Rating: Summary: A Great Book!! Review: Eye of The World is an excellent book with many great plot elements that keep you guessing. Robert Jordan creates an epic world with many great flashback scenes that show the old days in the Age of Legends. The characters are so enthralling that I couldn't stop reading. The magic and the battles are so well-written that they paint a perfect picture of the scene in front of you. There are many characters but all are well-defined. The book is a bit on the long side but has great climaxes. The book has very little time where it is boring. Whether it be escaping from Trollocs or killing Fades, this book is full of action!!
Rating: Summary: Trashy fantasy should be more entertaining. Review: Robert Jordan writes awful prose. 'With his thick chest and broad face,' he writes of one of the characters, 'he was a pillar of reality in that morning, like a stone in the middle of a drifting dream.' I am astonished that the editors would permit such nonsense. Presumably merely to be irritating, Jordan always writes 'illumine' instead of illuminate, and 'amaze' (the antiquated noun) instead of amazement. Awkward sentences, silly metaphors, misused words, cliches (characters can 'feel that they are being watched', out-of-place modernisms and fake-sounding Olde Worlde utterances abound.Dialogue is weak. The characters seem always to be blushing or stammering or putting their feet in their mouths or pining for hot meals or rolling their eyes and saying 'Men!' in exasperated voices. Jordan often tries to narrate big slabs of history in casual conversations, is if by doing so he will make them interesting. The Eye of the World is heavily derivative of the Lord of the Rings, and Rand's relationship with the Aes Sedai sisterhood is almost a facsimile of Paul's relationship with the the Bene Gesserit in Frank Herbert's Dune. The volume also contains a Dune-like glossary of jargon, although here it is quite unnecessary. In Rand's village there is a family of slovenly good-for-nothings, one of whom is named 'Ewal', so perhaps Jordan is giving Harper Lee a tip-o'-the-hat too. Though it whiled away the hours and yielded some entertaining moments, I can't really recommend this novel. I found it difficult to like the heroes, who are constantly whining or feeling homesick or engaged in dreary soap opera dramas, and the evil characters haven't half the menace of Tolkien's balrogs and nazgul. There isn't much beauty, subtlety or depth in this novel, just copious spoonfuls of mundane action and drama. I could not immerse myself in the story most of the time, and I never felt the author was properly in control. I cannot help but wonder what the contemporary critics of J.R.R. Tolkien--especially the ones who considered his books 'boring, absurd or contemptible'--would have thought of this.
Rating: Summary: my 1st fantasy after Tolkien... that should say alot Review: Imagine waking up on a Monday, you know your destination is the school you dread with all of your heart, and everything is so regular and rutine. Then something happens, and your sheltered, secluded life becomes an advendture full of complex people, friends, places, and cultures. Try to grasp the feelings and emotions running through your blood as you see things told to you in stories by your grandmother to scare you to bed. Well, thats how Robert Jordan makes you feel in his first novel in the WoT, Wheel of Time, series by his incredible character description and devlopment. You will become Rand, Matt, Perin, Elayne, and all the characters of his amazing world. I picked up this book when the first eight WoT novels had already been written, and I finished the series (eight books) within 5 months. Robert Jordan's series is the one that really got me hooked on reading, and to say that about a book is something very special. I am not going to explain the plot, describe details, or get into the characters. Every word and page of this novel should be experienced first hand by the reader, because this book might just change your outlook on a lot of things.
Rating: Summary: An excellent fantasy epic Review: It is hard to believe this is really only the intro to the Wheel of Time. But it's worth it.
Rating: Summary: The first book was pretty good Review: The first book was very entertaining, but extremely wordy. It is unfortunate that the rest of the serious was so bad.
Rating: Summary: great book to an even greater series Review: This would be the best book I've ever read if it weren't for the fact that I cant choose between the rest of the series. Jordan's exciting and amazing fantasy tale starts here with the EoTW. Although the beginning may seem slow, I beg of you to stick with it and you'll surely not be dissappointed. The ending is so good I found myself fumbling to turn the pages faster, leaving you hanging and just itching to start the next book right away. Hey, well, i did. Any fantasy reader should definitely start this series. Also, I do reccommend skipping to the back of the book to read the glossary before you start, as it will be quite confusing trying to understand what all the terms Jordan uses are. Secondly, after you finish the book, I suggesest you go back and read the prologue, and it will actually make a world of sense from when you first did. BE WARNED...this is an amazingly long series, as book 10 will be out soon and from the way things look and from what i've heard it seems that it is unlikely there will be fewer than 15 books in the series by the time it is finished, so know what you're getting into! As far as the actual book goes, if you just want to buy it and read it, buy the paperback. Otherwise, i reccomend buying the hardback version if you intend to hold onto it for awhile, due to the poor binding Tor books does on the spine. The covers tend to fall off or become loose on the paperbacks after the first read. Hope this helped, Happy Reading! also reccomended: the rest of the series (9 books so far, 10th due out Nov.)
Rating: Summary: A definite must-read for fantasy fans. Review: This is an excellent book packed with everything you need to keep you hooked; romance, adventure, suspense, comedy, etc. I'm about to start the fifth book today and the plot is still supporting itself (unlike some other fantasies I've read), however I can see it leaning towards the stereotypical fantasy plot slowly as the story develops. What drew me to this book in the first place was the original storyline. It still has the bastard who turns out to be a man of great power, but the implication of 'The One Power' a source of magic with separate male and female sides is ingeniuos. And the monsters and different human races are as well. A few people may find the portrayal of men as villainous and over the top, but personally I think Jordan portrays a more realistic picture than the stereotypical male domination. Women in the book aren't really displayed as dominant, but from a female perspective which Jordan captures well for a man. He simply portrays the female tendancy to bully men and to complicate a situation emotionally. The male perspective is also portrayed but is dwarfed because the main characters of the book are mainly female (the aes sedai). The multi-strand plot sometimes leaves you frustrated if you are enjoying a particular strand more but the switching of character narrative provides a good understanding of the story and characters. Last of all, the characters start to seem a bit samey after a while but the story is still so original and enthralling that I still had to give the book five stars. I do have a feeling however, that I'll probably end up slighty changing my mind after having read the second half of the series.
Rating: Summary: Halfway through and addictive Review: Well, what I think of this book is amazing. It's for the older-than-Tolkien-older-than-J.K. Rowling crowd, most definitely. And it's also a great book for people who wish to switch over from strictly SF to fantasy or strictly nonfiction to fiction. I like how they stick an ordinary man, Rand al'Thor, into the midst of the extraordinary. Although this is a long book, it is SO worth reading, especially since you can trace parallels b/t this and the real world, and also b/t this and other fantasy/SF series and Japanese manga. :) The only reason this gets a 4 in place of a 5 is the gender politics. You can make of it what you will, but obviously men are the villians here, and, unfortunately, it's beyond their control due to the tainted nature of saidin, the male magic. But I suppose that this is a mirror of the real world for the male writer, being the pawn of women. Overall, a great book.
Rating: Summary: This series starts out okay, but degrades quickly Review: This series is up to the ninth book. Originally, it was going to be nine, but now it is planned at a watered down 15. The first book has an interesting plot and an interesting world, although the characters are one dimensional. The book moves along a little slowly, and Jordon has to use a quirky plot device to speed it up at the end. It throws off the pace of the novel, but it kind of works. By the ninth book, there are so many different groups trying wield power in the world and control the Dragon reborn, that the plot is muddled and confused. The ninth book can spend so little time on each of the main factions that very little happens -- until the last chapter when there is a battle completely unrelated to the rest of the novel. The characters remain one dimensional, except for a few who have become sillier (including the main character!) Books 7,8,&9 are simply awful! If you haven't begun this series, do yourself a favor and look at George R.R. Martin's books.
Rating: Summary: Fantasy at its best Review: Engaging. Thats a good word. A page turner. Like drugs, only not illegal, this series [pulls] you in and you cant stop until your done. Its a wonderfully detailed tail about a man named Rand Al' Thor and his adventures through a mythical world. Meet the Aes Sedai, the feared women who can channel the one power. Learn of the great legends, and the heros of the ages. I could not put this book down once I started reading it. I had to learn what happened next. As soon as I finished it I needed to read the sequel. So if you plan on a good read (you can polish it off on a short trip, well, fast readers can) then pick up a copy of EYE OF THE WORLD P.S. read them in order. It really ruins it if you read them out of order.
|