Spoilers for the Wheel of Time, for the first book the Eye of the World.

Hello, everyone. You stumbled upon one of my wordy texts, thoughts I put down instead of letting them run around endlessly in my head. This article goes over several points about the Eye of the World book, without a particular goal and without being a review. I mention it here and there, but all of this is subjective and my point of view. Enjoy reading and please share your thoughts afterward. Cheers.

Reread context

This is simply to set up context, skip to the next section if you want.

I finished rereading the Eye of the World a few days ago, mostly to have it clear in mind for writing about the show. I wanted to read books 2 and 3 immediately too, but it takes me a lot of time. Here and now, I will focus on the first book exclusively, I will not mention the show and I will keep references to later content to the absolute minimum. Spoilers should be limited to EotW, however I know the whole story and may allude to stuff one way or another. Best to turn away now if you want to avoid anything resembling a spoiler to the Wheel of Time beyond the first book, although I did force myself to remove anything remotely revealing.

For context, I started reading the Wheel of Time almost twenty years ago and it's certainly one of the most important thing in my life. I am not in the "I read it 50 times" crowd though, I reread once from book 1 to 7 as far as I can remember, and I certainly reread 12 to 14 once or twice, and I endlessly go through a few chapters here and there (there is a complicated calculation in there that says I read it 50 times). This might be something like my third or fifth read of EotW. I read it last probably 6 years ago, or more, time and memory being weird concepts and all.

EotW was never my favorite book in the series, and it's not closer today. It fits weirdly with the rest. In my mind, there are three ways you could cut WoT: just book 1, books 1 to 3, and all books. It feels that it was started with a smaller scope, or with limitations on what could be done, and it was actually written like that to a degree, as far as I know. As a result, the first three books, and EotW in particular, don't have exactly the same feel to them as the rest, as well as many things that simply fade away. This isn't uncommon, it's very hard to write a huge series of books and stay coherent all the way through, or necessary really, but EotW still feels particularly guilty of that, and has its reputation.

Anyway, what follows are thoughts about the Eye of the World book, the good and the bad, from the point of view of someone already quite familiar with the Wheel of Time. This is not a review or an argument toward some point. I love the Wheel of Time, to death. And as you can see, I like to ramble.

A beginning

Let's start in Emond's Field, as I am quite torn about the first chapters.

On one hand it's the "happy village setup" which I usually dislike or at least get bored by, with Tam as the wise one, Bran as the mayor and the innkeeper, just doing his job, Ewin as the dumb kid, Mat as the prankster, Wit Congar as the grumpy one, etc. Plus it introduces the characters one after the other like they are waiting in line: here is Rand, here is Mat, here is Perrin, here is Egwene, here is Nynaeve, here is Moiraine, here is Lan, here is Padan Fain, here is Thom... chapters 2 through 4 are named "Strangers", "The Peddler" and "The Gleeman".

On the other hand, well I found it entertaining and heart-warming, if only because I know what happens. There are also many good bits in there, in particular I like how the kids behave about the black rider: they are scared and believe they will be called crazy, but they also don't hide it and agree to tell the adults, then once Rand tells Tam, we learn the village is already aware and very much serious about the issue, having decided to set up patrols. Good Two Rivers people are not about to be surprised by enemies coming here, even if they are a remote and peaceful village, and have been for centuries.

I expected the introduction to last for a good bit, but winternight actually happens quite early. Still, we stay in the Two Rivers for a little longer so in the end we leave home by page 150.

EotW chapter 4

There was nothing the black-cloaked horseman could do that the people of Emond’s Field could not handle together.

The Caemlyn road

Something I dreaded a little was Mat, because so many people say he is horrible early on, and while Mat is up there in my favorite characters, I did not have much recollection of what he is like in EotW. So it was a surprise that following Rand and Mat along the Caemlyn road was probably my favorite part in the whole book.

Mat does act suspicious of everyone, very visibly, causing him to often appear as half a character who Rand takes along for the ride. Yet both Rand and Mat, as well as the events around them, fit into the whole situation they found themselves into: two teenage boys, on their own in foreign places, hunted every minute by monsters and invisible enemies, with no resources and inadequate skills. The fact that they even get away at all is thanks to a few kind strangers, to them being sturdy boys from the Two Rivers, to a good deal of luck from Mat and to some divine intervention from Rand. I felt way more compassionate toward Mat than annoyed, and was amazed at how Rand keeps them alive, as he stays steady and trustworthy to the end.

Quickly you get in their mental state and you suspect every single person to be a darkfriend. As it turns out, they encounter many. Mention to the dumb teenager pestering them in one inn, and to the lady who happens to find them in the stable and pretends to be helpful. Both Mat and Rand are actually going mad at this point, between exhaustion, stress, the dagger and channeling Saidin. Later, Moiraine suggests the dagger acted as a beacon to darkfriends around them, truly making their journey actually walking through hordes of enemies.

The best part of these chapters was how Rand and Mat help and trust each other. Rand does a lot, yes, because Mat is getting plagued by the dagger, however both of them are there for their friend when things get really hard. Rand guides Mat and covers for him when he is blinded for days following Rand calling down lighting, and afterward it's Mat who defends Rand and keeps watch when he is sick.

Not remembering details, I was tense the whole way to Caemlyn, expecting bad encounter after bad encounter, or a Fade to suddenly turn up. And it lasts for a good while! When they finally arrive at Caemlyn, Rand basically collapses from exhaustion and simply has to trust Master Gill and Loial, and tell them everything, praying he is finally getting some help.

EotW chapter 33

Rand led him by the hand, but Mat still felt out each step uncertainly. Worry creased Rand’s forehead. If Mat did not regain his sight, they would be slowed to a crawl. They would never get away.

Mat seemed to sense his thought. Despite the hood of his cloak, the rain had plastered Mat’s hair across his face. “Rand,” he said, “you won’t leave me, will you? If I can’t keep up?” His voice quavered.

“I won’t leave you.” Rand tightened his grip on his friend’s hand. “I won’t leave you no matter what.” Light help us!

Egwene

I have known Egwene to be a controversial character, one day loved, the other hated, but overall I enjoy her character even if I am not a fan.

Egwene in EotW is insufferable. She acts childish, arrogant, condescending. It's her character though, so it's one of those "I can't stand her but she's okay" opinion. Notably, Egwene contrasts with all the other characters because she acts like she is going on an adventure, like the protagonist in a novel, while everyone else is terrified and wants nothing but to be left alone.

Egwene takes charge during the flight from the Two Rivers, even gets bossy, because she is the woman and it's her role, in that she is imitating Nynaeve and even Moiraine, yet she is largely unaware of what is going on, not having been privy to Moiraine discussions with the boys. Her personality is apparent there, but does not shine just yet. Amusingly, once alone with Perrin and Elyas, she lets Perrin take charge, while also staying authoritative about them taking turns riding, to keep some measure of control. With the Tuatha'an, she enjoys herself and flirts with Aram, while Perrin struggles with his connection with the wolves, with them still being hunted and surrounded by enemies, and with being unaware if their friends are even alive.

Fleeing from Baerlon, and later with Perrin and Elyas, Egwene does finally gets terrified, and more in line with what's expected given the gravity of their situation. Over the book, she oscillates between cheerful, bossy and terrified, to the point of feeling disconnected of reality and without a good head on her shoulders.

The fact that she also happens to be the jealous not-actually-his-girlfriend with Rand, and the eager apprentice to Moiraine, does not help her. As for her relationship with Perrin, I will just say there are some noteworthy lines in there.

EotW chapter 17

Rand held Egwene’s bundle, handing it up to her when she was on Bela’s back. She looked back at him with wide, fear-filled eyes. At least she doesn’t think it’s an adventure anymore.

Wolves and ravens

I had no memory of the flight while keeping out of sight of ravens. And it was haunting. Less captivating to me than the Caemlyn road or the Ways in that category, but quite amazing still.

Perrin's chapters, and Egwene's by extension, generally are not the best, notably the part with the Tuatha'an reads awkwardly, like the Wheel of Time suddenly indulges too much into what would be the stereotypical fantasy story. The part with the ravens is the high point, yet it still does not hit quite the mark, because you wonder how the hell so many birds could miss them, and personally my imagination fails on how to picture birds tearing apart a large animal (and I feel lucky: no need to link media, my life is just fine with my existing phobias).

While the ravens themselves, and the whitecloaks afterward, don't really feel like a worrisome threat, the ominous feeling that lingers, the mad flight Elyas pushes them on, and Perrin having to deal with the wolf connection in the middle of that, all that still puts you on edge. It feels like this final exhaustion point where the character is like "I'm done, kill me, because I won't make another step." and yet they keep on going. Perrin also contrasts somewhat with what we see later of Rand and Mat, as he is thinking about violence, and struggling with what is happening. The way he wonders if he should kill Egwene, as a mercy, is chilling.

EotW chapter 29

Perrin looked at Egwene again and blinked away hot tears. He touched his axe and wondered if he had the courage. In the last minutes, when the ravens descended on them, when all hope was gone, would he have the courage to spare her the death the fox had died? Light make me strong!

The Ways

As a kid, after I saw the first LotR movie, I could not bring myself to continue reading the book, I was at the part in the Moria and I was completely terrified. Now, as a grown man, let's say that when I was reading the chapters in the Ways in my bed, I almost put the book down because I was sure I would have nightmares.

Going into the Ways, the group returns to the earlier state of constant apprehension about hidden enemies, after the short respite in Caemlyn. It starts off with some cheerful discussion, as the Ways is apparently the place to have teenage romance drama and the characters joke about Min and Rand, then Aram and Egwene. Then, step by step, worry, fear and tension build up. There is no enemy however, only signs, of a follower and of Trollocs, and the overwhelming, omnipresent, terrifying darkness.

The Ways are a maze with all the worst fears: vertigo, getting lost forever, the blackest darkness, turning mad from the taint or the wind, stumbling on Trollocs or Fades or something worse, and the whole place is decaying around you. Once you notice the wind, it's time to leave, and fast.

EotW chapter 45

Suddenly he blinked. “Loial, didn’t you say there isn’t any wind in the Ways?”

The atmosphere

I strongly dislike and avoid horror stuff, more out of taste than fear (although I would probably still be terrified). I never remembered Wheel of Time as particularly filled with horror, just with a dark tone. Yet I wrote several sections about horror elements, so there is definitely some to be found in EotW, and I haven't covered winternight with Rand fleeing while carrying his father, or Shadar Logoth where our characters are suddenly each by themself in a cursed city filled with monsters. The heroes, Rand specifically but really everyone, are constantly on the run, exhausted, alone, wary, and for most of them unprepared. There is this constant atmosphere of danger and horror. And I loved it.

Beyond fear, there are several instances of hard reality coming to hit you. In the beginning, it is hinted that Lan may have to kill Thom if he cannot come with them. Then Egwene switching from cheerful to terrified. Then Perrin wondering about needing to kill Egwene. Then Rand and Mat being doomed and exhausted, Mat specifically fearing Rand could abandon him. By the way, this reinforces my feeling that you should be able to create and sustain tension and an oppressive atmosphere without relying on character deaths.

At the same time, there are lighter parts, which often read like teenage stuff caricature. Everything about Egwene, about the three boys in how they act and think, about the part with Elayne. Then you add what I would call the classical fantasy storytelling, wizards with staffs and undefined magic, monsters and fantastical creatures, teenagers being heroes, awkward romance and cheesy behavior, treasures and long lost wonders, etc.

I understand this second kind of tone, and it was not unexpected, nor should it have been surprising considering EotW is from a time of classical fantasy. I don't even mind particularly, yet having it next to the horror parts, there is something jarring in there. Obviously, a story should not be all dark of all happy, I actually consider a major plus that a tale attempts to juggle the two, and does it with rightness. EotW, however, does not quite hit the mark on that point for me.

One point that can illustrate this wrongness of tone is Moiraine. She is all knowing all the time, to the point of being annoying. She acts like the stereotypical old wizard would, but at the same time it's not who she is, so it kind of comes off as arrogance in the end, yet she never gets brought back down to earth. Like you are in a horror story but it's actually a video game with the road being highlighted and you have an invincibility shield.

EotW chapter 45

I wish I knew as much about women as Perrin.

The Dragon and the One Power

That is a section to expand for the show, but I have to say that while there is some mentions of the Dragon early on, overall there is very little information about him and about the One Power. This fits with my memories, that we spend a good while with limited knowledge and no certainties of anything. Unfortunately, the story kind of robs you of some of its impact, because while the general atmosphere is ominous and mysterious, it also follows a clear path and uses conventions aplenty, the genre tropes and the LotR formula really. Then again, it is hard to tell when you already know the rest of the story, and decades after the book was written.

Some quick stats: the term "Dragon" appears 155 times in EotW, "Dragon Reborn" 14 times, the "One Power" 68 times, "Saidar" 9 times, "Saidin" 22 times, "channel" 24 times. For comparison, in Lord of Chaos, "Dragon" appears 420 times, "Dragon Reborn" 159 times, the "One Power" 59 times, "Saidar" 118 times, "Saidin" 121 times, "channel" 302 times. Some of that is from the glossary, so low numbers are even lower. EotW is 751 pages long, LoC 1036.

The words "Dragon Reborn" really only appears 6 times in EotW! Half the "Dragon" references are in the first 200 pages, the other half are about Logain, mostly calling him the False Dragon, on the road to and inside Caemlyn. It is sometimes gone for a hundred pages. What I want to illustrate here is that visible and clear references, with explanations, to the Dragon and to channeling in general are quite meager at that point, and it is not completely without reasons: lack of time and opportunity, no immediate need or relevance to the storyline, limited points of views, keeping long exposition for later.

EotW chapter 3

“What kind of need would be great enough that we’d want the Dragon to save us from it?” Rand mused. “As well ask for help from the Dark One.”

An ending

The EotW ending has a reputation, yet I was eager to get to it. I was surprised to notice the progression of the story compared to the percentage of the book I had read: they get to Shadar Logoth at 35%, to Caemlyn at 65% and they leave at 80%. Time to rush to the end real fast!

The book had been fine until this point, not always awesome, sometimes boring, but also powerful and mysterious and fun. Then it gets strange. Not bad, and not exactly strange per se, yet off-putting when you know the universe already. For some story reason, they now have the Eye of the World as their objective, and obviously it is in the Blight, the worst place to go.

I don't think I can get into the specifics of this one without going into spoilers. There's definitely stuff that makes you wonder what the hell is going on. Honestly, most of it might be explained by Rand being the narrator and being clueless, so for example he gives descriptions however he can. The whole thing is still weird and fails to really fit with the overall storytelling, in my opinion at least.

EotW chapter 52

“What happened?” Moiraine said. “Tell me everything!”

Afterword

I will say EotW is decent and a good enough read by itself. It has its high points and low points. Some of the stuff I skipped here but that I loved were the prologue, Lan and Nynaeve, Rand when he is in Caemlyn's palace (however cheesy that was). I was surprised of how much I liked Rand and Mat going to Caemlyn, and the Ways, of how I had forgot about whole parts, and of how depressing and horrifying it got that early. While I had a hard time getting motivated to read for maybe the first half, I quickly devoured the later half.

And, now I can write some more to dig deeper into tens of topics!

Thanks for reading. Cheers.