Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78754 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-01
• Formats: Audiobook, CD, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 25
• Binding: Audio CD
• 688 pages

From Library Journal
The peaceful villagers of Emond's Field pay little heed to rumors of war in the western lands until a savage attack by troll-like minions of the Dark One forces three young men to confront a destiny which has its origins in the time known as The Breaking of the World. This richly detailed fantasy presents a fully realized, complex adventure which will appeal to fans of classic quests. Recommended.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Three young friends from a village so far on the fringes that its residents no longer know they're part of the queen's kingdom set out on an adventure that will change their lives and place them in the middle of events they can neither control nor escape. Michael Kramer sets this first book of a classic series on strong ground, with Kate Reading contributing to the narration. The characters spring to life as they face the challenges and torments that the wheel of life has drawn them into. These veteran narrators keep the plot moving and the narration fresh. A brief interview with the author is a bonus. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
“Jordan has come to dominate the world Tolkien began to reveal....The battle scenes have the breathless urgency of firsthand experience....The evil laced into the forces of good, the dangers latent in any promised salvation, the sense of unavoidable onslaught of unpredictable events bear the marks of American national experience during the last three decades.”—The New York Times“Adventure and mystery and dark things that move in the night—a combination of Robin Hood and Stephen King that is hard to resist. Furthermore, Jordan makes the reader put down the book regretting the wait for the next title in the series.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel“The Wheel of Time is a fantasy tale seldom equaled and still less often surpassed in English.” —Chicago Sun-Times"Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer, who breathe life into this epic tale." --Patriot News

Customer Reviews

An Eye for Glory
This is the book that started the Wheel of Time rolling into epic history. It is here we meet Rand, Mat and Perrin, three 'normal' kids in a backwoods village, thrust into danger unexpectadly, and dragged by the neck across the land by the mysterious Moraine, and her warder, Lan; all the while being nagged by Egwene and Nynaeve, and chased by agents of 'the Dark One,' Shaitan.

The Wheel of Time is the name of the central belief of the human race. Each age has come before and will come again, and three thousand years before this writing takes place, a man called the Dragon dealt a telling blow against 'the Dark One,' imprisoning him and his followers for 'eternity.' Prophecy says the Dragon will be reborn when once again 'the Dark One' starts meddling in the affairs of the world.

Yeah, it's all been done before, but rarely so well. The cliche gets turned on its head, old legends are made refreshingly new, and everything you've come to expect from epic fantasy has finally made its way to the printed page.

The writing in the Eye of the World is beautiful, almost poetic saga. There's no other way to describe it. Sometimes description wins out over plot and characterization, but the story flows well from page to page, chapter to chapter. You can see the people and places in your head as if reading Tolkein again for the first time. I had a hard time putting it down when I initially travelled what fans refer to as Randland (Jordan simply calls the continent the Westlands, and never names the world).

From Emond's Field to Shadar Logoth, and from Caemlyn to the Blight, Robert Jordan's world is fully and colorfully realized. Every land has a culture and style all its own, and there has rarely been a series so steeped in lore.

Yes, there are a few soft spots. One, a reliance on prophecy for every central element of the plot. I'm not big on prophecy, myself. Second, is the religion of the land: it's a very large continent, and yet, everyone has the same set of religious beliefs. Two, language: everyone, regardless of being seperated by mountains and other geographical difficulties, speaks the same language.

The setup for magic, prophecy, and other mystical happenings are all cohesive and well-explained as the series progresses. This first book retains alot of mysteries that help submerge the reader into the world of the Wheel of Time. Regardless of what people think of the series as a whole, the Eye of the World is definitely worth the read.

(A note: years ago, I picked up the fourth or fifth book in the series, and tried to start from there. I gave up after the first chapter. If you don't read the series from the start, there is just too much information assumed to be known by the reader. Jordan never went back and explained or re-introduced anything as he went along. That said, a year or two later, I picked up this book, and I've been with the series ever since, for good or ill.)

Awesome
I have read every book, the prequel, the supplement info and have to say, that I wish he was able to write more...I really don't want this series to end...I guess I can't fault anyone who does want it to end wanting closure to something, but this world was so indepth, so detailed where the cut of dress said alot about a person, the women acted like women I know...and the men had issues of their own...it was almost not a fantasy novel but a book that reminded me of my own life at times.

If you want a quick read, this isn't the series for you.

CAUTION! PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU BUY!
First off, let me start by saying I loved this book. And most of the ones that came after it. But there are two reasons you should think very hard before you start this series.

First, the books get more and more drawn out until, as in the 10th book, 700 pages basically covers the amount of plot development that 50 pages of the first book accomplished. Part of the problem is that the list of characters continues to grow book after book. This means you have 30 characters or so and you jump from character to character, each allotted a significant amount of pages. This is not an exaggeration. Look at the reviews for the 10th book if you think I am joking. There are over 1500 One-Star reviews for this reason alone.

Second, as many of you probably know, Robert Jordan is dead. At the time of his death he had NOT completed this series. In my opinion that means this series was left unfinished. There are plans to release a 12th book to be written by Brandon Sanderson based on Robert Jordan's NOTES! Sanderson's ability aside, this is a far cry from actually having a 9,000 page series naturally concluded by the original author.

These are big issues and anyone interested in the Wheel of Time should really consider them before investing so much time into a series.