The Great Hunt

by Robert Jordan

Reviewed by Coral

When the Amyrlin Seat makes an unexpected visit to Fal Dara, Rand fears for his safety. But that takes a back seat when the city is attacked by Trollocs, who free Padan Fain, steal the newly recovered Horn of Valere and the cursed dagger that is currently keeping Mat alive.

Saying goodbye to Egwene and Nynaeve, who are returning to Tar Valon with the Amyrlin Seat to begin their training as Aes Sedai, Rand, Mat and Perrin join a group of soldiers from Fal Dara who are charged with recovering the Horn. The trail takes them south, which will bring them right into the middle of a conflict bigger than they could have imagined.

As I am rereading the first novels of this series, there is a part of me that is trying to remember what I thought about each book the first time round, but it’s been so long I can’t really remember that specifically. I know I ended up frustrated at the series at one point, while still wanting to know how it all ended. This time round, I don’t think I am enjoying them as much. I have also found that I don’t really remember much of the plot points of each specific book as well as I thought I did.

I found Egwene and Nynaeve’s plot kind of pointless and removed from the most part of the book. I know that they have to start their training, but it wasn’t really until the last part of the book where their real plot for the book actually started.

I found the book to have too much crammed into it story wise, though at the same time we didn’t really get to see a lot of those stories. The author tells us that Rand will cause change wherever he goes, just by being there. That seems to be the truth here, where a war between two cities is resolved, a foreign invader is thrown back and a city’s political games implode into chaos through his actions, no matter how small. But a lot of this is only briefly touched upon. I would like to know more about these, instead of endless chapters of the heroes journeying from place to place as they follow the Horn.

Mat’s progression as a character is slow. I still found myself frustrated by his actions a lot of times in this book. I can’t remember when that changed for me last time, but I thought it was sooner along in the series. I can’t seem to remember his story line very well, because I thought everything with the dagger would have been finished in book one, but it’s still central to his story in this book. I am also not sure where his character goes from where he ends this book.

Rand still makes idiotic decisions. Last book he trusted Padan Fain when it was obvious that he shouldn’t. He meets someone in this book that he decides to trust again when it is pretty obvious that he shouldn’t.

I also didn’t remember that Egwene, Elayne and Min came together with their brilliant group thinking this early in the series. I could have done with waiting a few more books for them.

Everything about the Seanchan I wish would have been saved for a later book. There was so much to explore there, but their story in this book felt so rushed.

Grade: B