The Great Hunt
Robert Jordan
Tor, June 5 2012, $15.99
ISBN: 9780765334343

The Dark One’s minion Trollocs and Myrddraal raid Fal Dara where the heroes who defended the Eye of the World are gathered. The evil horde free Darkfriend Padan Fain who before fleeing the border village absconds with the Horn of Valere which when blown brings legendary heroes to fight the user’s side and also takes Mat’s soul-stealing dagger.

Lord Ingtar puts together a team to include the three male defenders of the Eye of the World (Rand, Perrin, and Mat) to retrieve the stolen relics. At the same time their female comrades Nynaeve and Egwene travel with the Amyrlin Seat Aes Sedai witch Siuan Sanche to Tar Valon to begin their training.

The reprint of the exciting second Wheel of Time fantasy is an action-packed thriller especially when the focus is on the quest to repossess the purloined Horn and dagger; the female training comes across as weaker sister distracting from the prime plot. The different people met on the journey enhance and expand the Jordon mythos while the five heroes of the Eye of the World seem to have lost their coming of age maturity they obtained during their previous harrowing adventures. Still overall this is an entertaining quest fantasy that sub-genre fans will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner