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Summary: Long-winded and unoriginal obstacle to later books in series
Review: Robert Jordan's being heralded as the fantasy genre's savior, revitalizing it with an exciting series of books, starting with this volume, the Eye of the World.But such accolades are overwrought. Jordan's Wheel of Time series is a typical fantasy, featuring a plot and characters that we've all seen before: from humble beginnings do three young men arise to meet their potential in a battle against an ultimate evil, guided by wise magic users who've studied the prophecies that must be fulfilled, replete with place names and people names with lots of apostrophes (to make them look more fantastic and foreign, of course). Why should they battle this evil? What internal struggles will they face as they attempt to reconcile their actions against a larger sociological background? None, of course: the evil must be battled because it's pure, instinctual evil. Now, it's not fair to summarize all 10-or-more 800-page volumes of this gigantic story in a single paragraph, and not just because some of those volumes haven't been published yet. There is more to the this work besides the main plot, of course, and that's where there are some pearls to be found. Some of these subplots are compelling, and many don't find resolutions or even achieve development until much later in the series. Jordan's also a very visual writer, describing nearly every detail of every locale and every person to such degrees that any imagination on the part of the reader is redundant. That's too bad, since it often bogs down the pacing of the novel to that of a frozen snail. The Eye of the World sets up the stage for the epic drama of good versus evil, which you can skip over, plus the background for the subplots, which are the good bits. If you can put up with Jordan's ramblings---and there's a lot of it---you're in for some fairly beautiful moments in the later books. It's too bad you have to drudge through this first book to get there!
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Summary: You WILL fall in love with this... but be warned
Review: The Wheel of Time is one of the best known Fantasy series to date. It is very good... most of it. This book is one of the best it has to offer. As you move through the series, however the series slowly begins to lose its edge. Around book 5 you notice a drop in the overall quality of the books... but thankfully it doesn't drop much lower after that (think Goodkind) and just stays at that level. If you choose to read this book, you will probably love it, finish all the series' books released to date, and eventually finish the series, even if some of the succeeding books aren't nearly as good. This book IS great, but be warned that if you start you will almost certainly HAVE to "finish" (if Jordan and you happen to live that long).
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Summary: Don't care about characters and disbelief not suspended
Review: I almost didn't finish reading "The Eye of the World'. From the begining the plot feels to be directly lifted from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, but lacks the depth or sofistication of character development. I found it difficult to differentiate from the three boys in the story and after reading chapter upon chapter ended up not caring what happened to them. The author seems to be targeting specificially teens as his audience with much time spend on the awkwardness of male/female relationships, but failed to capture my attention as a reader in his 30's. I like to read something that appeals to me no matter my age. Tolkien has captured my attention since my teens because he has material and depth that appeals to a variety of ages and life stages. The team of two who come to 'rescue' the boys don't work very effectively to lead the boys through the story. Despite their powers and their supposed leadership positions, they can't seem to help nurture the boys through the journey. My guess is that Jordan is trying to make these 'leaders' seem more believable and less than perfect, but their lack of clear direction and control paints them as being incompetant rather than more 'human'. One, or all, of the boys has some type of special power or gift that the 'enemy' is after. We do find out who has that special power, but we aren't really given any hints that make sense or help us transition to that understanding. In the end the power is used in a way that surprises us, but doesn't help me believe the story. It seems the author wasn't sure how to write the ending and so he makes a quick use of the last trick and so the story is ready for the next stage/book. Without a natrual progresson and maturation of the charter it's difficult to believe what happened. I don't recomend this book and I expect wouldn't recomend the series. There is other better writing out there and someone hasn't read Tolkien, than that's the place to start. In short, Jordan just doesn't suspend my disbelief and I don't care about his characters.
Rating:
Summary: Pitiful
Review: All right, here comes the blasphemous review on The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. First off, I would like to commend Jordan on the writing method that he incorporates, he is a very skilled and deft writer, and I love his style. However, the storyline, lacks. There are just too many parallels to the master of Fantasy, Tolkien. I was also concurrently read _The Fellowship of the Ring_ at the same time (by Tolkien rather obviously). Here are just a few: In EotW, Rand, a farmer, is about to celebrate a major festival, included with fireworks. In the LotR, Bilbo is about to celebrate a festival, included with fireworks. In EotW, a mysterious figure comes to the village at the same time. (Moiraine)In LotR, a mysterious figure comes to the village at the same time (Gandalf). In both books, the main character hails from a village area of naive idiots. In both books, they have to fight a "Dark One" one way or another. In EotW they have to find the "eye of the world", in LotR, they have to find "Mount Doom". Also, in EotW, the creatures they fight are silly and just plain odd. Trollocs, are creatures with random animal parts mixed with random human parts. It's pathetic.Plus, here's something that has never really been voiced: The seris is too DAMNED LONG. By the time all 10 books are out, it would be equivelant to reading _The Stand_ 8 times. It's just too long, flat out too long. Jordan also tries too hard to make his world. Tolkien made MiddleEarth better then Randland, in half as many pages.There are certain things I look for in a good fantasy. There's Escapism, Adventure, and Plot (includes character development). In this book, the Escapism is decent, at best. There is little adventure/action, and when there is, it's repetetive. Now: character development. This is a tough call. All the main characters are daft bumbling idiots, and that's about it. Lan and Perrin, the interesting ones, are hardly focused on. Maturity Level: Teen END
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Summary: Amazing Fantasy
Review: The Eye of the World is a thrilling fantasy tale about good and evil. The characters were real to me, which I think is very important. The invented creatures are interesting and eerie, and the writing is great and easy to read. There's a glossary in the back if you get lost (though I never did.) I can't wait to read the sequel!
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Summary: The first and arguably the best of MANY...
Review: While many hold this first book to be a slow beginning, I praise this book for it! It worked very well at setting up the rest of the series. The adventure elements between The Two Rivers and Caemlyn were especially a delight and brought back a little nostalgia of classic adventures such Huck Finn. The pacing in this book is the best of the series in my opinion. It lacks the characteristic blandness that plagues many of the following volumes. While there is some non-sense bickering, it won't annoy you as much as it will later on. This series is definitely an improvement over Jordan's previous macho, testosterone filled Conan series. As a matter of fact, we have some downright PMS'd females. JK. IMNSHO, Jordan is right now tied for second among active Fantasy writers with Robin Hobb. In the lead is the Great George Rail Road Martin with his A Song of Ice and Fire series. The first book of which is A Game of Thrones, followed by A Clash of Kings, and the very-soon-to-be-published A Storm of Swords. If you're overly annoyed by Jordan's adolescent characters, read this series.
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Summary: Not the Best Beginning
Review: Now I am on the 3rd book of The Wheel of Time and it is excellant; as was the 2nd! The first book, The Eye of the World, was good but it was an 800 page read that came to the outcome of barely anything. Rand doesn't believe or know he is the Dragon and doesn't consciously know he is using the One Power until the end. Once he does though (which is the 2nd book and on) is very exciting. What I liked and didn't like: -the story could of been shortened by about 200 pages (though some vital things would be missing) -too many inns -useless talk and info +lovable characters +Great Storyline +beginning of an excellant series! I believe once I get farther into The Wheel of Time series I will look back on this book and very well love it! Very possible. So don't take my comments to harshly, I think whoever is thinking about reading this book should. You would be missing out on the rest if you didn't. Besides, reading one book is a small price to pay for an amazing series! ENJOY!
Rating: 
Summary: A good book
Review: I do not ever read books that fall into the fantasy genre. I prefer to read classics and will even pick up some non-fiction or newer fiction books once in a while. However, my boyfriend loves fantasy books, this Robert Jordan series included, and he talked me into picking up Eye of the World just to read a little and see if I liked it. Well, let me tell you, I finished this book in under a week. I only put it down when I absolutely had to. I love the characters in the book and reading about all of their adventures. I am completely hooked, and I wish that I had more time to spend reading these books. The plot is good, and while it is fantasy, everything stays very consistent throughout which makes everything plausible in relation to everything else. One of my favourite things about this book is that all of the characters tell these stories which come back as part of the plot of this book which makes it even more interesting. Enjoy!
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Summary: The first and so far the best of Jordan's awesome epic
Review: I'm on the 6th book of the WOT now and all of the books so far are excellent (though I hear otherwise about 7 and 8, I'll have to read them for myself), but this one is the best. The other books continue the series smoothly and have show no sign of dwindling, but the first one was where we met all of the characters and saw all of the new places and were introduced to Jordan's awesome world. From beginning to end it had me captivated. I think that this book is the best in the series so far.
Rating:
Summary: First book was great
Review: Well, EoTW was indeed a great book. It contains all of the elements of a successful fantasy, while avoiding some of the more show-stopping cliches. Jordan's world is well imagined and described, and it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to put together history/politics/etc. like it does in some epic fantasies. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyes epic fantasy; Jordan's prose is enjoyable, his descriptions vivid, his characterization and dialogue are above average. With that said, I must now proceed with my misgivings. I have been reading the WoT books for quite a while now; since The Dragon Reborn came out in hardcover, and for a time, I eagerly awaited the next volume. Unfortunately, I must say that my enthusiasm has waned recently. Rabid Jordan fans will defend him to the death, but the last two or three book (Crown of Swords, Path of Daggers, etc) have moved the plot forward very little. I will not go so far as to say that Jordan is simply pumping out trash to make money off of the brilliance of his earlier works, but that wouldn't be far off the mark. Many of his fans have expressed their discontent, and hopefully he has gotten back on track with the next book, Winter's Heart. If you haven't started the series yet, then read through The Dragon Reborn (book 3) and then read the reviews of Winter's Heart. If they are good, then slog your way through books 4-7 and then hopefully enjoy the rest of the series. If Winter's Heart turns out to be another sell-out, I would recommend you just pretend that The Dragon Reborn is the last book; don't waste your money on the rest.
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