Product Description

Life in Emond's Field has been pretty boring for Rand Al'Thor and his friends until a strange young woman arrives in their village. Moraine is an Aes Sedai, a magician with the ability to wield the One Power, and she brings warnings of a terrible evil awakening in the world. That very night, the village is attacked by bloodthirsty Trollocs - a fearsome tribe of beast-men thought to be no more than myth. As Emond's Field burns, Moraine and her warrior-guardian help Rand and his companions to escape. But it is only the beginning of their troubles. For Moraine believes Rand Al'Thor is the Dragon Reborn, and that he is fated to unite the world against the rising darkness and lead the fight against a being so powerful and evil it is known simply as the Dark One. Part One of the opening volume to Robert Jordan's classic Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World continues with TO THE BLIGHT, also available in March 2003.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1322 in Books
• Published on: 1992-07-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 832 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Eye of the World and its sequels in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series show the extent to which one can go with a traditional fantasy framework, with added gusto. Stock elements are abound: a reluctant hero--in fact five humble village folk--plucked from wholesome obscurity to fight dark powers; an eternal evil enemy who can be defeated but not destroyed, until the end of the world, which is fast approaching; a mysterious sisterhood with vast powers and who love to manipulate thrones and kingdoms from the shadows (think of the Bene Gesserit of the Dune series); a ferocious battle-hardened warrior race (echoes of the Fremen of Dune, or the Haruchai of the Thomas Covenant novels).

Jordan didn't become a bestselling author merely by mixing up traditional ingredients; a master storyteller, he ingeniously gives unusual twists to these conventional fantasy elements. He also excels in the descriptive and narrative skills needed to create a detailed and coherent imaginary world. The many lands he portrays are vast in scope and contain amazingly varied countries and peoples, while retaining the inner coherence needed to make them satisfying places for a fantasy fan to roam around in. However, Jordan's writing never attains the subtlety or sophistication of, say, George RR Martin and there are some annoying stylistic tics: he seems unable to introduce a female character without commenting on her neckline and thereafter has them forever smoothing their dresses.

To his publisher's credit, Jordan's books are fortunate among fantasy novels in not having covers that look like an explosion of a teenager's bedroom. The absence of such lurid artwork is, perhaps, part of their appeal. --David Pickering

Review
'On very rare occasions, very talented storytellers create worlds that are beyond fantasy; worlds that become realities. Robert Jordan has' - MORGAN LLYWELYN 'Epic in every sense' THE TIMES '[With} The Wheel of Time, Jordan has come to dominate the world Tolkien began to reveal' THE NEW YORK TIMES

THE TIMES
'Epic in every sense'

Customer Reviews

Oh no, another addiction....
Wow. I read this book six months ago and can still tell you exactly what happened, but I won't, because I want everybody to read the books. The wheel of time is surely THE MOST addictive series of books ever. I read Eye of the World in five days and went straight out to buy the next one, and straight out to buy the one after that, and so on. Yes, it's a little slow to start, but the minute Winternight gets going you can't stop. Ever.

Sub-plots galore, love and hate relationships, twists and subtle hints as to what the horrifying ending is all make this book possibly the beginning of the best series I will ever read. People say the later books are more boring and too long, but THIS IS NOT TRUE. Robert Jordan has an amazing talent for story-telling, and I recommend him to everybody.

I must also say that his characters are perfectly developed so that you know precisely who they are and what they would feel and think. By book 9 you will know and love our main characters, and don't start book 1 without thinking you won't finish, because you will be hooked. Enjoy, everybody, you will not find better.

the best of the series
Arguably the best (I certainly think so) of Robert Jordan's novels. This is why we all appreciate Jordan's writing. It is undoubtedly one of the best novel since J.R. Tolkein and far outstrips and out paces all other contemporary fantasy novelist. Eye Of The World is what made us jump (more like grabbed and pulled in) headlong into a world that seems so real that we can picture the world in our imagination in detail, really few authors can simulate this kind of realism.It has all the perfect magical ingredients a fantasy book needs to make it successfull and thoroughly engaging. It has the traditional fantasy plot, good Vs evil, light and dark. It may not be unique but Jordan expands on this,and adds his own touch and detail to it. But the main thing (and what sets Jordan apart) is the sense of epic ness, the grand adventure it inspires to his readers.The depth and realism of the characters are outstanding. Each character is written in precise detail and Jordan adds a bit of mystery into them (a ploy which Jordan intelligently uses to keep us absorbed, wondering what the character will reveal next).The pace and action is all there ( EoTW has more action than the last two novel, PoD and WH combined). From the start to finish it is all action and adventure with the perfect amount of intrigue, magic and unsolved mystery to it.

Great start to the series!
This book (and the whole series) was recommended to me by a friend at work, following a discussion about how good Lord of the Rings was - he said that Robert Jordan's series was better than Tolkien, so I decided to find out for myself.

I loved this book!!

So much so that before I was even halfway through Eye of the World I had already ordered books 2-9, so that I can get up to date with the events in the series. I'm not going to say whether or not it's better/worse than Lord of the Rings in my opinion, because I don't want to think about that - both are fantastic works of fiction, and I enjoyed them both so much that I don't want to demean one by classing it as inferior to the other.

The storyline of EotW is a new version of the classic 'Quest' storyline, covering the journey of a group of friends, and focusing on one in particular who is destined to be something very special (although saying that, the supporting cast is great, particularly the Warder; Lan, the blacksmith's apprentice; Perrin, and Thom the gleeman).

What makes this unique (in my eyes) is the characterisation and pure readability of the book. Considering this book introduces an entirely new world with background and people, it's very easy to read (perhaps more so than LotR was the first time).

Looking at the series as a whole is quite daunting really (thousands of pages), but if every volume is as enjoyable as this was, I'll get many weeks of pleasure going through them.

If you like to read epic stories that you can really get into, I definitely recommend this. Chance are you'll get as hooked as I've become!!!