The Wheel Of Time Turns... || The Eye of The World by Robert Jordan Review (Wheel of Time #1)

[@aaronkhakha3139]

"I am just straight up garbage at imagining how things and people look just from reading descriptions in books." I relate so hard to this that's why I never had a problem with Jordan over-describing the dresses of various cultures

[@Josh2blonde]

I just started my first re-read in ~15 years, so it's awesome to be reading along with an excited new reader like you!

[@Smycoo]

Wow, 15 years! Glad to have you along the ride for your reread!

[@therefep9723]

Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying the series. I'm currently on my first re-read and it's so fun to watch new people discover the series. I completely agree over your take on Egwene too haha. My least favourite (non-evil at least) character in the entire series. I really want to see more of these as you continue the series! I love your theories, I won't spoil anything but I'm surprised at how much you're catching. You're surprisingly close on some stuff and so far off on some others haha. Great review!

[@Smycoo]

Haha I’m glad to see I’m not alone in my hate for Egwene! 😆 Thanks for watching!

[@renegade_101]

I'm doing a re-read myself due to the show. I too was surprised at how close he is on some things and so far off on others. It is sooooo hard not to say something. But I know better than to spoil.

[@PouDaddy]

“If it were me, I would’ve told mat to f**k right off after the first 10 minutes” 🤣 🤣 pure gold, man. Great review.

[@Smycoo]

Haha thanks man!

[@crthunter6234]

Great video, I just finished the series. Can't wait for more.

[@Smycoo]

Thank you!

[@DmGray]

Honestly love when ANYONE gets hooked on reading. It's wonderful to see somebody rediscover the wonder and it always inspires a feeling of shared experience. Absolutely with you on Nynaeve, she was my instant favourite. I *loved* how bitchy she is, how inconsistent she can be and how it's all an obvious mask over her own insecurities at being a young woman thrust into leadership. She built this persona that lets her dominate her elders and wield considerable authority, while masking the pain and fear she feels. While I can't directly relate to that (as I viciously suppress my anger) it makes her such a unique protagonist. I never *hated* Egwene, but Rand is also my boy, so it's difficult not to be frustrated with her at times ^^ Always weirds me out a bit when she's people favourite in book 1. She's "that" girl who always has to be the centre of things and control everyone. No wonder she wants to be an Aes Sedai... but I do like the fact that she's the ONLY one of the EM5 that chooses to go. The boys are forced to go or their families die, Nynaeve just wants her kids back from that monster Moiraine... but Egwene? She wants this :P

[@stevecherney1612]

I’m about half way through this video. I’m with you until the end! Loving everything your saying and how you’re saying it. Now I have to look and see if you have Mistborn videos. Thank you!

[@Smycoo]

Thanks for joining me on the journey! 😄 I have a review up for mistborn era 1 but I don’t think it’s nearly as good as my WoT reviews. It was my first time reviewing something and I wasn’t comfortable with the camera yet. Only reason I haven’t made the video private is how long it took to make… but you’re welcome to check it out.

[@willroache3597]

Hey man, love the videos so far, I am going through your catalogue at the moment and just love to hear your honest review and especially the predictions. I wish I had someone to share this with when I was reading because I remember having so many thoughts I had no idea how to share and its too late for me now but I'm loving this!! Keep going man.

[@Smycoo]

Thank you! 😁 Glad you’re enjoying them!

[@serpent9361]

Oh yeah, I love hearing peoples thoughts on a first read through.

[@paulramen2535]

Welcome to a great ride! The first book, is actually among the weaker of the first six books. They get better and better. Also RJ is a king of foreshadowing and if you pick up on them as early as this, you’re doing great. The series gets to be their own master from book 3 and onward. Happy reading! ( oh and Do try out the audio books with Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, they are excellent as a compliment to the reading)

[@Smycoo]

Thanks! I didn’t even think of the audiobooks, I’ll have to give them a try sometime.

[@michaelmills2691]

Your opinion of this book is the closest I have heard to my own!a lot of people like to crap on this book, even WoT fans, as being one of the lesser books in the series… but The sense of immersion and adventure was something I had never experienced before from a book at the time I first read it. I also did not have many of the same problems others seemed to have with it (pacing, overly descriptive, copies Fellowship too much, etc). I love the way Jordan describes things, it made me feel like I was able to curl up into this world with very little effort. I am excited to watch your other WoT reviews :)

[@Smycoo]

Welcome to the series! You’re in for a long run 😉

[@angelavm84]

Haha I feel you on Egwene;-) You either love or hate her. There are ppl who have her elevated to the greatest character in WoT. For me that is Rand though. Best character arc in any series, ever. Enjoy your journey!

[@matthewhodges7444]

Oh man you're in for a treat. Enjoy!

[@Smycoo]

Thank you! Really loving the series so far, I’ve finished book 3 since recording this.

[@matthewhodges7444]

@@Smycoo i await your video of the next 2 then!

[@Galohide]

Loved the review mate. You are in for a treat with book 2. One of the best.

[@Smycoo]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed! 😁 I’ve actually finished book 3 since recording this and book 2 was definitely a treat to say the least! 😆

[@Galohide]

@@Smycoo 🤣 Then book 4 is a treat

[@AngelReads31]

Great review! I haven't read the wheel of time but I'll definitely be checking it out! :)

[@Smycoo]

Thanks for the kind words as always Angel 😁

[@AngelReads31]

@@Smycoo no problem anytime! Also I totally feel the same about Pokémon a childhood favorite! :) I'm excited for your next upload!

[@johanjarvinen]

While it's more common for men to be strong in Earth and Fire and women to be strong in Air and Water this isn't always the case. Moiraine uses a lot of Earth and Fire in the first book for example. Spirit is equal between the genders. As to Lan reciprocating Nyn's affections, there's definitively hints at it. His respect for her abilities at tracking him in Baerlon (which makes her blush), how he reacts when Moiraine reveals she is a channeler, when they rescue Perrin and Egwene and Moiraine has to tell him off since he's about to shirk everything else to go make sure she's alright (right before she rides in triumphant with the horses). As a general note, Jordan does a very good job of sticking to 3rd person limited. Whatever a character knows or believes reflects how they interpret events. So your guess that Ba'alzamon might be Elan Morin because of how he's dressed is in keeping with this idea, where the reader may have more information than the PoV characters or have cause to interpret the information differently because of meta knowledge we have access to (such as that this is a long series and The Dark One isn't going to be killed off in book 1).

[@Smycoo]

Thanks for such an insightful comment! I forgot about all those moments with Lan 🤦‍♂️ I’ve noticed what you said about the 3rd person limited since finishing EoTW, it definitely makes things more interesting.

[@EuphoricLabyrinth]

Haha during my first read through I didn’t care for any of the Edmonds Field characters. Nynaeve and Mat being equally my least favorite. You said you could see that Nynaeve was just putting on a front, but really does care. Whoa, I didn’t care, all I knew was if I knew her we’d be scrapping regularly. I thought Egwene was going to be my favorite based off the Ravens chapter, but just as everything you mentioned, I didn’t care for her either. 🤷🏽‍♀️ - Wow I just realized you already have reviews on the first fours books, dude it’s been only two weeks. You are zooming through these books, you will definitely be rereading the series. Lol. Everyone wants to know what they missed. But at least I have something to binge, see you in the next video. ✌🏾.

[@Smycoo]

Hasn’t been smooth sailing with Nynaeve. I’ll be ranting about her in my fires of heaven video for sure. Basically went from one of my favourites in the series to my least favourite in that book alone.

[@alananimus9145]

Something to keep in mind is your perception of Egwene is filtered through other characters. Once you get her POV she is a very different character.

[@Smycoo]

Idk I’m almost finished book 4 now and I still can’t stand her. Her personality even after reading from her POV just really bugs me. Maybe I’m just biased after my initial impression. Do you have any insights on her you could share with me for up through the first 4 books that would make me dislike her less?

[@alananimus9145]

@@Smycoo I think I can indeed. The first thing I recommend is to re-read chapter 11 (Leavetaking) in The Eye of The World. This is the one chapter where true Egwene shines past Rand's POV. She is smart intelligent and capable on the level of Sherlock Holmes. The second thing I will point you to is a personal experience almost everyone has. Think of Egwene as that really smart friend that you have who is on average smarter than all of your other friends, but when they are either in the presence of or thinking about someone they are attracted to their IQ drops 50 points. She gets over this later. The last thing I will point to is that almost all of Jordan's characters are "reincarnated souls" from other stories. Moiraine for example is Morgan le Fey, Thom is Merlin, Rand is the Norse god Tyr, Mat is Smeagol (books 1 and 2). Mat is Loki (books 3-14). Perin is Perun. Nynaeve is Nyneve (the Lady of the Lake). Egwene is Gwenivere. The particular version of Gwenivere that Jordan is drawing from is the strong competent version who hides her power level. She is ignorant and aware of the fact that she is ignorant, but she is not stupid and so seeks to overcome her ignorance. Hope that helps.

[@Smycoo]

@@alananimus9145 Hm okay I see where you’re coming from but I don’t think it’ll change my thoughts on her much. As for the “reincarnated souls” thing you mentioned, is that a spoiler for the series or are they just what the characters are based on?

[@alananimus9145]

@@Smycoo not a spoiler for the series but a necessary understanding of the way his world works. The Wheel of Time is a very meta story. The story is science fiction (not fantasy) with the author, the reader and the narrator knowing the story is fiction but the characters not knowing it's fiction. Many of the in world terms (such as Ta'veren) are in world explanations of how the characters understand for story functions. I recommend you give the Lauren Wilson Robert Jordan interview a listen.

[@Smycoo]

@@alananimus9145 Okay I see now. I was actually starting to think it’s sci-fi after reading the shadow rising there was a lot of stuff that pointed to it (unless I misinterpreted some stuff). Thanks for such helpful replies!

[@Jerome616]

You being mad at Egwene was hilarious. Great review man.

[@Smycoo]

Haha thank you! 😆

[@mtandazomoyo7840]

I totally agree with your thoughts on pacing. Speed it up and you get the disastrr that was season 1 of the amazon show.

[@Smycoo]

Jeez, all the comments about the show on my videos are making me want to watch it less and less 🤦‍♂🤣

[@louisity]

This makes me more excited to read The Great Hunt! 😄

[@Smycoo]

I’m glad to hear that!

[@joshp6435]

One of the things that I most like about this first book is that we, as readers, know about the world at the same time as the characters do. I must admit that I had to re-read some parts of the last chapters because I wasn't getting the point of what was happenning, but I completely understand why Robert Jordan decided to do that - Rand isn't aware of what is happenning around him, and we as readers either. It's not until Moraine's explanation when Rand understands that he had absorved the Saidin in the Eye of the World. This part is very confusing but again, Robert Jordan makes the readers understand the world at the same time as Rand does, as what had ocurred along the whole book. I'm about to finish reading book 3 and book 1 has been my least favourite, but I'm sure that I will enjoy book 1 more once I finish all the 15 books and re-read book 1 again.

[@Smycoo]

I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. I hope you enjoy EotW more after your eventual reread. I think it's my favourite of the first three books. It's a toss up between that and TGH. Hope you enjoy book 4! That's my favourite as of finishing book 6 by far!

[@joshp6435]

@@Smycoo I'm about to begin book 4 and, as I have been told, it's probably the most enjoyable among the first part of the whole series. Book 3 is so far my favourite but I don't want to make any spoilers for future books in the comments from this video. The point is, I really enjoyed reading book 1, it's almost a very well written tribute to Tolkien in a good sense. The thing is that book 2 is even more engauging because I already know the characters and loved reading their evolution. And in book 3, their evolution is even greater. I'm looking forward to beginning with book 4.

[@Merecir]

Wonderful fan theories. =D

[@Smycoo]

Thanks! 😁

[@pmoney327]

Loving all your videos man!

[@Smycoo]

Thank you so much for taking the time to watch them! 😁

[@thtadthtshldntbe]

As others have said, but ill be more general, there is no omniscient narrator perspective in the series. So you have to factor in that every single thing you experience is entirely from a characters perspective and experience at the time you read it

[@100Companions]

Great video man, new subscriber here

[@Smycoo]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed 😁

[@raymccrory6493]

I look forward to seeing your opinion of Egwene change! 14 books of character growth-she is my favorite favorite character!

[@Smycoo]

Well I’m almost done book 5 and my thoughts on her haven’t improved much 😅 If Jordan can make me love her by the end of the series then he’ll have done something miraculous!

[@renegade_101]

Welcome to the WOT community. Believe it or not, the first book is actually the least interesting. It only gets better from there. And yes, the first book has a lot of Tokenism. But after that, I feel that he moves beyond that. His world building and character building is second to none. You come to know these characters and can see this world. When you find yourself yelling at a character "you idiot" for doing something stupid, the author did a good job. I an going to subscribe to your channel because I want to follow your WOT journey.

[@Smycoo]

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for joining me on the journey! 😁

[@renegade_101]

@@Smycoo There is only one thing that I want to add that is not spoiler for you that you misunderstood. You referenced people being "servants". In fact Servants is one of the names Aes Sedai were called in the Age of Legends. Remember they said Aes Sedai translates to Servants of All.

[@Smycoo]

@@renegade_101 Yea I realized after reading Moiraine's translation during the Shadow Rising 🤦🏽‍♂️. What I guess about them in my videos still stands though

[@darrow74]

even though mat was the only person I liked really after book 1, I still would of left his ass behind.

[@alananimus9145]

I despise book Mat in the first two books. In book 3 he is enjoyable. In book 4 Mat becomes best boy.

[@Smycoo]

I have 100 pages left of Book 4 at the moment. I can definitely see the best boy potential 😆

[@KaraRoseAlexandra]

I hated Egwene from the Preface chapter 💀

[@Smycoo]

Better intuition than me 😆

[@ChickenBiscuits]

*You may consider this a spoiler but I'm am just using the evidence provided to you in The Eye of The World.* A problem with your Dragon Reborn theory is Rand channeled and Perrin never has. This is a clear indication Rand is the Dragon Reborn as the DR will be a male channeler and the entire ending of the book was showcasing you the reader Rand is the DR.

[@Smycoo]

Yea that’s true. I’ve finished the first three books since recording this but at the time of reading the EoTW I just assumed Perrin and Mat will channel eventually. I came up with another Perrin channeling theory after the great hunt which I’ll explain in my review of that next week 😊

[@ChickenBiscuits]

@@Smycoo Oh okay, nice. Yeah, I don't prove or disprove new reader's theories but when their theory has major problems or is clearly wrong just by all the evidence at their current part of the story, I have to point it out. Book 1 was pretty clear on who is the Dragon Reborn and it wasn't supposed to be a mystery. This is a major flaw in the Amazon adaptation as they decided to make it all mysterious and by doing that they made Rand into a sideline character. They even took away his badass scene at Tarwin's Gap and gave it to other characters. Such a bad adaptation.

[@Smycoo]

Wow they even left out Tarwin’s Gap?! That’s crazy. The more I hear about the show the less inclined I am to even watch it.

[@elfofgreece423]

@@Smycoo The last episode had a lot of pretty major factors working against it that were outside of the producers' control (unable to travel, losing a main actor for unknown reasons and tons of extras due to covid, etc). As a long time fan of the series, the first 7 episodes were strong but the last episode failed because they committed themselves to finishing the season as an ensemble story + the other circumstances.

[@Clairejart]

Egwene pretty much grows out of it by the end of Book 2 I think they are definitely annoying teenagers but they grow 🙃 But the rest continue arguing with Moraine about _. everything _

[@Smycoo]

I’ve actually finished book 3 since recording and I still can’t stand Egwene at all 😂

[@Clairejart]

Haha! I’m in the middle of book 3 now so maybe I’m just too into the story to be annoyed much. Great review ! I look forward to more :)

[@nicolivoldkif9096]

@@Smycoo egwene is a pain till late in the series, then she becomes better.

[@Smycoo]

@@nicolivoldkif9096 I figured she’d be a pain til the end… I’m finding her more tolerable during the fires of heaven so far though.