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Review: The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, book 2)

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The Great HuntTitle: The Great Hunt
Author: Robert Jordan
Published: November 15, 1990
Author’s Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jordan
Genre: Fantasy

Review:  With a double meaning, The Great Hunt is a prefect title for this book.  The Great Hunt of the Horn has been a gleeman’s tale for generations and it describes marvelous Hunters heeding Illian’s call to search the land for The Horn of Valere, fabled to call dead heroes back from the grave.  It’s an epic story that tavern goers love.

The more pertinent meaning, though, is Rand’s, Perrin, and Mat’s pursuit of Padan Fain and items he steals during a raid by Trollocs on Fal Dara during the Amyriyn Seat’s visit:  the dagger Mat took from Shadar Logoth and the Horn of Valere, recovered during the climax to The Eye of the World.  Riding along with “Lord Rand,” as many folks have taken to calling him because of the way Moraine has adjusted his wardrobe, and the group is a contingent of Shienarans including one-eyed Uno, ever-mistrusting Masema, and headed-up by Lord Ingtar, charged to recover the Horn.

Rand, Loial the Ogier, and the ‘sniffer’, Hurin, get separated from the group one night by unknowingly sleeping too near a portal stone which takes them to an alternate world.  Here, Rand rescues the unnaturally beautiful Selene who helps them get back to their world, steal back the chest with Horn and dagger from Fain, and flee to Cairhien, before disappearing.

In Cairhien, Lord Rand is drawn into Daes Dae’mar, the Game of Houses, against his will while also trying to dodge Darkfriends and Trollocs who have infiltrated the city.  Perrin, Mat, Lord Ingtar and Verin Sedai arrive in Cairhien just after Fain has retaken the dagger and Horn.  This time, though, he leaves a message telling Rand that he’ll be waiting for him on Toman Head…a land far to the west.

When the ta’veren headed off to pursue Fain from Fal Dara, Egwene and Nynaeve head to Tar Valon to begin training to become Aes Sedai.  Based on her age and ability to channel the one power a bit, Nynaeve is allowed to test and becomes Accepted shortly after arriving in the city, leaving Egwene a Novice and stuck with a roommate…who just happens to be Elayne Trakand, the daughter-heir of Andor who Rand encounter on his way though Caemlyn in The Eye of the World.  Egwene and Elayne immediately hit it off with each other, as well as with Min, another young girl visiting Tar Valon, not to become Aes Sedai, but because Moraine is interested in learning how her ability to see auras around people works.

An Aes Sedai of the red Ajah finds the women in one room and tells them they’re to go with her and not to speak to anyone about their leaving because the Black Ajah walk the halls of the White Tower.  They meet her that night and she leads them through The Ways, delivering them to the Seanchan.  Nynaeve and Elayne escape, but Min and Egwene are captured.  Egwene is immediately collared by a sul’dam to become her damane and they are taken back to Falme where Egwene learns what it means to be a ‘leashed one.’

Rand and company arrive in Falme and, thanks to Mat’s affinity to the dagger, quickly locate the Horn and dagger.  The party enters the home of a Seanchan High Lord and lay their hands on the items before being discovered by the High Lord.  Rand wins his first fight against a real blademaster and the group escapes…just as Nynaeve and Elayne put their rescue plan into action where they learn that not only can the leashed ones channel, but also the leash holders.  With Egwene and Min rescued, they head for the docks to escape by ship.

Trying to flee Falme, Rand, Perrin, and Mat decide to use the Horn to help escape the Seanchan so Mat blows it, calling forth the dead heroes of the ages to aid them.  While the battle rages, Rand finds himself facing off against the Dark One again, this time sword vs. staff, their fight displayed in the skies above.  Rand eventually allows himself to be impaled his enemy’s staff so that he can strike the killing blow.  Spurred on by Rand’s victory, the dead heroes drive the Seanchan back to the sea.

Bottom Line:  Jordan continues with great pacing and continues a pattern of splintering then reuniting the group of main characters.  We’re introduced to a couple new cities/realms and we see the Dark Ones reach getting stronger as more of his agents begin to exert influence on the main characters.  It’s another great book and pushes the plot along well.  Long live The Dragon!

Review: The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, book 1)

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The Eye Of The WorldTitle: The Eye of the World
Author: Robert Jordan
Published: January 15, 1990
Author’s Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jordan
Genre: Fantasy

Review:  The first book in The Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World introduces us to all of the main players in this book in the first few chapters.  We meet Rand, Perin, and Mat, Egwene and Nynaeve, Moraine and Lan, Padan Fain, and Thom the Gleeman in Emond’s Field of the Two Rivers.  Shortly after we’ve met everyone, Rand and his father, Tam, are attacked by trollocs at their farm outside of town.  Tam gets injured so Rand takes up his father’s sword and manages to get them both to town, which had also been attacked in the night.  The attack had been repulsed by Moraine, who has now been revealed as an Aes Sedai, the “magic” wielding folks of this world.  The boys, Rand, Perrin, and Mat, as well as Rand’s not-quite-girlfriend Egwene, leave the town with Moraine Sedai, her Warder, Lan, and Thom because Moraine convinces them that the trollocs were there for them.

A grand adventure begins with the group pursued by the minions of The Dark One as they flee with the intention of heading to the Aes Sedai stronghold of Tar Valon.  Naturally, the group gets split into smaller groups that each have unique encounters before finally being reunited in in the Borderlands rather than Tar Valon.  From the borderland stronghold of Shienar, the group rides into the Blight to find The Eye of the World, where Rand first channels the One Power, proving to Moraine what she had suspected…he is The Dragon Reborn.

Along their journeys, Rand, Perrin, Mat, and Egwene, and even Nynaeve to a degree, do a bit of growing up, learn how much bigger the world is outside of their beloved Two Rivers, and begin to discover things about themselves that they had never dreamed of before.  Talking with wolves, channeling, meeting a queen and her daughter and son, fighting and fleeing from Darkfriends, losing friends, and trying to save the world become part of their lives.

All of this in this one book.  Deftly woven in an engaging tale that has a satisfying end while also serving as the beginning to an epic story that will challenge and change all of the characters.  The characters are multi-dimensional, complex (or on there way to it), and believable…some more likable that others.  The settings are rich and each realm/country/society is uniquely defined by its styles and attitudes.  The level of detail is actually one of the aspects pointed out as a problem with this series.  Too much, too frequently, which can slow down the story.  Luckily, this book isn’t bogged down by the descriptions.  It clips along nicely to the climax.

Bottom Line:  If you’re a fantasy buff and haven’t read this, you have got some reading to do.  This series is richly developed with great characters.  Give The Eye of the World a read and see if you aren’t hooked on The Wheel of Time, my favorite series.  This is my fourth reading of this book.