Guest Book Review of Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

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Hey gang!

Today, we have a guest book review from Tonya Vrba, who is a passionate writer. Her work has been published in newspapers and blogs. She writes frequently about health, career and dating issues. Tonya currently writes with Dating Sites Online. Learn more about her work at her personal website.

 

 

 

Book Review: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

 

[image error]The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan is a masterpiece of suspense and fantasy. The world Jordan creates is similar in complexity to the Lord of The Rings trilogy. Anyone can find a character to relate to in the main cast. The heart of the story revolves around three young boys – Rand, Mat and Perrin. A cast of main female characters – Egwene, Nynaeve and Moiraine – play vital supporting roles.

Rand, Mat and Perrin are unfortunate enough to have the eyes of the Dark One on them. The Dark One goes by many names, but is never called by his true name for fear of bad luck. He is best described as a devil, a mystical being who has existed since the beginning of time along with the Creator. The Wheel of Time, which is where the series takes its name, is the idea that time revolves on a wheel. What once was will be again, and so on. At the end of an age, a man called The Dragon comes to save the world. His destiny is to save the world from the Dark One and then slowly destroy the world as he goes mad with power. This has happened before and it will happen again, so the legends say.

The three boys, along with Egwene and Nynaeve, are nothing but simple farming people. One deadly night, creatures thought to be of legend wreck havoc on their town, which is where Moiraine comes in to tell them they are sought by the Dark One. They run out of fear for their own lives and the lives of those around them. Why is the Dark One looking for them? What does he want with them? How can they stop him?

What makes this book a powerful read is its ability to constantly keep the reader guessing. In some chapters, you learn more about the questions above. Others seem to go completely off course and provide more questions than anything else, which of course keeps the reader actively engaged in the story.

Since the main cast of characters is from a small secluded town, they know very little about the world. The reader learns about the many different kingdoms, cultures and myths of the world right alongside the boys. As the books goes on, the reader is introduced to a variety of concepts that reflect interestingly on our own world. There is a lot of foreshadowing, but as to what, the reader knows little. Knowledge about what might happen requires knowledge of the books mythology, something you and most of the main characters know nothing about.

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The prose is exquisitely written with enough description to make you feel as if you can see the exact image the author had in mind, but not so much as to overwhelm the reader. A map in the front of the book along with a glossary in the back help the reader keep track of what they are experiencing. Every once in a while a character than came and went 10 chapters back will make a reappearance. It’s helpful to have a single source of information instead of flipping through the pages looking for the first moment you met the character.

The Wheel of Time is, at its heart, a set up for the rest of the series, which spans a total of 14 books, plus a prequel. The book certainly has enough action to stand on its own, but fans of The Wheel of Time Series will tell you this is only the beginning. True excitement and adventure is yet to come. With all the action and character drama in book one, the idea that the following books are more so is thrilling. Anyone who loves the paranormal, fantasy and tales of good struggling over evil will love The Eye of The World.