Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

The series finale: Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, as Rand al'Thor faces the Dark One at the Bore while the armies of Light and Shadow fight across five simultaneous battlefields. The culmination of a 23-year, 14-book epic.

The first volume completed by Brandon Sanderson from Robert Jordan's notes: Rand al'Thor approaches psychological breaking point as the Last Battle nears, while Egwene fights to reunite the fractured White Tower from within its walls.

Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Egwene each pursue separate paths as the world fractures: Rand journeys to the Aiel Waste to learn his destiny while Perrin races home to defend the Two Rivers from a Shadowspawn invasion. Widely regarded as the pinnacle of the series.

Perrin Aybara finally confronts the Prophet of the Dragon while Mat Cauthon prepares a desperate mission to rescue Moiraine from the Aelfinn and Eelfinn. The Last Battle draws close as every major character moves into their final position.

Robert Jordan's final completed novel before his death in 2007: the storylines that had stalled across the previous two volumes suddenly and decisively accelerate, resolving long-running threads and propelling every major character toward the Last Battle.

Rand struggles to unite the world's factions while two rival groups of Aes Sedai compete to control him, culminating in the Battle of Dumai's Wells — one of the most celebrated action sequences in epic fantasy. The series crosses the thousand-page threshold for the first time.

Rand al'Thor abandons his companions and sets out alone for Tear, drawn by prophecy toward a destiny he can no longer postpone — while Egwene, Nynaeve, and Mat are pulled by separate threads toward the same inevitable convergence.

Three young men from the isolated village of Emond's Field are driven from their homes by dark forces — and drawn into a world-spanning conflict they barely understand, in the opening of one of fantasy's greatest and most ambitious epic series.

Rand leads the Aiel across the Westlands in a campaign to unite the continent, while Nynaeve and Elayne pursue the Black Ajah through Tarabon and beyond. The series deepens its politics and raises its stakes as the Dragon Reborn begins to shape history.

Rand al'Thor and his companions pursue the stolen Horn of Valere across the world — a legendary instrument that can call the dead heroes of the Ages back from beyond death — while Rand struggles to accept a destiny he cannot escape.

In the aftermath of Dumai's Wells, Rand hunts the Forsaken Sammael in Illian while Mat and Elayne seek the Bowl of the Winds in Ebou Dar. The series' political complexity deepens as the Dragon Reborn's actions reshape nations.

Rand's military campaign through the Westlands takes a dark turn as the One Power begins to behave strangely around him, while Egwene al'Vere leads the rebel Aes Sedai in an audacious campaign to reclaim the White Tower from Elaida.

Rand attempts a desperate and unprecedented gambit to cleanse saidin — the male half of the One Power — of the Dark One's taint, while Mat is trapped in Ebou Dar under Seanchan occupation and Perrin searches for his captured wife.

Multiple storylines converge around the aftermath of Rand's cleansing of saidin, each character reacting to a distant magical event they witnessed but did not understand. The series' most divisive entry for its pacing, yet a necessary bridge to the series' final acceleration.