Universal Pictures has picked up film rights to the late Robert Jordan’s bestselling novel series, The Wheel of Time.

According to Variety, adaptations of the fantasy novels will begin with the first book in the cycle, “The Eye of the World.”

The Wheel of Time series follows, among its dozens of characters, Rand al’Thor, the latest incarnation of a force for good called “The Dragon. Rand is born to fight an evil character called Shai’tan.

Eleven books have been published in the series, not counting the prequel. A twelfth book, expected to be the final book of the series, is currently being prepared. Books 8-11 have each reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. As of September 18, 2007 the series has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and has spawned several games and a soundtrack.

This does not seem like a bad series. I like fantasy novels and interesting new worlds and complex ensemble characters. This seems like an interesting project and with the right budget it can be a good competition to Disney’s Chronicles series and New Line’s Hobbit. However there is a chance it could end up like Eragon, Dungeons and Dragons and the Dungeon Siege series, which were just terrible.