In The Fires of Heaven, a schism among the Aiel sees the four clans who won’t accept an outsider’s leadership leaving to attack the city of Carhien, with Rand and the other seven clans in hot pursuit. Several of their friends face capture in the process, before Rand faces the villain Ba’alzamon once again for a climactic battle. In The Great Hunt, they travel to a parallel world and pursue the stolen Horn of Valere. This is the book where Rand is identified as the Dragon Reborn, though he continues to struggle with accepting his powers. The teens are separated from each other on their journey, developing new abilities and connections, before reuniting to travel to the Eye of the World – an untainted reserve of Saidin (the masculine side of the One Essence, most of which was corrupted at the end of the age of legends) that contains one of the seven seals that keep the Dark One imprisoned. After their peaceful home town of Emond’s Field is attacked by Trollocs, the teenaged heroes flee, accompanied by an Aes Sedhai and her warder as well as some other protectors. After a prologue setting up important lore for the series, The Eye of the World introduces several of the protagonists, including the unaware reborn legendary hero Rand al’Thor. The Eye of the World is the official first published book in the series. But if you want to read chronologically, start here. If you want to read the series in order of publication rather than events, then skip this one until you’ve read the rest of the series first. We find out how they first learned of the prophecies of the rebirth of the Dragon, and began researching and preparing for it. Set twenty years before The Eye of the World, New Spring follows Moiraine Damodred and Siuan Sanche in their early days as Aes Sedai, right at the end of the Aiel War. Though written much later than most of the books, New Spring is actually a prequel, co-written by Jordan and Sanderson. So to help you out, The Mary Sue has created a guide to reading every book in The Wheel of Time series in order, that will help you keep track of which book you’re actually on. I’ve definitely found myself asking “Wait, have I read this book before?”, when actually I hadn’t. And the repetition of themes and storylines in the series makes it even more confusing to find your place in the series. It can be really hard to figure out where you’re supposed to start. Robert Jordan’s (and for the last three installments, Brandon Sanderson’s) The Wheel of Time series is a must-read for every classic fantasy fan.
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