Video of The Lost Boys Performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnkOP7u_HCU

Complete Listing of Video Recorded by Portalstones.com
http://www.portalstones.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=554&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

I know there’s a ton more photos on Facebook, but I don’t know how to link to those here. If you know of any other galleries, links, or other media, please let me know. JordanCon@ageoflegends.net

I will see you all April 23, 2010 for the SeanCon Invasion.

-Jennifer Liang
JordanCon Chair

I always love when I find, or get directed to media coverage of JordanCon. It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

First up is a column on WAKEUP NAPTOWN, a lifestyle/entertainment type blog that seems focused on Indianapolis. One of their columnists is writing about her preparations for this year’s JordanCon. The first article in the series is here.

Second, we got a brief nod from the awesomely named “Sword and Laser” podcast. S&L is a fantasy/sci fi book club. They do the aforementioned podcast, as well as host forums and other nifty discussion tools. It looks like a cool site.

And finally, my husband/ partner in crime is now co host of the “Dragon in Georgia” podcast. This podcast focuses mainly on DragonCon, but given that Steve is also staff for the WoT track at DragonCon, JordanCon comes up in their conversation. So check it out.

As we get closer and closer to JordanCon, I find it harder and harder to muster up the time to sit and write of those professional sounding releases I usually do. It probably doesn’t matter.

Anyways, I sent out the JordanCon progress report this weekend via email. Yes, I’m aware that a progress report really out to be released six months before a convention and not three weeks before. Work with me. I’m new at this. It’s pretty much a summary of what you can expect to see and do at JordanCon. You can download the PDF here.

The link to the schedule in that is incorrect. You should be able to access it by going here. There’s still a few things that need to be fleshed out, but you should be able to get an idea of what’s going to happen when.

I’ll see everyone real soon!

–Jennifer Liang
JordanCon Chair

Please note that preregistration for JordanCon 2009 will close this weekend. Membership for all three days is priced at $60 per person. This includes admission to all panels, discussions, workshops and performances. Guests this year will include Harriet McDougal, Wilson Grooms, Brandon Sanderson, Tom Doherty, the Dabel Brothers, Jendayi Bellydance, Big City Burlesque and The Lost Boys.

Please note that while there will be on site registration for JordanCon, we are unable to accept credit card payments at the convention.

JordanCon was featured in two media outlets this weekend. The first is a profile on “Convention Fans Today“, a blog that follows genre conventions around the country and the people who attend them. There’s nothing new in there if you’ve been following the updates here, but it’s nice to see us mention somewhere that isn’t Wheel of Time specific. The author of that blog will have a post up for reviews of the convention after we’re done, so if you have something to say afterwards, that’s another place you can do it.

The second is an interview with myself and my partner in crime, Jimmy on the 4th Age Podcast hosted by Dragonmount.com. This is also pretty packed with information, and I imagine there’s stuff in there you don’t know already. I can think of at least one thing I mention here that I haven’t posted anywhere.

Please pass the word along about JordanCon. Pre registration closes in a week.

Jennifer Liang
JordanCon Chair

Even though there is still plenty of space in our expanded room block at the Embassy Suites, I’ve gone ahead and contracted with an overflow hotel. Hopefully this will make it possible for everyone to attend JordanCon that wants to.

Our overflow hotel for 2009 is the fabulous Hyatt Place at Northpoint. This hotel is less than a mile from the Embassy Suites and will be running a complimentary shuttle for convention members all weekend. Rooms start at $79 a night. We’ll have a link for booking online up later this week, but if you just can’t wait, you can call 888-492-8847 and ask for the JordanCon rate.

See you in April!

Jennifer Liang
JordanCon Chair