The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

Summary

In book one of the long The Wheel of Time series, Rand al'Thor escaped the darkspawn that sought to capture and enslave him and, with the company of his friends, stopped the blinding of the Eye of the World, thereby ensuring that the Dark Lord stayed imprisoned in the mountain of Shayol Ghul.

Sound complicated? That's only the first of, so far, twelve books and the twelfth book is being published in three volumes.

The Great Hunt is book two. It begins a few weeks after the events of book one. Rand al'Thor still won't believe that he's destined to be the Dragon Reborn. Mostly because he doesn't want to be the bad guy who ultimately breaks the world in order to destroy the Dark Lord. He just wants a normal life. But a normal life is just not what he's getting. The love of his life, Egwene is heading off to Tar Valon to become an Aes Sedai (think Lord of the Ring's Gandalf with PMS) and will be unlikely to marry anyone. Especially not him.

Then the fabled Horn of Valere turns up in, of all places, the strong room of Lord Agelmar's castle--Fal Dara--which happens to be where Rand al'Thor and his friends from book one are hanging out. But before Rand even finds out about the Horn, it gets stolen by Darkfriends and Trollocs who take it, not towards the Dark Lord at Shayol Ghul like everyone expects, but in the opposite direction.

So, Rand, thinking that he's taking charge of his own destiny, volunteers to go after the Horn with the hunting party sent by Lord Agelmar. Rand ends up being the Hero who recovers the Horn, and then loses it again. And then goes across the whole continent to find it again at the place where everyone seems to be going these days--Toman's Head. But Legendary Artur Hawkwing's armies have returned with their monsters and leashed magical women and have taken the one city where everything comes to a head. Along for the party are a legion of Whitecloaks, some undercover Aes Sedai, and still more Darkfriends, and maybe even the Dark Lord himself, because what kind of party would it be if he didn't think it was worth crashing? Will it be an adventure to remember? You bet.

What I liked

I liked The Great Hunt more than The Eye of the World. I found it more suspenseful, more adventurous, and a little less dramatic. Where The Eye of the World bogged down with back story (because it was the first of the series, it had plenty of explaining to do) The Great Hunt could zip by with brief summaries and allusions because anyone who read the first book got the bigger picture.

Like in The Eye of the World, there was plenty of well written suspense with a little action thrown in here and there to make it interesting. I found this book even more suspenseful than book one, and I read through it much more quickly as a result.

What I didn't like

Oh the drama. I had a hard time getting some of the characters, they're just so melodramatic. It seemed, in places, like they act and feel only to push the plot ahead. One character is so unrealistically temperamental that her tantrums would embarrass my two year old niece. Mind you, her temper becomes characteristic of her and I could live with that because it's consistent, if a little unrealistic. It's unrealistic because everyone else takes her seriously and nobody really says anything.

It also seems like Robert Jordan takes the hard line on predestination. There is no making your own destiny where The Wheel of Time is concerned. The Wheel of Time is a giant spinning wheel that spins out the threads of destiny. Each life is a thread and the Wheel weaves its own pattern out of those lives. So, no one has a say in their destiny, the Wheel determines everything.

Which kind of takes the fun out of everything. I mean, what's the point of making any decisions at all if destiny will ultimately trump everything you do?

While I'm on it... The whole Dragon thing also seems to suck all the fun out of the story. He's just too powerful and invulnerable that you can't really relate. It's like unleashing a weapon of mass destruction--there's no glory or nobility about it. (There will be no great stories written about the bureaucrats who deploy nuclear missiles.) So, yeah, it's kind of disappointing to get to the climactic battle and have all the suspense leached out of it when the good guys pull out a talisman and win by overkill.

In conclusion...

Nevertheless, the suspense leading up to that battle is well worth the read.

Not my favourite fantasy series by far, but I think I'll keep reading to the end. Here's my recommendation:

If you're looking for a time consuming fantasy series, this may be the thing for you. Those who like it, like it  a lot. I give it 4/5 weapons of mass destruction.