Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Het oog van de wereld

This is a 1600-page first novel of a fourteen-book-plus-a-sequel series. Sometimes, the writing is nearly outstanding. At other times, it feels redundant and repetitive. It’s like a love-like-don’t-like smoothie of writing. Overall, it’s adequate, bordering on good. I applaud Jordan’s ability to work within Tolkien’s conventions, nearly calling him into the novel without actually doing that. As a Tolkien fan, I appreciate the nods to Lord of the Rings you can see here and there as well. These incredibly cute Easter Eggs were appreciated.

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

I like the characters, and I like that – as far as this one goes – they do feel relatively different. I could feel the intention Jordan put into his characters, even minor ones, even near-NPC ones. I felt deeply that if he’d had the time or the desire, he could have written a whole tale on each of the people the crew meets along their journey with ease. Despite relying on a few sexist and/or misogynistic tropes to propel attributes of his female characters, Jordan also created compelling women. Moraine, Nynaeve, and Egwene are all wonderful to read about and have in this tale.

Plot: 4⭐️/5

Think Lord of the Rings, but not. We have a chosen group – an unlikely band of heroes – who embark on adventure after a party goes wrong, compelled to chase after the Dark One, a presence threatening the entire world. It’s a sweater made from LOTR material, but it fits differently. The complexity of the world is just as thought out as LOTR, branching into its own tale in the details. A few qualms I had with the plot: the predictability of the Chosen One made me hope Jordan was going to “pull one over on me” (he didn’t) and the final battle felt a bit odd in pacing. Also, the reliance on “the Pattern” or “the Wheel” felt far too convenient, almost pulling at the threads of our story and unravelling it into a bundle of “so what?” When everything is dictated by the Pattern, then what’s the point of the story?

All in all, I enjoyed reading it, and I am excited to start book two.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of LOTR
Fans of lengthy high-fantasy novels
Fans of Sanderson, who don’t mind a bit more exposition in their worldbuilding
Someone without commitment issues (fourteen books and a prequel require commitment)

Content Warnings?

War, blood, injury, injury detail, gaslighting, gore, murder, sexism, misogyny, grief,

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

Let’s start book two!

Final Rating: 4⭐️/5

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shamciar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Leaving my old review below. But I am removing my current rating due to DNFing the franchise due to (mostly) everything surrounding the Seanchan.

I really enjoyed the subversion of the call-to-adventure of the Hero's Journey. Great cast of characters. While some things felt either dragged on or extremely coincidental, I loved how things came together at the end of the book.

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wogslandwriter's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is a classic for a reason. This was my second time reading it, after watching the new TV show and it holds up relatively well. It is very slow at the beginning and the focus Robert Jordan puts on the divide between men and women is extremely stilted and old fashioned. However, the exciting story, rich characters, and deep world building shines through it all. It would not be published in it's current form in modern day, but it is a good story for modern audiences all the same.

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

If you love epic fantasy like Lord of the Rings or The Sword of Shannara, you'll probably enjoy this book. It took about 400 pages for this book to start developing its own personality, or for the characters to stop being quite as flat. The girl never stopped being flat, though. Overall, not a bad book but it just didn't stand out to me.

📘The Gist 📘: Several young men and a young woman from a rural town follow the advice of a woman they're all inexplicably afraid of to leave their village after it is attacked by creatures of legend. They then travel for a long time trying to avoid notice.

📒Representation📒: three female main characters (but they're all pretty flat)

💕 For readers looking for 💕: A hero's journey fantasy, an 800+ page book, books like Lord of the Rings and Sword of Shannara

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chaptersofmads's review against another edition

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5.0

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