Author: Robert Jordan
Published: 1990
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: The Wheel of Time #1
814 pages (mass market paperback)
Summary: Rand al’Thor is a young sheepherder living with his only family, his father, on a farm on the outskirts of the town of Two Rivers. The night before Bel Tine, a festival to celebrate the coming of spring, Rand — along with his two friends Mat and Perrin — find themselves the targets of an attack by Trollocs, large beast like creatures. Thankfully most of the town is saved thanks to two mysterious strangers, Moiraine, an Aes Sedai, and Lan, her Warder. Moiraine and Lan explain to Rand, Mat and Perrin that they cannot stay in the Two Rivers as it would endanger all the villagers, given that this was a planned and targeted attack. Moiraine insists that they travel with her to the Aes Sedai city of Tar Valon where they can be protected. Moiraine explains that the Dark One wants to use the boys for his own purposes, though why and for what, the boys do not understand.
My Thoughts: Wow, what an adventure it was to read this book! My boyfriend bought this book ages ago upon recommendation by a friend but he never got around to reading it and lent it to me to read. I had zero idea as to what the story was about when I started (‘Oh, a book for me?!’), besides understanding that it’s sort of Lord of the Rings-ish in fantasy level. The story starts off simply, with Rand, Mat (who I love) and Perrin, simple farm boys who don’t know anything about the world beyond their small town. And on the surface, the plot also appears simple — the characters embark on a journey to reach a certain destination. But it is definitely not a simple story at all, far from it. The story twists itself and branches off in several directions, and by the end of the novel, you realize that what felt like a thrilling epic journey was actually just the beginnings of one. It was such a great read and it sort of stuns me that this was just a beginning. There are a total of twelve books in the series (14, if you consider the fact that the last book is split into three volumes).
I’m in awe not just with the book but the whole world it takes place in. It’s unfortunate I can’t divulge more information about the plot because then I’d just be giving too much away. The world is richly described, the characters are great — I am particularly fond of Mat because I like the trouble-maker, funny guy kind of characters, and Lan, because I also happen to like guys with giant swords (hahaha!). I’m just so amazed that a story that started so simple could end so deep and complicated (seriously, I am doing my very best not to blurt out the various twists and “Omg I did not see that coming!”‘s. Gawd, I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out sooner, I’m usually pretty good at predicting plots!) I was completely drawn into the world.
It may be difficult to wrap your head around at first. The writing is beautiful and not overly complicated, so it’s not hard to understand, but there are a lot of terms in the story that aren’t explained, that must be figured out by the reader. Lots of mentions of the Forsaken, Myrrdraal, Ajah, etc. You’ll figure out what all of these mean eventually, but there’s a nice glossary at the back of the book in case you’re simply too curious or forget. The book is quite descriptive, it describes the journey in great detail — and sometimes, this was a bit burdening to the reader, it stirred a little boredom in me from time to time to read long, long paragraphs that describe a particular scene, and parts of the story where the characters’ journey isn’t particularly action-packed or thrilling in any way made me feel as exhausted as the travelers (thankfully, such moments aren’t common).
But overall, this was an amazing book. I could probably continue rambling about it, but I don’t want to give away spoilers. If you are a fan of high fantasy, you definitely must read this series. I will certainly be returning the book to my boyfriend to force him to read it, haha! I found out afterwards, when I finished the book, that they are even planning a movie for 2011! (I, for one, am usually excited about books turning into movies even if they turn out horribly, hahaha). No doubt I am going to hunt down the rest of the series!!
My Rating: 4/5
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