Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth The Money
Review: Well, I finally got my hands on this book, and I am profoundly disappointed. There are no earth-shattering relevations here, and most of the information relayed is a just a re-hash of stuff put forth in the novels, only without any sense of narrative or style. They use a technique here of a narrator who is both omniscient and ignorant. It doesn't work well. The new information that is not found in the books seems especially contrived. There are maps of the world from each historical period of this age, and with each age, there are a whole host of nations, with progressively more unpronounceable names. The maps of the whole world are crude, and there is a technical quibble about the placement of the continents of Seanchan. The map of Shara is featureless and blank. Moreover, the book is riddled with errors and typos! For example "Mat Cauthon" is spelled "Mat Cauthan," and "Seanchan" is spelled "Sanschan." There is a run-down of all the Amyrlins, numbered in order, and the total at the bottom is wrong! It describes the Andoran people as tall and blonde, which is untrue because Rand and Mat marvelled at the first blonde they saw, right outside Caemlyn. When listing the rulers who fought the Trolloc Wars, Kirukan, the baeutiful soldier queen isn't there. And there are many many more. The information regarding the Age of Legends reveals a simplistic naively rendered utopia, and the history leading up to the Release of the Dark One is poorly explained. Lastly we come to the art. The proposed title the "Illustated Guide" and it's good thing that they dropped the 'illustrated' part, because this book is anything but. There are chapter icons lifted from the novels, as well as maps of some of the cities, but devoid of any embelishment. The new maps are childishly simple. The flags are all rendered with all the sophistication of a finger-painting and are surpassingly ugly. (Tar Valon's is extraordinarily ulgy). The artist seems unable to create parrallel lines or stripes on some of the flags, and his colors are quite often wrong. The golden hawk on the flag of Mayene is red, for example. The portraiture is horrendous. A good many of them are out and out innacurrate, for example giving both Moiraine and Lanfear blue eyes, or Aviendha lovley long brown hair, and that inaccuracy is the only interesting feature about them. For all the trouble I had with Sweet's covers (they are included in a section cloyingly titled "Some Scenes of Questionable Authenticity"), at least he recognizes that clothing contains buckles and buttons and laces and embroideries and etc. Many of Hamilton's characters look as if they wrapped a sheet around them and went on their way. That is, when he bothers to show an attempt at rendering clothing at all. Many of the charcters, like Egwene simply have a touch of color at their throat. Or Lanfear who seems to have gotten tangled up in a tablecloth. And the pictures are just ugly! They all have their ears too low on their jaws, and their eyes are mis-spaced and often their irises are looking in two different directions! The pictures of Lan and Loial are standouts for sheer hideousness in this parade of horrors. And don't get me started on the picture of the While Barrel. Oh, wait, wasn't that supposed to be a White Tower?
Don't buy it. We cannot reward Jordan with our money for such a slap in the face to loyal fans. A singularly worthless and undeserving work.
Rating: 
Summary: If you've waited with baited breath, you'll be dissapointed.
Review: For all of the Jordan fans who are having trouble waiting for the '98 release of 'The Path of Daggers' (Book 8 in The Wheel of Time), this book may have been thought to be something that would hold you're attention. Put simply, it won't. If you're a big Jordan fan, you'll have to buy it, simply to say that you have the complete collection, but it will be a case of reading it once and then storing it on the shelf for ever more, for there is little that hasn't either been mentioned before or alluded to. Highlights of the book are the maps from the previous seven novels reproduced in large scale on glossy art paper, and the seven double page spreads of Darrell Sweet's artwork from the novels. I kid you not, after seeing the rest of the artwork in this book, you will never complain about Darrell's covers again - in fact, you will most likely wish that they had asked him to do all the artwork for the book. On the text side, the section on the Second Dragon and the rise of Artur Hawkwing is the highlight of the book, for there is little else that won't leave you feeling cheated, as in some instances, the author's have even omitted things already revealed in the books. They have even ignored the opportunity in include the short piece 'The Strike at Shayol Ghul' in this book, instead leaving it available to the few who visit the Publisher's web site. It would seem what the publishers have done is basically taken whatever background notes Jordan has been writing as he creates, try to update then to allow for some of the things that have been revealed, make it sound like this is some unknown historian from Rand Al'Thor's time that is writing it (and incidently, at the time this historian wrote this book, Illian was still under the control of the Forsaken Sammael), and jammed it all in a quick book designed to do little more than cash in on the series popularity. About the only really interesting clue I found in the book (relating to the yet unreleased Book 8) is the quote at the very start of the chapter on the Seanchan, which to my mind alludes to the title of the new book fairly implicitly. On the whole, I WOULD recommend this book to anyone who asked, but I'd qualify that by telling them not to get their hopes up or to expect any surprise revelations
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the money
Review: Many of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time fans have eagerly awaited more information regarding his 'universe.' The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time does indeed provide pages of information that many fans can cherish and use as a reference when reading the series. It is fairly detailed and presented beautifully; it is both well-written and the design in pleasing. However, much of the text just repeats what Jordan has shared in his books (seven at the time of publication). If you are looking for anything earth-shattering, you'll not find it here. There are a few tidbits for rabid fans but most of your questions will probably be answered in future books. With at least three more to be written, Jordan wants to keep his readers surprised and in suspense.
Much of what is bad about this book is the art. Simply put, it's awful. The character potraits were mostly head shots of the main characters done in an odd colored pencil/chalk. In some instances they are wildly inaccurate from what Jordan has described--in great detail, many times--in the novels. Some of the full page illustrations are so bad it's laughable (Loial the Ogier and Moiraine and Lan). The other artwork, maps for the most part, was lifted straight from the books and looks good in the larger format and glossy paper.
For $40, this book is not worth it for casual fans. If you can't wait for the next book to be published (fall of '98) then your fix will be satisfied -- provided you can get past the artwork.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good book, not to be missed by WoT fans.
Review: This is a great book, I read it in one day, the way I do all Robert Jordan books. It is a must read for all Wheel of Time fans who want to know more about what happened before the start of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Love Hate
Review: I hate Robert Jordan simply because when he writes a book I have to read it in 1 day usually and then I have to wait for the next one to come along. He is the best by far. I just wish he would write faster you know......
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely brilliant
Review: This book revolutionises the wheel of time. This is by far the best creation of Robert Jordan yet.
I am very sattisfied by this book and will tell all my friends about it. Robert Jordan is one of the literary geniuses of our time and will remain in our memories forever. The wheel of time is a vivid series.
Robert Valentine
(Avid Fan)
Rating:
Summary: right thing wrong time
Review: Great marketing idea that has been done before on hugely successful fantasy series. Even more information to feed to the die hard fanatics of this is series of books. But the problem still remains that it is not furthering the series at all. It is in fact slowing it down, the author is rereleasing his earlier books and doing prequil books before finnishing the story at hand. I personally love this story but either Mr. Jordan is milking this for all its worth or he has a serious case of A.D.D.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible Artwork Ruins Mundane Attempt at a Guide
Review: This 'guide' has less detail than I expected of a writer who can write entire chapters describing every piece of clothing in a character's personal wardrobe (both small clothes and accessories included).
The artwork in this series is very strage, and this is more of Tor's fault than Mr. Jordan's. Some books in the series make you think the setting is around the time period of the Old West in America, while others seem more akin to Elizabethan England complete with hose and surcoats. These time periods are not exactly mutually inclusive. The artwork in this book falls to new lows - there is a picture of Moiraine that completely ruined my image of her.
Also, minor inaccuracies occur much too often for my taste. Only someone who has an eye for detail can really pick these out from the general presentation, but they do exist.
Understandably, since Ms. Teresa Patterson was actually responsible for writing much of the text, it can be forgiven. However, similiar to what happened to the creators of the 'Wheel of Time' computer game, she indicates on the Tor website that she 'was sometimes forced to make up material herself when Jordan refused to answer specific inquiries'. Strange. Apparently, Mr. Jordan wanted the book to reflect the historical inaccuracies that a historian in Randland might be exposed to. There is a clear difference between a book in a series, and a guidebook. A guidebook should generally offer a detailed look at information the characters might not (nor ever) be made aware of.
A guidebook should be written from the point of view of the fictional setting for exactly that reason. It is my belief, that when you purchase a guidebook, you do so for reasons of clarity. This might indicate that misinformation is also present in the actual series, which complicates the problem of what is accurate and what is not.
Finally, and most damning (in my humble opinion), there is no detailed guide for the extensive list of minor characters that are now present in the series. Though this guide was published well in advance of the most current book in the saga, a list and description for each may have been helpful.
Unfortunately, taking this book for what it is, it clearly does not hold even a match flame against the Tolkien estate guidebooks. If one recalls the 'Lord of the Rings' guidebooks, they offer answers to many questions held by readers. The result is that the reader of the LoTR guidebooks is confident that the information given reflects a well developed fictional world.
The 'Wheel of Time Guidebook' is simply too inaccurate to give a helpful description of the world Rand and his companions live in.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and helpful
Review: I love the wheel of time series and this is a great guide to it. True is doesn't tell you that much new information, but actually i found that it did widen my knowledge. The info in the books is spread out and often lost, because their complicated books, but this is all together and helps you to understand the world and creatures etc. of the books.
I'm still amazed at Robert Jordan's imagination, that he could come up with such wonderful things is unbelievable. He really is talented and this book only made me marvel at him more.
I would reccomend this guide, because it's helped me to become more addicted to the series and gain a deeper understanding of the world in which the characters live in.
Careful though, don't buy this unless you're a few books into the series, because it does tell you some things that haven't happened in the earlier books (such as what happens to a couple of the Forsaken, although not in detail).
Rating:
Summary: A Must for Fans of the Wheel of Time
Review: This book explains alot of things you might have missed in full detail. It also explains things that you would never know about. Beautiful artwork and detailed explanations make this book a neccesity. Full details about Aiel, Forsaken, the Bore, and much more make this a great companion guide. Though you should not read it until you have finished A Crown of Swords.
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