The last few years I've heard a lot about the Wheel of Time series, both good and bad. The word on the street is the series starts out well but that the quality starts to slip around the 6th book or so. This concern has always held me back, but recently I decided to give the series a chance. And I'm glad that I did.
The series has a pretty interesting premise that I haven't really seen in other fantasy novels. I really like the idea of a Wheel of Time where time is cyclical and consists of repeating ages. I know this draws alot from religions like Buddhism and I don't think that's something that you see very often in Fantasy.
The story opens up with a prologue that follows a man known as the Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon. The Dragon is the Wheel's response to the Dark One. The Dark One is sealed away at creation, but he is continuously trying to escape from his prison. Lews Therin manages to defeat the Dark One and seal him away, but in the process he is drawn mad. He and all the other channelers go crazy, kill a bunch of people and generally cause lots of chaos. It takes the world a while to recover, but the Dragon will one day be reborn. The female channelers don't go crazy and are part of a order called the Aes Sedai. That's kind of the premise of the story and gives you a good feel of what the series will be about.
The story follows three young guys from a small out of the way village and they somehow get caught up in this battle between good and evil. Some may think that the "farmboy who ends up having an important destiny" idea is kind of played out, but I've always been a fan. A big part of the Eye of the World involves the characters trying to escape the forces of the Dark One. There is a little bit of a Lord of the Rings feel to it.
Overall I enjoyed the book quite a bit. I've always liked the idea of an eternal battle between good and evil and that is something that you definitely get here. There is a lot of stuff going on about the idea of fate and free will. I'm currently working on the third book and I look forward to getting through the series.
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