 "Great work" | 2009-10-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: ALD3VMI1O3IIH |
| Even if you are like me and have read the book several times, this disk opens up the story a new. Great product I can not wait to get the rest on CD. |
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| "Deeper than the first, with more rounded characters" | 2009-09-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3857DSKJBU946 |
In my neverending quest to prepare myself for the twelfth book in The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, I re-read The Great Hunt for, I wanna say, the third time? Maybe fourth, not sure.
Rand Al'Thor, a man who can channel, who will surely go mad, is drawn in further by the pattern, with every step working toward his ultimate destiny, becoming The Dragon Reborn. The horn of valere has been stolen, and it's up to Rand, Mat, and Perrin to ride with the Shienaran soldiers to retrieve it from Padan Fain. Egwene, Elayne, Min and Nynaeve are all locked in their own struggles within the White Tower of Tar Valon. And a new threat comes from the other side of the ocean. Artur Hawkwing's blood, returned to conquer and enslave all women who can channel the one power.
The Great Hunt is, in my opinion, better than The Eye of the World simply because the characters are finally starting to grow up. Now, eleven years ago when I read this book for the first time, I wouldn't have said that. A decade later, I'm not really in the mood for books starring sheltered backwoods kids anymore. The Great Hunt delivered much more intrigue, and showed the fans of the first book that there was much more going on in this world than they had ever imagined, and secret plots at every turn. Best of all, the characters started to think for themselves, rather than just react to everything going on around them. No longer starstruck by the lives they are forced by prophecy to lead, they begin to act according to what they feel is best, making their own decisions.
In this book, unlike some of the books that followed, I really enjoyed what every character added to the story. Yes, even Egwene, for all you haters out there. She had a great story right at the end of the book.
Now, as to what I didn't enjoy in this book. Two scenes both stand out to me, one with Rand and one with Egwene. They were just too dimwitted to be believable, I guess. I found myself acting like one of those crazy people at the theatre shouting at the woman to get out of the house because the killer's after her. I mean, could they really be so dumb that they couldn't see what was right in front of them. If you've read the series, you probably can figure out which two parts of the novel I'm thinking about. If not, read it again and I'm sure you'll see Rand and Egwene acting like morons a couple of times. Yep, there they are.
Verdict: 9/10. A deeper, darker, more interesting book than The Eye of the World. Well worth the read, and if you've already read the first, you had darned well better read the rest |
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| "Jordan begins to chase the dollars" | 2009-08-06 |
| - Reviewed By dwwilkin |
In my continuing reread before the next release of book 12, I have new thoughts and opinions about The Great Hunt. Still this series remains something that if I have to take one thing with me to that dessert island, then this would be the series. But now I can see where in the earlier material, Jordan has switched from what we have in the later material.
It has always been clear, since I have been with the series from its first publication, that Jordan was amazed by his success with it and began to record more and more to keep the coffers filled. Anything anyone else says is just wrong, and as Jordan would say RAFO. That is probably one of the biggest disservices he did to those who read him, Read and Find Out.
Because it is clear that he wrote and as all writers tackling something that grows after you wrote the earlier work, he didn't have it all mapped out. The Great Hunt is clearly the second book of the trilogy.
Previously I said that The Eye of the World could have stood on its own, with just another few pages added to it. Clearly a book that could have wrapped up the battle between good and evil in one novel.
So in trilogy format we have book 1, our hero finds out that he is the hero and of course does not want to be it. Here in the second book, he finally gets training to confront evil and stands forth to say he will. His buddies have grown strong enough and the dead heroes of legend stand ready to help out in book three.
We even have found an entire world changing army, or two, that can be the enemy. But as they are defeated here at the end of book 2, then we just need to concentrate on the evil we discussed in book 1, Trollocs and Fades and Forsaken.
Somewhere after this is published the 'Phenomena' factor kicks in big time and there will be more then 3 books. Money to be made. No longer publish the books in trade paperback, after all we are giving up real dollars by doing that. No the Mercenary of Robert Jordan emerges and has possibly always been there.
But the book and story are good. Aside from a few quibbles, that dealing mostly with Jordan allowing the story to grow bigger that he could not keep track of everything he did, such as Portal Stones. We have the Ways to travel, but we decide to add another type of travel that we will soon forget about and never use again. Or Aiel at a Steadding but lets just move right through that, or how stupid the Children of the Light are because while the whole world hears about Seachan, they want to think of them as darkfriends, and even let that color the next book.
So there is minor suspension of disbelief as Jordan starts transforming to a much bigger work. But for all that we get one of the meatist series we have ever had. I have reread the series now more than half a dozen times and expect will do so as many again once it is complete. Characters continue to grow, and more are added, but unlike George RR Martin where there are so many cross purposes making it more complex then the real world of 2009, Jordan is able to focus on Good vs. Evil with some shading around the edges. Well worth any fantasy fans time but not as a stand alone book, only really as part of the series. |
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 "One intense hunting trip" | 2009-06-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: AWXMKD9XEVAEW |
Slightly shorter than Eye of the World, but slightly faster paced, the Great Hunt matches the bar set by the original and drives the story forward.
The two things about the Wheel of Time that I enjoy the most are probably the characterization and the worldbuilding. The various cultures and lands are well-fleshed out, and Jordan develops every place that the heroes stop by on the adventure. Shienar was an excellent example, along with Tar Valon. The characters are at a high caliber, the writing is well-done and descriptive, the story is excellent, the plot is slightly tighter than the first book, and Jordan manages to incorporate some of the grit of real life without turning this into an R-rated book. . . .Though I admit it would probably have been better if he had. ;)
Minor bits of goodness mixed in include: The concept of the Heron-mark is cool, the characters' magical powers actually progress over time(Are you listening, Terry Goodkind?), the plot is complex and requires intelligence to keep up with, no ham-handed messages or foreshadowing, realistic take on learning and using swordplay, and some definite moments of hilarity.
Sad to say, there are still a couple of problems. Some of the female characters are starting to get on my nerves, particularly Nynaeve(sp?), who never develops out of playing the part of the stubborn, bitchy, bullying manhater.(I'd also like to know what strange problem is inducing the female characters to "sniff" every few chapters.) Egwene is working her way up there, too, though she's not very annoying compared to Nynaeve. It would be safe to say that Elayne Trakand is probably the best female character at this point. Unfortunately, her viewpoint is pretty much absent from this book.
The plot is good most of the time. There are a few definite places where it moves along a bit slowly, though it is an improvement from the first book. I have the same problem with the Wheel of Time that I do with the Song of Ice and Fire; there are too many damn chapters where we're taken away from the action and getting into the heads of random people along the way. If an author does this, then we should at least be taken right into some tense excitement somewhere. I don't really care about Bayle Domon mulling things over while gloating over his cuendillar collection, or some exotic goons from across the sea arriving to take over villages and make them swear oaths of loyalty. Can we get back to Egwene/Elayne at the White Tower and Rand/Mat/Perrin hunting the Horn, please? The plot is wonderfully structured and engaging and all, with a better resolution than the first book, but that sometimes makes the interruptions all the more annoying.
The Great Hunt is at times frustrating, but patience is rewarded with a great storyline and characters, especially in the two books following, where the action really heats up. I give the Great Hunt a solid 4 stars out of 5. |
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| "Amazing ending" | 2009-05-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3MX4EOZ5RD6T3 |
Wow. The ending of this book blew me away. We all know we are reading epic fantasy here, but Robert Jordan is truly the king of wrapping up a book. Yes, as reading it, you get some hints about what will happen -- but the finale is so brilliantly executed, and so very personal. I felt like I was there, witnessing it, reading of the accounts of the locals that witnessed it too. If Jordan were describing me reading it, I'm sure I'd be described as wide-eyed, shaking as if I were an Ogier with ears to twitch. It is hard to describe how awesome the finale is without spoilers, so I will just leave it at that.
Like The Eye of the World (the first in this series), this book is long, and over-long at places. But it was better about that than the first book. Some things become more clear in this, and others significantly more gray; and I think I can safely say that both these descriptions apply to every main character as well as the entire Aes Sedai. This adds an extra level of depth to the story, and an extra level of engagement.
I read in my spare time, which isn't a lot, and it took me about 16 days to read this book. And I read it immediately after finishing Eye of the World, which I did in 8 days. As I was in the middle of it, I was saying to myself that I really have to stop reading this series for awhile before I get burnt out. But now... would it be too geeky to say it feels as if the Wheel is urgently weaving my way towards book three? |
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| "He's 2 for 2, sensational" | 2009-03-31 |
| - Reviewed By len_f |
I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan. I tried book 1 of the Wheel of Time series on recommendations from co-workers. It was an excellent book, drew me right in. I had to try book 2 as well, this one. I was disappointed that it featured basically the same characters as book 1, re-fighting the same overall war, after book 1 made it seem that the war had already been won.
But this book is great. Now I have to buy a few more in the series. My favorite part of this book is the part near the end, featuring Egwene and her friends. You'll see what I mean when you get to it. You'd think my favorite part would be the heavyweight title fight (again) between Rand and Mr. Bad Guy, but nope, I like the Egwene and Friends part the best.
Enjoy. This is a great book. |
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