Robert Jordan
Orbit
1991
Introduction
I first read The Wheel of Time (whatever was published at that point) when I was thirteen. I cannot remember my initial reaction to Robert Jordan, but I had obviously loved the series enough to read all the books in the series published and continued reading the next couple of books the moment it could hit the shelves at the local library. (Again, I wonder how I lived through a time where instant self-gratification was not made possible by Amazon.com or better yet, Fictionwise.com.) Somewhere along the few thousands pages I must have gotten tired of waiting for the next book and stopped following the series. Well, I am back – 13 years after that first introduction:
The Eye of the World is the first book in the Wheel of Time series. Any reader of the fantasy genre will find it difficult not to have at least picked up this book, considering the mark the series has made on the sub-genre of “epic fantasy”. I cannot decide whether The Wheel of Time is longer than Stephen Erikson’s Book of the Malazan, but it is certainly one of the longest running fantasy series. Jordan had a good eye for detail, which results not only in an intricate (read: long and at times, convoluted) plot, but also a long list of characters, each with their distinct personality traits and quirks. If he wrote with a heavy hand at times, treating readers as though they were two steps behind and he needed to drag them up to speed, he was quickly forgiven for his pacing of the plot was brilliantly designed to keep the reader constantly turning the pages (in the initial few books at least.)
The storyline in this instalment is easy enough to follow – which will probably not be the case by Book Ten. The Darklord is loosed and he is on the hunt for one special lad, the reincarnation of the Dragon, to serve his nefarious purposes (what else, but to take over the world, I imagine). His spies have narrowed it down to three lads in a quiet, unimpressive village in Two Rivers: Rand, Mat and Perrin. When he sent his army of Trollocs and Fades after them, the three lads were forced to flee with the aid and protection of Aes Sedai Morriane and her Warder Lan [1]. Through many trials and tribulations the three came to a face-down with the Darklord in the forsaken Blight, just where the Eye of World was located.
[Note 1: The Aes Sedai were members of an order of female mages, who could tap on the One Power (One Source) – the male Aes Sedai were either “tamed” or imprisoned by the females, because the male half of the One Power was tainted, driving anyone who tapped on it into insanity and usually in the process causing great harm to the people around them. The Warders serve as the personal security detail of these female Aes Sedai.]
Review
In my re-reading this time around, now that I am a lot more familiar with fantasy and have become an avid fan of the genre, I was very much struck by the similarities between LOTR and the Eye of the World, particularly in the casting of the villains and male characters. (Jordan would not have been able to base his female characters on Tolkien’s material, seeing how little Tolkien pays attention to the females, relative to the males.) There are so many areas where I can see the overlay of Tolkien’s influence that I was actually uncomfortable -where do you draw the line between plagiarism and artistic influence- but here are some of the ways:
· Two Rivers was basically a human version of the Shire, with the three lads pretty much like the Hobbits, with Mat, especially, channelling Pippin.
· The Trollocs who attacked the village, and became the primary hunters for the boys were very much like the orcs. They were commanded by the Fades/ Myrddraals, whose description could have well described the Wraiths/ Nazgul.
· In their journey to refuge – which is a place of learning and the home of the Aes Sedai (channelling Imladris, anyone?), they had to evade the ravens, acting as spies to the Dark Lord, which is not too unlike the crebain in LOTR.
· Lan was pretty much like Aragorn – and any more that I say on this accord will become spoilers. Though good lord, he hunted on the borderlands, was taught his battle arts through the forsaken Blight. Dunedain, rangers? Sigh.
· Loial the Ogeir, a tree-loving, knowledge loving, long-living race of creatures not too unlike the Trollocs in appearance. I would have said elves, but I think here, the racial traits were imported but not personality and physical traits. The descriptions of an Ogier council was highly similar to the description of an Entmoot to boot.
· Carrying an object given by one of the Darklord’s caused one of the characters to become withdrawn, suspicious, paranoid even, and increasingly losing his personality entirely because of the taint of evil that insidiously take control of the bearer and become pretty much a tracking device for the creatures of the dark. Does this sound familiar?
· Encountering an old evil creature, while taking a short cut that is rather like a mine full of tunnels and bridges... I shall not dwell on this.
Similarities aside, Jordan does have the enviable ability to give equal treatment to both his female and male characters, a skill that is relatively rare in the genre. The created society appears to lean more towards a matriarchy but the lead characters thus far are male. The book also does pace a tad better (alright, fine *grumbles* much better) than the Lord of the Rings. At this point the plot is not quite that intricate and one barely has to think as we flip from page to page to catch up with the lads making quick their escape from one Darkfriend after another. Plot wise, my chief complaint is that the incorporeal Dark Lord was a tad too much of a caricature and partly as a result, the ending, particularly the final show-down, came across as a rush job and anti-climatic. Nonetheless, I am giving it the benefit of doubt because it is after all only setting the stage for the long journey.
If I do have a complaint on the writing style besides the author occasionally stating to obvious just to make sure you can really see the dramatic irony or you can notice the foreshadowing, it is in the poetry. When Jordan writes songs, usually pub material, it is not too terrible, but poetry in terms in terms of prophesies and formalities on the other hand was terrible. Case in point: “The rose petal floats on water. The kingfisher flashes above the pond. Life and beauty swirl in the midst of death.” – honestly?! (I suspect that Jordan did draw some inspiration from Eastern mysticism when characterising Lan.)
Final verdict
I can see why, as a teenager, I was taken by this fantasy series. It is somewhat of a coming-of-age fantasy series, with substantial coverage of the growth of each of the characters, and the premise of the series is easy enough to grasp. This is still a good introduction to epic fantasy, particularly for readers who still have time to spare (working adults beware), but over the years, I have come to appreciate the more convoluted and mind-boggling plots, especially in the political tussles, the ethical/physical dilemmas in the utilisation of magic, the discourse on societal structures, etc. For those who are looking for fantasy, Robert Jordan is great; for those looking for heavier fare, consider picking up George R R Martin and Jennifer Fallon.
Rating
3.5/5
0 comments:
Post a Comment