The Wheel of Time is the crowning work of Robert Jordan, beginning with The Eye of the World in 1990 and concluding with A Memory of Light in 2013. The series spans a total of fifteen books and has been praised as one of the greatest epic fantasy series of all time, with many authors siting it as inspirational in their own works. The series went through a lot, with Jordan releasing some fo the greatest books ever to be written to some of the most dullest. Sadly, Jordan passed away to cancer, leaving Brandon Sanderson to complete the last books of the series.
The Wheel of Time begins in an area known as the Two Rivers, a rural backwater with nothing of importance. Our three main characters, Mat, Rand, and Perrin, live normal lives in Emond's Field, a village in the Two Rivers. When their village is attacked by monstrous Trollocs, the three are saved when an Aes Sedai (Basically a female wizard) defeats the Trollocs and reveals that one of them is the Dragon Reborn, the one prophesied to defeat the Dark One, the source of all evil. The series begins as sort of a coming of age story as the three leave their homes and face the wide, cruel, world Jordan spent a decade crafting.
Moments of The Wheel of Time are absolutely awe inspiring. I remember finishing up The Dragon Reborn and thinking that it couldn't get much better then this. I was flat-out wrong, the next book, The Shadow Rising, is one of the best books I've ever read, and is definitely the strongest out of the fifteen. Sadly, at that point, I felt the series begin to spiral downhill in terms of quality. All of the books have their moments, but some of them found myself wanting to give up on it. But I persevered, and it was worth it. I still feel like a lot of the books, especially The Path of Daggers, Winter's Heart, and The Crossroads of Twilight. When I started the books written by Brandon Sanderson, it took me awhile to adjust to his new style. Robert Jordan undoubtedly could've done it better, but it Sanderson did a fantastic job considering the circumstances, and I think the ending was good. That being said, I found myself struggling to accept the ending. (SPOILERS) At the end of the series, Rand is finally confronted with the enemy he was prophesied to defeat. The Dark One has been imprisoned for centuries, but now he has been released, and Rand has him in his hands. he has the power to destroy the Dark One and all evil, but he doesn't. He decides that taking away the choice of men to be evil is wrong. In the events preceding his decision, he sees a world with no evil, and sees people all the same, stripped of character traits that made them who they were (Like having a quick temper, etc.). He decides that he must preserve man's free will, and instead of killing the Dark one, reimprisons him, knowing he will eventually break out and the whole battle will need to be fought again. I don't think this is right, I think evil is something like a taint that has been put on us, and to be truly who we were created to be the taint needs to be removed. (END) Still, I think for the world the series was set in, it was the best way to end it. Plotwise, I enjoyed most of it. There were some plot lines I absolutely hated, such as the love triangle (Square?), and I just hated every minute spent on Elayne and Min. Some of the Egwene and Mat plotlines didn't make sense and I didn't like, but all in all, when the series is looked at as a whole, it holds up to the praise given it. As Brent Weeks said, Robert Jordan has started to dominate the world Tolkien revealed. Jordan has had a massive affect on literature. He may have passed, but his story and the influence it had lives on.
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. - The Eye of the World
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