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Are you completely swept away by the medieval fantasy world of Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time? The latest in a series of series that want what Game of Thrones has, the show already has a lot of fans thanks to the OG books that came out in the ’90s and ’00s. Amazon Prime dropped The Wheel of Time season 2 on September 1, 2023 like... the second there was a crisp in the air. Fantasy is best in the autumn, isn't it? And all of a sudden, I feel behind again. Seriously, like, am I not the only one who noticed Wheel of Time fans coming out of the woodwork in anticipation of the series adaptation??

I, for one, would like to learn more—so here’s everything you need to know about the Wheel of Time books, by Robert Jordan and his sometimes coauthor Brandon Sanderson, including what order to read them in when you get started. They were first published in the 1990s (you can tell by the very retro-looking covers) and kept it going until 2010.

Jan Thijs//Amazon Prime

If you’ve stumbled here without having checked out the show yet (hi!), it’s about a group of five potential Chosen Ones training to take down the Big Bad. It’s like Harry Potter meets The Hunger Games—only published way before either of those franchises were a thing.

Tor 'The Eye of the World'

If you’re intrigued by the show and you’ve been itching for a new fantasy series to read, I’ve got great news for you. There are a lot of books in this series. Amazon Prime's adaptation could go on for a while. And not to shade Game of Thrones or anything, but this series is actually finished! If The Wheel of Time gets renewed for more seasons, they aren’t in danger of the show catching up to the books ending. It’s done. It’s published. Book readers know pretty much everything that’s gonna happen.

Want to join them? These are all the books in the Wheel of Time series in the order they were released:

• 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)
• New Spring (2004)
• Knife of Dreams (2005)
• The Gathering Storm (2009)
• Towers of Midnight (2010)
• A Memory of Light (2013)

New Spring, the 11th book in the series, is a prequel set 20 years before the events of The Eye of the World. Other than that, they take place in the same order they were released.

Which books has The Wheel of Time series covered so far?

Season 1 mostly covered the first book, The Eye of the World, skipping over the prologue and getting right to the action. There are some minor changes to the books pertaining to character backstories and when they enter the story. There are some characters and storylines from the second and third books in both season 1 and season 2. If you want to read without getting spoiled too much on what might happen in future seasons of The Wheel of Time, just stick to those first three books.

Sooo where should I start??

'New Spring: A Wheel of Time Prequel'

If you wanted to be really extra, you could start with the prequel, then read them in chronological order. It actually might help if you’re following along with the Amazon Prime series adaptation of The Wheel of Time, since season 1 adapts characters and storylines from both the first book in the series and the prequel.

Most of the time, I tend to recommend reading and watching things in release order because that’s how most fans experienced the thing, but if you’re anxious to learn as much as you can about the show, chronological is the way to go.

Happy reading! Nothing goes better with cold weather than a good fantasy series with lots of magic and swooping capes that goes on forever. This new obsession really couldn’t come at a more perfect time.

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