Why you should read The Great Hunt, where The Wheel of Time journey takes a big step forward

The Eye of the World is a near-perfect beginning to The Wheel of Time series. The second book in author Robert Jordan's series, The Great Hunt, isn't as fast-paced as its predecessor, but it still moves well, especially the last 100 pages.

The Great Hunt begins to flesh out important characters merely introduced in the first book. This includes Elayne, a princess trainging to be an Aes Sedai; and Min, a mysterious young woman who sees flashes of people's futures. Both become main characters throughout the series, and it feels like it starts here.

Readers also meet more Aes Sedai sorceresses and get our first look into the White Tower, where they are trained. In The Eye of the World, the only Aes Sedai present are Moiraine and (very briefly) Elaida. Right away in the second book, the leader of the Aes Sedai, the Amyrlin Seat, makes an unexpected visit to the Borderlands city of Fal Dara, where Rand, Mat, and Perrin are trying to decide their next moves. Besides Siuan Sanche, the Amyrlin Seat herself, two other major Aes Sedai characters are introduced: Verin and Liandrin. The first season of The Wheel of Time TV show on Amazon brought many of these elements in earlier, but in the book series they don't take center stage until this point.

To kick things off, the treacherous Padin Fain makes a violent escape from the dungeons of Fal Dara and steals the Horn of Valere and the tainted dagger connected to Mat. Rand and his childhood friends are sent off to chase after Fain with a squad of Sheirnarian soldiers. Loial the Ogier chronicler also comes along, hoping to record the events for posterity. Rand's friends Egwene and Nynaeve accompany the Aes Sedai back to the White Tower to begin their training.

How does The Great Hunt advance the story?

At the end of the first book, only Moiraine, Lan, and Rand know that Rand can channel the One Power; in this world, a man who can channel is a dangerous thing, so it's a serious secret. Rand does not yet know that he is the Dragon Reborn yet, a messianic figure destined to either save or destroy the world, although he suspects it. Moiraine tells the Amyrlin Seat that he is the man they've been searching for over the last 20 years.

This book's main theme is Rand's preparation for his upcoming role in the world. He has to accept his abilities, learn how and when to use them, and eventually realize he is the Dragon Reborn. He wants desperately to separate himself from the strings of the Aes Sedai and their plans for him, but he hasn't realized he has little choice in the matter.

How is the Horn of Valere important to the story?

The Horn of Valere, an ancient artifact, was found by Rand and Moiraine at the Eye of the World at the end of the first book. It plays a big part in the Prophecies of the Dragon. It needs to be present at the Last Battle betwen huamnity and the malevolent Dark One. When blown, it will bring back heroes of ages past to fight.

The catch is it doesn't matter who blows the horn. The heroes will fight on the side of whoever blows it, whether they are on the side of good or evil.

The Horn is stolen by the treacherous Darkfriend Padan Fain when he escapes Fal Dara, and it is just as important to recover the Horn as it is to retrieve the tainted dagger to save Mat's life and to rid the world of the danger it represents.

In the climactic Battle at Falme at the end of the book, the horn is sounded and the heroes return to fight. Who blows the horn, and on which side do the heroes fight? The answers are unexpected and turn the tide of the battle.

Just who are the Forsaken?

The Forsaken are people from past ages who swore themselves to the Dark One, or Shai'tan. They were given great powers, even above those of other Aes Sedai, who were more powerful in past ages than they are now. These Forsaken are near immortal and had been sealed away by both male and female Aes Sedai before the male side of the One Source was tainted, and the men who could channel broke the world.

While readers meet some of the Forsaken in The Eye of the World, they play a more prominent role in book two. In book one, Rand killed Aginor at the Eye of the World, and the Green Man killed Balthamel in the same skirmish. And the Forsaken Ishamael haunted the dreams of Rand, Mat and Perrin as a figure named Ba'alzamon.

The Forsaken Lanfear enters the story as she tries to steer Rand toward her agenda. She was obsessed with the previous incarnation of the Dragon Reborn, who scorned her. She wants to bring Rand to her side as she seeks power for herself.

What are Portal Stones?

In The Great Hunt, we learn about Portal Stones for the first time. A forgotten tool left over from the Age of Legends, they help people travel large distances by warping from stone to stone. They are also access points to a seemingly infinite number of alternate dimensions running parallel to the world our characters know. They require the One Power to operate.

While chasing the Horn down with Mat, Perrin, Loial, and the Shienarans, Rand unknowingly falls asleep near a Portal Stone next to Hurin, a Shienarian tracker, and Loial. They all wake up in another dimension. As they try and find their way out, they meet a beautiful woman calling herself Selene. Unbeknownst to them, she is actually Lanfear, a seductive Forsaken who has designs on Rand. She probably used the One Power to bring Rand through the portal the first time. She conjures up a danger to them all and convinces Rand to use his power to take them all back to their our world. It's evident to the reader that she knows how to use the stone, but Rand is oblivious.

Later, Rand uses another Portal Stone to travel across the continent, with disturbing results for him and everyone in his party.

What is the deal with the Whitecloaks?

In book one, Perrin and Egwene encounter members of a mercenary army known as the Children of the Light, commonly called Whitecloaks, and are saved by Moiraine, her warder Lan, Nynaeve, and a pack of wolves. In The Great Hunt, the Whitecloaks begin to play a bigger role in the overall story.

The Whitecloaks are an autonomous army of religious fanatics. They root out evil as they see it and track down perceived Darkfriends. One arm of their organization is the Questioners. This branch of the Children of the Light could be described as similar to the Grand Inquisitors of the Spanish Inquisition in the 17th and 18th centuries. They use torture to gain confessions, whether there is just cause or not.

They play an enormous role in the story as it moves forward, and as you might have guessed, they are not nice men.

The Seanchan are a serious folk

Approximately a thousand years before the events of The Wheel of Time series, the leader Artur Hawkwing ruled everything west of the mountain range called the Spine of the World, on the other side of which is the land known as the Aiel Waste. Hawkwing had sent his son on an exploratory mission across the ocean and his son never came back. After Hawkwing's death, his empire fell apart and divided into separate nations.

The Seachan are the descendants of those who were thought to be lost, and they have returned to reclaim the divided empire as their own. They are accompanied by strange creatures they use in war and women who can channel. While Aes Sedai are held to oaths that do not allow them to use the One Power as a weapon, the Seanchan are not beholden to such oaths, and they break and train their women who channel as weapons of war. They become a big problem for our characters in The Great Hunt, especially for Egwene, Nynaeve, Min and Elayne.

We also meet new Shienaran characters like Hurin, Uno, and Masema, who are part of Rand's band chasing the Horn. Readers get their first glimpse of Cairhein, Moiraine's home city, where nobles play the Great Game, a confusing political game of intrigue. Rand gets caught up in it with dire results, but learns valuable lessons for the future.

Verdict

The first few times I read The Wheel of Time series, The Great Hunt wasn't one of my favorites entires. Recent readings have established it in my mind as being extremely important to laying key foundational themes for story. Some of the things introduced in this book may not come into play again until later books, but their existence has been established.

The pace does seem to stall in a few areas, but what happens during those parts of the book are integral parts of the story, even if it isn't clear at the time. With all of Robert Jordan's books, even small, seemingly innocuous things most likely will be important eventually.

However, the ending to The Great Hunt is fantastic, as the endings of Jordan's books tend to be. It isn't the best ending in the series, but it holds its own. There is a big battle between Whitecloaks and Seanchan, the Horn of Valere is sounded, Rand duels a Forsaken for all to see, and the Dragon Reborn is revealed.

All of those elements serve as a springboard to launch into the rest of The Wheel of Time books, and it will keep your heart pounding.

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