Amazon Prime’s adaptation of The wheel of time The series premiered last fall to great acclaim – after all, what’s not to love about complex world-building, mighty witch covens, road trips for avoid monsters and impending catastrophe threatening the very existence of the world? This is what the best escape is made of.

So if you’ve fallen in love with Rosamund Pike’s Moiraine Damodred and want to dig deeper into the world she inhabits – or maybe that’s just my main motivation, who knows – then this is the guide for you. And you definitely need a guide, because The wheel of timeone of the most famous and oldest modern fantasy sagas, comprises an impressive total of fifteen books published over the course of twenty-three years.

The wheel of time officially began in January 1990, when Robert Jordan published the first volume of what was then planned to be a six-volume saga –The eye of the world. Jordan then published the other books in the series at record speed, so much so that all the other titles came out only a year or two apart. And these are not small books we are talking about, since not a single one of them passes under the 200,000 word threshold.

The big hunt was released in November 1990; so The dragon is reborn in October 1991; The rising shadow in September 1992; The Fires of Heaven in October 1993; chaos lord in October 1994; A crown of swords in May 1996; The path of the daggers in October 1998; heart of winter in November 2000; Twilight Crossroads in January 2003; new spring in 2004; Knife of Dreams in October 2005.

And in 2005, while working on what he thought was the twelfth and final book in the saga, A memory of light, Jordan was sadly diagnosed with end-stage heart disease; he died in 2007. However, he had left detailed notes of how he wanted his saga to end – so his widow, Harriet McDougal, gave them to longtime fan and fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson, who was then right after the success of his Mistborn trilogy.

After reviewing Jordan’s notes, Sanderson decided it would have been better to divide them into three books, rather than one, even though Jordan wanted the final episode to be one book, regardless of the number of pages. that he would end. having. And that is why the last volumes of The wheel of time saga, The coming storm, Midnight Towers, and finally, A memory of light were published between 2009 and 2013.

After that, there were no more sequels or prequels to the saga – although there were a number of companion guides and short stories – since Sanderson explained that Jordan’s notes don’t extended only until the end of A memory of light and were very rare when it came to continuing the story or expanding on the events that preceded it.

As you would expect from a story that spans so many books and so many years, the overall plot of The wheel of time is complex – touching on themes like the endless conflict between light and dark, balance, duality, and selection from many of the world’s greatest religious systems. Its rich cast of characters move through a detailed and sprawling world, with an even more detailed magic system. It’s definitely a fascinating read and one worth investing time and attention into remembering who everyone is as you go through the fifteen books.

But the gist of the plot is this: a prophecy hangs over the world, saying that the Dark One, defeated and imprisoned centuries ago in a bloody battle, will one day return to devastate all. Only the Reborn Dragon, the hero who first fought him, can stop him. However, in order to do so, he will have to use the One Power (which is known to drive male users mad and can only be safely channeled by females, who learned to do so in the influential Aes Sedai organization. ).

If the hero is reborn, he will undoubtedly defeat the Dark One, but he will also continue to sow untold chaos and havoc in the world after doing so, due to the One Power flowing through him. The saga follows the events leading up to the final battle between the escaped Dark One and the Reborn Dragon, as the cast of characters grows and moves, forming new alliances and battling new foes.

It’s long, but entering the world of The wheel of time is not particularly difficult. And the order in which you should read the books is quite simple. Yes, new springthe penultimate book published by Jordan, is actually set twenty years before the start of the main plot of The eye of the world and delves into what set the story in motion, as well as some characters’ backstory, but it’s also best read when you already have a pretty strong grip on the world and the lore.

So here are the books in their release order, which is the recommended order in which to read them:

1. The eye of the world
2. The big hunt
3. The dragon is reborn
4. The rising shadow
5. The Fires of Heaven
6. chaos lord
7. A crown of swords
8. The path of the daggers
9. heart of winter
10. Twilight Crossroads
11. new spring
12. Knife of Dreams
13. The coming storm
14. Midnight Towers
15. A memory of light

And here’s the in-universe chronological order instead:

1. new spring
2. The eye of the world
3. The big hunt
4. The dragon is reborn
5. The rising shadow
6. The Fires of Heaven
7. chaos lord
8. A crown of swords
9. The path of the daggers
10. heart of winter
11. Twilight Crossroads
12. Knife of Dreams
13. The brewing storm
14. Midnight Towers
15. A memory of light

(via: ScreenRant; image: Prime Video)

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