The Great Hunt
Quotes from the Book
I will hate the man you choose because he isn't me, and love him if he makes you smile.
Run when you have to, fight when you must, rest when you can.
The fact that the price must be paid is proof it is worth paying.
Advice!Nobody tells us how to be men. We just are." "That is probably why you make such a bad job of it.- Perrin and Egwene
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
Relax, lad. Take life as it comes. Run when you have to, fight when you must, rest when you can.
Two days' hunger made a fine sauce for anything.
Violence harms the one who does it as much as the one who receives it. You could cut down a tree with an axe. The axe does violence to the tree, and escapes unharmed. Is that how you see it? Wood is soft compared to steel, but the sharp steel is dulled as it chops, and the sap of the tree will rust and pit it. The mighty axe does violence to the helpless tree, and is harmed by it. So it is with men, though the harm is in the spirit.
Whether the bear beats the wolf or the wolf beats the bear, the rabbit always loses.
She’s not for you, nor you for her; at least, not in the way you both want.
I will hate the man you choose because he is not me, and love him if he makes you smile. No woman deserves the sure knowledge of widow’s black as her brideprice, you least of all.
The rose petal floats on water. The kingfisher flashes above the pond. Life and beauty swirl in the midst of death.
As the Wheel of Time turns, places wear many names. Men wear many names, many faces. Different faces, but always the same man. Yet no one knows the Great Pattern the Wheel weaves, or even the Pattern of an Age. We can only watch, and study, and hope.
If you watch the wolf too hard, a mouse will bite you on the ankle
It was easier to be brave when someone needed your protection.
You'll use it, boy, and as long as you hate using it, you will use it more wisely than most men would. Wait. If ever you don't hate it any longer, then will be the time to throw it as far as you can and run the other way.
Listen sharp, think deep, and guard your tongue- Tam al'Thor
Men," Thom murmured. "Men who shook the pillars of heaven and rocked the world on its foundations." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Forget about them. They are dust now.
Death is lighter than a feather. Duty, heavier than a mountain.
Even fools say something worthwhile now and again. Even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes.
From the time an Aiel boy becomes a man he will not sing anything but battle chants, or their dirge for the slain. I have heard them singing over their dead, and over those they have killed. That song is one to make the stones weep.
Taren Ferry folk had a reputation for slyness and trickery. If you shook hands with a Taren Ferry man, people said, you counted your fingers afterwards.
In wars, boy, fools kill other fools for foolish causes. That’s enough for anyone to know.
What did you spend so much time talking about with Ila? If you weren’t dancing with that long-legged fellow, you were talking to her like it was some kind of secret.” “Ila was giving me advice on being a woman,” Egwene replied absently. He began laughing, and she gave him a hooded, dangerous look that he failed to see. “Advice! Nobody tells us how to be men. We just are.” “That,” Egwene said, “is probably why you make such a bad job of it.
The leaf lives its appointed time, and does not struggle against the wind that carries it away. The leaf does no harm, and finally falls to nourish new leaves. So it should be with all men and women.
Remember the flame, lad, and the void.” It was an odd thing Tam had taught him. Concentrate on a single flame and feed all your passions into it—fear, hate, anger—until your mind became empty. Become one with the void, Tam said, and you could do anything.
Strange clothes you wear, Child of the Dragon. Has the Wheel turned so far? Do the People of the Dragon return to the first Covenant? But you wear a sword. That is neither now nor then.
And the Shadow fell upon the land, and the world was riven stone from stone. The oceans fled, and the mountains were swallowed up, and the nations were scattered to the eight corners of the World. The moon was as blood, and the sun was as ashes. The seas boiled, and the living envied the dead. All was shattered, and all but memory lost, and one memory above all others, of him who brought the Shadow and the Breaking of the World. And him they named Dragon. And it came to pass in those days, as it had come before and would come again, that the Dark lay heavy on the land and weighed down the hearts of men, and the green things failed, and hope died. And men cried out to the Creator, saying, O Light of the Heavens, Light of the World, let the Promised One be born of the mountain, according to the prophecies, as he was in ages past and will be in ages to come. Let the Prince of the Morning sing to the land that green things will grow and the valleys give forth lambs. Let the arm of the Lord of the Dawn shelter us from the Dark, and the great sword of justice defend us. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
Out of the night Hopper came, and Perrin was one with the wolf. Hopper, the cub who had watched the eagles soar, and wanted so badly to fly through the sky as the eagles did. The cub who hopped and jumped and leaped until he could leap higher than any other wolf, who never lost the cub's yearning to soar through the sky. [...] Something crashed into his head, and as he fell, he did not know if it was Hopper or himself who died.
Did you know?
- The Eye of the World was published by Tor Books in 1990 as the first book of The Wheel of Time.
- Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney Jr.
- The Wheel of Time series grew to fourteen main novels plus a prequel.
- The story opens with the line that the Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend.
- The novel's prologue, 'Dragonmount', is set during the Age of Legends, roughly three thousand years before the main events.
- The unabridged audiobook is narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading.
About Robert Jordan
More by Robert Jordan
All books by Robert Jordan →About the book
The Eye of the World is the first novel in Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time. In the remote village of Emond's Field in the Two Rivers, the arrival of a mysterious noblewoman precedes an attack by Trollocs, humanoid monsters serving the Dark One. The woman reveals herself as Moiraine Damodred, an Aes Sedai, and warns that the Dark One's servants are hunting one of three young men from the village. To draw the danger away from their home, Rand al'Thor and his companions flee with Moiraine and her Warder into a far larger and more perilous world.
At its heart the book is a story of cyclical time and the return of ancient powers, framed by the recurring refrain that the Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. It weaves together familiar epic-fantasy themes, an ordinary hero drawn into a vast destiny, the burden of prophecy, and the struggle between the Light and the Dark, into an expansive secondary world with its own history, magic system, and lore.
Published by Tor Books in 1990, The Eye of the World launched what would become one of the best-selling fantasy series in the world. The Wheel of Time ultimately spanned fourteen main volumes and a prequel, and the first book has been cited on popular-reading lists including PBS's The Great American Read. Its scope and world-building helped define modern epic fantasy for a generation of readers.
Key characters
- Rand al'ThorYoung shepherd from Emond's Field at the center of the prophecy
- Matrim (Mat) CauthonRand's friend, a prankster and one of the hunted young men
- Perrin AybaraBlacksmith's apprentice and one of the three young men
- Egwene al'VereVillage girl with a talent for channeling the One Power
- Nynaeve al'MearaThe Two Rivers village Wisdom and healer
- Moiraine DamodredAn Aes Sedai who guides the young people from their village
- Lan MandragoranMoiraine's Warder and protector
Book details
- First published
- 1990
- Length
- 782 pages
- Reading time
- 14 hours
- Author
- Robert Jordan
- Genre
- Fiction
- Goodreads rating
- 4.19 (607k ratings) →
- First line
- “The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend.”
Series & reading order
- 1 The Eye of the World
- 2 The Great Hunt
- 3 The Dragon Reborn
- 4 The Shadow Rising
- 5 The Fires of Heaven
- 6 Lord of Chaos
- 7 A Crown of Swords
- 8 The Path of Daggers
- 9 Winter's Heart
- 10 Crossroads of Twilight
- 11 Knife of Dreams
- 12 The Gathering Storm
- 13 Towers of Midnight
- 14 A Memory of Light
If you liked this, read…
- 1The Way of KingsAnother sprawling, intricately built epic-fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson, who completed The Wheel of Time
- 2The Name of the WindA richly worldbuilt epic fantasy centered on a young man with a great destiny
- 3A Game of ThronesLandmark epic fantasy with a huge cast and a world-spanning struggle
Keep reading
The Great Hunt
The Fires of Heaven
A Game of Thrones
The Dragon Reborn
The Blood Mirror
The Broken Eye
Oathbringer
The Way of Kings
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
A Clash of Kings
Prince of Thorns
Toll the Hounds
Memories of Ice
Ruin
Dust of Dreams
Shōgun
The Wheel of Osheim
Blood of Elves
Shadow's Edge
Inheritance
The Emperor's Blades
Dark Age
Blade of Tyshalle
Assassin's Quest
The Golden Compass
Stone of Tears
The Blade Itself
Sword & Citadel
Fall of Kings
Iron Gold
Fool's Quest
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Heroes
King of Thorns
Eragon
Spiderlight
All the King's Men
The Walking Drum
Half the World
The Steel Remains
Lord of the Silver Bow
Sword of Destiny
Blood Song
Empire of the Vampire
King Solomon's Mines
The Name of the Wind
Royal Assassin
Night Watch
The Last Mortal Bond
Lord of Light
Legend
The High King
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
The Blacktongue Thief
The Once and Future King
The Invasion of the Tearling
The Dark Tower
The Warrior Prophet
Queen of Fire
Hunted

