Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Eye of the World

This is a 1600-page first novel of a fourteen-book-plus-a-sequel series. Sometimes, the writing is nearly outstanding. At other times, it feels redundant and repetitive. It’s like a love-like-don’t-like smoothie of writing. Overall, it’s adequate, bordering on good. I applaud Jordan’s ability to work within Tolkien’s conventions, nearly calling him into the novel without actually doing that. As a Tolkien fan, I appreciate the nods to Lord of the Rings you can see here and there as well. These incredibly cute Easter Eggs were appreciated.

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

I like the characters, and I like that – as far as this one goes – they do feel relatively different. I could feel the intention Jordan put into his characters, even minor ones, even near-NPC ones. I felt deeply that if he’d had the time or the desire, he could have written a whole tale on each of the people the crew meets along their journey with ease. Despite relying on a few sexist and/or misogynistic tropes to propel attributes of his female characters, Jordan also created compelling women. Moraine, Nynaeve, and Egwene are all wonderful to read about and have in this tale.

Plot: 4⭐️/5

Think Lord of the Rings, but not. We have a chosen group – an unlikely band of heroes – who embark on adventure after a party goes wrong, compelled to chase after the Dark One, a presence threatening the entire world. It’s a sweater made from LOTR material, but it fits differently. The complexity of the world is just as thought out as LOTR, branching into its own tale in the details. A few qualms I had with the plot: the predictability of the Chosen One made me hope Jordan was going to “pull one over on me” (he didn’t) and the final battle felt a bit odd in pacing. Also, the reliance on “the Pattern” or “the Wheel” felt far too convenient, almost pulling at the threads of our story and unravelling it into a bundle of “so what?” When everything is dictated by the Pattern, then what’s the point of the story?

All in all, I enjoyed reading it, and I am excited to start book two.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of LOTR
Fans of lengthy high-fantasy novels
Fans of Sanderson, who don’t mind a bit more exposition in their worldbuilding
Someone without commitment issues (fourteen books and a prequel require commitment)

Content Warnings?

War, blood, injury, injury detail, gaslighting, gore, murder, sexism, misogyny, grief,

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

Let’s start book two!

Final Rating: 4⭐️/5

Content Warnings

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

kaziaroo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

bergha1998's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It’s looking to be just a normal spring celebration, even if spring hasn’t sprung yet, for the people of the Two Rivers. Except all of a sudden mythical creatures are killing people & Aes Sadai are among them. It seems that Rand, Perrin, and Mat are at the heart of some scheme of the Dark One.

High Fantasy, Chosen Ones, Lots of Travel/Fleeing Bad Guys

“I read the books, all the travelers’ accounts, and it began to burn in me that I had to see, not just read.” ~Loial

“And the more I read, the more I knew that I had to go Outside, go to the places we have been.” ~Loial

Content Warnings

mistert's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

iloponis's review

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

this was so fucking long but good enough that it wasnt painful. i thought that after i finished this i’d switch to a novel or something different before starting the next one, but i think i need to start it immediately
criticisms include the main character being boring for the first 75% of the book, not enough of the women’s povs, and too many fucking characters and places for me to keep track of. kind of loved it tho

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surdiablo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wasn't expecting it to like it as much as I did. I know people complain about long descriptions but the immersion I had in the first couple of chapters, slow as they were, was so good that everything is still so vivid in my mind. It's Epic fantasy through and through and the pace is somewhat slow, but I had a blast reading through this honestly. Ending wasn't really confusing either although it does happen rather quickly considering the pace until then. Characters are too stubborn and suspicious of everyone which might piss off readers but I think it makes sense considering the world and the situation they find themselves in. Looking forward to read the second book! :)

Content Warnings

johnawickline's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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