Great Hunt by Robert Jordan, Book two of the Wheel of Time series.
Introduction
Great Hunt by Robert Jordan is the second book of The Wheel of Time series. It follows Eye of the World, the first book in the series. Someone stole the Horn of Valere. The prophecy says they need the horn to summon the great heroes of the ages at the last battle. Can Rand and his group retrieve it before the great enemy, Ba’alzamon, disposes of it and their chance to defeat him in the last battle?
Summary
The Great Hunt begins with the characters reflecting on the events of Eye of the World at the city of Fal Dara. Rand trains with the sword with Lan. The Amyrlin Seat, the leader of the Aes Sedai arrives in Fal Dara to access the situation. After someone steals the horn, Agelmar, the Lord of Fal Dara, forms a group to retrieve it. The group is lead by Ingtar and includes Rand, Mat, Perrin, Loial, and Ingtar’s soldiers. Padan Fain, the thief and the leader of the Trollocs the group chases, is not who he seems. They split the group up during their journey. Rand, Loial, and one of Ingtar’s soldiers named Hurin overcome challenges. Rand must face his destiny and Ba’alzamon’s lies.
Meanwhile, Moiraine, the Aes Sedai the characters followed in Eye of the World, takes Egwene and Nynaeve to the Aes Sedai city of Tar Volan to start their training to become Aes Sedai. Egwene and Nynaeve learn at the White Tower in Tar Volan and become friends with Elayne and Min.
The horn arrives in Falme, a city on the western coast. The characters meet in Falme for the confrontation which includes the Seanchan, a strange and violent people from across the sea, The Children of the Light, a military order attempting to exterminate Darkfriends, and Ba’alzamon. Rand proves his worth.
Recommendation
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan is a great second novel to the Wheel of Time series. Jordan delivers the promise of the first book in the second. The novel could have suffered from becoming an episodic placeholder setting up the series conclusion but it does not. The two main storylines are strong. Their search for the horn and Rand’s journey of acceptance of his destiny flows well together. Egwene and Nynaeve’s training showcase the wider world and the use of the One Power. The two most important scenes in this novel are when Rand becomes the Dragon Reborn and the Seanchan capture Egwene. The Great Hunt sets up The Dragon Reborn, book 3 of the Wheel of Time. I am looking forward to watching the first season of the Amazon Prime Video adaption of the first two novels of the series in 2020.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/233649.The_Great_Hunt
This is the link to my review of Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.
This is a link to the post from March 7, 2019, on an update on the current situation with the Wheel of Time Amazon Prime Video adaption from the Wertzone website.
http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-wheel-of-time-tv-series-update.html