The Eye of the World (1990) is the first in a 16 (!) book series by Robert Jordan. He said he envisioned it a sextology, but things clearly got a little out of hand. It’s easy to see why: not only is the world richly realized, but the premise is one that encourages a sprawling, cyclical set of narratives: since creation, there has been an ongoing struggle between the forces of light and darkness, resulting in an ongoing pattern of near-destruction and near-salvation across ages so vast as to practically speaking be entirely different worlds.
It’s classic swords & sorcery stuff: a hero with mysterious parentage, two friends with their own parts to play, a set of travelling companions that include an inscrutable magician and her even-more-inscrutable protector-king, all arrayed against ghouls and trolls and demons and, at the core of it all, the dark one himself.
There are some nice touches: a Romany troop that combines a semi-Buddhist ideology with gypsy leanings and a search for a single song that will transform the world; a race of anti-trolls with tufted ears that search for ancient forests; a well thought out, gendered, system of magic that portends well for the rest of the series.
The book is engrossing, and a page-turner, and if the ending feels a bit rushed, tying up too many loose strands with a single moment, it’s an enjoyable ride. Whether you’re up for the other 15 volumes is a matter of personal taste: I am unsure, personally, as Jordan’s world seems to hover on the edge of providing enough innovation and surprises. Still, he’s a skilled writer, and I never felt like abandoning the quest, even if its overall contours were well expected.
One more note: I was surprised this book was published in 1990. There is something that feels older than that about it, as if it were spawn from a time when editing of genre books–especially fantasy and science fiction–was much less intense than it is now. A single chapter jumps around oddly in time, one character’s looming transformation is foreshadowed again and again in the same way, etc. Oddly, for me at least, this was endearing: this is not a slickly packaged creation by someone trying to emulate George R.R. Martin; it’s an original attempt at creation that walks along similar, yet personal, paths.
#WhatIWishICouldDo
Be this comfortable in genre. Calling something derivative is usually seen as an insult, but Jordan’s world is more a re-assemblage of his view of the world, contemporary myths, and a liberal dash of Tolkien. Doing that with enough skill that a reader is engaged takes an a lot of craft, and I think that using familiar tropes to introduce new combinations of characters and plot is a highly successful strategy. And, one I can’t seem to do very well.