When Robert Jordan printed The Eye of the World in 1990, the primary of over a dozen novels in his sprawling, best-selling The Wheel of Time collection, you would not be remiss in mistakenly assuming that this new-kid-on-the-block creator was copy-pasting his method via a regurgitation of his most important inspiration — that being The Lord of the Rings trilogy by the king of fantasy himself, J. R. R. Tolkien. Protagonist Rand al’Thor, an unassuming younger man from a peaceable village, embraces his destiny by opposing the Darkish One; aiding Rand in his noble quest are his four close friends, a taciturn warrior-king, and an enigmatic sorceress. The extra The Wheel of Time developed with every consecutive ebook, nonetheless, the extra Jordan established his thrilling tapestry of fine and evil as a seminal work of excessive fantasy in its personal proper. Between his intimidating creativeness, excellent characterization, and a phrase rely too huge to ponder, Jordan’s magnum opus outlined a technology.
Prime Video’s small-screen adaptation of the identical title, which premiered 32 years after The Eye of the World first hit bookshelves, has earned widespread acclaim for intently matching Jordan’s daunting vision. Over the three seasons The Wheel of Time presently has underneath its belt, the streaming collection has launched contemporary eyes to the late creator’s world. However whether or not you contemplate your self a fan of the television series, the unique written model, or each — for those who’re looking for your subsequent learn, look no further. Similar to the flip of the eponymous Wheel, there is no scarcity of tales that evoke Jordan’s finest traits.
10
‘The Title of the Wind’ (2007)
Written by Patrick Rothfuss
The Title of the Wind, ebook one in Patrick Rothfuss’ planned trilogy, The Kingkiller Chronicle, takes place in Temerant, a land the place folks grasp magic by following strict educational coaching. This rigidity contrasts with Temerant’s folklore, which posits that people can faucet into an esoteric supply often called “the Title of the Wind” and bend the Wind’s magic to their will. Kvothe, the nation’s most expert and notorious triple risk — warrior, bard, and arcanist, plus possibly an murderer of kings — has gone into hiding as a humble innkeeper of no nice renown. Nonetheless, Kvothe agrees to spend three days reciting his life’s exploits.
Appropriately, given The Title of the Wind‘s story-within-a-story framing gadget, Rothfuss’ debut novel considerations itself with the methods fiction shapes our lives as a lot because it evokes high fantasy traditions. Like The Wheel of Time‘s earliest installments, sure characters initially really feel like carbon-copy clichés on parade. And identical to Jordan’s later books, Rothfuss veers away from our formulaic expectations, making The Title of the Wind learn like a celebratory deconstruction of all of the fantasy that got here earlier than. This story hides lush, meticulous trivia inside each nook of its grand journey — starting from Kvothe’s joyful childhood in a touring troupe, to the college the place he’s an adept student, and to the elusive Title of the Wind itself. It is marvelously simple to get misplaced in Rothfuss’s enthralling creation, particularly contemplating his lyrical prose.
9
‘The Shadow of What Was Misplaced’ (2014)
Written by James Islington
On this planet of Andarra, sorcery has at all times been bifurcated into distinct social teams. The Gifted create magic by tapping into their life pressure, additionally known as Essence. The Augurs, in the meantime, entry an unknown reserve outdoors themselves, and channeling this volatile source finally drives them mad. Andarra’s subsequent civil warfare ends within the ruthless genocide of the Augur folks, whereas the Gifted’s skills are severely restricted and monitored. Lengthy after this schism, Davian, a gifted scholar at a government-approved magical college, should flee for his life as soon as he discovers his forbidden Augur heritage.
Critics and readers alike have praised the opening quantity of James Islington‘s The Licanius Trilogy as a worthy successor to Jordan’s oeuvre. Certainly, The Shadow of What Was Misplaced kickstarts an formidable and elaborately constructed collection grounded in foundational texts like The Wheel of Time. As Davian’s eyes open to Andarra’s numerous magical castes, which embody methods to siphon power from unconventional resources, a rising risk rises — a darkish enemy held at bay for a number of thousand years and moments away from clawing via a weakened Border. Accompanied on his winding journey by his mates, every of whom unlocks their very own specialised skills, Davian’s group encounters historical artifacts, the reincarnation cycle, and an ominous reality — that regardless of their optimistic intentions, these characters are equally able to being heroes or villains destined to doom everything they touch.
8
‘The Rage of Dragons’ (2017)
Written by Evan Winter
Rising up as an avid fantasy reader, The Wheel of Time was certainly one of Evan Winter’s north stars. When his son was born, a reality Winter already knew gained pinprick-sharp readability — these formative books he spent his summers devouring not often, if ever, featured Black protagonists. Moved to use his perspective as a Black man with South African heritage, the outcome was The Rage of Dragons, the introduction to The Burning collection. Winter’s titular dragons are equivalent to nuclear weapons, used solely as a final resort — and they can only be commanded by women imbued with the rarest of divine magics. Among the many Omehi, these sorcerers are dubbed the Gifted. Equally scarce are gifted male Omehi, whose inhuman power permits them to forge themselves into dwelling weapons.
The Reward-less Tau is a common-born boy dwelling together with his father of their small city. His solely aspirations embody marrying his girlfriend and dwelling a less complicated life than their perpetually tormented kinsmen, all of whom are conscripted right into a warfare towards the Omehi’s invading oppressors. When his plans dissolve to ashes in his mouth, Tau elects to rework himself right into a weapon via willpower alone. In contrast to The Wheel of Time‘s meditative pacing, The Rage of Dragons‘ breathless momentum is as swift and blistering as an inferno. Nonetheless, Winter and Jordan excel in the identical tenets: intricate worldbuilding, genuine emotional improvement, tactical-based fight, and a painstaking net of systematic disparity, imperialism, and girls holding appreciable sociopolitical energy. Plus, as Tau trains, demons whisper in his ear. We’ll go away it to you to find whether or not they’re metaphorical or literal.
7
‘The Sharing Knife: Beguilement’ (2006)
Written by Lois McMaster Bujold
Absolute energy corrupts completely, because the adage goes, and stated corruption at all times impacts the harmless, too. When probably the most highly effective magic customers in Lois McMaster Bujold‘s The Sharing Knife universe pursue their insatiable lust for energy past all widespread sense, they reset their technologically prosperous civilization again to a post-apocalyptic panorama resembling the 19th century American West, mockingly known as the Extensive Inexperienced World. Haunting this rudimentary “frontier” are Malices, a sentient parasite entity able to absorbing, controlling, and altering the human physique. Fawn, younger and unhappily pregnant, faces a greater life offering for herself than staying on her household’s farm. Throughout her journey to the town, she encounters Dag, a member of the Lakewalker group who kills Malices with Sharing Knives carved from human bone and imbued with a dying Lakewalker’s essence.
Sure followers desire The Wheel of Time‘s morally complex female characters to their male counterparts. Bujold facilities The Sharing Knife: Beguilement on her heroine. Roughly the identical age as Rand, Fawn is naive to the broader world however imminently resourceful, in addition to curious, brave, and headstrong. Past the comparable premise of a shattered post-futuristic planet, Beguilement gives one thing Jordan incorporates however does not prioritize: romance. Dag can be compared to Lan and Fawn to Nynaeve, the latter minus the fixed rage. They do have a major age hole, which will not swimsuit everybody’s preferences. However when Bujold, a legend within the sci-fi group for her Vorkosigan Saga, decides to put in writing a love story, she’s virtually peerless.
6
‘The Jasmine Throne’ (2021)
Written by Tasha Suri
Two girls are thrown collectively by circumstance and drawn together by desire in Tasha Suri‘s The Jasmine Throne. The Emperor of the Parijatdvipan Empire exiles his sister, Princess Malini, for disobeying his command to burn herself alive as an indication of her fealty. Locked contained in the Hirana temple, a spot of immense non secular significance, Malini schemes to flee her makeshift jail and overthrow her authoritarian brother. Priya, one of many solely survivors of a mass casualty, reluctantly turns into certainly one of Malini’s servants after the princess’ eager eyes observe Priya’s most-guarded secret — the magic granted to her by the Hirana’s waters, information which means Priya’s dying sentence within the mistaken arms.
A slow-burn sapphic romance, The Jasmine Throne is for the Moiraine/Siuan shippers. As Priya, a compassionate and common-born magic wielder, and Malini, an formidable royal one breath away from supreme energy, use each other to additional their unstated objectives, the 2 girls unexpectedly fall for each other. Their yearning-fueled love completely compliments their resoundingly sympathetic quests for private and civil liberation, whereas additionally pushing the boundaries of ethical acceptability. Suri’s prose is as luscious and slicing as a whetted blade, with thematic objective to match: colonialist corruption, free will, religious extremism, and the gender binary, with an emphasis on girls overthrowing tyrannical misogyny.
5
‘The Priory of the Orange Tree’ (2019)
Written by Samantha Shannon
Clocking in at over 800 pages, The Priory of the Orange Tree operates as a stand-alone inside Samantha Shannon‘s ongoing The Roots of Chaos universe. The lurking return of the Anonymous One, a ruthless and dreaded wrym, threatens Sabran Berethnet’s queendom of Inys and the sanctity of her reign. Centuries of custom dictate that Sabran’s bloodline holds the Anonymous One and different evil dragons at bay, however Sabran’s independence bristles at marriage, and the possibilities of her assassination are excessive. One in every of her ladies-in-waiting, Ead Duryan, is definitely a secret mage tasked with defending Sabran. Geographically separate from each these highly effective girls is another: aspiring dragonrider Tané, whose nation exists in concord with their area’s pacifist dragons.
Drawn from a plethora of influences, together with historical fantasy, medieval folklore, and faith (the entire above a trademark of Jordan’s artistic course of), Shannon crafts opulent lore and a sinuously natural magic system. Half a suspenseful courtroom intrigue, half a well-known quest format of heroines and heroes gathering magical artifacts to defeat their enemy, and entirely a feminist answer to many years of style kind, The Priory of the Orange Tree rotates via the eyes of 4 major characters and a bigger, non-point-of-view swath apart from. Shannon teases out her battle, unafraid to spend time enriching her world and its cultural, structural, and moral divides.
4
‘Fortress within the Eye of Time’ (1995)
Written by C.J. Cherryh
In contrast to Rand’s innumerable reincarnations because the Dragon Reborn, Tristen was created by Mauryl, one of the last living wizards, who casts a spell that Shapes his protégé into existence. Regardless of his grownup physique, Tristen has no private recollections or pre-knowledge in regards to the world he inhabits. Pressured to flee the one dwelling he is aware of following an assault from an evil Shadow, Tristen — pure of coronary heart, enthralled by each blade of grass, and a husk ready to be stuffed with unfathomable energy — wanders into the closest metropolis and crosses paths with Prince Cefwyn, inheritor to the throne.
Like most swords-and-horses (and there are many every right here) excessive fantasy, Tristen’s self-discovery all through C. J. Cherryh‘s Fortress within the Eye of Time is characterised by the fraught tension between destiny and choice. As he investigates his objective, shadows hang-out an deserted fortress, politicians connive, and Tristan and Cefwyn every query what defines humanity. Cherryh, a pillar of the sci-fi canon, demonstrates a outstanding command over language, ambiance, and idea, and her lived-in world proves she completely understands the style to which she’s contributing.
3
‘The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms’ (2010)
Written by N.Ok. Jemisin
Not lengthy after her mom’s dying makes Yeine Darr the chief of her matriarchal society, her grandfather, the king of the ruling Arameri folks, stuns Yeine by naming her certainly one of his potential heirs. Yeine grapples with the stark disconnect between her grief and the way that loss embroils her in a cutthroat succession competitors contained in the aerial city of Sky, the courtroom and residential of the Arameri — a folks whose privilege allows them to enslave the gods. Though subservient to the people they created, these deities are prepared to make use of Yeine to attain their freedom. In the meantime, Yeine’s kin crave the throne and wish her claimant eradicated.
Though The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.Ok. Jemisin is perhaps the debut novel of certainly one of our modern genre greats, you possibly can hardly inform between Jemisin’s sterling prose and her unshakable grasp of rhythm, type, and identification. Jimisin’s The Inheritance Trilogy and The Wheel of Time aren’t a one-to-one match, however the former features in dialog with Jordan and his friends as a twenty first century fantasy novel written by a Black woman. Similar to her heroine desires to topple Sky’s labyrinthine world order, Jemisin forges new paths tinged with the acquainted.
2
‘The Means of Kings’ (2010)
Written by Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson‘s title must be acquainted to The Wheel of Time aficionados; Jordan’s widow handpicked the creator to finish her husband’s written legacy after his dying. A fantasy large in his personal proper, Sanderson’s The Means of Kings opens the prolific author’s most classically high fantasy work, The Stormlight Archive. A routine collection of Desolations, cataclysmic storms brought on by Voidbringers and eased by the Knights Radiant, have marked the Roshar continent’s turbulent historical past. Little is thought in regards to the legendary Final Desolation, the vanished Knights, or the secrets and techniques behind Roshar’s magic. Regardless of not seeing a brand new Desolation in 4 millennia, the world does not know respite, beset as it’s by wars pushed by ageless human faults.
Element and consistency had been two of Jordan’s strongest fits — not simply required puzzle items like historical past, philosophy, and tradition, however climate, ecology, and the way every factor impacts the opposite like ripples in a pond. Sanderson’s Cosmere universe does the same, making certain Roshar thrives like a dwelling factor from the beginning of this doorstopper-sized ebook to the top. Equally, The Wheel of Time‘s solid may widen with every installment, however The Means of Kings instantly operates with eight major point-of-view characters.
1
‘The Lord of the Rings’ (1954–1955)
Written by J.R.R. Tolkien
How are you going to go mistaken with the grandfather of fantasy? The Lord of the Rings may look like an apparent alternative for an inventory like this, particularly given the manifold methods Jordan modeled The Eye of the World after Tolkien’s blueprint. However Tolkien’s lifework, knowledgeable by his years as a soldier in World War I, his scholarly pursuits, his love for all issues inexperienced and rising, and his profound concern over the world’s more and more perilous state, is a crowning literary achievement and a tour de pressure fantasy contribution of lasting worth.
The tale of Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship’s quest to destroy the corruptive One Ring and ship Center-earth from the pestilent grip of the Dark Lord Sauron stays as completely gripping, crucial, and influential as the primary second it was printed. Not solely do the spells Tolkien’s phrases weave stay completely gripping, nothing on this listing, particularly The Wheel of Time, would exist with out these 4 little Hobbits. Come for the historical past, keep for a transformative saga impervious to age and style boundaries.
