An American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults"
A VOYA "Best Books for Young Adults"
For Rand al'Thor and his pals, life in the sleepy village of Emond's Field has been pretty dull. Until the appearance on festival night of Moiraine, a mysterious woman who claims to be an Aes Sdeai - a magician who can wield the One Power. Soon after, the village is attacked by Trollocs - a savage tribe of half-men half-beasts. Rand's father is nearly killed. But for Rand, the news gets worse. It was not the village the Trollocs were after, Moiraine tells him. It was you, Rand.
Rand and his friends are forced to flee. But his escape will bring him face to face with the Dark One...the most powerful force of evil in the universe.
Read more Continue reading Read less FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Starscape, a new imprint, launches a list of science fiction and fantasy titles aimed at readers aged 10 and up, adapted from acclaimed adult titles (see details in Children's Books, Jan. 21) . Among them are Robert Jordan's From the Two Rivers and To the Blight, adapted into two volumes from his adult title The Eye of the World: The Wheel of Time, Book 1. Kid-friendly additions include a new prologue, larger print, a glossary and a smattering of illustrations.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. REVIEW
"Jordan has come to dominate the world that Tolkien began to reveal." - The New York Times
"Recalls the work of Tolkien." - Publishers Weekly
"The definitive American fantasy saga." - Chicago Sun-Times
FROM THE BACK COVER
An American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults"
A VOYA "Best Books for Young Adults"
"Jordan has come to dominate the world that Tolkien began to reveal." - The New York Times
For Rand al'Thor and his pals, life in the sleepy village of Emond's Field has been pretty dull. Until the appearance on festival night of Moiraine, a mysterious woman who claims to be an Aes Sdeai - a magician who can wield the One Power. Soon after, the village is attacked by Trollocs - a savage tribe of half-men half-beasts. Rand's father is nearly killed. But for Rand, the news gets worse. It was not the village the Trollocs were after, Moiraine tells him. It was you, Rand.
Rand and his friends are forced to flee. But his escape will bring him face to face with the Dark One...the most powerful force of evil in the universe.
"The most ambitious American fantasy saga [may] also be the finest. Rich in detail and his plot is rich in incident. Impressive work, and highly recommended." - BOOKLIST
"Recalls the work of Tolkien." - Publishers Weekly
"The definitive American fantasy saga." - Chicago Sun-Times
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina. He taught himself to read when he was four with the incidental aid of a twelve-years-older brother, and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five. He is a graduate of The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army; among his decorations are the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with palm. A history buff, he has also written dance and theater criticism and enjoyed the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing, and sailing, and the indoor sports of poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting.Robert Jordan began writing in 1977 and went on to write The Wheel of Time®, one of the most important and best selling series in the history of fantasy publishing with over 14 million copies sold in North America, and countless more sold abroad.Robert Jordan died on September 16, 2007, after a courageous battle with the rare blood disease amyloidosis. EXCERPT. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Chapter 1
An Empty Road
The wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.
Born below the ever cloud-capped peaks that gave the mountains their name, the wind blew east, out across the Sand Hills, once the shore of a great ocean, before the Breaking of the World. Down it flailed into the Two Rivers, into the tangled forest called the Westwood, and beat at two men walking with a cart and horse down the rock-strewn track called the Quarry Road. For all that spring should have come a good month since; the wind carried an icy chill as if it would rather bear snow.
Gusts plastered Rand al'Thor's cloak to his back, whipped the earth-colored wool around his legs, then streamed it out behind him. He wished his coat were heavier, or that he had worn an extra shirt. Half the time when he tried to tug the cloak back around him it caught on the quiver swinging at his hip. Trying to hold the cloak one-handed did not do much good anyway; he had his bow in the other, an arrow nocked and ready to draw.
As a particularly strong blast tugged the cloak out of his hand, he glanced at his father over the back of the shaggy brown mare. He felt a little foolish about wanting to reassure himself that Tam was still there, but it was that kind of day. The wind howled when it rose, but aside from that, quiet lay heavy on the land. The soft creak of the axle sounded loud by comparison. No birds sang in the forest, no s
