Review: The Eye of the World
January 31st, 2010 § 6 Comments
by Robert Jordan
Book #1 of The Wheel of Time
Published by Tor Fantasy
Nov. 1990
814 pages
finished: 01.31.10
my rating: 9/10
i apologize in advance for the length of my review, but given the length of the book, it is warranted. and besides that, this reading was for a challenge, so i think i took on a much more scholarly approach to the write up.
i picked this book up without having ever heard of it, which i guess makes me a bad bookish person. next to J.R.R. Tolkien, these are apparently THE books to read if you are a fan of fantasy, which, to my defense, i am generally not. i have read The Lord of the Rings trilogy (good stuff) and the first two books of the Eragon series (not so good), but that’s about it. so, i guess my point is, i’m not well versed in this genre and probably never will be. regardless, i eagerly joined into a 2010 challenge hosted by Book Love Affair to read the entire series at the rate of one book per month. given that the books are pretty epic in size and in scope, it is a challenge in every sense of the word. but, if The Eye of the World is any indication of what is to come, i’m sure that i won’t be disappointed.
the storyline is very Tolkien-esque, about a quaint farming town which is disrupted by something unknown, but very Dark. this brings together the cast and leads them on a cross country journey to, you guessed it, The Eye of the World.
the writing style is exquisitely clean and straight forward, with no frills, and it suits the story just right. jordan is able to elaborately and adequately describe a situation, scene, or person without becoming overzealous with his words. he is clearly a master of the written word and it is a real pleasure to read. in this aspect of the writing, i dare say that i prefer jordan to tolkien. every scene just has a zest to it that leaves you breathless.
The mare ran, and the other was more than happy to follow. Anywhere, so long as they could escape the fire from the sky that killed the night.
if you love character development, then this is a book that you will just eat up. the characters, despite being overwhelming in number, are genuine and well developed, and wow, can jordan develop a female protagonist?!? before i get to that, let me start with the men, though. jordan constructs strong men, but according to lore, men of this world were at fault for the original sin and therefore, unlike the most powerful women, are unable to touch the One True Source for power. from the strong-willed (i.e. stubborn) farming community women, to the magical Aes Sedai, the women bring a wonderful balance to the story in a way i’ve never seen. and, regardless of their sex/roles, all of the characters are masterfully woven into the story, making the reading a real delight.
in particular, i loved the character development of Perrin, and Rand to a lesser degree. Perrin’s stint with the wolf-man and his self-discovery was probably my favorite segment of the book altogether. of the women, i’m particularly drawn to Moiraine, not just for her power, but for her often subdued character and immense strength of will. i can tell that Nynaeve will grow into a character that i’m going to really enjoy. Lan, in one of the most unexpected and revealing scenes in the book, says this of her:
You are a remarkable woman, as beautiful as the sunrise, as fierce as a warrior. You are a lioness, Wisdom.
although there is some immaturity in the characters, specifically Mat and Egwene, i think that this will make for some excellent opportunities for character development and maturity in the subsequent books. i’m really looking forward to it.
even some of the less mentioned characters had me wrapped around their fingers, notably Tam, Rand’s father (maybe) and Elayne, the would-be Queen, who i’m guessing makes a more prominent appearance in later books, though i could be wrong (just a hunch). the scene where Rand falls into the Royal Garden and meets Elayne is one of the most memorable, for me, though i can’t really pinpoint why. i could go on and on about the characters, because there were so many and they were so great, but i’ll leave it at that.
in addition to the richness that is presented in the characters, there is a deeply rooted philosophical framework to the entire world that jordan has built. “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills” is frequently stated, formed to depict the intricate Pattern that has brought the characters together and the story to life. the Pattern of Ages and the lacing of the threads speak of fate and the ever changing intricacies of the World, something that we can all probably relate to on some level. the other philosophical theme that was present was that of the Flame and the Void, which Rand frequently returns to for self-preservation.
Concentrate on a single flame and feed all your passions into it – fear, hate, anger – until your mind became empty. Become one with the void and you could do anything.
one thing that i absolutely loved about the book was the foreshadowing. jordan obviously knew what he was doing far in advance for, i’m guessing, the entire series. there are so many moments when something happens or someone says something that just screams important, but all i could do was tuck it away in a safe place in my brain to remember for later, which of course i couldn’t keep up because it happened so often. i found myself flipping pages like a madwoman sometimes, searching for a phrase or a name that had been idly dropped hundreds of pages earlier that now fit into the puzzle. the most obvious of these was Min’s predictions early in the groups travels. there were so many little things that i’m sure a re-read of these books would be well worth the effort (maybe a 2011 book challenge?).
despite the length (about 700 pages), i never found myself bored with the story, although it did take about 70-80 pages for the storyline to develop to any real plot changers. if you tried and gave up in the first 50 pages, try again! it is very much worth the wait and i would highly recommend it to anyone.
I love some of the quotes you’ve chosen! Particularly Lan calling Nynaeve a lioness. :3
i definitely hung on that line for half a breath before i moved on. it was so telling, particularly since it was probably the most we heard Lan speak in the entirety of the book.
i’m so glad you are holding this challenge!
Glad you enjoyed it! I am too, so I hope to get to read the rest. My only regret is that I didn’t discover these sooner. Still they’re available to read and that’s gotta be good!
Sassy
if you haven’t already, you should come join the challenge over at Book Love Affair. there are some really great discussions going on about each of the books!
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