I just finished re-reading this book for probably the 11th time. Amazes me how I am still interested in this book and find something new each time I read it. ( )

Kearsten says: I love this series. It's exciting, complex, scary and engrossing. I read Eye of the World for the first time in...maybe 1994?...and I've reread it countless times, usually right before a new book in the series is published.

Rand, Mat and Perrin are best friends, which isn't surprising, given that they're all of an age and grew up in the same small, remote village, Emond's Field. The most pressing thing on their minds is the upcoming Bel Tine celebration, but this is thrown into shadow - literally - when the village is attacked by Myrddraal and Trollocs, creatures serving the Dark One. The three boys survive the attack, but are convinced to leave by an Aes Sedai, Moiraine, and her Warder, Lan, in order to keep their village from being attacked again. For Moiraine is sure the Dark One is after one of these boys.

RECOMMENDED! ( )

I love this series. It's exciting, complex, scary and engrossing. I read Eye of the World for the first time in...maybe 1994?...and I've reread it countless times, usually right before a new book in the series is published.

This was my first time listening to the book, though. I very much enjoyed it, as did my daughter. We have a 30min drive to and from school, and the moment we climb into the car, I hear, "Book, mom?" We've had great discussions about predictions, foreshadowing, characters, etc., and she's only 6 1/2! (We also discuss the scary parts - evil guys included - and how fiction isn't real...)

Definitely recommended! ( )

The start of one of the great epic fantasy series of recent years. There are many similarities to other great fantasy stories - riding away in the night to avoid the evil creatures on horseback, party being split up during a chase to force some of the main characters out on their own, a major battle that brings revelation to the main character. However, this is only the beginning of a unique series unlike any other I've read. ( )

It's a guilty pleasure, but I really do quite enjoy stock fantasy novels, even the epic ones. And nothing is more epic than Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. I first borrowed these from David where there were only around 6 of them to read, not realising I'd be stuck in a story than not even the death of the author could bring to an end. The next (posthumous) volume is out in October, so I figured they'd make good light reading, while I was on holiday and for in hospital and afterwards next week.

The pace is so much faster in the first few than it becomes in the later books that these are actually quite fun to read. It's interesting to see how if he'd liked Jordan could have wrapped it all up much sooner, and interesting to see all the characters before the intervening books have happened to them. I'd forgotten a lot of the detail, so it's good to read them and refresh my memory.

Basically this is reasonably good at what it's trying to be. Not a work of great literature, but readable fantasy that keeps you coming back to find out what will happen next. It may be some time before I read anything else! ( )