The Great Hunt: 2/12 (The Wheel of Time)

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So much worldbuilding, creature creating, magic theory, and societal development. It is a political science dissertation set in a fantasy world. For whatever reason, this is the installment that's held up the least well for me. Not b/c it's not awesome--it absolutely is--but b/c even MORE awesomeness is IMMINENT.

The Great Hunt was an epic sequel. It improved on the things that I thought were not done as well in The Eye of the World, but on the flip-side it came with it's own fair share of mishaps. I can't wait to see what will happen in The Dragon Reborn. I must go now, Nynaeve mashiara. The Amyrlin wishes to leave before midday, and there is much yet to be done. Perhaps we will have time to talk on the journey to Tar Valon.” He turned and was gone, striding down the hall. Nynaeve touched her cheek. She could still feel where he had touched her. Mashiara. Beloved of heart and soul, it meant, but a love lost, too. Lost beyond regaining. Best side character for me is Loial. The Ogier is a great addition and I really enjoyed going into another stedding and meeting a few other Ogier. Plus could it be that Loial might have a crush. If that wasn’t the cutest thing ever I don’t know what it. Does not care that the Dragon Reborn is a completely different, maybe twenty-years-old model, when she herself probably had a couple of centuries under her belt before she was sealed inside the Dark One's prison for several thousand years. Some men […] choose to seek greatness, while others are forced to it. It is always better to choose than to be forced.Later, having determined that the portal stone transported them to a parallel world that essentially is the same but with a different timeline, they eventually find another portal stone with the help of Selene, a mysterious woman dressed in white whom they meet there. Rand is able to use it to return to their own world, albeit much farther ahead of the rest of their group and even the Darkfriends and Shadowspawn. Shortly afterward, they recover the Horn and the dagger by sneaking into their enemy's camp, which they found simply by waiting for them to catch up. While reading Eye of the World, I kept seeing it’s similarities with LoTR but this book simply outshine its predecessor in every way. While first book was a drag in the middle chapters, this one has no such issue and that made it a better reading experience. One of the Forsaken, Lanfear has been used as a boogieman to scare children into behaving (a concept that I find horrific, incidentally . . . Does anyone actually do that? Tell their children that some super scary monster-person will get them while they're sleeping, if they don't do as they're told? I sincerely hope not . . .). Anyway, this early in the series, the Forsaken are mostly feared for nebulous follower-of-the-Dark-One reasons. The expansion of the magic system was something that I thought was done in a great way. I loved all the scenes with Nynaeve and Egwene in the White Tower. I really want to spend some more time there and to dive deeper into the Ajahs. Bringing Elayne and Min to the fore-front was also a great choice. They both had only a chapter or two in book 1, but here they were main characters and I just came to really really enjoy their perspectives! Nynaeve is one of the most loveable characters here, despite her hatred for Moiraine and Aes Sedai in general. She is a strong and powerful woman who will do everything for her loved ones, no matter how great the danger. But so are the others. From a bunch of childhood friends, they become much more than that, and for life.

You are becoming more Shienaran every day…Any day now, you’ll start talking about your honour, and asking peace to favour your sword.” The first ring transports her to a giant maze, where she battles a facsimile of Aginor, the Forsaken, and almost wins, but leaves the vision before finishing him. The next two of her visions are painful because she knows that they are also fake and she has to leave them, but she doesn't want to abandon them. One of those visions is of herself in her hometown, Emond's Field, which is in trouble and needs her help, but she has to leave the vision by leaving the village, which makes herself feel as if she truly had left Emond's Field to its fate. Another vision is of herself in the future, married with children to the man she loves, Lan Mandragoran, but once again she must leave the vision by running away from Lan, the last thing she wants to do. After this, she is made an Accepted, a rank in the White Tower just below Aes Sedai and above novice, the lowest.The world continues to get a little bigger for our group from The Two Rivers. There are new people, customs, places and danger seems to be EVERYWHERE. It seems that most of the book is about Rand since he seems to be the very reluctant and ridiculously stubborn hero. Temptations abound as various characters try to pull him into their machinations including a new beautiful woman Selene. I hated her immediately and seriously why does every woman (except Nynaeve of course) need to be in love with Rand??? Why can’t Perrin or Mat find someone interested in them??? I was sure I knew who she really was from the beginning and that can be nothing but trouble for Rand so I hope all the stubbornness pays off in the end. New characters appear, the old ones are growing. The Pattern draws one to the other more closely. Rand is far from the sheepherder he used to be even if he still denies what he is, Perrin is finally accepting his Old Gift, Mat is still linked to the Shadar Logoth knife, but he doesn’t abandon his friends and has a big surprise for us.