Move over Tolkien. Review on Eye Of The World, The - Robert Jordan

The Wheel of time turns and Ages come and go. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

All now know of J.R.R Tolkien's - The Lord Of Rings, he created a magical world with many varied and beautiful creatures. Robert Jordan follows in illustrious footsteps, his Wheel of Time series which is still being written (though it is now 10 books old, the 10th which is to be published in Jan. 2003) is one of the best book series I have ever read, and it captures you from page 1. Before I describe the book let me give you a little background information about the world Robert Jordan has created.

The Wheel of Time : It is a wheel which is said to rotate as time passes, while rotating it is said to weave a pattern which governs everyone’s life. The pattern weaves the lives of people as it wills and this is not controlled by any person. As the wheel rotates ages come and go, the same ages keep repeating themselves but so much time passes in between an age repeating itself no one remembers when the age last occurred. Aes Sedai : These are women who can channel. In this world there a source of power called the True Source, and certain individuals can channel it. There are two forms of this power one being Saidin which Men can use and other being Saidar which Women use, but during a war which occurred 3000 yrs ago, between the Aes Sedai (men and women) and dark forces Saidin was tainted and ever since any man who had the ability to channel would go mad or die from sickness. Hence in the book there is only female Aes Sedai.

The Forsaken : These are Aes Sedai who went over to the dark side during the war of power and have been given immortality by Shaitan. They play a very important role in all the books.

The Dragon Reborn : In the war the forces of good had a champion called Lews Therin Telamon (he was nicknamed ‘The Dragon’), he with a 100 male Aes Sedai trapped the Forsaken and Shaitan in a tomb but went mad in the process (thus was Saidin tainted). After Lews Therin died it was prophesized that The Dragon would be Reborn and would lead the forces of the Light. The first book talks of the adventures of a group of young men and women who have the dark forces after them; there are 3 boys and 2 girls. Throughout the book they are faced with various threats and challenges, which they have to overcome, because the forces of darkness are hot on their heels for what reason no one knows. The climax of this book is quite amazing and I stayed until 3 in the night to finish this book (of course I’m a bit mad).

This series is quite magnificent and I have purchased all 9 books that have till now been released (making me broke in the mean time), Robert Jordan intends to write 12 books, so 3 more to go. Check this book out, I've tried to keep the mystery while not revealing any of the story. So even if the review sucks the books do not :), so read them.