“The wheel of time turns and ages come and go, leaving behind memories that turn into rumors. Rumors fade into myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the age that was born returns. In the third age, the age of prophecy, the world and time are in balance. What will be and what is could fall into the hands of the Shadow.” In secluded Dvouríčí, the locals are preparing for the spring festival. After a long time, not only a forman came to the region with a lot of news, but also a juggler with full handfuls of stories about heroes, great loves and betrayals, sorrows and sorrows. And there’s also Moirain, one of the legendary Aes Sedai, women capable of wielding the dreaded single force. These holidays will be unforgettable… …but unfortunately in a different way than the Dvouríč family would have liked.
“The wheel of time turns and ages come and go, leaving behind memories that turn into rumors…” | Laser, Euromedia Group, Prime Video
In the middle of the night, trolls, creatures considered to be monsters from myths, attack. The Dark Lord may have been imprisoned many millennia ago, but the seals are weakening and he is once again touching the world. The only hope is an ancient prophecy about a man called the Dragon. But who is that Drake? Moirain leaves Dvouríčí covered in smoke and blood with five young people. Everyone in the world will change, for better or for worse. And one of them will save the world… and also destroy it. The first part of the legendary epic fantasy is introduced by this annotation, which opens a saga that will get under your skin and make your heart flutter. And it will certainly become an ideal Christmas gift for all fantasy lovers.
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series fully deserves the epithet timeless epic. Not only is it, without exaggeration, a masterpiece in the field of epic fantasy, it is above all a readable story that is experiencing its renaissance among readers. Especially for newcomers who want to know the model of the serial version of the Prime Video platform (also with Czech dubbing). Or an audiobook, which was excellently directed by Hynek Pekárek and written by Pavel Soukup. The colorfully built world, the elaborate characters, the story generously spread over the original more than fourteen volumes, perfectly captivated readers all over the world. They agree, for example, on how amazing Jordan’s world-building of The Wheel of Time is. It is vast, diverse and incredibly detailed. There are majestic cities, the mystical culture of many nations, a diverse system of power, meaning or magic.
Watch the trailer for the series version:
Then there are the characters, Rand al’Thor, Mat Cauthon, Perrin Aybara and many others, whom we get to know gradually, we follow them in their destinies. “What sets The Wheel of Time apart from similar series is its ability to seamlessly interweave multiple storylines and character arcs. The series is a tapestry of political intrigue, epic battles, love, friendship and sacrifice,” reviewers have been saying for years, and there really isn’t much to add. Although at times it seems that the pace is too drawn out and the narrative overly detailed, spread over more pages than necessary, everything has its meaning and allows the reader to stay all the longer in the world that they fall in love with. What is protected within the author’s license is the serial version of Amazon (Prime Video), which is nevertheless still an engaging and telling story (in fact, it is impossible to imagine that the whole saga would be transferred one by one to a film or to the screen), what the book narrative is deeper.
Listen to a sample of the audiobook version:
And also an audiobook, in which the listener is accompanied by the dramatic, sometimes playful, but always full of corresponding atmosphere, voice of Pavel Soukup. The creator of the audio version, OneHotBook, entrusted the direction to the seasoned director Hynk Pekárek, trained by dozens of the best audiobooks under his hands. He can work perfectly with tension and calm passages. But let’s go back to the books that Euromedia published with the greatest care under its Laser brand. Already the third edition of The Wheel of Time, of which four volumes are currently available in a new coat, is not only a gem of the library, but especially a pleasant companion for this period, when reading is best. And as already said, if you have a nerd or other fantasy lover near you, you will surely make him happy with these volumes not only at Christmas.
Rating: 95%
Robert Jordan
Wheel of Time (Saga)
I. The Eye of the World (ed. 2022, number of pages: 784, audiobook length: 41 hours 11 minutes) • II. The Great Search (2022 edition, number of pages: 688, audiobook length: 36 hours 1 minute) • III. The Dragon Reborn (ed. 2023, number of pages: 648, audiobook length: 32 hours 48 minutes) • IV. The Shadow Spreads (ed. 2023, number of pages: 1000) • published by: Laser / OneHotBook