The Eye Of The World (Book#1 The Wheel Of Time) Audiobook Review

By Robert Jordan

Read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading

Reviewed by Tyler

The Eye Of The World (Book 1: The Wheel of Time)

Get The Eye of The World on Audible here.

The Eye Of The World Overview:

When their village is attacked by trollocs, monsters thought to be only legends, three young men, Rand, Matt, and Perrin, flee in the company of the Lady Moiraine, a sinister visitor of unsuspected powers. Thus begins an epic adventure set in a world of wonders and horror, where what was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

I believe a comment made by The New York Times describes the tone of these books exactly “Jordan has come to dominate the world that Tolkien began to reveal.” This series for me is somewhere in the top 2 or 3, being a culmination of epic story telling by Robert Jordan combined with one of the best narrations i have ever heard by (primarily) Michael Kramer.

The Eye Of The World Audiobook Review:

STORY

CHARACTERS

NARRATORS

STORY

The Good:

The Wheel Of Time is a classic which has obviously plucked out many themes and tropes from J.R.R Tolkiens Lord Of The Rings, with the first few chapters looking like they were emulating the initial chapters of the fellowship, with the general goings-on around the town followed by escape and pursuit by servants of the dark one.

The recipe chosen by Jordan obviously works, and the story line is a classic epic/high fantasy story taking you on a journey from humble beginnings to kill ‘the dark one’ Ba’alzamon (the main antagonist.)

Robert Jordan has created a landscape of magnificent proportions. Accents, legends, superstitions, politics. His amazing attention to detail allowed me to become fully immersed in the story. Even more surprising is that the quality of his writing is maintained throughout the book’s length of 782 pages. I couldn’t stop listening, with the result that I finished it well inside of a week.

The Bad:

Similarly to LOTR, the story is a little long and bloated at some areas. I felt that Jordan could have put little less focus on the journey/chase, and a little more on the pivotal areas, such as the ending which felt a little rushed.

I also felt that some characters were glossed over a bit, i wanted to know more about the green man!

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CHARACTERS

The Good:

The Eye of the World features strong men and stronger woman, through their magical abilities and powerful personalities. Jordan has been rightly lauded for the prominent and powerful roles he created for the female characters. The first book primarily follows the POV of Rand al’Thor, then secondarily Perrin Aybara, Rand’s friend. Below is a brief overview of the main characters.

(SPOILERS)

Rand al’Thor is the main protagonist of the first book, and the series. His path is not entirely clear in the beginning but over the course we learn he is the Dragon Reborn, the champion of the Light in the battle against the Dark One, the prophesied savior and breaker of the world, and the reincarnated soul of Lews Therin Telamon.

Perrin Aybara lives on a farm east of Emond’s Field. We learn in this book that he is a wolfbrother, but his path is not clear. Perrin Aybara becomes one of the main protagonists in the series.

Matrim Cauthon, usually simply called ‘Mat’, is one of the main characters of the series, we do not learn much about his path to be in the first book.

Egwene al’Vere frequently acts in a manner that comes off as arrogant. She also, like many other women in the series, believes men to be foolish or blunt. Because of this, she usually gets her way. Eqwene also plays as a love interest to Rand in the first book.

Nynaeve al’Meara is eight years older than Egwene and is the wisdom of Emond’s Field, she is four years older than Rand, Mat and Perrin. She joins the above in their epic journey with her unique skills with herbs a valuable addition to the troop.

Moiraine Damodred is an Aes Sedai and magical witch of sorts who can channel the ‘One Power’, she has tracked down Rand, Mat and Perrin to aid and protect them as them on their journey. Moiraine is clearly old, and powerful, and her motives are not entirely clear.

The Bad:

I loved all the characters, although as mentioned above, i would have loved to hear a little more about the green man in this instalment! The Green man enters the story line near the end, and is a mythical creature who guards the eye of the world.

NARRATOR

The Good:

Michael Kramer is an award winning American audiobook narrator. Kramer has recorded many fantasy audiobooks. The most notable series Kramer has narrated in the context of the best fantasy is definitely this series. With Kramers dramatization, rich character diversification and smooth crisp voice you will sink into this series like nothing else before.

Kate Reading is the secondary narrator, narrating the main female POV story lines. Kate Reading is the recipient of three Earphones Awards and has been named by “AudioFile” magazine as a “Voice of the Century”. She has appeared at numerous theaters in Washington D.C. and received a Helen Hayes Award for her performance in Aunt Dan and Lemon.

The Bad:

Nothing of note.

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