Wheel of Time audiobooks

Audiobooks 1 — Three CD boxed sets of the Audio Renaissance versions of the unabridged versions of the books.

The audio versions of the main series books and prequel first came out in the form of cassette tapes, then later CD and digital download. Both abridged and unabridged versions have been published, although the abridged versions are no longer available to purchase. The unabridged versions were originally not available for the commercial market, but solely for the rental and library markets.^[1]

Robert Jordan did listen to the audio versions of his own books, finding it useful to gain a different perspective:

LAURA WILSON: Are you an audiobooks listener? And if so, what sorts of books do you listen to?

ROBERT JORDAN: I'm afraid the audiobooks I listen to are my own. I don't read my own books, but when I get the new audio tape, I listen to it because I get a different view. It is different than reading it.^[2]

An audio version of The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time was recorded by Paul Woodson and published by Bill Fawcett and Associates in 1997.

Unabridged audiobooks in languages other than English do exist. See Wheel of Time translations for a summary.

The Eye of the World and The Wheel of Time Companion have also been published in braille.^[3]^[4]

Unabridged Versions[]

TEOTW audio RK — Digital download thumbnail image for The Eye of the World unabridged audiobook narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading.

The original versions of the unabridged versions of the books were recorded by husband and wife team Michael Kramer and Kate Reading and released on audio cassette. The publisher later released versions on CD before the cassette versions were phased out entirely. According to Maria Simons, the unabridged audiobook project started just prior to the publication of A Crown of Swords (1996).^[5]

The audiobooks are currently published by MacMillan Audio, formerly Audio Renaissance. Prior to this, they were published by Books On Tape, which was later bought by Random House in 2001.

Robert Jordan had a big influence on making the full-length audiobooks happen, as well as pushing for a male and female narrator for different parts:

I very much wanted [The Wheel of Time] to come out unabridged, because I have a first cousin once removed who is dyslexic and she could not manage to read the books very well, and she wanted to. So, I agitated to get an unabridged edition done from the very beginning. And I also pressed for there to be a man to read the male point of view sections and a woman to read the female point of view sections. At first I was told it was not necessary and that it was not done. And I said, "We'd like it done." Various people finally agreed with me. - Robert Jordan, Interview by Rochelle O'Gorman^[1]

The first three books were originally published in two parts and then republished in their entirety at a later date. The dates below are for the first publication in that medium.

Title	Running Tme	Cassette	# Cassettes	CD	# CDs	Digital	Notes
New Spring: The Novel	12h 38	2004	8	2004	11	2004
The Eye of the World	29h 57	1996	21	2004	25	2004	1996 edition in two parts
The Great Hunt	26h 34	1997	18	2004	22	2004	1997 edition in two parts
The Dragon Reborn	24h 48	1997	17	2004	22	2004	1997 edition in two parts
The Shadow Rising	41h 13	1997	29	1997	34	2004
The Fires of Heaven	36h 27	1997	25	1997	29	2004
Lord of Chaos	41h 32	1998	29	1998	33	2004
A Crown of Swords	30h 24	1998	22	2006	24	2006	CD date need verified
The Path of Daggers	23h 25	1998	16	2002	19	2003
Winter's Heart	24h 12	2000	18	2000	20	2000	First released in all formats in same year
Crossroads of Twilight	26h 4	2003	18	2003	21	2003
Knife of Dreams	32h 19	2005	21	2005	26	2005	Last published on audio cassette.
The Gathering Storm	32h 58	N/A	N/A	2009	26	2009	One of five nominees for Audie Award for Science Fiction 2010.
Towers of Midnight	38h 23	N/A	N/A	2010	30	2010
A Memory of Light	41h 47	N/A	N/A	2013	33	2013	Released the same day as the print version

Rerecordings[]

TEOTW audio RP — 2021 version of The Eye of the World audiobook (digital download)

In anticipation for the release of the coming Amazon Prime adaptation of the books, a new version of The Eye of the World was recorded with Rosamund Pike as narrator. Pike plays Moiraine Damodred in this adaptation. As of October 2023, only the first three books have been released by Macmillan Audio. It is unknown if The Shadow Rising is currently being recorded, although there is also no indication that this series will not be continued.

Rosamund Pike won the 2023 Audie award for best female narrator for The Eye of the World and the 2024 Audie award for best Fantasy narration.^[6]

These are only available as digital downloads.

Title	Length	Date
The Eye of the World	32h 55	16-Nov-21
The Great Hunt	28h 23	02-Aug-22
The Dragon Reborn	26h 5	06-Jun-23
The Shadow Rising	?	?

Other Wheel of Time audiobooks[]

For completeness we include the availability and running times of River of Souls, A Fire Within the Ways, The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time and Origins of the Wheel of Time. Note running time for the first two are not for the whole anthology, only the Wheel of Time content.


Title	Year	Publisher	Narrator	Length	Notes
The World of RJs WoT	1997	Bill Fawcatt and Associates	Paul Woodson	10h 16	Later Tantor Audio
Unfettered	2014	Audible Studios	Michael Kramer	0h 30	Anthology including River of Souls.
Unfettered III	2019	Audible Studios	Michael Kramer	2h 38	Anthology including A Fire Within the Ways
Origins of The Wheel of Time	2022	Tor	Michael Kramer and Kate Reading	9h 34

Abridged versions[]

TSR audio — One of the earliest versions of the abridged audiobooks on audio cassette.

Abridged versions of the books were published by The Publishing Mills on cassette tape and narrated by Mark Rolston. They were considerably shorter than the full novels. Robert Jordan was highly critical of the decision to make abridged versions and pushed for the full versions to become available:

I don't like abridged versions, and particularly with something as long as my own books. In the abridged versions as much as 90 percent of the book has to be cut out, so I don't like them. As a matter of fact, I made sure that no one could do an abridged version of this latest book. I still own those particular rights, specifically defined, and I do not intend to let anybody do it.
I do not believe in abridgments. I think abridgments tell people that they are getting a dumbed down version of something. What people think they're getting is an easier or faster version, but what they are actually getting is the version for dummies.
- Robert Jordan, Interview by Rochelle O'Gorman^[1]

The "latest book" mentioned here would have been Winter's Heart as the above is dated 2001. Indeed, The Path of Daggers was the last to be recorded in abridged form, albeit with less cut than the previous installments.

Details are provided below. Some of these were also available in CD format, but only the information for cassettes is given here:

Title	Year	Length (approx.)	Number	Notes
The Eye of the World	1994	3h	2 cassettes	The first two books have later publication dates than books 3-5.
The Great Hunt	1994	3h	2 cassettes
The Dragon Reborn	1992	3h	2 cassettes	Print version 1991.
The Shadow Rising	1992	3h	2 cassettes	First version released the same year as the print version.
The Fires of Heaven	1993	3h	2 cassettes
Lord of Chaos	1994	3h	2 cassettes	When compared with the unabridged version, this is 93% shorter.
A Crown of Swords	1996	6h	4 cassettes
The Path of Daggers	1998	12h	8 cassettes	Last abridged version.
Best of Robert Jordan	2000	24h	10 cassettes	Books 4-7 above