The Eye of the World: Book One of The Wheel of Time

I am writing this review on the first of this series because as you consider beginning a multibook series you'll be wondering if the commitment is worth it. After having listened to all of the books now available on Audible (10 or 11 and the story is still not over) I am telling you to GO FOR IT. It took a several chapters to get my bearings with the material, but after that I was hooked in a terribly engrossing world of fantasy that I would never have thought would interest me. Some other reviewers have panned the narrators, and maybe with the first book they hadn't yet found their bearing either, but throughout the series they are outstanding in my opinion. I couldn't get enough of this story. I'm thankful that I came to it late, when there were already more than 10 books to enjoy. I admit that I have expected the author to wrap up this saga before now, but in reality I am thankful that he kept the characters and their world alive. I recommend this series with no reservations.

If you read several of the listener ratings you will find that half love it and half hate it. This is not anything like LotR. This is bigger in every respect. The world is bigger, the characters are deeper and thjere are many, many, more of them. If you take on this series you need to be ready to focus. If you listen half heartedly you will be lost very quickly. I understand some of the points of the bad reviews. This series is detailed. You will always know what everyone is wearing and what every room looks like and some people will find it tiresome. I however really get a sense of being in the story and that is why I read/listen. If your thing is a movie type book, a few hours and everything is rapped up, then you are looking for something else. There are many great stand alone books on this site alone but if you are looking for a neck deep fantasy with as much intrigue as can be put on paper then look no further. Personally this and the Sword of Truth are my favorites. Be warned though that the author recently died and the 12th book (A Memory of Light) is now being written by Brandon Sanderson of Mistborn. The final installment is about 60% through the rough draft phase. I usually dont get books until the series is done because i cant stand waiting a year to see how it ends but just the fact that the last book is on its way has prompted me into a second go round on this series so I know exactly what is going on. WHether you get this one or not happy listening.

I am overjoyed to find audible choose to carry this Unabridged series. It is pretty much the only place anywhere you can find this extraordinary Unabridged audio series. The abridged version of this series is horrible; however this version is a true and rare audio gem. I have listened to literally a few hundred audio books in my life, most of which were either sci-fi/ fantasy and this series stands out as one of the best I?ve heard. It has exquisite readers both Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are among the best audio readers I've ever heard. As anyone who has heard audio can probably relate to, the quality of the reader is vital to the experience of the book and these are simple two of the best in the business. They capture the characters perfectly and draw you in like few other readers can. Another great and fairly unique thing this audio reading does is when the books comes from the perspective of a female character Kate gives you the female voice to match, where as if you are in the head of a male character Michael reads to give you that male feel. This makes a big difference in the whole experience, how much the reading brings the character to life and draws you into their world. Speaking of which, Robert Jordan's WOT world is one of the most vivid, complex and original world I have experienced in fantasy. The world's complexity continues to grow throughout the huge epic series. It makes you want to know what is going on in different lands almost as much as what is happening with different characters. In the first half of this series each book is better then the one before as the main characters, the world and the adventure expands. If you get a chance, please request that audible carry the rest of this Unabridged series. As of now they carry book one (The Eye of the World) and two (The Great Hunt). I guess that's about it. Enjoy, I hope you have as much fun with it as I did.

There is very little in the way of accolades that I could add to what has already been written about this book except to second the praise for it. When choosing a book, I do consider how many people have taken the time to rate and review a book, as well as what the reviews have to say. Therefore, the value of this book to me requires that I say something to encourage others to take it as a selection. This was my first Robert Jordan book. It's about 30 hours long and I finished it in two and a half days. I could not put it down. It is a masterpiece in almost every aspect of the word and I do not know how the narration could possibly have been improved. I was blown away.

Awesome! One of the best series of books i've read/listened to and i've read quite a lot of fantasy & scifi. It is a must read for anyone even mildly interested in fantasy adventure.

Pleasssse...don't listen to the abridged volumes you will regret it. Also please request to audible that they get the rest of the series in Unabridged versions. I'm on my second reading and it's as good as the first.

Rob 37yrs old
Cville, VA

The Eye of the World kicks off Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series and it is a step that should not be taken lightly. This first book is excellent and will likely have you listening to the next book in the journey before you know it. This is a long series (13+ books) and each book so far is between 23-41 hours of listening in unabridged format.

Some things you should know before you start:

1) Robert Jordan did not live long enough to finish the story, but he did pass along his vision for the conclusion to Brandon Sanderson who is writing the final books. Brandon Sanderson is an awesome Fantasy writer so the conclusion of the series is in good hands.

2) Robert Jordan can tend to be wordy at times and some of the books along the way feel a little bloated, but each one does advance the story.

3) The narration is done by 2 excellent narrators: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Each chapter will be read by one or the other depending on the chapter's main character. If the main character is female then Kate will read the entire chapter including the male voices. Michael will handle the chapter's where the main character is male and he will do the female voices. This means that you must get accustomed to 2 voices for each character. This put me off at first but I quickly became accustomed to it and now I really enjoy the format.

4) After a few books the narrators change the way they pronounce certain character names and this can throw you off until you realize that it is just a pronunciation change and not a different character. Just be prepared for it.

I am glad I started this long journey and I feel that audio is one of the best ways to experience Jordan's work. I had read The Eye of the World years ago but it didn't inspire me to keep going forward in the series, where the audiobook left me wanting more!

This book is a great fantasy adventure, but be prepared to have a desire to listen to them all. I started out by reading my son's copy of volume two and was so intrigued I decided to listen to volume one while I read volume three (confusing, but worth it to catch up).

I have to say that I really enjoyed the narrator's voice characterizations. The range and diversity of voices for the various characters helped pull me into the story. I found it difficult to put away my Otis audio player after transits to/from work.

The story itself is very richly detailed. It is not difficult to imagine yourself being there and seeing the grandeur of the country, the hustle and bustle of towns and cities, the customs of differing contries or even towns, hearing histories of people and places, the shock and sometimes fear of seeing different races for the first time, and the tension of living during hard times.

The only detraction I fealt was the occaisional parallel references I would draw to other SciFi works such as Dune, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars. These didn't occur often, but when they did, it was like ripping you out of one world and into another (particularly the Dune / Star Wars parallels). Usually, it was just when encountering, for the first time, names of people or places that sounded familiar.

All in all, it's a good book almost on par with Tolkein.

Great book. The plot is excellent -- an epic journey involving three young men hunted by evil, a sorceress who protects them, and her mysterious bodyguard. The little group travels the land, running away from the 'Dark One' and dodging his evil spawn -- trollocks, vampire-like flying creatures, and soulless "half-men." The final battle of good and evil is more imaginative than expected.

However, a warning to the impatient: the first few chapters are distinctly uninteresting -- the author's trying to lay the foundations, and nothing much happens. But wait it out until the village is attacked by trollocks. Then the pace will pick up, and you'll be hooked. I've already downloaded book two.

Jordan's, 'The eye of the world' is the first in a classic series of the Wheel of Time. This was Jordan's first in the series and a great story in its own right, but as the series goes on Jordan's writing gets better and better.

The first is brilliant the rest get better in a well thought out plot.

I've been reading this series for years now and enjoyed it greatly, though I do hope it comes to an end soon. This production is very good especially as it is an Unabridged version which I believe the books need. The two voices are good and give a good range to the characters, the only quibble I have is minor, I wish the two readers had agreed on pronunciations before starting. This is not a big issue and did not spoil my enjoyment. I believe the producers will be making all the books available and I look found to collecting them all.