Quality through and through (The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan)

Member Name: richpeachey

Product:	The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
Date:	11/07/01 (160 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic story, Major following worldwide, Extensive online resources

Disadvantages: Long series follows

A masterful book, that is written with great care and attention to detail. Beware if you dislike epics that have no end in sight, the Wheel of Time Series tally stands at 9 books and counting, all approximately the same size as Lord of the Rings.

Jordan's writing style is long winded almost to the extreme and it can be frustrating when he describes everything in the minutest detail. Once you are used to it however, you can relax inside his world and appreciate his biggest strength, his story telling ability. It may be the basic requirement for a fantasy writer, but Jordan is one of the best in the business. In The Wheel of Time series he has written a fast paced adventure that encompasses virtually every legend and myth ever created and in his own words: `reverse engineered` them.

Three young men, Rand, Mat and Perrin, living in a sleepy village suddenly find their whole lives upside down. For some reason the forces of the Dark One are after them and they must race to Tar Valon where perhaps they may find safety and answers. Accompanying them in their journey are a mysterious Aes Sedai who can protect them by channeling the one power, her Warder Lan, Egwene (Rand's love interest) and a strange entertainer, Thom.

There are some downsides however. RJ doesn't appear to be totally original, re-reading The Lord of the Rings recently I found many familiar characters and settings. Ents are very much like Ogiers (don't be hasty), Gollum and Wormtongue are joined one character -Padan Fain and the Ways look suspiciously like the mines of Moria.

This may be deliberate however, Jordan has admitted that he wrote the first hundred pages in the style of LotR in order to keep the reader interested, the introduction of familiar characters could be another way of maintaining attention.

There is a massive following of the Wheel of Time series on the internet, if you ever mis-understand something there are huge resources to
help you.

Even if you don't fancy swallowing the whole series, this is a very satisfying read, it took RJ many years to write, unlike its sequels and it does show.

Prepare to be engulfed. If you are, resign yourself to long enjoyable nights ahead, I showed it to my girlfriend and she has just finished the ninth book 8 months later.

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