About the Author

Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina. He taught himself to read when he was four with the incidental aid of a twelve-years-older brother, and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five. He is a graduate of The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army; among his decorations are the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with V and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. A history buff, he has also written dance and theater criticism and enjoyed the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing, and sailing, and the indoor sports of poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.
Robert Jordan began writing in 1977 and went on to write The Wheel of Time(R), one of the most important and best selling series in the history of fantasy publishing with over 14 million copies sold in North America, and countless more sold abroad.
Robert Jordan died on September 16, 2007, after a courageous battle with the rare blood disease amyloidosis.

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. Her audiobook credits include reading for such authors as Jane Austen, Robert Jordan, Edith Wharton, and Sophie Kinsella. She has performed at numerous theaters in Washington D.C. and received a Helen Hayes Award for her performance in Aunt Dan and Lemon.

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.

Reviews

"Kate Reading and Michael Kramer...[provide] a familiar characterization and delivery style for fans of the series. Fresh and engaged, they both maintain a strong pace, and, as they pass the story between them, complement one another." --AudioFile on The Fires of Heaven, Earphones Award Winner"The solid performances by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer add a new dimension to the story, especially in the way these veteran narrators breathe life into the inner thoughts of the many major players." --AudioFile on Crossroads of Twilight

Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, continues his effort to unify the diverse people of a discordant world against the Dark One in this fifth tome of the Wheel of Time series (begun with The Eye of the World ). While the Aes Sedai, women who channel the One Power, and the Forsaken, ancient disciples of the Dark One, strive to bend him to their purposes, Rand leads the clans of the Aiel in a war of unification. Rand must try to master his powers as a man who can channel, while eluding the concomitant madness, as two groups of women attempt to come to his aid. His love, Elayne, Daughter-Heir of Andor, and Nynaeve, both Aes Sedai in training, join a circus to evade an angry sisterhood, and Siuan Sanche, former leader of the Aes Sedai now stripped of her powers, and two companions seek other rebels in an attempt to avert the final doom. Jordan deftly weaves details from previous books into this narrative and includes a glossary so that new readers can pick up the saga at this point. But all should beware: the few months covered here suggest it may be years and many more volumes before this series reaches its conclusion. (Nov.)