The Wheel of Time

The Wheel of Time consists of fourteen books plus a prequel, so I posted this image rather than an unnecessary amount of book covers.

This has been a long time coming, friends. There were times when I was fairly certain that I would never get to blog about these books, but oh how I wanted to. So many things delayed me in my attempts to finish this magnificent series which only added to the extensive amount of time it takes to read a fourteen-book fantasy epic.
I began these books when I was 13. That's right, it took me 7 years to read this series. That's only two books per year if you average it out. That stat is very disheartening because I know that I read more than that. But how much I read was exactly the problem. I have had my e-reader for a few years now, and I tend to take that with me to school or on trips for the sake of convenience. This means that I was often reading other books alongside this series. On top of that, I sometimes had to wait to borrow the next book from my friend (I read most of the books from her collection and started buying them for myself later). The worst obstacle of all, though, had to be school. Assignments and mandatory readings, especially in university, have eaten away at so much of my personal reading time. However, I persevered and now I can say that I have finished one of the best and most underrated fantasy series of all time.
I wish that there was a simple way to sum up these books for you, but they are rather complex, which is part of why I loved them so much.
The books mainly focus on three boys from a little farm village named Rand, Perrin, and Mat. Rand is special because he is the reincarnation of a very powerful and somewhat dangerous hero who died during the last major battle (which was basically a world war). He is called the Dragon Reborn. Perrin and Mat are also special. The three of them are what is called ta'veren, which means that the Pattern (basically time and destiny and the strands of fate) changes around them. They begin as nobodies, but quickly realize that they cannot escape the legendary status that they are gaining. Perrin can communicate with wolves, Mat has ever-changing luck that manages to get him into, and thankfully out of, a lot of trouble. Dark forces are trying to destroy the three friends, but others find them and protect them. The young men are taken by an Aes Sedai (a woman with magic) named Moiraine and her Warder (bodyguard) Lan, along with their friend Egwene and the village wise-woman, Nynaeve. Moiraine and Lan help the trio to realize their significance, and must protect them from dark forces who want to destroy them.
The prophecies of the Dragon Reborn state that he must fight the Dark One in the Last Battle. The series thus follows the adventures of this ever-expanding group of friends and allies as they try to survive to the Last Battle. Along the way they encounter many enemies and other challenges. Rand must also figure out what the prophecies say about him in order to know what must be done to defeat the Dark One.
What I loved about these books was that minor plots and tangents were never irrelevant. The books were long and complicated at times, but Jordan always had a purpose for weaving in stories about people who were not main characters. And many characters who entered the series later played key parts by the end of the story.
I grew attached to the characters, even the ones who often drove me nuts. I think the most impressive thing about the people who populate this series is that they change. The timespan of the books is about two years, and in that time the characters grow up so much. Rand, Perrin and Mat are on the cusp of manhood when they are taken from their village, but they still feel like reckless teenaged boys. By the end of the series, however, they have been exposed to the darkest realities of their world: they've seen the good and bad of humanity, they know the truth about the Dark One's effect on the world, they become responsible for many people and eventually for the salvation (or demise) of their world. The men who make it to Tarmon Gai'don (the Last Battle) are not the boys who left the Two Rivers. Neither do any of the other characters stay the same. Everyone is affected by the changes in the world, by the knowledge that prophecies are coming to pass, and by the fact that the Dark One is moving all around them. They go through so many events that bring tragedy, and pain, but they also find themselves as they face new challenges. They realize what they are truly capable of. And yet the essence of who they are remains the same. How true to life is that?
The books have lots of dark moments, but also some great comic relief. There is action, adventure, and magic, as there should be in any good fantasy. Robert Jordan made his characters very complex; they are deep and all distinct individuals. When Brandon Sanderson took over the series, it was sometimes obvious. It's hard to say how much of what occurred would have been part of the story had Robert Jordan been the one to finish it. The characters at times seemed a bit like caricatures of themselves and the plot seemed to wrap up a little too neatly for a series that was so raw and willing to throw in all sorts of twists and turns. It was predictable and clean. Not everyone makes it out, but who does or doesn't survive is not too upsetting. I don't want to explain more because I want you to read the book without any spoilers. The other problem with Sanderson's take-over is that there are a few minor plot details that are completely ignored. For example, the character of Asmodean disappears at the end of one book, but we know that he is still alive and out there somewhere waiting to return. But he never does. So what really happened to him? Unfortunately, we'll probably never know.
I know that Game of Thrones is super popular these days (or at least it was a few years ago), but people don't realize that WOT (wheel of time) set the stage for GOT (game of thrones). I haven't read that series yet, and I only watched a couple of episodes of the show, but I know that the game of thrones itself is much like Daes Dae'mar (The Game of Houses). And I once read an interview with George R. R. Martin in which I learned that Robert Jordan was the one who initially praised Game of Thrones and helped it to gain the attention that it did when the first book was published. If you like such books, you are going to love The Wheel of Time. Yes, at times it can be slow, but be patient. It really is worth the read.
When I picked up the prequel, New Spring, this summer after finishing the series, I was reminded about everything that made me fall in love with Jordan's books in the first place. The magic and culture he provides, the tenacity of his characters. He crafts everything with such detail that he makes it easy to picture the world and relate to the characters. It feels as if each element of his world, every people group, every city, could easily be something that once was or one day will be as "the wheel of time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten as the Age that gave it birth comes again."