The Eye of the World
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-04 08:54:04
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Robert Jordan
- ISBN：0312850093
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Reviews
Flora Soule
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My husband has been trying to get me to read this series for years。 Since the show is coming out in a couple months I figured it was finally time。 This is a nice clean high fantasy with major Tolkien vibes。 I felt like the middle dragged a bit and the ending was too rushed and got a little confusing。 Over all I really enjoyed this world and can’t wait for the show。
Jeff Millard
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Audiobook。 I put off reading this for a long time based on the length of the series but now have the time to dig into it。 And truly wow！ I now understand the hype。 A spectacular fantasy world that even though it follows the typical fantasy tropes， is refreshingly unique in it's approach。 It can be dry and dense at times but overall a superb read！ Can't wait to read the rest of the series！ Audiobook。 I put off reading this for a long time based on the length of the series but now have the time to dig into it。 And truly wow！ I now understand the hype。 A spectacular fantasy world that even though it follows the typical fantasy tropes， is refreshingly unique in it's approach。 It can be dry and dense at times but overall a superb read！ Can't wait to read the rest of the series！ 。。。more
Angel Clare
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Inspired instead of derivative， its referential elements feel entirely immersive and organic in its world， its mythos and scenes uniquely memorable。 If its characters weren’t so rigidly locked into such a strict and often diminutive gender binary （already hinting at a harem around the protagonist）， I would more easily love its compelling cast; otherwise， it’s deliciously readable and very engaging。
Kristina
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My three words: epic， endearing， character-centeredHow does one even begin to review one of the most popular fantasy series of all time？ I feel like anything I say has already been said， so I will keep this brief。I first picked up this book years ago， but I was not in the headspace to dive into a long， dense fantasy series。 However， it is my husband's favorite series of all time， so I promised I would give it another chance。 I am so glad that I did！ Instead of writing a long， detailed review， I My three words: epic， endearing， character-centeredHow does one even begin to review one of the most popular fantasy series of all time？ I feel like anything I say has already been said， so I will keep this brief。I first picked up this book years ago， but I was not in the headspace to dive into a long， dense fantasy series。 However， it is my husband's favorite series of all time， so I promised I would give it another chance。 I am so glad that I did！ Instead of writing a long， detailed review， I will break it down:What I didn't love:-VERY similar pacing/story elements from LOTR。 I am still struggling to decide if it's homage or copying。 I'm leaning towards homage。。。- The beginning is very slow。 Thankfully， I can handle a lot of exposition and slower pacing， but I could see this turn off some readers。What I liked:-The world-building。 Definitely a blend of some other epic fantasy， but if it's going where I think it is， this has the potential to be a really unique world and magic system。What I loved:-The CHARACTERS。 Oh my goodness， what a refreshing surprise this was。 The characters are all well-developed and unique。 Even those that on the surface seem to be there just as an archetype or to serve a trope had their arcs turned on their heads。-The relationships。 This goes along with the characters， but I love found family stories。 The relationships between the characters were a joy to read and， if I'm honest， what is making me pick up the second book。Overall， I HIGHLY recommend this series if you're on the fence。 If you can get through about 100 pages of slower exposition， you will be rewarded with some beautiful character work and memorable stories。 。。。more
Coral
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Durante casi todo el libro he tenido la sensación de estar leyendo una versión low cost de El Señor de los anillos （de verdad， hasta el final no he dejado de ver referencias）; solo que aquí los personajes， excepto quizá Rand y Perrin， me caen todos regular。Dicho esto， aunque parezca que no， me ha gustado。
Jack
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Good book， although I've heard this series gets a lot better as it goes along。 I'm interested enough to continue with this series， as I like a lot of the characters。 You can tell that it was written a good thirty years ago， but is a decent read （although -as has been commented on by a lot of people- very Tolkeineske for the first half）。 If you enjoy epic or classic fantasy， you'll probably enjoy this。 Good book， although I've heard this series gets a lot better as it goes along。 I'm interested enough to continue with this series， as I like a lot of the characters。 You can tell that it was written a good thirty years ago， but is a decent read （although -as has been commented on by a lot of people- very Tolkeineske for the first half）。 If you enjoy epic or classic fantasy， you'll probably enjoy this。 。。。more
Alex Bergland
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I really enjoyed this book， but it was hard to get into。 A slow start combined with some spots where I felt like the story dragged led me to go 4 stars instead of 5。 That being said， I am going to put the next book in my "to read" rotation。 I really enjoyed this book， but it was hard to get into。 A slow start combined with some spots where I felt like the story dragged led me to go 4 stars instead of 5。 That being said， I am going to put the next book in my "to read" rotation。 。。。more
Ellie
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For all I used to rip the shit out of this series and I don't think I ever recommended it to a customer， there is a reason I got four （hefty） books in before I quit the first time around， and that's because there genuinely is a lot to like about this series。 Does it have a lot of parallels with Tolkien， i。e。 Myrddraal and Nazgûl？ Yes， but what high fantasy series doesn't and Tolkien himself lifted plot and characters directly from classic literature and myth so the point is moot。 Does it sometim For all I used to rip the shit out of this series and I don't think I ever recommended it to a customer， there is a reason I got four （hefty） books in before I quit the first time around， and that's because there genuinely is a lot to like about this series。 Does it have a lot of parallels with Tolkien， i。e。 Myrddraal and Nazgûl？ Yes， but what high fantasy series doesn't and Tolkien himself lifted plot and characters directly from classic literature and myth so the point is moot。 Does it sometimes suffer painfully from having been written in the 90s and have some attitudes from the time in it？ Yes， but I wasn't really expecting anything else from a fantasy series written by a straight white man some 30+ years ago。These things aside， Robert Jordan has some really cool characters that I love reading about （Moiraine， Thom， Nynaeve， and Loial being particular favourites of mine） and some chapters that were so good that I even remembered them from the first time I read this book 6ish （eww） years ago， such as the whole sequence set in the Ways。 Like Tolkien， though， I think this series is much easier to listen to than it is to read。 I'm quite a patient reader and will struggle through dense text， but even I found it a bit excessive here and much much easier to process with assistance from a narrator。 Anyway guess I'm off to start the next one then。 I'm determined I'm going to finish this series this time。 。。。more
Colby-wan Kenobi
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3。5 StarsI think I'm supposed to like it， and I think that influences how much I actually liked it。 It was fine。 I'll keep reading the series since I'm told the next couple books are where it really takes off。 3。5 StarsI think I'm supposed to like it， and I think that influences how much I actually liked it。 It was fine。 I'll keep reading the series since I'm told the next couple books are where it really takes off。 。。。more
Joseph Walkland
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There's no doubt that Robert Jordan is a good writer and worldbuilder - he's created a world with a rich history and a believable magic system。 My main problem is the characters - they are very bland in my opinion。 I think I won't give up on the whole series and I'll probably read book 2 at the very least。 Maybe I will learn to love the characters！ There's no doubt that Robert Jordan is a good writer and worldbuilder - he's created a world with a rich history and a believable magic system。 My main problem is the characters - they are very bland in my opinion。 I think I won't give up on the whole series and I'll probably read book 2 at the very least。 Maybe I will learn to love the characters！ 。。。more
Mailem
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Yeah， “the wheel of time” is probably the first high fantasy novel that I really enjoyed。 Can’t wait to see How the story unfolds throughout the series。
Surbhi
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I could not finish this。 The book is overwhelmingly slow with no character growth， at least as much as I could read。 The plot does not move and everything feels like it has already been done before。 It’s so boring I couldn’t even sleep to it， because it annoyed me instead。
Lys Farrell
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4。75
Jennifer Lehnes
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Not my thing
Darren Craft
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Rand is short for Randy。
Nataliya Naydorf
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I can’t decide whether I like this or not。 It was like Lord of the Rings， which I love， and I liked the unique spin on this fantasy world but not sure whether it made me care enough to actually want to read the next book。
Isabela
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Se eu fosse imparcial talvez eu desse 4 estrelas ou 4。5。 mas foram muitas emoções e eu amo a Nynaeve e o Lan então 5 estrelas
Ilaria Manferdini
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Un fantasy vecchio stile， molto descrittivo ma davvero ben scritto。
Giulia Secco
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O Senhor dos Anéis， mas com mulheres e um pouco de Dark
Debbie
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I read this book due to my husband's love of the series and the anticipated show coming out this fall。 If not for those two factors， I probably never would have picked this up as high fantasy is just not a genre I gravitate towards。 It took me many months to finish because the earlier half of the book felt too slow and I couldn't really get invested in the characters。 Some of the descriptions felt repetitive and unnecessary。 By the later half， I found myself more engrossed as the characters and I read this book due to my husband's love of the series and the anticipated show coming out this fall。 If not for those two factors， I probably never would have picked this up as high fantasy is just not a genre I gravitate towards。 It took me many months to finish because the earlier half of the book felt too slow and I couldn't really get invested in the characters。 Some of the descriptions felt repetitive and unnecessary。 By the later half， I found myself more engrossed as the characters and plot developed a little more。 The author's world building skills are impressive and the maps were a helpful aide。 I don't think this first book is a standalone book at all and am interested enough in learning more about the Aes Sedai that I will probably read at least the second book， but my interest isn't piqued enough to confidently commit to the entire 14-book series。 Sorry， husband！ But I'll watch the show with you for Rosamund Pike and Daniel Henney。 <3 。。。more
Julia
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La Rueda del Tiempo gira， y las eras llegan y pasan y dejan tras de sí recuerdos que se convierten en leyenda。 La leyenda se difumina， deviene mito， e incluso el mito se ha olvidado mucho antes de que la era que lo vio nacer retorne de nuevo。Estoy realmente feliz de haber completado al fin el primer libro de esta saga。 Me costó un poco， pues no me atrapó inmediatamente， pero con el pasar de las páginas， ya estaba inmersa en todas las aventuras y todo lo que estaban viviendo los personajes。 Obvia La Rueda del Tiempo gira， y las eras llegan y pasan y dejan tras de sí recuerdos que se convierten en leyenda。 La leyenda se difumina， deviene mito， e incluso el mito se ha olvidado mucho antes de que la era que lo vio nacer retorne de nuevo。Estoy realmente feliz de haber completado al fin el primer libro de esta saga。 Me costó un poco， pues no me atrapó inmediatamente， pero con el pasar de las páginas， ya estaba inmersa en todas las aventuras y todo lo que estaban viviendo los personajes。 Obviamente， esta es la introducción a una saga de 14 libros （miedo）， y nos entrega más preguntas que respuestas。 El mundo es bastante complejo y no voy a pretender que entendí todos los detalles de la batalla milenaria que está ocurriendo， pero eso me hace incluso estar más emocionada por continuar con la historia。 Creo que lo único que podría criticarle es que si se siente un poco lento en ciertos momentos， y que el final es un poco abrupto， como que el autor cerró muy rápido las tramas。 Al menos yo ni siquiera sabía que el libro ya había terminado， sino que cambié la página y seguía el glosario。 Aun así， no puedo negar que ha sido una novela que me ha gustado mucho， y estoy muy emocionada por ver la serie de PrimeVideo y saber si le hace justicia al libro。"¡Diez años！ ¡Estúpido sin remedio！ Esta guerra no se desarrolla desde hace diez años， sino desde el inicio del tiempo。 ¡Vos y yo hemos librado miles de batallas al compás de los giros de la Rueda， un millón de veces， y lucharemos hasta que el tiempo se detenga y suene el triunfo de la Sombra！" 。。。more
Jerome
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Great re-read after 20 years。 It's likely blasphemy， but I enjoy this series more than Tolkien， somewhere along the lines of enjoyment of "A Song of Ice and Fire" series--it's just much less HBO-like than the GoT series。 My only gripe about Jordan is that he tends to provide TOO MUCH detail about setting and I sometimes find myself skipping over/skimming descriptions of the settings。 Great re-read after 20 years。 It's likely blasphemy， but I enjoy this series more than Tolkien， somewhere along the lines of enjoyment of "A Song of Ice and Fire" series--it's just much less HBO-like than the GoT series。 My only gripe about Jordan is that he tends to provide TOO MUCH detail about setting and I sometimes find myself skipping over/skimming descriptions of the settings。 。。。more
Odd Christian
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Litt skuffende i og med at det er en av de mest anerkjente fantasy-seriene。 Slet med å komme meg gjennom boken。 TV-serien kan bli bra。 Ikke umulig jeg plukker opp bok 2 etter hvert i og med at det er en del element i boken jeg liker godt。
Scott Shepherd
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Really good！ The criticisms I've heard are mostly correct （it does feel like Robert Jordan just read Lord of the Rings and wanted to make his own version）， but they don't detract from the enjoyment of the story。 It's a good imitation of LOTR and a lot of fun in its own right。 Really good！ The criticisms I've heard are mostly correct （it does feel like Robert Jordan just read Lord of the Rings and wanted to make his own version）， but they don't detract from the enjoyment of the story。 It's a good imitation of LOTR and a lot of fun in its own right。 。。。more
Rajesh Ch
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This is one of the best fantasy books I ever read。 It is very detailed and has good world-building but at the same time feels tedious because of visual descriptions。
Taseen Muhtadi
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The Eye of the World is basically a retelling of the Fellowship of the Ring。 A very well written retelling at that。 The parallels were so numerous that throughout the book I got the feeling of having read it before。 Every element of the LotR is present here in some barely veiled form。 Being a fan of the LotR， I didn't mind reading a retelling。Being a retreading takes nothing away from the quality of the story。 It's still a very well told story of the a group of people from a remote village adven The Eye of the World is basically a retelling of the Fellowship of the Ring。 A very well written retelling at that。 The parallels were so numerous that throughout the book I got the feeling of having read it before。 Every element of the LotR is present here in some barely veiled form。 Being a fan of the LotR， I didn't mind reading a retelling。Being a retreading takes nothing away from the quality of the story。 It's still a very well told story of the a group of people from a remote village adventuring out in the wider world trying to save the world from an ancient evil and coming of age in the process。 In keeping with the times， there are more female members in the fellowship （scratch that）， adventuring party and they have more agency in the plot。 Although everything else is drawn from the LotR， the Aes Sedai seem to be inspired by the Bene Gesserit of Dune （another of my all-time favourites） with their all-female membership and search for a prophesized all powerful male。No retelling of the Fellowship of the Ring would be complete without a well-defined world you can get lost in。 And the novel is drenched in details about the world。 It feels lived in and fought over and evokes the emotions that it is worth fighting over。 All this world building details make the novel long though and some information important to the plot is provided in an offhand manner while superfluous description is given in details。 Even regular chitchat is given significant page count while some conversations are described in the third person。 So sometimes important bits of information gets buried under a heap of mundane talk while making the book longer than necessary。The storytelling isn’t particularly focused， perhaps to allow for the world building。 It wanders around quite a bit， taking the long way round。 The pacing wavers through much of the book till it steadies it’s stride in the end。 There is also a tendency by the authour to take the easy way out by introducing a new character or making a convenient revelation allowing the protagonists an easy escape from their predicaments。The characters are fully rounded and quite likable。 The character progressions starts at a remote village and this adventure is their first real look at the outside world for several of the central characters which allows us to explore world together; a great narrative vehicle。 We get enough focus on all the characters to understand their thoughts and relationships to one another to become invested in them while still holding enough back to delve into in the later books。Eye of the World is a beautifully written homage to the Fellowship of the Ring。 For those seeking a retreading of Tolkien， there is no need to look further。 The tastes of readers may have changed in recent years， but back when this novel was written， this was considered proper epic fantasy; and there might always be room for tales like this。 。。。more
Rolando
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So good。 Hard to get into the whole story because it's like 20 books long and doesn't get good again for a while。 So good。 Hard to get into the whole story because it's like 20 books long and doesn't get good again for a while。 。。。more
Carol Waters
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Omg that was long。
Mike
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The Eye of the World， by Robert Jordan is a clear cut fantasy book， set in a myserious world， full of things we don't understand。 The characters are simple and do not develop much in this book。 I enjoyed the basic plot， it was a regular start to a fantasy， nothing to write home about。 it interesed me enough to want to read the next book in the series and the plot picked up it's pace。 The world building and language choice was amazing。 8/10 I would read it again The Eye of the World， by Robert Jordan is a clear cut fantasy book， set in a myserious world， full of things we don't understand。 The characters are simple and do not develop much in this book。 I enjoyed the basic plot， it was a regular start to a fantasy， nothing to write home about。 it interesed me enough to want to read the next book in the series and the plot picked up it's pace。 The world building and language choice was amazing。 8/10 I would read it again 。。。more
Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship
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If I’d reviewed this when I read it at 13 I’m sure I’d have given it 4 or 5 stars。 If I re-read it today， it would probably get 2 or 3。 It’s also hard to rate a first book when you know the series goes downhill precipitously， so I’ll go without for now。For all the problems this series has—and they are legion—at least the first few books are an absolute treat for the precocious teenager， as so many of us fantasy readers were， which perhaps explains their continuing popularity。 It’s a huge world， If I’d reviewed this when I read it at 13 I’m sure I’d have given it 4 or 5 stars。 If I re-read it today， it would probably get 2 or 3。 It’s also hard to rate a first book when you know the series goes downhill precipitously， so I’ll go without for now。For all the problems this series has—and they are legion—at least the first few books are an absolute treat for the precocious teenager， as so many of us fantasy readers were， which perhaps explains their continuing popularity。 It’s a huge world， a huge story that a kid can devote a lot of time to （which when you’re a kid is a plus）， and it’s written on an adult level in the ways teens ahead of their peers can best appreciate: the vocabulary is advanced， there are a billion characters to remember， it’s full of made-up words and concepts and places and portents， and the protagonists though essentially teenagers are unhampered by parents， as they really are the ones who need to rise to power and save the world。 It’s violent but not grimdark， so the reader feels that the story matters without being overwhelmed by horror。 Most importantly， at the beginning it’s very much an action-adventure story， which is Jordan’s forte and therefore quite exciting。 I think Jordan shared the fantasies of his audience and was in no way writing down to them， although。 。 。 。The sensibilities are still very juvenile in the ways that even teens who read on an adult level still gravitate to。 The characters are both fascinated and confused by sex and the books are extremely coy about it; although it’s a huge ensemble cast and many of them ostensibly middle-aged or older， hardly anyone gets married and no one important is a parent; family is nearly nonexistent; character psychology and motivations are straightforward; the world is neatly divided into good and evil and the “right thing to do” is staring-you-in-the-face obvious; problems are generally solved by force; all “politics” basically boils down to “opposing parties stare at each other and the most imperturbable wins”; definitely nobody has to worry about paying the rent because they’re off saving the world， yo！ It’s one of those books that wouldn’t be shelved as YA but really is best appreciated by that age group， who in the 1990s and early 2000s discovered it in droves。That said， the series has a ton of problems， the biggest one being that plot progression slows to a crawl and then finally halts altogether for several 800-ish-page tomes on end。 As a teen I loved at least the first 4， enjoyed it through book 6 or so， then stuttered to a halt with books 7 and 8 and the prequel。 Years later I picked back up at book 11， missed nothing， read that and book 12 （the first of the trilogy written by Sanderson to wrap it up after Jordan died）， realized I had outgrown it and moved on。Aside from the growing number of scenes， chapters， and entire books in which nothing happens， there are plenty of other issues， some of which are present early on but all of which become much more pronounced as the series progresses。 All of the female characters are basically the same person （with at best minor variations in how well she controls her temper）， and she’s a power-hungry shrew obsessed with games of one-upmanship with everyone she encounters。 （I’ve never been able to decide whether I think Jordan， product of an earlier era， wrote the whole thing to mock or question the idea of women in positions of power， or whether he simply based every woman in it on his wife—who was also his editor—in a sort of homage that bears out the notion that a marriage really is impenetrable to those not part of it。 Or maybe I'm overthinking it and this was just a man with fairly juvenile sensibilities writing in a period in which little was expected from fantasy authors on this front。） Action-adventure gives way to plots largely based on “politics” and Jordan’s juvenile understanding of actual politics and human relationships tends to make this rather cringeworthy。 Many thousands of words are devoted to very detailed descriptions of clothing and interior decoration， and everyone has the same mannerisms， which are repeated over and over and over again （for instance， a woman will always smooth her skirt when agitated， and when she crosses her arms Jordan always， always specifies that this is “beneath her breasts，” breasts being a particular preoccupation and generally “ample”）。 Characters’ refusal to communicate with each other for no good reason slows things down further， as do random side quests that last for books on end。 Spanking （ostensibly non-sexual， because as I said the books are very coy） is revealed as the go-to punishment in a startling variety of supposedly grown-up environments。 The bad guys are fairly ridiculous and inept though very often depicted， and there’s a lack of meaningful human connection among the major characters。 There’s some serious male wish-fulfillment around the hero’s relationships with his several sexy girlfriends。 There’s some “woman rapes man but it’s sexy and funny！” And so on， and so on。Obviously this series has its fans， who never tire of arguing its merits， but it isn’t one I’d recommend， although those first few books very much hit the spot when I was 13-14 years old。 Also all the hilarious Amazon reviews panning these books over the years （back when Amazon was still the place for book reviews） were worth the trouble of reading a few lousy books。 These books have their place in the history of fantasy， but they have not aged well。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Eye of the World
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Eye of the World&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Eye of the World&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0