Hey everyone, Slick Dungeon here. I knocked out another book from my July TBR list and I want to give you my thoughts on it. Okay, actually it was from my June TBR and carried over because I am a slow reader but I finished it and I am now going to review it.

SUMMARY

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

When The Two Rivers is attacked by Trollocs―a savage tribe of half-men, half-beasts― five villagers flee that night into a world they barely imagined, with new dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.

REVIEW

5/5 STARS

The Eye of the World is the first in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. It’s a fourteen volume sweeping fantasy epic that was decades in the making. It is also poised to become a huge, big budget production on Amazon Prime Video. After finally reading this first volume, I can see why.

If you know me in personal life, you know that I am a huge Tolkien fan. I love his stories and the massive world building he was capable of.

Like a warm and comforting bath, The Eye of the World starts out much the same that Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings does. There is a small town, with regular, common folk, who just go about their lives and would be happy if the troubles of the outside world never came to them. Like in Tolkien’s story, trouble comes knocking. Trollocs (think sort of beast men although I had trouble not thinking of them as Trolls tbh) come to the small town of Two Rivers, right at the time of an annual festival.

These Trollocs attack Rand al’Thor, who goes by Rand and several of his friends get involved either by defending themselves or helping Rand in some way. It seems that there was more to this attack than any of them thought.

A small party of people band together, including Rand’s good friends Mat and Perrin and the girl he has always loved, Egwene. They are not entirely defenseless, as there is a Gleeman (think a bard), a warder (think a ranger from LOTR) and an Aes Sedai (think a female Gandalf) who help the people from Two Rivers along the way.

I don’t want to give too much more away because I don’t want to give spoilers but this is definitely a “hero’s journey” tale. That being said, there are still plenty of twists and turns that you will not see coming.

The world that Jordan builds is impressive. It’s enormous and full of memorable characters. I haven’t read more than the first volume but I get the impression that small details given in this book are going to matter greatly in the future tales.

Reading this book, I was fully engaged the whole time. I know that there were sections where the reader was given a little too much exposition in the form of an info dump but I didn’t care. I found the information involved so fascinating that I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. In some ways, I don’t want to see the show because I doubt anything put down in reality will quite match what I have in my imagination.

If you are a lover of fantasy, this book is for you. Especially if you love epic quests, valiant heroes and villains that are completely villainous. This book is by far the best fantasy book I have read this year and I have read a lot of great fantasy. I suspect this might be the best book I read all year, although I do plan to read the sequels so that remains to be determined.

For more years than I can remember, any time I would pick up a fantasy book, someone at the book store would ask me if I had read The Wheel of Time series. I was never sure if that was because there was just a rabid fan base for Jordan or if the story was really worthwhile. Well, let me tell you, I will always love Tolkien but I think Jordan may have a shot at being equal in my heart. I do not say that lightly at all. I’ve never read any other fantasy book and thought that it was as good as Lord of the Rings. Sure, many are similar but as good as? I’m not sure yet since I have not read all the volumes but if any series is ever going to be that good, it is hands down The Wheel of Time series. So, if you are like me and you have spent too many years not getting around to reading these books, stop what you are doing, get your hands on a copy and get reading. I promise you this is worth the time.

Fantastically yours,

Slick Dungeon

P.S. Have you read The Eye of the World? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments below, just don’t spoil anything in the next volumes. 🙂

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