The Eye of the World is a High fantasy novel by American writer Robert Jordan. It was published by Tor Books and released in 1990. The story revolves around five young central characters who flee their village after it is attacked by monsters called Trollocs led by an undead Myddraal. They are helped by a mysterious sorceress Called Moraine who believes one of the teenagers is the dragon reborn. A hero destined to wield the one power and confront the Dark one.

If that all sounds like every fantasy story ever, then I would be the first to agree. The premise might not be original, but it’s how the author tells his story that makes it unique. First I want to talk for a moment about the author Robert Jordan, He lived during a turbulent period of American history. A decorated Vietnam War veteran. After two tours of duty, he went to college and earned a degree in physics and later worked as a Nuclear Engineer before becoming an author.  I think this is important to point out because his work is often compared to J.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and, like Jordan, Tolkien was also a war veteran and lived in different but equally turbulent times(between two worlds’ wars). Jordan lived in a very different time when the United States was going through many changes. The civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, and the alternate movement of Hippies. Just as Tolkien is writing about a lost old England, Jordan is writing about a lost old America. He was a traditional southern country gentleman who lived a quiet life in Charlestown. He liked to hunt, play cards, chess, sailing, pool, and smoke tobacco with his large collection of pipes. Like Tolkien, Jordan was passionate about history.

Yes, it’s clear when reading The Eye of the world that Robert Jordan was a fan of the Tolkien’s saga. While Tolkien intended Lord of the Rings to be English mythology for the British people. Jordan’s Wheel of time is his American mythology.

Things get off to an intriguing start during the novel’s prologue. Jordan sets out his stall with this cracking opening, which unveils the central conflict of the story. The Dark one visits his enemy Lews Therin Telamon, The titular Dragon and lord of the morning. The dark one addresses him as kinslayer and after a short discussion, the evil lord temporarily restores Telamon’s sanity, just long enough for him to realize that during his madness he has killed his wife and the royal household.  In this world, magic can be wielded by men, but at a terrible cost, as it induces insanity in men who dare to harness it. The dark one also reveals that this is not the first time that the dragon has confronted him, and that both of them are destined to battle against each other until the end of time. Riddled with guilt and grief, Telemon transforms himself into a mountain by summoning his remaining power.

It’s a stunning hook of an opening and I knew from those opening pages that I was in for a treat reading this book.

From there the story jumps forward in time, and we come to the sleepy hamlet of the two rivers, and we meet one of our young protagonists Rand, who is getting ready for the spring festival Bel tine. I enjoyed this early part of the novel where all the main players in the story are introduced. The good times are brought to a halt when the two rivers is invaded by an evil army of Trollocs which are monstrous human /animal hybrids. Using his father’s awesome sword, Rand is able to stand his ground against one of these creatures, but his father is injured and needs medical attention urgently.

There are a lot of fantasy words and terms that define the magic system and political factions such Aes Sedai, gleeman , ta’veren ;wisdom and much more. An ogre is called an ogier and there are other such terms that can be confusing to the uninitated. The Aes Sedai is a magic order composed entirely by women who can wield the one power without going nuts. Each of the group have special abilities and such as luck, communicating with wolves and being able to channel magic.

One thing that sets this apart from other high-fantasy that came before it is the inclusion of female central characters. In 2022 when the market is flooded with feisty female protagonists, but back in 1990, it was quite a progressive step forward for the genre.

I try carefully to give you guys an idea of what the book is about without spoiling too much of the details. The young adventurers go on a quest to find artifacts that can help them defeat the dark one, it involves them being pursued by the forces of evil, getting split up and meeting up again, and confronting the armies of darkness in battle. The book is long, in fact, it’s about the equal length to all three Lord of the Rings novels, and it covers the same ground story-wise as the fellowship of the ring. This is only the first part of a 12-book series that was finished by another fantasy author due to Jordan’s untimely death in 2007.

 That leads me to what I thought of The book. I liked it a lot and there were some really great scenes in the novel. The attack on the village, the visit to the cursed city of Shoggoth and just hanging out with the characters as they traverse the road. Rand is troubled by nightmarish visions, which I thought were very cool. The children of light and Aes Sedai are interesting factions whose beliefs are in complete opposition to one another. The female characters stood out for me more than the young male characters, Rand is a bit bland and Mat and Perrin didn’t really distinguish themselves for me in my first read-through. I got them mixed up quite alot. The ladies Moraine , Egwene and Nynaeve seemed more rounded and fleshed out. I liked the gleeman who is a sort of bard in the story.

It’s a long book, and sometimes it felt long because the characters split up and their progress towards their Destination of Camelyn seemed to take twice as long as it should have with all the detours. But if you are looking for an immersive fantasy novel, then Eye of the world will scratch that itch. It’s not grim-dark or mature like George R Martins’s Song of ice and fire. It’s more like Lord of the rings and Shannara Chronicles. This surprised me considering that Jordan wrote a number of Conan stories, and I was disappointed there was no more hard-edged sword and sorcery in this story. While not strictly YA the books are suitable for young readers. I will also say that while this is a series, The eye of the world works as a stand-alone novel in its own right, and it had a satisfying beginning, middle, and end. I am curious to read the following book, The Great Hunt, to see how the story progresses.