The Eye of the World: Book One of 'the Wheel of Time' (Wheel of Time, #1)

by Robert Jordan

Life in Emond's Field has been pretty boring for Rand Al'Thor and his friends until a strange young woman arrives in their village. Moraine is an Aes Sedai, a magician with the ability to wield the One Power, and she brings warnings of a terrible evil awakening in the world. That very night, the village is attacked by bloodthirsty Trollocs - a fearsome tribe of beast-men thought to be no more than myth. As Emond's Field burns, Moraine and her warrior-guardian help Rand and his companions to escape. But it is only the beginning of their troubles. For Moraine believes Rand Al'Thor is the Dragon Reborn, and that he is fated to unite the world against the rising darkness and lead the fight against a being so powerful and evil it is known simply as the Dark One. Part One of the opening volume to Robert Jordan's classic Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World continues with TO THE BLIGHT, also available in March 2003.

• ISBN10: 1429959819
• ISBN13: 9781429959810
• Publish Date: 15 September 2000 (first published 15 January 1990)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 688
• Language: English

Reviews

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog!


Wow. This was *a lot*. And I mean it in the best way possible! This book was quite long. The eBook copy I have contains all novels, so I kept glancing at my progress for the page total (a bit over 13,000 pages), which made this seem even more massive. Regardless of that, I essentially burned through the first novel, unable to put it down.

The world-building is super cool, and I can’t wait to learn in the next 10+ books. The story comes with a lot of twists and turns, chapters that will give you goosebumps, moments that will make you hold your breath. I loved the story, especially because you can tell just how much thought went into it. There are no gaping holes in the logic staring you in the face. This world, this legend, this story was crafted meticulously.

The set of main characters we get is both diverse and similar at the same time. There are things they have in common, things that unite them. Nevertheless, they all have their distinct personality, their own thoughts, their own goals. Over the course of the first novel, you’ll see the strands of each of their stories weave together, move apart, converge again. It almost felt a little bit Lord of the Rings-like. It somehow reminded me of when Frodo and Sam take off and we follow to different stories for a bit. Well, Jordan thankfully goes back and forth between the individual stories a lot more than Tolkien did! I am, however, convinced that Jordan did read LOTR. At least his description of the Ogier with the trees and how long things take and how slow everything movies screamed Ent for me. There must have been some influence there, whether he intentionally drew from it or not. This is by no means criticism, by the way! I actually enjoyed being able to spot those little references. In fact, there were quite a few more things that struck me as familiar when reading this. Granted, maybe I’m just imagining it, and Jordan never even read LOTR.

[HekArtemis]

I haven't read this series since before joining GR in 2012 (though I did read the final three books after 2012). I think that if this was my first time reading Eye of the World I would have given it 3 or 4 stars and not 5. Nostalgia makes me still love it though, makes me able to move past my distaste for the way the women are forced to behave in this series. We'll see if that continues through the rest of the series - it's a lot of books to put up with insufferable characters after all.

I will say that this is the first time I noticed the little bit of foreshadowing about the origins of the Aiel. Why would they call Shai'tan "Leafblighter", hmmm? What's leaves got to do with it?

This was also the first time I really really really like REALLY noticed so very many of the similarities between this book and 1: LOTR, 2: Sword of Shannara, 3: Pawn of Prophecy. Some of the things would remind me more of one book than the others, and then shift to another, then the other. So I don't think that Jordan strictly used LOTR as inspiration, I feel like he also used Eddings and Brooks as inspiration too, taking pieces from all three of them - and perhaps others. As an example, Padan Fain reminded me a lot of Brill from Belgariad, but there is no character like that in LOTR, a character who is there from the home point and stalks them through to the end. So I found that interesting, though it doesn't bother me as I love LOTR and Belgariad, and so also enjoy their well written clones, such as this and Sword of Shannara.

[Kate (Blogging with Dragons)]

Ever since I’ve gotten into reading fantasy novels, I’ve seen Robert Jordan’s  The Wheel of Time series plastered all over the shelves of Sci-Fi/Fantasy sections. I decided this year would be the year that I finally saw what all the fuss was about. I was immediately hooked by The Eye of the World, which follows three young men and their extraordinary female friends on their escape from their hometown with the forces of evil are hot on their trail. With the help of a powerful Aes Sedai, Moiraine, who can wield the True Power, things are anything but boring.

 

“‘Well, we’ll survive, the Light willing….And if the Light doesn’t will, we’ll still survive.’ That was the way of most Two Rivers people. People who had to watch the hail beat their crops or the wolves take their lambs, and start over, no matter how many years it happened, did not give up easily. Most of those who did were long since gone.”

 

While I very much enjoyed The Eye of the World, it was definitely hard for me to look past the similarities to The Lord of the Rings in the very beginning of the novel. Main characters, Rand al’thor and his friends Mat, Perrin, Egwaine, and Nynaeve, are from the Two Rivers and are known as stubborn folk who are capable of great things. That immediately reminded me of the Hobbits from the Shire, who, if memory serves correctly, were often referred to as hardy folk who were the key to Sauron, the Dark Lord's, defeat. Things get even more familiar when Rand and company are pursued by a Fade, a creature swathed in a dark cloak that does not move in the wind, which instantly reminded me of a Ringwraith.

 

Under the command of Fades are Trollocs, a mixture between human and animal, which put me to mind of The Lord of the Rings’ Uruk-hai, which were bred from men and orcs. To top it off, Moiraine with her powers, wisdom, and ability to fend off the creatures of the dark, along with her membership to the Aes Sedai, is very reminiscent of Gandalf’s role. And her Warder/bodyguard, Lan, who is technically a King--albeit of a fallen city, reminded me completely and utterly of Aragorn. His refusal to enter into a romantic relationship with a character was also very reminiscent of Aragorn's own romantic life with an elf, Arwen.

 

And when The Eye of the World isn't referencing The Lord of the Rings, there are also countless, blatant references to King Arthur legends in the series. I was startled by names given to main characters, towns, and legends alike. For instance, love interest to Rand al’Thor is called Egwene al'Vere, aka Guinevere, and not too surprisingly, a doomed love affair is prophesied between the two. Moiraine’s name is strikingly similar to that of Morgan Le Fay’s. On the throne in Caemyln (Camelot) is Queen Morgase aka Morgause and her daughter is Elayne. The traveling gleeman with an astonishing amount of wisdom is Thom Merrilin aka Merlin. Another town is named Tar Valon, aka Avalon. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. There is also a mystical Green Man, which is ripped straight from the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. At this rate, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if there is sword in the stone later on in the series.

 

Even though The Eye of the World felt unoriginal at times, I still enjoyed it. And I recognize that it’s almost impossible for any fantasy writer to avoid any Tolkien or Arthurian references. In this day and age, these works are pervasive and a part of our very cultural identity--you’d be hard pressed to find any fantasy novel that did not contain some of the greater themes or ideas. I must admit I was shocked by just how many of these similarities were in the beginning of The Eye of the World, but as I progressed throughout the novel, I realized there was more than enough original content and details to keep me interested in the series and its characters. It helps that the novel starts and finishes with a bang.

 

“According to prophecy and legend the Dragon will be born again at mankind’s greatest hour of need to save the world. This is not something people look forward to, both because the prophecies say the Dragon Reborn will bring a new Breaking to the world, and because Lews Therin Kinslayer, the Dragon, is a name to make men shudder, even more than three thousand years after his death.”

 

The novel starts with Lews Therin Kinslayer, known as the Dragon, going mad with the use of the One Power in the fight against the Dark One, killing everyone he loves, and essentially breaking the entire world in the process. We then learn that a new Dragon will be reborn to save the world from the Dark One. I thought it was amazing how every couple of years a false dragon pops up and wreaks havoc on the world, causing wars and much strife in the process--it’s these kind of casual mentions to past events by the characters that make the world feel so rich and real. As the Fade and their Trollocs--both agents of the Dark One--start hunting Rand al’Thor, Mat, and Perrin of the Two Rivers, we start to wonder if one of them could perhaps have something to do with this prophecy to save the world from the Dark One’s Shadow.

 

"The Wheel of Time weaves the Pattern of the Ages, and the threads it uses are lives. It is not fixed, the Pattern, not always. If a man tries to change the direction of his life and the Pattern has room for it, the Wheel just weaves on and takes it in. There is always room for small changes, but sometimes the Pattern simply won't accept a big change, no matter how hard you try....And sometimes the Wheel bends a life-thread, or several threads, in such a way that all the surrounding threads are forced to swirl around it, and those force other threads, and those still others, and on and on. That first bending to make the Web, that is ta'veren, and there is nothing you can do to change it, not until the Pattern itself changes."

 

 

I loved everything about the Dragon prophecy and about the Wheel of Time itself. Though the chosen one trope is a bit tired, I think Jordan managed to make it new and interesting in this novel, with many layers added to it. I loved the mystery surrounding the role of the three boys--as ta’veren--concerning this prophecy. Though to be honest despite being very interested in their part to play in the Wheel of Time and the prophecy, I had trouble liking the main protagonist, Rand. Even with his mysterious origin and role in the prophecy, he was just so bland and boring. Mat, on the other hand, is a complex character who we can all love to hate and Perrin’s got a whole other interesting, magical nature going on that makes him easily my favorite of the boys. The skill of the author shone with his ability to effortlessly develop Rand, Perrin, and Mat from the simple sheepherder, blacksmith, and trickster that left Two Rivers into people who could change the very fabric of the Wheel of Time's Pattern.

 

But what I loved even more than the author’s ability to craft such believably human characters in such a fantastical setting, was the characterization of the women that accompanied them on their escape to Tar Valon. And ultimately, if you’re a fan of The Lord of the Rings books, not the movies, you know that strong female characters were few and far apart. The Eye of the World gives us three strong heroines in the very first novel, something the entire The Lord of the Rings never accomplishes throughout the entire trilogy. Moiraine, Nynaeve the Wisdom, and Egwaine are all complex and powerful characters. I do not think the boys from Two Rivers would have any success surviving without them.

 

"You are part of the Pattern, too, both of you, in some fashion. Perhaps not ta'veren - perhaps - but strong even so..."

 

Moiraine herself is a confident and unapologetic person from a hated and feared organization--which is largely seen as disastrous to trust and to blame for the breaking of the World--who wields the One Power, calling down fire, casting wards, healing and keeping all of the young company out of trouble. Nynaeve is an extremely talented tracker, even managing to track a Warder with Trollocs on her tail, a skilled herbalist and healer, and with the potential to harness the One Power if she chooses to accept its call. Passionate, stubborn, and intelligent, she is often at odds with other members of the party. Egwaine, her protege, also has extreme potential to channel the One Power and fearlessly seeks to train as Aes Sedai herself, despite the concern of her love interest, Rand al’Thor. And with a name based on Guinevere, I am very interested to see where the series will take both her and her romance, which appears to be doomed from the start.

 

What’s more, is that despite the number of threads in the author’s huge Pattern, I never felt bogged down by the amount of detail in The Eye of the World. Some fantasy writers tend to drown their readers in constant floods of description and detail, but Jordan manages to present his amazing world-building through his own characters and their dialogue in a way that feels utterly organic and natural and not like an onslaught to the reader.

 

Ultimately, even though I was dismayed at times by the similarities in The Eye of the World to other great works, there was more than enough interesting world-building, complex characterization, foreshadowing, and amazing writing to enjoy on its own merits. To write off this kind of achievements as a merely a Tolkien rip-off, something that is easy to do when Tolkien, is, in fact, the very father of all modern fantasy, would be an egregious mistake indeed. I’m very excited to see where the Pattern unfolds in the future installments in the series and I could definitely see The Wheel of Time series becoming one of my all time favorites.


Book Review Policy
Connect with Me:

[adamfortuna]

The first book in the Wheel of Time series. I've heard numerous people say to skip this one - and I can understand why. It was extremely slow, and monotonous at times. For a series that I always hear touted as one of the most amazing, must read tales, I was completely underwhelmed by it. I can see how the bigger world is being built up, but this story was more about a call to action without much else (besides some running around). I didn't feel attached to the characters or care too much about the weight on their shoulders. Ironically, I did feel that way for the Sword of Truth series -- which was released after Wheel of Time and shares a VERY similar narrative. I'm not sure if I'll have the dedication to complete this series, but still aim to try a few more.

[Ben Pick]

I understand why this series is revered by so many. That being said, reading it felt like a chore.

I love the wheel of time series and I've been reading the series since the 90's and I've reread these books at least 4 times and I always say the whole series is my favorite whenever anybody asks which books I like.

The way Robert Jordan describes his world, he does it in such detail that you can picture it in your mind and I just love his characters he created. He has so many characters that have there own storyline and there own adventures they go on and I love following them. Sometimes I go back and reread individual characters storyline and each reread I discover something new about them because Robert Jordan is so detailed with his characters that sometimes you don't catch everything on the first read.

I would recommend this series to anybody.

[inlibrisveritas]

I first started reading this while on a Fantasy kick...then I realized how large the book was. Despite the amount of time it took me to finish this book I really enjoyed it. Truly an epic fantasy. Those who has read (or watched) The Lord of the Rings will see similarities but the story is different and refreshing to those who need something as large as Middle Earth