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

According to The Wheel of Time Companion she actually survived the Last Battle.

Congratulations! Check out The Wheel of Time Companion, The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, and the canonical (and non-canonical) short stories! And if you haven't already, peruse http://www.encyclopaedia-wot.org/ - it has good chapter synopses and links between parts of the story.

Yes

Obviously, reading the entire series several times isn't a practical idea. And, there's far too much breadth and depth to the world to give you a useful crash course in a reddit comment or two. So, here are a few suggestions:

• Ask your friend about the characters they want to play, when relative to the main story, and what part(s) of the world they're most interested in exploring. This will give you some areas to focus on in more detail.
  
• Consider reading a couple of the books if you can make the time. The natural place to start would be The Eye of the World which is full of detail and world-building. However, the plot is very tightly focused and you might not get enough of the big picture to construct a good campaign experience.
  
  • Another option would be to jump ahead to books 3, 4, and 5 (The Dragon Reborn, Shadow Rising, and The Fires of Heaven). The scope is substantially wider and you'll see a lot more of the world, cultures, and different regions. Crucially, you'll get some time in the White Tower, which is the single most important political institution. These earlier books are more accessible, Jordan does more recapping in the narration, and there are fewer minor POV characters than later in the series. Plus, reading some of these will give you a much more nuanced feel for the world than reading synopses and Wiki entries.
    
  • I would also consider reading the New Spring novella. It's considerably shorter than any of the other works and gives you a unique view on the world outside of the context of the main story line. If any of the players is playing an Aes Sedai or a character connected to the White Tower (a warder, expelled novice, etc.) this book is a must read for you.
    
• The audiobooks are truly EXCELLENT. Getting all 15 (induing New Spring) could be somewhat costly, but if you can find some at local libraries and pick up others on audible, it would be a good way to immerse yourself in the world. If I were in your shoes, I would listen to them frequently as you run the campaign, dipping in and out of different books after you finish the series on the first go.
  
  Some other resources for you to consider:
  
  
• The Wiki is OK. It's somewhat mixed in its detail and seems to be more detailed on the individual characters, which is likely less useful for your needs.
  
• Leigh Butler's ReRead of the series on Tor.com is good. She does a brief chapter-by-chapter synopsis of each book, so you'll get all the main plot and character points, although you'll of course miss out on the details of the world building and texture. Plus, it's written for someone who's read the series. Nonetheless, it might be worth checking out for you.
  
• The two published reference books might also be worth getting your hands on.
  
  • I highly recommend reading The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (aka the White Book or the big book of bad art). It's organized thematically and will cover a lot of background detail of the world: Nations, history, some politics, etc. Unfortunately, it's not comprehensive as it was written part way through the series.
    
  • The Wheel of Time Companion was published after the series was finished. It's organized alphabetically and draws from Jordan's notes as well as the published works. You might well find it a good reference for different places, ideas, and items, but for learning about the world overall, I think you'll be better served by starting with the white book.
    
    Hope this helps!
    

Take a look at the book's Introduction on Amazon where actually it states this!


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I found a few on my first go through—the most famous is 'Bela' which is deliberate!(it was kind of a tongue in cheek joke for the fans)—but I did not bother to make a list of them.

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Though it is very far from the thoroughness of the extravagant 'Tolkien's World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth', as a lot of stuff is left out—Aiel 'bridal wreath' for example—of tWoT's version, while Tolkien's includes—everything—including the kitchen sink.

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I say that it is still worth getting. But, like pointed out, some entries need to be taken with a grain of salt.

You definitely should!

Pick up the recently published Wheel of Time Compendium and it will make researching everything you need to know as easy as reading 10 little entries and 10 big entries (which looks like a lot but really isn't, especially since you've already made the time comittment to DMing and Homebrewing all this).

The Trolloc Wars setting gives lots of room for deviation from "official history" because it led to a near-collapse of civilization 2000 years before the books, and there was also the Hawkwing era 1000 years before so history could have been confused in countless ways even after that. Your players might know roughly what happens but throw in a Foretelling NPC to give them confused-prophesies of one-half red herrings (but maybe things they could MAKE happen) and other-half confirmations of what they know and they'll be uncertain all over again.

The Trolloc Wars were the greatest and most widespread use of the Power for martial purposes since the Breaking of the World, and really the biggest until the books themselves. The fact that Ishamael is working for the Dark means they might know any "forgotten" weave or talent you want to include--in a VERY limited elite group--and same for Aes Sedai, who would naturally be secretive as they grow to suspect that there are Darkfriends among them... It was during this "wandering the world" time that Ishamael founded the Black Ajah. Even without millions of Trollocs rampage across the land and the Ways becoming corrupt and whole civilizations which had very nearly regained the heights of the Age of Legends falling into ruin, that would be plenty of campaign material.

I bet there were more than a few False Dragons too.

https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Companion-History-Bestselling/dp/0765314622

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Something like this?

I missed the whole two souls thing on my first read through as well. Slayer was a very confusing character.

As for a “history” there is the Wheel of Time Companion book which has a loooot of really cool info. It’s basically an encyclopedia but it has stuff like all the old tongue words translated and it mentions the power levels of every Aes Sedai.

There’s also the World of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time which might be closer to what you’re looking for. It doesn’t include as much info, and it came out before the series was finished I think. But it gives a really good overview of Randland and the past. It breaks down the different nations, factions, age of legends, etc. i highly recommend both if you love WoT (though the artwork in the latter book is... questionable. I do like some of it, but some is horrendous imo).

Edit: I have both btw so feel free to ask any questions or if you want a little sneak peak I can pm you some pics of them.

There's literally a whole book for that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0765314622/

Book.
https://smile.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Companion-History-Bestselling/dp/0765314622/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TISOVRPQVWMO&keywords=the+wheel+of+time+companion&qid=1570485976&s=books&sprefix=the+wheel+of+time+companion%2Caps%2C308&sr=1-1
The paperback is the large size, not the small mass market pprbk. And if you're a fan of Daniel Greene's you tube channel, he has it in his Amazon store and will help support his channel.