"I have read a lot of books throughout my mere twenty years of life. Some deeply fascinating, others not so much. And every once in a while I am able to lay my eyes on something truly extraordinary. One of those is definitely Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.” – Markus, Goodreads 

Fantasy fiction is one of the most interesting and best-selling genres around the world. From our childhood, we enter the fantasy world through our grandma’s stories and the books we read. The wheel of time is one such high fantasy series spanning fourteen volumes with one prequel book and two background companion books. 

This fantasy book has a huge fictional world of its own. Its written by the American author, Robert Jordan. Due to his demise, while he was completing the final book, Brandon Sanderson completed it. The first book was published on January 15, 1990, and the fourteenth and the last book was released on January 8, 2013, putting an end to this gigantic series.  

The book’s lore is heavily inspired from European and Asian mythology, especially Buddhism and Hinduism. The main villain of the series is called Shai’tan, The Dark One,  which is the Arabic word for the Devil. There are concepts of cyclic lives and balance which are derived from Taoism. Its believed to be also inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. 

The author was heavily inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of the Rings. Its lengthy and have a variety and huge numbers of characters. It has magic, which they refer to as “channelling” and a “good” and “bad” side. The imaginary world is gripping. 

The inspiration from Tolkien is also discussed to the point where it is believed that Jordan has taken elements from Lord Of The Rings. After selling 80 million copies in total, this was the best selling fantasy series since Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings. The series’ popularity is self-explanatory considering the numerous video games and soundtrack albums it had spawned. 

The German power metal band Blind Guardian dedicated two songs from their album At The Edge Of Time to the Wheel Of Time series. The Wheel Of Time Roleplaying Game was released in 2001. Sony Pictures Announced in 2017 that the series will be adapted into a television series. 

The readers received were becoming its fans almost immediately. Some have grown up with these books. Many also accuse Robert Jordan of stealing elements from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings. But for the lovers of this books, they have read nothing better.