Just Finished Reading Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World

I have embarked on a new fantasy series at the same time that I am nearing the end of another (Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth) and am waiting for the next entry of a third (George R.R. Martin's ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire).  The new series I've started pursuing is the late Robert Jordan's 14 volumes of The Wheel of Time.  Sadly, the author died before he could finish this ambitious project and Brandon Sanderson filled in to write out the final three books.  From what I could gather, this series is highly regarded, so here I go. And I have just finished book #1, titled The Eye of the World.

With The Eye of the World, we once again find ourselves in a different world with a different map and history.  Magic runs rampant here and is connected to two opposing forces: one female and pure...and one male and tainted.  The premise as I see it is that the ultimate hero and the ultimate villain are locked in a continual struggle against each other for the control of the world, a struggle that transcends individual lives (as the "Wheel of Time" turns).  The same entities resurface through different people over the course of time and reengage with the conflict.  The last confrontation had been disastrous, with terrible destruction and loss of life brought down upon the world...apparently the fault of the "good guy".  But the main story in this book takes place much later and revolves around the lives and exploits of three young men named Rand, Mat, and Perin...along with three women Egwene, Nynaeve, and Moiraine.  Moiraine is a member of the Aes Sedai, a group of magically endowed people who are connected to the female force.  She has a protector with her, the Warder Lan.  Also with the group is a traveling entertainer, called a "gleeman", named Thom Merrilin. The story flows around the efforts of these to flee evil forces pursuing them, and how the past figures into the present regarding the true historical identities of Rand and his two friends.  The antagonists chasing them are composed of the murderous trollocs, who I suppose are Jordan's version of J.R.R. Tolkien's orcs (only more animal-like) and their leaders the Myrddraal, all who serve the evil lord Ba'alzamon. 

There are parallels between this book and the first book The Fellowship of the Ring in Tolkien's Lord of the Ring series: (1) the fleeing from evil pursuers dominating the narrative, (2) the obsession of Mat about an evil dagger reminiscent of the pull of the Ring on people, (3) a wizard-like protector of the group (Moiraine instead of Gandalf) (4) a brave and mysterious man, Lan, who bears a degree of similarity to ranger Aragorn in the Ring trilogy, and (5) the Shire-like unassuming home town of the heroes, the isolated Emond's Field.  But that having been said, Jordan's story is ultimately distinctively different and plays upon different themes...as well as giving the lord of evil a more active, interactive role in the story. He repeatedly has unpleasant conversations with Rand, Mat, and Perrin through their dreams, continually inviting them to either join him under his authority or be destroyed.  

Without giving away the ending to The Eye of the World, I will just say that it was satisfying in that a complete story was delivered here...while ensuring that future volumes will be needed to clear up mysteries and resolve the ultimate conflict.  Overall, I liked this first book in a long series although it got a little muddled with all of the inevitable new terminology, complicated historical background material, and new "rules of magic" that get put out with any new fantasy series...