Line #61 Literature/TheWheelOfTime


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wheeloftime.png]]
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3	->''The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third age by some, an Age yet to come, an age long past, a wind rose in [a location]. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was ''a'' beginning.''
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5	An epic fantasy series by Creator/RobertJordan (and then Creator/BrandonSanderson, after the former died), currently consisting of fourteen books, a prequel (''New Spring''), and a couple of series guides, as well as a [[FirstPersonShooter first-person]] [[VideoGame/TheWheelOfTime shooter]] and a [[TheRolePlayingGame tabletop RPG]].
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7	* Prequel: ''New Spring'' (2004) (expanded from a novella)
8	# ''The Eye of the World'' (1990)
9	# ''The Great Hunt'' (1990)
10	# ''The Dragon Reborn'' (1991)
11	# ''The Shadow Rising'' (1992)
12	# ''The Fires of Heaven'' (1993)
13	# ''Lord of Chaos'' (1994)
14	# ''A Crown of Swords'' (1996)
15	# ''The Path of Daggers'' (1998)
16	# ''Winter's Heart'' (2000)
17	# ''Crossroads of Twilight'' (2003)
18	# ''Knife of Dreams'' (2005)
19	# ''The Gathering Storm'' (2009)
20	# ''Towers of Midnight'' (2010)
21	# ''A Memory of Light'' (2013)
22	* "The Strike at Shayol Ghul" (1996): Short story. [[https://www.lobring.com/books/shayol.php Available online]] and in ''The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time''.
23	* "Ravens": Extra prologue chapter included in ''The Eye of the World: From the Two Rivers''.[[note]]In 2002, ''The Eye of the World'' was republished as two shorter volumes for younger readers, ''From the Two Rivers'' and ''To the Blight''. ''To the Blight'' also includes an expanded glossary.[[/note]]
24	* "River of Souls" (2013): Short story published in the ''Unfettered'' anthology. [[note]]Takes place concurrently with the beginning of ''A Memory of Light'' and is Demandred-centric.[[/note]]
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26	[[AC:Series Guides:]]
27	* ''The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time'' (1997)
28	* ''The Wheel of Time Companion: The People, Places, and History of the Bestselling Series'' (2015): An updated series guide/encyclopedia that Harriet [=McDougal=], Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons made with Jordan's notes, released in November 2015.
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30	[[AC:Other:]]
31	* "A Fire Within the Ways": A non-canon cut sequence from ''A Memory of Light''. [[https://www.tor.com/2019/01/28/unfettered-iii-wheel-of-time-a-fire-within-the-ways/ Available online]] and in the ''Unfettered III'' anthology.
32	----
33	In the beginning, the Creator made the universe, which consisted of: the Wheel of Time, which spins the tapestry of the ages with the people's lives as its threads; the One Power, a BackgroundMagicField which drives the Wheel and is [[FunctionalMagic divided into male and female halves]], ''saidin'' and ''saidar'' respectively; and a prison for [[BigBad the Dark One]] so that he could not influence creation. Then the Creator walked away and just let the whole thing spin. And since then ages have come and gone...
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35	''Saidin'' and ''saidar'' are PolarOppositeTwins, but male and female [[MagicByAnyOtherName channelers]] working together have always achieved the best results. Therefore, back in the Age of Legends, [[MageSpecies Aes Sedai]] scientists had an interest in finding and accessing a source of magic that could be channeled by both genders. Good news: they found it. Bad news: "it" was the Dark One, [[{{Satan}} the embodiment of pure evil]], and the attempt to [[DugTooDeep dig a hole to its prison]] just [[SealedEvilInACan broke it open]].
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37	Long story short, HilarityEnsues, [[DisSimile if by "hilarity" one means "death, war, and blood"]]. Lews Therin Telamon, "[[BigGood the one called Dragon]]", managed to successfully re-seal [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Lord of the Grave]]'s prison (and trap its [[QuirkyMinibossSquad powerful generals]], "the Forsaken") with a makeshift cork, but not before [[IHaveManyNames the Father of Lies]] poisoned ''saidin''. All male Aes Sedai [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity went insane]], as would all male channelers thereafter, and brought civilization crashing down by each becoming a PersonOfMassDestruction and committing a WorldSundering or three. Eventually, mankind rebuilt itself, but [[MedievalStasis never regained its former glory]].
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39	Some three thousand years later, [[HowWeGotHere in the story's modern day]], a trio of young men -- FarmBoy Rand, GuileHero Mat, and TheBlacksmith Perrin -- were living out their lives in a small village... until a mysterious woman called Moiraine showed up, followed shortly thereafter by an attack by ([[AllMythsAreTrue to them]]) mythical monsters. According to Moiraine, the three were "''ta'veren''" (an [[{{Fictionary}} Old Tongue]] word meaning "MainCharacters"), and the Dark One itself was after them. Possibly, one of them might be [[TheChosenOne the Dragon Reborn]], the {{reincarnation}} of Lews Therin Telamon who would lead the forces of good against the rise of evil -- while, like any male channeler, [[DestructiveSavior simultaneously going insane]]. Moiraine, an Aes Sedai, was sent in to find him, [[SaveThisPersonSaveTheWorld protect him]], teach him to channel ([[GenderRestrictedAbility if possible]]), keep him sane (if possible), and prepare him -- whichever one "he" is (FirstEpisodeTwist: it's Rand) -- for the fight. For the [[CosmicKeystone seven seals]] on the Dark One's prison are starting to weaken, and TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is approaching, and if there is to be any hope for all creation, there's a lot of work to be done. For prophecy says that The Dragon Reborn ''can'' defeat The Dark One... but not that he ''will''.
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41	Known for its sprawling plot, huge cast, intricate magic system, and... [[AuthorAppeal interesting]] character development resulting from Robert Jordan building the MarsAndVenusGenderContrast into the literal fabric of the universe.
42	----
43	Jordan churned out the first six or seven books at a prodigious pace, but began slowing down around the eighth, as [[KudzuPlot the plot got bigger]], [[FourLinesAllWaiting the action got slower]] and, according to some fans at least, [[SeasonalRot the quality got lower]]. Progress slowed further when Jordan was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_amyloidosis amyloidosis]], to which he succumbed in 2007. Even worse, he DiedDuringProduction at the exact worst time: midway through the twelfth and final book of the series, ''A Memory of Light''.
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45	But all was not lost. Jordan's wife and editor, Harriet [=McDougal=], chose up-and-coming fantasy author Creator/BrandonSanderson to complete the series, based on Jordan's copious notes and some completed fragments. After working on the KudzuPlot, Sanderson announced that the last book had [[TrilogyCreep grown to an additional three volumes]] -- despite Jordan's declaration that the twelfth book would absolutely wrap the series, even "if it's 20,000 pages long, Tor has to invent a new binding system, or it comes with its own library cart". Whatever the case, Sanderson delivered his first novel in 2009, and the Wheel continued to spin, with the final book released in January 2013.
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47	Very much one of the LongRunners: the first book of the series was published on January 15, 1990, the last exactly 22 years and 51 weeks later, in January of the Chinese Year of the Dragon.
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49	[[AshCanCopy An extremely shoddy]] PilotEpisode for a TV adaptation of the series was aired on FXX (at about 2 AM) in February 2015. Though the producing company, Red Eagle Entertainment, then held the television rights to the series, the pilot was shot without involvement or approval from Harriet [=McDougal=]; the rights were due to revert to her a mere three days later, explaining the pilot's unfinished nature and total lack of advertising or publicity. Since then, [=McDougal=] has re-negotiated a contract with Sony Pictures. In October of 2018, Amazon partnered with Sony to produce [[Series/TheWheelOfTime the series]] for the Prime Video streaming service. ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'' debuted on November 19, 2021, with Creator/RosamundPike starring as Moiraine.
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51	----
52	!!These books provide examples of:
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54	[[index]]
55	* TheWheelOfTime/TropesAToF
56	* TheWheelOfTime/TropesGToL
57	* TheWheelOfTime/TropesMToR
58	* TheWheelOfTime/TropesSToZ
59	[[/index]]
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61	----
62	->''"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass.\
63	What was, what will be, and what is,\
64	may yet fall under the Shadow.\
65	Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time."''
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Context Literature / TheWheelOfTime