29 - eye of the world

part of the reason i started this blog was so that i would have a way to track what i was reading and avoid falling into the trap of reading the same kinds of books i always read.  i'll be honest.  i don't think i've done a very good job of breaking out of my literary comfort zones.  but yall, i deserve like a million bonus points for eye of the world by robert jordan.

i'm not a fantasy reader.  granted, i love me some good ol' harry potter (if you are fantasy fanatic and are offended by me putting HP into your ranks, i'm sorry, but seriously, that's as close as i've ever really been), but as for going to the actual fantasy section of the bookstore/library to find a book to read . . . well, i'd never done that before i went to purchase this book.  i decided to read at least one of robert jordan's books after a couple of people told me how much they enjoyed his series and after hearing that from them references to his books seemed to keep popping up around me.

and as much as this book frustrated me - it took me nearly TWO WEEKS TO READ! and that NEVER happens - i really did find myself drawn into it.  as i am sitting around this summer, trying to make some progress in my own writing, i couldn't help but be amazed at the world jordan created.  everything in this book was imagined by him and all of the 800 pages of complicated stories weaving in and out of each other had to be organized by him.  i can't even begin to think of how he managed to do that for one book, let alone his ELEVEN others.  

will i read more fantasy?  hmm.  i'm really kind of attached to some of the characters from eye of the world, so i would like to see what ends up happening to them.  but to be honest, after two weeks with one book i'm pretty exhausted.  perhaps i will get around to reading the other books, but i'll have to be okay with only reading a couple a year.  no gobbling up these books as i tend to do with so many others.  maybe there is a lesson in slowing down to read and imagine for me?