How to read ‘The Wheel of Time’ books in order

As one of the most extended book series in history, getting into The Wheel of Time might sound like a daunting task. Breaking the story down into smaller journeys reveals that author Robert Jordan’s intention wasn’t a lengthy tale but rather a cohesive narrative gradually building up to a towering crescendo of literary magnificence.

Consisting of 14 bulky novels and a shorter prequel book, The Wheel of Time easily surpasses 4 million words in length. The idea of reading such a vast number of words and books within a single fictional universe could be daunting for many avid readers. For reference, a famously drawn-out novel like Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is just shy of 600,000 words, so reading The Wheel of Time in its entirety is like sitting through War and Peace at least seven times, though admittedly, reading speculative fiction — and a story belonging to the high fantasy subgenre, in particular — is a much more gratifying experience than what essentially reads as historical recitation.

Still, the decision to pick up The Wheel of Time is not an easy one, made more complicated by the fact that Robert Jordan himself passed away before finishing the story. Brandon Sanderson, another prominent fantasy novelist, was brought on by Jordan’s team to finish the series, and though he did a brilliant job of it and received praise for capturing the essence of The Wheel of Time, the dual authorship and the sheer number of books might still confuse a lot of newcomers.

So, if you’ve ever been confused by The Wheel of Time books titles involving all sorts of concepts and themes like twilight crossroads, midnight towers, and chaos lords, we’ve got you covered. Here’s how you can buy and read The Wheel of Time books in order.

How to read The Wheel of Time in order?

Barring the prequel novel, which we’ll get into later on, there are 14 main books in The Wheel of Time series that follow a chronological timeline. Here they are in order of publication:

• 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 first eleven books in the series (twelve counting the prequel), from The Eye of the World to Knife of Dreams, were written by Jordan himself before he became terminally ill. The last three, consisting of The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and A Memory of Light, were originally supposed to be one book and finish the saga, but Brandon Sanderson, following Jordan’s extensive notes and passed down material, ultimately decided to split it into three volumes.

While many books in The Wheel of Time are close to a thousand pages long, several of those outings in the middle, connecting the beginning to the story’s climax, are shorter and easier to read through.

Reading the prequel book, A New Spring, before the first four or five books isn’t recommended because it essentially thrusts you into the world and expects you to pick up on characters and plots, unlike The Eye of the World, which goes out of its way to establish the world.

So, if you wish to read the prequel novel as well, make sure to pick it up after you’ve read The Dragon Reborn or The Shadow Rising.

Ultimately, The Wheel of Time can be broken down into several prominent arcs, allowing you to take a breather between each arc and then pick it up later on. In that sense, here’s our ultimate recommendation list as to how you can chop up the story if you wish to get into the series.

The prologue (1-3)

While the first three books in The Wheel of Time feature some of our favorite moments in the entire series, The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, and The Dragon Reborn basically serve as a prologue to the larger narrative, setting up our characters and the world for the rest of the narrative to come swooping in and blow readers away.

The plot thickens (4-6)

The fourth book in the series, The Shadow Rising, separates our heroes and marks another beginning in The Wheel of Time saga. This plot, continued in The Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos, not only expands the worldbuilding but also raises the stakes significantly, driving home exactly what it is that our protagonists are fighting for in a world inching closer to its end times event, Tarmon Gai’don.

The plot expands (7-10)

A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, Winter’s Heart, and Crossroads of Twilight slow down the narrative dramatically and focus on character work. That’s not necessarily a terrible thing, as the books are shorter in length and very rewarding if you happen to love The Wheel of Time and its world. And if you’ve read the books up to that point, you most probably do love them.

The climax and ending (11-14)

This is where The Wheel of Time enters its final arc, mostly involving the prophesied last battle between the Forces of the Light and Shadow. In this final stop, every page and every chapter is a climax unto itself, and the sensations you experience for the world and the characters you’ve grown to love so much make the ambitious journey well worth it.

Reading The Wheel of Time doesn’t sound like such an encumbering burden when put into that context. It’ll still admittedly take longer than other stories out there to get to the finish line but trust me, many are reluctant to do so when they reach that last story arc.

The short stories

Besides the books listed above, The Wheel of Time universe has three more short stories. You don’t need to read them to understand the story, but for those hungry for more, they may serve as a little consolation piece after you’ve finished the saga.

The first is a story by Robert Jordan called “The Strike at Shayol Ghul,” which takes place thousands of years before The Eye of the World. You can read this one on the internet, as it hasn’t been published anywhere else.

The last two are from Sanderson. One, called “River of Souls,” was published in 2013’s anthology book Unfettered: Tales by Masters of Fantasy and is considered canon, while the other one, “A Fire Within the Ways,” was released in Unfettered III. However, Sanderson himself has asserted that it isn’t part of the canon.

The companion book

The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time and the encyclopedic Wheel of Time Companions are two books that help you wrap your head around the author’s expansive world and background lore. However, you should be wary of spoilers when leafing through both of those, lest you learn about character developments or twist revelations that happen much later on in the series.