The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, #1)

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The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1)

by Robert Jordan

4.13 · rating details · 45,052 ratings · 2,503 reviews

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.

Mass Market Paperback, 814 pages

Published November 15th 1990 by Tor Books (first published 1990)

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The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, #1)
by Robert Jordan
<div>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 wh…more

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Dec 01, 2007

Keely rated it

Shelves: fantasy, novel, reviewed, american

The first widely popular rewrite of Tolkien was The Shannara series, and The Wheel of Time was the next version. It's common for authors to take inspiration from an older work and create their own reimagining, as Virgil did to Homer--and Tolkien himself was writing his own interpretation of the Norse Eddas.

When Tolkien and Virgil set out to write their great works, they expanded and changed what came before, and made it their own with a unique voice and vision. Jordan didn't have the...more

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Yasiru He's never very coy about the spankings, but apart from these, instances of more regular intimacy are rather chaste, and often instigated by the women...more
Jan 07, 2012 04:21am

Jonathan I would say though that Sanderson despite using less elaborate words still delves into deeper ideas. He writes a lot in particular about politics and ...more
Jan 07, 2012 04:58am

Jul 31, 2007

Kelly rated it

Recommends it for: fantasy fans, but beware, you may be in for later pain if you try to go on

Shelves: fantasy-and-scifi, fiction

The first book of this series is decent. I read this in my all fantasy all the time phase in middle school, 'cause it was big then, and why not? The world is pretty interesting, the concept gets the characters going. Some of the characters are great. Some of them at least /start off/ great in this book. The plot twists are pretty cool sometimes as well. Robert Jordan started this series with a huge vision in mind, and you can see it here as he tries to get it all out. I really feel like he had p...moreThe first book of this series is decent. I read this in my all fantasy all the time phase in middle school, 'cause it was big then, and why not? The world is pretty interesting, the concept gets the characters going. Some of the characters are great. Some of them at least /start off/ great in this book. The plot twists are pretty cool sometimes as well. Robert Jordan started this series with a huge vision in mind, and you can see it here as he tries to get it all out. I really feel like he had passion with this one and articulated it pretty well.

I just have a really hard time recommending it to anyone. If you're a fantasy fan, you'll know that the deal is that you read the first book and like it, and of course you're in it now, you NEED to know what happens to all of the characters. Unfortunately, this series gets SO BAD. SO BAD I AM PAINED THINKING OF IT. I think I need Advil just from remembering what Robert Jordan put me through later on with this series. SO BAD. He's trying to stretch it out to make as much money as possible, and to the UTTER RUINATION OF ANYTHING GOOD. NOT COOL, Jordan. NOT COOL. I'm sorry for all the caps, but I really need to emphasize how much pain I was put through. Because of course, I tried to keep going. I even made it until halfway through book six before I literally screamed "I can't do it anymore!!" and threw the book across the room. The main heroes get annoying, the fun sidekicks either get short shrift or bogged down with serious things so that they are no longer fun, the majority of the women SUCK and are either A) annoying, whiny bitches, B) demanding, emasculating whores with penis envy or C) I WANT TO SHOOT YOU NOW. The plot gets ridiculous, and really self important and overly serious. And more importantly? I no longer give a shit! The painful part is that it all started off so well and so interesting, too. I hate when authors do that.

So my recommendation? Don't read it! If you do, read with care. Don't get too involved. To be safe, don't read beyond about the fourth book (perhaps fifth for the brave), and just read the synopses online or something. Shudder.

Ahem. Yeah. The book was pretty good.(less)

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Sep 16, 2010

Alex Telander rated it

Shelves: books-read-in-2006

THE WHEEL OF TIME SERIES BY ROBERT JORDAN: I tried. I gave it over two years of my life and I still couldn't keep going till the end. Of course, the real end will probably be book fifteen or twenty or, heaven forbid, twenty-five and up. I'm talking about Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Currently there are eleven books in the series, the latest, Knife of Dream, came out last October. The first book, Eye of the World, started out really well and I felt like I'd discovered a great new epic fa...moreTHE WHEEL OF TIME SERIES BY ROBERT JORDAN: I tried. I gave it over two years of my life and I still couldn't keep going till the end. Of course, the real end will probably be book fifteen or twenty or, heaven forbid, twenty-five and up. I'm talking about Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Currently there are eleven books in the series, the latest, Knife of Dream, came out last October. The first book, Eye of the World, started out really well and I felt like I'd discovered a great new epic fantasy series similar to that of Lord of the Rings. The first book proved this and I thought it was great; I was also very excited at the notion of there being so many books in the series, with the story still incomplete. The second book, The Great Hunt, while not as mind-mashingly great as the first book, was still a great read, as was the third, The Dragon Reborn, where we find out that the main character is the guy prophesied to save the world, essentially. Eight books from th ere and the big showdown still hasn't come, while Jordan has continued to drag out into the hundreds and thousands of pages scenes, descriptions, and characters bickering at each other about the same thing while repetitively employing their annoying habits, to the point where I feel like I'm reading a children's nursery rhyme. Then there's the whole deal with the main character, Rand, having his undeniable love for three of the women characters, which he is okay with, and which they are okay with, apparently, and are quite willing to share him amongst themselves. I may have kept sloughing through the series better if there'd been a lot less purple prose and books four to ten had been condensed into say books four to six, which would've made more sense and made the stories move along better. Around book five I began spotting the routine the books go through: a few hundred pages of sitting around talking, explaining and regurgitating what's happened in the past books, bitching at each other; then about four hundred pages of people painstakingly crawling from a starting point to a destination (and bear in mind that these people can "travel" through vortexes real fast), and then the last hundred pages is a big action scene. At book seven, Crown of Thorns, halfway through, I decided I'd wasted enough time on Mr. Jordan and his wordiness, so I employed a slow speed-reading method which got me through them a lot faster. In about three days I reached the end of book nine and decided I'd had it and it just wasn't worth any more of my time. At this point I'd been able to summarize each book into three or four sentences, and I'd decided that if I can do that, maybe it's just not worth it and I should put my reading time to something more important that I'd enjoy reading more.

So here I am Mr. Jordan, signing off on your series that held so much promise and crashed and burned like a planet falling into a sun. Oh, and you know what, I'm not the only one who thinks this way. There are other people I know who've given up earlier than me, and others who've not even bothered to start because they know it's going to end bad.

On the plus side, I get to sell all my Robert Jordan books and make money off him!

Sayonara.

If you liked this review, and would like to read more, go to BookBanter.(less)

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Jun 28, 2007

Trevor rated it

Recommends it for: fantasy fans who haven't read Tolkien

I really liked this book when i read it, but at that time i had never read anything by J.R.R. Tolkien, except for the first half of The Hobbit, which i have read four times now and for whatever reason never finished. I guess i just didn't like it all that much. So i had planned to spend the next year or two reading the entirity of The Wheel of Time, and this seemed like a strong start. Then Book 4 (The Shadow Rising) sucked and i stopped, and read Lord of the Rings, and now i just view this as a...moreI really liked this book when i read it, but at that time i had never read anything by J.R.R. Tolkien, except for the first half of The Hobbit, which i have read four times now and for whatever reason never finished. I guess i just didn't like it all that much. So i had planned to spend the next year or two reading the entirity of The Wheel of Time, and this seemed like a strong start. Then Book 4 (The Shadow Rising) sucked and i stopped, and read Lord of the Rings, and now i just view this as a huge Tolkien ripoff. The creatures + characters are all the same, just with different names: the orcs + Uruk-Hai became Trollocs, the Witch-king himself became a Draghkar, Saron became Ba'alzamon (or, for further cheesiness, his real name is Shai'tan, a terrible pun), Gandalf got split into two as Thom and Moiraine, Aragorn became Lan, Merry + Pippin became Mat and Perrin, Sam became...well, Perrin again, i think, and so on. The first book has a roughly similar plot, what with Frodo trying to get the ring to Mount Doom and Rand trying to get himself to The Eye of the World, in both cases for the purpose of defeating Sauron/Shai'tan.

At least it was well written. The characters were mostly likable (Thom, in particular) and unique. This is one of the main reasons i hated Book 4 so much: all of Jordan's characters became flat. By the time you finish Book 4, there is one male character and one female character, they just have a number of different faces. The men are ignorant morons and the women are irritating bitches. I hate the way that Robert Jordan writes women.

Eh. I guess i haven't really much else to add; my memory's pretty foggy on what happens in which book. But, Book 1 is well enough written, and if you stop at the end of it, there are no loose ends to worry about. Hell, you could probably do the second book and stop there, if you don't mind ignoring a few unanswered questions. But, and i know a number of people will disagree with me on this, however i personally know at least three that will agree, do not go past the third book. Read Lord of the Rings instead.(less)

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Jul 12, 2007

Eric rated it

Recommends it for: fantasy fans

Jordan's Wheel of Time series were the best fantasy books I had ever read*, the best pure stories. I wanted to live in the world he created. His descriptions of simple village life and interaction are so rich and wonderful, not to mention his treatment of city life, magic, technology, politics, romance, history, mystery, comedy, food, the battle of the sexes, military life and tactics, cultures and on and on. Just wonderful. I couldn't wait to get home from work and slip into that world. It was ...moreJordan's Wheel of Time series were the best fantasy books I had ever read*, the best pure stories. I wanted to live in the world he created. His descriptions of simple village life and interaction are so rich and wonderful, not to mention his treatment of city life, magic, technology, politics, romance, history, mystery, comedy, food, the battle of the sexes, military life and tactics, cultures and on and on. Just wonderful. I couldn't wait to get home from work and slip into that world. It was anguish waiting all those years for each new book to come out. When they did, I couldn't help devouring them immediately. For a while there, I'd go back and reread all of the existing books again in the run-up to each new release. They were that good. I'm sure I'll do it again at some point - read the books all the way through again. Fifteen years I've invested in these books! Reading them over and over.

I do it an injustice to oversimplify it like this, but it is essentially the "unassuming wholesome farm boy turns out to be the Chosen One and must journey with companions to confront the supernatural evil entity" model of story. But it's just massive. Like Star Wars, it has mythological archetypes buried deep within it. Think Joseph Campbell and the hero's journey idea plus character types and situations faintly reflecting those from various cultures' bodies of myth. That makes it so deep and rich and subconsciously resonating. I remember faintly entertaining the paranoid fear that I sure hoped the author didn't die before finishing the series because I couldn't stand not knowing how it ended**. It was that good.

*But then somewhere around book 6 or 7, the series started going down hill. It lost its way, ran out of gas. There were entire books where the various substories just didn't move much. And this one time, maybe book 9, the paper got thicker, the font got larger AND the pagecount went way down. It's like he was really struggling to advance the story. Slavishly I kept buying them and slogging through them. The writing wasn't any less good, it's just that it got frustrating that the story didn't advance.

Finally on the penultimate book in the series, the last one released, it started to pick back up and get better. And he said the following book would finally be the last (12th) one and he'd wrap it all up, though I don't see how he can do it in a single book. The story just got so huge and there are still so many unexplored and unresolved things, there's no way he can do them all justice in a single book.

**Aaaand now he has some super-rare disease, the meds for which make him so fatigued that he can't write much, and the survival rate for which is about 4 years with treatment. So it's not certain that he will live to finish the last book. Arrrrgh. You can't really be selfish about it - I mean, this is a person's life we're talking about. (But still, kind of, arrrgh.)

UPDATE: And now he's dead. Some other author is going to finish the final book though. He will be working with Jordan's extensive notes and the parts of the book Jordan had already written. I don't know how I feel about that but I'm sure I'll read it.(less)

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Jun 13, 2007

Mary-Beth rated it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

I only gave this novel and its subsequent sequels one star because it is not possible to give a negative rating. These are the novels which led me to the conclusion that any series longer than a trilogy probably isn't worth reading.

The characters are two-sided playing cards. They are so pathetic they're forced to even repeat their gestures ad nauseum. When you find yourself hopelessly praying that Nynaeve dies horribly just so that she can never tug her stupid braid again, you know y...more

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Jul 14, 2008

'ro rated it

I really enjoyed this entire series (as far as I've read into it, at any rate). But then I read the essay "Quality in Epic Fantasy by Alec Austin in Strange Horizons magazine (http://www.strangehorizons.com/) and I found out why I was so drawn into it...and then I was just kinda sad....

Here is an excerpt (emphasis mine):

I will refer to the two easiest means of extending a fantasy series beyond its natural lifespan as the Jordan method and the Eddings method, though n...more

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May 01, 2007

Doc Opp rated it

Shelves: fantasy

You can't really be an epic fantasy fan if you haven't read Robert Jordan. He's part of the "literary canon" of the genre. And for good reason - his first few books in the "wheel of time" series are very well written. He has a lot of nice twists on the standard fantasy archetypes, and the main characters are believable and memorable.

His world has a tremendous amount of detail. And as the series goes on, he adds more plot lines to chronicle what's going on in...more

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Jul 08, 2007

Jack Rudra rated it

Recommends it for: fantasy skeptics

This is the first in the longest but not necessarily greatest fantasy epics of all time.

Robert Jordan embarks on a journey with a handful of farmers that will span over 10,000 pages and raise his pitchfork handling characters to the heights of kings.

This book is a fun, exiting, and wonderfully entertaining adventure that leaves you hungry for more. I must warn any reader who picks up this book that Robert Jordan has been diagnosed with a fatal illness and has one book to ...more

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Mar 23, 2009

Brett rated it

This is the best book I have read in a long time. One of the main appeals in this book is that it satisfies our longing to be more than we are. That idea parallels Tolkien’s idea of insignificant hobbits performing deeds that shake the foundations of the earth. Although Jordan openly admitted to a little Tolkien emulation, similarities to the Lord of the Rings in no way detract from the grandeur of The Eye of the World. In the basketball world it is difficult to talk about Kobe Bryant withou...moreThis is the best book I have read in a long time. One of the main appeals in this book is that it satisfies our longing to be more than we are. That idea parallels Tolkien’s idea of insignificant hobbits performing deeds that shake the foundations of the earth. Although Jordan openly admitted to a little Tolkien emulation, similarities to the Lord of the Rings in no way detract from the grandeur of The Eye of the World. In the basketball world it is difficult to talk about Kobe Bryant without also mentioning Michael Jordan. Which is the better player? People aggressively take both sides of this debate. Since Michael Jordan was the first to rise to a level superior to any that had before been achieved, he will be mentioned whenever another player rises to a similar level. The same holds true with The Lord of the Rings. Whenever any fantasy author creates a masterpiece of epic proportions which rises high above other literary works, his or her work will inevitably be compared with Tolkien’s original masterpiece. The best book then becomes a matter of personal opinion.

Just as I am a fan of Michael Jordan, I still love the Lord of the Rings more than any other fantasy novel. That said, The Eye of the World is a very close second. Robert Jordan’s masterpiece took me to a new world and made me feel things I haven’t felt since the first time I read my favorite book of all time: The Fellowship of the Ring. For all of you Kobe Bryant fans, it is a joy to have such a talented and superior athlete performing in the NBA today. If you don’t believe me, just watch him play a few games. Similarly, if you don’t think that The Eye of the World is one of the best fantasy novels ever written, then read the first few chapters. I guarantee that you’ll be hooked!

If you enjoyed this book, I think you’ll also like Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, Taran Wanderer, by Lloyd Alexander, and of course The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
(less)

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Sep 23, 2008

Mika rated it

Let me preface this by saying very clearly that I mean no offense to The Wheel of Time fans. It’s just my opinion, yes? Just my humble opinion.

So. Simply put: I hate this book. Somewhat passionately. The Romgi will attest to the fact that while I was reading I would mutter to myself about how ridiculous the plot was or how much I hated dragging myself through all 800+ pages. But I carried on.

The main character, Rand, was so uninteresting that I honestly didn’t care what h...moreLet me preface this by saying very clearly that I mean no offense to The Wheel of Time fans. It’s just my opinion, yes? Just my humble opinion.

So. Simply put: I hate this book. Somewhat passionately. The Romgi will attest to the fact that while I was reading I would mutter to myself about how ridiculous the plot was or how much I hated dragging myself through all 800+ pages. But I carried on.

The main character, Rand, was so uninteresting that I honestly didn’t care what happened to him, nor do I have any interest in reading any more books in the series to find out if his story continues. I hope it doesn’t. I hope he dies a gruesome and painful death, leaving the entire Wheel of Time world to decay and be overrun by the forces of evil. Having a flawed main character is sort of necessary, but where were Rand’s strengths? He had a few spots of luck, and happened to be traveling with people significantly more talented than he. When he wasn’t protected by others’ cleverness and skill, he was stuck with Mat, who may possibly be the most idiotic character ever created. Perhaps that’s going a bit far. Mat is almost without a doubt the most idiotic character I have ever had to read about. I hate Mat about as much as I hate this book. His sole purpose as a main character is to screw things up for everyone else while being absolutely necessary to the Quest or Mission or whatever. Gosh I hate him.

Ok, there were some ok parts. Things I enjoyed on some level: Perrin (although couldn’t the author think of a name slightly less similar to Peregrin?) and his wolfness; the Tuatha’an (Gypsies); and Loial, an Ogier (basically a redesigned Ent).

The whole book was just such a patchwork collection of ideas and myths and fantasy cliches, like the author had a hat full of slips of paper with possible elements he could use and randomly pulled them out. To be fair, it appears he put quite a bit of thought into connecting everything once it was out, but seriously - Gypsies and yin-yang in the same story? A little weird, don’t you think? Oh yeah, and then there are obvious copies of Orcs and Ringwraiths, which the author intended to be similar. Not creative! Do not give him credit for that!

I feel I’ve gone on long enough. But just in case you didn’t catch my opinion, The Eye of the World has a horribly contrived plot, uninteresting or downright annoying characters, and too many pieces of stories to be worth the many hours of my life that were sucked away by reading it.

Yuck.

P.S. I think Robert Jordan is a lousy writer. Aside from not having enough of his own ideas, he just doesn’t have the literary genius to make this book worth it. The Eye of the World reads like a cheap fantasy book you’d pick up from the $1 bin at a used bookstore, except it happens to be one of the bestselling books ever. Undeservedly so, I think.(less)

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Nov 24, 2011

Zarakoda rated it

Shelves: favorites, books-i-own, fantasy

After rereading this book for a third time, I have decided that this review needs a drastic makeover. So here we go. Time to trim the overgrown, shaggy hair on this beast, get it a new wardrobe, and maybe add a touch of mascara for subtle aesthetics. (My original review I kept at the end).

I first picked up the Wheel of Time in the seventh grade when I did not even know what I was reading. Literally. This copy had no cover, and it was only the first half of The Eye of the World (...more

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May 12, 2009

Jon rated it

Recommends it for: anyone with lots of patience and a deep love of epic fantasy

Shelves: epic-fantasy, fantasy, my-favorites, fiction, read-in-my-20s, favorites

Hard to believe I purchased this book 18 years ago in a grocery store. Back then, since I didn't have such a wonderful website to help me find the next great novel to read, I followed cover artists. If a book had cover art by Michael Whelan or Darrell K. Sweet, and was in the fantasy genre, I would scan the synopsis and usually purchase it. And so starts the love/hate relationship I now have with the Wheel of Time series.

When I first started reading this novel, I had no idea tha...more

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Nov 16, 2007

Maze Martinez rated it

Recommends it for: people who love epic fantasy

Shelves: fantasy

There have been many reviews already done for The Eye of the World, as well as the entire Wheel of Time series. If you have read any of them you will probably notice a lot of people just couldn't hang with the series and I would be hard pressed to blame them. It does drag on, and now that the author is deceased, there is no certainty that the final book will ever be released. But I personally have really enjoyed this series.

The Eye of the World, more than any of the other Wheel ...more

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Sep 03, 2007

Anton Gaskell rated it

Recommends it for: lord of the rings fans

Shelves: fantasy

I just re-read the series this year. The series is spectacular and the world that Jordan creates is greatly detailed and absorbing. What really makes this series special is the political intrigues, a history to rival the Simarillion and characters that as you read the books build a certain fondness... Personally I like the idea of the void. Its basically the same concept that professionals in sports such as basketball or target shooting where one enters a state of hyper-concentration and the bal...more

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Jun 23, 2007

Grant Kessler rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: ongoingseries

This review is for the entire Wheel of Time series. It is addicting and good. Really good, actually. Robert Jordan is amazing at getting you involved with his characters. Maybe the only downside is that as the series goes there are soooo many characters. Seriously. But i love it anyway. The first three book are the best because they focus more on my favorite characters. I really can't recommend this series more. it is great. He's even been said to equal or surpass Tolkien. I won't g...more

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Apr 16, 2011

David Menzies rated it

· review of another edition

Although it was glaringly obvious that many ideas in this book were taken from Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings', Christian (especially) or other religious concepts (which often rang loud religious cliché bells) I found it an enjoyable and entertaining fantasy adventure. The world Jordan created, excuse me, 'adapted' was fun and exciting. What would have made it better, for me, would have been a deeper philosophical dialog; however, as far as 'high fantasy' goes, this is one of the best I've read. T...more

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Jul 03, 2008

Chandra rated it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, josh-books

I went through quite the fantasy kick in my early twenties. I had a lot of hopes for this series and was pretty disappointed. The first book drew me in from the start and I was very excited about the premise, but it started to unravel pretty quickly. Jordan is way too wordy and says what could be said in one sentence in about 10 pages - it's iritating. It's sad when someone has the genius to create such an interesting world and characters and doesn't have the talent to execute. I give this ...more

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May 21, 2007

Brittany rated it

Recommends it for: No one on Earth

Shelves: fantasy

This series lures you in. The author is a passable world builder. But the, at some point (for me the ninth book; I'm slow) you realize 1) All the women are cookie cutter characters 2) The only character you liked spent an entire novel buried under a wall 3) The whole series is one long sexual fantasy and 4) The man has written himself into a corner, has no idea where the story is going and is terrified.
That's when I stopped reading, took all the hardback books (it's an addiction) to a seco...more

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Jan 30, 2012

Natalie rated it

Shelves: re-read, laughed-cried-or-shouted-out-loud

The world is a normal and somewhat boring place for the young men and women of Emond's Field, a tiny village on the backwater edge of the nation of Andor. Some of them yearn for adventure while others are happy to stay as they are, but when strangers come to the village and take an unusual interest in three of the boys, things begin to change whether they like it or not. Soon, vicious human/animal monsters called Trollocs attack only specific places in the town, and they are all forced into leav...moreThe world is a normal and somewhat boring place for the young men and women of Emond's Field, a tiny village on the backwater edge of the nation of Andor. Some of them yearn for adventure while others are happy to stay as they are, but when strangers come to the village and take an unusual interest in three of the boys, things begin to change whether they like it or not. Soon, vicious human/animal monsters called Trollocs attack only specific places in the town, and they are all forced into leaving. On this journey they'll start changing and discovering things about themselves they didn't know before and will find the world is a much bigger place than they'd previously imagined and adventure is not always all it's cracked up to be. These youths are in a changing world (not necessarily for the better) and somehow becoming a driving force at the center of it all.

This book starts with one viewpoint, but as it progresses, we begin to get chapters from several different characters' points of view. If you have troubles following that it might not be right for you, but I think that Robert Jordan does a really good job of easing us into it and letting us get to know characters (at least at first) before throwing us into chapters from their points of view. If you read and liked, for instance, the Farsala trilogy, I would definitely suggest this series as the next step up in complexity on your fantasy journey.

Every time I read the Eye of the World I love it more. It's definitely one of those books that gets better every time you reread it, especially once you've read the other books in the series and can see the setup and know where the characters' decisions will eventually lead them. I know a lot of people are wary of reading it because it's the beginning of a very long series, but it's totally worth it.

One thing I love about this book is the foreshadowing and setting things up for the future books. On this reread I've now already read all but the last book in the series, and I can see so many things that were set up in this book that I didn't even realize were there the first time I read it. The richness in setting also really makes the book for me. There are a LOT of characters in the book (even with the law of conservation of characters coming into play), so it really feels like a whole world. Even the secondary myths and legends that the storytellers perform are fleshed out.

Another thing I liked about the Wheel of Time is that I read it for the first time when I was 13 or 14 years old, and one shining star about it is the "fade to black." It seems like all fantasy adventures are either all manly adventures and no romantic relationships (e.g. Lord of the Rings), or frequently descend into porn on paper (Song of Ice and Fire). The Wheel of Time's got a realistic amount of human relationships and romance, but R.J. doesn't get too much into the gory details. It focuses more on their emotions and when you get to the physical stuff it's enough to know that it's happening. Not that it really happens in the first book, but that's something that's good to know before you start a series, especially if you're like me and don't like leaving things unfinished. This series IS safe to read for all ages and maturity levels when it comes to sexual things.

For more information (and some spoilers), check out my blog Where's Bela? as I reread the whole series in preparation for A Memory of Light! (less)

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Nov 14, 2011

Denae rated it

Shelves: fiction-fantasy, make-me-nostalgic, recommended-by-a-friend, read-in-youth, author-american, 1990s, swordplay, we-re-all-going-to-die, impending-doom, messiah-figures, precocious-kiddos, too-stubborn-for-their-own-good, royalty, witches-and-wizards, gender-wars, neverending-tea-time, have-some-more-wine, aristocracy, re-read-potential, dream-sequence, re-read-in-2011

Oh how I loved this when I first read it. I'm finishing out the series out of nostalgia & completionism, but I adored these when I was young. I was highly active on Dragonmount.com at the time. Woo, forum based roleplay. xD

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Jul 15, 2011

Mach rated it

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Great, and fantastic adventure, a must read for anyone who likes fantasy. It's the start of an epic story which you have not seen the likes of before!

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Mar 28, 2011

Seak (Bryce L.) rated it

Shelves: 800-1000-pagers, fantasy, 2011, audio

This was a reread on audiobook and it was like seeing old friends again. It was definitely a great time to start a reread what with the final volume coming out next year (and Sanderson keeps his promises). I couldn't believe how much I missed this amazingly thought-out world, I really felt like I was along for the journey and that's one of the most amazing things Jordan does.

Yes, things get a bit off toward the middle/end of this series, but I still argue that the quality is the sam...more

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Sep 16, 2008

Melissa rated it

The entire Wheel of Time series is fabulous, especially since most of the books have now been published and one can just breeze right through them. Well, as much as one can breeze through a book that is two to three times the size of most novels, and a series that will span 12 novels of this size by the time it is done...

To even give a summary of the storyline is pretty close to impossible. There are several main characters with distinct talents, personalities, and roles in the con...moreThe entire Wheel of Time series is fabulous, especially since most of the books have now been published and one can just breeze right through them. Well, as much as one can breeze through a book that is two to three times the size of most novels, and a series that will span 12 novels of this size by the time it is done...

To even give a summary of the storyline is pretty close to impossible. There are several main characters with distinct talents, personalities, and roles in the conflict to come. Everything is building up toward a final battle of Good vs. Evil. The person who is the only chance that the world will survive - the Dragon Reborn - is trying to unite the world for this epic battle, yet through it all people are still trying to selfishly gain power/money/etc. and just looking out for themselves. Change quickly envelopes the world and chaos reigns. Will the Dragon Reborn be able to unite the world and save it? Will everyone continue to fight it and reap their own destruction? What will this world look like by the time it is all said and done?

The final book, A Memory of Light, is due to be published in the Fall of 2009. It will be authored by Brian Sanderson since Robert Jordan unfortunately passed away in September 2007 from a rare blood disease, leaving behind a partial manuscripts, copious notes and detailing the rest of the story to his closest friends and family. Don't let that stop you from starting the series now, though!

If you don't have time to devote to reading on a regular basis, then this probably isn't the series for you unless you have a great memory. If you love being immersed in a world with varying character interactions, power struggles, intrigues, cultures and enjoy the epic Good vs. Evil battle, then prepare to be amazed! These books are not intended to be read individually, but are part of a huge overarching storyline. They must be read sequentially to be enjoyed.

I've read this series in its entirety each time a new book came out and enjoyed it each time. There is so much in each book, and the series itself is huge. I grow to know the characters and the situation better the more I read it, and my awe for Robert Jordan as a writer continues to increase. I can't wait to read the final installment. This is one of two series that I've actually pre-ordered the next book and paid hardcover price for and considered it well worth it. The other was Harry Potter.(less)

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Oct 22, 2010

Ryan rated it

When it comes to cliche expressions, my favorite may be "life's a journey, not a destination." To be honest, I'm a pretty goal-oriented person, but expressions like "life's a journey" remind me to "seize the day" in a way that "take time to smell the roses" or "getting things done" doesn't.

Journeys and destinations are a big part of the fantasy reader's experience. In my humble opinion, the weaker fantasies draw us towards a destinati...more

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Aug 31, 2008

Mike rated it

Robert Jordan somehow managed to make everyone love this series of books, even after he extended the series to twelve books and, tragically, passed away while writing the final book. Well, now that the final chapter was taken over by another author hand-picked by Jordan's wife, the series is once again safe to read.

As far as I'm concerned about what I've read so far, I'm kind of indifferent to this brand of fantasy. I'm not the best read individual, but I found that aspect of the s...moreRobert Jordan somehow managed to make everyone love this series of books, even after he extended the series to twelve books and, tragically, passed away while writing the final book. Well, now that the final chapter was taken over by another author hand-picked by Jordan's wife, the series is once again safe to read.

As far as I'm concerned about what I've read so far, I'm kind of indifferent to this brand of fantasy. I'm not the best read individual, but I found that aspect of the story seemed unoriginal. I know that Jordan purposefully evoked images from the shire and the Bible and other religious works, but those were supposed to be images not literal settings, folk lore, and creatures. While some of the ideas and story are excessively borrowed from other much more influential works, the books are well written, and even take some original twists and turns. The pacing does get excessive in places, and there's plenty of room for editing. But overall, I can still say I liked this book.

The Eye of the World is a very good setup for the rest of the series, starting the three major protagonists from scratch in the middle of a fairly insignificant village (for all you Tolkien fans out there, the Shire, basically). These three kids are the target of some serious evil for what seems to them, no apparent reason. Rand, Mat, and Perrin escape with another figure of initial distrust -- an Aes Sedai.

This is where the most unique element of the series lies. The powers of Aes Sedai are fairly unique at times, with different schools having dominion over certain elemental magics, utilizing unique philosophies and problem solving techniques within their schools. The One Power consistently remains mysterious and surprising. It seems that even though much is already known about Saidin and Saider, the wielders of this power still don't know everything about it, making the surprises that much better to read.

By the end of the book, you feel pretty drained. The characters have gone through so much back story that seems almost inconsequential, you don't even realize everything that the climax just happened. Maybe you did, but after eight hundred pages I was wondering who the green man was, what made him so tough to kill one of the Forsaken, what just happened to Rand, if that was really him that just transported in the middle of a battle field and anticlimactically wiped out a massive army of Trollocs and the like, etc. I figured out 700 pages back that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, and yet there are two more books that involve him not knowing for sure.(less)

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Jun 23, 2008

Emily Beeson rated it

Recommends it for: Lord of the Rings people

Recommended to Emily by: Dad

Shelves: adult-fiction, fantasy-sci-fi, deliciously-clean-read

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Despite my love for fantasy lately, I couldn’t really get into this book. (Sorry, Dad.) I suppose I enjoyed the first few hundred pages when things were happening, but am I wrong or did I spend the last 500 pages reading about a group journeying…journeying…journeying…journeying?

I’m afraid this book falls into the Lord of the Rings category for me. I realize a lot of people love the books (like the males I am related to) but something a...more

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Jan 13, 2008

Tina rated it

Shelves: sff-fantasy

Robert Jordan has created a group of sympathetic, confused, naive, brave, proud, wrongheaded (sometimes), and very human protagonists. He whisks them away from their comfortable home, a small rural village called Emond's Field, and thrusts them out into an adventure. He makes you like them and root for them and hope that, in the end, all of them -- Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene and Nynaeve -- make out ok. You wonder if you can really trust Moiraine, the inscrutable Aes Sedai who promises to protect ...more

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Jul 31, 2007

Bria rated it

Recommends it for: The Nine Rods of Dominion (tee hee)

I know I'm only on page 8, but when you find in the prologue of a book this passage:

"..the Dark lay heavy on the land and weighed down the hearts of men, and the green things failed, and hope died. And men cried out to the Creator, saying, O Light of the Heavens, Light of the World, let the Promised One be born of the mountain, according to the prophecies, as he was in ages past and will be in ages to come. Let the Prince of the Morning sing to the land that green things will g...more

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Levi The Christian elements are there, but all writers have their influential sources. Please be sure to write a review after you have read the whole book....more
Mar 18, 2008 12:00am

Andrew It seems pretty obvious that you don't appreciate Christian themes in literature

I'm atheist and I enjoyed this entire series. When you see t...more
Jul 27, 2008 09:28pm

Bria Wow, I didn't notice anyone had commented on my review until now. Sorry, guys. I actually did read the whole book, and I fully admit that my inital ...more
Oct 28, 2008 01:30pm

May 15, 2008

Laura rated it

This is my first reading of any Robert Jordan book, and I found it merely adequate in comparison to my favorite authors. Jordan, at least in this first book, does not have the emotional power that Goodkind has; the weight of history and legend, the fullness of the world that Tolkien has; nor the high tension and last-minute plot twists that Martin has. I do see great similarities between Jordan and Goodkind in their story lines, and Jordan actually came first, so perhaps Goodkind borrowed from h...more

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About Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the names Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reily.

Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served two tours in Vietnam (from 1968 to 1970) with the United States Army as a helicopter gunner. He was awarded th...more

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