The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (Review)

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Blurb

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

When The Two Rivers is attacked by Trollocs-a savage tribe of half-men, half-beasts- five villagers flee that night into a world they barely imagined, with new dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.

Review

This is the third time I have read this book because I have tried to read The Wheel of Time series on more than one occasion and sadly never finished it. However, I am determined that this time I will finish the series. 

Every time I have read this book I have loved it and this time round was no exception and I found that I had in fact forgotten a few parts of the story that made a nice surprise. As a massive Tolkien fan I realise that The Wheel of Time series is heavily influenced by Tolkien’s Middle Earth but that does not put me off. After all hasn’t all literature from as far back as Homer and Virgil done the same thing?

This book introduces us to some main characters that are clearly going to be important in future books. Five young villagers from the village of Two Rivers have to flee after a Trolloc attack on their village. By fleeing they hope to save their beloved village from any further attack and to do this they are helped by Moraine and her warder Lan. The fiver villagers are Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene and the village wisdom Nynaeve. Nynaeve is slightly older than the other four but not by much. Nynaeve is also the character that at times I find quite annoying, she is very stubborn and is always questioning and second guessing Moraine which at times just gets boring. Mat is rather a spineless character who you know is not going to be good news for the group of friends. Perrin is my favourite character out of the five as he is down to earth, caring and patient. Rand is rather bland at the moment but you can see he will develop as a character. 

As the adventure continues the group meet new people who help them on their journey but they also learn that no one can be trusted because anybody could be a dark friend. One of these new friends is the Ogier named Loial who is also one of my favourite characters. Loial is never hasty and likes to think everything through, he also loves reading and always has a pile of books with him which is just like me when I go anywhere. 

The world of Aes Sedai is fascinating and I can’t wait to learn more about it all and I also have so many questions regarding what happened in the past that made the Aes Sedai’s power start to dwindle. I really hope I get my answers in the following books. I really enjoyed the book and have already started book two. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons. 

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

About the author

James Oliver Rigney Jr. (1948-2007) was an American author of epic fantasy who wrote under the pen name Robert Jordan. Jordan also wrote historical fiction under the name of Reagan O’Neal, a western as Jackson O’Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung. 

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Friday Poetry: Emily Dickinson

Hello!

I hope everyone has some good plans for the weekend.

The poem I have chosen this week really struck me when I read it so I thought I would share it.

'Hope' is the Thing with Feathers

'Hope' is the thing with feathers - 
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words - 
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - 
And sore must be the storm - 
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm - 

I've heard it in the chillest land - 
And on the strangest Sea - 
Yet, never, in Extremity, 
It asked a crumb - of Me. 

Emily Dickinson

Happy Reading

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First Lines Friday: 11/03/2022

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week so far. I haven’t taken part in a First Line Friday this year so I thought it was high time I joined in again.

The answer is below the cat pictures!

The twin shipyards of Callisto stood side by side on the hemisphere of the moon that faced permanently away from Jupiter. The sun was only the brightest star in the endless night, the wide smear of the Milky Way brighter by far. All along the ridges of the craters, harsh white work lights glared down onto buildings, loaders, scaffolds.

and the answer is…

Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey

The fifth novel in Corey’s New York Times bestselling Expanse series–now being produced for television by the SyFy Channel!

A thousand worlds have opened, and the greatest land rush in human history has begun. As wave after wave of colonists leave, the power structures of the old solar system begin to buckle.

Ships are disappearing without a trace. Private armies are being secretly formed. The sole remaining protomolecule sample is stolen. Terrorist attacks previously considered impossible bring the inner planets to their knees. The sins of the past are returning to exact a terrible price.

And as a new human order is struggling to be born in blood and fire, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante must struggle to survive and get back to the only home they have left.

Did anybody guess correctly?

Please drop me a comment with your First Line Friday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

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Mid Week Quote: Walt Disney

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far.

My chosen quote today is by Walt Disney (1901-1966) who created the wonderful Mickey Mouse amongst other fantastic characters.

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.

Walt Disney

Happy Reading

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Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe (Review)

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

Blurb

The novel follows the life of its eponymous heroine, Moll Flanders, through its many vicissitudes, which include her early seduction, careers in crime and prostitution, conviction for theft and transportation to the plantations of Virginia, and her ultimate redemption and prosperity in the New World. Moll Flanders was one of the first social novels to be published in English and draws heavily on Defoe’s experience of the topography and social conditions prevailing in the London of the late 17th century.

Review

This is my second classic of the year and I could not put it down. Defoe is also a new author for me and I was not disappointed. The novel is supposedly an autobiography and was first published as an autobiography rather than saying by Defoe. 

Moll was born in Newgate prison and then put into a children’s home where she honed her skill with needlework and developed her skills and character to be taken in by a wealthy family. Then things became interesting in Moll’s life but one thing that Moll knows how to do is survive. 

Moll is always striving to make money, to become a wealthy woman because this means security. To make this money Moll tries to marry well even if this means tricking men into thinking she is wealthy so she can get to their fortunes. This leads to Moll marrying five times. She also plays the role of mistress to certain wealthy men and then she becomes a master criminal but through all of this she saves whatever money she can and tries to gain that security she strives for. 

I loved the character of Moll because you never knew what she had planned next. She changed her name to hide from undesirables and knew how to stay hidden. She knew how to take advantage of situations and she definitely knew how to make a man fall head over heels in love with her. She also never let anything hold her back especially her children who she clearly did not care about. To be honest I spent a lot of time wondering where some of them had disappeared to as they just seemed to vanish from the story. It was also quite clear that the only child she showed any affection for was because she knew she had something to gain from that affection. 

This book has humour, adventure, danger, romance and much more and I couldn’t help but root for the woman who is at times very mischievous and does tend to hurt people. I absolutely loved this book and give it 5 out of 5 dragons. 

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

About the author

Daniel Defoe (1659/1661 [?] – 1731) was an English writer, journalist, and spy, who gained enduring fame for his novel The life and strange surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe: of York, mariner (1719). Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest practitioners of the novel and helped popularise the genre in Britain. In some texts he is even referred to as one of the founders, if not the founder, of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote more than five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural). He was also a pioneer of economic journalism.

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Goodreads Monday: 7/03/2022

Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club.  All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

This weeks book off my Classics Club List is another new author to me and one that I have been meaning to read for many years and own a lot of her books already.

When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction.

In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell skillfully fuses individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale creates one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature. 

Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

Hopefully I will get around to reading this book this year and it will be another classic off my ever growing TBR pile.

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

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The Weekly Brief

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a good weekend so far. I had a lovely few hours of solid reading yesterday and it was utter bliss.

Anyway, here is what has been happening on the blog this week.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

This was a bit of a slow start for me but now I’m hooked and can’t put it down.

Happy Reading

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Friday Poetry: John Agard

Hello!

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has some good books planned for the weekend.

My chosen poem this week is by the Afro-Guyanese playwright, poet and children’s writer John Agard.

A Date with Spring

Got a date with spring
Got to look my best.
Of all the trees
I'll be the smartest dressed.

Perfumed breeze 
behind me ear.
Pollen accessories
all in place.

Raindrop moisturizer
for me face.
Sunlight tints
to spruce up the hair. 

What's the good of being a tree
if you can't flaunt your beauty?

Winter, I was naked
Exposed as can be.
Me wardrobe took off
with the wind.

Life was a frosty slumber.
Now, spring, here I come.
Can't wait to slip in
to me little green number. 

John Agard

Happy Reading

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This and That Thursday

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far.

I thought I would do a non bookish update. Last week was half term which meant I didn’t have any school teaching but I did still do my private teaching and organ playing for church. This meant I had a little bit more free time which meant another adventure.

Adventure

We managed to get away for a night which was lovely and we treated ourselves to a tasting menu at the hotel restaurant. The hotel was absolutely beautiful and was an amazing place to stay with gorgeous grounds. They also had some enormous chairs which I think would be super comfy for reading in.

Walking and fitness

This week has involved getting back into our walking and I decided that for Lent this year we would aim to walk outside at least a mile a day with the hope of walking longer. However, since the start of Lent all it has done is rain and because my asthma is really bad in damp weather we have only managed our mile a day but fingers crossed for better weather and longer walks soon. I have also got back into my fitness recently after a few stop starts from ill health. I am particularly enjoying my new spin bike and following the Kaleigh Cohen cycling classes on Youtube.

Jigsaw

I am still ploughing away with my Winnie the Pooh 1000 piece jigsaw and I will be honest it might just be the hardest jigsaw I have ever attempted. I will post a picture once I have got further along with it or by some miracle finish it.

Happy Reading

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WWW Wednesday: 2/03/2022

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I’ve got back into my reading this week but have realised I am really behind on my book reviews so I must start catching up. Anyway, here is what I have been reading recently.

What I am Currently Reading

I’ve paused a bit on An Immortal Guardians Companion but I have been dipping into the interviews. I have just started Wonderlands and so far I am enjoying it but I am missing the rest of the Discovery crew.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I absolutely loved Moll Flanders. Galatea was rather a disappointment sadly.

What I Think I will Read Next

I’m not sure what I will read next but I think it will either be the Shardlake series or The Expanse series.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

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