The Wheel of Time Series

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth return again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, when the World and Time themselves hang in the balance, a wind rises in the mountains of mist . . .

. . . and Rand al'Thor is cold. Though the spring festival of Bel Tine comes tomorrow, it is a year without spring, a year when green things fail and hope is dying.

It is a year of strangers; of a lady; and a gleeman with his tales of heroes; and a peddler with news of the present -- of war with Ghealdan, far away, and of the rising of a false Dragon -- the savior whose coming, foretold and dreaded, will bring a new Breaking to the World. But the worst strangers are monsters Rand thought only legend -- the bestial Trollocs, and the horrifying Halfmen, whose eyeless gaze is fear.

They want a boy on the brink of manhood, born within a certain span of months. They want Rand himself, or his burly, deliberate friend Perrin, or the prankster Mat.

It is a world where nothing is what it seems. Not Nynaeve, the village Wisdom, who can Read the Wind. Not Moiraine, the lady from outside, whose beauty hides a terrifying identity and a Power that seemed only yesterday to be the stuff of legend. Not the lady's companion, Lan, whose chameleon cloak is stranger than the fluttering, multihued garment that proclaims the gleeman's trade of old Thom Merrilin. And not Egwene, the innkeeper's dark-haired daughter, caught between childhood and womanhood, between love of Rand and determination to become all that her destiny would make her.

The villagers know only that Trollocs hunt them. They have no way of knowing that the Dark One, imprisoned by the Creator at the moment of creation, is stirring in Shayol Ghul.

It is a time for prophecies to be fulfilled. The Wheel of Time is weaving a Web in the Pattern of Ages, a Web to entangle the World. It is a time when Time itself may die, when the Eye of the World may be blinded. What was, and what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

For centuries traveling gleemen have told the tales of The Great Hunt of the Horn. So many tales about each of the Hunters, and so many Hunters to tell of . . .

Now the Horn itself is found: the Horn of Valere long thought only legend, the Horn which will raise the dead heroes of the ages.

And it is stolen.

Rand al'Thor, the farmboy who is thought to be the Dragon Reborn -- the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him -- refuses to accept his fate. Even facing the dreaded Amrylin, the leader of the Aes Sedai who may intend to "gentle" him, Rand fiercely denies his Power. He will have none of it -- no matter what Myrddraal and Trollocs, Aes Sedai and dreams stand in his way.

But with the Horn another object is stolen: a dagger from the terrible ruins of Shadar Logoth. Unless the dagger is recovered, Mat Cauthon's life will end. And Mat is Rand's oldest friend. Unwillingly, distrusting everyone, Rand is drawn into the Hunt.

As Egwene, the innkeeper's lovely daughter, and Nynaeve, the young village Wisdom, set out for Tar Valon's White Tower, seat of the Aes Sedai, Rand and the ogier Loial, accompanied by Perrin Aybara, the Wolfbrother who was once a blacksmith, track the Horn and dagger through Shienar -- and enter a world stranger than time itself. But Rand cannot escape his Power. The Dark One is stirring in Shayol Ghul. The Dark One wants the Horn. The Dark One wants Rand.

The Dragon Reborn -- the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him -- is on the run from his destiny.

Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how -- for no man has done it in three thousand years -- Rand al'Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?

Winter has stopped the war -- almost -- yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?

Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem -- how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?

Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be Healed -- if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell Amyrlin their news -- that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumor, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits . . .

Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon Reborn. . . .

The seals of Shayol Ghul are weak now, and the Dark One reaches out. The Shadow is rising to cover humankind.

In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plots the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn. . . .

In this sequel to the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Shadow Rising, Robert Jordan again plunges us into his extraordinarily rich, totally unforgettable world:

. . . Into the forbidden city of Rhuidean, where Rand al'Thor, now the Dragon Reborn, must conceal his present endeavor from all about him, even Egwene and Moiraine.

. . . Into the Amyrlin's study in the White Tower, where the Amyrlin, Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan, is weaving new plans.

. . . Into Andor, where Siuan Sanche and her companions, including the false Dragon Logain, have been arrested for barn-burning.

. . . Into the luxurious hidden chamber where the Forsaken Rahvin is meeting with three of his fellows to ensure their ultimate victory over the Dragon.

. . . Into the Queen's court in Caemlyn, where Morgase is curiously in thrall to the handsome Lord Gaebril.

For once the Dragon walks the land, the fires of heaven fall where they will, until all men's lives are ablaze.

And in Shayol Ghul, the Dark One stirs. . . .

On the slopes of Shayol Ghul, the Myrddraal swords are forged, and the sky is not the sky of this world. In Salidar the White Tower in exile prepares an embassy to Caemlyn, where Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, holds the throne -- and where an unexpected visitor may change the world. In Emond's Field, Perrin Goldeneyes, Lord of the Two Rivers, feels the pull of ta'veren to ta'veren and prepares to march. Morgase of Caemlyn finds a most unexpected, and quite unwelcome, ally. And south lies Illian, where Sammael holds sway. . . .

Elayne, Aviendha, and Mat come ever closer to locating the Bowl of the Winds, a ter'angreal that may reverse the endless heat wave sent by the Dark One and restore natural weather. Egwene begins to gather all manner of women who can channel -- Sea Folk, Windfinders, Wise Ones, and some surprising others. And, above all, Rand al'Thor faces the dread Forsaken Sammael in the shadows of Shadar Logoth, where the blood-hungry mist, Mashadar, waits for prey.

The Seanchan invasion force is in possession of Ebou Dar. Nynaeve, Elayne, and Aviendha head for Caemlyn and Elayne's rightful throne, but on the way they discover an enemy much worse than the Seanchan.

In Illian, Rand vows to throw the Seanchan back as he did once before. But signs of madness are appearing among the Asha'man.

In Ghealdan, Perrin faces the intrigues of Whitecloaks, Seanchan invaders, the scattered Shaido Aiel, and the Prophet himself. Perrin's beloved wife, Faile, may pay with her life, and Perrin himself may have to destroy his soul to save her.

Meanwhile the rebel Aes Sedai under their young Amyrlin, Egwene al'Vere, face an army that intends to keep them away from the White Tower. But Egwene is determined to unseat the usurper Elaida and reunite the Aes Sedai. She does not yet understand the price that others -- and she herself -- will pay.

Rand is on the run with Min, and in Cairhien, Cadsuane is trying to figure out where he is headed. Rand's destination is, in fact, one she has never considered.

Mazrim Taim, leader of the Black Tower, is revealed to be a liar. But what is he up to?

Faile, with the Aiel Maidens, Bain and Chiad, and her other companions, Queen Alliandre and Morgase, is a prisoner of Sevanna's sept.

Perrin is hunting desperately for Faile. With Elyas Machera, Berelain, the Prophet, and a very mixed "army" of disparate forces, he is moving through country rife with bandits and roving Seanchan...and in the wolfdream the man called Slayer seems to be hunting Perrin. In addition, the Forsaken are ever more present.

In Tar Valon, the schemers and counter-schemers in Elaida's White Tower are shaken to the core when Egwene and the rebels appear suddenly outside the walls.

In Ebou Dar, the Seanchan princess known as Daughter of the Nine Moons arrives--and Mat, who has been recuperating in the Tarasin Palace, is introduced to her. Will the marriage that has been foretold come about?

There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it is a beginning...

This essential companion to The Wheel of Time is for the millions interested in the history and the background of this incredible series -- never-before-told legends, previously unknown peoples and lands, exotic beasts, and portents of what may come to pass.

With more than seventy new full-color paintings that include stunning new world maps, portraits of the central characters, landscapes, objects of Power, and national flags, this comprehensive guide is indispensable to any fan of Robert Jordan.

Also included in this stunning volume are double-page spreads of the seven book jackets by renowned fantasy artist Darrell K. Sweet -- so that these magnificent works can be enjoyed without type -- and all the previously published maps, plus maps of the entire world, the Seanchan Empire, the nations of the Covenant of the Ten Nations, and the nations as they were when Artur Paendrag Tanreall began his rise to legend. With this magnificent, illustrated guide the reader can enjoy the world and history of The Wheel of Time in all its splendor.