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The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and go. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
The Wheel of Time series is incredibly influential in the fantasy genre, going a long way to help fantasy writers break free of the ‘limitations’ of the standard trilogy set-up popularised by the genre staple Lord of the Rings.
Before author Robert Jordan’s epic, fantasy books tended to come in groups of three. Jordan, though, dropped his magnum opus across 12 parts. Rather than feeling bloated, the series gained a lot from the extension: allowing the world to breathe, the characters to learn and grow over the course of their trials and tribulations, and the stakes to properly escalate.
It’s so influential, in fact, that Amazon has launched an adaptation of the series on Prime Video, led by Rosamud Pike and Josha Stradowski.
The Wheel of Time tells the story of a world of Light and Darkness, of prophecies, and of heroics. It’s a world governed by the titular Wheel, which turns endlessly and sets fated events into motion. Magic exists, though can only be channeled safely by women: men are driven insane in the process of attempting to do so, and are often cut off from the ‘weave’ for everyone’s safety.
Eons ago, a man known as Lews Therin Telamon was the most powerful channeler of his time, known as the Dragon, and was responsible for both sealing away the Dark One and the Breaking of the World, after the male aspect of the weave was tainted.
Now, as the Dark One’s seals break, the Dragon is said to have been Reborn. But will he bring salvation, or more destruction?
Now, the astute reader might have noticed a discrepancy already. If the author only wrote 12 books in the series, why are we listing out 15? Well, much in the same way that the Dune series continued on past author Frank Herbert’s untimely death, The Wheel of Time was left unfinished by Jordan’s passing, and the series itself was finished off by fan and fellow fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson using Jordan’s notes.
Unlike with Dune, however, Sanderson didn’t continue writing books in the series following his work finishing up Jordan’s story. Rather, he finished the job as a fan of the source material, and to let the full story stand on its own.
Also, in 2004, Jordan started work on a new prequel trilogy to the series, of which only one book was released: New Spring. That book takes place about 20 years before the beginning of the main series, and serves as an introduction to some characters and motivations that you’ll meet throughout the series anyway.
With that out of the way, here’s how to read the entire The Wheel of Time saga in chronological order.
1. New Spring
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 2004
Though written 14 years after the first book in the series, New Spring is set about two decades before The Eye of the World and fleshes some of the series’ key characters out. It serves as a peek into the history of the world before the main storyline begins, but, honestly, isn’t a fantastic place to start. We’d recommend reading this one after you’ve got a few of the main series’ books under your belt.
Still, it provides some important context to the sisterhood of the Aes Sedai’s goal to track down the Dragon Reborn: the legendary warrior supposedly fated to defeat the Dark One.
See, the Dark One is the ultimate evil of the world of The Wheel of Time which was sealed away, but has been leaking into the mortal realm and corrupting life for untold years. And, in New Spring, it is foretold that this evil’s bane has been reborn as a human. Two Aes Sedai, Moiraine and Siuan, set off in search of this child, and begin to unravel some of the mysteries of their prodigious order.
2. The Eye of the World
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 1990
The actual best place to start your reading journey, The Eye of the World is our introduction to The Wheel of Time series. Moiraine takes charge of three young villagers, Rand al’Thor, Perrin Aybara and Matrim Cauthon, in order to protect them from the forces of the Dark One that seek them out. Why would the great evil be hunting mere peasants? Well, Moiraine believes each of them has the potential to be the Dragon Reborn, and that they must be protected.
And so their long journey begins, facing off against the servants of the Dark One along the way, eventually leading to a battle against the evil Ba’alzamon wherein Rand successfully channels the One Power to save the day – though also revealing himself as the Dragon Reborn, painting a bigger target on his back for the rest fo the series.
Lord of the Rings comparisons aside, The Eye of the World is a great, classic fantasy story, where the bads are bad, the goods are good, and the world is pure and fantastical.
3. The Great Hunt
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 1990
While The Eye of the World introduced us to the world of The Wheel of Time, The Great Hunt shows us more of the people that live in it. Now identified as the Dragon Reborn, Rand and his motley crew pursue the stolen Horn of Valere, which was spirited away by a Darkfriend, Padan Fain. Throughout the journey, Rand struggles to control the new power he has awakened within himself – the ability to channel the One Power – and ends up coming face to face with Ba’alzamon, again.
Rand ends up victorious again, of course, though heavily injured, and ends up with an army of loyal warriors pledging to be his army under the banner of the Dragon.
4. The Dragon Reborn
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 1991
An interesting book in the series, The Dragon Reborn is centred on the actions of Rand, the Dragon Reborn, but are told almost entirely from the point of view of his allies who race to catch up with him. At this point, Rand has done some pretty exceptional things, but he still isn’t convinced that he is the Dragon. In The Dragon Reborn, he heads to the city of Tear to prove, to himself, once and for all, if he is actually the prophesied warrior: the prophecies say he will take the city and conquer its power, a crystal blade known as Callandor, and so he marches.
His allies, meanwhile, struggle to catch up. He left secretly, and they all follow to support their friend and ally, though are constantly one step behind. We also see more of the politics of the White Tower, the home base of the Aes Sedai, where assassination plots arise.
5. The Shadow Rising
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 1992
Following on from The Dragon Reborn‘s multiple viewpoints, The Shadow Rising follows four main threads: Rand, and his journey to be named as the Aiel’s prophesied leader, the Car’a’carn; Perrin’s defence of the Two Rivers by invading Darkfriends; as well as a plot by the Black Ajah to control Rand, and a major shift in the power structure of the White Tower.
To bring all of these stories together, The Shadow Rising is the longest book in the series at almost 400,000 words, but that length isn’t so much of a burden. Though the series’ plot threads are getting more independent of one another, they’re also getting more interesting, and do a good job of setting the world up in ways that have implications for the broader narrative.
6. The Fires of Heaven
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 1993
At the beginning of The Fire of Heaven, almost all major players in the story – the Aiel Clans, the White Tower, and the Kingdom of Cairhein – are all struggling with some form of schism. Bickering leaders, assassinations, power plays, civil wars, and personal grudges all play out as Rand’s journey to live up to his destiny continues.
His own goal in this book is to unite the Aiel clans under his leadership, though many don’t see him as their prophesied chief. Meanwhile, word of the new Aes Sadai leader reaches the rest of the world, while a splinter group of rebel Aes Sadai begin their own machinations.
7. Lord of Chaos
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 1994
With a name like Lord of Chaos, you’d expect the book to be the final showdown between Rand and his arch nemesis. Nope! That’s still a ways off. Instead, Lord of Chaos is the story about a new caste of male channellers, the Asha’man, and the continued plotting by the rival schools of Aes Sedai. See, although Rand has been gathering power over the course of about six books now, the seals on the Dark One have been breaking, one by one, and it grows stronger by the day.
With his growing might, the Dark One has begun turning the climate of the world against our heroes, making it slowly, but surely, inhospitable. There is a powerful artifact known as the ‘Bowl of the Winds’, however, that coud be the key to solving the issue.
8. A Crown of Swords
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 1996
Directly following on from Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords tells of Rand’s journey to depose the Forsaken Sammael, who rules over the nation of Illian, while at the same time following his allies’ efforts to track down the Bowl of the Winds to undo the devestating climate change impacting the world.
The book also tells of the shifting power balance between rebel Aes Sadai and those of the White Tower, who continue to seek to control the strength of the Dragon Reborn for their own purposes.
This is the point in the series that many fans call ‘the slog’. This is in part due to the fact that the books were taking longer to come out (Two years between new releases, compared to the quick annual cycle of the first six books), as well as a general slowing of progress of the characters. You’ll see what I mean in the next few titles.
9. The Path of Daggers
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 1998
A lot, and not a lot, happens in The Path of Daggers. A group of channelers use the newly claimed ‘Bowl of the Winds’ to undo the unnatural change in climate brought on by the Dark One, and unknowingly cause mass casualties in Rand’s war against the Seanchan. His attempts to channel the power of his blade Callandor go awry due to the shifting weave, and he ends up accidently killing many of his own men, as well as much of the opposing army. It’s a blow to the very concept of a male channeler, and unfortunately for Rand confirms some of his worst fears about being the Dragon Reborn: blood will be spilled.
In the end, both armies retreat, and we’re left in a similar place we started the book at: our heroes are separated, following their own journies against the Dark One’s forces, but at least it’s not so hot anymore.
10. Winter’s Heart
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 2000
Not only is it not so hot anymore, but it’s cold. Winter has come, following the long, hot days of the magically-induced climate change, and the world is rugging up. Things tend to slow down in Winter, and The Wheel of Time is no exception, save for a particualrly impactful ending.
Rand continues his quest to push back the forces of the Dark One, while Mat escapes a Seanchan city (abducting his future wife in the process, nothing wierd about that) and Perrin pursues the Aiel who kidnapped his wife, Faile. It’s all pretty inconsequential, until suddenly the end sees one of the most powerful artefacts in the world destroyed, severing the ability for all parties to make use of it in their ongoing war.
11. Crossroads of Twilight
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 2003
Taking place concurrently with Winter’s Heart, Crossroads of Twilight is infamous The Wheel of Time fanbase as being one of the slowest books in the series, if not the slowest. Perrin keeps searching for Faile, Mat keeps trying to escape from enemy territory, while Rand keeps fighting against the forces of Evil.
In the end, his attempts at a truce with the Seanchan bear some fruit, but they’ll only agree to a truce if the Dragon Reborn meets with their leader, the ‘Daughter of the Nine Moons’.
12. Knife of Dreams
- Author: Robert Jordan
- Year of Release: 2005
The last book that Jordan completed before his unfortunate passing, Knife of Dreams is a much faster and better book than the last few had been. Plot threads that have been slowly simmering suddenly boil, with events you’ve been waiting for suddenly happening at a fast pace.
The Last Battle, this universe’s version of Ragnarok, is coming: the signs have began, and Rand’s upcoming battle with the Dark One is being foretold. The world is literally changing, with reality shifting before its people’s very eyes. Things are falling apart, and it’s up to Rand to do something. His meeting with the Daughter of the Nine Moons goes south when he discovers her to be a Forsaken before killing her.
Meanwhile, Perrin finally rescues his wife, and Mat marries his captive who then returns to her homeland to take back control. There’s quite a bit of strange relationship stuff in this series.
13. The Gathering Storm
- Author: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
- Year of Release: 2009
As mentioned earlier, Jordan unfortunately passed away in 2007, leaving many fans of his work not only to mourn his passing, but also without an ending to the tale. One of those fans was Brandon Sanderson, the author of the massive Stormlight Archives series, who was approached with the prospect of finishing up the series using Jordan’s unfinished notes. Thankfully, he agreed, and we ended up with one of the better books in the series.
Here, the focus is largely on Rand and his fight against the Dark One. Things are bleak, with Rand on the ropes after a particularly devastating battle at the end of Knife of Dreams. The pressure of being the ‘chosen one’ has caused Rand to wall himself off emotionally, and he’s trying desparately to unite the forces of the world against a common foe while also struggling with a growing insanity caused by his use of the One Power. Things are going to get dark for Rand in this book.
On the other side, we see more of the battle between conflicting Aes Sedai factions, with the truth of the Black Ajah finally being revealed. Many, many of the hidden spies of the Dark One are exposed and killed, and the rebels end up taking the White Tower as their own.
14. Towers of Midnight
- Author: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
- Year of Release: 2010
Following an abrupt change of focus at the end of his journey in The Gathering Storm, Rand is every bit the hero of light he was always prophesised to be in Towers of Midnight, and it’s making everyone around him nervous. His plan has gone from seeking to destroy the world to spare it the Dark One’s reign to wanting to break the remaining seals in order to find a way to permanently trap Evil away. Understandably, his allies aren’t keen on this plan of action, even though his change of attitude is clear to see. For the first time in years (both in book, and out), Rand seems happy.
Not only that, but he seems suffused with the One Power in a way he hasn’t before, able to single-handedly destroy an invading army of Shadowspawn with ease. But Shadowspawn are simply pawns of something far more Evil, and we’ve got one book left to wrap up the Last Battle.
15. A Memory of Light
- Author: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
- Year of Release: 2013
Well, we’ve been pretty comfortable talking about some of the bigger events in the series in this guide, but we’re at the climactic conclusion to a decades-long series of books, so we’ll let you just read what happens. A Memory of Light tells the story of the final confrontation between Light and Shadow, and is a fitting finale to what is one of the most influential fantasy series of our time.
For what it’s worth, Sanderson took on a difficult role as the one to pick up the series after Jordan passed away, and even with access to detailed notes and ideas, did a fantastic job wrapping it all up in a neat little bow. He’s gone on to say that while he was very honored to help bring the series to a fitting end, he wouldn’t write any further books in the series: in his mind, it was Jordan’s story, and it was now over.
