Scan barcode
A review by bittersweet_symphony
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
3.0
Jordan mostly balances introducing readers to the magical-world system he creates with interesting them in the characters he involves. The characters are like pawns in his world, rather than ends in and of themselves. While the primary task of a first book in such a series is to establish the world, he sacrifices character development for cosmos-making. He spends too much time describing the world the characters inhabit rather than detailing their unique traits and psyches. He could have invested more time addressing the ideas, histories, and tensions in the series' milieu rather than pages dedicated to the physical landscape.
The book plods along slowly, and unnecessarily yields time to characters who are minor roles--perhaps they will become significant later in the series, but time should be dedicated to them later rather than in book #1. Despite that, his secondary characters are more interesting and endearing than his core players.
He succeeds in setting foundations for a dozen plot lines. Hopefully, he does not continue to mimic too many tropes and story lines found in others like The Lord of the Rings. Perhaps, that is endemic to the genre rather than a failing of the book itself.
Eye of the World shows enough evidence to make one hopeful Jordan can create a more ambiguous and less clearly defined good vs. evil plot than LOTR ever did.
Most endearing characters: Loial, Elyas, the Traveling People (Tinkers), Min, Elayne, and Perrin.
The book plods along slowly, and unnecessarily yields time to characters who are minor roles--perhaps they will become significant later in the series, but time should be dedicated to them later rather than in book #1. Despite that, his secondary characters are more interesting and endearing than his core players.
He succeeds in setting foundations for a dozen plot lines. Hopefully, he does not continue to mimic too many tropes and story lines found in others like The Lord of the Rings. Perhaps, that is endemic to the genre rather than a failing of the book itself.
Eye of the World shows enough evidence to make one hopeful Jordan can create a more ambiguous and less clearly defined good vs. evil plot than LOTR ever did.
Most endearing characters: Loial, Elyas, the Traveling People (Tinkers), Min, Elayne, and Perrin.