The Eye of the World
If you are like many epic fantasy readers (including me!), you started your journey with Tolkien’s influential works. For decades, other authors struggled to break through in the fantasy world–until Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series came onto the scene and reshaped the fantasy landscape. How did he manage to pull off such a feat? What made his world compelling enough to draw Tolkien fans while creating something entirely new?
Originally, I started reading The Eye of the World around seven years ago when my wife suggested it to me (after her master’s thesis advisor suggested it to her). I read through it and the following thirteen books over the following ten months. I am super grateful for that recommendation because I got to experience this expansive series and also discovered Brandon Sanderson from it (he finished the last few books after Jordan’s death).
Now, I am reading through the whole series again to refresh my memory as the Amazon Prime television series is being developed. I read the first three before the release of the first season of the television series, and I am planning to read the remaining books in the series through the next year or so–naturally balancing the rereads against my lengthy to-be-read list.
The Eye of the World is the first book in The Wheel of Time. It was written by Robert Jordan who was primarily known for his sword & sorcery novels prior to this release (author’s website and Amazon profile with his other books). The Eye of the World is a bit lengthy with 800 pages in the mass market paperback version. It was first released on November 15, 1990.
This review is going to be quite lengthy. Read on for a detailed breakdown, or click here to jump to the conclusion.
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.
Plot
At first glance, the plot of The Eye of the World is one of the most generic possible plots (trust me: you will see tons of Tolkien parallels). Substitute in an overview of The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars: A New Hope, or Eragon, and you will come really close to the plot overview of The Eye of the World. A farmboy/commoner is destined to be the chosen one to fight against the evil sorcerer who is dominating the world. A wise wizard teaches the chosen one about the world and starts them off on a journey towards the final showdown. However, this superficially-generic plot was intentional on Jordan’s part, and you will start to see how he uses this book to set up major deviations from the formula later in the series.
In The Eye of the World, the action is centered around five villagers from a backwater region that are suddenly thrown into major world events. Moiraine, a traveling Aes Sedai (female wielder of the “One Power”, the series’ magic system), and her Warder Lan visit Emond’s Field in the Two Rivers region where she discovers three ta’averen (people around whom the pattern of time is warped). Any one of these three farmboys (Rand, Mat, and Perrin) could be the prophesied “Dragon Reborn” (I will keep the identity of the Dragon Reborn secret for now since the book and show both keep it a bit of a mystery).
The plot moves along slowly as characters and concepts are introduced, but the pace picks up when some of the Trollocs and Myrddraal that compose the Dark One’s Shadowspawn army attack the peaceful village. After the attack, Moiraine spirits off the three boys (along with the innkeeper’s daughter, Egwene, and later the village’s Wisdom, Nynaeve). At first, the purpose of this excursion is unclear, but it soon becomes obvious that the five villagers are heading towards the Eye of the World with Lan and Moiraine for an old-fashioned good vs. evil showdown.
It is at this point that we start to see some deviations from the general fantasy formula. Rather than just going along with things and jumping immediately at Moiraine’s beck and call, the villagers push back and have to be convinced to go. Jordan makes this “reluctant hero” model one of the core pieces differentiating his characters from most naive fantasy characters.
Overall, the plot moves along at a good clip and follows the general “quest” motif. The characters are seeing new locations, meeting new cultures, and encountering new dangers often enough to keep things interesting. The one time when the plot does start to drag is when Mat and Rand are traveling by themselves, but even that has a planned purpose when viewed in retrospect.
If you enjoy standard fantasy quests, you will find little in the plot to complain about. The only major negative is the ending. In both of my readings of the book, I have felt that the end is a little rushed and confusing. Jordan spent plenty of time earlier in the book moving slowly and letting things develop, but the end has a massive confrontation that takes place over only a couple pages. I think the ending would have been appropriate for a 300-page book, not an 800-page book. I finished the book feeling almost a little whiplashed.
Worldbuilding/Series Connection
Like the plot, the setting of The Eye of the World seems to be quite generic at first glance. There are idyllic villages, grand cities, renowned kings and queens, an association of magic users, and a dark lord ready to destroy it all. However, like the plot, the worldbuilding lays the stage for future expansion. One of the ways that Jordan drives his world’s development is through constant references to the past ages. As you read through the book, you see more and more of the ways the current version of the world is shaped by past events. The world feels old without feeling forced like some artificial histories. I especially enjoyed how Jordan managed to leave hints at past events (thus laying the groundwork for future explanations) without being entirely cryptic. I never felt like I was missing necessary knowledge, yet I still was intrigued to find out more about what I did not yet know. One unique aspect of Jordan’s worldbuilding in this series is the explanation of the past as being technologically advanced. On my first read-through, I did not notice it quite as much, but I saw lots of little hints this time around. Jordan leaves so many hints and promises in this book that will be fulfilled later in the series. These little hints set up the world to accommodate a pivot away from old fantasy tropes in future books. Another unique aspect that drives the entire plot is his magic system. The magic is split along gender lines with a “taint” on the male half of the One Power that threatens male channelers (the term for magic users) with madness. That magic system is one of the things that hints that Jordan plans to move his story past being simply another Tolkien clone. With the worldbuilding, I have no complaints at all. Jordan does an excellent job creating a world with a deep past and intriguing magic. This world is interesting and varied enough to give plenty to explore in the next thirteen books.Characters
The character work in The Eye of the World (and The Wheel of Time more generally) is what usually divides readers. Some see Jordan juggling a massive cast while still giving fulfilling arcs to all major characters. Others see Jordan as being over-reliant on tropes and archetypes (especially for his female characters). In general, I like the character development while still acknowledging that some characters feel like cardboard cutouts or duplicates of other characters that we already read about earlier in the series.
The five main villagers from Emond’s Field (Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and Nynaeve) all have solid character arcs that start with them being wide-eyed village kids and end with them solidly on paths where they are growing into the roles they fill later in the series.
The one main criticism of the development of the Emond’s Fielders is that Mat is a bit underdeveloped (and stays that way for a couple books). I would have said that Jordan had an unclear vision for where he wanted to take Mat except for the fact that Mat has some important character events that occur fairly early in The Eye of the World. Really, all of the characters have shaping events that occur. With this being my second read-through, I can see clearly the promises that are made in this book that gradually get fulfilled through the remainder of the series.
As for Moiraine, Lan, and the many side characters, I will just say that they are also well-characterized (this review is already stretching quite long!). Moiraine and Lan are (appropriately) a bit cryptic in this early book; however, hindsight tells me that this is a good choice. The side characters are well-written too. Likely, you will come to count some of them as your favorite characters in the series. I doubt the series would be as rich if such great characters as Tam Al’Thor and Bayle Domon were excluded or were written without as much personality and verve.
Prose
In short, the prose is beautiful. Honestly, I could just leave it there.
To get into it a little more: Jordan brings his world to life with ample descriptions. It is difficult to read his work without coming away with a solid understanding of what people, things, and locations look like. One of the main critiques of The Wheel of Time is how overly wordy Jordan can be at times, but he does not start to go too far until later in the series. At this point, his descriptions are full without being overly self-indulgent.
Another critique some people put forward is the way that some of his characters speak; specifically, those readers see the Emond’s Fielders as being a bit childish. What they forget is that they are teenagers at this point, and they have never traveled outside of their hometown. I think the tone and the characters match. The inexperienced travelers sound inexperienced and naive. The world-weary Moiraine sounds weary yet wise. Jordan matches the tone of his prose well to the quirks of his characters.
Oh, and who could forget the iconic way in which the books start. The first chapters (after the prologues) each start with some variation of the quote at the top of this review. I remember that quote drawing me in immediately when I first read this book. What a crazy high standard to set for a book-opener.
Conclusion
In The Eye of the World, Jordan masterfully draws on the legacy of Tolkien and the fantasy that was written in the 35 years after the release of The Lord of the Rings. He made a Tolkien clone with solid plotting, exceptional worldbuilding, great character work, and clear prose. Yet he made more than a Tolkien clone; he created a world and a series that were destined to move the fantasy genre from its classic fantasy roots into the modern fantasy being created today. This book absolutely deserves its iconic status, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.You should read this if …
- You have read Tolkien and want another epic fantasy world to get lost in
- You enjoy modern fantasy and want to see more of the roots of the genre
- You like stories with large casts of characters and deep worldbuilding
- You enjoy a great quest tale
