The Eye of the World: Book One of 'The Wheel of Time' [Paperback]

In 1990, I picked up a book by a writer named Robert Jordan, who was mainly known among fans of fantasy for the Conan novels he penned, which were among my favorites at the time. I bought it without a moment's hesitation and loved it. The Eye of the World followed the classic formula high fantasy had been treading since Tolkien wrote of hobbits leaving the Shire with Nazgul in pursuit.
Getting to the end of the book and realizing it was the first in the series was icing on the cake of a thrilling, fast paced fantasy read. I couldn't wait for what I assumed would be the conclusion, the third book in the series. After all, nearly all high fantasy before the 90's were trilogies.
Alas, Book 3 did not wrap up the story, and in a pre-Internet world, I had no way of knowing that Jordan intended for 12 books. By the time book 6 came out, I was tired of waiting for closure.
So I got stuck at book seven for several years. Last year, I began listening to Book 7, sure that I'd be using it to augment my actual reading of the book. I'm not sure I've picked up a Jordan novel since. But I am about to begin Book 11. And I'm looking forward to the posthumous collaboration of Jordan with Brandon Sanderson. So, to all those who have given up on Jordan, and wished they hadn't, or to those who are thinking about starting but have heard too many negative reviews, here's how I recommend reading Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series.
1. Understand that Jordan loves detail. He describes clothing in so much detail, that if "Wheel of Time" ever gets optioned for film or television, the costume designers will be able to go for a lot of coffee breaks. He is fond of giving elaborately detailed descriptions of every character, even minor ones.
2. The repetition of previously established plot elements in subsequent books is for people traveling on planes who pick up book 5 in the airport. It allows them to enter the world enough to get through the read. It's a device publishing companies use with bestselling series like this to ensure that the series remain a bestseller. While I have never started any series mid-way through, some people apparently do, and these passages are for them.
3. Jordan likes to weave intricate plots with a cast of characters so large it necessitates a glossary at the end of each book. Many of the books are entirely character based, and so seem to have "no action" taking place. This is because many readers want someone to storm a tower, engage in a climactic battle, or throw a ring into a fiery pit. Jordan is too busy marrying characters or introducing a new plot thread to bother with such things. And while he may not talk about a character for one book, he almost always returns to them.
4. I started thinking about "Wheel of Time" as a television series. It's long enough to sustain several seasons, and the cast is basically the OC meets LOTR. We watch TV one episode at a time. I began to view the chapters in each book as "episodes" of "Wheel of Time" as a television series, and each book as a "season." I don't like every episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and there are some seasons I like better than others. Some of my favorite episodes are in my least favorite seasons. But I love the characters, and I want to see what happens to them. I love the characters in Wheel of Time. I want to see what happens to them. So I keep "tuning in."
5. I got over the reasons I quit. Simply put, they were my reasons. I had expectations of Jordan he never intended to fulfill. I expected him to wrap it up in a trilogy. He didn't. I expected him to snap Rand out of his sullen funk. He didn't. I expected him to stop telling me about the embroidery on coats or dresses. He didn't. I expected him to bring a certain major character back from the dead. He didn't. And finally, I expected him to finish before he passed away. And he didn't.
It was that last one that really galvanized me. When I heard he had terminal cancer (many years after it was a reality), it got me thinking about the legacy the man would leave on this earth. An epic bestselling fantasy series. And I realized that, to quote Elvis and Sinatra, he'd done it his way. I might not like some of the choices Jordan made, but I love the world he created and the people walking through it. And I want to know how they fare in the end.
So that's my journey to Book 11 of "Wheel of Time" and I share it because I want new readers to know what to expect, but also to let go of those expectations, and know that the journey is worth taking. Especially if you want to be there when the final novel is released next year.
Me? I'll be starting book 1 again this fall and listening to all the previous "Seasons" of "Wheel of Time," one per month, in anticipation of the final installment. The Wheel of Time turns...and I'll be "turning pages" with it.

If you're just getting to the Wheel of Time series in the 21st-century like I am, expect to be whisked back in time. I don't mean as far back as a time where princesses lived in high towers, and mighty warriors fought for their hand, but to the 80s and 90s, when basically all fantasy fiction was a Lord of the Rings derivative. "The Eye of the World" is basically old wine in a new bottle. You have young buddies being forced out of their idyllic little country homes due to events much bigger than they (there's even a scene where the protagonist wonders at how if he makes one step more, he'll be farther from home than he's ever been -- sound familiar?), mysterious and cloaked beings chasing after them, some mountains called "Dhoom," a powerful and wise wizard, a stoic ranger-type, etc. Reading this for the first time now, when authours are rightfully making painstaking efforts to leave this Tolkien-inspired fantasy behind, and in turn all falling into a similar trap of producing the same generic brand of "dark" fantasy, "The Eye of the World" might seem a little cheesy and retro. And, well, it is, but that's not necessarily a bad thing so long as you read it within the context of the year it was released.

Robert Jordan is meticulous in his world-building. Everything possesses detail, and while it doesn't quite go to the lengths that a certain Steven Erickson goes to, it's pretty close. The only thing is, all this world-building is Tolkien-inspired, so it's not really all that original. This might not be a problem if you just want an old-fashioned high fantasy read, but I feel it will likely turn some others off from the saga.

Personally, I'm still on the fence when it comes to liking or disliking the characters. Unfortunately for Robert Jordan, all the intricate world-building and fantasy cliches in the world can't disguise unlikable characters. Without people you actually want to see succeed, or at least care for in some way, no story will hold up, least of all over a dozen novels. The protagonist, Fro-I mean Rand, is rather whiny and indecisive, and the female characters are just plain badly written. I don't know any other way to say it. Egwene behaves like a 12-year-old (though they're all supposed to be around 20, I believe), and doesn't seem as if she would be able to survive without some form of male protection. I realize leaving the Shir--Two Rivers-- has come as a shock to them, but you would think they could be a little more decisive in some of the situations they are confronted with, and just a little less . . . dumb (Mat, I'm looking at you).

I went into "The Eye of the World" sort of knowing what to expect. I knew it was a throw-back to an earlier time in the fantasy genre, and that it was heavily Tolkien inspired. In a time when every other fantasy novel is now trying to be "different" by being as generically dark and "gritty" as possible, reading a novel with an unabashedly high fantasy setting can actually be refreshing. Though this novel gave me a "been there, done that" feeling, it also made me feel at home, comfortable, like I was returning to the old countryside I stomped across as a child and was meeting an old friend. Sometimes, I suppose, it's nice to accompany a troop of inexperienced youngsters as they explore new lands and fight new monsters, even if they are a little whiny and make you want to slap them upside the head every once in awhile.

I must say that the first time I read this book I really enjoyed it, the second time I read this book I really enjoyed it, but now I'm getting to my limit I've managed to get to book six and that's where the plot really drops off, I just can't do it anymore! and I'm sick of re-reading the whole flipping series just to get a handle of all the characters and plot lines. Like I said this book was pretty good and if the series had been kept to four or five books it would probably be pretty good but, it was not to be. So to all those of you out there who haven't started for the first time yet but still want to, be prepared for a long and tedious journey... Good luck.