The Eye of the World: Book One of The Wheel of Time (Wheel of Time, 1) Mass Market Paperback – October 29, 2019

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.

The most common criticism of the Wheel of Time is that it's a Tolkien rip-off, and I'm always amazed when I read these criticisms that they're delivered as though the reviewer is clever for discovering the influence. Undoubtedly the first half of the Wheel of Time book 1 is not shy about following the plot line along with the plot elements put forth first by Tolkien (or - popularized in the fantasy genre by Tolkien more accurately). Almost to the point where you could question if Robert Jordan doesn't envision this as another third age in Tolkien's universe set a few hundred turnings down the wheel. The Two Rivers is a secluded part of the world with people who never leave that backs up to the 'Mountains of the Mist' (as opposed to the Misty Mountains'). There's a Dark One who is returning in strength, and Trollocs seem an awful lot like reskinned Orcs and Myrdraal are the next level black cloaked villains who even ride black horses.However by 3/4s of the way through the book I have a hard time seeing how anyone could seriously be contending that what they're reading is a Lord of the Rings rip off, other than that they're proud of themselves for seeing the parallels early on and trying to hold onto that feeling by the time they can get to the end so that they can write a review that shows how they were correct to write it off from the beginning. Where parallels can still be made and levied as criticism by late book I end up wondering why this person is reading a fantasy series if they don't like fantasy, at least in most cases.In fiction you look to like the characters or to believe the characters. You look the like the world, or believe the world. You want to keep asking questions and to sometimes already be able to find the answers, because the author has already put the answers in the text, or you are able to believe that such answers exist. If your mind is pre-disposed to be captured by the fantastic, your mind enjoys the task of making other-worldly elements real, you may end up enjoying less grounded novels like this one.This is why I would recommend WoT, and the EotW to anyone that enjoys the fantasy genre in general, because it is a thoughtful book. The character interactions and the plot proceed out of the mind of someone who is considering the questions that might arise. What the personalities of the people in the story are, what the motivations are, what their capabilities are, what the world they're living in is like, and once something is established what affect that has on everything around it. I suppose you might call this tightly constructed. To me this is what obliterates shallow comparisons to Tolkien, because I don't understand how something can be so well thought out, but yet so derivative as to not be worth reading.It's hardly perfect, fans will try to defend some inconsistencies in Book 1 that don't mesh so well with the other books, particularly 3 onwards, but really there's nothing to defend, particularly with the climax for which I think the answers present in tEotW are not the same as those in the later series. Jordan's presentation of women (which includes them in contrast to men) is admirable in the fundamentals but sometimes goes to far with what he's told himself about how such and such acts as a woman. Such things are more present in later books though. Here Moiraine is almost too perfect (but my favorite character in book 1 for it), Egwene is a girl out for adventure and committed to her own life (a career-oriented woman you might say), and Nynaeve is the one that stands out and we have to question whether she's crossing the line from character into un-realistic. I think she stays in the former. Either way, Robert Jordan takes on the task of portraying women as women, which many male writers avoid altogether, either by avoiding including them almost entirely (Tolkien - the first woman I can think of is Goldberry, Tom Bombadil's wife, who is essentially a housewife...despite being, in my opinion, the Valar Yavanna, with Tom being Aule), or by making them Mary-Sues, or by relegating them to the love interest that follows the hero around making him feel judged constantly until he can live up to his potential which also results in the two formalizing their relationship.I would say pick up this book, but it may not be for everyone. You have to be someone who is satisfied that a sheepherder and a farmer going from being unable to take care of themselves outside of the structure they grew up in, in any way, to being able to play the flute and juggle at an inn for their meals and board is a large amount of character development.

If you have never read this series. Start now. I was replacing a worn out copy. TV series is not really a good example of this book.

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.

Man braucht etwas Geduld, um reinzukommen, denn die Welt ist riesig und komplex. Aber es fesselt genauso wie Herr der Ringe.

Bel fantasy, scritto molto bene. Forse un pò prolisso nelle descrizioni ma ne vale la pena.