The Eye of the World
Robert Jordan
Villagers from a quiet farming region are led away by a mysterious woman, as a darkness out of legend starts to stir.
Book 1 of 15, published 1990.
All reading orders
The Wheel of Time reading order
The Wheel of Time is a fourteen-book epic fantasy with a prequel, and it is long. Here are all fifteen books in publication order and in story order, with the prequel first.
Where to start
Start with The Eye of the World, the first book. The story is one long tale, so each book picks up from the one before it.
New Spring is a prequel set before the first book, but many readers wait until they know the world before they pick it up. Robert Jordan died in 2007 before finishing the series, and Brandon Sanderson wrote the last three books from Jordan's notes.
Publication order
The books are listed as published, with New Spring where it came out, between Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams. Companion guides to the world are not listed.
The Great Hunt
Robert Jordan
A legendary horn is stolen, and the hunt to recover it carries the heroes across much of the known world.
Book 2 of 15, published 1990.
The Dragon Reborn
Robert Jordan
The characters split up and travel in different directions, each pulled toward a prophecy about the world's champion.
Book 3 of 15, published 1991.
The Shadow Rising
Robert Jordan
The fourth book takes the characters into a harsh desert and back to their home, deepening the cultures and history of the world.
Book 4 of 15, published 1992.
The Fires of Heaven
Robert Jordan
The fifth book carries the fight to new lands, as the heroes try to unite scattered peoples against a spreading shadow.
Book 5 of 15, published 1993.
Lord of Chaos
Robert Jordan
The sixth book is a long one, in which the story's many factions pull against each other and old rivalries come to a head.
Book 6 of 15, published 1994.
A Crown of Swords
Robert Jordan
The seventh book follows several plotlines at once, from a hunt for a lost relic to the intrigues of rival courts.
Book 7 of 15, published 1996.
The Path of Daggers
Robert Jordan
The eighth book sets the heroes against new enemies and new allies, while old conflicts grow more complicated.
Book 8 of 15, published 1998.
Winter's Heart
Robert Jordan
The ninth book keeps the many storylines moving, with plots against the main characters and journeys to new places.
Book 9 of 15, published 2000.
Crossroads of Twilight
Robert Jordan
Much of the tenth book overlaps in time with the ninth, following the characters through separate struggles.
Book 10 of 15, published 2003.
New Spring
Robert Jordan
A prequel about Moiraine and Lan before they meet the heroes of the first book, set in the years before the series begins.
Book 11 of 15, published 2004.
Knife of Dreams
Robert Jordan
The last full novel Jordan finished before his death, which sets up the end of the series.
Book 12 of 15, published 2005.
The Gathering Storm
Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The first of the three books completed by Brandon Sanderson from Jordan's notes, which brings the story toward its final stretch.
Book 13 of 15, published 2009.
Towers of Midnight
Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The second of the three closing books, with the many plotlines moving toward the final confrontation.
Book 14 of 15, published 2010.
A Memory of Light
Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The final book, which brings the long story to its end.
Book 15 of 15, published 2013.
Chronological order
In story order New Spring comes first, because it is set before The Eye of the World. The fourteen main books keep their publication order.
- New Spring
- The Eye of the World
- The Great Hunt
- The Dragon Reborn
- The Shadow Rising
- The Fires of Heaven
- Lord of Chaos
- A Crown of Swords
- The Path of Daggers
- Winter's Heart
- Crossroads of Twilight
- Knife of Dreams
- The Gathering Storm
- Towers of Midnight
- A Memory of Light
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More reading orders
- The Witcher reading orderThe Witcher is two story collections and six novels, and English readers got them out of order.
- Dune reading orderFrank Herbert wrote six Dune novels between 1965 and 1985, and each is set later than the one before.
- Where to start with DiscworldDiscworld is about forty comic fantasy novels that follow several groups of characters, and they do not have to be read in one fixed order.