The Eye of the World
(The Wheel of Time #1)
by Robert Jordan
814 pages
It Was Okay
Synopsis:
Content Rating: As listed on Book Trigger Warning; Misogyny, Torture, Violence. Not listed death, serious injury, child endangerment/abandonment, and hidden adoption.
The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
When The Two Rivers is attacked by Trollocs-a savage tribe of half-men, half-beasts- five villagers flee that night into a world they barely imagined, with new dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.
Goodreads / Storygraph / Amazon
Review:
I figured with all the hype about the upcoming Amazon Prime adaptation of the Wheel of Time that it was time to give this series another try. Besides that I always try to reread at least one book a year. When I was in college I attempted to read the series but only made it to book five. My husband listen to the audiobooks and he made it to book 8.
I figure it’d been 20 something years and I’ve read a lot of fantasy during that time, and matured a little so maybe I’d “get” the series this time. After all I have friends who’ve read it and loved it and there’s all the buzz.
Well…
I still don’t think it’s great.
So, what wrong with it?
The book moves along at a snails pace. I suppose some people would say it’s immersive. The fact that you need to know what the characters are doing every minute of every day. And when they split up into groups it takes so long to get any where in the plot because you have 3x time the amount of info to get through.
I get it they ate bread and cheese. Probably if you didn’t tell me that every day of their journey I would assume they hadn’t eaten. 🙄
It’s inconsistent. I don’t know if my massmarket paperback copy just had some problems but there are a couple of spot where the story jumps around and the story is out of order. Which makes it really weird because you are with these characters every minute of every day.
It’s over stuffed. I just found it wordy and way too long. No wonder this series takes, *lowers glasses 👓* checks notes, 20 books 😱. I feel like this is the Dostoevsky of Fantasy. Was he being paid by the page? Is that why we have to go over some information time and again? Is that why we have to have the same setup for character flaws to be displayed like 3 times for each of our main characters?
There are some bright spots though. When the action picks up it’s really good. There are sections of the book that make it hard to put down. The characters are real. For young adult characters in an adult fantasy book it doesn’t play them all off like foolish teenagers all the time. I appreciate that.
The idea of it all 💡 it fantastic. There’s mystery, adventure, danger, and a big bad guy who will really deserves the title Villain. The worldbuilding, and magic system, and history are all EPIC! And there were some really great turns of phrase, like the one below.
Bottom Line:
It was okay. Not the best fantasy book in especially terms of pacing. Yet, there is a part of me that does want to know what will happen. That wants to see where this whole “Dragon reborn” thing is going to go.
"Heroes in the stories never had to sleep in haystacks, or under hedges. But it was not easy to pretend, anymore, that he was a hero in a story, even for a little while." The Eye of The World