The Eye of the World

(First of 14: The Wheel of Time series. Fantasy, epic fantasy)
(Re-read.)

This must be at least my fourth time of reading this book and I have set up a 2019 group read (https://www.librarything.com/topic/302886) in the hopes that I will actually manage to complete the series. I first discovered The Wheel of Time quite early in the series, loved it and started collecting the books for my own shelves. Of course, I soon caught up with Jordan and would wait impatiently for him to release the next book, though it didn't help to find that he knew exactly what the last scene of the whole series would be... and I wanted to know, too! But it was one of those series that I didn't want to end, so I was quite happy when a planned trilogy turned into show more a long running serial and I didn't mind the extended descriptions of people's clothes.

The trilogy had turned into ten books when we heard the news that Jordan was mortally ill. Thankfully, Brandon Sanderson took up the reins and finished the series - by which time I had forgotten all the storylines. So - with a warning to first time readers to not leave it too long between books - here we go again from the beginning.

The prologue shows us a time long, long past when the world was broken and then the story begins by introducing us to Rand and Tam al'Thor, who are making a delivery to town, walking from their farm through woods that are clinging to winter while they keep a nervous eye out for wolves, which have been more numerous and bold this year.

Jordan evokes a sense of isolation for the town of Emondsfield which lies on the border of civilisation, and the farms which lie beyond it. For all their hardiness, the Emondsfielders are caught off guard by creatures out of legend that attack the town, and we flee with Rand and his companions with our hearts in our mouths, not knowing what unknown dangers we might face, and with only Moiraine Sedai and her taciturn warder, Lan, to guide and guard us. But the legends their mothers told to scare them may lie closer to the truth than they realised, with trollocs - unnatural fusions of man and beast - and Fades - faceless Halfmen who can walk through walls or disappear by turning sideways - hunting them for unknown reasons. And they have dreams which seem more real than when they are awake and which imply that they are very important to the fate of the world.

Although they find friends and allies along the way there is always a sense of threat, of not knowing why they are being hunted and whether they can absolutely trust the people around them. And if they return home, they will carry the danger back to the people they love.

The book ends with a fairly satisfying conclusion, rather than a cliff-hanger - until we read the epilogue, and remember that this book was originally written as the first part of a trilogy.

As others in the group read realised, there are a lot of parallels with many classics of fantasy - innumerable Arthurian references, similarities to Lord of the Rings and so on - which Jordan made intentionally so readers would be familiar with the narrative. (But don't waste time trying to fit the characters to the stories which belong to those with similar names from the Camelot tales because they generally don't bear more than a passing resemblance, in my experience.)

I like the way all the references are tightly local; anyone suspicious is like a Taren Ferry man - Taren Ferry being a day’s journey or so away. Or, since the Coplins are a family of ne’er do wells, any foolish talk is ‘like Coplin talk’. Rand and his friends have explored further than most people they know, but now they go as far as Taren Ferry and much, much further into the unknown world. There is a lot thrown at them - and thereby at us - much of it out of legend, so we discover the outside world along with them.

I like the world building and the small details that are included which flesh it out; though we probably don’t see it but the once, the inn’s cat has a name (Scratch) which gives it weight and presence. And I like the interactions between people:

“Her name is Moiraine,” Egwene said ... “The Wisdom may not like her, but I do.”

“What makes you think Nynaeve dislikes her?” Rand said.

“She asked the Wisdom for directions this morning,” Egwene said, “and called her ‘child.’”

(Funnier once you’ve met Nynaeve.)

I thought the ending was a bit rushed but, as I said before, it was planned as the first book of a trilogy. This book was first published in 1990 at a time when most fantasy books were limited to around 250 pages and series were usually trilogies; this one runs to almost 800 pages but it is dense and rich and very well worth reading. It builds and holds the tension and even though I have read it so many times before, I found myself sitting up anxiously to find out what happens.

5 stars ***** show less

Since the mid/late 90s I've always been drawn to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series because of Darrell K. Sweet's distinctive cover art that has set the series apart from other fantasy titles. It wasn't until recently that I decided to look inside those covers, but after reading The Eye of the World I wish I had sooner.

The slow-to-moderate pace at the beginning of the book by Jordan shows the layback lifestyle of the Two Rivers region of his world where the majority of his characters come from. Once the action hits the road, the action picks up to a furious pace that only relaxes when the group comes to rest at towns that grow progressively larger. When the group is forced to split up, Jordan takes the opportunity to give an enlarged show more view of the world he's created as well as give better character development as the narration expanded from just one character's point-of-view to three.

Throughout the story, from the prologue to the climax, the significance and use of magical "One Power" is expanded upon by Jordan as well as it's implications. Those implications result in how characters interaction with one another, especially when it comes to gender roles compared to other fantasy stories. And the end of the book these implications of the use of the One Power provide set up for future books.

One last point is how Jordan misdirects who the ultimate villian(s) are at the climax of the book, including during the book's end game. Several aspects of the evil side of Jordan's world were exposed, though not explored in-depth, but well enough to give the reader a sense of what the protagonists are up against.

On it's own The Eye of the World is a great story. But as the first book in what will turn out to be a 14 book series, it's introduces just enough to want you to come back to see what else will happen. Like I said in the first paragraph, I should have read this book sooner. show less

I have read this book 3 times now, and each time I have liked it exponentially more. Maybe it's because I'm finally starting to get a grasp on all of the characters. Or maybe it's because there is so much going on that you discover tons of new stuff during each re-read. Whatever the reason, I am quite glad that I decided to take on the series again so that I could be completely prepared for the final book.

I didn't realize that so many major characters were introduced in this first book. In fact, I think it's safe to say that every character that is so much as looked at or spoken of will show up again later, and probably as a major character. I was also surprised by how much the Emond's Fielders changed during the course of one show more book—there isn't this much character development in the rest of the books.

I wish that I could have seen more of the story through Moiraine's and Lan's eyes, however. After reading New Spring, my perspective on them goes beyond the Dumbledore/Gandalf fountains of wisdom. They are real people who have dedicated their lives to finding and guiding the Dragon Reborn. I wonder when Moiraine figured out that Rand was "the one," and what she really thought of the other Emond's Fielders. And I want to know what was going through Lan's head when he fell in love with Nyneave. Ah—their romance is definitely the best in all of fantasy. Sigh.

There's a quote on the back cover of my dog-eared and mold-encrusted book that sums up the awesomeness of this particular novel: "Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World proves that there's still plenty of life in the ancient tradition of epic fantasy. Jordan has a powerful vision of good and evil—but what strikes me as most pleasurable about The Eye of the World is all the fascinating people moving through a rich and interesting world." Spoken by none other than Orson Scott Card. There are some distinct Lord of the Rings elements, but Jordan definitely has enough of an imagination to stray from that prototype. Later on, the series lags a bit (okay, a LOT) because Jordan doesn't quite seem to know where he is going with it. However, the first book is entertaining, intense, heart-wrenching, and exciting. Everything a fantasy novel should be. I am glad that I was one of the millions to get caught up in the Wheel of Time.

However, if Moiraine says "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills" one more time, I might have to shoot her. And this time, she really will die. show less

If you want an example of a bad way to start a series, here's an example. I didn't grow up with the "Wheel of Time" series; I'm reading it because it's well-known in the fantasy community and I keep running into it. And after two books (I read the prequel first) I still regret the decision.

After the generic Prophesied Male Hero introduction and about 75% of the story, we finally get to what the title is about. Or at least it's name-dropped. They don't actually get there until like the last 10% of the book. I still don't know why it mattered that they actually be there rather than somewhere else for the final battle in the story. What this means is that you spend the majority of the book wondering what the heck the title is referencing. show more Unless the 'Eye of the World' is a metaphorical reference to how all the world knows about The Chosen Male Hero Prophecy and so Rand is sort of like a celebrity because eyes around the world on his actions (or would be if they knew who he was). Still silly. Why's the actual place called the 'Eye of the World' anyway?

I have exactly zero interest in any of the three generic male heroes. It's actually hard to tell them apart for most of the book until they start collecting hero traits, even though these young men are in their late teens(?) and should have more personality by now. And the traits themselves are so weird. Perrin randomly gets the ability to talk to wolves after spending most of the book up until then being the silent guy hanging around with the hammer. Mat is The Prankster who's annoying and greedy and paranoid and Rand is a whiny baby who for some reason feels like he's responsible for Egwene and like he has more authority than she does even though he's, as he is so often to repeat, a Shepard's son and she was in training with one of the village leaders and he knows she can access the One Power. It doesn't help that he acts territorial over her actions. Back off, buddy. I do find it kind of amusing that Jordan apparently realized that you couldn't tell the three Chosen Males apart so he gave them different weapons. Oh yes. Truly imaginative. It would have been creative to have a Prophesied Hero use a bow for once (Katniss isn't prophesied; she's just in the right place at the right time, although it's a good step in the right direction; "Yona of the Dawn" kind of does what I'm talking about), but of course that doesn't happen because Heroes Prefer Swords even when they have zero training with one. Which is apparently going to get explained away in future books because past lives(?) and the world functions like a video game where you gain XP through combat and not because you spent years training with swordmasters.

There are way too many characters in this thing. We already have three poorly developed heroes, plus two more interesting female characters who become heroes apparently and a bodyguard plus a tag-along. And that's before getting to all the allies and the number of antagonists. Writing a world chock-full of POV characters doesn't a detailed world make. It's just confusing and frustrating. Make us care about any of these people first, THEN develop your world. Something like the "Honorverse" model, where Weber developed Honor's character and a few of her allies and antagonists before really developing all of the other protagonists in their own stories. The Honorverse is incredibly intricate and complicated, with politics spanning star systems. And while it can be hard to remember sometimes who's who, it's a whole lot easier than WoT, and I'm only on WoT book 1/2! Otherwise you get what we have in WoT, where Jordan finally develops one character only to introduce another four because... reasons?

I really don't get the relationship between Lan and Nynaeve. I feel zero chemistry there until around the time you're already supposed to be convinced they have this tragic love story going on and they're just trying to sort of make it work. Sure, they might think the other is pretty hot, but that doesn't create a deep emotional bond like what is explained in the later story. And, like EgwenexRand, it keeps perpetuating this stupid Hollywood formula where women and men initially hate each other but those relationships always end up with them in love. I want to like these relationships because Nynaeve is going against the ridiculous traditions of her culture that are really restrictive of female sexuality and Egwene is being rather out there for a young woman in a stereotypical Eurocentric fantasy story in many ways. But I just don't like the relationships because they're portrayed in such a childish and nonsensical manner. It doesn't help that the relationship between Nynaeve and Lan was clearly the model for the relationship between Moiraine and Lan in "New Spring", so when you get to it in "Eye of the World" you're thinking NOT THIS AGAIN!

One of the major faults of the book is its length and how it doesn't use the length well. The prose is overly drawn out, repetitive, and most of it is inconsequential. Jordan gets bogged down in extraneous details, ridiculous similes, and metaphors that don't advance the plot and just make no sense. I don't need to know what it looks like every time a character twitches or moves around. They walked away. They smiled. They glared. THAT'S IT! THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH! NOW MOVE ON WITH THE PLOT! And why did we have to repeat the dream sequences so many times? The nightmares were bad. Okay. After one or two, couldn't we have just been told briefly about them and moved on with the plot? Nothing special actually happened in pretty much any of them. There's no reason Rand couldn't have briefly thought about them during the day or told one of the other two Chosen Male Heroes. And why couldn't they have told Moiraine? Over half of the book is basically WHY ARE YOU NOT TALKING TO MOIRAINE ABOUT THIS? I don't care that you're afraid of being labeled a Dark Friend. Moiraine and Lan's behavior indicates that this will not be the result. Thankfully Moiraine basically dresses them down for it when they finally do tell her but seriously. Pointless drama. It might mean something if this taught them ANYTHING about how to act in the future, but no. They don't confide in Moiraine or trust her. They don't realize that MAYBE she's not gonna kill them. They just keep suspecting her of various conspiracies because reasons. THAT is why it's extra pointless.

I really wish Egwene or Nynaeve were the sole focus character or perhaps the only pair of protagonists. I like their stories, particularly Nynaeve's, given the environment she came from and what she's doing in her life and her potential. And they're the POV characters for such a fractional portion of the book. Why couldn't one of THEM be the prophesied hero? Why does it, yet again, have to be a guy, particularly one who spends the majority of the first two books in denial?

It's a special kind of writer who creates a single all-female powerful group and decides they also need to create their own set of KKK/MRA lovechildren to off-set the 'balance' in an already patriarchal world. And by special I mean stupid and completely lacking in imagination, because we didn't apparently have enough groups run by and dominated by men. Every time the zealot despot misogynists showed up I was more irritated than pulled along by the story.

What was the point of the Prologue? We never visit Dragonmount and for all that he's mentioned, Lews Therin has practically zero import in the rest of the story, other than being the last incarnation of the Dragon. It seems like empty character development for the primary antagonist, since all the antagonist really does in the book is stalk the Three Heroes in their dreams and try to seduce them. Which makes me wonder what the antagonist's Endgame is. Does he just really want to dominate the Dragon or something cause other than wreaking random destruction on the world he's REALLY obsessed with seducing the three heroes. Which is further questionable for all the time Jordan spends on it. I get that Evil Incarnate just wants to sleep with the Ultimate Good already, now can we move on with the plot?

I don't actually know what was accomplished by this book, other than that we know who the Dragon is, which is obvious from the beginning because of how much more time is spent with Rand than Perrin or Mat. The end battle didn't seem all that important to the rest of the book (or apparently the series) and the next book seems to undo most of what happened in this book.

Overall this was an incredibly boring and uninteresting read. show less

The Wheel turns, and Ages come and go- cue wind.

The book that started it all.

My favorite series, flat-out, this is the kickoff book. Jordan made a number of unusual choices. He has a main cast of characters- three boys, three girls, and a supporting cast that would make Tolstoy nod in approval. His training as a physicist comes out in the work he did establishing details and more importantly, reasons for everything to be as it was.

If your background is not in science, there would seem to be a lot of fluff to these books; from a combination scientific-literary point of view, he established the necessary variables and equations and "solved" the story, showing his work along the way. The prose is approachable, and in this book in show more particular, the characters are likable. He even uses colors and heraldic-style stitching designs to indicate things about the characters and their world.

Jordan was at pains to create a matriarchal world where men were the inferior sex; while criticism can be leveled at how well it was achieved, there is a lot of thought and realism put into how it would look and interact that a casual glance misses at its own peril. Men committed original sin in his world; men are the emotionally weaker sex, although they are still the ones that do most of the fighting and dying in wars et al.

Into this is born a prophesied savior- who will also be a destroyer- a man. The very man who was responsible for the destruction of the world before, in fact, reborn by name for the first time anyone knows of in this world driven by reincarnation. And the character himself . .is a good, kind-hearted young man.

If you like small-scale adventure books, read this one, maybe the next one, and be done. If you don't like politics, history that has to be read between the lines, complex intrigue, and people acting believably like people- not for you.

Myself? He even includes a mechanism for Deus ex Machina "Fate" interventions- ta'veren- where ta'veren "are" lucky but find their free will choked by chance into fulfilling their destiny, while corresponding bad luck happens to them or those around them. The entire background of the series is mechanistic, and I always find new connections on new reads. I've never had a fantasy series engage my mind like this, not even Wolfe, and Wolfe is saying something!

Additional content:

After reading some other reviews, some information for new readers.

Jordan's cosmology and mythos is neither strict high fantasy nor alternate history nor Apocalyptic. He himself described it as Manichean.

There are seven distinct Ages of the world. In some, mankind exists at an Ice Age subsistence level. In some, mankind has achieved near Star Trek levels of advancement. Everyone is reincarnated again and again through time.

Jordan uses the symbolism of the Wheel- a spinning wheel, spinning lives "threads" in the "pattern" of each Age. The Wheel derives its energy from the simultaneous attraction and repulsion of the fundamental yin-yang force of the universe- the One Power, divided into feminine (saidar) and masculine (saidin) halves. In some Ages, humans learn to "channel" this power.

The Dark One is the devil, embodying destruction and corruption. He wants to destroy the Wheel and claims to want to remake the Pattern. The Creator never appears, but is presupposed from the evidence of Creation.

In the last Age, mankind has a society much like our own but with total green technology and perfect health due to the One Power and channelers. War is forgotten outside historians. Then the Dark One is able to reach inside reality, and not only is it war, but it's war twisted to the most perverse form imaginable.

The leader against the Dark One earned the nickname Dragon. And he was losing. In desperation, he launched a strike at where the Dark One was touching reality, successfully patching the hole in reality- for a time. In the Dark One's backlash, he and all his Companions go insane, destroying the world in their insanity. The male half of the Power can't be used without causing the same insanity. Women become the dominant sex socially. The Dragon is held to be the worst human who ever lived, a servant of the Dark One who three thousand years before tried to destroy the world and failed.

And prophecy says that the Dark One will touch the world again, and the Dragon himself will be reborn to fight him and save the world- if he succeeds.

It is a world that is supposed to be the source of our myths and legends, both our future and our past. Pay attention to the myth references and folk characters in-series; everything from the Thousand Tales of Anla, the Wise Councilor (Ann Landers) to "a soft metal three-pointed star, which even at a distance reeked of vanity to her dreamwalking senses" (BMW symbol). show less

Other than The Lord of the Rings this was 1 of my first ever delves into the fantasy world so to speak. Yes i had read The Neverending story as a child but as an adult i had for some reason always gone form Horror or Withering Heights and in-between which is quite an eclectic reading genre.I found this book by shear coincidence, i was in the local bookshop and found a large series of these Wheel of Time books.
I love getting my teeth stuck into something that will last me months and it came highly rated by the shop owner.
So that is where my love story with Mr Robert Jordan, Rand, Matt, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve and a host of other characters began.
There are 14 books in the series plus a prequel A New Spring.
This book introduces us to the show more main characters and instantly makes us care what the futures hold for our band of heroes.I don't normally say this about books but this at times had my heart rate raised so high and my palms so sweaty i couldn't read the words quick enough!
There is enough danger, excitement, new places to explore alongside the characters to keep you up all night and not want to sleep until you reach then end.
The only problem reaching the end of this book?
How soon could i get my hands on book 2!
For those of you that have yet to delve into The Wheel of Time are fortunate as now all 14 books have been written so no waiting times between books. When i was waiting for a whole year and sometimes longer to get my hands on the new book i used to start from the very beginning again!
Sadly Robert Jordan past away before he could finish his life work on this fantastic epic of a series.
Through his planning and his extensive notes he had left on how he wanted the characters progress and how his magical world would come to a close books 12, 13 and 14 were completed by Brandon Sanderson from those conversations with Robert, Roberts wive and all the notes left behind.
journey on his own.Brandon did a fantastic job but i so wish for Robert he could have concluded the
though i now know how it all ends, it still gets my heart racing and the hairs on the back of arms to prickle.And i still to this day after first finding book 1 all the way back in 1999 will pick up these books with the same infatuation and excitement, even
I know i have recommended books before and they are all deserving a read but these books should be on everybody's bucket list. Even if like me this genre of books don't appeal, i would still urge you to pick it up and give it a try.
What have you got to loose after all :-) show less

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

I first read the Wheel of Time somewhere around 2004, with only 10 of the eventual 14 books published. When [b:Knife of Dreams|13888|Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time, #11)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397856387s/13888.jpg|987750] was published in 2005, I read them all again. Likewise with [b:The Gathering Storm|1166599|The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time, #12)|Robert show more Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442815923s/1166599.jpg|1920889] in 2009 (the first written by [a:Brandon Sanderson|38550|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1394044556p2/38550.jpg] after [a:Robert Jordan|6252|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1175475715p2/6252.jpg]'s death), [b:Towers of Midnight|8253920|Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time, #13)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358109459s/8253920.jpg|7338128] in 2010, and finally [b:A Memory of Light|7743175|A Memory of Light (Wheel of Time, #14)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1336055749s/7743175.jpg|10558806] in 2013. It's been a few years, but the series as a whole is well worth every minute to invest in a reread--it's among my favorite series I've ever written. This time around though (for the second time) I'll be listening to the audiobooks.

So. Starting with [b:The Eye of the World|228665|The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, #1)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1337818095s/228665.jpg|2008238]. Taken in a vacuum, it's solid enough high fantasy, with little enough to set it apart from oh so many others. Farm boys with an obvious mysterious destiny. An attack from obviously evil twisted humanity. Main characters making stupid choices (although to be fair, they're barely even adults) for the sake of interesting things happening. They get whisked off from one adventure to another, eventually saving the world™.

On the other hand, just under the surface, there are hints of something wonderful. Jordan does a good job of making you feel the age of the world and how it's been torn apart in the past and is nearing such a time again. There's an interesting dynamic with the Aes Sedai--the powerful magic users of the world... but they are all women. A man that attempts to use magic is doomed to go mad and kill those he loves. Not something I've seen much other. Especially seeing how he just keeps expanding on these ideas throughout the series: it's very well done.

I doubt I'll review specifics about characters (there are piles of them even in this first book) or plot (a lot of that too). But I will say flat out: it's 10,000 pages / 4.4 million words that I've read a half dozen times. Give it a try. It might take a year of your life to read them all, but it will be worth it. show less