The Wheel of Time Companion: The People, Places, and History of the Bestselling Series

I've debated 2 vs 3 stars for this and settled on 2.
It's not at all what I was expecting. Now, that may be my own fault but , what I had heard described over the years was basically a super version of the previous resource "The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time". In my mind, I expected to see something in a format much like last years "World of Ice and Fire" from George RR Martin. This is definitely not those books.
It's, as others have said, a super glossary. 800 or so pages of entries and text with very few pictures tossed in (usually of the main characters and not all are even full page and all are black and white). I do take some exception to what some others have said where they have stated that this is just a compilation of the previous glossaries in the 14 books. It's definitely not. This is not something you would pick up and read unless you have read the entire series. The entries are "current" in that it includes everything from The Eye of the World right up the end of A Memory of Light. (so don't complain about spoilers if you start reading this).
For years, we had heard that they were going to include some of the original notes from Robert Jordan and all kinds of other tidbits. Maybe that was rumor and maybe plans just changed, but I haven't seen anything like that in this book. The prelude mentions that some of the entries include some of this information but none of it is clearly defined and seems to be random at best.
I would say that I'm still hoping to one day see that amazing book that I had in my mind with all new content but I realize that isn't going to happen.
They had the chance to make this the ultimate must own guide for the series that any fan of the series would enjoy. I'd say that unless you are a fanatic for this series and absolutely love to read dictionaries.....then it's a pretty disappointing "end" to a great series and most people should probably stay away unfortunately.

The Wheel of Time books have been a part of my life since I read The Eye of the World while I was in Junior High. I've read each of the books several times over the years, but reading the entire series with my copy of The Wheel of Time Companion handy was an entirely new and rich reading experience. I believe that Harriet McDougal and the rest of the group that worked on this book succeeded in their effort to provide a reference book that is useful to WoT fans in a number of ways. Personally, I enjoyed how this reference helped to connect the dots on certain topics, how I could refer to it as I read to help recognize some of the foreshadowing in the series, how the astounding breadth of Robert Jordan’s world-building is highlighted by the contents of this book, and how the new artwork enhanced my mental images of the characters and places in the series. The detailed explanation of some topics that had previously been left to the reader to figure out is a wonderful provision, while at the same time Robert Jordan's desire for some things to still be left up to the reader to decide for themselves is supported by the fact that not everything has been given away, wrapped up, or fully explained.

This book is a must have for any true fan of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. It is worth its weight in Andoran Gold Crowns :-)

This "Companion" book isn't like the last one that came out in 1997, "The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time". So be ready for that. That book came out after book 7 in the series and was colorful and full of pictures and such. This book is what would be used in olden days. It is a companion to the whole series and doesn't have all the flashy bits. When you find it in the store it looks like it's just another book in the series and when you open it you will see that it is written out like the Glossary section of the books. It does have more details though than what the glossaries ever held. People, Places, and History is what you will find in here. More description on each and the history of each main character from start to finish.

This book is horrid. As someone who read the Wheel of Time for half of my life before the series was completed, this book ruined my opinion of Harriet and team. It is nothing more than a compilation of each glossary at the back of each book with a few extra tidbits. Very disappointing and I would return it if I could.

If you are a WoT superfan, you should feel free to get this book. It's basically a glossary of the entire series, plus useful back story that never made its way into the books. It should be a good cheat sheet when you need it during rereads.

If you aren't a superfan, this book is certainly not necessary for your understanding. (And if you're on your first read, definitely don't touch this: entries largely cover the entire series arc of their topic.)

Much of this book retreads what is actually in the books. But there are also a considerable number of fresh nuggets not previously known.

Some new information is of a more systematic nature. Entries on channelers usually give quantified measures of their strengths. (Albeit, with a measure of uncertainty -- deriving as these measures are from sometimes-inconsistent authorial notes.) Aes Sedai entries tend to include year of birth and duration of time as novice and Accepted (presumably because Jordan had to nail these things down to write consistent with the Aes Sedai pecking order). The Old Tongue entry contains several pages of definitions and some discussion of language modifiers. There's an entry completely devoted to Lini's sayings.

Other new information appears incidental to the topic at hand. Cadsuane's entry describes in detail every one of her hair ornaments, as well as the actual (brief) truth behind the legend of numerous rumors about her career. The entry on the Chair of Remorse reveals its true nature and purpose. And more beyond -- I've spent at this point a few hours somewhat aimlessly flipping through to see what I find, and to follow up on topics with potential lingering questions that might be answered (and to answer questions I didn't always know I had), and I'm sure I haven't found all the fascinating details yet.

This book is not narrative. Aside from character entries, there is little storytelling in this. Presumably someone will carefully read this start to finish, but it's hard for me to imagine doing it. (And I've invested enough time in the books to have read the series multiple times, spent hours on Internet forums, and flown to the final book's release party in Provo.) Do not pick this up if you're just looking for a good story to read.

"Companion" is almost certainly the more marketable name, but I think "Reference" would have been the better term. It probably isn't something you're going to get "friendly" with, the way the name "companion" likely implies.

This book is worth five stars if you like getting into details and lore of the entire Wheel of Time -- as long as you're aware that you're getting a fairly clinical treatment of everything, in encyclopedic non-narrative form. If that's not your thing, you will probably be disappointed.

Ties up many questions and loose ends. Not all of them, but enough.
I have both the book and digital editions and I highly recommend the physical book. It's just easier to flip back and forth at a moments notice.

This book was a huge letdown. I thought it would be something like the World of the Wheel of Time that was published several years ago, but updated to reflect the rest of the series. Instead it's just the glossary that's already in the back of every WoT book, with thousands of uninteresting nouns added as filler. (i.e. Glarple al Flarple: A Two Rivers farmer Mat once saw while walking to Rand's farm.)

I wish I hadn't bought it. Hopefully it helps fund an animated series or the rest of the comic or something cool.

I have spent a lot of years reading and rereading The Wheel of Time series discovering something new or ideas I hadn't thought about. In this work everything is laid out before you and in exploring a topic multi-level revelations abound.
The Wheel of Time series needed this Companion not because it wasn't clear or well executed, but because telling the story of a World and all of it's Nations, Leaders, Courts, Commanders and players is challenging enough without tedious histories fully explored. This is not a novel but an editorial work of the authors notes covering all 15 books.
All I can say is WELL DONE!

This is extremely comprehensive and a valuable resource to help remember who is who and what it what in this encyclopedic series. For example what is the True Power vs the True Source? How does the male and female halves of the True Source fuel the wheel of Time? It also contains comprehensive biographical information for all of the characters mentioned through out, which comprises hundreds of characters. The book will explain everything you need to know to understand and enjoy the Wheel of Time series.

I bought this and in both the kindle and hard back versions. My advice is to buy the book. The kindle's search is problematic at best. For instance, I tried to look up Cadsuane on the Kindle version and nothing came back. Looked the entry up in the book and found her full name was in the entry. Went back to the Kindle, and entered both and every entry in the book came up. Buy the book. The search function works.
If you are a fan of the Wheel of Time, this is a must have book. It has entries on just about everything in the books. From minor to major characters to herbs. Some of the entries are rehashes of what we've learned in the books, others give more insight into the characters. There's even an "inside" joke in the B's. You'll have to RAFO.