The Eye of the World: Book One of 'The Wheel of Time' (original 1990; edition 1990)

A confusing start, but the start to an interesting series. ( )

Listening with Jacob -- fantastic! and great reading, by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading ( )

A reviewer's dilemma... I've now read this book three times. The first time I read it I must have loved it, because I went on to read all of the rest of the series one after another. But I wasn't on goodreads back then, so alas, no review. I read it for the second time right before [b:The Gathering Storm|1166599|The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time, #12; A Memory of Light, #1)|Robert Jordan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312064325s/1166599.jpg|1920889] came out. Still loved it, still no goodreads. But now here I am, having read it for the third time, and I'm finally attempting a review. Better late than never!

Here's my dilemma... I can't be subjective. At this point the entire series is so near and dear to me, I can't separate one book from another. I can't subjectively say whether this was good or not. Did I enjoy reading it? Oh hell yeah. But maybe that was mostly because it felt so good to be reading The Wheel of Time in general. I can't think of the story we get in this one separately from the others in the series. To me it's one big tapestry... A Pattern of Ages if you will... Heh, WoT... How I love thee.

Sooooo what to do. I guess just give it five stars, because that's what I felt as I read it. Whether that's because of this book alone or the series as a whole, I don't know. But hey, considering I've read it three times now.. There's gotta be something there. An all time favorite for sure. On to [b:The Great Hunt|233649|The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time, #2)|Robert Jordan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312031081s/233649.jpg|1574475]! ( )

I picked this book up in a second hand store for a quarter. I read it all the way through and while the plot was interesting, it took me an extremely long time to read. This book was not compelling - it was paced too slowly and for an 800-page book, it left far too many unresolved scenarios and loose ends to be truly satisfying. I felt the same way about this book as I felt about "Otherland" - It was too long and should only have been a single novel, not stretched out into several novels. Also bothersome was the way the writer followed a storyline that wasn't really his own - he basically scalped Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and replaced the characters and land with different names but very similar backgrounds, thought patterns and goals. I wouldn't read this again and I don't want to read the books that follow. ( )

My second fantasy series after harry potter. The Eye of the world delivers what it should. Full of adventures,suspense and magic. Welcome to the epic world of 'Wheel of Time' ( )