[Media Talk] Wheel Of Time 1 3

13 October 2025

I've recently been reading through the Wheel of Time books with my partner, and it has served as a window back into the space of reading as a hobby. In addition to being these two wonderful things, they are also just genuinely enjoyable books that I would like to discuss. I do not know much about the author, his other works, or major stuff going on in his life while he was writing these books.

I am aware that the original author has passed away, and the series was finished by Brandon Sanderson. I'm vaguely aware of Brandon Sanderson's fiction, I've read bits and pieces but never finished a full book of his. I plan to read the first Mistborn book soon.

I would just like to share my thoughts and feelings about these three books so far, not as a review but simply as a reflection of my thoughts and feelings with the first three books in the series.

I am also aware of the Amazon Prime series. I watched the first episode and did not feel like the adaptation went in a direction I was fond of. I plan to try to watch it again soon, taking more of an effort to meet it at face value as what it is, not what I want it to be.

Expect some spoilers. These are large books, and there are three of them, so I do not expect myself to talk about every individual aspect of these books or their plot or characters. I will, however, not stop myself from talking about plot details when I feel they are relevant to my thoughts.

Reflection - Major Spoilers Ahead

This initial trilogy of books primarily follows a group of young adults from a small agricultural village as they are whisked away from home, ensnared in an ancient prophecy that will come to fruition with or without their consent. Described as ta'veren, supernaturally influential figures around which the proverbial thread of history is wound, three young men from the village of Emond's Field are sought out by a pair of strange visitors: an Aes Sedai and her Warder. Aes Sedai are women classically trained in the art of spellcraft, channeling the ever-prevalent One Power in order to perform acts of magic ranging from terrifying to mundane; Warders serve as the magically-enhanced bodyguards of the Aes Sedai, benefiting from certain properties of the One Power that a man otherwise would not have access to. Three young men are identified as potential reincarnations of a figure known as "The Dragon," a male Aes Sedai from ancient history accredited with starting an apocalyptic time known as the "Breaking of the World" and corrupting the male half of the True Source, preventing men from safely channeling.

I feel like the above is a concise enough refresher on the circumstances around the beginning of the story to allow me to make note of major aspects of the setting and story that stood out to me the most. Do not expect a detailed plot breakdown, instead I simply wish to discuss individual outstanding moments. The Wheel of Time is a story of many characters, and I feel as though I do not have the time nor words to give detailed thoughts on everybody. The three most central characters, however, I do feel like I can give a short breakdown on before we get into the real nitty gritty.

Characters

Rand al'Thor -

The son of a shepherd from Emond's Field, a small village in the Two Rivers. Among the residents of the Two Rivers, Rand stands out. His red hair and tall frame mark him as entirely unique in the region, more reminiscent of the Aiel, a warlike people from far away. Along the books, he grows into his channeling powers as the Dragon Reborn, struggling to balance what he knows he must do and the risk and danger he believes it might bring onto those he loves.

Rand is a compelling primary protagonist, and the story arc that has been presented for him has lent itself to an interesting exploration of his character. I believe that everyone can relate to his feelings, the anxiety of coming of age. Reluctantly taking on new responsibilities while desperately wishing to return to a simpler life is in human nature, and I hope that we can see him grow into a man that he needs to be while reclaiming the aspects of himself that he wants to embody.

Perrin Aybara -

A blacksmith's apprentice from Emond's Field, ushered away by Moiraine in the wake of prophecy. Perrin, while being quite physically large and intimidating, is perhaps the most gentle and kind-natured of the youth from Emond's Field. He is slow to anger, and always thoroughly takes everything into account before speaking and taking an action. Once the cork on his anger comes off though, his animalistic impulses as a wolfbrother make him a force to be reckoned with, a young bull impossible to slow down.

Chapters from Perrin's point of view are among my favorites, his demeanor and thoughtful approach to everything really allow for deep insight into how his brain works, what makes him tick. He is highly perceptive, aware of the myriad sights and smells around him much more than other characters might be. Location introductions from his perspective are often the most detailed, though I cannot tell if that is more to do with his finely-tuned senses or perceptive nature.

Matrim Cauthon -

Usually just referred to as Mat, he is the relatively immature and roguish heart of the tightly-knit group of Emond's Field boys. Mat holds little regard for authority, even up to the divine authority of prophecy, shirking responsibility until it is clear he must take it. If it were up to him, he would spend his days slacking off and having fun.

Mat takes the role of the brazen gambler, making the risky plays that other characters have the common sense not to take. This gets him ahead of his adversaries as often as it sets him back, but such risks are necessary if evil itself is supposed to be defeated. I do like Mat, though there is not too much I feel I can say on him yet. He was missing or otherwise incapacitated for probably the entire duration of a book, all time put together. Having just recently come into his own powers by the end of the third book, I hope to explore his perspective much more thoroughly later.

Setting

As a fan of fantasy and science-fiction media (and if you ask me, both genres are one and the same), the aspect of these works I most often find myself engaged with is the worlds these works take place in. An interesting, internally consistent and well thought out world is perhaps my favorite thing to find when starting a new book, game, show, etc. I would not like to imply that works cannot stand high upon other pillars, plenty of pieces of media I love have settings which I would consider anywhere between "poorly implemented" and "completely inconsequential" while still being extremely likable pieces of media by merit of their other features. Settings which I would consider properly engaging don't necessarily have to be the most unique, individually-inspired, groundbreaking, brand new things in the world as long as they are well written. The world of The Wheel of Time, as explored in these first three books, has surprised me. What looked to be a fairly safe, by the books fantasy world slowly revealed itself to be surprisingly grand and fresh, despite major influences being very visible.

What I enjoy most about the setting, and how the world is written, is the attention to detail in almost any location described. A thorough image is always provided for a new location, no matter how small. As the characters travel across the land, different kingdoms and villages are accompanied by changes in architectural style, culture, and even speech. If you are paying attention, you can spot a side character from Illain from a mile away simply by the way they speak. No matter how narrow of a slice of a person or place we get in any chapter, I am always left wanting more but never left feeling like I don't have enough information to form a thorough picture of the person or place in question. It's a level of detail that has to be read to be appreciated, and I am glad these books are as thick as they are for just such a reason.

This world is chock full of artifacts and architecture of ages long past. I love the exploration of ancient, magical sites in fantasy media. Nothing quite sells the idea of "fantasy adventure" as a good, old-fashioned dungeon run to uncover some artifact of ambiguous, unimaginable power. Across the world are remnants of the Age of Legends, a utopian period where powerful magic was so prevalent that all descriptions of it seem almost alien and futuristic. This in and of itself is a common enough fantasy trope, even the Lord of the Rings was set in a time of magical decay, with sites and artifacts that once held more significance than they seem to now. But the implied history of this setting feels dense, and with the importance of rebirth and prophecy, exploring ancient history in these books often reveals or foreshadows events in the current day in a way that always feels slightly different than how I expect things to tie together.

There are many different systems of magic introduced, independent of the normal channeling that an Aes Sedai is capable of. The magic of the wolfbrothers, a group of which Perrin is a member of, is fascinating to me. These men have a supernatural link to wolves, able to communicate with them telepathically. This communication is described to not happen in the form of words or spoken language, but raw ideas and images which the wolfbrother can decipher into images meaningful to them. They also take on aspects of wolves of their own, including the sharp, reflective, night-seeing eyes of a wolf. This is a much more interesting take on something like, say, lycanthropy. This is a much less trodden and played out image of a "wolf-man" and I am happy with how the idea is being explored.

The setting has also introduced sniffers, men who are able to sniff out violence itself. A sniffer is able to smell violence, the intensity of the smell relating to the magnitude of the act of violence and how long ago it occurred. This seems somewhat related to the magic of the wolfbrothers, but I'm not entirely sure. There is also luck and probability manipulation magic shown to be used in the setting, also only by a man. It seems that in the absence of the refined, structured, traditional magic of channeling, masculinity has instead become intertwined with wild, primordial, naturalistic magics.

One faction encountered in the setting that I have not found another appropriate place to talk about is The Travelling People. The Travelling People live a nomadic lifestyle, living from their wagons that they walk with in an endless pilgrimage across the lands. They follow The Way of the Leaf, a pacifistic code of honor which places utmost importance on never using force or resisting. The Travelling People travel the world, serving as craftsmen and menders, singing and dancing as they search for their "lost song" as they trade and travel across the world. I really really like them, and I hope they become more plot relevant soon.

Plot

After an encounter with trollocs and myrddraal, forces of the malevolent Dark One, the three young men must flee the village. The creatures pursue only the young men, seeking to return them to the Dark One who wishes to use the power of The Dragon Reborn for his own evil purposes; for the well-being of the village, leaving is the only option. Accompanied by two young women, one who has been unknowingly using the One Power in service as the village's healer and the other who wishes to learn the ways of the Aes Sedai, and a gleeman, a travelling entertainer, the party leaves Emond's Field under the guidance of the Aes Sedai, known as Moiraine. The early chapters of the book capture a familiar feeling of... optimistic melancholy? I'm not exactly sure how to word the feeling myself, but I know what it is. The myriad emotions and sensations of leaving home, wanting nothing more than to go home and get as far away from home as you can at the same time. Leaving the Two Rivers feels appropriately contradictory, fear and hope and excitement and dread and energy and exhaustion all layering on top of each other as you have to figure out what you actually need to do now that you can't just 'go back.' The sinking of the ferry at Taren Ferry seems to take this to an appropriately absurd extreme, sinking the ferry in such a dramatic display not only buys time for the party to make distance away from their pursuers - it serves as a familiar point of no return, something I felt down to my bones the day I moved into my university dorms my freshman year.

Shadar Logoth, on top of being an extremely neat location to explore, serves as potentially one of the most important narrative moments in the series so far. Mat steals a cursed dagger, awakens the great evil within Shadar Logoth, and the party is split into multiple groups. The directions each group takes soon goes on to shape the trajectory of character arcs chapters and books to come. The sundered party scatters across the realm, and from here on out moments where the entire group reunites become fairly rare; for the rest of this trilogy, at least, moments of full group reunion are saved for climactic book-ender chapters of prophetic proportions. This trend of seeing different groups of characters scattered across the land far and wide, experiencing their own stories which intersect here and there only to come together for a grand finale before parting ways again is fun. Every book so far has explored different groupings of characters, for the most part, and it's fun to have a format that lets different characters spend lots of quality time together.

The first visit to Caemlyn was an excellent set piece, a wonderful balance of splendor and tension. Rand and Mat, while being followed and having recently "lost" Thom, arrive just in time to witness the parade celebrating the capture of Logain, a man who can channel proclaimed a false Dragon Reborn. As the city prepares for the parade, it is clear political tension and division is high in the city. Two political factions, one pro-crown and one anti-crown, denote their affiliation by wearing colored ribbons while within the city. Upon entering the city, Rand buys one of these ribbons arbitrarily, figuring that having one at all would allow him to blend in within city walls more. Wanting a better view of the parade, Rand unknowingly climbs the wall to the royal palace, and falls into its garden. While I knew the repercussions could not be too massive, there was still a whole lot of book left and they wouldn't have anything too bad happen to one of the main characters so soon, it was still quite thrilling. Following this, the party reforms, Mat is mostly healed, and the kindhearted Ogier Loial joining them, they enter one of the most interesting sections of the first book: the journey through The Ways.

The Ways serve as a world-spanning network of shortcuts carved through another world, dark and empty. Darkness in the ways is thick, physical, sinister. Pillars springing from an endless abyss support bridges, connecting to other pillars in strange and often impossible ways. If one is able to read the guiding stones and can reach their destination, it is possible to turn weeks of travel in the 'real' world into mere days of travel in The Ways. Every visit here seen is wonderfully mystical, alien, and ominous.

The second book includes a section in which a handful of characters visit a mirror world, devoid of humans. The structure of this world is unstable and incomplete, space doesn't quite work how it should and alien creatures never seen before are about. These mirror worlds are explained to be alternate realities, divergent courses of history wherein some major event may or may not have happened. The stability and tangibility of these worlds hinge on their relationship to the primary world, worlds distantly removed from the primary world by dozens of decisions and acts of random chance is physically less tangible, less real, than a world where only one or two things is interesting. The characters used one of these worlds to travel great distances quickly, though I think that these can serve really interesting narrative purposes (if now overused, it's very easy to make a multiverse-spanning story incomprehensibly complex) if the concept is further developed.

A new antagonistic presence is introduced in this book as well, the Seanchan, who make use of enslaved Aes Sedai as weapons. Through use of a specialized collar and chain, Seanchan soldiers compel enslaved Aes Sedai to channel. With their ruthless nature and access to expendable channelers whom are seen as completely expendable, the Seanchan form an oppressive military force. Nynaeve and Egwene from Emond's Field, in addition to Elayne, princess of Andor, and Min, a fortune teller of sorts, have their first big character moments with the Seanchan, working to escape after their capture. I was happy to see the story take this route, the village's wise woman coming up with and executing a plan of such high stakes. Outside of the narrative, the reader knows that the rest of the party is going to converge where the women are being held as slaves - the traditional thing to do would be to have the main characters arrive just in the last moment to free everyone and make a grand escape. It is just refreshing to see typical fantasy narrative tropes set aside for a moment to let the female characters of the book have a win that is unquestionably theirs. Though, I guess I should expect as much considering the matriarchal state of most of the world we get to see, considering the association magic has with femininity in a world where men can't use magic without going insane.

The grand finale of the second book features the sounding of the legendary Horn of Valere, summoning great heroes from ages past to fight under the banner of The Dragon. To call this moment cathartic, the use of a magical artifact we have spent the entire book waiting to be retrieved, would be an understatement. The image of the mist rising, only for spirits to emerge, swearing loyalty to you, and regarding you as an old friend before riding into battle, is extremely compelling. For a setting with such deep history, the ability to see bits and pieces of this history rise from the grave and interact with characters on a human level makes for an astounding end to a great read. More of this book was spent developing ideas than introducing them. Most of the main characters grow into their abilities and skills more, and most of the places explored in depth are places we have heard mention of or seen narrow slices of before. Even the Horn of Valere was first discovered at the end of the first book. To end this book with the sounding of the horn grounds the history and prophecy we have spent the entire book learning about and developing into something more immediate tangible, something that really does make this world feel as if it has been lived in for thousands and thousands of years.

The third book of this trilogy sees the rise to power of the last main character to go mostly undeveloped, Mat. After relapsing and suffering from the worse effects of the dagger's curse once again, Mat is taken to the White Tower, training grounds of the Aes Sedai for healing. After recovering, Mat has a night out on the town of Tar Valon in which we get the first glimpse at his newfound power, the devil's own luck. In circumstances that rely on random chance and happenstance, Mat has the uncanny ability to always beat the odds and come out on top. Over the course of the book, Mat learns the rules of this power, though they are not super clear cut yet. It seems that Mat's luck is some kind of spendable resource, though the exact requirements to accrue and spend this luck are left ambiguous. As a nimble little trickster, and gambler besides, Mat picks up a staff as a weapon - such a weapon feels like a fitting choice for his archetype as developed in this book, and I really really like the vision for the character looking forward.

The third book ends with a couple of major status quo shifts. Perrin seems to have a solid love interest, a woman named Faile, hunting for the Horn of Valere. Though their relationship is adversarial at first, Faile having joined the party on a whim because 'following an Aes Sedai should lead to something interesting' and echoing complaints about the parts of the journey Perrin had seemingly just come to terms with, by the end of the book they do display genuine chemistry, in my eyes. After Rand infiltrates the Stone of Tear and takes the Sword That Is Not a Sword, his identity as the Dragon Reborn is undeniable. The Dragon is reborn, and his people are here to follow him in the war against the Dark One. With the end of the main prophecy we have been following for the last three books, it feels like the stage is set for a skip in time and a new main story thread to unwind.