I'm certainly late to the party on this one. The Eye of the World sat on my shelf unread for over two decades before I finally cracked the cover and it was already old and well beloved by the time I purchased a copy. Now that I've finally dipped my tip into the monumental work that is Jordan's Wheel of Time series, I can understand the appeal.
The prologue quickly set up some tension and intriguing insights into the overarching storyline and mythos. It also left the reader with plenty of questions, just the thing to keep pages turning.
The book does a great job of introducing us to a wealth of characters, locations and stories. I was pleased that most of the characters quickly felt distinct with their own characteristics and voice. Their actions and reactions felt fairly believable given the circumstances and the nature of each character. We didn't get a ton of depth into the characters from the prologue but moving into the first chapter, the author methodically puts characters into our path and drops details to us in a slow but increasingly steady pace.