I just finished the third book of The Wheel of Time series. It's a very compelling fantasy world and before I get any further into it, I want to get a quick review up for any stackers who may be interested. I'll try to avoid any spoilers while giving a sense of what these books have to offer.

First, for those who have seen the Amazon series, the first two seasons roughly correspond to the first two books. However, there are some changes made by the adaptation that change the story significantly. I would describe those changes as HBO'ifying the series: the characters were made older, sexier, more violent and it's more of an action adventure than fantasy epic. I think the show is fine as its own thing, but it has a very different feel than the books.

Robert Jordan built a very intricate fantasy world that feels vast and rich. It's a fairly standard fantasy setting, with roughly medieval technology, various types of supernatural abilities, and recognizable but distinct mythical creatures.

Most people in this world live their entire lives near to where they're born and there are vast regional differences in what people believe about the world and its history. However, there is more or less a shared language and mythology.

The story is presented from one character's perspective at a time and the reader learns new information as the characters do. Much of the lore of this world is unknown to the characters we follow. What is generally known to all (or at least believed) is that the world was broken 3,000 years ago in a battle with Shai'tan the Lord of Darkness, Prince of Lies, and many other names associated with him. Also generally known/believed is that he had powerful magic users fighting on his side known as the Forsaken and that one powerful magic user known as The Dragon was responsible for breaking the world. This created a widespread distrust and fear of magic users.

The first book is very Tolkienesque. We learn about the people of a small remote region. They raise sheep and grow tobacco and enjoy their seasonal festivals. It's a quiet society that only receives news when the occasional merchant visits during harvest season.

Several teenagers from this town are reluctantly swept up in an adventure involving things they had believed to be entirely mythical. Their journey is arduous and written in a very grounded way that emphasizes how difficult and perilous travel in that setting would be. The show basically resorts to "fast travel" for this portion and totally loses the sense of distance travelled.

This book largely serves to explore the world through the eyes of characters who live in it, but are also largely unfamiliar with anything outside of their home.

Game of Thrones was inspired by the portion of this book about Daes'de Maer, the Game of Houses, that describes the political machinations amongst the nobility of one of the great cities.

This book introduces several major settings, including Tar Valon where the magic-using Aes Sedai live and train.

Much of the story revolves around a powerful and mysterious army arriving from the sea and making fantastical claims about their link to the history of the world known to our characters. This leads to uncovering how some of our characters are also connected to long past historical events.

A mystery in Tar Valon, an assassination plot, and a search for a missing member lead our scattered characters towards a seemingly impossible prophecy.

A great deal is learned about the sinister forces emerging in the world and what our characters may have to contend with in the future.

I had to be very brief in describing the later books for fear of spoilers. Much of the appeal of these books is following and anticipating the mysterious elements.

One of my favorite things about how this series is written is that the world feels very lived in. The cultures and places are detailed and distinct from each other. The characters have to make pragmatic decisions about where to stay and how to travel, based on factors like cost, time, and risk. Each of the characters also has a very distinct personality and seeing events from their varied perspectives gives a richer view of the story and a deeper understanding of the world. Also, each character serves a distinct role in the narrative. No one is just along for the ride.

The lack of an omniscient third person narrator really enhances the mystery of the story. We often don't know what certain people's motivations are or what the truth of a situation is and are left to puzzle it out alongside our characters.