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Submitted by Lindsay 
(Aug 03, 2002)

I disagree with anyone who says this book is a ripoff of the Lord of The Rings. Sure, maybe some of the characters seem alike, but don't you have one of each in every book, Fantasy or other? You always have your brave hero who is unsure of himself but turns out to conquer in the end (Rand, Frodo, etc.) You have your powerful magician, The funny one who always gets into trouble, etc. No matter what, almost every book is going to have these characters, and the plot line for The Eye of the World is greatly diverse from Lotr. Firstly, the characters in Teotw are running from the trollocs, while in Lotr they're trying to destroy a ring, do you see the similarities? I think that Teotw was a lot better written than Lotr. To be truthful, I found Tolkien's work boring. He added too much detail and his plotlines were horrible, what does everyone find so interesting about a book where all the characters do is walk?
But Jordan's work pleased me much more, as an aspiring author myself, I critique every book I read, and Teotw was very interesting. There were plot twists and detail that caught your imagination and let it run free to see what was happening to our characters, there was adventure and romance and just about everything a good book needs, I give it a four out of a possible five. Well done Robert Jordan!

Having just finished the Wheel Of Time I can't wait to get my hands on the next book of the series. I thought that the book was excellent and definitely awakens the imagination that becomes so dormant in a lot of us- call it escapism maybe!!!
I read the Lord of the Rings series prior to reading the WOT and immediately could recognize the blatant similarities between the books. Initially, I was disappointed but I figured Iīd keep reading and give Robert Jordan the benefit of the doubt, and I am extremely glad that I did!!!
While Tolkien tells of an epic adventure, and a wonderful tale it is at that, I was disappointed that there were no twists to the story (*SPOILER AHEAD* The only being that Gollum destroys the ring, and even at that it isn't really a surprise)*END SPOILER ALERT*.
It is here that RJ succeeds so well in weaving the intricate plot of the WOT. Around this plot he fills the air with suspense, fear and heroism and with just enough of a "real" feeling that you could nearly super-impose the story out of the fantastic and into the real. It is a captivating story and almost impossible to put down. The tale ensnares you in the very first line and the story ends with enough ammunition to carry itself through many more books (and trolloc wars!!!!)

I was given this book by a friend who boasted that it made Tolkien look pathetic. Imagine my disappointment to find a one buttocked ripoff full of cheesy names. Every one is either a lame twist of a common fantasy name (troll-orcs, ogres, pendragon), and even the original names were hard to follow (Lan, Rand, Tam, Mat, Tad- this guy was stuck in scrabble).
It's as though he wrote out the plot of LotR and overtyped a few changes (my Gandalf's too obvious- let's make him a woman...). Orcs, wraiths, aaragorn, treebeard, gondor, the paths of the dead, the corruption of the ring- all have their bargain store clones in this book. If somebody had given me this book without its cover and told me "read it, then tell me who wrote it", I'd have replied "some fanboy on the net with no imagination of his own".
Pacing is also terrible, and several subplots are built up only to be left unused or unanswered. I assume this has payoff in later books, but it irritated the hell out of me to get to the end and say "That's it? What about...".

This book is incredibly well written. It starts out slow, but that's because Jordan is attempting to establish his characters so you care about what happens to them. The story gets much better as you continue in the series, but you must have patience to get past the slow parts. This, and all the other books, are for the true fantasy reader, for a whole new world and situations are created, and, after reading these books, you stop reading and have to think in order to remember that you aren't actually there.

I started reading Mr.Jordan's books 3 years ago and have been hooked ever since.I have read them all and am now reading them all again to refresh my mind.I am also eagerly awaiting the next book! (I have got friends and family members reading them too!) The Eye of the World books are amazing and the best I've read. Robert Jordan himself is by far a master gleeman! I love every book in the series because each one holds a different key to the puzzle. His characters are personal,I feel like I've met each one before and the plots in his books weave and tie together in unbelievable ways!I often find myself having to go back and read some pages again. Some say the series has become tired and boring with too many things going on at once but I feel like all the books are building up to something big and each event in the series is important to the outcome in the end. The true fight between good and evil, the final battle is coming, and I can't wait, for that will surely be the epic fantasy novel of all time!