A Review: The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

Every sequel has a bit of trepidation attached to it. You’re unsure if the second book will fill you with the same feelings that you loved getting from the debut effort. Will there be anything left after the sense of novelty is gone? And though I’ve read The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan before, I still started the second book in the Wheel of Time series with the same sense that maybe this book will fall flat compared to the first.

The Great Hunt Summary

After the events of Eye of the World, our young heroes are still uncertain about their future and their place within the pattern. It’s not easy being Ta’veren. Darkfriends, Fades, and Trollocs are all still threats, and in great misfortune, the Horn of Valere has been stolen. It’s up to Rand, Mat, Perrin, and a band of Shienaren soldiers to track down and take back the horn so that it can be sounded at the last battle with the Dark One. Meanwhile, Nynaeve, Egwene, Elayne, and Min learn what it means to be an Aei Sedai—politics and dangers alike—at the White Tower.

Review

Like the first novel, The Great Hunt is full of excellent worldbuilding. The lore of the world is tangoing between the traditional Tolkien-esque and the contemporary wonder we see in 21st-century epic fantasy. It sits at the crossroads between the origins of modern fantasy and the post-modern fantasy of the 00s.

I would argue that the characters are more frustrating than they were in the first installment. As a reader, I’m ready for them to accept their place and maturate far before the characters are. Realistically, the pace by which the characters (particularly Rand and Perrin) accept who they are is much more in line with what you might expect in our world than what we’ve been trained to expect by most more self-contained narratives if the fictional canon.

While the Hunt of the Horn itself was the primary thrust of the novel, I found myself much more interested in how Nynaeve and Egwene navigated their training at the White Tower and the ensuing conflict they found themselves trapped by.

Is The Great Hunt Worth Reading?

You absolutely won’t find me suggesting that you put down the series after Eye of the World (although I do think it’s the first logical stopping point if you don’t intend to read the whole series). If you loved the first novel, The Great Hunt is a natural extension of the story, with a comparatively tighter pace. The Wheel of Time series is where Tolkien and Sanderson fans meet.

And if you’d like to read a story where Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson fans meet, you’ll want to check out The Continua Chronicles.

Your first adventure is free!