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Summary: The Eye of the World
Review: -={Great start to an even greater series}=- Robert Jordan's world he creates in the Eye of the World is defiantly unforgettable. I loved all the characters in the book, they all fit into place perfectly. Jordan makes the three main characters: Rand, Matt, and Perrin, all necessities to the victory of good over evil. Some say that Jordan puts too much detail in the Wheel of Time novels, but the detail he uses makes the book come to life. It may seem like some of the journeys they make from city to city drag out for a long time, but without the detail it would not seem as real. The evil in the Wheel of Time seems unstoppable, but with Rand as the Dragon Reborn, the light has one last hope. Without the Dragon Reborn, the Shadow would over take the pattern of the Wheel and the Dark One would rule the world in his image.
I would extremely recommend this novel to anyone who loves a great fantasy adventure with an immense world and characters that you feel like you know in person. This is a great start of one of the best series I have ever read. Once you start reading it, you just can't stop. If I had three hands, I would give it three thumbs up.
Rating: 
Summary: The start of a good series
Review: In the first book of the wheel of time series, Robert Jordan introduces us to a land rich with history and magic. Set in a medieval world that is just a shadow of its once glorious past, Rand seeks his destiny. In Jordan's world there are two types of magic, the prosperous female side, and the repressed and uncontrallable male side. Rand, suffuring from the male side of the magic, travels away from his small hamlet to a more industrial and busy cities. In the company od an Aes Sedai, Rand and his friends witness things they would never have even dreamed about. Robert Jordan obviously spent a great amount of time on character development. Unlike many of the fantasies today (David Drake) Jordan has characters that actually have intense feelings and emotions. Throughout the book Rand matures and becomes a different character. The setting of this book is another achievment in itself. Loaded with detail, Jordan spends a great deal of time in his book to explain the world in which Rand finds himself.
Rating:
Summary: This one's good but BEWARE
Review: The Wheel of Time is probably the best-known and most widely read fantasy series other than The Lord of the Rings. There are many reasons for that: (1) The Eye of the World and books 2-5 of the series are non-stop action, adventure, intrigue, politics, magic, war, history and mystery wrapped together. (2) Jordan creates believeable and often multifaceted characters. (3) Attention to detail: from the various cultural traits of the 13 "nations" on the map (dubbed "Randland" by fans), to the commercial, political and economic interaction of the various peoples in the books to the characters and objects throughout "Randland". (4) End-games. Jordan's at his best in the last chapters of books 1-6 and 9 when he writes of the climactic occurrences of each of those installments. Eye of the World itself has some of the traditional fantasy elements: rural unknown and unworldly hero(es), mysterious magician, trekking out of the halcyon backcountry, world on the brink of war, etc. The writing is smooth, the various characters and their motivations work well, and there's action aplenty. The book also has a sense of innocence and mystery that corresponds to the heroes' relative lack of knowledge of their surroundings and the world at large. BEWARE, however, because the series is at 10 books (the tenth will be published late 2002 or so) and growing (13 total possible -- it's a common numerical theme in the books). The quality drops off sharply in books 6-8 and the cast of characters and various factions seeking power becomes unwieldy (and impossible to remember). You will likely enjoy the first 5 immensely, but know what you're getting into.
Rating:
Summary: Slow and steady
Review: I was a bit skeptical about reading this book at first especially after completed Eddings' The Belgariad series and Tolkien's LOTR series. For one, EOTW seems to be one longgg series. But I thought...what the heck, I'll give it a try. Well. for a start, it was excruciatingly detailed especially about their traveling. I had to force myself to read through all the details about the landscape etc. I could not feel for Rand or Mat. For a while, I was thinking about skipping this book. But things started picking up after the 450th page. Suddenly I found myself rooting for Rand, Mat and Perrin. Their torment. Their short-lived joy. Heck, this should make a great movie, if done right. However, I do wish Rand wouldn't blush or flush so much. Makes him so 'ninny' at times. I'll be starting 'The Great Hunt' soon. I hope he'll have matured a bit by then.
Rating:
Summary: the best
Review: what is wrong with the reviewers on here, this series is the best fantasy series there is, only martins song of fire and ice comes close and the reviewers dump on it. i have read lots of fantasy and this series is simply the best, its ridiculous to see some of the [not so good] books i have read get good reviews like terry goodkind's sword of truth, those books were awful, the coldfire trilogy was extremely boring, salvatores dark elf trilory was the worst ever, tad williams memory sorrow and thorn had the worst ending but all those series got pretty good reviews on here. we all know that jordans books are long so if you dont like it dont read it but i think the lenght of the books creates a love for the characters which are very well developed, the story is the most creative and with so many twist and turns. this is just flat out the best series there is since tolkien and it probably is better, i just have to see how it will end to decide, but [ignore] all the other reviews this series will keep you reading for a long time with all the books, its just a really good story
Rating:
Summary: Wait a min... are you saying you haven't read this yet?
Review: Some people said the plot/premise of "The Eye of the World" has been done before (Chosen boy destined to fight great evil). That's not necessary bad. Classics are classics for a reason; certain story just has that lasting appeal. If it's done right & has good variation, who cares if it's been done before? If you have read Dragonlance and like it, you know what I am talking about. The Eye of the World starts out slow, but builds up to be a great series- "Wheel of Time". The series has many arch-type characters that I like a lot. One thing I find interesting is that most powerful Mages are woman, they seem to be ageless and are feared by people (not something you see often in fantasy novels). If you don't mind reading a long-epic story, buy this. This is of course not as good as George R. R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones", but an entertaining fantasy novel nevertheless.
Rating:
Summary: a fun read
Review: After about 90 pages describing the completely ordinary rural lives of the main characters, you have been lulled into a sense of calm that shatters with a knock on the door by something straight from hell. The characters never stop running from that point on. Supernatural danger is always one step behind them as well as somewhere ahead of them, and there is a growing sense that the fate of the world depends on the actions of these characters. You will discover a detailed and fascinating world. Boys will feel the urge to master the sword, the bow, and the axe. Girls will feel the urge to learn herbal remedies and make their own clothes. This book can be quite annoying and disappointing unless one remembers - it is just for fun. There is no insight, no philosophy, no moral dilemma, etc. That is the kind of fiction I normally read, but this was a nice break - just for fun.
Rating:
Summary: The new gold standard in epic fantasy
Review: Robert Jordan paints a vivid portrait of a world with a deep sense of history, with its own traditions and cultures, where the reader is swept up into the current of the great events that will decide the fate of the world. His heroes and heroines are men and women whose ordinary lives are not so very unlike our own, and we learn to care passionately about them as we see them grow into the great men and women who carry such terrible burdens and endure so much to preserve family, friends and countrymen alive in the face of such overwhelming evil. If you love Tolkien, you'll be blown away by the Wheel of Time series. Robert Jordan really makes his characters come alive, and the plot lines are interleaved in a complex and interesting way that leaves you on the edge of your seat in suspense.
Rating: 
Summary: good plot, but weak characters and writing
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. In fact, I picked it up at every spare moment I had. However, it has serious shortcomings. Jordan makes prolific use of cliches. Towards the end, I was tired of reading about eyes flashing in anger, jaws dropping in disbelief, etc. The writing gets in the way of character development. I never saw Lan, Moiraine and the gang as anything but simple character types (stubborn, stoic, etc.) The plot, however, has some good moments. I particularly enjoyed the wandering through the Ways and Perrin's encounters with the Wolves. If you don't care about the sort of objections I raised above, then by all means, this is a great book. However, if you love really fine prose as well as a good story, I would look for another author (Tolkien masters both well).
Rating:
Summary: Good, but I honestly expected better
Review: I had heard much about this book prior to actually reading it. It was recommended strongly to me so I dove in. I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed with it. Much of the previous criticism voiced here I agree with: it's too darn long, it's been done before and better, and it's very predictable. The characters aren't very well developed, (Matt, Perrin and Rand all seem to be the same person). The main women characters, Egwene and Nynaeve, are virtually identical as well. The book starts off very slowly and is indeed loaded with tons of filler. Rand and Perrin's trip from village to village is painful to read. At times I really had to force myself to forge ahead, and good sci-fi/fantasy doesn't cause me to do that. I persisted though and when I got through the 'ending', I was extremely disappointed. That was no ending at all! It was horribly disjointed, suffered from terrible description (both environmental and character), and didn't really come to any conclusion. The Green Man was completely out of place. (Did anyone like this character?) The ending only served to set up later books, (which I've heard are better, at least for awhile, until they get extremely pointless around book 5), and doesn't even do a good job of that. I just didn't care at the end of this book. I did enjoy many of Jordan's ideas and descriptions. However, I didn't enjoy it enough to make me want to plow ahead with the rest of this series. At 800+ pages a pop, I would recommend investing your time and money in other books. (I'm currently crashing through the Earthsea series by Le Guin which is fantastic.)
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