The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time)

Title: The Great Hunt 

Series: The Wheel of Time (Book #2)

Year: 1991

Author: Robert Jordan

Summary: The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. For centuries, gleemen have told of The Great Hunt of the Horn. Now the Horn itself is found: the Horn of Valere long thought only legend, the Horn which will raise the dead heroes of the ages.

And it is stolen.

Main Characters:
~ Rand al'Thor
~ Perrin Aybara
~ Mat Cauthon 
~ Egwene al'Vere
~ Nynaeve al'Meara
~ Padan Fain
~ Lord Ingtar
~ Hurin
~ Loial
~ Moiraine
~ Verin

Review: This book picks up right where book one ended. Jordan doesn't leave much time between his books in this series! 

Rand wants to be away from Aes Sedai influence, but having his friends still in Fal Dara with him make him prolong leaving. When the Amyrlin Seat herself shows up with a small army of Aes Sedai and Warders in tow, his escape is too late. Padan Fain is locked securely in the dungeons, going mad to Rand's way of thinking, but Egwene still believes that he might be brought back to good. 

Then everything happens overnight, and Rand, Mat, and Perrin find themselves in Lord Ingtar's regiment, heading south to reobtain the stolen Horn of Valere. Thus the book is aptly titled, The Great Hunt. And Egwene and Nynaeve are headed to the White Tower to begin their training as Aes Sedai. 

While the first book of this series set up a good cast of main characters and took us on an epic run and chase (just like a classic beginning to a good fantasy), this book expanded the world threefold. We're introduced to a cast of new characters with new ambitions. In a way, it felt like a Dickens novel set in a Tolkien world -- strange creatures and fantasy battles and epic characters set in a complicated plot with multiple subplots. The chapters skip back and forth between multiple characters, and then somehow all wind up together in the end with a neat bow. 

I really don't have much to complain about for this book. Once The Eye of the World stole your interest and set your imagination up for this series, The Great Hunt is a fantastic continuation of the story. There's everything you loved in the first book -- and more. The pace is faster, and the plot isn't a constant run-and-hide adventure. I think I liked this book better than the first one, and -- of course -- I'm eager to keeping reading the series to find out what happens. 

Advisory: Fantasy violence and scary creatures. Expect battles, blood, and lots of action. 

Magic. The further I get into these novels, the more I'm understanding how magic/power works. I'm planning to review more of the books in this series, so I plan to say a little bit more about the magic aspect as I learn more about it. I explained a little bit in my review of The Eye of the World, but I realize that was just kinda scratching the surface. 

Also, a few characters "curse," using words like "bloody" and "flaming."

Some female characters are described as wearing transparent clothing and others as not wearing anything. It is in a quick, matter-of-fact kind of tone, and nothing is explicitly described. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars