The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1) in 2-3-4 Challenge

Feb 19, 2020 Veronica rated it really liked it

Shelves: buddy-read, fantasy

As the Wheel of Time turns," Moiraine said, half to herself and with a distant look in her eyes, "places wear many names. Men wear many names, many faces. Different faces, but always the same man. Yet no one knows the Great Pattern the Wheel weaves, or even the Pattern of an Age. We can only watch, and study, and hope."

So this is the year I’m finally getting around to reading the Wheel of Time series. Full disclosure, it’s the upcoming tv series adaptation that gave me the final push to get As the Wheel of Time turns," Moiraine said, half to herself and with a distant look in her eyes, "places wear many names. Men wear many names, many faces. Different faces, but always the same man. Yet no one knows the Great Pattern the Wheel weaves, or even the Pattern of an Age. We can only watch, and study, and hope."

So this is the year I’m finally getting around to reading the Wheel of Time series. Full disclosure, it’s the upcoming tv series adaptation that gave me the final push to get this done. Plus there was a buddy read conveniently starting sooooo, here I am.

We start off in the small village of Endor’s Field, a bit of land in the larger kingdom of Andor, that tends to mind its own business and is thus somewhat insulated from the goings on in the wider world. It is there that readers get to meet four of the local youth - Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Egwene – as well as the local Wisdom (i.e. healer/wise woman), Nynaeve. We also meet the new strangers to town, Moiraine and Lan. Moiraine is an Aes Sedai (magic user) and Lan is her Warder. I’m still not entirely sure what the function of a Warder is – so far it seems like a glorified body guard – but there’s more to Lan than that as everyone eventually discovers. They were a mostly likable bunch, though Nynaeve did get on my last nerve fairly early on and then rode that sucker all the way through.

This is a world where history literally repeats itself, with the forces of the Light and the Dark One playing out their ongoing battle in a seemingly endless round. And, of course, there is a prophecy calling for The Chosen One who, like a certain scampy Time Lord, ~~regenerates~~ is reborn every so often with a different face and name and who is eventually set on the path of destiny. The immediate problem is that no one knows for sure who the reborn Chosen One, who goes by the nifty moniker of The Dragon, is…except for you, dearest reader, you’ll know right away. But since our characters don’t know, it means Bachelor #1 (Rand), Bachelor #2 (Mat), and Bachelor #3 (Perrin) have a quest to survive. Oh, and Egwene and Nynaeve too because the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills (can’t wait to hear the tv characters say that three times, fast)…which I suspect is code for letting the characters make decisions that don’t always make much sense.

But anyway, that’s what sets things in motion and what draws readers into the world and its lore. Long-time fantasy readers should feel right at home because pretty much every fantasy trope and/or cliché can be found in these pages. If you’ve ever read The Lord of the Rings you’ll especially find elements of that story that seem to have been lifted straight out of Middle Earth, repackaged, and redressed in Andorian garb. But at no time does it feel like a cold copy or a thinly disguised attempt at originality. Rather, it is clearly done with great affection and warmth…a way to pay tribute to the father of modern fantasy himself. Rather than being the formally decorated living room where no one is actually encouraged to sit and relax, this story invites you to not only sit down but to take off your shoes, lean back, and put your feet on the table. I like a dense and complex fantasy story as much as the next person, but there’s also something to be said for the occasional tale that just lets you slide into it with ease.

And that’s not to say that there is nothing new here, or at least new when it was published back in 1990. There is a magic system that has a masculine and feminine side, with the masculine aspect being the more vilified one this time. And women in this world seem to be afforded more power and rank than a lot of their male counterparts, a view which may be in vogue now but was likely less so in the early 1990s.

I’ve seen people comment on the slow pacing and I can’t wholly disagree with that assessment. I can’t say that it bothered me too much. The leisurely paced story just added to the overall feeling of this as a comfort read. And since I strongly suspect that, given the time of publication, the author will wrap up these characters in plot armor, I can just enjoy the scenery without feeling stressed out. And so that’s where the end of this first Wheel of Time book finds me…with my slippered feet up on the table and a cup of hot cocoa in my hand, basking in feelings of nostalgia and contentment. As my friend, Mayim, aptly observed…this is good vintage.

**ETA: You know, I understand that this isn't a romance, or even a romantasy, but if authors aren't even going to put in the tiniest, minimal effort to laying down some actual groundwork to make a pairing believable then I wish they'd just leave it out altogether.** ...more

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Jul 14, 2014 Juliana Rodrigues rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2014, scifi_fant_club-challenge, library, series, audiobooks, book-1, rec_read

A great fantasy story. The writting is engaging, the plot rich, the characters diverse and interesting. Well done!

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Nov 20, 2011 ✿~Danielle~✿ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, reread, _read2020, romance, audio, fantasy, _read2013, favourites, _read2010, page700s

read 28/3/10
read 21/6/13
read 21/2/20
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Rand, Perrin, Mat, Nynaeve, Egwene, Moiraine, Lan
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Feb 05, 2017 Stacey rated it it was amazing

What can I say that hasn't already been said? This is a true classic of the fantasy genre. I've read the first few books years ago, but stopped. This time I'm doing it on audio, and I'm enjoying it so much more! ...more

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