The Eye of the World
No. 1 in The Wheel of Time series
by Robert Jordan

Tor (New York): 1990. Mass-market paperback: xviii, 814 pages. ISBN-10: 0-812-51181-6 Suggested retail price: $6.99 (US) Tag: Fantasy Tactical strength: [6/10]

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Jordan has a real talent for presenting characters that you want to read about, in spite of his clichéd plot: Young farm boy, whose appearance noticeably differs from everyone around him, goes off on an adventure, evades capture by evil creatures, and finds out he belongs to some royal family.

As the first book of a long series, The Eye of the World must set up many of the conflicts that Jordan will present throughout the entire series. For the first three quarters of the plot, the characters have a primary goal of reaching a particular city. Then suddenly, someone says "Duh, I just had a vision, and we should really do this other thing." This "other thing" becomes the primary goal for the remainder of the book and provides the tension and climax for the book's ending. After the climax, the characters agree that they will, for the most part, resume the original goal.

If you want light entertaining reading, Jordan probably makes a good choice, especially since you get so many pages for your dollar.

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