Rating: 
Summary: Addicted to the wheel
Review: I'm in the process of reading the whole series and have beome a dedicated 'Wheel' fan. The first book was a little difficult for me to get into at the beginning. The author goes into a lot of detail and the plot seemed to move slowly. As I continued, I realized that these details were necessary. You are taken to a different world and different time. Jordan introduces you to the characters, and each one has an individual personality that is unique in his or her own way. The three young men from Two Rivers are reluctant heros, the women strong minded.The plot weaves a story of good against evil but in a way that is different and complex. Each book creates more questions and problems that will carry you to the next volume. I look forward to the several hours a day I set aside to read Robert Jordan's series. I have discovered that his books are so popular that there is an official Wheel of Time website.
Rating:
Summary: The Beginning of the Test
Review: Mr. Jordan has started a radical departure from all his Conan stories in this book. This series is extremely complicated, and it is not for the impatient reader( as I am writing this, he is nine volumes into the series and I expect at least four more before the series is done.)Also when he started releasing these books,they came out one per year. The last three volumes have taken two years apiece. Still this is a highly entertaining series, and this is where it starts.
We start with a somewhat convoluted prologue, which is perfectly fitting because it takes place in the house of a madman. The madman is confronted by an enigmatic figure, who turns out to be the madman's nemesis. After a brief confrontation, the madman uses his power to transport himself to an empty plain, and then turns himself into atoms in an explosion so powerful that it creates a mountain on this plain and alters the course of the river next to the new mountain. The book starts with the people in a rural district preparing for a festival. Quickly the story centers around three teenage boys and one teenage girl. Because of the festival, the village has purchased fireworks, and has brought in a bard (called a gleeman) to make it a very memorable occasion( this is an extremely remote district, so remote they don't even know that they have a queen, who in turn has not been able to send troops to police this district for generations)Also, a strange nobleman and her retainer arrive. The celebration never takes place. The village is attacked by trollocs (goblins the size of trolls) who are led by a number of halfmen (similar to Professor Tolkiens RingWraiths: not quite as fierce or as difficult to destroy, but still deadly and hard to kill.) The noblewoman is shown to be an Aes Sedai and without her usage of the One Power the village might have been destroyed. She tells the three boys that they have to leave their village.....
From this point Mr. Jordan has built an impressive, mammoth series which has elements from mid-eastern history, Japanese history, European history.... You will see similarities to Dune, to Professor Tolkien's Middle-Earth, to Star Wars.... It is the most complex story I have ever read, and it is for that that I am enthralled by it. Every element Mr. Jordan has used to influence this book he has made into an element of this story, and without looking you will not realise where the all come from. He developes dozens of characters of importance and scores of minor persons. Mr. Clancy is the only author who can dwarf Mr. Jordan's attention to detail, and only Mr. Tolkien's Silmarillion can best The Wheel of Time for complexity. And Above all, it is an EXPLETIVE DELETED fine series to read. Nine books into it, no one but the author has any idea on how it will end. That is good writing, I think. What is the Test? The test is whether or not you can be patient enough to for the author to complete his work.
Rating:
Summary: Major depth, be ready for a good, long read!
Review: If you can hold on until page 88 or so of the first book, you should be hooked. I haven't read any fantasy since lord of the rings about 10 years ago, and it was good to be back. The first 88 pages or so are spent on nothing, yet everything. 88 pages setting the story, about the small village from which the 'hero' Rand has never left or intended to leave - a village where everyone is human, there are no gnomes or elves, and monsters and dragons are little more than myth. a simple sheephearder, drawn into an epic quest beyond his understanding. I had never heard of the book before, a friend handed it to me, so I read it with no preconceptions or expectations. Be warned, after the 800+ pages you probably still won't fully grasp what is going on - which is the best reason to keep reading! Much like the 'vampire chronicles' by Anne Rice, the fact that you are trying to find out what is going on is what keeps you going. I've only just started book 2, and hope that the author keeps the suspense up for as long as possible. This book is much deeper than the lord of the rings was or was meant to be, it is not simply a battle of good vs. evil, there are many 'groups' some out for themselves, some not - who knows who are the "good guys" in this series, least of all Rand? This book is only recommended for people who enjoy very long and detailed books. Especially since in total the series is 7000+ pages... Read it!
Rating:
Summary: The Eye of the World
Review: A fascinating world is created by master storyteller Robert Jordan in his opening of an epic, "The Eye of the World". Each character created by Jordan has a depth that is not often found in the realm of literature. The story line is captivating and the world of fantasy is so powerfully created that it might seem as reality to readers. Once you have read this book you will be hard pressed to not read the following books in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: A quote from an older book...
Review: Allanon says: "My death was foretold at the Hadeshorn. My passing from this life was assured. But with the destruction of the Ildatch, the dark magic must pass as well." (Wait, this is where it gets good!) "The wheel of time comes around, and the age ends." -The Wishsong of Shannara, 1985. page 498. But wait, on page 499 - "As with all things, time's wheel will come around once more. Then the trust I have given you will be needed, and the children of the house of Shannara will be called upon to deliver it. I hadn't paid any attention to this until after I read The Eye of the World. I did not enjoy this book very much. Although it started out pretty well, it dragged on and on, and for the amount of pages (800+) nothing much of great import seemed to happen. recommended fantasy/sci-fi: Terry Brooks' Shannara series, Dan Simmons' Hyperion, Tolkien(of course). These are my favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Long journey that seems to go nowhere
Review: I tend to agree with Knight Michaels's comments on craft. Jordan creates a complex world and he does a masterful job of keeping that world real for the reader. At the same time, while the people in his story go through all kinds of harrowing experiences (at one point, I was beginning to think that Jordan was just creating new monsters to give his people something to do), they don't really seem to change or develop in meaningful ways from them. Jordan compounds the problem by repeating over and over the same descriptive details for the characters, unnecessarily dragging out the book and slowing the action. And the end kind of fell flat for me as if the author was getting tired and just decided to wrap things up quickly and move on. I wasn't juiced up to get immediately into the next book. In the end, Jordan creates an interesting, coherent fantasy world, but, at least in this first book of the series, the relationships among his characters and their world remain fairly static.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: If you are in need of some serious reading material, and want to read a series of books for the next year or two, pick up this book, and start the series! You'll be glad you did!
Rating:
Summary: A book others can't defeat!
Review: This book has caused me many of nights of restless sleep. I've read the book once, but, I had to read it again and again! Every time I re-read this book, I understand something NEW and it changes things ever so slightly, or heavily! It's in the pattern, I suppose. It's such a great book, I love it...10 stars if I could! I can't wait to spend many more nights reading the next 8 books either!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent beginning to an Epic Tale
Review: I took me about 50 pages to be drawn into this Epic Fantasy, Being the first book I have read by Robert Jordan I was extremly pleased with the flow of the story and how it unfolds. The characters develop throughout the story and as you near the end you must make sure you have book 2 before you finish the last page.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone who is into epic fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Beginning of the best series ever written!
Review: I loved this book, and this series!
It took a little while to get into the book, but after that I could not stop reading until I'd read all nine books in the series.
If you love fantasy that makes you think, and you have time to read an extensive series, then you need to read The Wheel Of Time
|
