Rating: 
Summary: Great Story...I've read so many times...
Review: This is the great start of what should have been a classic series. The first books is rather excellent and takes a steep departure from the normal fantasy. Its rather epic in its scope and representation. Its characters are, or at least at first seem to be, normal people. But under amazing circumstances they become more powerful than ever they thought possible, or in some cases. than they ever wanted. You see dreams awakened and dreams shattered, for ever. A real keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: good but not great!
Review: The first book in Robert Jordan's wheel of time series, the eye of the world, is a slow paced but very engrossing fantasy novel, it is a lot better than the tripe written by tolkien but not as good as some fantasy writers such as terry goodkind. So far I have only read this first book in the series but it has excelled me to read further novels by the author. I find this fantasy novel interesting as it spreads from the kiddie image that tolkien emanated, and from the thugish visage of a lot of other writers. That is also the reason why I liked goodkinds work (a worth while read for anybody looking for a good fantasy writer). It is true that he tend not to explain thing as much as he should (although there is a handy glossary at the back for anybody that gets too confused.) He does however show off an excellent skill of character development. The novel was not the best I've read but getting there, it by far not the worst #cough(tolkien)#. This story was gripping but let down by a confusing ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Special
Review: The prologue was VERY gripping, and I read it with pleasure. As soon as the real book started, I started yawning and saying "Get on with it, man". It's not that his descriptions were too long - I read Sir Walter Scott, Tolkien, and so many other descriptive writers, and I'm used to that. It's that his descriptions are not so special, and I don't really "see" his world. It's quite easy to figure out what's going to happen next, too. There are no sudden twists, nothing. I knew Rand will be the Dragon after reading the first 40 pages (the book itself is like... 800 pages long). His charachters act like puppets - they do things but rarely have any reason or any feelings for that. I'm a writer myself (well, kinda) and I know what that means. In the prologue, he successfully speeded up the action, used good descriptions and showed Dragon's feelings. That's why it's so good.Of course, it's not THAT boring, but you really get confused: all those names. On the first page of the first chapter you are introduced to so many new names, and then later on even more, and each of them is explained way later. I never actually got the picture of the charachters clearly, and I sometimes didn't understand clearly what something was. (Even 60 pages after Aes Sedai was first mentioned, I didn't really get what it was) Of course, English is not my native language, but I understand it pretty good, and besides, I understood Tolkien. In other words, if you feel like reading SOMETHING, you can read this book, but if you want to read something SPECIAL, screw this. I don't even get how Jordan became so popular. Go read Tolkien, he's 1000 times better. "Jordan came to dominate the world Tolkien began to reveal" - the biggest lie ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Taken directly from Frank Herbert's Dune
Review: I believe Robert Jordan read Frank Herbert's Dune the night before he began writing his best-stealer series, The Wheel Of Time. There are many identical issues that appear in both series, and some of them are: Dune:
A 15-year-old boy, Paul Atreides, is our hero. As the story progresses, he appears to be the chosen one, the Kwisatz Haderach. He keeps getting tougher all the time and at the end becomes a great leader of many men. WoT:
A boy of similar age with Paul Atreides, called Rand, is our hero. As the story progresses, he appears to be the chosen one, the Dragon Reborn. He keeps getting tougher all the time and at the end becomes a great leader of many men. ----
Dune:
There is an organization of women, the Bene Gesserit, that has a special training program for women. They try to manipulate all events. They are usually mentioned by other people as "the Bene Gesserit witches." WoT:
There is an organization of women, the Aes Sedai, that has a special training program for women. They try to manipulate all events. They are usually mentioned by other people as "the Aes Sedai witches." ----
Dune:
There is a desert people, the Fremen. They are tough warriors and have a primitive religion, and have religious rituals. Water is very precious to them. They have a myth that the chosen one [Paul Atreides] will come one day and lead them to glory. WoT:
There is a desert people, the Aiel. They are tough warriors and have a primitive religion, and have religious rituals. Water is very precious to them [they say to friends: "May you find water and shade"]. They have a myth that the chosen one [Rand] will come one day and lead them to glory. ----
Dune:
Paul Atreides shares his bed with his concubine, Chani of the Fremen, the desert people. He is also married to the princess Irulan, daughter of the previous emperor. WoT:
Rand is shared by three women: one is Aviendha of the Aiel, the desert people. Another is Princess Elaine, daughter of the previous queen of Andor.
Rating:
Summary: Would you like to fall asleep?
Review: If you need to get to bed early then I suggest to pick this book up. It is guranteed to put you right to bed with it's drab plot and droll characters. So you'll be glad when your boss gives you a raise for getting there early. Thanks Robert Jordan for giving me an alternative for counting sheep!
Rating:
Summary: How can I say this nicely?
Review: This book reads like a serious version of the Diana Wynne-Jones "Tough Guide to FantasyLand," a melding of both Tolkien and Star Wars along with prose as dense as a fruitcake. I assure you that I went into EOTW with an open mind, and found moderately entertaining, FLAWED fantasy. The opening itself is standard, somewhat reminiscent of "Sword of Shannara": Our Hero, Rand, glimpses a dark-robed figure in the forest, which vanishes quickly. He and his father immediately head back to the village of the Two Rivers, the usual country bunch who are currently preparing the Bel Tine (Beltaine?) celebration. However, strangers have come into the village: The mysterious Moraine, whom we find out is an Aes Sedai (a female magic-user -- apparently men can't) and the dark, growly, gray-haired, outdoorsy Lan (think Aragorn with more of an attitude). Then Rand and his father Tam's farm is attacked by trollocs, which are sort of half-man with a hodgepodge of animal bits. Soon after comes a ghostly Fade -- and they're searching for Rand, for reasons he doesn't know. The locals (who don't seem to be the brightest bulbs in the chandelier) become angry, saying it's Moraine's fault. Moraine and Lan leave -- but with them come Rand, his semi-girlfriend Egwene, and a couple others. And along the path ahead, Rand discovers who he is and more about the enormous tasks that he must do. Let's get this out of the way: I have no problem with huge books. I read "Hounds of the Morrigan" in two days, read LOTR in a week, Sword of Shannara in three days. As for descriptive prose, I am Patricia McKillip's biggest fan, and nobody gets more flowery than she does. My problem was not how long it was, but how it BECAME that long. As mentioned above, the prose is as dense as a fruitcake. In my own writing, I have a rule that landscapes and physical description will not exceed three sentences. Yet after the prologue (which is beautifully and evocatively written -- I only wish the rest of the book had matched it) we get enormous descriptions of virtually nothing -- page two, two paragraphs on the wooded area where Rand sees a specter. Yet simultaneously, we get very little description of the characters: I never got a mental image of Tam, Egwene, or Rand. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The chase scene away from the village, with the Leathery Winged Avian (see "Tough Guide") in pursuit was tense and fast-paced. Their stay in the inn radiated warmth and safety, and danger of the interlude where Rand is trying to escape from the trollocs. Sadly, as "harsil" points out below, he also produces some really weird descriptions. I've never heard teeth click, seen anyone shake themselves, or seen someone widen their eyes until the pupils vanished. And there might be an error in the VERY FIRST SENTENCE of the book: "The palace still shook occasionally as the earth rumbled in memory, groaned as if it would deny what had happened." Did he shift tenses, or just write a correct sentence that sounds strangely like he did? (I really am not sure) But unfortunately it also draws from every cliche in the book -- Wynne-Jones's book. We have the mysterious stranger (though in a twist, the "Gandalf" person is a woman); we have the hardy outdoorsman should-be-king (is that you, Aragorn?); we have the naive young hero who is a pale copy of Luke Skywalker -- raised in a backwater place with no knowledge of his exalted true identity and hidden power. We have the necessary buddies like Mat and Perrin and Egwene; we have Leathery-Winged Avians, innkeepers, sinister Dark Lords, the "One Power" which closely resembles the Force, ghastly inhuman foot soldiers (not too scary though), the Lost Identity of the Hero, the "Fade" which is too much like a Nazgul, the poisoned wound that Tam got from an "evil knife", the quest, etc. The cliches stack further and further up. There are also, sadly, only a few really juicy characterizations. The women are all screechy, picky harridans who talk about what pains men are -- except for Moraine, thank God, who seems to regard everyone in the same level view. Did Jordan start this series after a nasty breakup? It's the only explanation I can think of; if aliens used this book to understand human gender relations, they'd wonder why we weren't extinct. I got sick of Nynaeve after about a page, and Egwene started grating on my nerves after she discovered that she had Aes Sedai potential; Lan's disdain for Mat, Rand and Perrin seemed unnecessary and unheroic. Mat somehow didn't register much with me, but I liked Perrin. Rand did give the accurate feeling of a naive farmboy. Jordan does provide some intriguing concepts, concerning the "Wheel of Time" and the Dragon Reborn. But these are drowned in another problem: He has so many different cultures and hierarchies and organizations that I lost track very quickly. Realistically, the heroes shouldn't know much or care much about the groups that don't involve them. (Patricia McKillip realized this in her books: less is more) Overall a nice brain-fluff read, certainly better than the "Iron Tower" trilogy but by no means as good as "Sword of Shannara" and definitely not as good as Tolkien or McKillip. I'd advise reading this only if you're unaffected by cliches.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for fantasy readers.
Review: Simply the best series to come along since the Lord of the Rings. Jordan's masterfull plots keep you glued to the book. I challenge you to read this series and disagree!
Rating: 
Summary: A great start to a series that seems to have bogged down.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I remember browsing through a bookstore back in 1991 when I bumped into a friend of mine. Knowing that I liked to read fantasy he recommended this book to me. Once I got into it, it was a remarkable effort in the fantasy genre. Robert Jordan created a rich, multi-layered world with many characters who defied being typecast. He brought some innovation into the use of sorcery, also, with his adaptation of yin/yang becoming saidar/saidin. And I also began to realize that there was a fair deal of religious symbolism, as well. In fact Jordan seems to have synthesized ideas from many religious traditions in this work, not an easy task. In short, this book is a great introduction to the entire series. However, I must say that later books in the Wheel of Time have deteriorated. I keep reading them as they come out, hoping that Mr Jordan will recapture the quality that made the first few books so enjoyable. Whether the series will be salvaged or not remains to be seen.
Rating:
Summary: You'll love The Wheel of Time--if you can read quickly!
Review: Robert Jordan sets up plot twists more cleverly than any other author I've ever read. Each climax he writes is incomparable! But his characters are initially unappealing, especially the "strong" women, who always value power above friendship. And yes, this book is FAR too slow! If you read slowly, or if you're an English major who's fussy about "good" writing, then don't bother. But if you're willing to read a mediocre thousand-page novel to get to the amazing hundred-page ending, then you'll love this series, as I do. You can probably decide whether you'll like the series after reading the first novel, but the best plot twists are yet to come, since _Eye of the World_ is just the first chapter of a very long story. The good bits are much better in the later books--and the long slow sections are even longer!
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but very long
Review: The is one of the best series of books I have ever read. It is a wonderful epic fantasy that you cannot put down. The only warning I have for anyone planning to buy this is that the series is very, very long. If you start to read it you will want to finish, but that takes a very long time
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