# The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

20 Hacker News commenters recommended The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Epic fantasy series that people call a classic and enjoy reading; the most common caveat is slow pacing and padding in later books.

## Why people recommend it

- Excellent, classic epic fantasy (4 comments): "It's an excellent fantasy series that probably couldn't be written again." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49899641)) "Wheel of Time is still some of the finest fantasy you will ever read." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48228454)) "Wheel of Time is my favorite fantasy series." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49321065))
- Fun and enjoyable to read (3 comments): "the story is fun - I enjoyed every bit of Wheel of Time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46388167)) "because I had so much fun reading them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47212176)) "I really enjoyed the books but there is a lot of issues around pacing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49899923))
- Sanderson completed the series (3 comments): "Brandon Sanderson's work completing Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time is very respectable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50128114)) "So pleased that Brandon Sanderson stepped in to finish it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46398120)) "Sanderson somehow managed to end the Wheel of Time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46806274))

## What people warn about

- Pacing and consistency problems (2 comments): "I really enjoyed the books but there is a lot of issues around pacing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49899923)) "the pacing and consistency are atrocious" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49900989))
- Overpadded, long books (2 comments): "I still thinks these books are radically overpadded." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46389063)) "epic cycles like Wheel of Time, that go on forever and in which the author carefully doles out plot points" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48122915))
- Sanderson books weaker than Jordan's (2 comments): "Unfortunately I felt mostly underwhelmed. I think the Sanderson transition did not age as well as initially received." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46403381)) "But the Sanderson books are pretty meh and not really worth doing a reread of the whole series for." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49902142))
- Hard to get into (2 comments): "I got to about the third book and completely lost interest" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46397307)) "could never get into the Wheel of Time book series" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46918764))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Discworld by Terry Pratchett](https://hackerapproved.com/p/discworld-series.md): 33 recommend
- [Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling](https://hackerapproved.com/p/harry-potter-series.md): 28 recommend
- [The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/stormlight-archive.md): 12 recommend
- [Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/malazan-book-of-the-fallen.md): 7 recommend
- [A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-song-of-ice-and-fire.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765314622?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780765314628) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan", https://hackerapproved.com/p/wheel-of-time/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).