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Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller's Reviews > The Eye of the World
The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1)
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I would like to start out by saying: don’t let my conservative rating scare you off from this series. At least 75% of customers I talk to about fantasy rank this series in their top 3, if not their #1. I am definitely the minority here, as the book didn’t even make my top 20.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a classic that deserves its place as one of the all-time fantasy greats, it just happened to have some elements that I personally didn’t care for. As the beginning of an epic quest not unlike that of Tolkien, I found it a bit long-winded. Not boring, mind you, as there were several highly developed and exciting characters (who were frankly the biggest reasons why I’m tempted to read the second book). The magic system and overall measure of time were also highly original and interesting, even though we didn’t get to learn much about them.
No, what the book lacked is that sense of excitement I usually feel while reading a great fantasy novel. I believe this is due to poor pacing decisions rather than any issues with the plot. It was just too slow-moving with too many senseless encounters. There also wasn’t much of an arc, lacking the sort of emotional highs and lows that usually go along with good storytelling. I definitely would’ve appreciated more time spent on the climax of the book rather than endless chapters of the characters meeting one fat innkeeper after another. I guess I just missed that emotional payoff � I suppose I’ll have to evaluate the series as a whole for that kind of reaction.
Overall, I respect this author a great deal, as I believe he has done wonders for the fantasy genre by inspiring new authors every day. There are just too many out there that I enjoyed more.
Via Book Reviews by Niki Hawkes at
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Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a classic that deserves its place as one of the all-time fantasy greats, it just happened to have some elements that I personally didn’t care for. As the beginning of an epic quest not unlike that of Tolkien, I found it a bit long-winded. Not boring, mind you, as there were several highly developed and exciting characters (who were frankly the biggest reasons why I’m tempted to read the second book). The magic system and overall measure of time were also highly original and interesting, even though we didn’t get to learn much about them.
No, what the book lacked is that sense of excitement I usually feel while reading a great fantasy novel. I believe this is due to poor pacing decisions rather than any issues with the plot. It was just too slow-moving with too many senseless encounters. There also wasn’t much of an arc, lacking the sort of emotional highs and lows that usually go along with good storytelling. I definitely would’ve appreciated more time spent on the climax of the book rather than endless chapters of the characters meeting one fat innkeeper after another. I guess I just missed that emotional payoff � I suppose I’ll have to evaluate the series as a whole for that kind of reaction.
Overall, I respect this author a great deal, as I believe he has done wonders for the fantasy genre by inspiring new authors every day. There are just too many out there that I enjoyed more.
Via Book Reviews by Niki Hawkes at
Other books you might like (better):
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Reading Progress
March 6, 2013
– Shelved
July 5, 2013
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Started Reading
July 17, 2013
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Finished Reading
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rated it 4 stars
Mar 10, 2017 10:53PM
As I'm nearing the end, I can completely agree with you on most of these points.
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Oh good! I'm glad I'm not alone haha. Seriously though, if they meet one more inn keeper Ima lose it! I'm hoping the momentum I was missing from this one will be evident in the series as a whole... we'll see, I guess. :)
I need to re-read these, but it is a pretty significant time investment. With 4-5 books in the middle just Meh =P.
Justin wrote: "I need to re-read these, but it is a pretty significant time investment. With 4-5 books in the middle just Meh =P."So significant! That's why I haven't dived in yet. I'm hoping the wide timeframe on the FBR buddy read will help me stick it out. I think the schedule extends to 2020 lol.
I'm glad you still enjoyed it :) I actually agree with everything you have said too, but they are the reasons why I like it! haha I hope you decide to carry on with the series :)
Good luck with your reread, Niki! You put it exactly right in your first review- the lack of emotional payoff throughout the book made it a struggle for me to finish. I'm hoping that as I get to know the characters better, I'll begin to care...but I just keep comparing it to the other epics I like that really get me in the feels, ya know? I guess that's not really fair- I should definitely judge it on its own merits, next time around, and not just what it lacks.
Angus wrote: "I'm glad you still enjoyed it :) I actually agree with everything you have said too, but they are the reasons why I like it! haha I hope you decide to carry on with the series :)"I will definitely be carrying on - I'm in it for the long haul with the epic BR lol. Im only at ch 3 for the reread, but must say I'm liking it better this time around. :)
Christaaay - Christy Luis Reviews wrote: "Good luck with your reread, Niki! You put it exactly right in your first review- the lack of emotional payoff throughout the book made it a struggle for me to finish. I'm hoping that as I get to kn..."I personally don't think you're being unfair comparing it to other things. I think you and I are reading it to appreciate it's place in the genre, but agree it's not particularly compelling as of yet. Did you finish book 2? :)
I did! It improved a little over the first. I'll still need to reread both books eventually, though, because I keep zoning out of the audiobooks during the long-winded descriptions lol I'll eventually go on to the third...eventually :)
Christaaay - Christy Luis Reviews wrote: "I did! It improved a little over the first. I'll still need to reread both books eventually, though, because I keep zoning out of the audiobooks during the long-winded descriptions lol I'll eventua..."Hahaha I admit I'm zoning here and there too.
I love this series, but I definitely get your sentiments. It could have been written a bit tighter for sure, but I do love how the characters change throughout the series and I am willing to put up with a bit of eagle every now and then 😊 It's worth persevering for sure!
Lola wrote: "I love this series, but I definitely get your sentiments. It could have been written a bit tighter for sure, but I do love how the characters change throughout the series and I am willing to put up..."I'm glad to hear it! That's part of the reason why I've committed to continuing - I definitely want to get the full experience and love the sum of the series if not the individual parts.
I felt much the same way you did. I wonder if part of my reaction was that I came to this late, whereas for many people this was their introduction to fantasy and so it will always be something special for them.
Benjamin wrote: "I felt much the same way you did. I wonder if part of my reaction was that I came to this late, whereas for many people this was their introduction to fantasy and so it will always be something spe..."I've wondered that too and am glad I'm not the only one. I think I do the same thing for my first fantasy author (feist), so it makes sense that people love it partly out of nostalgia. It also makes sense that all the recommendations I got for it came from people who have read the whole thing. I bet had we started when it first came out and had to wait for each book, we'd appreciate it more. I just can't bring myself to keep reading the series when I have so many others I'm liking more in progress. Did you read beyond the first?
Niki Hawkes wrote: "Did you read beyond the first?"I haven't yet, but I plan to. I've just been lazy about it.
Good review. I think you both are right though. My rating is based on how I felt when I read it for the first time...I am hesitant to say almost 25 years ago now? That sure makes me feel old! At that time it was one of the 3 best series probably available in the fantasy genre, that combined with my much less discerning tastes at the time propped this series in mind up pretty high. Though as time went on, the genre exploded, and books seem to be more focused on quality rather than quantity this series has dimmed significantly in my eyes. Not saying it isn't good, and worth a read, it just doesn't pull me in and get me emotionally invested like many other books do now.
Thanks! And good points. I definitely appreciate Jordan for paving the way and inspiring many current fantasy writers. I'd hate to think where the genre would be without him, lol. I've looked back at some books I loved when I was first getting into the genre and, while they still hold a sentimental appeal, I have to admit that my ratings would be significantly lower if I read them now.
"The Great Hunt" is much better! My favourite in the series.
That's actually great motivation for me - thanks Dean! :)
You're very welcome, Niki! Everyone seems to have their personal favourite. I know Brandon Sanderson's is Book #4: The Shadow Rising. I may be in the minority here about Book #2. People tend to default to the original as being their favourite in any given series. But the first book is probably my 8th favourite (or 7th least favourite? lol). Hopefully they get better for you! Happy reading!
P.S. High five for being a Hobb fan!
I started with Book 2 in this series (oddly enough). And found that when I came back to this book, that it was lacking compared to others in the series. It's a decent beginning, but the future books are the truly great works comparatively.
I found the books around the middle of the series to be the slowest, but I wouldn't argue with your assessment of this one, either.
Dean wrote: "P.S. High five for being a Hobb fan!"Omg YES!!! She's my decided #1 author. ^_^
And thanks! I will hopefully find more gusto with the rest of the series. I think trying to reread the first book before continuing was my downfall lol. Maybe I'll just hop in on the second and let the helpful people also doing the buddy read remind me what I've forgotten.
Emma wrote: "Completely agree!"Solidarity!!! :D
Jonathan wrote: "I started with Book 2 in this series (oddly enough). And found that when I came back to this book, that it was lacking compared to others in the series. It's a decent beginning, but the future book..."That's funny! It's good that it worked out that way for you, though. Maybe had I started with the second, I wouldn't be feeling held up about continuing...
Still, you give me hope. :)
Suz wrote: "I found the books around the middle of the series to be the slowest, but I wouldn't argue with your assessment of this one, either."I've heard that and am hoping that once I'm invested, I can get through the dry patches haha.
Paulo wrote: "Hi!I read the all 14 books and the prequel and I completely agree with your assessments (it is a bit long-winded) and indeede the series develops at a very slow pace from book 1 to 12. We can see..."
I really tried to make it all the way through to the series but ended up abandoning after book #5. I couldn't justify the time and energy spent when I just wasn't getting what I wanted out of it (and the masses seemed to agree that 5 was one of the best and 6-9 were a slog lol).
I agree, there was not a lot of variety when it came to gender and even for the time it was written the mentality was old-fashioned. It was hard to read...
Even so, I still appreciate the series for what it did for the genre as a whole and probably would've enjoyed it a lot more had I been reading it alongside publication (breathing room between books seems like a good thing in this case). Perhaps I'll get back to it one day just to say I've read it, but considering how many series are still in the lineup to explore, I'm in no hurry.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
I had the opposite experience with this series. I thought the first four books were fantastic when I read them back in my college days. Books 5-8 were such a slog. One of the books was 1000 pages that were basically just a recap. I quit the series and have never regretted it. :)
Hi Niki. Sorry for reviving an old thread. You may not recognize me on here, but I often comment on your YouTube videos. I just wrote a review on The Eye of the World and I saw that you had posted a review of it a few years back as well. It seems that we see eye to eye (yeah, I went there) on this one. I have the next few books in the series already, so I am probably going to read them as more seasons of the show are released, but my expectations at this point are muted.
Dave wrote: "Hi Niki. Sorry for reviving an old thread. You may not recognize me on here, but I often comment on your YouTube videos. I just wrote a review on The Eye of the World and I saw that you had posted ..."No worries! Being able to see and interact with people over old reviews is one of my favorite things about Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. Haha punny - it's one of those I acknowledge is so many people's favorites, but I've read so many more that hit the same notes a bit better. Likely a lot of them directly inspired by Jordan though, so I'm ultimately grateful for this series... I just don't want to spend more time on it. I'll check out your review as well. It's a bummer you're not any more enthusiastic than I was. Book 2 was a little better, book 3 was pretty good, then we regressed by the time it hit 5 and I hear "it gets really hard to get through from 6-8 <-a hell of an endorsement lol.
You know, I've been thinking lately I could probably look at the lengthy summaries online and get myself to the sanderson books, then read from there haha. That's blasphemous.
I've read first 2 books in the wot series and I'm quite liking it. I will be re reading it to go in depth in order to review it properly.
Najeefa wrote: "I've read first 2 books in the wot series and I'm quite liking it. I will be re reading it to go in depth in order to review it properly."Oh good! I'm glad you're enjoying them. They do have a really fun classic fantasy feel. Cosy.
Niki Hawkes wrote: "You know, I've been thinking lately I could probably look at the lengthy summaries online and get myself to the sanderson books, then read from there haha. That's blasphemous."Hey, if you like Sanderson, that might be the way to go. Don't worry, I wouldn't judge you for it.
I suspect that had I read this back when it was first published, when I was a teenager with a lot more free time, and with a much smaller selection of fantasy books available for reading, I bet I would have been a lot more enthusiastic about it and forgiving of its flaws.
Dave wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "You know, I've been thinking lately I could probably look at the lengthy summaries online and get myself to the sanderson books, then read from there haha. That's blasphemous."..."
Yeah that’s my thought on it too! Especially if I’d also have to wait 1+ year between each book. I missed out. Actually, I asked my mom about them in high school because I kept seeing them in the library. My mom said, “oh, those are okay. Kind of boring.� Lmao.
