Origins of The Wheel of Time

The Legends and Mythologies That Inspired Robert Jordan

By: Michael Livingston, Harriet McDougal - contributor, Robert Jordan

Narrated by: Harriet McDougal, Kate Reading, Michael Kramer, Michael Livingston

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

This program includes a bonus interview with Rosamund Pike.

“Jordan has come to dominate the world Tolkien began to reveal.”—The New York Times on The Wheel of Time® series

Explore never-before-seen insights into the Wheel of Time, including:

—An alternate scene from an early draft of The Eye of the World

—The long-awaited backstory of Nakomi

Take a deep dive into the real-world history and mythology that inspired the world of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time®. Origins of The Wheel of Time is written by Michael Livingston, Secretary-General of the United States Commission on Military History and professor of medieval literature at The Citadel, with a Foreword by Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan's editor, widow, and executor of his estate.

This companion to the internationally bestselling series will delve into the creation of Robert Jordan’s masterpiece, drawing from interviews and an unprecedented examination of his unpublished notes. Michael Livingston tells the behind-the-scenes story of who Jordan was, how he worked, and why he holds such an important place in modern literature.

The second part of the book is a glossary to the “real world” in The Wheel of Time. King Arthur is in The Wheel of Time. Merlin, too. But so are Alexander the Great and the Apollo Space Program, the Norse gods and Napoleon’s greatest defeat—and so much more.

Origins of The Wheel of Time will provide exciting knowledge and insights to both new and longtime fans looking to either expand their understanding of the series or unearth the real-life influences that Jordan utilized in his world building—all in one, accessible audiobook.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Michael Livingston (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

If you read The Wheel of Time, this is a must-read!

10/10 recommend for ANYONE who has finished The Wheel Of Time. Though the explanations of the real-world references in WoT were fascinating, my favorite parts were about Robert Jordan himself, a legend in his own right.

Historical basis for writing The Wheel of Time

This was a fabulous book which details the historical basis of the elements Jordan used when writing The Wheel of Time series. It contains MANY spoilers, so do not listen to this first!! 😁

very interesting and in-depth dive into the WoT

it's a very in-depth and interesting dive into the wheel of time and the history behind the series.

listening to the producer of the show talk about it however is exactly what Brandon was afraid of when he mentioned not wanting someone to write the books that wasn't both a good writer and a fan. somehow the wrong people got in charge of the show and don't want to make something that actually brings Robert Jordan's vision to life.

Revelatory!

Fascinating background to a beloved series. Especially enjoyed the interview at the end with the actress from the series. Excellent all around!

Not what I expected

Love the Wheel of Time. Love history and language. So why didn’t this work for me?

The subtitle reads “The Legends and Mythologies that inspired RJ”. That sounds really interesting to me. I want to know about them. Problem is: In this book you don’t get to know about them. You get to know of them. At its core, it is a listing of which word or name or occasionally theme was inspired by either which real life (personal or general) or literary/mythological correspondant. While that is fine and probably a ton of research work, it is not interesting to read. I.e. the rather obvious fact that almost all the names of our main characters are derived from Arthurian legend, remains hollow and somewhat irrelevant without further elaboration on how the in-book character’s arc is also inspired by or is a foil of that original character or simply how it connects thematically. For without this it is simply a I-heard-a-name-somewhere-and-kinda-liked it sort of thing. And why should a reader care for that?

I did quite like the biographical parts about his life experiences and his writing process. This part is the reason I give a second star. I thought that was interesting. It just wasn’t what I bought this book for…
The rather lengthy introduction on why this author was chosen for this task and how he personally connects to RJ and his work I didn’t much care for.
The final interview with Rosamund Pike is fine, but is really about the newly recorded audiobooks and not about this book at all.

So the big chunk of this by no means long book is the Thesaurus-style alphabetical listing of names, that I found very dull. Additional problem with the audiobook here: This medium is not suited to leafe through this part and look up a given name that interests you.

Sidenote: The chapters on this recording don’t always correspond with the in-book chapters.

To sum it up: It was a disappointing read with - to me, personally - lots of promise and poor delivery.

Origins of The Wheel of Time

I loved this!! I found it fascinating. I cried, I laughed, I am amazed on some of the information listed... I knew a great deal of it beforehand but I learned a lot too. Thank you Team Jordan, Michael Livingston and of course Robert Jordan

Listened for Nakomi, but learned a lot more

Very worthwhile! Recalls the monumental work done by Robert Jordan in creating a story telling universe with influences from many different sources.

Very informative

This was very helpful and interesting in describing how an author creates a world and develops their intent for a series that underlines the narrative. I just finished a course from The Teaching Company on mythology from around the world and am amazed at the depth of knowledge and the the amount of reading and research Robert Jordan so seamlessly interwoven into his magical world. Am even more grateful for this his series.

A fan’s delight

If you have read the entire series and looking for the stories, names, and battles that influenced the creation of the book series and it’s rich world then you will love this book.

It also includes a chapter on Robert Jordan’s personal history that’s really interesting.

The book is full spoilers so don’t read even the biography if you haven’t finished the series. Major secrets are discussed without warning.

Great biography & “behind the scenes”

(No Spoilers) I know it’s odd to say I’m not going to “spoil” a work of nonfiction, but this book is so full of interesting revelations that I wouldn’t want to take any surprises away from a potential reader.

A little over a half of this book is a fascinating biography of the author, and where he took his inspirations from. I found his Vietnam experiences and how they affected his to be particularly interesting.

I had no idea how exhaustively researched the Wheel of Time themes and characters were by Robert Jordan. Clearly a scholar himself, his world is filled with references to real world and mythological people and places. Of course I picked up on a few here and there while reading Wheel of Time, but it wasn’t until this book that I realized the depth and breadth of what was accomplished.

The comparisons to Tolkien are educational, as well as the sure-to-be-inflammatory claims that Jordan outstripped Tolkien by making his world even larger. No doubt there will be a Tolkien fan or two that may well suffer apoplexy upon reading those passages.

The latter half of the book is more a reference material than a biography, and as such is less of a narrative and more topic-by-topic deep dive of Jordan’s inspirations.

The first part worked wonderfully as an audiobook, the second, not so much.

I’ve ordered a physical copy and can’t wait to put this on my shelf next to my WoT hardcovers.

Highly recommended for Wheel of Time fans, and possibly Tolkien fans who like to be faux outraged. A great book!