Reviewed by: Rabid ReadsNOTICE: this reread is in preparation for finally biting the bullet and reading book 14. That means I HAVE NOT read book 14 yet. Please be mindful of this in the comments, both for me and for others who may or may not have progressed past this point in the series. Thank you.It's hard for me to review this book, and only this book, objectively, b/c:1. WoT is my favorite high fantasy series. Ever.2. I've read the first eight books seven or eight times, maybe more (*whispers* I honestly don't know how many times I've read them). DON'T JUDGE.The first time, I was nineteen. Ish. I read all of the available books, back-to-back, schoolwork be damned. Then I read them again. YES, really. And I loved them even more the second time. I thrive on detail, you see. And Robert Jordan was a master of details. I caught so many previously missed foreshadowings, clevernesses, nuances, etc. that had flown right over my head the first time. It was spectacular. Like when Thom, Mat, and Rand jumped aboard Bayle Domon's ship, and Thom spun a tale for the captain, explaining how they happened to come upon his ship with Trollocs (nasty man-beast things) on their heels: Now it just so happened that he had earlier learned the location of Aridhol from a map given him many years ago by a dying friend in Illian whose life he had once saved . . .B/c didn't know it at the time, but Domon is an . . . wait for it . . . Illianer. *tips hat*The whole series is FULL of things like that.Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon, and Perrin Aybara are three young men on the cusp of adulthood. They live in Emond's Field, where they have small village concerns and small village lives.But when the previously mentioned Trollocs:attack their village, it forces them to accept that such creatures of the Dark One are not mere stories made up to scare children. And when the two strangers who arrived just prior to the attack turn out to be an Aes Sedai (wielder of the One Power) and her Warder (warrior/protector), the manboys learn that a small village life is not in the cards for them (HA!) and are forced to leave their homes to protect their families from the Great Lord of the Dark's minions, who won't stop until all three are in their master's grasp.Jordan does an excellent job of keeping you guessing: which manboy is the Dark One after and why? Is it really just the one, or is it all of them? If it is all of them, are they all equally important, or do the degrees vary? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!B/c this is not a simple story. And one thing we do know is that Rand, Perrin, and Mat are ta'veren, and as such they unwittingly pull others into their quest: a so-much-more-than-a-simple gleeman whose past regrets dictate his future actions, a young Ogier whose curiosity and wanderlust led him to leave his peaceful stedding home to see the things he's spent his life reading about, Rand's sweetheart who refuses to be left behind and longs to become an Aes Sedai herself, and the village Wisdom who feels compelled to both protect the young people from Aes Sedai machinations and also to break through the Warder's walls. Among many others. Each and every one of them vital in their own way.Also vital are the multitudes of seemingly random observations and commentary that in reality are the foundations of awesomeness to come. THESE BOOKS . . . layers and layers and still more layers. It's truly incredible.And despite having read The Eye of the World so many times that I practically have it memorized, I have yet to grow immune to the very real and heartbreaking struggles that many of the characters face. Whether it's Rand's terrible journey from his farm in the Westwood to Emond's Field, dragging his injured father to safety, Loial's treesong to preserve a small part of his Treebrother's sanctuary in the Blight, or Nynaeve's yearning for a man bound to a never-ending battle that he cannot win . . . I still feel it. *rubs fist over heart* Deeply.And if you are unaffected by Moiraine's tale of the long fallen Manetheren: "But some did not flee. First in a trickle, then a river, then a flood, men went, not to safety, but to join the army fighting for their land. Shepherds with bows, and farmers with pitchforks, and woodsmen with axes. Women went, too, shouldering what weapons they could find and marching side by side with their men. No one made that journey who did not know they would never return. But it was their land. It had been their fathers', and it would be their children's, and they went to pay the price for it. Not a step of ground was given up until it was soaked with blood."then you have only a black, shriveled thing in your chest cavity. SO. As daunting as this series may be (and I will never deny that it is daunting) . . . if you are a lover of fantasy, and you haven't read Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, you are doing yourself a major disservice. The Eye of the World has the best prologue I've ever read IN MY LIFE, so I challenge you to read it. It's just a prologue. And if you don't feel the need to see what happens next, then hey . . . all you're out is the 15 minutes it took you to read it. ALSO, no one is holding a gun to your head. There's no law that says once you start, you can't stop until THE END. Take your time. Enjoy it. Or don't. Whatever. But my recommendation is that you do. These are the books that spawned my love of reading fantastical things as a adult.My other reviews for this series: The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time, #2) by Robert Jordan The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time, #3) by Robert Jordan The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time, #4) by Robert Jordan The Fires of Heaven (Wheel of Time, #5) by Robert Jordan Lord of Chaos (Wheel of Time, #6) by Robert JordanHighlights:(view spoiler)[1. EPIC prologue from Age of Legends.2. List of Gleeman's Tales (b/c always trying to figure out who Mat and Perrin were:" . . . the entire Aptarigine Cycle. Tales of Artur Paendrag Tanreall, Artur Hawkwing, Artur the High King, who once ruled all the lands from the Aiel Waste to the Aryth Ocean, and even beyond. Wondrous stories of strange people and strange lands, of the Green Man, of Warders and Trollocs, of Ogier and Aiel. The Thousand Tales of Anla, the Wise Counselor. ‘Jaem the Giant-Slayer.’ How Susa Tamed Jain Farstrider. ‘Mara and the Three Foolish Kings.'"“Tell us about Lenn,” Egwene called. “How he flew to the moon in the belly of an eagle made of fire. Tell about his daughter Salya walking among the stars.”“Old stories, those,” Thom Merrilin said, and abruptly he was juggling three colored balls with each hand. “Stories from the Age before the Age of Legends, some say. Perhaps even older. But I have all stories, mind you now, of Ages that were and will be. Ages when men ruled the heavens and the stars, and Ages when man roamed as brother to the animals. Ages of wonder, and Ages of horror. Ages ended by fire raining from the skies, and Ages doomed by snow and ice covering land and sea. I have all stories, and I will tell all stories. Tales of Mosk the Giant, with his Lance of fire that could reach around the world, and his wars with Elsbet, the Queen of All. Tales of Materese the Healer, Mother of the Wondrous Ind.” The balls now danced between Thom’s hands in two intertwining circles. His voice was almost a chant, and he turned slowly as he spoke, as if surveying the onlookers to gauge his effect. “I will tell you of the end of the Age of Legends, of the Dragon, and his attempt to free the Dark One into the world of men. I will tell of the Time of Madness, when Aes Sedai shattered the world; of the Trolloc Wars, when men battled Trollocs for rule of the earth; of the War of the Hundred Years, when men battled men and the nations of our day were wrought. I will tell the adventures of men and women, rich and poor, great and small, proud and humble. The Siege of the Pillars of the Sky. ‘How Goodwife Karil Cured Her Husband of Snoring.’ King Darith and the Fall of the House of— ”3. Tam's "fever talk." *wails*4. MANETHEREN.5. “The rose petal floats on water,” Lan recited softly. “The kingfisher flashes above the pond. Life and beauty swirl in the midst of death.” “Yes,” Agelmar said. “Yes. That one has always symbolized the whole of it to me, too.” The two men bowed their heads to one another.Poetry out of Lan? The man was an onion . . . 6. Lord of the Seven Towers.7. BEST SETTING DESCRIPTION EVER:Mile by mile the corruption of the Blight became more apparent. Leaves covered the trees in ever greater profusion, but stained and spotted with yellow and black, with livid red streaks like blood poisoning. Every leaf and creeper seemed bloated, ready to burst at a touch. Flowers hung on trees and weeds in a parody of spring, sickly pale and pulpy, waxen things that appeared to be rotting while Rand watched. When he breathed through his nose, the sweet stench of decay, heavy and thick, sickened him; when he tried breathing through his mouth, he almost gagged. The air tasted like a mouthful of spoiled meat. The horses’ hooves made a soft squishing as rotten-ripe things broke open under them. 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The first series that showed it was possible to rewrite Tolkien and make a mint was Shannara. After that the doors were flung wide open, and the next to take advantage was Robert Jordan. Of course, all authors take some inspiration from older works, as Virgil did to Homer, and Milton to Virgil--and as Tolkien himself drew on the Norse Eddas and Welsh myths.But 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 knowledge of language, history, or culture to truly copy Tolkien's style, nor was he able to add a unique spin.The Eye of The World is a more accessible version of Tolkien, but Tolkien is already a simplified version of the Norse Sagas, meaning that Jordan felt a need to dumb-down the accessible, which doesn't leave his book with much personality.However, unlike other authors who choose a more straightforward take on Fantasy, Jordan kept the plodding length of Tolkien. It is difficult to comprehend how such a simple, familiar story could take so long to tell. Without the strange and engaging details of Tolkien's meticulously-developed world, Jordan lacks any of the complexity that might bolster such a long-winded style. It's clear that he's trying to build a massive, detailed world, but it's not an interesting, original world. It wouldn't be so bad if the lengthy asides were interesting, in and of themselves. If each little piece was amusing in its own right, we might forgive. But instead, we get dry, lengthy explanations of extraneous facts that we have no reason to be curious about.Some point out that these facts show up in later books of the series, which is probably true, but then, what are they doing in this book? If Mary first appears in book three, it is not useful or interesting to stop in the middle of book one and tell us she has blonde hair. Facts should not be evenly distributed throughout a series, they should be placed in close proximity to scenes that relate to them. That way they make sense to the reader and we have a reason to care about them.If an author has to stop the story every few paragraphs to explain what's going on, that's a sign that his writing is simply not working. The world should be revealed to us through characters, through their interactions, through small details of verisimilitude, and with scenes designed specifically to illustrate a point without losing focus.But Jordan's characters are dull and shallow, his dialogue bland, and his plot, though it possesses many parts, has few twists. We are given an unending parade of new characters and detailed digressions, which masterfully suck all the drive, purpose, and life from the story.At half the length, the book would have been merely another two-star fantasy rehash. At a third the length, it might have started to show some pep. But Jordan had to stretch out his all-to-familiar story to doorstop proportions. Since he didn't add anything new or successfully copy the artistry of Tolkien's dense prose, he succeeded only in telling a short story in a long book.In Tolkien, the first hundred pages takes place in quaint Hobbiton. This prelude prepares us for the rest of the book, allowing us to understand the strange world and characters and setting a mood. When the action takes us away, we find we had become attached to the bucolic charm of Hobbiton, sickly-sweet as it may sometimes be. But when we do depart, the world we meet is much grander in comparison. In Eye of the World, you spend the first hundred and fifty pages in a drab farming community, so that when they finally leave, it will seem like something is happening. This is only a clever illusion.The hero is an orphan who looks different, he gets his father's magic sword, he goes on a quest with an old, wily man, gets attacked by evil (dark-skinned) mongoloids, meets the princess by accident, becomes embroiled in an ancient prophecy, discovers a magic 'force' which controls fate (and the plot), &c., &c. Stop me if you've heard this one before. Like a lot of modern fantasy, the plot and characters are nothing new. Every fantasy fan has read this same story again and again from countless authors--some, apparently on purpose.There's no reason for this sort of repetition: a new book should be more than just fanfic of an older book. There are countless different influences out there, even before Tolkien touched pen to paper, there was Lord Dunsany, The Worm Ouroboros, H. P. Lovecraft, H. Rider Haggard, Robert E. Howard, Kipling, Ariosto, Spenser and E. Nesbit, to name a few.Contemporary with and after Tolkien there are Mervyn Peake, Michael Moorecock, and Fritz Leiber. There is no reason for writing the same stories over and over when there are so many different inspirations out there. It is especially inexcusable when an author does this with mind-numbing long-windedness.Also, like most fantasy authors, Jordan seems to have a problem writing female characters. They are either whiny and snotty, or emasculating ice queens. I couldn't count on both hands the fantasy authors who seem to think 'strong woman' means 'insufferable, unapologetic shrew'. Then again, the male characters aren't much better.I've also been lead to understand that later on in the series, we get a magical band of lipstick lesbians who 'go straight' when they grow up (and meet 'real men', like our heroes), and some stuff about naked public spanking (that's not a joke--I wish it were). But I suppose that if Jordan resembles other genre writers in terms of plot, length, setting, and character, he might as well go all the way and throw in some misguided gender inequality.And as the series goes on, the many problems with pacing, plotting, and unfocussed asides only grow worse. If Jordan can't keep everything straight in his opening book, how will he possibly deal when the story starts branching out, as stories tend to do? It is hardly surprising that such a tenuous grasp will inevitably slip away.UPDATE: one might point to the endless repetition in modern literature as a sure sign that there is no God, no grand plan, and no purpose to the universe. A benevolent power would surely spare us the pain of such unending mediocrity.However, if there were some deity, and he had a sense of humor, he would allow the uncreative authors to publish, to gain fame, until their series piled self-indulgently to the length of a minor encyclopedia, then let the author announce that he is finally approaching The End, only to perish on the cusp.Since this is precisely what happened, I will have to keep an eye out for other signs of this humorous demiurge, possibly in the form of miraculous banana peels and hagiographic fright wigs.My Fantasy Book Suggestions
What do You think about The Eye Of The World (1990)?
What Navessa said and more. There is a reason why the band Blind Guardian wrote two songs about this series. There are characters who were awesome(including the main one, which breaks a long tradition of mine.)WOT actually illicited genuine emotions from me. I was going to bed triumphantly smiling with their successes, sad to the point of silence at their losses, fist-clenching levels of angry at the "Shrews" that forums often claim are portraying strength and dense lummoxes who must have a rather large goal post over their head that reads "beat me". Every bit of it, kept me sucked in. It is a struggle I have witnessed, through the lives of characters that will stick with me as they had aover this world that is now part of the landscape of my mind. The magic power system and physical combat scenes are masterfully put together. Constructed in a way that intuitively syncs your imagination to their pace, which is exhilarating. story I will never forget. The start may be slow for some, but if you are used to epic length series, believe me, it is worth it.
—Joshua
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this book was the one that put me off fantasy for years afterwards. Part of me was slightly interested in how the whole thing was going to end but it was over-ruled by the knowledge of nine books (at the time) after this one that I was going to have to push through. The story itself is such a fantasy cliche. Kid finds out he's the chosen one, has to defeat the big bad. I liked that story the first couple of times I read it. The characters are unlikeable and I sure didn't want to spend more volumes reading about them.
—Dan Schwent
Good ol' Fantasy, at its best!If this would have been published today, it would be cast off as derivative, unoriginal, or full of tropes.*shrug*I kinda liked that. I read Fantasy because I enjoy it. Not every single book needs to be genre-shattering. Sometimes I do enjoy the whole farmer boy leaves village in search of a grand adventure.Course, it helps that Robert Jordan does it very, very well. The writing quality impressed me, and I'm eager to continue the series and see how the world-building and characters shape up!Recommended for anyone who likes Fantasy and most of its tropes. Magic, monsters, swords, taverns, stews, that sort of thing. If this wasn't such a long series I'd even recommend it for someone looking to break into the genre.A few quick notes:- I'm hoping to finish the Wheel of Time by January 8 when A Memory of Light is released. Not sure why I've waited this long to start, it's been sitting on my bookshelf for years...- Reading went pretty quick for this book because I read in a combination of paper and ebook versions. I kept the massive hardcover tome at home (since I really do prefer reading on paper), but still had my ereader for when I was on-the-go. It more than doubled my reading time, which is a good thing because I have about twelve more books to get through...Onto the next!
—Alex Ristea
*SPOILER FREE*You know that thing that happens with your favorite series? You know, that thing. Someone either asks you about it, or you sit down to try and write a review for one of the installments, and all you say or type is dying animal noises. Kinda like this: "Navessa, what did you think of this book?""AAAAARRRRRRRHHHHNNNNNNNNNAAAAACCCCC""Um...are you okay?""AAAAARRRRRRRHHHHNNNNNNNNNAAAAACCCCC""Are you having some sort of fit right now? Do I need to call someone?""AAAAARRRRRRRHHHHNNNNNNNNNAAAAACCCCC"That's me with this series. I've actually made that noise at people. In public. I don't think this can technically be called a brain fart, because that only applies for when you're drawing a blank. We need a new term. How about brain constipation? Brain Constipation: when you have so much to say that you can't get anything out.Yeah, I think I like that. Okay, so here's me trying to type past my desire to hit caps lock and slap at the keyboard like some sort of hysterical sea lion. This series, without a doubt, is nothing short of a masterpiece. This is (by far) the most richly imagined world I have ever come across in literature. And the way it all unfolds is so organic that you don't even realize you just read twenty pages of world building, because it happens mostly through conversations, because you learn about this world as the main characters do. They hail from a tiny town as far away from civilization as you can get. When the book begins, they know next to nothing about the outside world other than rumors. Everything changes for them one spring evening, and before they know it, they're brought face to face with creatures that they thought only existed in stories used to frighten children into behaving. This book follows the same pattern that most of the books in this series do. It's told mostly through the perspectives of our main characters, half of whom are male, and half of whom are female. Nearly 90% of it is made up of world building, character building, plot twists, and traveling, while the last 10% or so is dedicated to the climax. Throughout this series you learn about the unique cultures and peoples of each country the MCs travel through, their customs, their politics, and their everyday lives. I know that seems pretty daunting, but Jordan adds the perfect amount of action and intrigue to every single chapter, balancing out the world building so that it never feels like you're reading an info-dump. Quite a feat when you take into account that the books in this series are all over 600 pages long. In short, this series is nothing more than a masterpiece. A staggering one. It actually makes me feel a little bad about myself. Because my imagination is a small, sad thing compared to what Jordan's was.
—Navessa
