Tyler Thomas

As with most first novels in epic fantasy, this book was pretty slow at until the last 20% or so. Still, I knew this going in and I'm excited to continue this series exploring the world and the characters. Many of the characters didn't stand out to me except for the main ones so I'm much more interested in Simon's part of the story than the political intrigue bits between the nations of Osten Ard. Simon is a boy of 15 and he acts like it throughout the story. I loved watching him experiencing this journey and adventure that was thrust upon him which heavily mirrors the quest that Frodo must embark on and also Rand from the Wheel of Time which came after this book was published.

Great novel and setup for this world and story. It looses some stars because it was a bit too slow and the ending was good but not earth shattering.

Enjoyed rereading this book as an adult and it is just as good as I remember. The themes of government dictatorship, freedom, and liberty still ring true today, maybe even more so than they did in 2008. Highly recommend and I look forward to rereading the rest of the books in the series including the newly released prequel novel about the beginnings of President Snow.

I will plan to do a video review on my YouTube channel soon! - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq9v4MKGNcFNZaeVMtH3bjw

I am taking some time to think about this book after finishing it write something more thoughtful about it. For now, I will say the book is good but doesn't live up to my expectations mainly because of pacing during the beginning of Parts 2 and 3. In these sections, it felt like there wasn't much purpose to the plot.

Enjoyed this book so much more than Prince Caspian. Voyage of the Dawn Treader had adventure throughout and Prince Caspian felt like a prologue that never got to the actual story. This is definitely on par with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe although still not as good as that first book.

Also, for anyone curious, I'm reading these in the order of publication, not chronologically so the next book Jack and I will be reading is The Silver Chair, followed by The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and, finally, The Last Battle.

Podcast Episodes on The Eye of the World
Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zRqpaG5ybE
Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7RiLaNpqzQ
Part 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qcjtbi_S9Y

Short Review
I think this is a good opening to the world of The Wheel of Time. It is a pretty slow and plodding book. It's like Robert Jordan is going somewhere with the story and characters but he isn't in a hurry to get there.

This isn't to say that it's a bad book but just be prepared for what you're getting into when you start the wheel of time. There will be long stretches of the book with no action. Instead, Robert Jordan is putting us in this world and just exploring it as the characters visit different places and meet new characters.

If you love slow-moving, worldbuilding, epic fantasy, then this is definitely the book/series for you. If you love fast-paced, action, fantasy, then you'll probably not have a good time with this first book of the series.