There are several problems I tend to find when it comes to fantasy and sci-fi writers: they're too similar to the Lord of the Rings (or Star Wars), they're so childishly written as if they were penned by an eight-year old boy and they're overtly sexist. This novel, unfortunately, falls into all three categories. And the thing is, once you, as the reader, recognize these issues early in the book, you then can't stop seeing them the rest of the way through, essentially ruining the whole reading experience. I really don't see any reason to continue and waste my time with this Proust of a series. ( )

I'm certainly late to the party on this one. This book sat on my shelf unread for over two decades before I finally cracked the cover and it was already old and well beloved by the time I purchased a copy. Now that I've finally dipped my tip into the monumental work that is Jordan's Wheel of Time series, I can understand the appeal.

The prologue quickly set up some tension and intriguing insights into the overarching storyline and mythos. It also left the reader with plenty of questions, just the thing to keep pages turning.

The book does a great job of introducing us to a wealth of characters, locations and stories. I was pleased that most of the characters quickly felt distinct with their own characteristics and voice. Their actions and reactions felt fairly believable given the circumstances and the nature of each character. We didn't get a ton of depth into the characters from the prologue but moving into the first chapter, the author methodically puts characters into our path and drops details to us in a slow but increasingly steady pace.

The worldbuilding was also interesting. The physical structure of the world felt familiar enough as it stretched across the landscape similar to many other fantasy books. The social structure and nature of magic and religion was quickly identified as something unique to this world and something to keep an eye on. The first few chapters also quickly identified the mystical threats lurking on the fringes of the page, ready to send the characters and the plot into action. As the plot revealed itself, it also felt familiar enough to be a comfortable Hero's Journey tale while also being unique enough to be compelling.

As our band of heroes set off on their adventure, I was excited to discover each obstacle and misadventure they were sure to encounter. Naturally each step of their journey allowed for moments of exposition to allow the reader more insight into the backstory of the world and the motivations of each character. Without going into spoilers, I did enjoy the mystery surrounding our heroes and their own particular relevance to the plot and it was fun to see different revelations slowly unfold.

My main gripe with the book was that the story, plot and pacing sometimes felt muddied by the writing and structure. I wholeheartedly appreciated the wonderful details peppered throughout the pages to enhance the plot and provide suspense and intrigue but there were other chunks of text that felt descriptive and wordy merely to take up space. It felt like foreshadowing of problems I had heard from people who say the series had moments where it really bogged down and lost momentum. Even from this single book I felt that there was a fair amount of content that could have been trimmed in order to streamline the pacing and flow of the story.

Still, The Eye of the World sets up what is sure to be a sprawling, epic adventure. I am not yet wholly invested in the characters and the plot but I am entertained enough that I will likely seek out the second book at some point. I don't yet feel like I can invest to read the entire massive series but I'm willing to try out the next one and see if it hooks me enough to want to continue on.

***
3 out of 5 stars ( )

This is the first novel in the The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. It is a fantasy novel centered around several main characters that is a good against evil tale. Emond's Field is a small village that does not attract too much attention in the kingdom as it mainly consists of farmers. One night, though, it is invaded by Trollocs, monsters that are bred to be an evil fighting force. There to help the village is a woman who wields a lot of power, a so-called Aes Sedai by the name of Moraine. Together with her Warder Lan, she helps keep the evil forces at bay and prevent total destruction of the town. This begs the questions: Why do evil forces invade such a small and apparently insignificant village? And why does a sorceress come to their help? It is soon revealed that some of the villagers seem to have a special role in the fight against the evil force, the Dark One. Matrim or Mat Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, Rand al'Thor, Egwene al'Vere and Nynaeve al'Meara leave the village with the Aes Sedai to start their quest of fighting against the evil forces. The first novel in the series follows the group along their way through the kingdom and relates the challenges they have to face and the obstacles they have to overcome.

At first, I found the story a bit hard to get into as I had to familiarize myself with all the different characters and the lingo that is special to the Wheel of Time universe (there is a glossary, though). Once I got into the story, it kept me reading and wanting to learn more, both about the characters and about the fight of good versus evil. There is a lot of background that is slowly revealed and at points the motives of the different characters are questioned. I will definitely continue with the series and would recommend it to readers of fantasy fiction. It is no Lord of the Rings (yet?), but it is highly enjoyable. 4 stars. ( )

Fantasy

An OK book that I got bored with half-way through. I am enjoying it on Prime though. ( )