The Great Hunt
Ratings737
Average rating4.1
Really loving this fantasy series of books. The characters are well balanced and reasonable within their universe as well as the interpersonal relationships between dem (albeit the Rand-Mat tension felt forced).
Hard to put down, entertaining and somewhat deep at times. Charming characters while remaining somewhat high fantasy.
This is an excellent second book. I enjoyed exploring this world further and meeting some other factions in the story. I'm not sure about having a McGuffin like the horn, but I guess we'll see how much of a part it plays moving forward. I feel like they tried too hard to flash danger around Selene, and maybe this wasn't yet a trope when this book first came out, or maybe I'm just cynical, but I don't trust her, and it feels like we're not meant to. They did do a great job of hiding that Ingtar was a darkfriend, it definitely came out of left field. I'm not sure if it was warranted, like where'd that come from, but I guess with my thinking on Selene it's kind of like which do you want. It definitely feels like things are being set up for Rand to become much more widely known and actually important very soon, and also for him to struggle with the right way to use his power.
the bar was set so high with EOTW and i think the only "issue" with this one is that the story and the stakes of the first one were so intense and like iconic that this was always gonna pale in comparison for the lack of a better word.
i enjoyed it though, especially the character development, especially rand - i just love how you're always right there with him. his journey becomes yours as well and rob jordan was so great at doing that. i like how the world expanded and how more and more characters join in and how it obviously sets things up for the future. it feels like one big family you know.
needless to say ros' narration was once again splendid, and the variety of voices and accents was superb. but who is surprised, she's one of a kind. her hurin is one of my absolute faves.
looking forward to dive into book 3, i know it's gonna be a good one for lord rand. let's go kid 🙏
Final rating: 4.75
Favourite book of the series. The adventure was top notch! The pacing of the book was great and every POV was entertaining.
It keeps getting better.
I enjoyed this book more than the first one. But not enough to get 5 stars (this book is more of a 4,5 stars for me).
The characters I liked from the first book came back even stronger, and the characters I disliked from the first book in the series, had some moments that made them be more liable. I still hate Rand, but a bit less than in the first book.
Somewhere in the middle I had some PTSD from the first book because it contained once again a chase section that was to drawn out for my liking. But the ending compensates for it. I had literal goosebumps reading the last scenes.
I also got into a false sense of security, because I thought Tavaren had plot armor and nothing bad could happen, well I was wrong. There is still a safety net under our characters, but I have the feeling that this net is being slowly removed in order to increase the stakes.
All in all this series has gotten a strong start and I cant wait continue reading. I was told it get even better.
Lepsza od poprzedniej części, ale nadal trochę za długa. Cała akcja w Falme naprawdę mi się podobała.
I started this book four months ago and a good 60% of it was, frankly, boring. Also, there's a 4-way love triangle that one character isn't even aware of and it's all very men-don't-know-how-to-write-women, which is a bummer. But this book was written over 40 years ago and if the romance in it is mostly just cringe, that's a pretty positive review. I don't really fault Robert Jordan for it.
All that said, the I loved the first half of the book when we were still in the borderlands and the last 10 chapters when the action started ramping up. Still totally in love with these characters, the world, and this story.
Outstanding narration! Brings the deep and complex world of The Wheel of Time series to life. Can't recommend it highly enough.
Rating 2.5
Better than Book 1, a fun fantasy adventure, will read Book 3 eventually.
Pros: Better story than TEotW (still a grab bag of fantasy tropes), the climax was more original and easier to follow, worldbuilding gets cooler, more lore from certain POVs, more balanced story and pacing.
Cons: repetitive and un-beautiful prose, simplistic characterization, tiring boy/girl obsession-romance (it's not even really romance just crushes that are cringy). The perspective of men and women in this world is weird, we're constantly reminded that men need to marry women, men need women to “settle them down”. It almost feels like you're trapped in a house with fundamentalists that constantly bring up their odd black and white views of gender norms.
I can't put my finger on it completely, because on the surface the world is matriarchal and seemingly has a refreshing anti-patriarchal complexion (given the role magic wielding men have played in the history of this world) but even still there are contradictory undertones. The descriptions dance around the “shape” of some of the women a little too much and it feels sly and deceptive for an otherwise wholesome story afraid of crossing lines, there's a sect of Aes Sedai that eschew warders and hate men (a man hating lesbian undertone if you will). There's more too to this sloppy hypothesis, I will try to update this at a later date.
4.50/5.00
Burn me, light burn me. After reading the eye of the world, I expected something simple and familiar from the wheel of time. Wrong, very much I am. The Great Hunt is a sprawling, massively world building, glorious beginning of the epic fantasy that is the Wheel of Time. I absolutely love Robert Jordan's writing, the words are so poetic and classy. I can't focus enough to write down any criticism.
The Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills. The Dragon is Reborn. The Lord of the Dawn will be our salvation.
That ending though!
WorldbuildingThe use of the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics in fantasy is the highest point of this book for me. The concept of a multiverse is admittedly a common trope, but I have never read this in epic fantasy before, and more importantly it was DONE SO WELL. It was complex, closer to science than many superhero-versions of this trope. There was a moment where Rand seems to be stuck in a time loop? Not sure what that was. Story/PlotThe best part of the story is the Seanchan and the Sud' Dam Damane elements with Egwene. So intriguing and unpredictable. There was so much story here, I just loved it. I didn't rate this higher because I thought some parts of the story were kind of unflushed. I did not like the children of light arc... it seemed underdeveloped. And did we just kill Ba'alzamon again ? Character Dev Okay this is a tough scoring category for the wheel of time books since character development is so spread out over the 14 books. Taking this into account, I think the character development was very well done. Nynaeve and Eqwane win this easily. Rand's progress is also pretty good, although not as good as the women. I still don't get Ba'alzamon.. he seems so bland.. Dialogue/ProseThe prose was absolute killer. So poetic sometimes. Here are two examples of my fav lines:"By ship and horse the stories spread, by merchant wagon and man on foot, told and retold, changing yet always alike at the heart, to Arad Doman and Tarabon and beyond, of signs and portents in the sky above Falme. And men proclaimed themselves for the Dragon, and other men struck them down and were struck down in turn." "Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow, born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end. The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation."Emotional impactThis is a very satisfying read for me. I loved the worldbuilding, the lore, the epic EPIC final scene! Wowza.... I am stopping myself from giving a higher score cause I think WoT can do better, grander! We'll see.
There were so many parts in this book that I enjoyed & loved, but also every Rand POV bored me to death and I had to skip some lines, because it is always the same whining about how he is NOT the Dragon Reborn and just wants to leave everything. I got it im the first part bro.
On the plus side, Nyaeneve and Egwene had so much standalone adventure in this book, that was actually thrilling, so I loved reading the second half of the book.
Just thought of the Horn of Valere, which is the greatest. Most mysterious Item in this Saga, teased in Book 1, main premise of book 2, and it finally being used took maybe 2 pages in this 700 pages book???
Overall, loved some POVs, hated others, loved some characters returning (like Min), so I am excited for how the story continues.
The world gets bigger in this second book. We get a peak into the world of Aes Sedai politics.
Overall, this book kept a more even pace throughout than the first. Fewer instances of characters repeating their own thoughts throughout the book. Where book one builds the world and sets the premise, book two seems to stretch out and live in the world, even though new elements are introduced.
I thoroughly enjoy this adventure. This doesn't get a five as I haven't taken away a deeper insights that paint the way I see life and the world.
Ok, wow. People were right. The world did really get a lot more fleshed out and I'm so thrilled to know it doesn't stop here! I always love to take my time with these books (even if I think I take too long) and somehow I still end up feeling like I didn't grasp the entirety of the plot/worldbuilding/details (hopefully because things are left to be explored later and not because I'm dumb). I really loved this one, such an amazing sequel and it ends on such a high. Having absolutely no clue on where this is going is definitely the way to go with this series. So many magic systems, incredible side characters, small arcs and plot devices. What a fantasy feast!
5☆
I had some doubts about continuing the series after the first book, but my gosh I'm glad I did! It was quite a ride! The book turned out to be unputdownable and I'm already halfway through the Prologue of the next one.
I really enjoyed the way different parts of the story crisscrossed and came together in the end.
Getting to know the Ogier ways better was also very interesting and sometimes funny.
Selene was a mystery for me for quite some time and I wanted to scream at Rand for not noticing her manipulations. Men.
Last summer I really enjoyed listening to The Eye of the World. So, I got this. I've been trying to get through it since then.
My biggest problem was that so many characters, especially the boys, acted like complete idiots for so much of the book.
The ending was intriguing, though. So, I'll probably continue. Some day.
It was a mistake to watch the Amazon Prime Video series based on these books. There are significant differences. The books are better.
The author seems to have several recurring themes in this series. Predestination is powerful. Free will is an illusion. Women may let men believe that they are in charge, but behind the scenes they work together toward their own goals and belittle the men.
The author brings up the subject of women vs. men so often that I wonder what tragic events in his life gave rise to such a twisted viewpoint.
Fun read!
Second Read: I enjoyed reading this book a lot more the second time and changed my rating from a 3 to 4 stars. I am realizing that there is so much detail in this series that I missed the first time. Reading them carefully and paying more attention to details has increased my enjoyment of the series.
I liked this one way better the second time around! The first time I read the series, I had a lot of trouble keeping track of characters and storylines. But 14+ books and one TV show later, I'm so familiar with everything that I was able to just really enjoy the story.
I enjoyed this one much more than the first one and I think now I'm fully pulled in. I want to finish the series now. I felt like it had a slow start but it's possible that it's because I wasn't that commited when I started. At the end, I was fully committed.
Bastante introductorio, pero buen final, se viene fuerte la tercera parte, ansioso? Demasiado
The second book in The Wheel of Time series. I decided to continue on after finding the first book kind of lackluster because I watched the show and heard it was kind of pulling from books 2 and 3 as well as the first. Although I personally find the show to be lackluster as well unfortunately...
This may be a semi-hot take again, but I am finding this author's writing to be so incredibly dull. You have to read hundreds of pages in between the action, and the action isn't really good anyway. The amount of just traveling in these books is insane (and at least in The Eye of the World it was tensed with them being chased...). I once again did the audio for this one (which is still weird with the split male and female perspectives, but I at least am used to it now) and at the end of this one there was also an interview just like the first one. The author kind of says stuff against the genre (and TOLKIEN) in terms of wanting to be different, and yet he still manages in 1400 pages to write nothing really different at all? I mean that's not to say there isn't some good stuff, but avoiding others tropes does not mean you're not just falling into other ones...
I think the Great Hunt falls short in terms of characterization. For me, I didn't love the first, but I wanted to know more and see more. In the sequel, I don't think there's any character development. Yet again Matt and Perrin are hardly in use, and Rand says the same 4 sentences the entire time. Egwene becomes increasingly annoying, and Lan and Morgaine are pretty much MIA?
The climax picked up in the slightest bit, and I did find myself invested. Weirdly enough, two back-to-back not great reads and I still find myself interested in continuing? Is this self punishment, or is there something more to gain here?