On 2 January 2002, The Eye of the World was re-released as two separate books aimed at a young adult market, with larger text and a handful of illustrations.

[3] The arrival of a mysterious noblewoman to the remote village of Emond's Field in the Two Rivers precedes an attack on the town by a force of humanoid monsters called Trollocs.

The woman reveals herself to be Moiraine Damodred, one of the Aes Sedai, and warns that the servants of the Dark One are seeking one of three young men from the village: Rand al'Thor, Perrin Aybara and Matrim Cauthon.

Pursued by increasing numbers of Trollocs, the travellers take refuge in the abandoned city of Shadar Logoth, where Mat steals a cursed dagger, thus becoming infected by the malevolent Mashadar.

Loial warns Moiraine of a threat to the Eye of the World, a pool of Saidin untouched by the Dark One's influence, which is confirmed by vivid and disturbing dreams Mat, Rand, and Perrin have had.

The Eye of the World is protected by Someshta (the Green Man) and contains one of the seven seals on the Dark One's prison, the Dragon banner of Lews Therin Telamon, and the Horn of Valere.

As a result, Moiraine concludes that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, but her opinion and all other details of the final battle are kept from all the male members of the group except Lan.

Robert Jordan has stated that he consciously intended the early chapters of The Eye of the World to evoke the Shire of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.