The Wheel of Time crosstalk: Is The Great Hunt a good book?

DAN: Do I think the book played it safe? Not really…I dunno if I know what you mean by “safe.” I mean, it didn’t kill any important characters, but that’s not really this series’ thing, is it? I agree that it expanded the world nicely, with the Seanchan being a particularly interesting addition. And it was way less like The Lord of The Rings than the first book…so no, it didn’t really strike me as “safe.”

Although speaking of killing characters, and of Thom, it was kind of lame that he was back. I remember his death from the first book being a powerful moment, but it ends up that he’s just…fine? And living in Cairhien with his new girlfriend Dena who is very quickly killed off? It felt like the book was doubling down on bad tropes: it resurrected a character without paying much of a cost (strike one) and then immediately fridged a woman to set him on a new path (strike two). Can’t say I loved his appearance here.

I wonder how much they’ll change in the show, y’know? Like, I have no idea what Thom gets up to later in the series — maybe he’s irreplaceable — but at the end of the second book I think it’d be better if he died back in Whitebridge defending Rand and Mat from the Myrddraal.

I have more complaints, but I’m gonna pivot back to the positive for a bit. I thought the whole climax was great and didn’t mind Mat blowing the horn. Why not? The book had been setting it up since the start; I’d have been irritated if no one used it.

The heroes of old coming back from the dead was cool, and the battle between Rand and Ba’alzamon (I wonder how long before I can spell that without having to use Google) had more weight than the battle between them at the end of The Eye of the World; that one had a bit of a goofy Dragon Ball Z feel to it, with beams of energy flying around. Here, I liked the image of the two of them fighting in the sky, and I understood the stakes: now even if Rand wants to deny that he’s the Dragon Reborn, the rest of the world won’t let him. I thought his arc dragged a bit throughout the book, but this was a good end for him.

And all of this was mixed in with Egwene and company getting the better of those asshole Sul’dam, which was very satisfying. The revelation that Ingtar was a Darkfriend kinda came out of nowhere, but I still bought it, and they gave him compelling reasons, and I was surprised. Ingtar, no!

So yeah, the big finish really worked for me. What did you make of it?

COREY: Is it good or bad that I’ve read ahead? It certainly changes my perspective on things, especially with a character like Thom, who does have a lot of story left to tell. It did annoy me slightly that Thom survived after how powerful we were told Myrddraal are, but ultimately he’s such a fun character that I can look past it.

I’d agree, the last battle was entertaining. The heroes of old coming back to help kind of reminded me of the army of the dead arriving at the Battle of Pellenor Fields in The Lord of the Rings. Rand’s second round with Ctrl+V Ba’alzamon was indeed a lot of fun. Like Mat blowing the Horn, Rand losing his heron-marked blade was a bit of a swerve for me. They spent a lot of time talking about how that sword was unique, made during the Age of Legends, etc, and then it just gets destroyed. I guess Jordan has something against Macguffins.

And yes, the women taking down their captors was quite satisfying. Ingtar being a Darkfriend I sort of picked up on since he just seemed a bit too fanatical throughout the novel. Also, they made it clear that someone had to have let the Trollocs into Fal Dara early in the book, and then boom: there’s Ingtar coming round the corner.

I’ll add that I enjoy the whole Darkfriend concept as the series moves on. Some Darkfriends are painfully obvious, but others are more subtle. It adds a nice element of suspense to the story.

Back to the introduction of the Seanchan, the structure of the story reminded me a bit of A Song of Ice and Fire, with Westeros and Essos. All the major events are happening on the continent where Rand and his friends are, but there are whole other civilizations out there completely uninterested in the war against ultimate evil. I dig that.

The Great Hunt also shows off Jordan’s refusal to leave any character behind. Bayle Doman, the riverboat captain from The Eye of The World, shows up here for a bit. Sometimes it can be great; other times, it just necessitates boring trips to Wikipedia. In the sixth book, Lord of Chaos, a guy Rand punched in a bar in The Eye of The World shows up for a scene. That’s a bit much.

Okay, let’s get into the dirt; what didn’t you like about The Great Hunt?