This isn’t the article about Amazon’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time that you were supposed to be reading right now.
It isn’t one I’d planned to write.
You were supposed to be reading a sort of chatty, funny, and ultimately invaluable introduction to the sprawling world of the series, and its many characters, factions, lands and institutions drawn from Jordan’s books. It would be the product of a deep knowledge of, and affection for, the scope and details of the 14-volume saga (the last three of which were co-written by Brandon Sanderson, following Jordan’s death in 2007). It would offer a refresher course for those who’ve read the novels, and much-needed guidance to those going into the Amazon series without knowing the difference between the Red Ajah and the Blue Ajah.
It would also be filled with incisive, clear-eyed critiques of the series—noting with effusive praise what it got right, and ticking off, with withering barbs, what it got wrong.
You’re not reading that piece, because my friend and colleague Petra Mayer isn’t around to write it like she was supposed to. She died suddenly last weekend.