The Eye of the World (Book One of The Wheel of Time series)

I just finished the first book in The Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World. I actually listened to this one as well on audio book, and it took me quite awhile to get through, since it spanned twenty-four cds. The book really is great, and since a lot of people of our generation have really enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and have more recently gotten into The Song of Ice and Fire Series, aka Game of Thrones TV show, I figured a review on a epic fantasy story would be a good idea.

This story is a lot more like Lord of the Rings, then Game of Thrones, because it has strong fantasy ties right off that bat, and less political. This story if a heavy fantasy tale that goes through the classic, set out from a small village on a great adventure, type of story. The town we start in is called The Two Rivers. It's a very small town on the fringes of a kingdom, with one inn, and mainly produces tobacco and wool. We come into this town with Rand al'Thor, the main protagonist, and his father, Tam al'Thor. The town is a bit worried at the moment because winter seems to be lingering longer then it has in year, making it difficult to start planting crops. Rand runs into his friends Matt, Perrin, and Egwene. They're all childhood friends, and you can tell right off the bat that Rand and Egwene are looking to further that friendship, since both of them are sixteen and have that classic "he's/she's my childhood friend" that fall for each other vibe. Everything seems pretty simple and calm in the two rivers, and there is even a festival to look forward to tomorrow. They actually have a gleemen, basically a bard who also does tricks and stunts as well, performing at the festival. The two rivers people are overly excited about this, since they rarely have anyone come to their small town. 

That night though, after Rand and Tam return home, their house is attacked by Trollocs, which are giant monsters with the heads of animals like wolves, eagles, panthers, etc. Rand and Tam manage to make it out of the house, but Tam is injured, and Rand has to carry him to the town. Rand arrives at the town to find that it was also attacked. Rand finds out that an Aes Sedai, which is basically a female wizard, named Moiraine, and a Warder, which is basically the best warrior you can think of, and then double that thought, named Lan, helped save the village. Moiraine tells Rand, Matt, and Perrin, that they were the ones being targeted by the Trollec raid, and that can only mean their master, the Dark One, is after them, for some unknown reason. Moiraine and Lan tell the boys they have to leave the village right away, or they will bring another raid upon the village. They leave that night, in order to make less of a fuss, and end up taking the Gleemen, Tom, and Egwane along as well. 

This story really is a great read if you are looking for a heavy fantasy book, with thirteen books after the first,  and some very well rounded characters. I think anyone that liked Lord of the Rings would defiantly want to take a look at this book. The book is a little over eight-hundred pages, but is surprisingly addictive, once you start reading it. If you are looking for your fix of magic powers, treasure, young romance, and simply a story a leaving home, and challenging the beliefs you were raised on, then this is your book. Alright guys, hope this blog sparked an interest in you to pick this book up, and tell me what you think if you do pick it up. Thanks for reading.