Rating: 
Summary: Wheel of Time: Eye of the World
Review: When I first read Eye of the World it was the first fantasy novel I had ever read. I thought it would be lame, but after reading the prologue I was hooked. Robert Jordan is a master of detail and sets the mood quite well. He is also accomplished in the area of suspence and action making all of the series a must read for anyone. I give it 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: A slow start but worth the wait
Review: Eye of the World is the first book in the Wheel of Time (WoT) series. Written by Robert Jordan, it tells a tale of three simple farm boys who soon get caught up in a great quest. It turns out that they are taveren (people who can manipulate the course of events), but they are some of the strongest taveren to ever live. The first half of the work describes the characters and something of their past. It isn't until the three get separated and begin their individual searches to once again find each other that the book really starts to pick up. Despite this slow start, the book is a great beginning for the series. If you want to start reading the WoT series, I highly recommend reading Eye of the World first. That way you won't have to look everything up in the glossary all the time.
Rating:
Summary: Why read any other books?
Review: This is by far the best book that i have ever read. Robert Jordan is deffinatly my new favorite athour. it is amazing the way that he writes his books. the characters are awsome! A five star rating is all that this book deserves. nothing less. i'll just let you know that it is very hard to please me when it comes to books. he is one of the best fantasty book writers ever!
Rating: 
Summary: The Worst of The Wheel of Time Series
Review: This book primarily develops the characters for the remaining series; unfortunately, we have seen all these characters before. We have the self-deprecating hereo in eternal denial (Thomas Convenant, Shannara), the matriachal seat of power (Dune), the following weasle (golum), the bearer of the cursed item (Frodo), etc. There is little entertainment to the predictable and slow moving plot. No real camaraderie developes, and everything occurs at the end of the book, in a way that makes reading the beginning a wasteful effot. The political intigues that highlights the series is not fully developed until book 2 "The Great Hunt" and the recurring history model does not work with the fatal flaw being only the evil one remembers past lifetimes (why)...I think it would work better if the bad guy was starting at the same point and they both discovered the memories of past conflicts and past lives....avoid it and go straight to book 2. Better yet...avoid the series...there is better stuff out there...Goodkind, Brooks, Kutz, Donaldson, Eddings, etc. Put Jordan on your desperate for something to read list.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Beginning for an Outstanding Fantasy Epic Saga
Review: Robert Jordan's "The Eye of the World" is a great beginning to an epic fantasy saga that presently numbers nine novels (with more to come), a prequel novella (in the compilation "Legends"), and a reference book, "The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time". What's the fuss all about? Simply put, this is the most fully realized fantasy world ever created, surpassing even Tolkein's vision.Not only is this a world with intricate and detailed cultures, a world with a vibrant history that resonates with a reality rarely found in any type of fiction, it possesses complex and vivid characters. This series is enriched by Jordan's skill as a wordcrafter - this novel, and the books that follow, works on many different levels, and contains a level of subtlety that the few critics of this series have obviously missed. "Eye of the World" is a great start to this series: You are Rand al'Thor, a young man who raises sheep and tabac with your widowed father Tam, on your farm outside the isolated village of Emonds Field, a place were nothing ever happens. Except that its the eve of the Spring Festival and it still feels like winter. Except that there are strangers in town, a Lady with a commanding presence named Moiraine, and her companion, a man named Lan who can obviously handle himself in a fight. Oh yes, there's the gleeman, Thom Merrilin, an entertainer who just arrived to perform at the festival. But you can't forget the man you saw on the way into town, a hooded man in black whose cloak doesn't move in the wind, a man who had disappeared before your father could see him. A man seen by some of the other young men of the village. Scary as that mysterious man might be, you're even more befuddled by Egwene al'Vere, youngest daughter of the mayor, to whom you are virtually promised. Egwene, whose braided hair announces that the women of the village have determined that she is now old enough to marry. But there are troubles in the world. The peddler Padan Fain has arrived with news of war, of a man who declares himself the Dragon. But surely it is merely another False Dragon. Lews Therein Telemon, the man called the Dragon, had led a succesful strike by male Aes Sedai, men who could wield the male half of the one power, against the Dark One and his most important minions, 13 humans known as the Forsaken, imprisoning them 3,000 years ago. But the Dark One's counterstrike tainted the male half of the one power, driving every male Aes Sedai insane. These insane men caused the Breaking of the World. In his insanity, the Dragon gained the name Kinslayer, for killing everyone he ever loved. But prophecy says that the Dragon will be reborn to face the Dark One again, and that he will save the world, but break it. Is this another False Dragon? Pray that it is. But these worldly problems are washed away in a night of terror, when Trollocs, monstrous creations of the Dark One, attack Emond's Field, wounding Tam. In his delerium, Tam uttered things which have turned your life upside down. The frighting man in the black cloak is revealed as a Myrddraal, a servant of the Dark One and a leader of the Trollocs. But this was a selective attack. Your farm, and the homes of your friends Perrin Aybara and Mat Cauthon, were the primary targets. Moiraine is revealed to be one of the Aes Sedai, women who are not trusted and are feared by many. It is said that an Aes Sedai is bound by oath to speak no word that is not true, but that they can make the truth dance a jig. Lan is her Warder, mysteriously bound to his Aes Sedai. Moiraine says the Dark One is hunting you, Perrin and Mat. And so you, Perrin and Mat, guided by Moiraine and Lan, along with Egwene who wants to see the world, and Thom Merrilin, who feels that his company will not be welcome if he's associated with Aes Sedai. Soon they are joined by the young Wisdom of Emond's Field, Nynaeve al'Maera, who has come after them to return them to her village. But there's a man in your dreams, a man whose eyes and mouth are sometimes filled with pits of endless fire. How can you return home with such a man in your dreams? Can you ever find a place of refuge? Again, I cannot reccommend this series highly enough. It possesses a depth which is rarely found in any type of writing. With a vivid world and remarkable characters, the reader will be anxious to read the next chapter in this compelling saga.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Start
Review: Robert Jordan does an excellent job starting the series in this book. The Eye of the World lays out the promises that Jordan will fufill as the series progresses, and if he manages to do so, this will be a story to remember. Robert Jordan introduces a full range of characters with all kinds of emotions. He is quite adept at keeping the reader guessing. One thing I really like is his ability to convey even the mundane thoughts of the protaganists. Rand, Perrin, and Mat are all "real" people. The story line progressese nicely with lots of surprises and interesting twists. It was a very enjoyable read. That is not to say that the story is not without a few flaws. At times, I got bored with the failure of advancement of plot. Rand and Mat do wander a bit too much. Yet these little annoyances do not detract from the main story. The Eye of the World is a remarkable introduction to the world Jordan creates. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: An Acquired Taste
Review: To get right to the point, Jordan likes writing with ALOT detail. Don't let the superb covers for this series fool you; there is VERY LITTLE ACTION. After 250 pages, the protagonists had only gone from point A to point B to point C and had one, ONLY ONE dangerouse encounter. As a result, character relationships and the world itself are HIGHLY developed and for me, this simply doesn't cut it. I am very surprised Jordan is such a popular author and can't immagine any fantasy enthusiast making his way thought this 5000 page jungle of details but judgeing from the other reviews, I guess thats just me:)
Rating:
Summary: Nice Ideas, but a whole lot of drivel obscuring it
Review: I was a little critical of the WoT series when I started, mostly becasue my standards for fantasy aren't too low. I am a long-standing Tolkien fan, and I suspected I would be let down by this book. Well, I was. But not wholly. The book starts out a lot better than I expected and its not boring, just a bit slow. Rand and Co. run from Emond's Fields and follow Moiraine and Lan supposedly on the way to Tar Valon. Unfortunately there were several problems here: None of the characters are easy to like. The three boys/men are more than a little idiotic, and the two girls are REALLY annoying (Nynaeve a whoe lot more than Egwene). Moiraine and Lan are shadowy figures whom I both felt dislike for. Then, when you get to the middle book you understand what all the criticism is about. The party splits in three but the divergence isn't handled nearly as well as the Breaking of the Fellowship. Pages are spent uselessly describing Rand and Mat's journey in minute detail and wasted on showing us how the boys are constantly afraid (Rand and Mat are REALLY paranoid, even for farm boys. I mean, every person they see they think is a 'Dark Friend'). This whole section does practically nil to advance the plot and only wearies the reader with the endless descriptions of the wretched condition of the boys. On the other hand you have Perrin and Egwene, another example of poor pacing. More wasted pages in giving us every step of the way along their journey with Elyas. This author, I suspect, badly needs a good editor. I also wish the author didn't spend SO MUCH time inside the character's heads. Every single thought of Rand and Perrin is given to us, like a stream of consciousness. Its plain annoying. After a while I found myself skipping the minute descriptions of such things as inns, horses, innkeepers, stable boys, the road, the weather, the food, the grass, etc. The relationship between the sexes is also quite crudely depicted. While saidin and saidar is a good idea, the people themselves spend way too much time arguing. Even in mortal danger a character will think: 'oh no, what does she think of me? will she spurn me?' etc. Only in the end of the book does the action pick up. Here it gets interesting and the pacing is much better. If only the quality here was brought to the rest of the book, it would be much much better. The best part of the book is the plot, when its given to you (very seldom). The prologue and the book combine to create an interesting tension of Rand and his unconscious destiny. More plot and less travel book description would have been much better. The book isn't bad, but its often tedious.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Ideas, but a whole lot of drivel obscuring it
Review: I was a little critical of the WoT series when I started, mostly becasue my standards for fantasy aren't too low. I am a longstanding Tolkien fan, and I suspected I would be let down by this book. Well, I was. But not wholly. The book starts out a lot better than I expected and its not boring, just a bit slow. Rand and Co. run from Emond's Fields and follow Moiraine and Lan supposedly on the way to Tar Valon. Unfortunately there were several problems here: None of the characters are easy to like. The three boys/men are more than a little idiotic, and the two girls are REALLY annoying (Nynaeve a whoe lot more than Egwene). Moiraine and Lan are shadowy figures whom I both felt dislike for. Then, when you get to the middle book you understand what all the criticism is about. The party splits in three but the divergence isn't handled nearly as well as the Breaking of the Fellowship. Pages are spent uselessly describing Rand and Mat's journey in minute detail and wasted on showing us how the boys are constantly afraid (Rand and Mat are REALLY paranoid, even for farm boys. I mean, every person they see they think is a 'Dark Friend'). This whole section does practically nil to advance the plot and only wearies the reader with the endless descriptions of the wretched condition of the boys. On the other hand you have Perrin and Egwene, another example of poor pacing. More wasted pages in giving us every step of the way along their journey with Elyas. This author, I suspect, badly needs a good editor. I also wish the author didn't spend SO MUCH time inside the character's heads. Every single thought of Rand and Perrin is given to us, like a stream of consciousness. Its plain annoying. After a while I found myself skipping the minute descriptions of such things as inns, horses, innkeepers, stable boys, the road, the weather, the food, the grass, etc. The relationship between the sexes is also quite crudely depicted. While saidin and saidar is a good idea, the people themselves spend way too much time arguing. Even in mortal danger a character will think: 'oh no, what does she think of me? will she spurn me?' etc. Only in the end of the book does the action pick up. Here it gets interesting and the pacing is much better. If only the quality here was brought to the rest of the book, it would be much much better. The book isn't bad, but its tedious at times.
Rating: 
Summary: Are you sure Stephen King didn't write this?
Review: Apparently, this is what you call an "Epic Fantasy." Epic is right. As in never ending, which was what I was getting afraid of.Jordan uses the word "Light" so many times,I began to say to the characters- "how about darn, golly, geepers,......" I saw that Jordan offered a map of his imaginary world. Am I blind, or did he leave out Aridhol/Shadar Logath? I tried to follow the progress of the little band of travelers. Jordan seems to have been in a rush early on, then added weeks of travel time later. After the 20th tavern/hotel/barn where everyone is looking over his/shoulder, I started telling them -"Relax..you have 300 more pages to go, and this is just the first book. Get some sleep." I have not seen whinier characters since Thomas Covenant. At least he was missing fingers, and had leprosy. I will return to George Martin's and Terry Goodkind's work. They are also lengthy. But, with their story lines and characters, I look forward to the next chapter. Jordan, like King, wears me out. Why can't those guys find an editor when they need one?
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