The esteemed reviewer that wrote the review titled "Danger, Danger, Danger" has summed it up very well. The first few books are very good... then not so much. Add to that the fact that there are 11 (yes, 11) of these tomes released to date, and the story line is still in a complex shambles with little sign of ending, and you have a sad continuation of a series that started with excellent potential.

And another thing (pet peeve time) what is up with the cover art on these books?!? Could they possibly have picked worse artwork? It's horrible... HORRIBLE...

Anyway, I gave this book 2 stars, +4 for the first few books, -2 for the rest. Start this series knowing that the first 4 or so books are very good, then you should move on and read Wiki for the plot summaries on the rest. You'll save yourself weeks of wasted time to read more worthy books.

This saga breaks most of the stereotypes in the fantasy genre. You can't tell from the first half of book 1, though. Just get through it ... the Tolkienesque elements will go away and the characters will develop interesting personalities. It becomes a page-turner by the end. The second book is much better.

Maybe I was a little poisoned by reading too many reviews before diving into this series, but I became weary of the Wheel of Time cycle by the second book.

However, this first book is really exceptional for being pulpy fantasy. The prose is pleasing and there is a sense of purpose to the plot and the comings and going of the characters. I just wish it were a one-off story and had more than a nebulous conclusion, because after this it starts to go exactly nowhere.

Rand, Matrim, and Perrin, three young boys from the small village of Edmond's Field find that they are being watched by a strange man on a black horse. Shortly after this realization, they are attacked by Trollocs. Two mysterious strangers then tell them that they have to leave to keep everyone around them safe. They leave that night with two people, Thom Merrilin and Egwene. The boys find that they are pieces of the 'Pattern' and it becomes increasingly hard for them to find trustworthy people around them. Every step of the way they are followed closely by the Dark One's minions and the Dark One himself even stalks their dreams.
The first book in the Wheel of Time series is in my opinion one of the best. I won't say that it is the best around or even the best in its time, because it's most definitely not. It's easily comparable with different fantasy novels I've seen before. Jordan even admits that he was aiming for a J.R.R. Tolkien 'Shire' feel to the first few chapters of this book. All in all, I think this book isn't for most people, it can be a quite difficult read.
The first and foremost of the problems I have with this book is the never-ending description. It seems to keep going on and on. With some writing, long descriptions can be good, but for some reason, it seemed he was just droning on and I found no entertainment in it. I enjoy description, but this was overboard.
The second problem I have with this is its resemblance to so many other fantasy novels. An unsuspecting common person finds that he's wanted by an evil man, learns that hes the savior of the world, and so on and so forth. I only see a few differences separating this book and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Lastly, every single character is a walking cliche. As I said before, this book is almost identical to Lord of the Rings. As a matter of fact, I would have to say the only thing that isn't a cliche in this book is that the savior isn't accepted by the ones he's come to be said savior for.
So, this book is the best of the series that I have read thus far, but it is most definitely not as great as the literary world has made it out to be. Jordan has taken the ideas of Tolkien, switched around a few names, events, and places to create his own book. How he can still be carrying on his series is amazing to me. The only thing more amazing; that people are still buying it.

I won't call myself a huge fantasy fan, although I have read the first two Sword of Truth books, Harry Potter, and the first two and a half Tolkien books. My roommate is a huge fan of the Wheel of Time books and suggested I start reading them. I started Eye of the World in September and only just finished it about three days ago. I attribute the slow progress partially to being busy with school and a job, but I also feel like I would have been done sooner if I had enjoyed the book more.

I've just finished reading a bunch of the negative reviews and I'm sorry to say I agree with them. This book does have in common with Lord of the Rings the prose and long descriptions of setting, which I suppose can be either good or bad depending on if you like that sort of thing. I tried reading Tolkien and just couldn't take it anymore by the time I was halfway through The Two Towers. I found myself feeling the same way with Eye of the World. Parts of it were good and interesting enough (when dialogue was going on), but other parts I had a hard time getting through because the description just seemed to drag on.

I'm not going to keep reading the series, and I only finished the first book because I hate leaving things unfinished. But for my own sanity I'm not going to keep treading through the ten other books just for the sake of finishing something I've started. For those who are fans of Jordan's writing, fine. I don't think it's my cup of tea. If you don't like tons of description, maybe it's not your either.