The Eye of the World: Book One of The Wheel of Time

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 Ri...more 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've always wanted to read this series but have been putting it off for a very long time it feels. Part of it is I like to read books in one go. This book series is known to be very long at times for longer than average at least. But I enjoy such works and have wanted to have a block of time to truly enjoy it. Recently I begin truck driving again and decided that since I've already purchased The E books I might as well listen to it as well. The audible version is voice by 2 great voice actors who I recognized from Brandon Sanderson's series The Way of Kings. He was introduced to them when he finished up the last 2 books of this Epic fantasy series because of the passing of Robert Jordan. One thing I am grateful for is that Robert Jordan Knew he was not going to be alive perhaps to finish the series so he planned it out in such a way that his vision of the story would be complete nonetheless. The 1st book, like the entire series, is told from a third-person point of view. Here in book 1 the cast of characters is relatively small, but the story is expensive though out and exciting. I know later on in the series that many characters are introduced But you're given time with each book to get to know the characters and become familiar with them as the story grows. Or at least that is the feel of it here. There are many plotlines in which you are never quite sure exactly what the full truth of the situation is. I cannot wait to see what book 2 has in store. For this, there is plenty of action exciting, and scary moments for the characters, as well as some bittersweet romance at times. It has humor and even some uncomfortable moments as you get to know characters and care for them And have to worry about whether or not they can make it or stay true to themselves. The language is clean,with made up in world curse words or phrases that add instead of subtract. Overall I think young adults and above can easily read it as well as preteens But there are some scary moments that may be too much for children. Overall this series has been known by meaning and I've delayed for far too long to read it. At least with my job truck driving at the moment, I will be able to listen to it as the miles go by. With the tremendous voice acting, I cannot deny that there were times in which I felt chills As the story progressed.(Edit, A few months have passed, and am I deep in the series. If it was not for the job i have i would have burned through it already. As is I am more than half through with a covid vacation ahead of me so plenty of time to read. I want to say that the series has remained strong to a point but does suffer from too many characters. In the early books, the author moves the focus away from some characters while majors changes happen to them and in them. When we next meet up with the character pov he does not feel like that same character at all. Truthfully what I mean to say is that this fantasy series if fun and interesting but it is not the typical hero's journeys story. We keep the same characters with some good additions and get to vast story that is caste throughout the land. In a Space opera, we see a story cast through worlds, in then it is a Epic Fantasy Opra set in one vast world with unique kingdoms, cities, and histories. There is a lot but it is worth for the diligent reader. )

Great Author!

O livro veio em ótimas condições. Esta sendo uma leitura extremamente agradável. É um livro que começa lento, mas acredito que isso seja feito pra que você possa ser embalado pela história e se ver apaixonado pelo lore do mundo quando menos espera!

La edición es magnífica, buen papel, tamaño de letra e ilustraciones.

Molto bello e molto classico. L'edizione di Tor Books è migliore di quella italiana e non costa un occhio. In attesa della serie tv Amazon, è stata una bella scoperta. Ci si affeziona subito ai personaggi e il mondo costruito è vastissimo. Per gli appassionati di fantasy, una lettura imprescindibile

Wow....i've been reading wheel of time for 3 months.right now at this moment i am reading Towers of Midnight,the 13th book.It breaks my heart to realize that there is only one book left,for, i feel like i am attatched to its world.i love the characters so much that some of them made me cry.The characters are described in so much depth,we are shown the complexity of every decision they make.All the books in the series are amazing,but they do have some boring chapters in every one of them but book 2 to 7 and 11 to 13(but i am sure 14 is gonna be like the best) are amazing.I will recommend the wheel of time to everone who can go through 14 giants of a book.This is one of my favourite fantasy series...under the light,it is trueEdit:some of the other reviews are stupid,yes jordon describes cities,buildings,dresses and even food a tad bit too much..but that is what i like him for and the boring chapters are present in almost every book i've read but get through them and you've found yourself a friend for a lifetime