James Oliver Rigney Jr., better known by his pen name Robert Jordan, was an American author of epic fantasy. He is known best for his series The Wheel of Time which comprises 14 books and a prequel novel. He is one of several writers to have written original Conan the Barbarian novels; his are considered by fans to be some of the best of the non-Robert E. Howard efforts. Jordan also published historical fiction using the pseudonym Reagan O'Neal, a western as Jackson O'Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung. Jordan claimed to have ghostwritten an "international thriller" that is still believed to have been written by someone else.
Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and a suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's 7th most populous city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, including UPS, Newell Brands, Inspire Brands, Focus Brands, Cox Enterprises, and Mercedes-Benz USA's corporate offices.
Dragon Con is a North American multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. As of 2017, the convention draws attendance of over 80,000. It features hundreds of guests, encompasses five hotels in the Peachtree Center neighborhood of downtown Atlanta near Centennial Olympic Park, and runs thousands of hours of programming for fans of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and other elements of fan culture. It is owned and operated by a private for-profit corporation, with the help of a 1,500-member volunteer staff. Dragon Con has hosted the 1990 Origins Game Fair and the 1995 North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC).
BayCon is the San Francisco Bay Area's longest-running fan-run speculative fiction convention. It was held over Memorial Day weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area, California but moved to July 4th, Independence Day. BayCon draws many attendees from throughout California and also as far away as Oregon, Washington, and Arizona. The most recent BayCon was held from Saturday, July 1, through Tuesday, July 4, 2023, in Santa Clara, California. The next BayCon is scheduled for July 4-7, 2025.
InConJunction is a fan-run, not-for-profit science fiction convention held during the first weekend in July in Indianapolis, Indiana. Past guests include Philip José Farmer, Frederik Pohl, Catherine Asaro, George R.R. Martin, Jerry Pournelle, Glen Cook, Mike Resnick, Timothy Zahn, and David Drake. The convention focuses on literature and literacy, but not to the exclusion of other areas of interest. Unique or unusual features include a dedicated Doctor Who room sponsored by The Whoosier Network, an anime room sponsored by The Indiana Animation Club, and a charity auction supporting Indy Reads and other charities as chosen by the convention chairperson.
Brandon Winn Sanderson is an American author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive, are set. Outside of the Cosmere, he has written several young adult and juvenile series including The Reckoners, the Skyward series, and the Alcatraz series. He is also known for finishing Robert Jordan's high fantasy series The Wheel of Time. Sanderson has created several graphic novel fantasy series, including White Sand and Dark One.
Anime North (AN) is a not-for-profit, fan-run anime convention, held every year in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its major attractions, activities and events include industry guests, fan-run panel presentations, workshops, video presentations, gaming tournaments, musical performances, dances and cosplay. The show has two shopping areas, an "Artists Alley" for artworks and crafts and a general "Vendors Hall".
Roswell High School (RHS) is a public high school in Roswell, Georgia, United States which opened in 1949. It serves the entire city of Roswell west of Georgia State Route 400 and the city of Mountain Park, as well as small portions of Alpharetta and Milton. Roswell High School neighbors both Fellowship Christian School and Blessed Trinity Catholic High School. It is also the second oldest of Fulton County's schools in the northern portion of the county, opening between Milton High School (1921), and Chattahoochee High School (1991). Roswell is currently on its third campus, which opened in 1990. The current building is the oldest in-use high school building in north Fulton.
Marcon is a full-spectrum fantasy and science fiction convention based in Columbus, Ohio, and was on Easter weekend in 2013 but moved to Mother's Day weekend starting in 2014. It is now operated by the Columbus-based Science Oriented Literature, Art, and Education Foundation, a non-profit educational corporation. The name was originally short for "March Convention," with the convention mascot the "March Hare," affectionately named "Marconi". After the date of the convention moved away from March, the name was re-designated as "Multiple Alternative Realities Convention".
The DeepSouthCon (DSC) is an annual science fiction convention, which is hosted in different cities in the Southern United States. Site selection is by vote of the membership of a given DSC, for the convention to be held 2 years in the future. DSC is often, but not always, held in conjunction with an existing annual convention so the time of year varies. Many regular attendees of DeepSouthCon are also members of the Southern Fandom Confederation, but there is no direct relationship between the two organizations.
ArmadilloCon is a science fiction convention held annually in Austin, Texas, USA, since 1979. As the second longest running science fiction convention in Texas, it is sponsored by the Fandom Association of Central Texas and is known for its emphasis on literary science fiction. ArmadilloCon was traditionally held in mid-October during the weekend of the Texas-OU football game, but moved to a late-summer/early-fall weekend in 1998.
Con-Version was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Since its beginning in 1984, the convention hosted many authors such as Robert J. Sawyer, Larry Niven, and J. Michael Straczynski; it also hosted the judging for the Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Competition. Appearances had also been made by Jeremy Bulloch and Dirk Benedict.
Soonercon is a fan-run multi-genre convention held annually in Central Oklahoma, founded in Oklahoma City proper before being held in Midwest City from 2013 until 2018 and then Norman, Oklahoma in June 2019 at the vastly larger Embassy Suites Hotel & Convention Center.
ConDFW was a literary science fiction and fantasy convention held annually in the Dallas, Texas, area from 2002-2019. Attendees mingled with author and artist guests, attended panel discussions and readings led by guests, got books signed, looked at and bought sci-fi and fantasy art from artists around the country, shopped in a dealer's room with books, art, games, clothing, weapons, and other items, donated used books to charity, played games, or just hung out and talked to guests and attendees in the consuite or the hotel bar. ConDFW is a production of the Texas Speculative Fiction Association.
MarsCon is a science fiction convention held in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. It was first held in February 1999 with the goal of appealing to a diverse audience of fans in Minnesota and the vicinity. It is a mid-sized convention with a wide variety of events including panel discussions, guest of honor presentations, music of many kinds, art show, film room, science room, dealers room, charity auction, and a masquerade. Past guests have included actors, authors, artists, scientists, musicians, producers, and even the occasional pooka. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune describes MarsCon as "for the sci-fi serious nerds".
ConClave was an annual, weekend-long science fiction convention in southeastern/central Michigan, which drew approximately 600 people. ConClave attendees shared an interest in science, science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. The ConClave convention was held each year from 1976 to 2016, with the exception of 2012. In 2017, the convention was rebranded as The Continuum.
ConQuesT is the annual science fiction and fantasy convention held in the Kansas City, Missouri area over the U. S. Memorial Day weekend. It is sponsored by the long-running Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society. ConQuesT is the oldest such fan convention of its type in Missouri and in the U. S. central states region, first established using the name Mid-America Con in June 1972. After that, the next nine KaCSFFS-sponsored conventions were named BYOB-Cons In 1980 KaCSFFS adopted the permanent name ConQuesT for the convention.
The Gathering Storm is a fantasy novel by American writers Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, the twelfth book in the series The Wheel of Time. It was incomplete when Jordan died on September 16, 2007, from cardiac amyloidosis. His widow Harriet McDougal and his publisher Tom Doherty chose Sanderson to continue the book.
Steamcon was one of the largest steampunk conventions/symposia in the United States. Located in the Seattle area of Washington state, Steamcon held its first symposium in 2009.
TFcon is a Transformers fan convention held annually since 2002. TFcon will be held for the 22nd consecutive year in 2024 with events occurring in Baltimore, Maryland in November and Toronto, Ontario, Canada in July, as well as Burbank, California in March to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Transformers.
