Book of the Week

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

Recommended by Cillian Bramham

The first thing about The Wheel Of Time that strikes many readers is the length of the series as a whole. Even if you do not count the prequel, New Spring or the cut chapters of River of Souls and A Fire Within the Ways, the 14 main novels come to around 15,000 pages in total. 

This means that the books can and will take up a significant portion of your time. It also leads to pacing issues throughout the novels. Whilst none of the books can be explicitly called boring, there is a section, dubbed affectionately by the community as 'the slog', between books 7-10 where nothing really happens as most of the time and events are being devoted to preparing for the novel's conclusion and wrapping up story lines. Fundamentally this series represents a commitment and whilst the payoff for this commitment is high, it nonetheless requires a great deal of time and effort to get to.

The Wheel Of Time is in many ways a typical fantasy series. You have a prophesy, a main character from a small village who gains magical powers and you have a foundational clash between good and evil that falls heavily in the footsteps of our protagonists from the beginning. There is a curse that the party must bear and a coming storm that they must prevent. However, in many ways, it is also different. The illustrious college of channelers (this world's word for those who can wield magic) Tar Valon, is a corrupted and sickly shell of its former self, not from the machinations of a grand villain but from the inevitable stagnation and in-fighting of being in control for so long. The prophesied hero is not seen as a saviour but as a threat, a man doomed to go mad from the power he wields and one who has already pulled the world apart in his hands who must be held in check until the time comes when he can die and spill his blood to save humanity. These twists allow The Wheel Of Time to make its mark as a classic within a crowded space, dominated by those that come before.

Due to The Wheel Of Time’s extensive story and sprawling world there are a few inconsistencies within the sequence that you as a reader may notice and which detract from the plot as a whole. Most notably, there is a disconnect between The Eye of The World (the first book) and the rest of the series. This is partially due to the fact that The Eye of The World somewhat exists as a singular standalone before the true story starts and also because of the fact that Robert Jordan only really begins to have a true plan for how and why the story ends much later. Furthermore there are quite a few things that we see within the first 3-5 books that will not get explained until very near the end of the series as a whole and some questions that never get answered. 

This brings me on to the fundamental point of this review. The Wheel Of Time is an excellent book series, however you should not read it unless you are ready and willing to read all 14 books at some point. It is an investment in your time that will pay off but fundamentally it is a significant commitment in time and unfortunately money to be able to get through all 14 of the books. Overall I would recommend this book series to anyone who feels that they have the time, stamina and love of reading to get through all of it.