An epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan (and then Brandon Sanderson, after the former died), currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (New Spring), and a couple of series guides, as well as a first-person shooter and a tabletop RPG.
- Prequel: New Spring (2004) (expanded from a novella)
- The Eye of the World (1990)
- The Great Hunt (1990)
- The Dragon Reborn (1991)
- The Shadow Rising (1992)
- The Fires of Heaven (1993)
- Lord of Chaos (1994)
- A Crown of Swords (1996)
- The Path of Daggers (1998)
- Winter's Heart (2000)
- Crossroads of Twilight (2003)
- Knife of Dreams (2005)
- The Gathering Storm (2009)
- Towers of Midnight (2010)
- A Memory of Light (2013)
- "The Strike at Shayol Ghul" (1996): Short story. Available online
and in The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. - "Ravens": Extra prologue chapter included in The Eye of the World: From the Two Rivers.note
- "River of Souls" (2013): Short story published in the Unfettered anthology. note
Series Guides:
- The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (1997)
- The Wheel of Time Companion: The People, Places, and History of the Bestselling Series (2015): An updated series guide/encyclopedia that Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons made with Jordan's notes, released in November 2015.
Other:
- "A Fire Within the Ways": A non-canon cut sequence from A Memory of Light. Available online and in the Unfettered III anthology.
In the beginning, the Creator made the universe, which consisted of: the Wheel of Time, which spins the tapestry of the ages with the people's lives as its threads; the One Power, a Background Magic Field which drives the Wheel and is divided into male and female halves, saidin and saidar respectively; and a prison for the Dark One so that he could not influence creation. Then the Creator walked away and just let the whole thing spin. And since then ages have come and gone...
Saidin and saidar are Polar Opposite Twins, but male and female channelers working together have always achieved the best results. Therefore, back in the Age of Legends, Aes Sedai scientists had an interest in finding and accessing a source of magic that could be channeled by both genders. Good news: they found it. Bad news: "it" was the Dark One, the embodiment of pure evil, and they cracked its prison.
Long story short, death, war, and bloodshed ensue. Lews Therin Telamon, "the one called Dragon", finally re-sealed the Dark One's prison (and trapped its powerful generals, "the Forsaken") with a makeshift cork, but not before it poisoned saidin. All male Aes Sedai went insane, as would all male channelers thereafter, and brought civilization crashing down by each becoming a Person of Mass Destruction and committing a World Sundering or three. Eventually, mankind rebuilt itself, but never regained its former glory.
Some three thousand years later, in the story's modern day, a trio of young men — Farm Boy Rand, Guile Hero Mat, and Burly Blacksmith Perrin — are living out their lives in a small village until a mysterious woman called Moiraine shows up, followed shortly thereafter by an attack by (to them) mythical monsters. According to Moiraine, the three are "ta'veren" (a Classical Tongue word meaning "Main Characters"), and the Dark One itself is after them. Possibly, one of them might be the Dragon Reborn, the reincarnation of Lews Therin Telamon who would lead the forces of the Light against the rise of the Shadow — while, like any male channeler, simultaneously going insane. Moiraine, an Aes Sedai, was sent in to find him, protect him, teach him to channel (if possible), keep him sane (if possible), and prepare him — whichever one "he" is (First-Episode Twist: it's Rand) — for the fight. For the seven seals on the Dark One's prison are starting to weaken, and The End of the World as We Know It is approaching, and if there is to be any hope for all creation, there's a lot of work to be done. For prophecy says that The Dragon Reborn can defeat The Dark One... but not that he will.
Known for its sprawling plot, huge cast, intricate magic system, and... interesting character development resulting from Robert Jordan building the Mars and Venus Gender Contrast into the literal fabric of the universe.
Jordan churned out the first six or seven books at a prodigious pace but began slowing down around the eighth, as the plot got bigger and the action got slower. Progress slowed further when Jordan was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, amyloidosis
, to which he succumbed in 2007, midway through writing the twelfth and final book, A Memory of Light. Jordan's wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, chose up-and-coming fantasy author Brandon Sanderson to complete the series, based on Jordan's copious notes and some completed fragments. At last the Long Runner series came to a close: the first book of the series was published on January 15, 1990, and the last exactly 22 years and 51 weeks later, in January of the Chinese Year of the Dragon.An extremely shoddy Pilot Episode for a TV adaptation of the series was aired on FXX (at about 2 AM) in February 2015. Though the producing company, Red Eagle Entertainment, then held the television rights to the series, the pilot was shot without involvement or approval from Harriet McDougal; the rights were due to revert to her a mere three days later, explaining the pilot's unfinished nature and total lack of advertising or publicity. Since then, McDougal has re-negotiated a contract with Sony Pictures. In October of 2018, Amazon partnered with Sony to produce the series for the Prime Video streaming service. The Wheel of Time (2021) debuted on November 19, 2021, with Rosamund Pike starring as Moiraine, and ran for three seasons before being Cut Short. In 2024, sound engineer Jordan Rannells released The Soundscape of Time, a soundscape intended to accompany an audiobook recording of The Wheel of Time.
These books provide examples of:
What was, what will be, and what is,
may yet fall under the Shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time."
