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Monday, March 12, 2012

Book Review: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

I know, I'm an epic fantasy author who, until now, has never read The Wheel of Time. I'm a menace to the world of fantasy fiction. I just hate the idea of committing to a series, especially one that is 15 books long (that's how many it will be once Sanderson finishes it, right? Ugh.)

But, I finished The Eye of the World last night (being Saturday, because I'm writing this on Sunday), and I'm very upset today. Not because the book was bad, but because I don't have the second one and I'm going NUTS RIGHT NOW.*

Every waking minute of spare time I've had over the last three days has been dedicated to reading this book. It kills me to put it down. I'm completely fan-girl-obsessed with Lan, too. So much for reading those other books in the queue, eh? I have a feeling I'll be spending my entire spring/summer cranking through this series, and then sit on Brandon Sanderson's doorstep for the last book with everybody else.

The Wheel of Time is like heroin. Sweet, addictive heroin. Now I have to buy WoT T-shirts or my life will never be fulfilled.

Anyway, onto the book. Robert Jordan writes AMAZING characters. I absolutely adore his protagonist, Rand, and I have yet to actually hate anyone (Mat was pushing it, but he had reasons. Which you all probably know already because I think everyone in the world has read this book but me).

The plot of this book? Travelling. Traveling from a small town to a bigger city. That's it. But it's amazing. Our farming, Aes Sedai, and Warder friends have run-in after run-in with darkfriends along the way, and Jordan even humored me by sprinkling on some romantic tension here and there. The magic isn't entirely explained, but I'm all right with that. All three of our viewpoint characters don't really get it, either.

Jordan's writing is exquisite (even if he breaks viewpoint now and then). I never got bored with this book, though in the more intense scenes I did skip a paragraph or two to get to the meat.

Definitely five out of five stars on this one! Onto The Great Hunt!


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*I have since obtained the second book and am mentally satiated.



11 comments:

  1. Mat is by far the funnest character of the series. And I think book 2 is probably the best one. Can't wait to hear how sick of women tugging on their braids you'll get.

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  2. Heroine? Or...heroin? *amuused*

    I loved book one. I'd be interested to hear if you still like the series around book six or so. Every female I know drops the series around book six for reasons...that, well, I'll tell you after you get there and see what you think.

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    1. My sister's favorite is 7, so I want to make it to there, at least! And the fact that I can't spell "heroin" is a good thing, right? Means I don't do it... ;)

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  3. I haven't read The Wheel of Time either. Now I am considering picking up book 1 at the library...

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  4. Eye of the World was good. The Great Hunt? That one I LOVED! To this day I've never had an image burned into my imagination like the one Jordan burned into mine with The Great Hunt. Several that followed were excellent as well. Robert Jordan was a tremendous talent, a bit wordy at times, but he knew how to tell a story. I wish I could relive the discovery of it all again with you.

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  5. I never read a WOT book. And my writing group thinks I'm uber lame for that. I promise to get to it.

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  6. Lord of Chaos (book 6) was my personal favorite. Mat is easily the coolest character. You will not believe how antsy and angry you'll get in the later books when mat is nowhere to be seen for entire books at a time.

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    1. I was always happy when Perrin didn't show up for books at a time.

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  7. Welcome to the Dark Side. I used to have two T-shirts that read "Dance Sa'Sara" and "Unleash the Domani in You".

    I'll have to dig up the "Wheel of Time" condensed versions for you, as you read them. Absolutely hilarious.

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  8. And this is one female who made it past book 6 and beyond. Can't recall anything that would have made me want to put it down. True, I wasn't completely thrilled (just mostly thrilled) with Gathering Storm, but that was just Sanderson getting into the groove of things. I think he had it pretty well nailed down by Towers of Midnight.

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  9. Well, hopefully the withdrawals don't become worst for The Great Hunt. I don't think anything would survive that warpath.

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