About five years ago, a good friend of mine recommended reading the first novel in a series by an author I'd seen a lot of but never read. The author's name, Robert Jordan and the book, "The Eye of the World." Excited to get into the meat of what I'd been told was, and promised to be, a very in-depth and enjoyable series, it only took a few dozen pages for me to realize that I had absolutely no patience with this story line. So, it was with much sadness that I put the book down and proceeded to pick up and read a couple books by Melanie Rawn.

Then, only a few months ago, my brother-in-law, Michael, encouraged me to pick the book up again; he provided me with a mint copy and instructed me that if I could get past a certain number of pages, the story line would pick up sufficiently to get me through the "dulldrums" that nearly every book has. So, dubiously, I agreed to give it a shot, having read the most recent book by my favorite fantasy author, the aforementioned Melanie Rawn, in hardback. It didn't look like Ms. Rawn would be releasing anything in the near future, so I hunkered down and began what I was hoping would not be a laborious process.

As I tried to get through the same initial pages I'd read years earlier, I had to consciously keep Michael's advice, and similar advice from other friends, forefront in my mind. At this time, I am more than pleased to say that I have become completely addicted to this series! I don=t know whether it=s because of the growing up I did in between reading phases, but as I sat there for many nights on the couch, neglecting my wife an child, the struggles of the characters within this book and the twists and turns of the plot had me continually guessing about the inevitable climax. When the story ending hit, I was ready for it. But not because of boredom, but because I had spent so many hours experiencing the things these characters had gone through, that I desperately wanted the immediate conflict to be over! (Of course, I knew it was a series, so there wasn=t any possibility the complete conflict would be resolved.)

In a nutshell, if you're interested in picking up a good fantasy series with a lot of integrity and honesty in both the writing and characters, I highly recommend that you read Robert Jordan's "Eye of the World," the first book in the Wheel of Time series. But don't get down on yourself if it takes you a time or two to get through it. Sometimes, the second time around is infinitely better than the first.

Now, you'd think that someone who so thoroughly enjoyed the last two-thirds of a book, the way I enjoyed, "Eye of the World" would of course look forward with much anxiousness to the next book. And I did...partly. The only thing that held me back I think was the title: "The Great Hunt." My experience in the recent months with a certain series by Tad Williams had me really not interested in reading about the characters stumbling over rocks, meandering endlessly through the woods, not to mention complaining all the time. "Eye of the World" already had more than my fill of endless traveling with the characters walkng "the ways" and such. (And I DO realize that in the fantasy realm, one of the only real ways for a conventional character to get around in their world is to take the long way.) However, after only a week or so of not having one of these books to sit back with, when time permitted, I finally sucked up and asked for it for Christmas, since the holiday was immenant. And as you'd expect, when a quiet moment finally came on that sacred day, I was sitting on the couch with my nose in my book.

I am pleased to announce that "The Great Hunt" is better than "Eye of the World". Not only did a great deal happen with the main characters I followed from the first book, but some cool new villians we introduced; others were explored in greater detail, and it was really enjoyable to sit back and follow the characters through their conflicts and triumphs without a great deal of the weighty exposition I felt the first book contained, and in retrospect, needed, in order for the second book to flow as quickly and enjoyably as this one has.

As for book three, "The Dragon Reborn", I got is for my birthday from my lovely, and extremely understanding, wife Sherrie. I haven't cracked the cover yet, but I wait anxiously to do so.

The irony of all this: I have numerous friends and family reading this series, and every time I tell them I'm reading this series and what book I'm on, I inevitably hear, "Oh, I thought book four was best," or "I really enjoyed book two. In fact, I think I liked it most." So I'm encouraged by this. And I think Robert Jordan should be, too. He's created an original, compelling and equally entertaining fantasy series in a time when so many fantasy books read like carbon copies of one another. Hat's off to you, sir, and if the time ever comes when we should meet, I look forward to shaking your hand.

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