Okay, I just finished reading book one of The Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World, and...wow, yes this was easily as good as everyone here has said! I'm repeating what maybe millions of readers have said, but Robert Jordan has (or, had) a unique talent in describing, depicting and presenting every character in such detail and brilliant 'spot on' way that you truly get to know and "see" each one inside and out. I'm not sure how to say it, but it's like he finds these unique 'archetypes of personalities' and then he knows exactly how each character display it in their mannerism, talk, and behavior. The same applies to his depiction of surroundings and enivronments, brilliant.
I'm the type of reader that when I read these stories I sub-conciously try to find 'holes' in the logic or things that don't make sense, inconsistencies, contradictions. However, so far I haven't found any, which means that Jordan must've made good and detailed notes and plans before commencing his writing.
The only parts that I didn't find quite on par with the other parts of the book were these 'battles in higher spheres' type of sections. At least in this first book they appeared a bit too scrambled and filled with all kinds of things, almost like he was trying too hard. From what I've read of other people's reviews, Jordan's writing apparently improves with each book in the series. I just started book 2, so I'm waiting with excitement what it will bring.
As to the story, well...it's as epic as epic gets!
And I really like the core of it, how the wheel turns in eternity, weaves the pattern, there's no beginning and no end. Very close to what I believe is the truth, and what the C's have also told us.
