Rating: 
Summary: An orc, by any other name...
Review: I'm a newer fantasy fan who has recently exhausted Tolkien's works. I turned to Jordan's WOT series with this first volume, "The Eye of the World," hoping it would prove worthy of its popularity. In my opinion, the first book is worth a read, but I was terribly disappointed by how shamelessly derivative (of Tolkien) the story turned out to be. The fades are basically ringwraiths; the trollocs are orcs. The Two Rivers is practically synonymous with The Shire, for the story's purposes, and the embarking scene at the stable, with unexpected characters popping up and demanding to come along on Rand's quest for Tar Valon, is straight out of Rivendell. Even on a symbolic level: the three friends wield a sword, a bow, and an ax -- bringing to mind the triumvirate of Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli. After several chapters, these frequent, incessant "nods" to Tolkien start to seem less like sly, knowing gestures of recognition and thanks, and more like the early stages of Parkinson's. Depending on your tolerance for the similarities, you may decide the WOT world is a total rip-off.Jordan also borrows heavily from real eastern and western cultures ("Ba'alzamon" from "Baal", for example; there was also a puzzling, anachronistic mention of the Green Man, and Arthur Pendragon, from British/Celtic myth). Since Jordan is cranking out these suckers at the rate of about one every year and a half, and each is about 500 to 700 pages in length, I'm wondering if his cultural borrowing is as studied and deliberate as J.R.R.'s. The upshot is, unless you're pretty tolerant of derivative fantasy, you may want to check this book out at the library and sample a few chapters before buying.
Rating:
Summary: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T DO IT!!!
Review: Please, promise me you won't read this book...sure its a great introduction to a series...yes the characters are wonderful...but in the end, you'll be soooo disappointed.
The author is just calling these in to take advantage of young fantasy fans. First 4 or 5 books are fine, but after awhile...nothing happens.
Please, read something with a beginning, middle, and (most importantly) an end.
Don't support this dreck.
Rating: 
Summary: Beginning of a highly engrossing series
Review: The Wheel of Time series is now up to nine books, and will go on for at least a few more. Many, if not all (I don't really know), of the books were/are bestsellers, including book eight, which many fans, including myself, felt was the worst in the series. So how does Robert Jordan keep a series so popular even at its lowest point? First: Plots. Many, many, many plots. Eye of the World starts out simply enough. Rand al'Thor's small farm community is attacked by creatures of shadow and abomination and is forced is flee with a handful of others, guided by a mystical woman and her intransigent guardian. Things expand rapidly from there on out as the reader learns more about the universe these characters inhabit. The forces of dark may be getting loose. Rand turns out to be much more than a simple farmboy. The world is not the simple place everyone thought it was. As the series progresses new characters appear and more and more subplots begin, revolving around the main idea: The prophesies say Lews Therin, the Dragon, will be reborn to fight the Dark Lord and reimprison him, as the Dragon did once before, thousands of years ago. Sometimes the subplots are related, many times they are not. The side stories will keep your mind busy throughout the series, regardless. Second: Intricate detail. Jordan has a narrative voice that paints one heck of a picture on every page. Even when Rand and Mat are seemingly doing nothing but walking down the road, the descriptions are full and interesting. Every chapter introduces more detail of this world and the people and forces inhabitting it. Third: New concepts. OK, maybe not all new, but Eye of the World is a solid starting point for the reader to become familiar with the laws and history of this world. And maybe Jordan does appear to borrow heavily at times from Tolkein's Ring Trilogy, or Herbert's Dune series (Bene Geserit=Aes Sedai, Muad'Dib=Dragon Reborn, Fremen=Aiel), or the legend of King Arthur (especially in the third book, Dragon Reborn) but he doesn't seem to make any apologies for that, and makes these adaptations his own. Any one out there written a book entirely free from past ideas? Didn't think so. Fourth: The little things. There is always something new happening. Always. Just when it seems like one problem is solved, two more pop up. By the end of The Eye of the World, every character has a new purpose far from just running away from monsters. This book is a solid beginning. By itself, The Eye of the World is a great read. As a part of a series, this book is simply amazing. Sure, it has its problems. Every one is the best at something, whether that be a sword fighter or Aes Sedai or thief, and every woman is has such a commanding presence that men back down in shock whenever the woman look at them, and the politics gets pretty involved later on, but you'll want to keep reading. Robert Jordan has found a niche and is settling in nicely.
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