The Eye of the World

Mass Market Paperback, 800 pages

English language

Published Sept. 27, 1990 by T. Doherty Associates.

ISBN:: 978-0-8125-1181-9
OCLC Number:: 22671036
Goodreads:: 228665

(3 reviews)

The Eye of the World is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert Jordan, the first book of The Wheel of Time series. It was published by Tor Books and released on January 15, 1990. The unabridged audiobook is read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Upon first publication, The Eye of the World consisted of one prologue and 53 chapters, with an additional prologue authored upon re-release.

The book was a critical, and commercial success. Critics praised the tone, the themes, and the similarity to Lord of the Rings (although some criticized it for that).

On January 2, 2002, The Eye of the World was re-released as two separate books aimed at a young adult market, with larger text and a handful of illustrations. These were From the Two Rivers and To the Blight. The former included an additional prologue entitled "Ravens", focusing on Egwene al'Vere. The American Library …

The Eye of the World is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert Jordan, the first book of The Wheel of Time series. It was published by Tor Books and released on January 15, 1990. The unabridged audiobook is read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Upon first publication, The Eye of the World consisted of one prologue and 53 chapters, with an additional prologue authored upon re-release.

The book was a critical, and commercial success. Critics praised the tone, the themes, and the similarity to Lord of the Rings (although some criticized it for that).

On January 2, 2002, The Eye of the World was re-released as two separate books aimed at a young adult market, with larger text and a handful of illustrations. These were From the Two Rivers and To the Blight. The former included an additional prologue entitled "Ravens", focusing on Egwene al'Vere. The American Library Association put The Eye of the World on its 2003 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults.

12 editions

Landrin201 reviewed The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time, #1)

Long-time super fan review (no spoilers)

3 stars

I absolutely adore the Wheel of Time. It's by far my favorite series.

But, book one has some problems. Originally, I've always heard, Jordan wasn't sure if he would get to write more than 3 books with his publisher, so he structured the first 2 very differently from the others. He also hadn't fully fleshed out the world yet, so there are some inconsistencies with how magic works in this book compared to the other books. Jordan described EOTW as his homage to the Lord of the Rings, and it very much shows- if you've read LOTR, you'll see a LOT of similarities here. That is not true of the other books after this one.

The best part about this book is the story, but it has some pacing issues IMO. Jordan improved enormously as a writer in book 2, and by book 3 he had really cemented the world, …

I absolutely adore the Wheel of Time. It's by far my favorite series.

But, book one has some problems. Originally, I've always heard, Jordan wasn't sure if he would get to write more than 3 books with his publisher, so he structured the first 2 very differently from the others. He also hadn't fully fleshed out the world yet, so there are some inconsistencies with how magic works in this book compared to the other books. Jordan described EOTW as his homage to the Lord of the Rings, and it very much shows- if you've read LOTR, you'll see a LOT of similarities here. That is not true of the other books after this one.

The best part about this book is the story, but it has some pacing issues IMO. Jordan improved enormously as a writer in book 2, and by book 3 he had really cemented the world, his style, and the characters. The start may be a bit rocky, but it gets so much better!

Michael D. Ivey

rated it

Sept. 3, 2019

Tomasino

rated it

Jan. 1, 1999

Subjects

Fantasy .
American Fantasy
Rand al'Thor (Fictitious character)
al'Thor Rand (Fictitious character)
Good and evil
Monsters
Fiction