The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan is the start of a journey, and it's obvious. I really enjoyed this book because of that very fact, but it is mostly world-building and a whirlwind of new characters. As this is the start of a fantasy series, it is dense, it is more than a thousand pages long, and it focuses on development.

The plot of this book follows the regular formula of the hero’s journey. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and Nynaeve are ignorant villagers who are suddenly attacked and whisked away by a mysterious and powerful woman. The characters must leave their village and go to the White Tower to protect their families and find honor. The beginning is definitely slow. This first book is not about heroics or flashy battles but focuses hugely on world-building. There are strange occurrences happening in the world and mysterious powers awakening in our young heroes. That isn’t focused on, which I don’t begrudge. The novel follows mainly Rand, who is meeting a constant stream of new characters and exploring the world in very detailed internal monologue.

Though the book was criminally long and didn’t have too much plot, I still liked it. Memorizing names was a struggle, but this book is just a stepping stone for the rest of the series. It's slow, but the wonder with which Rand views and describes the world fascinated me and kept me reading.

Review by: Charlotte G.

Charlotte is a senior at The Archer School for Girls and an avid fantasy reader.

—Ruth Chung, Young Adult Librarian, Westwood Branch Library