Rating: 
Summary: Great Fantasy
Review: This book is a prime example of good fantasy writing. Robert Jordan makes the book come to life. The story is developed, interesting, and creative. The only con to this is that it is lengthy. Robert Jordan has ten books now all over 600 pages I believe. For impatient readers, or those pressed for time, a shorter book might suit you better at this point. The good thing is that you can read this book quickly. It's intricate but not as confusing as J.R.R. Tolkein for example (not that I'm dissing him, he's a genious). Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Please stop comparing this book/series to others
Review: I have read Eye of the World and am halfway through The Great Hunt. A friend told me about the series and I only know of one other person who has heard of it, so I thought I'd check out what others thought of it.The number of comparisons to other fantasy series, especially to Tolkien, is ridiculous. Don't let those reviews make your decision about reading Jordan's series. Yes Tolkien and Jordan write fantasy novels, but that is where the comparison ends. Jordan does not use Dwarves, Elves, Orcs or "little races", ie halflings, hobbits, kender, gnomes, etc. There are plenty of other fantasy series in which those races are used, and those series are not compared to Tolkien nearly as much as Jordan's series is. More examples are the political differences with men and women and the use and existence of magic. The Wheel of Time has its own world of races and stories and it is just not fair to compare it to anything. Sure, it may have been inspired by Tolkien. Many fantasy series have. But then again, Tolkien was inspired by mythology of hundreds of years ago. My point is, if you are a fantasy reader then pick this series up. I can't say it stays as good as the first two books because I'm not that far yet, but I can say I got hooked within the first few chapters. Jordan throws stuff out there with minimal explaination so just to figure out what is going on, I had to read furthur. This is because Jordan's material is new. If the Aes Sadai didn't channel, but were simply magic users, the story would lose its intrigue. If you can pick up this book with an open mind, not looking to compare, contrast or find parallels, then you will definitely enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This book at first I was comparing to tolkiens lotr. But as I continued i thought that it left no boring part at all where in some of tolkiens i thought would neva end.
Rating:
Summary: Overlong but well written
Review: I suppose it was because this book came so highly recommended that it was somnething of a disappointment. Jordan's writing style is extremely readable but he fills entire chapters with uneccesary and occasionally boring description. It started out well enough and by page 100, I was absolutely hooked; intrigued by questions without answers and characters with lots and lots of potential. The settings were fantastic, the Trollocs and Fades wonderfully and creepily portrayed. Then the characters were split up and for a large portion of the middle section of the book, I plowed through endless chapters about Rand and Mat meeting a Darkfriend in every village they stopped at (I started to kinda notice the pattern early on; one has to wonder why the characters did not) and Perrin communing with wolves and lusting after Egwene. (It should be noted that this observation was quoted by a recent reviewer erroneously; Perrin does think often about Egwene during this portion of the book and admonishes himself at what Rand would think. "Lusting after" was used as comic exaggeration.) While these parts drag on for pages, Jordan shoves in vital exposition in bursts and spurts, introducing the idea of the Queen only about 250 pages towards the end of this 782 page books. I'm also told by a critic in a quote on the back of the book that: "Women have a stronger role than in Tolkien..." And yet, we're never shown events from Egwene's point of view, only briefly do we from Nynaeve's p.o.v. and then it is only facts, no emotional insight. Both the Emond's Field girls turn into the horrendous stereotype of a feminist character, bossing everyone around as the men role their eyes and put up with their silly behavior. Moiraine remains so aloof and mysterious that we never really get a good feel for her as a person; she and the Aeys Sedai order remind me very much of Frank Herbert's Bene Gesserit. So did I like the book? Yes, very much so; I'd definitely and gladly recommend it to a friend. But it is not without its flaws.
Rating:
Summary: Do NOT Get Into This Series (Try A Song of Ice and Fire)
Review: This and the next four are the ONLY good books in this series. At about the sixth book, the story hits a brick wall. It's sort of like drowning youself. I think that Jordan is a good (not great) writer, but honestly, the last six books could probably be condensed into three. Read the reviews for the later books, and you'll see what I mean. If you are looking for a truly great series, read A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Those books are my favorite by far and never let you down. I don't know what is wrong with Robert Jordan, but the last half of this series are flops.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts good, fades fast
Review: When I inititally read this book I thought it was great despite the unoriginality of the plot but after I waded through to the third book and realized there was no end in sight I gave up. To me, this series is a great example of how commercialism has ruined fantasy. Maybe, at one point, Robert Jordan was going to write 3 or 4 books, but once he got a bestseller he decided to milk it for all it was worth, and he has been doing it for the past 13 years. These books are so padded and bloated it is hard to know where to start. Unless you have an amazing amount of time to invest and don't mind skipping every other chapter I wouldn't bother with this series.
Rating:
Summary: It's going to be a great summer!
Review: I just finished "Eye of the World" and am glad to have the summer ahead to dive into the other 9 books! I am not a fantasy reader but I decided to read LOTR after seeing the first two movies. Someone told me that if I liked Tolkien, then I would really like Jordan. I bought the first book but really hesitated reading it because it looke dull. The first time I read the prologue I was totally lost but now it makes sense after reading the book. Once you get about 4 chapters in, you are hooked! Many say this book is slow but I say it is much more interesting than the Fellowship of the Rings -- nothing happens in that book until the Council of Elrond! So far, I'm not all that crazy about the two main characters Rand and Mat (both kind of whiny) but I LOVE all the supporting characters. Nynaeve seems to rub many reviewers the wrong way but she is my favorite character. Once I got into the book, it pulled me right through. Yes, there are many similarities to Tolkien. There is much traveling from village to village but it's somewhat more interesting than Sam and Frodo's endless journey. There is never anything as completely boring as the Tom Bombadil chapters in this book (although I'm still perplexed about what Mashadar is). Anyway, I can't wait to read more -- I have already bought 3 more in the series and am addicted enough that I read all 403 hardcover reviews of the book when I should have been eating lunch.
Rating:
Summary: Duller than expected.
Review: "The Eye of the World" was supposed to be THE definitive fantasy piece next to Tolkien, so what happened? Maybe it was because I came in with very high expectations, but the book quickly became seven kinds of bland for me. It would've passed with a 4 if it had been around 300 pages instead of the actual 800+. After awhile, it just got annoying. I started wishing Moiraine would conjure up a car or maybe a jet plane so that Rand et al could just finish their pointless "quest" to the Aes Sedei city, which by the way, was not reached by any of them at. all. Also, I had hoped that more characters would die. The only one who did (supposedly) was Thom, probably because he was old and therefore couldn't be manipulated into some kind of lame three-way romance. I really had my fingers crossed for Egwene or maybe the Wisdom to bite the dust, because eventually they both became two interchangeable, angry feminists. Especially the Wisdom. And the romance with Lan? Where did THAT come from? So I'm supposed to buy that a stoic, hardened warrior has gooey-mushy feelings for a whining, naive farmgirl? Oh yeah, because that's so logical. Also, for about halfway through the book, I could have sworn the Wisdom was a lesbian. It certainly would have been more interesting that way. The only character i did not want to die was Perrin. His whole wolf/shape-changer ordeal was entertaining and at times sad, because it reveals him as the true outcast of the bunch. Too bad Jordan decided to concentrate most of the story on the tragically misguided character of Rand. Ah, Rand, how completely pointless you are. He's supposed to be the big bad "Dragon Reborn", but he remains clueless about the origins/magnitude of his powers, and instead keeps himself amused by doing such things as angst about his cheesy dreams and falling over walls in order to meet pretty princesses. And the Trollocs STILL don't catch him. Someone needs to tell the Dark One to hire better help, because his minions are grossly incompetent.
Rating:
Summary: Great start to a Great series
Review: The Eye of the World is one of the best books I have read in awhile. The only problem is that people keep trying unsuccessfully to compare this series with Tolkien. Give it a break they are completely different, any similarities are pure happenstance. I have read this series and Tolkien, and frankly they are both great series, these are the 2 top series I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Still give it 5 stars
Review: There were a lot of things that annoyed me about this book. But in the end, I still had to give it a nod and a full five star rating. Bottom line is, its a good story, captivating, made me want to read the next in the series. I gave Jordan five stars because he creates characters that you wonder about, are curiously interesting. Will Rand and Egwene ever get it on? Or will it be Perrin and Egwene? Rand and Moiraine possibly? Who is Tam, really, and what were the circumstances of Rand's birth? Will Egwene and Nynaeve become wisdoms? Will Perrin run off into the woods with his Wolfbrothers? Will Lan reclaim his kingly title? I'd like Rand to get back to Caemalyn, find Morgase's daughter and hang out in her garden.
But I'd like to say to all the people out there who don't see the similarities between LoTR and the Eye of the World, "What are you talking about?!?" Here we go: Rand=Frodo. Both are tormented. Both bear a terrible burden. Both wield great power... Mat=Samwise. The constant companion, the best friend, the sidekick. Although Mat [ticked me off] through most of the book with his immaturity and moronic behaviour. If I were Rand, I'd tear that little dagger out of his hands and kick him out of the party. but I guess Moiraine object because he's part of the "pattern". Thom=Gandalf. They're the old dudes with the white wispy beards and deep knowledge of the world. Lan=Aragorn. Both disguise themselves of their true kingly nature, have had their ancestors lose their empires, and take on other, more humble roles. Protectors...
They go on a journey. The get chased by scary guys in black robes with unseen faces and black horses (Darkriders or Fades, take your pick). They stay at inns where people look at them suspiciously. They get attacked and get split up. They go on separate journeys for a while, gaining different experiences, but then get reunited. They go on a journey through a dark, dangerous, subterranean, haunted place as a shortcut. They are hunted by big, hairy, subhuman savage-types (someone tell me the difference between a trolloc and an orc.) They meet a mythical moving, talking piece of vegetation (The Green Man=Treebeard). In fact, Loial reminds me an awful lot of Treebeard too. There are just too many similarities between Jordan and Tolkein characterwise, plotwise, etc that to say the Jordan is original is ridiculous.
Despite Loial's face splitting into a grin (repeatedly) or Mat's ferocious rictus (theres a word that one doesnt easily forget) and Nynaeve's constant bickering, I still managed to like the Eye of the World. So yeah, pull out your wallet and order it online today!
| 
