The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Being the Third Post of my Project Reread...

As I mentioned in the first post, The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan was the book that introduced me to the wonderful world of fantasy literature, and so I approached this reread a bit more cautiously than I did with the A Game of Thrones reread. After all, this is THE book which not only set me on a journey through of Robert’s Jordan’s series, but also started a journey of reading Fantasy that will surely last my lifetime… Sure, you can imagine another book would have caught my eye (I was, and am, a geek, of sorts, after all), but no matter, this was the first, and thus has shaped my reading within the genre, for better or worse, consciously and unconsciously, ever since… a fact I was fortunate enough to share with Mr. Jordan in person at a book signing for A Path of Daggers when it was released - I thanked him and asked some questions… if I remember correctly, I got a humorous answer to one, a serious thought provoking answer to another, and the almost famous “read and find out” answer to another. An absolutely great experience, James Oliver Rigney, Jr. (Robert Jordan being his pen name) was a true gentleman and by all accounts as patient with, and appreciative of, his fans as an author can be.

I don’t believe this will really end up as a formal review for The Eye of the World (come on, those are everywhere on the internet - or should be), but I can ramble on and on without much direction about why I loved it so much, and why it still holds such a strong place in my mind. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea…

I believe I was all of 15 at the time I first read The Eye of the World and it played a role in making me the reader I am today (now granted, at the same time I was discovering The Wheel of Time, I was also reading Kerouac and comic books - that is to say pretty much anything I could get my hands on). The Eye of the World was like nothing that I had read before - of course, that isn’t to say it’s not like anything that had previously been written. It was the sense of wonder and discovery that hooked me and has kept me a fan for near on 20 year now. The Wheel of Time opened up the fantasy genre to many readers (me being one of them) and may have just kick started an evolution of sorts within genre which had at the time become quite stagnant. I don’t think there are many fantasy writers from the mid 90’s through today who would not admit at least a wee bit of indebtedness to Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time for revitalizing the genre, and thus enabling their own success in some way.

Sure, the epic quest fantasy was done before, and there are those who complained The Eye of the World was not much more than another Tolkien wannabe (especially as the series came to prominence during the same time as the internet did, and there always seems to have been haters on the internet)... I have read in more than one interview where Robert Jordan says the beginning of The Eye of the World was written as homage to Tolkien - and that is what I take for. Never, in my mind, does this series veer away from its own originality into the territory of rip-off (and there have been a few rip-off calls, and not just of the typical "Tolkien was first" variety). For later books I may discuss some of the various points against them, but I think the main gripe some people have against The Eye of the World is a so called lack of originality, which I think is plain ridiculous. I personally dislike the fact that this book/series even needs to be defended (the arguments against it tend to range from the valid to the absurd) so I am going to leave it there for now... I make no apologies, I love The Wheel of Time, and rereading The Eye of the World just reaffirms it

The Eye of the World is, amongst other things, an outstanding example of world building. The world is complex and textured with many people and lands to discover. We get shown the world through the eyes of a small group of people from an out of the way village as they head out into the broader world on a quest to save the world (this is an over-simplified version of the way if it). Now this is not some new form of world building, but it is pulled off skillfully... we discover new things right along with the Emond’s Fielders, and is a big part of my enjoyment The Eye of the World, and of the series as a whole - as it develops we continue to learn and see more.

I could go on and on about different aspects and points - and should probably focus my thoughts better - but for now that’ll be it - lots more rereading to go before this project sleeps - oh, almost forgot - the important question...

Was it worth a reread? Yes. Not only did I relive some of the wonder I had upon first reading it, but it helps put the whole story in perspective somehow - I never really noticed before that some of the seeds for plot points which take place books from now were here in the first book all along. From these somewhat humble beginnings, the series grows and grows until we are now patiently waiting for book 12, the final of the series - for those of you waiting for A Memory of Light, I’d recommend rereading The Eye of the World, the whole series, and/or your favorite books in the series before it comes out. This is a book I will probably reread again, and maybe more than once (I do plan on living for many years past my usefulness to society, so I should have enough time for a few rereads of favorite books).
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Collector’s note - the first edition is quite collectible. This series became more popular than anyone involved probably dreamed it would be when it was published. Originally published in trade paperback and hardcover simultaneously, the publisher then rebound remaining trade paperback copies into hardcover copies, making things a bit murky in my mind (I have never been able to confirm whether or not the true first printing has a sown binding making it distinguishable compared to the, I'm assuming, glued binding of the rebound copies). Either way, I do not own one… someday maybe, but the possibility of the price coming down into my buy range ($150 or so) seems unlikely.
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Up next on my Project Reread, Book 2 of The Wheel of Time, The Great Hunt… I was thinking about reading The Fellowship of the Ring so I could have nice first book comparison, but with 11 books (and the 12th possibly out later this year), there is just more of these books to get through - comparisons of these three series will have to wait a while longer.