The Great Hunt - Review
The Great Hunt (Book 2) is an exhilarating sequel in The Wheel of Time
series. There is much more action, shocking reveals, and a faster pace
in this 2nd book. The magic system is explained more in-depth, the
world-building continues to be fantastic, and the scope expands greatly
in terms of the POV chapters. The last quarter of this book was amazing,
though I was slightly disappointed with the ending battle but I’ll get
into that in the Plot section. Normally my reviews only have
light spoilers from plot points in the beginning of a book, but It’s
hard to talk about some of the character arcs and the best moments of
this book without spoilers because a lot of those moments happen after a
couple of surprising reveals. So for the sake of this review, it will
contain HEAVY SPOILERS for the entire book. This review will cover 4 sections. Characters, Plot, Setting/World-Building, and Pacing.
The characters continue to be complex and well-written. Whereas The Eye of the World focuses on Rand and a little bit on Perrin and Nynaeve, this book remains its focus on Rand but expands on the list of POV characters. There are some new characters that have only a paragraph or 2 from their perspective but the most significant POV’s aside from Rand are Egwene, Nynaeve, Perrin, Geofram, Bayle, and Padan. For this section though, I'm just going to focus on the original 5 Emond's Fielders (Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, & Nynaeve).
Rand gets first-hand experience of what it’s like to lead a group and have responsibility on his shoulders (leading Loial and Hurin out of an alternate world) and also showing natural leadership after meeting up with Perrin, Mat, & Ingtar. He’s also heavily conflicted with the use of the One Power. Sometimes he’s forced to use it because he has no other choice to get out of a certain situation but he’s also getting more and more addicted to it. He knows that he’s going to go mad but he’s doing everything he can to find the dagger to save Mat’s life and then wants to go off alone so he doesn’t hurt anyone. All of this, while dealing with the fact that his whole life was a lie (Tam not being his father and Rand himself not being born in the Two Rivers) and he’s carrying the burden of being a man who can channel in this world, which is considered dangerous on an apocalyptic level.
Rand’s arc in this book is really sad but admirable. He isolates himself from everybody because he’s afraid he’ll hurt them. He thinks he’s losing his friends because of what he is but he’s also hell-bent on helping them, all while slowly coming to the realization that he has no more control of his life. He’s annoyingly stubborn at times but Rand is one of the best written conflicted characters I’ve read in the Fantasy genre so far.
Image: Lord Captain Geofram Bornhald.
[Characters]:
The characters continue to be complex and well-written. Whereas The Eye of the World focuses on Rand and a little bit on Perrin and Nynaeve, this book remains its focus on Rand but expands on the list of POV characters. There are some new characters that have only a paragraph or 2 from their perspective but the most significant POV’s aside from Rand are Egwene, Nynaeve, Perrin, Geofram, Bayle, and Padan. For this section though, I'm just going to focus on the original 5 Emond's Fielders (Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, & Nynaeve).
Rand gets first-hand experience of what it’s like to lead a group and have responsibility on his shoulders (leading Loial and Hurin out of an alternate world) and also showing natural leadership after meeting up with Perrin, Mat, & Ingtar. He’s also heavily conflicted with the use of the One Power. Sometimes he’s forced to use it because he has no other choice to get out of a certain situation but he’s also getting more and more addicted to it. He knows that he’s going to go mad but he’s doing everything he can to find the dagger to save Mat’s life and then wants to go off alone so he doesn’t hurt anyone. All of this, while dealing with the fact that his whole life was a lie (Tam not being his father and Rand himself not being born in the Two Rivers) and he’s carrying the burden of being a man who can channel in this world, which is considered dangerous on an apocalyptic level.
Rand’s arc in this book is really sad but admirable. He isolates himself from everybody because he’s afraid he’ll hurt them. He thinks he’s losing his friends because of what he is but he’s also hell-bent on helping them, all while slowly coming to the realization that he has no more control of his life. He’s annoyingly stubborn at times but Rand is one of the best written conflicted characters I’ve read in the Fantasy genre so far.
Mat continues to be an ass. Even after everything Mat and Rand went through in the 1st book, the moment Rand admits to his friends that he can channel, Mat tells him that he’s going to stay away from him because Rand has changed too much. That’s ironic coming from the guy who was slowly being possessed by Mordeth in the last book. It’s still hard to judge Mat because he’s still infected by Mordeth’s dagger and we only get small glimpses of his actual goofy self, but I still hate him. Perrin is discovering new abilities with his Wolfbrother powers, such as his enhanced sense of smell. He’s still reluctant to use his abilities but is forced to after Rand, Hurin, & Loial disappear from their hunting group. Perrin is also starting to have cravings that wolves would have such as red meat instead of normal food and he’s definitely terrified about this. He didn’t have that much of a character arc in this book since his chapters were just to provide a different perspective during the hunt so I’m really looking forward to seeing more from him in the next book.
Egwene is learning to control and enhance her channeling abilities but she’s also becoming addicted to the
Nynaeve is still headstrong and she will snap at anyone and everyone. Continuing her same attitude toward any and all Aes Sedai, including the Amyrlin Seat, made me like her even more. It’s funny how she’s similar to the Hulk because she can only use her powers when she’s angry (hint: she’s always angry). Nynaeve’s initiation/trial chapter with the Ter’angreal was one of the best chapters in the book. It was great seeing her confront her fears of facing Aginor and then Emond’s field being a mess ever since she left. I was laughing so hard at finding out her biggest, most horrible fear was having babies with Lan. That scene was also really heart-breaking and it made me want more scenes with Lan and Nynaeve.
Favorite Characters – Lan, Rand, Egwene, Loial, & Nynaeve.
Image: Rand & Selene find a Sa’angreal.
[Plot]:
[Plot]:
The story started out really strong with an amazing prologue of the Darkfriends gathering. It was fun playing a detective and paying close attention to all the new characters outfits and mannerisms throughout the book to see if they lined up with any of the Darkfriends from the prologue. I loved a lot of the opening chapters when the Amyrlin Seat came to Fal Dara. There was a lot of information on the political structure of the Aes Sedai, the different sub-factions (Red Ajah, Brown Ajah, etc.) within the Aes Sedai, and learning about Moiraine and the Amyrlin Seat’s secret plans was great.
I also liked the actual hunt for the Horn of Valere (and the dagger). It seemed kind of weird that Rand and the group just came across the horn so easily at the end of the last book when there were so many great tales and history of people searching years for it and never being found. I liked that it was stolen from them so they had to go to great lengths to regain it and actually earn it. There were some big stakes for this hunt too because Mat’s life depended on it, so it really amped up the tension every time they came close to the trail Padan left, and then lost it. Plus, I really enjoyed the other Shienaran characters such as Hurin, Ingtar, and Uno with his bloody flaming cursing habit.
I thought the 2 different times a set of characters dealt with the mirror/reflection worlds were fascinating. It’s a really cool concept of the Portal Stone that teleports them into different alternate what-if worlds that have faded skies and everything in that world seems to have less color and life in it in general. In the 1st mirror-world they enter, their eyes play tricks on them and the land seems to shift every time they move their head in a different direction and in another mirror-world, time flows differently so a day or a week in there could be months or years in the real world. It felt very trippy and something out of Doctor Strange or Avengers: Endgame. I hope some of the characters get to travel to other mirror-worlds in the future.
I really enjoyed Egwene and Nynaeve’s chapters in Tar Valon. I liked seeing what a day in the life of a Novice in the White Tower was like and to see how this society functions. I completely forgot Elayne was at Tar Valon already and my mind almost exploded when Min showed up, then Gawyn and Galad, then Elaida, and even LOGAIN (the false dragon) showed up. I also loved all the story points about the Seanchan invaders aka Artur Hawkwing’s descendants. There was such good build-up from The Eye of the World about the armies Artur sent across the Aryth Ocean hundreds of years ago that were prophesied to one day return and all of the commotion going around in this book of a mysterious invading force landing on Falme and Toman Head. The Seanchan have these weird species of creatures (c’mon, no dragons??) that they ride into battle with as if they’re everyday horses and they have chained Aes Sedai fighting for them. These people are messed up but fascinating at the same time.
With all the awesome build-up for the final battle throughout the entire book, I was disappointed with the on-ground portion of the ending battle. Maybe I’m too used to George R.R. Martin’s epic battle sequences because I was expecting a detailed and gritty 3-way battle between the Seanchan, the Children of the Light, and Rand’s group with his resurrected army of dead heroes by using the Horn of Valere. Instead, the legion of the Children of the Light on Falme were just wiped away uselessly and the intimidating Seanchan just fled away to their ships. The ground battle was skimmed over too fast and there were only glimpses of it. How amazing would it have been if we got a Perrin POV with him fighting side by side with Artur Hawkwing and the other ancient heroes while interchanging with Rand’s POV when he’s fighting Ba’alzamon? Robert Jordan puts so much detail into the clothing people wear and the furnishings in a room but he couldn’t spare any for this battle sequence? Not to mention that Ingtar and Geofram’s deaths happened off-page. I just felt like the ground battle was rushed and it could have been so much more epic than it was.
Another issue I had with the ending was that Padan Fain was being built up as the villain of this book, teasing Rand the entire time about their inevitable confrontation and when Rand goes to steal Padan’s precious dagger and the horn…..Padan’s nowhere to be found. That was anticlimactic. Moiraine explains later on that Padan’s way more dangerous than he looks so it’s good that he and Rand didn’t face off, but Padan was salivating to fight and kill Rand, so what was his reason to just run off or vanish at the end of this book? Obviously, this is a long series and it’s definitely going to pay off in the next book or future books but I felt like this was a plot thread specifically set up for this book, so the ending definitely felt like it was missing something.
I still thought the last quarter of this book was phenomenal though and it was filled with a lot of tension and suspense. Ingtar’s redemption/sacrifice scene was beautifully written, with his Darkfriend reveal and then Rand telling him there’s always a way back to the Light. It was such a great callback when Rand told Ingtar “the last embrace of the mother welcome you home”. The heist scene to sneak into Turak’s fortress and steal back the horn and dagger, which ended with the Blademaster showdown between Rand and High Lord Turak was also excellent. Nynaeve, Elayne, and Min’s undercover mission to rescue Egwene was very tense and I was glad Egwene got revenge on her Sul’dam. Nynaeve and Egwene utilizing their powers to cause total chaos, Mat blowing the Horn of Valere to resurrect all the ancient heroes of legend, and the battle in the sky between Rand and Ba’alzamon was truly epic.
Image: Ingtar Shinowa.
[Setting/World-Building]:
[Setting/World-Building]:
The setting of this book mostly takes place in Fal Dara in the beginning, a little bit in Cairhien during the middle, and then Falme/Toman Head near the end. I enjoyed learning more about the Shienarans and how they deal with everyday life because any place near the Blight and Shayol Ghul intrigues me a lot. Cairhien seems like a terrible place to live, with all the paranoia going on and the Game of
Along with the characters, the world-building also grew in its scale and complexities. There are so many new prophecies to keep track of, new nations introduced, and more in-depth demonstrations of the use of the One Power. There is a lot more information given about the groups/factions introduced previously such as the Aes Sedai, the Aiel, and the Ogier. The introduction of the Seanchan was fantastic. Their culture is horrifying but Robert Jordan set up some cool stuff about the Empress and her Crystal Throne, the Court of the Nine Moons, and the Towers of Midnight. I’m excited to learn about their culture and how they live across the Aryth Ocean. I hope we get to see the actual Seanchan city or nation and the other lands that are across the Aryth Ocean.
[Pacing]:
This book has a much faster pace than The Eye of the World, starting from the great suspense with the Amyrlin Seat coming to Fal Dara, then Padan Fain’s escape, to the great hunt/chase for the horn, the tension and sense of doom once Rand and others are trapped in the mirror-world, all the way to the fantastic heist sequences with Rand and Nynaeve on their separate missions and the ending battle. I really enjoyed the pacing of this book and I’m hoping the pacing of the other books are more like this instead of the 1st book.
[Final Thoughts & Rating]:
This book easily would have been 5 stars for me but I was disappointed with a portion of the ending battle and Padan Fain’s random disappearance. It still had great characterizations, intricate world-building, and much improved pacing. There were so many great moments in this book from the Liandrin, Thom, and Selene reveals, to the battles between Rand and Ba’alzamon/High Lord Turak, and the total chaos caused by Nynaeve and Egwene on the streets of Falme. Not to mention some beautifully written character moments such as Nynaeve dealing with her fears in the Ter’angreal trials (Aginor, Emond’s field, & Lan), the arguments between Lan and Moiraine about the Warder bonds, and also Ingtar’s regrets of being a Darkfriend and his ultimate redemption/sacrifice. The Great Hunt is a fantastic sequel and I’m really excited to get into The Dragon Reborn immediately.
*My Rating System*
5 Stars (9-10): Amazing
4 Stars (7-9): Really Good to Great
3 Stars (5-7): Average to Good
2 Stars (3-5): Bad to Mediocre
1 Star (1-3): Terrible
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