Opening Statements: I recently download the audio book of Robert Jordan's "The Eye of the World"; the first in a very long fantasy series. This series has received an extraordinarily large ammount of praise from critics and fans alike, so I couldn't help but judge its quality quite a bit while reading it. Although I did enjoy the book , I could not help but notice several flaws that hindered my overall reading experience.
The Good: The book does a very nice job of conveying the fantasy world in which it takes place. Robert Jordan is quite heavy on small details, so a clear picture is painted in every scene. Another quality of the narrative I greatly enjoyed was how many different characters had separate chapters to themselves that focused on their own journey, rather than focusing on the main character, Rand, for the entire novel. Also, the magic system in the book is quite unique and interesting; as only women are able to use magic, while any man who uses magic will eventually go mad. This fascinating and unusual plot distinction managed to keep my interest in the story any time it was mentioned.
The Bad: Firstly, the book is ridiculously long; over 700 pages. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this, but there is so much 'fat' within the book that it gets to be a bit exhausting. A huge number of pages is devoted to how a character is feeling about a certain situation. In most books, I would consider this a good thing, but most of the thoughts are annoyingly repetitive. Rand is constantly reminding himself of that his adoptive father is no less a father to him than if they shared blood. Rand and another character, Perrin, are constantly thinking that the other is better at dealing with women,which turns from humorous to groan-inducing when mentioned the six or so times. But my biggest problem with the story would have to the central character, Rand. Rand is so stereotypical that I felt myself drowning out the sound of the audiobook every time the story focused on his exploits. A brave and noble hero who finds out he is *gasp* adopted, and it is his destiny to save the world. My final complaint is actually something that most critics praise the story for: its females. Every woman in the book is strong-willed, powerful, and stubborn. I'm all for strong female characters, but every single one?! If the names were removed from the dialogue, every single woman would appear exactly the same, which I found to be a shame.
Final Thoughts: Even though so much of the book was sterotypical and annoying, it had enough good within it to keep me going. I've heard from several sources that the books improve as the series progresses, so I plan to stick with it. I'm currently reading the second book, "The Great Hunt" and am enjoying it more than the first. Overall, I would think of this book as a 700-and-something page prologe.
*** out of *****
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