Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time includes fourteen main-series novels and the prequel novel New Spring. This guide covers the complete novel sequence, the optional shorter works, the companion books, and the television adaptation.
For a first read, I recommend publication order. Begin with The Eye of the World, then read New Spring after Crossroads of Twilight. That lets the world, characters, and major reveals unfold in the order readers originally encountered them.
Jump to:
- Wheel of Time Books in Publication Order
- Wheel of Time Books in Chronological Order
- Wheel of Time Short Stories and Bonus Material
- Wheel of Time Companion Books
- Who Wrote The Wheel of Time?
- Wheel of Time TV Show
Wheel of Time Books in Publication Order
Publication order is the simplest choice for a first read. It starts with The Eye of the World and places New Spring between Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams, which is where the expanded prequel novel was published.
The series has fourteen numbered novels and one prequel novel, making fifteen novels altogether.
- 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)
When Should You Read New Spring?
New Spring takes place before The Eye of the World, but I wouldn’t read it first. It assumes you already understand the Aes Sedai, Warders, the White Tower, and several characters the main series introduces more carefully.
The simplest spot is after Crossroads of Twilight, following publication order. You can also save it until after A Memory of Light if you’d rather finish the main story without a break.
New Spring first appeared as a shorter novella and was later expanded into the standalone prequel novel. The novel replaces the earlier version for reading-order purposes.
Wheel of Time Books in Chronological Order
At the novel level, chronological order changes one thing: New Spring moves to the front. The rest stay in the same sequence.
- 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
I’d use this order for a reread. New Spring reveals parts of the world and several relationships before The Eye of the World has a chance to introduce them.
Some events in the final novels overlap, but you should still read The Gathering Storm before Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light.
Wheel of Time Short Stories and Bonus Material
The novels tell the complete story on their own. These shorter pieces are optional, but they’re worth knowing about if you want everything connected to the series.
- The Strike at Shayol Ghul: An in-world historical account set long before the main series. It’s included in The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. I’d read it after the main series or whenever you’re comfortable with the setting’s deeper history.
- River of Souls: A group of scenes cut from A Memory of Light and published in Unfettered. Read it after A Memory of Light.
- A Fire Within the Ways: A longer deleted sequence published in Unfettered III. It conflicts with the finished novel, so it isn’t canon. Read it after A Memory of Light.
Ravens is an extra prologue created for From the Two Rivers, a split edition of the first part of The Eye of the World. Some editions of The Eye of the World include it. It isn’t a separate book, and you can read it before the main prologue or skip it.
What the Storm Means, Distinctions, and By Grace and Banners Fallen were also released separately. They’re the prologues to The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and A Memory of Light, so the full novels already include them.
From the Two Rivers and To the Blight split The Eye of the World into two volumes. They aren’t additional novels, so you don’t need to add them to the reading order.
Wheel of Time Companion Books
You don’t need any companion book to follow the story. These are the three substantial reference books I’d include for readers who want more worldbuilding, background, and behind-the-scenes material.
- The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Teresa Patterson: An illustrated guide to the world’s history, nations, cultures, maps, and legends. It also includes The Strike at Shayol Ghul. I’d save it until after the main series if you want to avoid spoilers.
- The Wheel of Time Companion by Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, Maria Simons, and Robert Jordan: A large encyclopedia of characters, places, terms, and history. It contains spoilers for the full series, so read it after A Memory of Light.
- Origins of The Wheel of Time by Michael Livingston: A behind-the-scenes look at Jordan’s influences, notes, history, mythology, and creative process. This is also best saved until after the series.
Who Wrote The Wheel of Time?
Robert Jordan wrote the first eleven numbered novels and New Spring. He died in 2007 while working on the final volume.
Jordan left notes, recordings, outlines, drafted scenes, and a written ending. His wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, chose Brandon Sanderson to complete the story.
Sanderson’s work became The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and A Memory of Light. The three books are credited to Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson wrote substantial portions while also using Jordan’s existing material and plans.
Some scenes came directly from Jordan, including the ending, while others had to be developed from shorter notes. The result is still Jordan’s story, completed by Sanderson with Jordan’s editorial team.
Wheel of Time TV Show
The Wheel of Time television adaptation changes characters, timelines, and events from the novels, and it doesn’t cover the complete book series.
If the show brought you to the books, start with The Eye of the World. Don’t try to jump into a later volume based on where the screen story stopped. The differences begin early and grow as the adaptation continues.
I prefer reading the books first, but either order works. Just treat the show and novels as separate versions of the story.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more fantasy authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Fantasy Books in Order index.
11 thoughts on “Wheel of Time Books in Order: All 15 Books + Chronological Order”
I am in the middle of rereading WoT. Actually listening on Audible. Its great for taking up downtime (like while driving). 5 Books in and should finish sometime this fall (if I do not take a 3 month break to reread Harry Potter).
I would not suggest to someone starting the series to begin with New Spring. Its a great backgrounder, but not a starting point. It took 3 books to really understand the Aes Sedai BS. Starting out in the Tower is incomprehensible.
Great suggestion Andrew. I’ll update the post a little later to mention that. I imagine it’s still an option for those rereading that want a purely chronological experience?
The world lost a great sci-fi author when Brandon passed. I still have the complete series of The Wheel of Time and look forward to watching the movie. Brandon did a great job finishing the series in the way Robert wanted it done. I go back every now and then and reread the entire series, I do that with many of my favorite reads.
I need to bump Eye of the World higher up my TBR! It’s there, I just need to prioritize it.
If you’ve never read The Wheel of Time before, then I recommend reading New Spring after Book 2, The Great Hunt. The reason for this is that New Spring contains spoilers for scenes in the first two books that will completely change the reader’s perspective of several characters and their motives and many scenes would not have the same impact with this foreknowledge. By partway through Book 2, all the secrets of New Springs are revealed, and the prequel can be safely read at any time after this point.
If it’s not your first time reading at least the first few books, then by all means, start with the prequel.
You’re absolutely right. I wouldn’t recommend the chronological reading path for anyone but fans doing a re-read. That’s the case for almost any series.
Personally, I always prefer publication order, because if it’s good enough for original readers, it’s good enough for me.
The one exception is for mega series like Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere where the author has actually come out with their recommended reading order. The author knows best in those instances!
WOT is pretty good say,6.5 out of 10.cant hold a candle to LOTR or the hainish cycle from leGuin (or Earthsea).Good enough to read 2-3 times.Good story but lots of filler (more in later books)E.G. he never mentions a warder without something about their “eye-wrenching cloaks”. After a dozen times I just want to call him up and say”enough about the fucking cloaks,already”. Series would be afew thousand pages shorter w/o all the fat.Sometimes reads like Jordan was paid by the word.
Please revise your suggestion to read the Prequel first. As other commenters alluded,, it is more of a delightful insight into a curious relationship, NOT part of the WoT story that follows Rand al Thor and Friends.. and enemies…. and the age old bottle between good and evil, Light & Dark..
It’s not a suggestion to read it that way. It’s simply an option. I always list books in chronological order in these sorts of lists. And there’s a disclaimer that you should NOT read it that way if you’ve never read the series.
But some people like to know where all the books belong if arranged in a timeline of events. So it is an appropriate list.
The series desperately needs an editor. The first four books were fantastic. But the main plot slowed way down and got stuck on bit characters. I have good friends who just stopped reading because the plot stopped advancing. It’s a shame because the finish/resolution aka the last three books is fantastic.
So my recommendation is read the first seven/eight books. Then skip to book 13 and read the last three.
Then go back and read the prequel which is a good story worth reading but full of spoilers.
Tai Shar Manatheren
Found your post searching for a recommended order for the last three books. As released, those will put a crimp in any attempt to read in “chronological” order. Why? Because Jordan intended them to be a single, last massive volume and Brandon wrote them that way, then he, Harriet (Robert’s widow and editor) and the publishers at Tor agreed it wasn’t feasible. They broke it into three books, which *mostly* works, but in order to make three satisfying books a lot of events in Towers of Midnight take place before the climax of The Gathering Storm. This can get confusing because several characters move around a fair bit and it gets tricky keeping track of what events have or haven’t happened in different POV chapters.