January 25, 2018sarahylockwood

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Rate:5/5

Medium: Audiobook

Overview (No Spoilers):

I’ve heard so many people mention The Wheel of Time series, however it is usually in context of commenting on the unusual length of the series or Jordan’s unfortunate passing prior to the series conclusion. It occurred to me while reading The Eye of the World that I’ve never actually had someone come out and tell me, “You NEED to read this series,” instead the recommendation was merely implied because it was just that good. At seventeen total books I knew it would be a major commitment to reading this classic series, and I’d expected the plot to be plodding and methodical to allow for the sprawling of so many novels. In hindsight I should have realized that a series that is as touted by so many book lovers would in no way be slow moving.  Jordan’s narrative, picks up and goes right from the onset, as we get a sampling of some of the bigger forces at play before settling into the main story following a group of country bumpkins who quickly grow endeared to the reader, as they are forced from the only rural life they’ve known into a story out of a Gleeman’s tale. They quickly find out though that there’s more to an adventure than what shows up in gallant stories, from finding food to frantic escapes from enemies. Jordan has created a beautiful literary world that has laid the groundwork for continuing to development in both depth and range as this series progresses.  Overall, The Eye of the World has definitely set the bar high for the following installments and I can’t wait to see how this story will grow and evolve.

Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

  • I loved that Emond’s Field turned out to be the forgotten land of legend of Manetheren. As someone who grew up in a rural community, Emond’s field stirred nostalgic feelings and I love the idea romantic idea of the forgotten past of greatness.
  • Did Thom actually get killed? I hope he survives!
  • Will Matrim be able to be saved from the dagger he took from Mordeth?
  • Did Rand actually kill Ba’alzamon? Rand channeled The One Power and Moiraine believes him to the the Dragon Reborn. Does that mean Rand will not go crazy and the corrupted by the power? What role will the other three play? Is there more than, Mat being descended from an ancient King and Perrin having the wolf power.
  • What happened to the Ways? Can it be saved?
  • How will Rand’s audience with the Queen Morgase play out in the future? Will we see more of the Prince or Princess?
  • The Ogier, Loial was my favorite! Will we see more of him and his kind? How will he be received back into his people?
  • Is there more to the False Dragon? It seemed anticlimactic that his role was to  be captured and paraded around.
  • What is Min’s story? When will she show up again?
  •  Will Nynaeve al’Meara and al’Lan get together?
  • Will Egwene al’Vere and Nynaeve al’Meara become Aes Sedai?
  • Will any of our heroes every go home?

 

33 comments

  2. I devoured this book in a few days. Same with the next two. But as the series progressed, I started getting annoyed by the characters and the constant interludes with characters that show up for 20 pages, and then are never seen again. It took me three days to read book one, and three months to read book nine- and that counts the chapters I skipped because I couldn’t stand a particular character. It seemed like, as things went on, Jordan was being paid by the word and so just kept typing. I’ve heard that the books that Sanderson co-wrote are much better, but I’m not interestes in slogging through any more of Jordan’s books to get to them.

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  3. Some of the later books will be slower – book ten (Crossroads of Twilight) particularly so – but it speeds up again from book eleven. It is my favourite series though and even some of the flaws (there are some tropes or phrases that pop up over and over) become sort of endearing.
    I hope you enjoy the rest of it!

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  4. I also just read it for the first time last year. I had always just assumed I wouldn’t like it, but I loved it! I don’t care that people complain it is a Tolkien rip off. I still enjoyed it.

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  6. Now that you mention, I’ve never anyone either says you HAVE to read this series. Whenever the idea of reading it appears, it usually met with something along the lines of, good luck with slogging through the middle book XD Still, for me, this a series that I MUST read one day.

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  7. I started on this series almost 15 years ago (jeez, makes me feel old to say that) and didn’t make it past #5 because the story got so sprawling that, like the recent installments of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, we’d go entire books without hearing from certain characters I really liked. I lost patience with that, but look forward to catching up on the tale via your reviews.

    One element that stood out to me in the titles I did finish was Jordan’s incredibly complex female characters. I haven’t read many male authors who rendered such nuanced heroines and villainesses. (My sister and I used to joke that Jordan’s wife or daughter must’ve secretly tinkered with his manuscripts!) Curious to hear your developing impressions of the WoT women.

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  9. This one was pretty good. Glad you liked it.
    For me, I liked the first 3 or so books in the series before Jordan’s writing style and characters became so annoying that I was tempted to give up on the series.

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  10. The Wheel of Time is a series I always keep in mind, but I have no drive to actually get to it, especially with the intimidating number of books. A friend and fan of the books didn’t help things when she told me me “the first few books are really slow, but by the third things really ramp up!” I just couldn’t bring myself to start something I wouldn’t expect to get into until the late far in. That all being said, your review has got me a little more interested in at least checking out The Eye of the World.

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  12. To all your questions, do you want answers to your insights or just stating them for your further reading?

    How do you get 17 books in the series? There are the 14 main books and then the prequel New Spring (which is both a short story in a anthology collection and a more fleshed out prequel novel), so that is 15. I’m thinking there is something by Brandon Sanderson that was cut from the main books, so maybe that’s #16. So what’s #17?

    Also if you’re planning to read the prequel novel New Spring, I recommend reading it after Book 5, Fires of Heaven. I won’t spoil anything, but I highly recommend it and you’ll understand after you read New Spring.

    Look forward to seeing how you like the series as it progresses.

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    • Hey Matt! I really just state my questions for the book at hand, with the hope that they’ll be answered by the end of the series.

      I honestly just googled how many books where in the series and it gave me the answer 17. So my source is not very credible. I should have probably done a bit more looking into it!

      Thanks for the advice regarding the prequel. I’ve been wondering when I should read it! 🙂

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