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A review by thelastcube
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Book 2 was mainly Rand's character arc, much less focus on others. Yet his character didn't develop to be worth that decision's salt - left me underwhelmed on that front as that spotlight could have been spent fleshing other characters. We get to know at the very start where the climax will be at, and everyone from different angles is headed towards that location. Yet the book fails to make it an interesting journey. This dilutes all the excitement and intrigue that i'm supposed to develop for the story.
The book implements simple tropes without any subtlety, anyone with a brain cell could figure out that Selene was Lanfear. The book does an awful job of smoothening that bump of a plot armour by making Rand unnaturally oblivious to Selene being sus. (He literally met her at a place where you could only go by channeling ffs).
The Portal Stones' introduction was lackluster and they felt like just a plot device made to somehow make ends meet. Neither did I thought that the Horn would actually summon dead warriors, I thought it was a clever metaphor but no, so was left underwhelmed there.
And the most frustrating bit, Rand managed to defeat a heron marked master swordsman without using Saidin, but with the skill he developed by training swords with Lan for a month. Absolute bullshit of a plot armour.
That said, there were ample good things in the book as well.
Seanchan. RJ did such a frustratingly good job at writing Seanchan to bring out the feelings of frustration and disgust out of me, which he intended to. I absolutely hate Seanchan, it was painful to read through their chapters, but that itself is telling of how well the writing and creation of this new culture was.
Talking of Culture, RJ did a fantastic job of writing different cultures to the point that they all feel different, unique and with their own manner, traidition & history around them - just like they're supposed to. (Even though everyone apparently talks English as their first langauge)
The Audiobook Narrators also did a fantastic job of expressing those different mannerisms of people from different places with consistency. And with the story taking the party all across the continent, reading the worldbuilding is such a treat. Worldbuilding in this series is incredible.
I also liked the metaphor of the climax battle, Rand & Ba'alzamon's battle affecting the outcome of the battle on ground. A much needed improvement compared to the last book.
Perrin's character development, whatever little he got, was also nice to read. Also Ingtar's reveal at the end was such a nice character moment, made him one of my favourite side-characters.
I am loving the series, but the individial books are not that good so far as individual books. I am a sucker for worldbuilding, and that is incredible, but there needs to be a better narrative, a better story for each book.
The book implements simple tropes without any subtlety, anyone with a brain cell could figure out that Selene was Lanfear. The book does an awful job of smoothening that bump of a plot armour by making Rand unnaturally oblivious to Selene being sus. (He literally met her at a place where you could only go by channeling ffs).
The Portal Stones' introduction was lackluster and they felt like just a plot device made to somehow make ends meet. Neither did I thought that the Horn would actually summon dead warriors, I thought it was a clever metaphor but no, so was left underwhelmed there.
And the most frustrating bit, Rand managed to defeat a heron marked master swordsman without using Saidin, but with the skill he developed by training swords with Lan for a month. Absolute bullshit of a plot armour.
That said, there were ample good things in the book as well.
Seanchan. RJ did such a frustratingly good job at writing Seanchan to bring out the feelings of frustration and disgust out of me, which he intended to. I absolutely hate Seanchan, it was painful to read through their chapters, but that itself is telling of how well the writing and creation of this new culture was.
Talking of Culture, RJ did a fantastic job of writing different cultures to the point that they all feel different, unique and with their own manner, traidition & history around them - just like they're supposed to. (Even though everyone apparently talks English as their first langauge)
The Audiobook Narrators also did a fantastic job of expressing those different mannerisms of people from different places with consistency. And with the story taking the party all across the continent, reading the worldbuilding is such a treat. Worldbuilding in this series is incredible.
I also liked the metaphor of the climax battle, Rand & Ba'alzamon's battle affecting the outcome of the battle on ground. A much needed improvement compared to the last book.
Perrin's character development, whatever little he got, was also nice to read. Also Ingtar's reveal at the end was such a nice character moment, made him one of my favourite side-characters.
I am loving the series, but the individial books are not that good so far as individual books. I am a sucker for worldbuilding, and that is incredible, but there needs to be a better narrative, a better story for each book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery