The Eye of the World

I recently finished rereading The Eye of the World, book one of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson).  It was a very fun book to read again.  And only just now did I realize that it has been 10 years since the first time I read it.

A little background to preface this review:  I was a sophomore in high school and was sick to death of the crap I was being forced to read (except Great Gatsby, who doesn't love that book?!).  After searching, The Eye of the World was recommended to me by someone for whom I used to care.  I took this person's advice and read it.

I was a slow reader as a kid.  My comprehension was fantastic, but I just was not a speed reader.  I can get through quite a bit in an hour now, but I don't take that many hours out of my life each day to put towards reading.  Not like I used to.  Sleep has become more important for some reason.  So it took me several months to read this book as a fifteen year old high school student.

I remembered various parts of the book.  As I was rereading, I remembered exactly how I envisioned certain scenes, in my mind's eye, while reading the book the first time and how vastly different I was envisioning them through this reread.  And then there were a few scenes that, as thy developed, I imagined the exact same way as I did ten years ago.

Knowing what is going to happen later in the books has helped me see all of the little bits of foreshadowing that I never caught the first time around through these books.  I didn't come back to the series until I was nineteen or twenty years old, living in Louisiana at the time.  Shortly after finishing The Eye of the World, I moved on to the Shannara series by Terry Brooks.  Only until after finishing every one of his books available at that time, over the duration of about five years, did I return to The Wheel of Time.

So, five years later, I return to a series of which I have little memory and had only read the first book.  And during those five years, I read a lot of other material as well.  Needless to say, starting the Great Hunt back then, I was lost.

I had vowed to reread The Eye of the World around that time, but the problem was that I no longer had a copy of it.  I think I might have given it back to it's owner (the person who recommended it to me) or lost it when I moved (a few times) across the country and back.  My sister cannot find it at our dad's house anywhere.

I figured I'd get back to it sometime later, but once I submersed myself in the universe Jordan so expertly crafted, I gave up.  I continued ravaging these books and didn't finish the eleven that were out until 2008 or 2009 (after Luke and I moved to Eagan).

After finishing all eleven, I eagerly awaited the release of the twelfth and thirteenth book, both of which were phenomenal.  That was in October 2010.  The very last book, the fourteenth in the series, won't be out this year until November.

Since finishing the initial eleven books, I've read several series of books, most of which are listed on my Book Review page.  But since having come back to The Wheel of Time, I never reread The Eye of the World.

Last month I decided to pick it up and reread it.  It was such a wonderful experience.  I love that book very much and I love knowing what's in store for these characters.  I'm very excited to reread the rest of the series as well.  The Eye of the World is a very classic coming-of-age story, where a young man has huge responsibilities -- some of which he is yet unaware -- thrust upon him.  He wants nothing to do with the power or duty involved with these responsibilities and would rather just go back home to Two Rivers, WI.  Er.  I mean the Two Rivers in Emond's Field.

Moiraine is one of my favorite characters, and I remember absolutely hating Nynaeve's character.  But I also know of Moiraine's fate (as well as the result eight books later of said fate) and that Nynaeve and Egwene's characters shape up over time.  It's very exciting know what those two women will accomplish over the next twelve books.

The Eye of the World may not measure up in terms of my love for the story like Wizard's First Rule did but it's still one of my favorites.