The Wheel of Time is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three installments.

Originally planned as a six-book series with the publication of The Eye of the World in 1990, The Wheel of Time came to span 14 volumes, in addition to a prequel novel and three companion books.

He prepared extensive notes, which enabled fellow fantasy author Sanderson to complete the final book, which grew into three volumes: The Gathering Storm (2009), Towers of Midnight (2010), and A Memory of Light (2013).

The series is set in the Third Age of a fantasy world in which the pattern of human existence is determined and maintained by the Wheel of Time, a cosmic embodiment of eternal return.

Their stated goal is to use their skills to serve and protect humanity, but they are also preparing for the inevitable, prophesized return of a malevolent entity they call the Dark One.

[7] The Westlands contain 14 nations, including Andor, Cairhien, Illian, Shienar and Tear,[8][9][10] as well as four major city-states: Falme, Far Madding, Mayene and Tar Valon.

[13][14][15][16] Also opposing the Aes Sedai are the Children of the Light, or Whitecloaks, a quasi-religious, militarized order bent on destroying anyone who channels the One Power, believing they are servants of the Shadow.

[7] The Tinkers, or Tuatha'an, are a nomadic group of people who travel continuously and widely in brightly colored wagons, believing this is the only way to remain safe.

Unknown to any but the Atha'an Miere, the fabled porcelain is created by the Amayar, a group of island dwelling people protected by the Sea Folk as a solemn duty since the Breaking of the World.

Appearing human and designed to target channelers, gholam are constructs which possess superhuman strength, are impervious to harm and immune to the One Power, and feed on blood.

The thirteen Forsaken—Aginor, Asmodean, Balthamel, Be'lal, Demandred, Graendal, Ishamael, Lanfear, Mesaana, Moghedien, Rahvin, Sammael and Semirhage—were imprisoned with the Dark One at Shayol Ghul at the end of the Second Age.

[23][24] Three thousand years later near the end of the Third Age, the Aes Sedai learn that the prophesied channeler known as the Dragon has been reborn, signaling that a final battle with the Dark One is coming.

[2][4][26] In The Eye of the World (1990), the arrival of a mysterious noblewoman to the remote village of Emond's Field in the Two Rivers precedes an attack on the town by a force of humanoid monsters called Trollocs.

The woman reveals herself to be Moiraine Damodred, one of the Aes Sedai, and warns that the servants of the Dark One are seeking one of three young men from the village: Rand al'Thor, Perrin Aybara and Matrim Cauthon.

They are pursued by increasing numbers of Trollocs, led by deadly, eyeless Fades, and are separated fleeing the cursed, abandoned city of Shadar Logoth.

At the Eye of the World, a sacred pool of untainted saidin, Rand's defeat of the Forsaken Aginor and Ba'alzamon convinces Moiraine that he is the prophesied Dragon Reborn.

[26] From then, the story expands and protagonist Rand, as well as the other characters, are frequently split into different groups, pursuing different missions or agendas aimed at furthering the cause of the Dragon Reborn, sometimes thousands of miles apart.

As the story expands, new characters representing different factions are introduced; although this expansion of the narrative allows the sheer scale of the growing struggle to be effectively depicted, it has been criticized for slowing the pace of the novels and sometimes reducing the appearances of the original or main cast to extended cameos.

In 2002, The Eye of the World was repackaged as two volumes with new illustrations for younger readers: From the Two Rivers,[72] including an extra chapter (Ravens) before the existing prologue; and To the Blight[73] with an expanded glossary.

[76] Once this decision had been made, writing proceeded much more easily and Jordan completed the second volume, The Great Hunt, at roughly the same time the first book was published.

[85] On 30 March 2009, Tor Books announced that A Memory of Light would be split into three volumes, with Brandon Sanderson citing timing and continuity reasons.

In a Q&A following the release of A Memory of Light, Sanderson ruled out the completion of these works; Jordan had left very little in the way of notes for these additional novels – only two sentences in the case of the sequel trilogy.

The opening of the first book establishes the concept: Jordan acknowledged the influence of J. R. R. Tolkien, including deliberately modelling the setting of the first chapters on the Shire in The Lord of the Rings.

[93][94] Concepts drawn from monotheistic religions include the duality between good and evil and between "Creator" (Light) and Shai'tan, "The Dark One" (Shaitan is an Arabic word that, in Islamic contexts, is used as a name for the Devil or Satan).

The series explores in great detail the implications of a common fantasy premise, in which an ordinary boy on the verge of adulthood discovers he is fated to lead a major struggle.

Jordan ruled the book broadly canonical but stated that it was written from the perspective of an historian within The Wheel of Time universe and was prone to errors of bias and guesswork.

[105] On 3 November 2015, The Wheel of Time Companion: The People, Places, and History of the Bestselling Series was released in hardback format, written by Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons from Tor Books.

[108] In 2004, Jordan sold the film, television, video game, and comic rights to the series to production company Red Eagle Entertainment.

[113] Dynamite Entertainment published 35 issues of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World comic book series, which concluded in March 2013.

[126] The pilot, based on the prologue to The Eye of the World,[127] starred Max Ryan as Lews Therin Thelamon and Billy Zane as Ishamael and aired after midnight with no announcements or publicity.