The Wheel of Time Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Eye of the World | 1990 | Buy |
| The Great Hunt | 1990 | Buy |
| The Dragon Reborn | 1991 | Buy |
| The Shadow Rising | 1992 | Buy |
| The Fires of Heaven | 1993 | Buy |
| Lord of Chaos | 1994 | Buy |
| A Crown of Swords | 1996 | Buy |
| The Path of Daggers | 1998 | Buy |
| Winter’s Heart | 2000 | Buy |
| Crossroads of Twilight | 2003 | Buy |
| New Spring | 2004 | Buy |
| Knife of Dreams | 2005 | Buy |
| The Gathering Storm | 2009 | Buy |
| Towers of Midnight | 2010 | Buy |
| A Memory of Light | 2013 | Buy |
Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney Jr., a physicist and Vietnam veteran who became one of fantasy’s most influential writers. Before creating The Wheel of Time, he wrote historical novels and Conan the Barbarian tie-ins. Those books paid the bills, but he had bigger ambitions.
The Eye of the World appeared in 1990, the first of what Jordan planned as a six-book series. It grew. By the time of his death in 2007, the series had reached 11 novels plus a prequel, with no end in sight. Jordan had underestimated the scope of his own creation, and readers both loved and complained about the expanding story.
The series blends elements familiar to fantasy readers: a chosen one, a dark lord, magical systems, and detailed worldbuilding. Jordan’s contribution was scale. His world has its own calendar, multiple magic systems, dozens of cultures, and thousands of years of history. Characters experience time passing in real terms, aging and changing over the series’ 15-year publication span.
Jordan was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare blood disease, in 2006. He worked as long as he could, leaving extensive notes and recordings for whoever would finish his work. His widow Harriet chose Brandon Sanderson, who completed the final three volumes from Jordan’s materials.
Amazon adapted the series starting in 2021. The show took significant liberties with the source material, drawing mixed reactions from longtime fans.