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The Eye of the World  By  cover art

The Eye of the World

By: Robert Jordan
Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
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Publisher's summary

"These veteran narrators keep the plot moving and the narration fresh" (AudioFile Magazine)

This program is read by Audie Award-winning narrators Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, and includes a bonus interview with the author.

Now an original series starring Rosamund Pike as Moiraine!

The first novel in Robert Jordan's #1 New York Times bestselling epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time®.

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Moiraine Damodred arrives in Emond’s Field on a quest to find the one prophesized to stand against The Dark One, a malicious entity sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction. When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the village seeking their master’s enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al’Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.

Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time® has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters.

The Wheel of Time®
New Spring: The Novel
#1 The Eye of the World
#2 The Great Hunt
#3 The Dragon Reborn
#4 The Shadow Rising
#5 The Fires of Heaven
#6 Lord of Chaos
#7 A Crown of Swords
#8 The Path of Daggers
#9 Winter's Heart
#10 Crossroads of Twilight
#11 Knife of Dreams

By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
#12 The Gathering Storm
#13 Towers of Midnight
#14 A Memory of Light

By Robert Jordan and Teresa Patterson
The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

By Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons
The Wheel of Time Companion

By Robert Jordan and Amy Romanczuk
Patterns of the Wheel: Coloring Art Based on Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

Listen to more books in The Wheel of Time series.
©1990 Robert Jordan (P)1996 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Jordan has come to dominate the world that Tolkien began to reveal." (The New York Times)

Featured Article: Rand al'Thor—A Wheel of Time Character Guide


Wheel of Time is an epic fantasy series created and written by the late Robert Jordan and later continued by Brandon Sanderson. Fans love the fantasy saga for its intricate world-building, its links to mythology and religion, its ambitious, far-spanning storyline, and the characters who bring the story to life. Rand al'Thor is a complicated character with a fascinating backstory and a character arc that forces him to grow and change.

What listeners say about The Eye of the World

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

A Case for Abridged

Robert Jordan sure has a thing for words - the first sixteen hours are a gabfest that could have easily been condensed to a tenth of that running time without missing a beat to the story. And it does have parallels to Lord of the Rings, as it does have some Star Wars/Jedi-type stuff in there as well. But that's not the problem. The problem is in the narration. Michael Kramer's delivery is predictable and without any passion to the material. His character voices are fine, but each line of narrative is delivered in one of about three different intonations. Seriously. I can predict his delivery and hum it along perfectly without knowing the words. That's pathetic. Why have a human read it, why not a computer? There is an ever-so-brief relief from the female reader for a couple of chapters, but then it goes back to the same read-rinse-repeat delivery. It's very difficult to know when something important is occuring, because everything is read the same way - a negative for us who have more important things to concentrate on, like driving. The narration definitely does the material a disservice here.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible Narration & Extremely Slow Story Line

The narrator (male) sounds like Joe Friday, a matter of fact, dry, monotone script. Added to that is a story progression that is slower than watching a snail traverse a large picnic table. In the first 4 hours of listening I was bored out of my mind. I love Sci-fi and Fantasy series, but this one was not for me.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

good shit bruh.

bruh i though fantasy was all game of thrones and predictable shit... bur this shit is GOOOOOD my dude.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
  • NJ
  • 04-23-20

Awful, tedious and stupid

Here is a summary of the entire series. There is magic and lots of made up names. Lots of repetitive action and fireballs being hurled. Men are stupid, women are wise. Rinse and repeat a million times and voila, you have 15 books.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I’ve read all of these books

The narrators voice is horrible, he sound like he’s smiling a pack of cigarettes while reading...

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

major disappointment

tons of non stop gore, super thin story. so disappointing. almost returned it 4 times. had high hopes, but those were dashed early on. I'd keep reading when the characters/relationships seemed to be developing, only to be back to pointless gore... I can candle gore, btw. but if I'm going to invest so much time I expect a story line that keeps me invested in the characters I began to not care fairly early on, then there'd be a tease of a deepening story then... nope. people have compared the writing to Tolkien but I can assure you it isn't even a little bit like Tolkien. wish I could get my credit back, but I kept listening, hoping it would land somewhere that would be worth the wait. nope.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

A lot of pages with no story at all.

I avoided this series for years because I thought it would be a pile of literary chatter with lack of narrative. I finally broke down and thought I would check it out. This book is TERRIBLE!!!! I love a long epic novel but this is I have never read a book that used so many pages to tell no story at all. The writers skill is good on from a literary standpoint but, from a story telling standpoint he sucks. I loved the way the author describes and lays out the scenes for his characters but, he falls flat after that. Anyone who thinks this is good story telling doesn't know how story narrative is supposed to develop. The characters barely advance from page 1 to the last page. If your characters have not advanced, your story hasn't either. I hope the series gets better for anyone who continues but, I will not be going any further. Avoid this if you actually want something more than how things are described visually and actual character development. Tries to be Tolkien but falls horribly flat.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Don't waste your time or money.

This is an example of a self important actor indulging in an acting activity instead of reading the book. Every word is over punctuated. The different voices are so exaggerated it distracts from the actual story. It's awful!!! I can't even get past the first few minutes. I ve been listening to audio books for 20 years and this is one of the worst I have ever heard!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Heard such great things

Had I found this book when I was 12 I probably would've loved it, but it didn't exist then and I'm 40 now. The characters and themes need far more development to fit the action.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Way to long - Way to slow

Any additional comments?

A young man and his companions flee their backwater town after discovering that a terrible and mysterious dark spirit seeks them with demonic minions.

This book was just to long and to full of un-necessaries for my tastes. It was slow and i got sick of hearing about everyone's cloths described in all their glorious details. I purchased this back in 2011 and have tried several times, over that period, to get int the story with no success. It's just not for me....

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