The Great Hunt continues the story that began with The Eye of the World.
Rand, Mat, and Perrin are three young men recently plucked from their quiet farming community and thrust into the center of events as the Pattern weaves itself around them… possibly in accordance with the ancient Prophecies of the Dragon, prophecies which describe a man who once broke the world and who will be reborn to do it again.
When the Horn of Valere, built to summon forth the heroes of the ages in Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle, is stolen from a keep in the borderlands, the three boys must set forth to recover the treasure. Perrin rides as wolfbrother, able to track the thieves by scent and pack; Mat rides to rescue the dagger from Shadar Logoth, a dagger which still holds a claim to his soul; and Rand rides to help his friends, and perhaps to find a way to live with his fate: a man who can channel the One Power, doomed to go mad, and perhaps worse. And throughout it all, the secretive Aes Sedai seek to manipulate events from the shadows, pushing Rand towards a destiny he refuses to accept.
The Great Hunt is a worthy sequel, bringing the characters forward in time and allowing them to begin to grow and develop. The author is still developing the world, and many new and strange things are introduced. The result is engaging, exciting, and in some cases brilliant, but also uneven; some sections lack polish or fluidity. Still, there are fewer rough edges than the prior book, and while The Great Hunt does not by itself reach the level of a great book, as a part of the whole it is not unworthy.
