The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, #2) by Robert Jordan

It was his name that caused the problem, and a similarity. Rand al’Thor. Al’Lan Mandragoran. For Lan, according to the custom of Malkier, the royal “al” named him King, though he never used it himself. For Rand, “al” was just a part of his name, though he had heard that once, long ago, before the Two Rivers was called the Two Rivers, it had meant “son of.” Some of the servants in Fal Dara keep, though, had taken it to mean he was a king, too, or at least a prince. All of his argument to the contrary had only managed to demote him to lord.

My review of The Eye of the World is here.

I finished book one recently and basically dove right into book two. I loved the journey of book one and the way all the character’s storylines developed and progressed. What I loved about the end of the book was everyone coming back together for the end. I was a bit sad, then, to see them all go off in different directions for book two, but I ended up loving it all the same!

GENERAL SPOILER WARNING

There’s much, much less focus on Moiraine in this one – I think she only had a chapter or two? There’s much more focus on Rand’s travels with Mat, Perrin, Loial, Ingtar and Hurin as they try to track down the dagger that they need for the final battle and to cure Mat’s sickness. I felt so bad for Rand with how alone he felt and trying to protect his friends while they misinterpreted him. I couldn’t stand Selene from the first scene. She was just so power hungry and obnoxious (like, I know WHY, but it was still annoying lmao). I was so glad when they parted ways.

I loved seeing Nynaeve, Egwene and Elanye getting some bonding time. Their dynamic is super cute. I like Min, too, but her possessiveness of Rand towards the end struck me as a little strange. She sort of shouldered her way in while he was asleep? I know she can read auras or whatever, but it did seem a bit ‘uhhhh, wait, what??’ And it seemed rather dismissive of Rand’ s feelings, since his entire focus was on Egwene up to that point. I wanted more scenes from them! Their loyalty to each other was really lovely.

I’m really loving the unfolding storyline and I can’t wait to see where book three takes the Emond’s Fielders!

Thoughts from while I was reading [SPOILERS!]:

– The opening was chilling. Black Ajah Aes Sedai? And the man who calls himself Bors.
– I loved Rand immediately worrying about Egwene and Mat and finding his way to them. Mat subsequently shutting Rand out is so sad. ;_; Jeez, let the lad apologise!
– Lan and Nynaeve are cute and need more scenes.
– Liandrin is horrible and I just know she’s only going to increase her horribleness. Ugh.
– Moiraine and Siuan have a great rapport.
– Fain freaks me out.
– The hunt is getting gruesome like whoa.
– The Aes Sedai are not very likeable as a group, lmao. Like, seriously, other than their magic, I can’t think of any reason anyone would want to join them. I’m not sure how I feel about Egwene and Nynaeve going to Tar Valon. I’m worried about them.
– Loial is adorable and I got so sad when Rand hurt his feelings.
– Poor Rand. He’s trying his best!!!
– Ingtar seems cool so far.
– I adore Hurin. I hope he’s at Rand’s side for the next twelve books!
– Selene is so fucking power hungry and it drives me mad that Rand, Hurin and Loial just went along with it. Yeah, I’m sure she’s using power against them, but STILL. If she talks about ‘GLORY! RAND! GLORY!’ one more time I’m going to climb into the book and kick her. So glad when she left. Ugh.
– Nynaeve’s third test with Lan :((((( MEAN!
– Why are so many ladies after Rand lmaoooo.
– So glad Rand, Mat and Perrin finally made up.
– I hate hate HATE Fain. Ugh, terrible excuse for a person.
– Liandrin is the WORRRRRRRRRRRRRRST.
– I adore the friendship between Nynaeve, Egwene, Elayne and Min. I just love their dynamic and I hope we get more of them!
– Fuck Liandrin. SERIOUSLY. UGGGGGGGGGGGGH.