Reading order
| # | Title | Year | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | New Spring | 2004 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 1 | The Eye of the World | 1990 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 2 | The Great Hunt | 1990 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 3 | The Dragon Reborn | 1991 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 4 | The Shadow Rising | 1992 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 5 | The Fires of Heaven | 1993 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 6 | Lord of Chaos | 1994 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 7 | A Crown of Swords | 1996 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 8 | The Path of Daggers | 1998 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 9 | Winter’s Heart | 2000 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 10 | Crossroads of Twilight | 2003 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 11 | Knife of Dreams | 2005 | Robert Jordan | Buy |
| 12 | The Gathering Storm | 2009 | Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson | Buy |
| 13 | Towers of Midnight | 2010 | Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson | Buy |
| 14 | A Memory of Light | 2013 | Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson | Buy |
The Wheel of Time spans 15 books and over 4 million words. Robert Jordan began publishing in 1990 and died in 2007 with the story unfinished. Brandon Sanderson completed the final three volumes from Jordan’s extensive notes and recordings.
The series follows Rand al’Thor, a farm boy who discovers he can channel the One Power and may be the Dragon Reborn, prophesied to fight the Dark One in the Last Battle. His friends Mat and Perrin have their own destinies. The cast expands to dozens of viewpoint characters across multiple nations, each with its own culture, politics, and magic traditions.
Jordan’s worldbuilding is exhaustive. He created calendars, languages, and thousands of years of history. The detail rewards dedicated readers while occasionally frustrating those who want faster pacing. The middle books are famously slow; the finale is famously worth it.
The magic system divides into male and female halves. Men who channel go mad because the male half is corrupted. This creates both plot tension and the series’ gender politics, which readers interpret variously.
Amazon adapted the series starting in 2021. The show took significant liberties with the source material, compressing and changing plotlines to fit television budgets. Fans remain divided on the results.
Start with The Eye of the World. The prequel New Spring works best read after book five or after completing the series.