The Eye of the World: Book One of The Wheel of Time (Wheel of Time, 1)

i Own the Hardback Originals i had gotten this to check the changes against the new show as a Tv show and the book will differ. When i opened this tonight and what do i find this "version" had been edited to match the new show opening i was flabbergasted and Outraged since A) it was not listed as a Show version of the book, and B) when compared against the original hardback the changes were egregious you didn't note inside that i was an edited version the Only clue is the cover that Matches the New shows. Anyone buying this Unaware who has not read the original text as i have and Owns said copies will be unaware of the changes made, im wondering if Harriet is Aware of what you have done?

(WARNING THE FOLLOWING IS LONG)Got a book to pass the time while I wait for power to return to Puerto Rico.This is the first book I ever read for pleasure. (No, i don't mean this is literally the first time I've read for pleasure.) I've read the entire 14 book series and 1 encyclopedia. I've read this book three times, going on fourth. The first in the series. It's like The Hobbit but much more adult and dark. I think the writing is better too. (I'm not really a Tolkien fan too much. Good story. Bad writing. #shotsfired)Funny story: I never intended to read this book. I wanted money from my great grandma Deeder (Great Deeder we called her). For a toy or something, I forget. But she didn't want to give it to me. So me binge a sly kid I thought, "ok, an educational gift the: a book." And I'd return it later for the cash and buy whatever I wanted.So I went into Barnes and Noble and picked a book up totally at random, checking only that the price was about the amount of cash I had wanted. She paid for the book. I went home and it sat on a shelf for months.Later on, I got really sick and stayed home from school. I decided to read it because I had nothing else to do and was on the toilet a lot. When I picked it up, the cover was literally was covered in thick dust. Disgusting. I cleaned it up and started reading....and reading. And four hours later I stopped. I remember it was four hours because I was shocked that it was 5PM and dinner and I was a little hungry. I couldn't put it down. I loved it.And the lessons it taught me and it's new ways of thinking molded who I became as a person. "Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain," became my motto for how to soldier and lead. And so many others. I loved the characters. I literally cried for them in moments of pain or death. Even minor characters are people you know. And I laughed out loud at jokes. Got excited in moments of lust or chase. Even felt genuine fear.Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) was an amazing man too. A taste for the fine old things. Pipes. Hats. Chess. History. He was also a military school guy (like me) at Virginia Military Institute (VMI). And part of the reason I went to military college (NMMI) myself and why I excelled in JROTC in high school. Even into my Regular Army career as Combat Medic (68W) and how I approached medicine and bedside manner (thanks Yellow Ajah and the Band of the Red Hand). Not just his example, but the examples of his characters that inspired me to lead and to be uncompromising in my self discipline, especially honor.Tragically Jordan died before he finished the books and the last three (or four) were written by his chosen successor Brandon Sanderson (who I had never heard of). And in fact Sanderson was surprised that Jordan wanted him to be his ghost writer. What a huge responsibility to finish the story that fans had been reading literally for more than a decade. I eagerly awaited each new book and when I first started reading there were only four or five, I think.I convinced my brother to read it too and he also became addicted. We would talk about the different theories and ask questions. It was exciting!Sanderson did an incredible job. I could not even tell that the writer's voice had changed. He used very detailed notes and talks with Jordan's wife, Harriet (for whom the first book is dedicated). Fans are waiting for the movies to be made. But that's been passed around for years to different studios and directors. It can't be done cheaply or wrong (like the Wizard's First Rule tv series for instance that sucked but the books were amazing by Terry Goodkind). Better no film than a bad one.Anyway, I got it again to pass the time. It's fun to revisit it from a more adult mindset and with the full knowledge of the 14 novel series. Things I overlooked or seemed unimportant now jump off the page. That sly devil, I think. He knew all along! And there are still unsolved mysteries that are debatable and interesting fan theories and even beautiful fan art.I could not more strongly recommend this book and the entire Wheel of Time series. I'm not being hysterical when I say it made me who I am. I feel like Jordan and his characters were some of my most important mentors. I perhaps never would have learned to love reading without this book.Any other Jordan fans out there? Tell me about your story.

See Headline. If you like a writing style than can take multiple pages to describe a young man walking to town or a sunrise or a river then this book is for you. To that I will add that book 1 does have it's moments, a few, but I can't recall the details of them except the ending which I found to be interesting but still a relief to get through. The plot is pure Tolkien. The author just changed the names - plot is so similar that by a third of the way in what was going to happen became fairly obvious at which point I was tempted to just put the thing down. Didn't though; WoT is such a popular series I thought there must be a twist, a surprise, something different but it never happened.I had high expectations for this series. Been seeing them on library shelves, book store shelves and all the times the series gets recommended by some book service or other. Wheel of Time has been around for years and based on the selling price per book must be in high demand but not for me which one supposes puts me in a rather small minority.For $1.99 a book (Kindle) they might be worth it - might - but not for the price the series is selling for on Amazon.I can be bored for free.

These are my thoughts about the entire series:I think many people who complain about this series miss the point entirely. You'll notice the majority of the complaints stem from those who find the books too long winded, too slow, taking too long to get to the point, and focused on too much minutia in detail.To those complaints I say: That's the point.This series isn't about getting to the climax as fast as possible. These aren't plane ride or beach day books. This is a series for fantasy fans who want the minutia. For those who revel in being able to visualize every single detail of the world. These are for people who want to escape their mundane worlds for some time and live in another, more fantastical world.If that's what you're looking for in a fantasy series then that is what Wheel of Time offers in droves.To those who say that this series is just generic fantasy, you're right. But, man, it's wrapped in a brilliant packaging. I would say this is the generic fantasy trope  (chosen one destined to defeat big bad) done the best it could possibly be done. It's a beautifully realized world in every way.I think people are really hard on this series.  It does what it sets out to do and does it brilliantly.

I started this series when I was 15 and am now 37. I read them as the books came out, waiting years in between releases and decided to re-read the series in full. There is so much you miss or forget after 22 years!!! I remember hating Nyaneve when I was younger, now though, I love her!This review is for people debating whether or not to do a second read through. My answer is 100% yes!!! As complex a world as Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series is, knowing some of the main story opens up many details you missed the first time you read it.

I really wanted to like this book - the first few chapters were great, pulled me in and stayed on the mind.But as the story progressed I realized that Jordan was shamelessly ripping off LOTR: the characters (does a lost King pledged to fight evil, who fights with near super-human skill using a big old sword of destiny, while a beautiful woman pines over him in a forbidden but totally chivalrous romance sound familiar at all???), the baddies (Myrddraal = Nazgul; Trollocks = Orcs), the completely unambiguous fight between good and evil... it completely spoilt any immersion in the storyline.On my second point: I was expecting some really interesting subverting of tropes in a story which meshed a familiar fantasy setting with female authority (realm ruled by Queens, magic dominated by all-female Aes Sedai). What I actually got were some of the most tired, unoriginal female stereotypes I've seen. Nearly all the women, who are supposed to be competent, spend all their time blushing, gasping, crying, making tea, seductively dancing, and mooning after male characters. Oh and they are all beautiful of course, because that's an interesting character trait?Tldr: lazily written, lazily sexist. Read literally any other fantasy series.

This book was recommended to me as one the 'must read' epic fantasy novels. So I embarked on it without reading any reviews, just with anticipation of a good story.It is without doubt one of the most disappointing books I have ever read. Others have criticised it for stealing so many ideas from Tolkien, that it most certainly does, as well as Arthurian tales. But that is not my problem with it...it is simply not good story telling. For the first third of the book I thought it was very slow in developing it's main characters; I was wrong, as they never do develop but remain one dimensional throughout. What more do we know of Perrin, Mat's or Egwene's personalities or thoughts by the end of the book than we knew at the beginning? Nothing!However far and away its biggest fault is that it is so very, very dull and boring. The writing is turgid and soporofic. Did it ever make my heart beat faster, delight or amaze me...sadly no. I stuck with it till the end and ended it liking none of the so-called characters one jot. Shall I read more of these books, Lord no, one was way way too many. Save your money and your time, you will miss nothing. Go and read some Hobbs instead.

I first read this whole series (14 books in total) some 10 years ago and liked the "grown up-ness" of the storytelling. As a firm LOTR book lover, this is the standard by which I judge all other fantasy stories. Coming back to the WOT series has been like seeing an old friend after many years, its familiar yet you discover new facets with the reading. The characters are 'real' people with the fears, the loves, the desires of people you meet every day. The tale has something of an "old fashioned seriousness" regarding the concept of good vs. evil which always appeals to me as a (slightly) older reader. It is an epic tale and for those who like to get to the end quickly, this might not be for you. However, for those who like a tale to ebb and flow before you reach the conclusion, you would for a lot worse than invest in this marvellous series!

Like most, I came to this book on a recommendation. I’ve read about 50 pages despite finding nothing that really captured my attention, thinking it’s got to get better... and then I came here and had all my suspicions confirmed! I am giving up today. The plot advances at a snail’s pace and the dialogue feels like dialogue for the sake of having dialogue, rather than having any actual relevance to the plot. It’s like purple prose in dialogue form; unnecessary and clunky. Fifty pages in, I should feel some sort of connection to the MC but all I really have is that Rand thought he saw something, has a few friends, a father, a girl he might like, and plenty of info about where he lives, but nothing about him that makes me feel I know him or care about what happens to him. I’m not even sure I care to know how it ends at this point. If anything, I will certainly be more careful about who I take book recommendations from in future!

"Four callow youths (one female) living in a backwater village are attacked one night by hoard of troll like creature controlled by a figure in black on a black horse who can disappear. One of them seems to be, or have something, that these creatures want. They escape with the help of an elderly man with a long white beard who smokes a long pipe and tells stories, a butch male who can fight and 'knows things' and a strange beautiful female who can control the elements and change her appearance. As they escape they are followed by a dragon like figure circling high overhead screeching. They know that they can gain safety once they can cross the river so they need to get to the ferry - the strange lady calls down a thick fog so that they can cross in safety."I managed to get to Chapter Nine before I realised that I was reading a poor imitation of Lord of the Rings which I first read in the 1960's . Couldn't read on from that point. I heard Amazon is making a series of this for Prime so I thought I'd get a head start but not looking forward to the show now. The good thing was that on reading the reviews from another disappointed reviewer they pointed me to Robin Hobbs 'Farseer' series which I've read and would thoroughly recommend !!!!