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A series of books by Robert Jordan. Eleven are out, with the twelfth supposedly the last book. There is also a prequel book (New Spring), an overpriced 'Guide' consisting of a bunch of pretty pictures and information on lands that the plot will never visit,a First Person Shooter and an RPG.
Jordan died of amyloidosis in the middle of writing the twelfth, A Memory of Light. His wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, has chosen up-and-coming fantasy author Brandon Sanderson to complete the series based on copious notes left behind. The sheer number of dangling plot threads, however, makes it unlikely all of them were even intended to be resolved—supposedly to give a sense that the world continues after the story.
Then again, Robert Jordan said he would finish the story in Book 12, even if the publisher had to invent a new book format (Jordan's precise words were that book 12 will end the series, even 'if it's 20,000 pages long, Tor has to invent a new binding system, or it comes with its own library cart'). Sanderson confirmed that A Memory of Light will be an even bigger Doorstopper then the previous ones. Considering you can already smash someones head in with some of the others ...
In order, the series is as follows:
Prequel: New Spring (expanded from a novella)
Book One: The Eye of the World
Book Two: The Great Hunt
Book Three: The Dragon Reborn
Book Four: The Shadow Rising
Book Five: The Fires of Heaven
Book Six: Lord of Chaos
Book Seven: A Crown of Swords
Book Eight: The Path of Daggers
Book Nine: Winter's Heart
Book Ten: Crossroads of Twilight
Book Eleven: Knife of Dreams
Thousands of years ago, in the utopian Age of Legends, mage (Aes Sedai) scientists attempted to find and access a source of magic that could be channeled by both genders (see Functional Magic, below).
Good news: they found it. Bad news: 'It' was the embodiment of pure evil, and the attempt broke a hole in its prison.
Long story short, war and chaos followed. Lews Therin Telamon, "the one called Dragon" for no explained reason, managed to lead a successful attempt to reseal the prison (and trap its powerful generals known as the Forsaken) with a makeshift patch, but not before the Dark One tainted the male half of the One Power. All male Aes Sedai quickly went insane (as would all male channelers thereafter) and brought civilization crashing down in a terrible cataclysm that physically reshaped the world. Eventually, the world rebuilt itself, but never regained its former glory.
Mat, Perrin, and Rand were just ordinary boys living in a small village... Until a mysterious woman called Moiraine showed up. Shortly after that the village was attacked by (to them) mythical monsters. According to Moiraine, the three were Main Characters (a.k.a. ta'veren) and the Dark One itself was after them.
The seven seals on the Dark One's prison are starting to weaken, and the "Last Battle" is approaching... but you knew that.
