Give audiobooks, support local bookstores! Start gifting

Origins of The Wheel of Time by Michael Livingston

Send as gift Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

Origins of The Wheel of Time

The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan

Wheel of Time

by Michael Livingston

Length 9 hours 35 minutes

Language English

Narrators Harriet McDougal, Kate Reading, Michael Kramer & Michael Livingston

This audiobook uses AI narration.

We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.

Learn more

Send as gift Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

Summary
About the author
About the narrators

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delve into the creation of Robert Jordan’s masterpiece, drawing from interviews and an unprecedented examination of his unpublished notes.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.

Fiction Fantasy Literary Criticism

Michael Livingston, PhD. is the foremost academic interpreter of Robert Jordan's literary accomplishment and legacy. Among his many other books are the Shards of Heaven trilogy of novels (published by Tor) and multiple award-winning studies of military history. At present, he serves as the Secretary-General for the United States Commission on Military History and teaches at The Citadel.

HARRIET MCDOUGAL is the former VP, Editorial Director of Tor Publishing Group, and was Robert Jordan's wife and editor. She selected Brandon Sanderson to complete The Wheel of Time® series after Jordan's untimely death, and was his editor as well. She is the main editor behind Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time Companion.

Kate Reading is the recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been named by AudioFile magazine as a “Voice of the Century,” as well as the Best Voice in Science Fiction & Fantasy in 2008 and 2009 and Best Voice in Biography & Culture in 2010. She has narrated works by such authors as Jane Austen, Robert Jordan, Edith Wharton, and Sophie Kinsella. Reading has performed at numerous theaters in Washington D.C. and received a Helen Hayes Award for her performance in Aunt Dan and Lemon. AudioFile magazine reports that, "With subtle control of characters and sense of pacing, Kate’s performances are a consistent pleasure."

Michael Kramer has narrated over 100 audiobooks for many bestselling authors. He read all of Robert Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time fantasy-adventure series as well as Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive series. He received AudioFile magazine's Earphones Award for the Kent Family series by John Jakes and for Alan Fulsom's The Day After Tomorrow. Known for his “spot-on character portraits and accents, and his resonant, well-tempered voice” (AudioFile), his work includes recording books for the Library of Congress’s Talking Books program for the blind and physically handicapped.

Kramer also works as an actor in the Washington, D.C. area, where he lives with his wife, Jennifer Mendenhall (a.k.a. Kate Reading), and their two children. He has appeared as Lord Rivers in Richard III at The Shakespeare Theatre, Howie/Merlin in The Kennedy Center’s production of The Light of Excalibur, Sam Riggs and Frederick Savage in Woody Allen’s Central Park West/Riverside Drive, and Dr. Qari Shah in Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul at Theatre J.