The Great Hunt
The Wheel of Time, book 2
by Robert Jordan
The boys venture out to find the stolen Horn of Valere while the girls travel to the White Tower to begin training with the Aes Sedai.
I enjoyed the continuation of the characters’ adventures. Rand, the truly reluctant hero, gradually begins to accept who he is and the large role he must play in the events of the world. Perrin develops more of his own wolf abilities. Mat bounces back a bit from the darkness of his beloved dagger.
It’s interesting to see the contrast of the men and the women. The men have all these unique powers and significance that they have difficulty accepting and embracing. The women, on the other hand, have a sense of self-importance that precedes, or exceeds, their mastery of power. It’s a direct reflection of the gender roles in their world, but it’s something I’m enjoying seeing play out.
I’m generally more drawn to the hero who has trouble realizing their importance than the hero who is over-confident and proud, so I more often find myself rooting for the boys in this story than the girls. Still, there is a good balance between the two halves of the story, and I’m curious how these characters and their powers will develop further to balance one another in new ways.
I found this story to be much more comical than the first book. The Aes Sedai frank way of speaking to Egwene and Nynaeve, who are too arrogant to be humbled by any warnings against their own recklessness, and Mat’s penchant for linking himself with magical items were rather amusing.
There are some new characters, the return of some characters previously missing, and plenty of threats to the main cast throughout the book. More of the world is explored and explained. I like the way information is given as it’s needed. I don’t feel like I fully understand this big, rich world, or the many groups of people within it, but I also think there is plenty of information given in an easily digestible way that I’m not confused or questioning anything as I’m reading either.
Definitely enjoying this series and looking forward to seeing what happens in book 3.
<3D
LessthanThreeD 