The Wheel Of Time: Ranking The Best And Worst Of Robert Jordan's Epic Series

Before it was a hit Prime Video streaming series, The Wheel of Time was a beloved series of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan. This original canon encompasses a whopping 15 entries – which begs the question: which Wheel of Time books are the best (and worst)?

It wasn’t easy, but after a bit of soul-searching – and at least as much re-reading – we’ve settled on the following rankings. So read on to see where your favorite Wheel of Time tome landed!

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15. Crossroads of Twilight

Universally regarded as the weakest link in the Wheel of Time series, Crossroads of Twilight brings the overarching narrative to a screeching halt. Jordan’s 10th Wheel of Time doorstop takes place around the same time as its predecessor, Winter’s Heart, killing any sense of momentum.

Crossroads of Twilight is also very much Jordan in “subplot, subplot, subplot” mode. Sure, plenty of this material is interesting, and some of it (such as Mat and Tuon’s relationship) is important later. But it ultimately makes the Last Battle feel further away than ever.

On the plus side, Crossroads of Twilight wraps up with a low-key great twist, so that’s something, at least.

14. The Path of Daggers

The Path of Daggers is a fitting name for the eighth book in the Wheel of Time series since it’s a long, often painful reading experience.

Don’t get us wrong: there’s some good stuff in here – not least of all, the suitably epic battle that fills its closing chapters. But not even massive armies and magical lightning storms are quite enough to make up for The Path of Daggers‘ glacial pace early on.

This volume also gives short shrift to core characters such as Egwene and Mat (the latter of whom is absent entirely). True, we get to spend some quality time with the likes of Nynaeve and Elayne, but The Path of Daggers‘ overall vibe is that Jordan is treading water, narratively speaking.

13. Winter’s Heart

Jordan devotes a decent chunk of Winter’s Heart‘s 781 pages to Perrin slogging through the snow to rescue Faile. Unfortunately, the author succeeds a little too well at immersing us in Perrin’s frustration, as the monotony of these chapters makes them a chore to get through.

This glaring flaw is balanced out somewhat by the welcome return of Mat, along with a slightly bigger role for fan-favorite characters like Lan. Winter’s Heart also boasts a barnstormer of a climax that has major repercussions for The Wheel of Time‘s wider lore – and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Related: Amazon’s Wheel of Time Has a Serious Dragon Reborn Problem

12. A Crown of Swords

The Wheel of Time‘s gradual scope creep becomes more noticeable in A Crown of Swords. Even so, Jordan does an admirable job of keeping the main narrative rumbling on. Sure, the Aes Sedai’s antics bog things down occasionally, but Rand’s nail-biting duel with Sammael ultimately gets us back on track.

Not all of A Crown of Swords‘ subplots are a momentum killer, either. Notably, the seventh Wheel of Time installment lays the groundwork for the Mat/Gholam rivalry – a long-running feud that remains riveting right up until its eventual resolution in Towers of Midnight.

11. New Spring

Back in 2004, New Spring was the Wheel of Time prequel novel that nobody – and I mean nobody – wanted. Indeed, more than a few readers were cranky at Jordan for rewinding the clock to Moiraine and Lan’s first adventure together rather than focusing on wrapping things up.

Yet, divorced from that context, New Spring is actually a decent read. It’s always fun spending time with Moiraine and Lan, and their origin story fills in some significant gaps in the series’ continuity. At only 304 pages, New Spring is also refreshingly streamlined, with fewer subplots and ciphers than the other books.

10. The Dragon Reborn

The Dragon Reborn zeroes in on the prophecy surrounding Callandor – and mythical swords will never fail to pique fantasy fans’ interest. At the same time, the third Wheel of Time tome’s name is a bit of a misnomer, as Jordan’s shift away from Rand as the story’s central focus kicks off here.

This isn’t a bad thing per se, as it frees the scribe up to develop the series’ other characters more fully. But your mileage will likely vary on how satisfying The Dragon Reborn is, given Rand is effectively sidelined until very late in proceedings.

It’s also worth mentioning that The Dragon Reborn‘s big, Dark One-related revelation feels kinda cheap, even if it does allow Jordan to expand his original plans for the series.

9. Lord of Chaos

With Lord of Chaos, we’re entering the stretch of our Wheel of Time rankings where there’s increasingly less

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