Wheel of Time
#904.21 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 15 books Status Complete 1990–2013 Reading commitment High Robert Jordan · Brandon Sanderson Last reviewed 2026-08-05
Overview
The Wheel of Time is an epic-fantasy sequence of 14 main-sequence novels plus a prequel, begun by Robert Jordan with The Eye of the World (1990) and, after Jordan's death in 2007, completed by Brandon Sanderson from Jordan's extensive notes, concluding with A Memory of Light (January 2013). As of 2021 the series has sold over 90 million copies, and books 8 through 14 each debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (15 works) counts toward ranking
The Wheel of Time Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Eye of the World | 1990 | core | 4.19 (606,218 ratings) |
 | The Great Hunt | 1990 | core | 4.27 (365,383 ratings) |
 | The Dragon Reborn | 1991 | core | 4.28 (332,612 ratings) |
 | The Shadow Rising | 1992 | core | 4.29 (268,757 ratings) |
 | The Fires of Heaven | 1993 | core | 4.20 (217,782 ratings) |
 | Lord of Chaos | 1994 | core | 4.20 (202,202 ratings) |
 | A Crown of Swords | 1996 | core | 4.07 (191,666 ratings) |
 | The Path of Daggers | 1998 | core | 3.93 (167,059 ratings) |
 | Winter's Heart | 2000 | core | 3.97 (159,568 ratings) |
 | Crossroads of Twilight | 2003 | core | 3.77 (144,612 ratings) |
 | Knife of Dreams | 2005 | core | 4.21 (152,704 ratings) |
 | The Gathering Storm; Completed by Brandon Sanderson from Robert Jordan's notes. | 2009 | core | 4.44 (182,063 ratings) |
 | Towers of Midnight; Completed by Brandon Sanderson from Robert Jordan's notes. | 2010 | core | 4.49 (179,382 ratings) |
 | A Memory of Light; Completed by Brandon Sanderson from Robert Jordan's notes. | 2013 | core | 4.59 (166,570 ratings) |
 | New Spring; Prequel novel (Jan 2004), set ~20 years before The Eye of the World; expansion of the 1998 novella. Registered Core. | 2004 | core | 4.07 (120,136 ratings) |
14 main-sequence novels (1990-2013) + prequel New Spring (2004).
Library: Expanded Canon & reference (5 works)
New Spring (novella) (1998) ; Original shorter version, Legends anthology (Aug 1998); superseded by the 2004 novel.
The Strike at Shayol Ghul (1996) ; In-universe historical document, first published online 1996; incorporated into the 1997 world book.
River of Souls (2013) ; Scenes cut from A Memory of Light; anthology Unfettered (2013).
The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (1997) lore reference; With Teresa Patterson. Deliberately unreliable in-universe document ('broadly canonical' with intentional errors).
The Wheel of Time Companion (2015) lore reference; Posthumous 816-page reference compiled from Jordan's notes (McDougal, Romanczuk, Simons).
Quick answers
- How many books are in Wheel of Time? Wheel of Time's Core Canon is 15 books, plus 5 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for Wheel of Time? Publication order, starting with The Eye of the World. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Wheel of Time finished? Complete (1990–2013).
- How much reading does Wheel of Time take? High reading commitment (estimated from 15 Core Canon books · ~11,991 pages).
- How is Wheel of Time ranked? #90 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 3,456,714 reader ratings across 15 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #90?
Ranked #90 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.21 across 15 core books.
- Backed by 3.5M reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.77 to 4.59.
- Less than 0.01 behind #89, The Licanius Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 15 books · Complete · 3.5M ratings · Ranks #90 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (15 Core Canon books)
- 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)
Honours & records (verified)
- Books 8–14 each reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list
- Over 90 million copies sold worldwide (as of 2021)
- 2014 Hugo Award finalist: the complete series, nominated as a whole (won by Ancillary Justice)
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Wheel of Time and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Kencyrath Epic fantasy / Sword & sorcery · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.28
- The Drenai Saga Epic fantasy / Sword & sorcery · Complete · High commitment · 4.27
- Green Rider Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.17
- The Imager Portfolio Epic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.16
Official resources (linked, never copied)
- Macmillan / Tor: official series page
- Dragonmount: the largest WoT community site
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.21 across 3,456,714 ratings on 15 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Wheel of Time Core Canon accepted 2026-08-05
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia (English) Tier 2
- Macmillan / Tor Publishing Group Tier 1
- The Hugo Awards, official site Tier 1
- Dragonmount Tier 4
Last reviewed: 2026-08-06
Rule: New Spring is a full Jordan-authored in-universe novel and counts as core; the 1998 novella version is a superseded variant in the Library.
Key figures & places Knowledge-graph pilot
The 6th bounded, sourced pilot of this project's knowledge-graph layer -- 37 characters, 18 places and 16 organizations registered for the Wheel of Time, with 109 cross-linking relationship edges (not rendered here). Coverage follows a fixed selection rule since 2026-09-04 (viewpoint characters across two or more core books, each series' protagonists and antagonists, and recurring named roles), so it scales with the size of the universe.
- Rand al'Thor
- Matrim Cauthon
- Perrin Aybara
- Egwene al'Vere
- Nynaeve al'Meara
- Moiraine Damodred
- The Two Rivers
- Emond's Field
- Andor
- Caemlyn
- Tar Valon
- Aes Sedai
- The Black Ajah
- Children of the Light