A Love Letter in Leather: Dragonsteel's "The Eye of the World" Leatherbound Reveals

HEY!

(Did you shout it? We hope you shouted it. According to JordanCon, call and response makes for the best drinking songs. 🍻)

This weekend, we turned the wheel and raised a mug at JordanCon. Now that the ale’s worn off (the Two Rivers makes a strong brew, who knew) and the panels are behind us, we’ve got stories to tell, a few songs stuck in our heads, and leatherbounds on our minds.

So, pour up, sit down, and settle in.

Opening ceremonies started with a dialogue about drinking songs. And not just any drinking songs, no. Only the finest will do for a crowd of The Wheel of Time fans—something that wouldn’t disappoint our favorite characters at the Winespring Inn.

Joined by Aes Sedai of all colors, several versions of the Emond’s Field Five, and one or two Mistborns (needless to say, the cosplay was top tier), we joined our fellow JordanCon attendees in a few renditions of drinking songs, and the entire Dragonsteel team was smiling ear to ear.

A Pillar of the Cosmere

Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time was, in Brandon Sanderson’s own words, one of the pillars that shaped the Cosmere. Jordan’s integration of culture, lore, and character arcs helped define what epic fantasy could become. And just as Jordan’s world inspired Brandon, it shaped the spirit of Dragonsteel. The theorizing, the deep fandom roots, the reverence for worldbuilding—all of it feels familiar to Sanderson fans.

That is all to say that for the team working on this leatherbound, it’s a personal project. We think you’ll agree after you see what our team members had to share at JordanCon’s The Eye of the World Dragonsteel leatherbound panel.

Meet the Team

• Isaac Stewart, Dragonsteel’s VP of Creative Development, first found The Eye of the World as a teenager in Idaho. He borrowed a friend’s dad’s copy—he might've stolen it—and read it obsessively. It was later stolen out of his locker at school, which is kind of poetic justice. In every family photo from that year, he’s got his nose in one of the books. 
• Maria Simmons, from Team Jordan, first read The Eye of the World because her brother-in-law handed her an ARC and told her to. She immediately bought the next two books and dove in headfirst. She’s worked with Robert Jordan since the beginning and now helps oversee all things WoT.
• Shawn Boyles, longtime friend of Isaac and now an official member of Dragonsteel, was introduced to The Wheel of Time by none other than Isaac Stewart himself. Once Shawn started reading, he fell hard. His copies of the books are now tagged with layers of color-coded notes and sticky tabs.

Isaac kicked off the panel by giving some voice to one of the key members of the team that wasn’t present, Petar Penev. Petar is an incredibly talented creative and is one of our lead artists on this project. When asked what he’d like to share with the JordanCon crowd, Petar wanted to make sure the fans knew how much care he was putting into the process. So, he sent these words over to us to share with you.

Translating a World

Shawn put it perfectly: “We want to translate, not reinvent. Petar keeps us honest, and we all try to do that with each other, referencing the actual text for the art. The text is king.”

Every piece of art, every design decision in this edition honors the original text. Petar is meticulous in his research, and it really shows. Some of his pieces feature “extras” in the background, and if you look closely, you may recognize some actual characters described as being part of the Two Rivers populating the image. The goal of this meticulous process is to create the ultimate immersive experience for those reading this edition of The Eye of the World.

One thing we’re doing in this spirit is ensuring the characters progress naturally through the volumes. We’re already thinking about how they’ll develop over time so that it’s organically baked in from the very start of our process. You can see that with Rand below.

Use the arrows to navigate the art above.

Did we mention we're already working on the concept art for book two?

After the panel, we caught up with Isaac and Shawn outside of the hotel. (Side note… isn’t it stunning?) To hear more from them on The Eye of the World leatherbound, check out the full interview below.

Honoring the Legacy

Harriet and Maria have been reviewing each piece of this edition. Shawn shared, “Every time I get a new piece of art back or a new element, I send it to Harriet and Maria. We can’t exactly make the book that Jim would want, but we can make the book that Harriet wants. She’s been there from the start, longer than anyone.”

From approving the art ("They got the pockets right," Harriet said about a piece featuring Loial in the library) to guiding layout decisions, their presence ensures this feels like coming home to something familiar.

There’s no better way to say it than Isaac did at the end of the panel. “I never got to meet Jim in person, and say thank you. I think of this as my thank-you letter to him. We want to do this right. I’m telling you all, we want to do this right. That’s the spirit of this entire project.”

And that spirit carries through every element. From page count (over 900 carefully laid-out pages for optimal readability) to icon design, every choice was made with respect, intention, and love.

Shawn said that translating the beautiful components of the original is, in some ways, easy, because we’re “standing on the shoulders of kings.”

“I see these a bit like souvenirs,” said Isaac. “When you explore a world like this one, and you want something to put up on your shelf and say that ‘I experienced something that I loved.’ It’s a way of expressing the joy of going on this journey. I think it’s a souvenir of your explorations of other worlds, basically.” This book is a token of the moment you first opened The Eye of the World and stepped into something vast and eternal.

It’s in the printer's hands now. And soon, it will be in yours.